Andrijan nodded as she confirmed that the small hatch had been cleared. It was a nod of tremendous gravity and solemnity, as if the weight of the world they were plummeting towards were on his shoulders. "Good," he responded. "I'm going to get this thing on the ground," he explained, looking over his shoulder to Moore and Maggie as the ship began to tremble. "The two of you are going to get into that hatch and lock yourselves in. It's going to be the safest place when the ship comes down."<br/><br/>Moore's eyes widened. "What?! No, Andy. You can't stay up here alone."<br/><br/>Andrijan turned back to the view screen, a clear blue sky with just a hint of purple ahead of them, a gorgeous view for their last airborne minutes. "This thing is not going to land itself. Someone has to be here to keep the thrusters on and pointed upward. If we're lucky, we can scrape off our cargo and then bring it down nice and gentle. But I need to stay in this seat to do that, or we all die."<br/><br/>The younger crewman shook his head, hating every element of this plan. "Look, we can leave the hatch open so that you can jump in at the last moment."<br/><br/>The captain whirled on him, even as the ship began to list upwards, being dragged down by the heavy cargo load their tether had chained them to. "If you don't seal that thing you're as exposed as I am up here. Don't argue with me! Now get in the<i>fucking</i>hatch."<br/><br/>Andrijan rarely cursed in English, but this seemed to catch Moore's attention. Though he was as vulgar as they came in Hindi, he didn't often see the need to speak curse in a tongue that was foreign to his native one, as that was only for the benefit of others. In this case, he was telling more -- in no uncertain terms -- that this was important, and he needed to obey.<br/><br/>Moore hesitated, stepping forward and giving Andrijan a solid pat on the shoulder. "Don't be a hero. No unnecessary risks. You get us on the ground and make sure you're still strapped to that seat with a shit eating grin."<br/><br/>He hopped down into the hatch, only sinking down about three feet. As he looked back up to the cockpit, he took a look at Andrijan, the heroic man who was risking everything to save his two crewmates.<br/><br/>Andrijan shouted as the ship bucked again, the weights now beginning to draw the nose up dangerously. "Get going!!" he cried.<br/><br/>Moore extended a hand to Maggie, beckoning her into the hatch.