There were only two other cameras covering the outer wall, and they had long since been compromised. Ivan walked confidently down the corridor to the outer bulkhead. He ran his hand along the wall, looking for—

There. This section of the wall had no pipes, conduits, electronics, or other inconveniences. In principle, what he was about to do was no different from any of the shape-shifting experiments he’d been doing. Just a matter of degree, really. Of course, if he was wrong, it would throw a very large spanner into his strategy.

He held his hand against the wall, and it seemed to melt right into the metal bulkhead. Ivan became thinner and thinner, and soon began to disappear completely from the feet up. His pants fell to the ground, as his lower body disappeared, then his shirt. Just before he vanished altogether, he consisted only of a very thin arm sticking straight out from the wall. Then even that was sucked up.

* * *

Ivan kept his hand welded to the wall as he reintegrated outside the module. The last thing he needed would be to get flung off the rotating station into space, helpless, with no reaction mass to throw around. He looked at the stars, at the Naval base hanging in the distance, and at the ferry almost completely out of sight around the bulk of the module.

The hole in the wall was repaired by the nanites as easily as it had been created. There would be no loss of pressure to betray his departure. Slowly, carefully, making sure that he always had at least two anchor points, he made his way around the outside of the isolation module, moving closer to the hub while staying in shadows.

Now came the riskiest part. The ferry might or might not have external monitors, and the pilot might or might not be looking out the view ports at the wrong time. Having a chrome finish helped, making it difficult to pick out his silhouette from the background. Creating a silhouette that didn’t scream human would help as well. People were hard-wired to see human forms.

He stretched and thinned, until he was shaped more like a lizard. Carefully, he completed the route to the ferry. A few seconds of examination revealed a good spot to settle down—good hold points, not near any exhausts, intakes, ports, antennae, or anything else that might get upset by his presence.

Clanking and other indications of activity continued for some time. Either they were recovering equipment, or the population of the hab had been greater than seemed reasonable. Maybe extra guards to handle the alien menace? Ivan tried to care, but it seemed a minor detail, given what he was doing.