[She listens politely, continuing to enjoy her food. It surprises her that a captain would be involved in the preparation of it. Ari has never cooked for herself in her life. She'd been a child on Cardalek, and she'd signed her first spacer contract at thirteen. She'd had a month working in the laundry during her training, which she doesn't recall with particular fondness, but she'd never been assigned cooking duties shipside.]

They really are very good. So much better than the protein blocks and emergency ration packs we have to rely on if we're out in the black too long.

[Now Ari thinks she understands. It must be disappointing, looking out for tales of an ancestral homeland only to hear about all the wrong Earths. Spotting her interest in the badges, Ari points to each in turn.]

That one means I'm a certified lieutenant, passed my examination and qualified for command, and this one means I trained as an astrogator - keeping charts and plotting courses and doing all the fancy flying. I should have a patch there for the ship I'm in contract with, but... [she shrugs] I'm out here instead.

[Her last contract had ended unexpectedly, through no fault of her own, and she'd been stuck on Siduri Station looking for work, because nobody wanted to take on such a young lieutenant as their second astrogator, but she wouldn't settle for less than she'd had before. Going backwards was terrible for one's career. It's not something she cares to dwell on, so she turns the conversation back to her companion.]


Your family came from Earth - from one of these Earths? What did they say it was like there?