Dillman started to reply when the com system rattled. The big man moved to the machine and pressed the button.
"Caffrey, bridge," he growled. "What the hell is...."
A quiet voice cut him off, deadly, precise like a small knife slicing into him. "Captain, this is Doc. I'm down in the android hold. You'd better come right away."
"Doc," Caffrey began, but the machine clicked off. He slammed it with his fists. "Doc, damn it, Doc...." There was only the faraway rumble of the ship's great iron heart.
He swung around, heading for the door. "Come on," he said quickly. "Nothing's going to happen. Not on this run. Nothing...."
They ran through the halls under the blue lights, clambered down the ladders, ran through more halls.
And then they stood in front of the big black door. Caffrey turned the wheel, slowly at first, and then faster, until it spun and blurred into invisibility. He stepped back and the doors opened.
The hold was dark and musty. In the tiers of bunks, the androids huddled like not-quite-black shadows. They said nothing.
They watched. There was only a smell of antiseptic in the air, healthful, clean and rotten all at the same time.