The Lithuwaa inside would be in the Control Sector, and would undoubtedly see her approach on the trivid screens. But once she got close enough to the ship she’d be out of their range of sight. They would wonder what she was going to do, but they couldn’t see her enter at the ship’s tail, nor could they correctly interpret the tiny light that would flash on the control console to indicate the Engineer’s Exit was in use.
She reached the tail and pressed the touchplate that opened the hatch, then clambered into the tiny airlock and waited. The chamber’s pumps began pushing out the water, which was a good sign. She’d worried that the Lithuwaa might have flooded the ship to ease their own working conditions—but that would have destroyed all the ship’s systems, and the aliens had realized that
