Sion looked down at Mike impassively; he had no personal stake in Mike's behavior or performance so he did not judge his tardiness.  "Yes, Seaman Rogers, I was informed that you will be joining us in the shuttle.  You are cleared to enter."  When Claire passed in front of him, Sion smiled back in politeness, a bit relieved to see that not everyone human going to be difficult to deal with.  When Blythe passed him by, he had expected her to behave coldly, given how she had responded to Solomon earlier.  Sion wondered if Blythe was aware of the fact that the program only wanted Claire, and only took Blythe on because hints in the twins' cog designs suggested that the two had to go together to unleash their full potential.

Solomon made a show of entering last, testing the limits of Sion's patience.  "Hey Lieutenant," Solomon asked lazily, "Besides me, who in our team is Ascended?"

Sion narrowed his eyes momentarily and decided that answering him would be the fastest solution, "Only Lieutenant Encarnacion, who we will meet when we arrive at the carrier."

Solomon clicked his tongue in disappointment.  Then he realized that he didn't have to show respect to anyone in the shuttle, except maybe Sion because of his rank.  He sat down and reclined, taking up as many seats as he could and pulled his hat over his eyes.  he had wanted to pick on someone but maybe he'd save it for later.  He didn't feel like getting in trouble just yet, not until he knew he could get away with it.

Israfil, who had entered the shuttle first, sat down and made sure there was a seat next to him for Mike.

Tera meanwhile, decided to sit near Claire, while still keeping Blythe's seat open.  "Ensign Tera QAZ," she introduced herself in a quiet, airy voice.  Looking at people's facial expressions and body language, Claire looked like the most approachable of the pilots so far.

The shuttle, meanwhile, detached from the station and made its way into outer orbit, where it will rendezvous with the Incubator Concert, the experimental fleet commissioned specifically for the deployment of the cogs.