Tony's attention passes over the flood of new arrivals with a cursory, vague kind of interest. Two months on the ship has acquainted him with a sense of who's familiar, even if he hasn't personally spoken to everyone, so the sudden break in routine faces is, if nothing else, a refreshing change of pace. It also means he's on alert for anyone who may be familiar from home, given the Ingress's apparent preference for his home world.

So to say he's surprised when he spots someone who looks unnervingly like Alexander Pierce wouldn't really be accurate. 'Incredulously resigned' might be more on the money; just what they all need right now, more tight-assed authority figures. He debates approaching the man or simply pretending this will go away if he ignores it hard enough, but opts for the former. Call it masochism.

"Fancy meeting you here, Mr. Secretary," comes the greeting from somewhere beyond Pierce's right shoulder, in the exact same tone and with the exact same expression Tony's used on many dignitaries before him. Good to know it hasn't gotten rusty yet.