by the boundless possibilities of the future that they would accept next to no pay in exchange for a chance to see the galaxy Ulina the third mate drained her pungent tongue burning Olo tea as a loud moan echoed through the dimly lit corridors of the barge like the last dregs of steam departing from the furnace of an old moisture farm She scanned through the dozen or so deckhands gathered around the low rusty table wolfing down their food and settled on a lanky fifteen year old girl with cropped hair Sounds like the feisty filly in the corner stall is having having trouble sleeping The patch over Ulina's left eye glowed red with annoyance Did you do the endurance endurance exercises with her in the double gravity chamber today You know fathiers need heavy exercise when they're cooped up on a ship like this Sorry said Teal the fifteen year old I had to clean the reflux combusters
No excuses said Ulina Each of these fathiers is worth more than three years of your wages Go fix your mistake Do I get only half rations next meal asked Teal timidly You've been making a lot of mistakes on this trip Almost late for some chore every day Though her tone was severe the red glow in Ulina's eye patch faded to a gentler orange But we've been shorthanded If you finish and come back quickly I might not even remember that you had to do your chores out of order I'm old as some of you keep reminding me The young deckhands around the table chuckled at this No one knew where Ulina was from but it was said that she was older than all the deckhands put together The gruff third mate had a kind streak in her that was all too rare among the desperadoes who plied the long haul trade routes to eke out a living If you dawdle and the first mate runs into you when
he makes his rounds though you'll have to go hungry He's got a much better memory than I Chastened but also relieved Teal stuffed her bread and nutrient paste tube into her pockets as she got up from the table You're acting like we're going to steal your food said G'kolu a twelve year old Anlari boy whose fleshy horns were only as long as a human finger The horns curled to show his amusement You're not going to enjoy eating that in the stinking fathier stalls anyway Leave it here I promise it will be here when you get back That's not why Teal stopped What are you planning on sharing it with the fathiers asked Jane a girl from Tanto Winn where everyone had green eyes That bit of bread isn't even enough to fill the gap between their teeth They won't appreciate it
Teal shook her head None of your business She turned and ran off The echoes of her footsteps bounced against the bulkheads and partitions drawing more groans and neighs from other fathiers massive towering creatures of incredible speed and grace when not confined in the cramped quarters of a spaceship They stamped their four legs each as big around as a tree trunk and a few meters tall and the din they made took a while to subside G'kolu's horns twisted pensively but he said nothing nothing The first rule of being on a deep space crew was that you respected the privacy of others Everyone had secrets Ulina turned to the rest of the deckhands Better get some sleep We'll be in port by morning watch and it's going to be a long day of unloading in Canto Bight
