Well this isn’t really going according to plan. The ship? Oh the ship’s fine – mostly. No, it’s Mr ‘that’s not the way we used to do it’ Tsvetayev. I swear, if he tells me ‘how it used to be done’ one more time….

Tige has this ‘tell’. I say something, anything that he doesn’t agree with, or thinks ought to be done differently and his left hand wanders slowly up toward the back of his head – almost like he thinks it’s going to get mugged on the way there – and then he starts rubbing away at his bald spot. It’s gotten that I see the hand, I hear the objections even before he opens his mouth.

I mean okay, he really does know his stuff. But does he HAVE to keep rubbing it in that maybe I don’t?

Anyway forget that, I just wanted to blow off a little steam is all. Let me tell you about our ‘baby’. Oh boy what a ship. You don’t conn her oh no. You coax. And wheedle. And beg.

Well I do anyway. Bloody Tige slams into stations like his tail’s on fire, lands bang on point everytime. Me? I push on the stick and the old girl ignores me. For a while. Eventually we begin our turn. Couple days later it seems like, I get ‘er on the new heading and lo – I’m again hanging on the stick begging her to level out! Always seems to feel like I need to do yesterday what I want HER to do tomorrow.

And another thing. Ol’ Tige the swine, ‘had to take out the escape capsules’ during the ‘repairs’. Terrific. I mean isn’t that the finest dandiest thing you ever did hear? Every run’s a suicide run.

We are getting pretty rich pretty quick though. Or at least I am. Ol’ Tige won’t take a wooden penny. Seriously. I still haven’t quite figured what his game is yet. Part of me says he’s ‘up to something’, part of me says ‘what the heck’. If’n when you can be sure I’ll let you know.

By the way, this weeks top tip: don’t land T-9s with ropey thrusters on hi-gee planets! Not if you don’t want the sort of repair bills that’d buy you a fleet of sidewinders….

L.