The view from space

Mission Commander Catherine Spudlehoosen stared out of the engineering room window. It was the biggest onboard. And wasted on engineers.

‘Isn’t that incredible’, she noted.

‘It sure is. Eight seconds faster than planned’, agreed the chief engineer.

‘Not the ship, the view of Centarus-A’

‘Didn’t think a superluminal crankshaft could run so smooth.’

‘It’s infinitely complex.’

‘Not really, the main drive bearings have been in use on the Andromeda run for years.’

‘Whadya think, are we the only sentient creatures in the Universe?’

‘Probably …and if we added a second drive we could knock another six seconds off the trip.’