The nature of life:

Captain. It still had a funny ring to it, as he surveyed the console of his ship. HIS ship, a newer model GenDy 401. He took a moment sitting in the cockpit, feeling his controls, the controls for his ship. And smiled.

“Captain?” came a tiny voice from the hatchway. The Captain turned and faced the freckled face kid, barely 16, and the two adults behind him. Wiping her greasy hands on a rag, “she’s got a few minor nits that need tending to, but nothing to keep us grounded. Nothing to keep us out of the sky.”

“Us?” the captain barked back, trying to look angry, more for the benefit of the adults than the kid.

The kid looked down at his feet. “Well, you will be needing a mechanic, and mom’s taught me all she knows. I’ll work hard and won’t eat much.”

The graying gentleman behind him smiled at the girl. “Its all she’s been talking about since you told us about this. Her mother is not that pleased about it though, said I should talk to you first.” The woman standing next to the gentleman elbowed him in the ribs, swept past him and surveyed the cockpit next to the Captain.

Captain eyed the child, looked at her father, then over at his own wife. “What does Auntie have to say about it.”

The lady grin mischievously. “It’s the Captain’s ship. His decision. But Auntie thinks it’s a good one.” She plopped down in the captain’s lap.

“Have you checked all the systems? Or just the engine room.”

The young girl’s eye got a kind of look, like she had forgotten something important, and not sure how it would affect her job interview. “Um… I will right away.”

“You do that, while I talk to your Pa a minute. Check the laundry and the galley, make sure they all work.”

The girl left at a run. And once gone, Captain looked up at the graying gentleman. He sat in the other seat, facing the captain and his wife, sighing.

The Captain started, “Look, Tracey is a great kid, and I know she knows how to turn a wrench. I could,” looking at his wife, “we could, really use her. But if you say