ANOTHER PAGE OR TWO FROM 'REACH FOR MARS' :-

“I think we should take a break so you can pick out cabins for yourselves, unpack, and settle in. We’ll help you to pick the cabins and carry your luggage to them if you like.”

Mel and I followed Vladimir and Yelena to where the luggage was piled up next to the inner airlock and grabbed bags they pointed to while they picked up others and followed us down one of the corridors to the cabins. I stopped at one and pushed the panel to open it with my elbow. As the door slid open and the lights came on, I heard a gasp from behind me. I turned.

“This is our cabin? Just Yelena’s and mine?” Vladimir asked in shock.

“Yes indeed. It is very expensive but paid for in advance, my Russian comrade,” I said, and then I carried his bags in and put them on the floor next to the bed.

“You will have a lovely view of the Milky Way through your cabin windows, along with the remnants of anything we may crash into on our journey to Mars.”

“I know you are joking—at least I hope you are.”

“Are you sure about that? I haven’t been on the bridge for four hours now. We may have hit many things while I have been with you,” I said.

“I am not a pilot, as I’m sure you know, but I can recognize a good one when I see one. You are, now let me see if I can say this right, taking the piss?”

I laughed and responded,

“Yes, I am. Sorry about that; I can’t help myself sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” Mel interjected.

“We are perfectly safe. The ship is in autopilot mode and it knows the way far better than I do,” I continued, totally ignoring Mel.

“I am very glad to hear that. Where is the nearest bathroom, by the way?”

“Right next door—follow me.”

I walked past the bed to a door near the outer hull and pushed the blue panel next to it. It slid open to reveal the luxurious bathroom behind it. I then swept my hand around in a majestic flourish.

“All this is yours, my friend!”

“This is magnificent, unbelievable. Are all the cabins aboard this ship the same?”

“I don’t know; I picked this cabin at random. But the Martians certainly seemed to know how to live comfortably.”

Yelena and Mel excused themselves to check if there was any more luggage to be brought in. Vladimir and I moved to follow but were waved off. “No, it’s all right; if there’s anything we can’t manage, we’ll call you,” Yelena said as she walked out.

“You know what they just did, don’t you?” Vladimir said when he judged they were out of earshot.

“Yeah, they left.”

“Yes, so the leaders of the two crews can establish boundaries.”

“What boundaries? There are no boundaries. I be the captain of this vessel, Vlad, me lad!”

“Where is the parrot that should be sitting upon your shoulder, Captain?”

“I set it free by throwing it out of the airlock! It kept crapping down the back of my shirt.”