I didn't know the answer to that. I'd only been a wolf for six months, and this was only my second shift. I didn't even know if I could shift back on earth. Dr. Bunting had run all sorts of tests on me, but he seemed disappointed when he discovered my genetic markers were all the same, even after the intense radiation and the trip to space.
The shuttle listed the opposite way, and my head cleared a little. Instead of fighting the urge to bite and claim Gunnar, I sensed my humanity near the surface, rather than trapped in my mind.
I reached for my skin and it obliged, wrapping around me and returning me to my human form. I chuffed a laugh and sank down on my folded arms.
"How did you do that?"Gunnar's wolf whined and licked my face.
"Reach for your humanity."
"I can't feel it!"He tried to pace, but the airlock was too small for him to turn around without climbing the wall. He put his paws up on the airlock door and yipped."The light's blinking. That means it's about to open, right?"
"You have one minute before the airlock door opens."
"Shit! The air will be sucked right out of my doggy lungs!"
I grabbed him by the ruff and shuffled beneath his giant paw, very aware that I was practically naked. "Listen to me. I need you to shift back."
"I don't know how!"
"Take a deep breath."
He did it with me, in for six, out for eight.
"Find your humanity."
He closed his eyes and leaned forward, his body shrinking slightly.
"Come back to me so we can get your suit back on."
He tossed his head back in a soundless howl. His fur rippled and shrank into his perfect skin and chiseled human form. I wanted to hold him against me, to kiss his forehead and tell him everything would be all right, but the countdown had reached the final seconds.
"Ten. Nine."
"Here." I handed him my helmet, tethered to the folding bench by the inner strap. "Where's your helmet?" I asked when I couldn't see it.
He handed it to me as she continued to count down. "Three. Two."
"Hit the override switch on that door at the same time I hit this one," I said, yanking the helmet over my head. It would only work for a few seconds before the outside space mingled with our air.
"Now," I said as the light changed from red to green and the door shifted with a shudder. It moved less than an inch before it reversed and returned to the locked position. The light returned to red.
"Cockpit access will be restored in five minutes," the female computer voice said.
"Fast thinking with the override," Gunnar said as he tugged on his compression shirt. I'd missed my chance to see him naked. He'd pulled on his pants with lightning speed.
I dragged on my compression pants, happy to find my underwear had survived, the front, anyway. From the draft, they must have split in the back to make room for my tail. Still, I would take that as a win.
"Now what do we do?"
He pulled the flight suit up to his knees and stepped into his boots, and then snapped at me when he caught me staring at his knees. "Sebastian?"
I loved hearing my name roll off his tongue. It sounded foreign and dangerous.
The danger sense snapped me back to the present. "We'll see how far off course we are, and how much fuel we have left."
I hoped we had enough to return to the space station. I planned to go through every line of code inthe shuttle's motherboard before I trusted her to take us home.
The airlock opened into the cockpit again, and we resumed our seats. For several minutes, we talked math, code, and logistics. Once we'd set our course for rendezvous with the space station, Gunnar removed his helmet and raised both hands to massage his neck. "What the hell happened back there?"
