The captain took up his position at the observation port next to the lock. "Are you ready, gentlemen?" With the others, Archer slipped on his radio headset, placed his head-globe in its rubber gasket and tightened the four clamps that held it. He cracked the compressed-air valve just enough to inflate the suit gently, and turned on the regulator unit. As he stepped into the airlock, the voice of Captain Rogan, slightly blurred in transmission, sounded in his ears: "Stokely and Archer, being armed, will enter first. Stokely will report progress, if able--otherwise Archer, Evans, Grimwood, in that order. Please acknowledge." The four men in the lock spoke their "Yes, sirs," in the order named, including Dr. Grimwood, whose response was nervously emphatic. He was plainly unaccustomed to activity during degravitation, but the set of his bony countenance showed his determination to go through with it. Will Archer felt his suit stiffening as the gauge dropped toward zero, and he moved his arms and legs a little to test the ball joints. They moved freely, being precisely pivoted so that the volume of the suit remained constant regardless of position. A moment later, Stokely pulled open the outer hatch. One of the contact rods projected from its sheath near the hatch to a point within reach of the other ship's lock. Stokely set out carefully, hand over hand, and Archer followed him, gripping the rod firmly with each hand in turn. This was no time to make a slip and go drifting off into nowhere. The pistol at his side would provide a means of getting back, but an awkward one, because one's center of gravity was difficult to judge accurately, and if the shot were not closely aligned to it, one stood an excellent chance of converting himself into a human pinwheel. Archer waited near the hull of the other ship until Stokely drew himself out of the way, then, grasping a nearby rung, he made room for Evans and Grimwood. Stokely, though a few feet away, was in dense shadow and almost invisible, but his flashlight made a shifting oval of light on what appeared to be a pane of vitreon, and he spoke steadily: "I'm looking through the porthole, but I can't see much. There are no lights aboard ship. Nothing seems to be out of place in the waist here, but of course I can't see the nose and tail compartments." "How about the lock?" came Captain Rogan's voice. "Try the emergency control." Archer could feel a slight vibration through the hull as Stokely changed his position, then spoke again: "Seems to be in working order. The lock is evacuating. But it's going to be a squeeze for the four of us." "Better go in two at a time. You and Archer first. And keep your suits operating, even if the air reads all right--there just might be some fancy bacteria floating around."