"The Philosopher's Drinking Song."
	 By Lieutenant Commander B. Hobbes

Part I: "Immanuel Kant was a real piss-ant who was very rarely stable.

	Lieutenant Commander B. Hobbes sat at a table on the Rec Deck,
drinking a cup of black currant tea. He looked out the room-length window
onto the surface of Venus. Through the cloud cover, he could just make out
Gula Mons and Sif Mons. Beneath him was Sedna Planitia. He wondered when they
would be shipping out. Hobbes had been on the Normandy for two weeks, even
before it had been commissioned, and he couldn't wait to get out of Venusian
orbit.
	As if to answer his question, green lights started flashing and a
voice that Hobbes recognized as that of Captain Adrian Henry came over the
ship's intercom.
	"Attention all hands. Prepare all decks for departure from dry dock
in L-10 minutes. All crew members man your duty stations."
	Hobbes got up from his table and headed for the Mag-Lev carriage.
Once in, he pushed the button for the Bridge. The Lift started up, but
stopped a deck later on Deck 7. The doors opened and in walked Doctor Karen
Rhodes, the Normandy's Chief Medical Officer.
	"Headed up, Doc?" Hobbes queried.
	"Captain wants all ship's Senior Officers to the Bridge."
	Hobbes smirked, "Heh heh. E-Frame jockeys don't *have* duty stations
during standard cruise mode."
	Karen scowled, "So just where *are* you headed, pray tell."
	"The Bridge." He responded with an even bigger smirk.
	Karen arched her eyebrows and sighed. The Lift's doors opened out
onto the Bridge, and the two walked out. Commander Jonathan Xanatos was
standing at a console next to the doors and nodded. "Doctor, Mr. Hobbes. Glad
you could make it.
	"Wouldn't miss it." Replied Hobbes.
	Captain Henry walked onto the Bridge from his Ready Room. "How are
pre-flights coming along?"
	A voice that belonged to the Normandy's Chief Operations Officer,
Lieutenant Junior Grade William Hagen, spoke up and said, "Almost done, sir.
I just have to get word from the deuterium tanker that they've finished
fueling. In the meantime, I'm re-checking our cargo manifests, torpedo
compliments, supplies, and making sure all crew members are where they are
supposed to be."
	"Alright Mr. Hagen. Carry on."
	The Ops console started beeping. "Message coming in from the Kuiper
Express, Captain. They've finished fueling and are moving away. I'm closing
the deuterium fuel ports now."
	"Understood. Helm, lay in a course away from the dock at maneuvering
speed, and clear our departure with Base Ops."
	"Course laid in, sir. Ops has cleared our departure." Announced the
Petty Officer 1st Class at the Helm.
	"Engage."
	The docking clamps of the Sedna Planitia Fleet Yards retracted. The
crew access ways and umbilical connects disengaged. The Bridge watched as the
dock and the Venusian surface receded slowly away.
	Once the Petty Officer at the Helm announced that they were out of
the orbit of Venus, Captain Henry ordered a course be set for Earth at 3/4
speed.
	Hobbes knew it was 41.4 Million Kilometres from Venus to Earth, and
even at flank speed of 35 million kph, or full speed at 30 million for that
matter, it would still be almost 12 hours till they got to Earth, so he might
as well go and relax for a while.

TBC. . .