The Captain set his jaw. "We do what we can, Nick. We do the best we
can. Got any better ideas?"
Paresi shrugged easily and smiled. "Just knocking, skipper. Knock
everything. Then what's hollow, you know about."
"I should know better than to jump salty with you," said the Captain,
all but returning the doctor's smile. "Johnny. Hoskins. Prepare for
exploratory patrol."
"I'll go," said Paresi.
"Johnny goes," said the Captain bluntly, "because it's his first trip,
and because if he isn't given something to do he'll bust his adrenals.
Hoskins goes, because of all of us, the Engineer is most expendable.
Ives stays because we need hair-trigger communications. I stay to
correlate what goes on outside with what goes on inside. You stay
because if anything goes wrong I'd rather have you fixing the men up
than find myself trying to fix you up." He squinted at Paresi. "Does
that knock solid?"
"Solid."
"Testing, Johnny," Ives said into a microphone. Johnny's duplicated
voice, from the open face-plate of his helmet and from the intercom
speaker, said, "I hear you fine."
"Testing, Hoskins."
"If I'd never seen you," said the speaker softly, "I'd think you were
right here in the suit with me." Hoskins' helmet was obviously buttoned
up.
The two men came shuffling into the cabin, looking like gleaming ghosts
in their chameleon-suits, which repeated the color of the walls.
"Someday," growled Johnny, "there'll be a type suit where you can
scratch your--"
"Scratch when you get back," said the Captain. "Now hear this. Johnny,
you can move fastest. You go out first. Wait in the airlock for thirty
seconds after the outer port opens. When Ives gives you the beep, jump
out, run around the bows and plant your back against the hull directly
opposite the port. Hold your blaster at the ready, aimed down--you hear
me? _Down_, so that any observer will know you're armed but not
attacking. Hoskins, you'll be in the lock with the outer port open by
that time. When Johnny gives the all clear, you'll jump out and put your
back against the hull by the port. Then you'll both stay where you are
until you get further orders. Is that clear?"
"Aye."
"Yup."
"You're covered adequately from the ship. Don't fire without orders.
There's nothing you can get with a blaster that we can't get first with
a projector--unless it happens to be within ten meters of the hull and
we can't depress to it. Even then, describe it first and await orders to
fire except in really extreme emergency. A single shot at the wrong time
could set us back a thousand years with this planet. Remember that this
ship isn't called _Killer_ or _Warrior_ or even _Hero_. It's the Earth
Ship _Ambassador_. Go to it, and good luck."