"I'm sorry, kid. I thought I was smart breaking the regulations and letting these crabs down. A regulation would have sent them away, and none of us would be here now."
"It's O.K.," said Barnes, and his voice sounded more secure than it had at any time since they had been trapped. "It's not bad this way. I feel just kind of sleepy. I guess they call it anoxia, don't they? Hope you guys make it. Be sure to see Mary. Tell her I wasn't even scared a bit."
And then they heard the scratching at the door. Unbelieving, they listened, and heard it again. The three of them scrambled to their feet as swiftly as possible in the clumsy armor. They hid behind the door, and waited for it to open a crack.
Joe got his steel fingers into it and jerked. The creature on the other side stumbled and fell into the room, threshing weakly on the floor. His skin, visible between the joints of the exoskeleton was livid with acid burn, and his eyes were nearly shut.
"Take care of Barnes," Joe ordered the other two, "I'll go up front and turn us around."
"The other one might be armed —" Litchfield warned.
"It won't matter if he's in as bad condition as this one. Block this door and come up in three minutes if we don't turn."
Joe had little fear of opposition after seeing what the acid had done to the one creature, but he kept a sharp watch as he came into the control chamber.
He needn't have. The creature was slumped in the cradle that supported him before the panel of controls. He saw Joe but made no move. The cerebropath was still operating, and he spoke.
"We ... didn't know what had happened to you. We thought you were ... taking care of engines. Didn't know you were locked in —"