[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Boy, what a long corridor... seems like we've been walking up here all night...

Okay, now Captain Kestral is taking me to a large, trapezoidal door, it's opening, and... oh, man. It's a field of wheat!

"Actually, it's quatro-triticale, but it's often confused with wheat."

"Steve, meet Angel, our expert in all things edible."

Pleasure to meet you, Angel! Wow, this is really impressive, dude! How can you grow plants like this... hey! We're standing on dirt!

"That's right, Steve. Some plants just grow best in dirt and under gravity, like the Q-T, here. But I also have hydroponic spaces, aeroponic spaces and potted gardens. All to provide real food for the crew!"

Okay, obviously there's nothing wrong with real food, but is it really that significantly better than storing and cooking the prepared foodstuffs that you can get almost anywhere you travel to? I mean, is it really healthier? Is it cheaper? It's certainly not easier!

"No, it's not easier... this is work! But yes, it's worth it. You'd be surprised at the lack of chemical balance you get from processed foods, which are mostly prepared with exactly one thing in mind: To make you want to buy more of it. This is the way people were intended to eat, how they're designed to eat. And it gives me a great deal of satisfaction, knowing that I've contributed to the health and welfare of my shipmates. That's what makes it worthwhile to come up here... to take my tools in my hand, the same tools that Man has used for thousands of years... to work the land, to feel the grit between my fingers... to hold an ear of corn in my hand... to find exactly the right color on a freshly-picked peach! That is what farming is about! It's a covenant with nature! It's a sacred duty!--"

Say, does anyone else hear a fife and drum playing "Yankee Doodle" in the background, or is it just me?

"Hm? Oh... that must be the music player, sometimes it adjusts the volume according to the air density, to make sure all the plants can hear the music."

You're kidding me.

"No, no! Plants do respond to music! They also respond to being handled by people and other animals, as opposed to machines."

But you don't have any animals up here helping you, right?

"No. Were you planning to bring some?"

Uh-uh. So, you also cook. I hear you're good enough to be working in four-star restaurants!

"Don't give him any ideas!"

"It's okay, Carolyn... I like it here! I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!"

And what about your routine? Does farming and cooking ever get a bit boring? Do you ever get involved in other things on the ship?

"Oh, yeah! In fact, on this last mission, I got into a brawl, got out to enjoy some entertainment in town on Shura Dva, and had to assist Tirri in keeping our guests happy... we had a lot of people coming and going on this ship recently!"

"But we won't go into that, right, Angel?"

"Right... spoilers! But anyway, it was fun! And strange. But mostly, sort of... strangely fun!"

That's great! Well, we'll leave you to your farming, and maybe I'll get a chance to sample some of your crops. Say, you grow cocoa beans around here, buddy?

"Heh... when I can! Anytime I make chocolate, I have to hide 'em from this bunch, or it's gone in a nanosecond!"

Okay... thanks again! ...Wow, Carolyn, that was really something back there! How could anyone resist working a ship that carries its own farm?

"If you'd been with us on our last mission, you might rethink that question. There was something weird about Shura Dva, and somehow it affected our foods... everything, right down to the coffee. And I tell you, it's hard to put me off coffee! But usually, it's great. Better than anything I ever ate on a Ranger ship!"

Where are we going now?

"Engineering. Let's see if we can find Sarander there."

Sounds great...