Thomas looked down at the books Val had just dropped on the floor, and back at Val's now brightly red face, wondering if she was going to pick them up. Instead she held out her hand like Thomas did, and so he grabbed it and shook it gently. Val wasn't a human, as looks often were deceiving as it was with many other intelligent races out in the vast universe. Some alien races had the look of humans, but their biology made them completely different species, and so healty offspring was rarely (and to the demise of many couples of aliens) unlikely. 

It was a brief moment of silence as Thomas waited for Val to either continue the conversation or to pick up her books. She did neither, as Nafi, the cyborg-girl who was an assassin, not the profession Thomas respected the most but she had treated him with respect, unlike a certain reptile. Nafi asked Val if she had nerves for her first mission, and left while telling her that she would soon be up with the others. As she walked away, Thomas realized that Val hadn't been at the briefing and wasn't fully aware of the situation. He bent down, as the Sub-Zero suit was rather agile even for all its usage, and picked up Val's books. "You weren't at Captain Hunt's briefing, but I'm sure he'd want you to stay on-board the ship for now. We're going down to a ice-covered planet, with pools of lava spewing up through the ice, to record it's climate, rotation, and possible life-forms on it. You're a scientist if your files wasn't terribly wrong, so you should ask Captain Hunt for permission to have a direct video and information-link between us two while I take tests and samples down there." Thomas said to Val, holding the books for her to take back. She seemed young, and yes he knew that her race grew slower that humans, but she was still young for a scientist. Still, she was here, and Thomas wasn't going to ask twice for help with his tasks right now. "Follow me, I'll take you to the captain. We'll find him in the docking bay soon." Thomas added, handing Val her books and starting to walk towards the docking bay, ready for another good day's work.