Suddenly they had a lot of space to spread out in. Dinah was tempted to retreat to the far end of the New Caird and get some privacy, but Markus insisted that everyone sleep down in the command module. New Caird might be free of radioactive contamination, but it was exposed to the direct hazards of space. A bolide strike would kill anyone in it. Whereas a beta-emitting particle, inhaled into the lung, would take days or weeks to incapacitate the victim—time during which they could do useful work.