“Then keep your eyes open for interesting rocks. I’m also taking you because you know how to shoot. Hans, I guess you get to open that stupid weapons locker after all.” They had a small cache of weapons in case they landed on a planet with hostile wildlife, though they’d considered the odds of that drastically low. It was far more likely they would die from hostile microorganisms or equipment failure. “Let’s suit up and see what’s happening out there. Sebastien, Uzoma, and Elena, you stay on board. We’ll keep in radio contact.”

“I’d like to go outside to play, please,” Sebastien said.

“You’re my second in command, Sebastien. If whatever we find out there proves unfriendly, and we don’t come back, you’re in charge.”

“Heavy lies the head that wears the crown,” he murmured.

“Uzoma, see if you can send a transmission through the walls of… whatever this place is. Let Earth know we found something.”

Uzoma nodded and left the room at a brisk walk, which was as close to frantic as Elena had ever seen them.

“What about me?” Elena said.

“I’m sticking with the members of the crew who have military experience for this first foray. If it seems safe, you can come out soon, and if we encounter anything that seems alive, we’ll definitely want your assessment.”

Elena didn’t pout, because that would be unprofessional, but she couldn’t stop herself from sighing. “All right. Please keep your helmet cams on and streaming.”

“Not to be overly psychological about all this,” Sebastien said, “but if you go out there with guns, prepared for hostility, you might find just that.”

“I’m aware of the risks,” Robin said. “But I’m not about to explore a possibly alien space station with nothing but flashlights.” She handed Elena the tablet. “We’ll stream our video here.” She left the cargo hold, followed by Hans and Ibn, who gave them a grave nod farewell as he passed.

Sebastien sat down on a crate. “Shall we sit back and enjoy the show?”

“How can you be so calm?”

“Like you said, our odds of survival were always low. I didn’t really expect to wake up again after I went into cryosleep, and then I did, to do my days of solo duty on the ship, but every time I went back into cold storage I expected it to be the last time. All this is just bonus existence, as far as I’m concerned. Besides, it’s interesting. This place, this station, this object, whatever it is… I’ve always been fascinated by projects on such huge scales. The coordination and organization and effort involved always dazzles me.”

Elena snorted, looking into the dim view on the screen. “It’s definitely dazzling.”