Fiction

The Comedian

The last laugh

“You’re not going to make me laugh.”

“Please, it’s my job.I have a quota.”

“Liar,” the large gruff man said as he walked away.

“Don’t mind him,” Samantha said entering the crew mess, “Hyperdrive Engineers have no sense of humor.”

“How about navigators?”

“Oh yeah, we hold open mikes back at mission control.”

I laughed, “Careful. You’re going to steal my job.”

“Or I could have your job anytime I wanted, but that leaves you to navigate and we’d end up in the middle of a star.”

“That’s not nice,” I said, winking.

“By the way, the Commander would like to see you in his quarters.”

“Oh boy.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“I doubt it. He’d have me spacewalk with no suit if it was up to him.”

She snorted, “Now that’s funny.”

I headed for the Commander’s quarters, thankful to be on a Cruiser class starship. It’s the smallest type in the fleet with artificial gravity. Having to float everywhere loses its appeal after a while.