In progress

Cat had a hard time answering nube questions. She was far to experienced to deal with the kids the brass kept throwing at her. The economy was too good to pay people to the ends of the universe. People got more money for publicizing the life of genetically augmented kittens. The romance of roaming the depths of space had gone.

By the time Cat got in the biz, the average salary of a bounce jockey, the people who piloted pods through wormholes, had dropped to just above the poverty line. She still can't afford to rent an apartment that allows pets.

Today she had a duty bestowed upon her that she really didn't like. Training is all well and good, but OTJ, on the job training, is pretty much the only to figure out if someone has the metal to be a pilot for Biesler Corp.

A bald head popped in the hatch up side down. "Permission to come aboard." The young man was, at least, something to look at for the trip to The Box and back.

This formality is completely unnecessary. Cat nodded him in.

The nube slipped in through the access hatch above the left drive seat. He lowered himself without effort in to place. This was not lost on Cat. She liked men who were athletic, but they had a bad habit of not working out on the long runs.

Cat sat in the right side and been in her command seat for 10 minuets running diagnostics. "When you have a nube on board, run every check twice." she would say to others who took on the task of educating the eager or overzealous.

Where did Biesler Corp find these people. They start out so ready to please and think they will conquer the universe. It's a good thing Cat enjoys crushing souls. There is usually a single moment where they grasp the situation. If you catch that moment, you can tell in the next 10 seconds if they will snap, quit, or see it through.

"Who knows, maybe ... " Cat peaked at the itinerary on the interface to her left. Sure enough it had the nube's name on it. Andy Masseur. " ... Andy will break the mold." She thought to herself. She would have to remember the trick. "He sounds like a nube. I'll have to come up with a nickname."

Cat answered "When you materialize in the middle of a star, the million tons or so of star material you send back the other way will have plenty of room in which to explode, without attracting too much attention."

In the next moment of silence, Cat anticipated the next question and continued "The dozen or so times it has happened that I know of, it didn't end up on the books. There is always some other reason given."

The look on the new recruit's face was priceless. She had been in that seat many years ago. "What is this kid's name?" Cat thought to herself. She would have to check the badge or the red tape on her link. Cat resolved herself for the fifteenth time to make a better effort to remember first shot's names from now on.

Notes:

• Protagonist: Elise Catnaw (Cat)
• Nube name: Andy Masseur
• Company name: Biesler Corp.
• Run name: Broadway
• Ship name: RXA-45421 (Rita)
• terms
• The box: The points at each end of a jump.