In the mess hall, the lights were out. The figure of the captain loomed like a stark obelisk in the gloom.
"Captain, sir, we uns uv been sittin' here at this table fur hours an' hours. I'm gettin' purty tired us sittin'."
"It's not long until the Festival," he said.
"When the mess boy cleared away all them dishes, I thought shore you'd leave, then."
"Oh, no," said the captain. "This is very exciting."
"It ain't, the way I see it," Joanne Marie said.
"Different perspective, Madam. Doubtless you would not have considered it very exciting either, the time I ran a wagon train from Tamask-Cha. You see, the material was to be delivered on a mining contract. Madam, I can assure you it was hot. The only road was a narrow line across the Ubiq desert. And late the first evening...."
"I can see it warn't very exciting," Joanne Marie said.
Silence returned.