The crew had assembled near the hatch by the time the ship gave a slight lurch when the landing gear made first contact with the planet's surface. Teo smiled back at their beaming faces. He didn't need to tell them anything. They could see from the windows what they'd found.

The Captain began, "Only Teo and I will be going out initally-" she held up a hand at the collective groan of protest. "You all know protocol. As soon as we've had a look around, then Polly, Karan and JuJu, I'm sure the ship could use a thorough inspection from the outside. Jamal and Mo, we'll need help taking samples. However, all of that waits until the initial survey is complete. I know you're all eager to get off this hunk of metal, and I'm sorry I haven't been able to get any of you planet-side in years except Karan, but we need to proceed with utmost caution as per an alien planet. We'll leave the hatch open, though. We can all use a dose of fresh air."

Teo nodded at the Captain. "Aerators on everyone. The air is thin, but breathable."

"This place is dead?" Karan Medved leaned a thick hand aside the hatch, his clever eyes showing he'd already reached the same conclusions the Captain and Teo had discussed earlier about allotments.

"As far as the scans show, there are no signs of life," replied the Captain. Teo watched her piercing look that gave the mechanic an unspoken command to keep his thoughts to himself. Karan twitched his middle finger once and turned back to the window. As the only crew member permitted to leave the ship with the Captain when they landed to sell their scrap, the two could read each other like a book.

Once the Captain was satisfied everyone was safely covered, she cracked a rare smile behind the clear cover of her aerator and pressed the button to open the hatch.

It began it's silent retraction, and bright orangey-red sunlight streaked in across the dark floor of the ship through the first crack. They all watched the rays approaching steadily. The sunlight as eager to touch them as they were it.

As the hatch opened further, a light breeze slipped in as well, carrying dust particles backlit by the streaming sunlight. The wind through Teo's hair and over his few bits of exposed skin was the most wonderful sensation. He stretched his arms wider, and ignored the pinch of regret that he couldn't smell anything with his aerator on. He didn't know if he'd remember what a real planet smelled like anyway, since he hadn't been off the ship in almost fifteen years.

He watched the dust swirling in the flow of wind that came in more strongly. Everyone smiled and laughed. JuJu had her head tipped back with her eyes half-closed and a beatific smile on her face. Polly and Jamal held their hands out as if they could catch the breeze in their gloves.

For a moment, the particles in front of Polly arranged themselves in a perfectly straight line pointing at her face, stretching out and almost straining to touch her through the plastic, but when he blinked they were merely dancing around her again in the wind. Teo glanced at the other crew members, but saw nothing other than eddies of dust twirling around each person and creating a slight film on the masks covering their faces.

The ship's doctor Jamal Seabrook pointed outside. "Where's the water? The soil looks dry already."

Teo whipped his head around to look. "You're right. It was raining hard enough to have collected at least an inch or two of water." Teo looked at the Captain. "Permission to disembark."

The Captain nodded and followed closely behind as Teo walked down the short metal ramp shining dully in the sunlight. The rest of the crew stopped at the seam of the ship, their eagerness to feel terra firma beneath their feet palpable even from the end of the ramp where Teo stopped and squatted to examine the perfectly dry soil. He reached out and pinched a bit to roll between his gloved fingers, then dropped it into an analyzer. "It's excellent soil, Captain. All the essential trace elements, and a few I don't recognize, but their composition appears to be a stable element, perhaps mineral. I'll know more once I get a sample under the ship's microscope."

There was a shifting and rustling of feet from up the gangplank as the crew strained to get a look. The Captain put her hands on her hips and looked around. She said quietly, "You're sure the planet is inert."

Teo shrugged and gazed out at the wide flat plain that stretched to the horizon, marred only by a few small hills in the far distance. "I can only tell you what the scanners have found, Captain. Even before we landed, though, we saw no indication of movement. I can't explain this place, but even from this sample here, it looks like this place is dead. Rich for colonization needs, but dead." Teo glanced at the crew waiting in the mouth of the ship. "I can't guarantee anyone's safety, but I can't see any threats, either."

The Captain nodded and almost whispered, "Alright, we all go out together."

Teo gave a small start. It was almost unheard of for the Captain to break protocol. She must be more excited about the possibility of an allotment than he expected.

Turning to face up the ramp, the Captain hit her comms to address the assembled crew. "All observations so far indicate there is no threat on this planet, but we need to remain vigilant. We'll go out in groups to survey the territory. That way we'll get it done more quickly to report the find, and then we'll see where that leads us."

Shock at this momentous announcement froze the crew for several heartbeats, then as one they scrambled down the ramp with a clatter of boots and lined up at attention in front of the Captain. Once Teo fell in with the rest, First Officer Mo Riggs snapped a smart salute and said, "Awaiting orders, ma'am!"

The Captain gave them another rare smile, which made the crew straighten their spines and push back their shoulders a fraction more. The ghosts of smiles danced across their faces. Teo knew each and every one of them would go to the wall for the Captain, because time and again she'd pulled strings and struck deals to make the enforced imprisonment on their ship as easy as possible. Like the time on the planet Belgiya where she'd gotten a load of sea water delivered so they could set up a small swimming pool in the hangar bay. It didn't matter none of them knew how to swim, they lounged and played in that water until it evaporated.

Karan often reported the Captain had gotten into yet another fight defending humanity. If they'd been allowed to carry weapons, she'd probably have dispatched a fair few who took her on, because beneath the impassive exterior and buttery language, she was a coiled snake ready to strike and defend if provoked. She was only average-looking to the unschooled. As it was, only smooth talking and greased palms kept her banned from surface landings.

The Captain nodded her approval of the crew. "We'll go in three teams. Teo and I will take the rover to explore those hills. The rest of you go out two miles then arc around for two then come back in. Report in anything unusual on the comms." She paused and met each person's gaze with a severe look, then almost smiled again as her gaze swept over them once more. "But first, permission to disembark."