The girl inside almost bowled him over in a frantic attempt to escape.
"Here, quiet down!" He held the struggling figure, enjoying a brief moment of her nearness. "The scrap is over. You're perfectly safe."
"I don't care about that!" the girl flamed. "What are you doing to my friends?"
"Nothing." He turned her loose reluctantly. "Here, take care of McVane." Watching her cautiously, he dragged the engineer inside.
"Let me out!" She tried to squeeze past him. "They're doing awful things!"
"Calm down." He frowned uneasily. "You look after McVane. I'll take a look at your friends."
Despite her protests he locked her in again, then impatiently hurried to the well to slide down and turn into the hold.
Six of the crew were clustered by the cage which held the Mutes.
"What—" Then he saw what had happened. The sight made him sick.
The Mutes lay in grotesque heaps. Dead. They had been rayed!