She gritted her teeth into a nut pastry. "I wonder what would happen if once, just once, the crew told Stacy that we were going to wait in orbit until we knew for damn sure what was waiting for us down there? We've got magicians in the crew, for god's sake. Are Stacy's orders really so inflexible that she needs to kick us out like we're on fire?"

And threaten to leave without the away team - that had happened to Howard and her, back on Epicurea.

"For all we know, we were just there to get rid of the Orb. But of course Stacy couldn't send down a crew member who could walk through walls, or read minds, or cast a spell that would bring the Orb to them - or dissolve it, if that was the point. Instead she sends three normal people."

So to speak. For certain values of 'normal.'

"I," she paused. "I'm not really that attached to plooms." She makes the ghost of one appear over her plate, then vanish. "I'd be better off sticking to what I know. Databases, AI tweaking, inventory. Strictly white collar."