Free Take The Star Road (The Maxwell Saga) by Peter Grant

someday. I've got my own specialization aboard ship - I'm a small craft pilot," and he reached up to touch the wings on his left chest, "but I also supervise work parties, and look after one of the accommodation units, and do anything else the Bosun or one of the mates sends my way - like training you, for example."
    "That's about the size of it," the Bosun agreed. "Now, before we do anything else, I need coffee. Maxwell, can we find the good stuff around here at this hour of the morning?"
    "There's a breakfast cart two blocks down. I've eaten there before - it's not bad. I could use some coffee, too. I didn't get much sleep last night."
    "Yeah, I noticed!" Another chuckle as Steve blushed again. "I'll treat both of you - I did real well trading with Louie this trip, so I'm flush. Lead on!"
    They stood beside the cart in preoccupied silence for a few minutes, each with a large insulated carry cup of coffee in one hand and an outsize toasted bacon and egg sandwich in the other. It was orbital food, of course, produced synthetically rather than naturally, but the artificial flavors and textures adequately imitated the originals.
    Finally the Bosun gulped down the last of his breakfast and took a slug of coffee. "Aah! That hit the spot!" He glanced at Steve. "Thanks, Maxwell. I'm not fully human until I've got something inside me in the mornings."
    Steve decided to risk it. "Yeah, I noticed, Bosun."
    "Cheeky bugger!" His grin belied his words. "I see you got a buzz-cut."
    "Yes. You specified an enhanced PIA with a cranial headnet in your list of gear, so I figured I'd need really short hair to use it; and I remembered how short you cut your hair."
    "You're right. A standard PIA is far too limited to cope with all the tasks and duties we have aboard ship."
    "That's for sure," Tomkins agreed. "You'll have to wear the cranial headnet for a couple of days to let it identify your brain patterns, then we'll authorize your new PIA to access the ship's training systems. You won't be able to use our hypno-study facilities without it - and that's just the beginning."
    The Bosun glanced at the tower of Steve's luggage. "By the way, don't trust that belt tracking unit alone. If a thief aims a more powerful signal at your baggage on the same frequency through a directional antenna, it'll turn away from you and go to him instead. If you don't notice, it can be gone in five or ten seconds."
    "Oh!" Steve lowered his cup, his face a picture of dismay. "Thanks for warning me. I've never owned much worth stealing before. How can I prevent that?"
    "Hold the base unit's towing strap in your hand, or attach it to your belt. The trunk will still follow the tracking unit, so the strap won't hold you back; but if your baggage gets diverted by another signal, you'll feel the strap tug at you."
    "I get it."
    Steve fastened his carryall to the top of the baggage tower and pulled the long strap from its reel in the base trunk. They set off, coffee cups in hand. Steve felt the strap's inertia reel tugging occasionally at his hand as his baggage followed dog-like behind him.
    "You marked all your belongings the way I told you?"
    "Aye aye, Bosun. I engraved or etched my name on all the tools, work gear and baggage, and bought a roll of heat-seal name-tags for the clothing."
    "Good. Our crew is pretty honest, but if something's unmarked and lying around it tends to be regarded as 'finders keepers'."
    They paused to let a robotic cleaning cart roll across an intersection with another passageway, its speaker warning of its approach by playing a noisy tune over the rumble and hiss of its water jets, brushes and suction heads. The Bosun raised his voice to be heard above it. "See that robot? It never complains about having to work hard - it just gets on with the job. You need to learn from that. You're bound to make a beginner's usual mistakes, and we understand that; but the one thing you've got to show your shipmates, right from the start, is that you're prepared