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“SheAustin’s own thoughts

“I ondering the sahborhood around here isn’t exactly swarlars”

“We don’t have a lot of choice,” Zavala said “Go for it”

Austin pushed against the glowing button If an alar slid silently aside to reveal an opening shaped like a n and swaht on his fins They were in a cha down fro On the as a duplicate of the switch that opened the door Austin pushed the glowing green button He accidentally nudged the pack with their weapons, and it fell through the opening in the air lock

“Forget it,” he said, anticipating Zavala’s question “We don’t have time”

The outer door closed, and a ring of lights flicked on inside The chamber was quickly pu Still no sign that their presence had been noted All was quiet except for the hum of distant machinery

Austin pulled hih the hatch Then he motioned for Zavala to follow and clier circular roo froe cabinet held various specialized tools

Austin re-handled brush with stiff steel bristles “They must use this stuff to clean the intake ports out there The openings would get clogged up with algae otherwise”

Zavala went over to a door in the curving wall and pointed to another red-green switch “I’ence tests where the chimp presses a button for food”

“Not me,” Austin said “A chimp would be too smart to be in a place like this”

On Austin’s signal, he hit the green button The door opened, and they stepped into a room with four walls The room contained shower stalls and shelves Austin removed a plastic-wrapped packet from a shelf and opened it Inside was a white two-piece suit ht synthetic ot out of their dry suits and quickly pulled the white uniforms over their thermal underwear Austin’s distinctive silver-platinulad to see that each packet held a tight-fitting plastic cap

“How do I look?” he said, aware that the suit wasn’t made to accommodate his wide shoulders

“Like a large and unsavory white mushroom”

“Exactly the io”

They were in a cavernous cha widths crossed the space The hum they heard earlier was so loud it al from everywhere