Seth replied to Ivan’s muttered complaint. “You’ll get a better view on the Astra. Shuttles and ferries are built as utilitarian as possible. On long-haul ships, we have to be a lot more aware of human psychological needs.”

“Say, you seem to know a lot about it. Are you the ship’s shrink or something?”

Seth laughed. “Sure, yeah, that’s me. That’s why I get paid the big bucks.” He settled more comfortably into his seat. “We have a lot of spare time on the ship. I always bring up a few pets of reading and other media. I can lend you some, if you run out of porn.”

Ivan chuckled, then thought of the sticks in his luggage, stuffed to the last petabyte with correspondence courses and reference materials in Computer Science, Astronomy and Physics. He was relieved to know he wouldn’t be odd man out. “Thanks. I did bring some educational stuff. I’m taking courses, and I’m looking forward to some chunks of free time.”

Tennison Davies stuck his head over the back of his chair. “Just don’t forget you’re on Hydroponics duty on the way out, sprout. Me and the boys, we like our grub.”

“Thanks, Tex, I’ll be sure to corral something for you.”

Seth laughed out loud, and several of Tennison’s friends snickered. Tennison turned red and looked for a moment as if he would take umbrage. Then he grinned at Ivan. “Touché, sprout. You just tend those plants real good, y’hear?”

Seth nudged Ivan with an elbow. “Hey, why don’t you ask Tenn who is the only crew member that has managed to ruin prepackaged meals?” There were more laughs, and Seth continued, “Who knows what would happen if we let him near the hydroponics?”

Tennison made a show of silently laughing at Seth, before sitting down.

“Maneuvering, fifteen seconds.”

At the announcement, everyone settled back into their acceleration chairs and made sure they were buckled in properly. They endured the usual several minutes of thrusts and twitches, then a final clunk.

The P.A. crackled to life. “Docking complete. On behalf of Captain Crash and the surviving crew, thank you for flying Mad Dog Airways. Any chickens on board remain the property of the airline. Don’t trip over the drunk guy on your way out. Have a good flight.”

Ivan and Seth laughed, and Seth said, “Yeah, flying ferries gets a little boring, I guess.”

* * *