<strong>Dr. August Carrino<br/>Cryo Bay, RI Swallow<br/>Low Orbit over Planet Sepik (SK01-PROS-01)</strong><br/><br/>While Blair spoke, Gus busied himself with pulling out his quick-clothes from the locker next to his tube.  It was a simple get-up: tough cargo pants, brown field boots, a long-sleeved black shirt and a utilitarian vest covered in empty pockets and vacuum-sealed pouches.  He felt no need to rush about gathering his supplies or equipment.  He'd have all the time in the world to get his little slice of heaven set up on the surface.<br/><br/>After the clothes, he pulled out his PDA, a small rectangle of clear glass with tight lines of text scrolling across over the backdrop of a micrographed earth muscle cell.  After a moment spent tapping at the screen, the device emitted a negative chirp.  Gus sighed and stuck it into one of his many pockets.  Of course there wouldn't be any personal uplinks this far out.  Looks like Nature would have to wait until he could buy a few minutes on the antenna planetside.<br/><br/>He looked up when the Captain spoke.  Like the rest of the crew, Gus had yet to meet the man.  "The Cap must be a tight planner to give us such short notice, or maybe he's just a procrastinator," Gus mused aloud, only half expecting a reply from the medic.  The short notice didn't particularly bother him, since all of his gear was in cargo and he didn't need to prepare anything for the landing.  He liked microgravity, but most vessels rarely disabled their gravity drives, so being on a spaceship was usually no different than being in a small, cramped building on terra.  Landing in one hour was no different than landing in one day, so far as he was concerned.<br/><br/>When he turned to head for the mess hall, he was somewhat surprised to hear Castor use "we."  Gus traveled a lot, partly because he needed a wide variety of xenology for his research, but mostly due to his wanderlust.  Cyro aside, he loved to travel.  Looking at a map of the Orion arm and being able to tick off the two dozen systems he's visited was an amazing feeling that never dulled.  The downside was that he never stuck around long enough to get to know people.  He was used to eating alone, working alone, sleeping alone.  It had never bothered him, and he certainly didn't shun social contact.  It was just never a priority.<br/><br/>So when Castor decided to tag along for the meal, Gus certainly didn't object.  As they made for the cafeteria, he looked at her over his shoulder.  "Well, I'm here to study the local wildlife.  The engineers are here to repair the uplink.  You were here to stick me with a needle.  So, what are you going to do now?  Are you here to stay, or are you turning around and heading back for civilization?"