Truth and Beauty 2-9

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Stephen paused, picking up his glass to give himself time to consider and unthinkingly tipping the amber fluid into his mouth. Was Jack truly serious? There seemed to be no reason to think otherwise, yet he had been deceived before. Was he, Stephen, being overly cautious? “It is an occupational hazard,” he admitted to himself quietly, “a professional deformation.”

“I beg your pardon?” asked Jack, who had seen Stephen’s lips move but hadn’t made out the words.

“Merely thinking aloud,” said Stephen. “If I was to join you, when would we depart, and when would we return?”

“We have no orders yet,” said Jack. “Customarily a new captain is given 72 hours in harbor before shipping out for the first time, and then the first cruise is typically only for a month or so - a shakedown cruise, so to speak, for everyone to get to know each other and the captain to get to know the vessel, how fast she is, her crew’s strengths —” when the arrival of their appetizers cut him short.

The clash of cutlery on crockery dominated the table for several minutes, punctuated briefly by comments as “how is your soup, sir, I think you have the chowder?”, and, “very good, sir, and your salad?”, but Stephen, deep in thought, said nothing. Banks would be the only barrier, he thought, and as his work has hardly been constant, he could hardly object. Nevertheless—, “I would have to see about coverage,” he said to Jack. “I presume that normal phones do not work deep in space?”

“I am afraid they don’t,” said Jack, putting down his spoon. “Email neither. We can write them, of course, but for anything more than an AU or so we have to wait for a vessel bound in that direction.”

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