Hutch also felt uncomfortable about the decision. They all did. “He would have been the right guy to have around if we have serious trouble,” she said.

“Maybe,” said Ken, “if nobody has any pressing business, we should have some breakfast.” That sounded like a good idea, something to change the mood. They followed him into the galley and discovered a broad selection of eggs, potatoes, waffles, French toast, pancakes, hash brown casserole, country ham, muffins, strawberries, and apples. It was the first time any of them had seen the menu.

They sat down at the table, ordered from Barry, and waited for the bell to ring. Derek thanked everybody for their response to the shutdown attempt. “In the end,” he said, “they’ll be glad we did this.”

“Let’s hope we find something,” said Ken.

Hutch became aware that Derek was watching her with concern. Was she okay?

She nodded. I’m fine.

Barry announced that the coffee was ready. Everybody took a cup, and they commented on how good it smelled. And tasted. They struggled to find a subject other than the mission, which, at that moment, had a dark side. They talked about the comfort of their cabins, the layout of the workout room, the shows and books that were available through the library. And finally, the bell dinged. They got up and collected their breakfasts at the server. The food looked good, so it became the center of discussion.

Life in a Locarno interstellar, completely cut off from the outside world, quickly becomes a bubble. For Hutch, who had been through this before, twenty-six days suddenly seemed like an extraordinarily long time.

Hutch knew it was smart to eat slowly on extended missions. There was an inclination to eat too much, to put away a packaged meal and go after a second one. If she followed her instincts, she’d come home with an extra twenty pounds. “You know,” she said, “we get all these scientific advances, communication implants, life extensions, lightbenders, avatars, and I’m not sure what else. I wonder when we’ll get a breakthrough that lets us eat whatever we feel like without gaining weight.”

When they’d finished eating, they returned to the passenger cabin and looked up at the display. They were all in the habit of watching news reports periodically through the day. “Sorry,” said Derek. “But we have a million shows.”

They put on a comedy that everyone had enjoyed back home. But here, it didn’t work unless you could start with, say, the Jack Crispee Show. If you couldn’t get the latest report on the presidential election campaign, there was no way to avoid feeling isolated. “It makes me wonder,” said Beth, “how people managed at all before we got electricity. You know, in those days, the country could get into a major war and you might not know about it for weeks.”