ON
THE
N ATURE
OF
W IND
knack for dragging his feet over anything he could. Shaking his head, Corry fished out the burgers, tossing one to Albright. “Can you believe I paid six credits apiece for these things? Processed veggies made to taste like meat, and they charge six credits for it.” “Welcome to modern economics,” Jansson chuckled, already through two burgers and heading into a third. “Supply and demand? Nu uh. Gouge the hungry cadets! Make ‘em beg!” “Or pay out through the project budget.” Corrigan sat down on a chair, kicking back and munching half-heartedly at the cold food. Albright smirked. “Well, if we’re not going to build a ship, at least we won’t be hungry when we fail, right?” “Just fat and slothlike in our misery!” Corry howled, melodramatically, holding the burger out in one hand and putting his other hand over his heart, “But soft! What shout through yonder doorway breaks? It is the calisthenics officer and we are the victims! Arise, fair cadets, and slay that chunkiness, which is congealed about your bellies!” “Oh man,” Jansson laughed, crumpling the wrapper and throwing it into the bag, “I don’t think Shakespeare had that in mind at all.” “Shakespeare never attended Starfleet Engineering Academy, either,” Albright answered, glancing at his watch. “Hey, shouldn’t we be getting back to the dorms? It’s getting late.” “Yeah, yeah.” “You two go ahead,” Corry said, taking another bite of the cold sandwich before throwing it away. “I’ll see about getting our head architect to move a little quicker.” “Good luck.” Jansson shrugged, pulling on his cadet-issue jacket. “Give me a call if you need anyone to take over.” Corrigan frowned, leaning back in his chair. “All right. See you guys later.” Waiting until they were out of the loft, he stood and stretched. It was a little chilly in there — but then, considering the size of the place, that wasn’t too surprising. Professor Barrett had been kind enough to arrange for an indoor berth to build the ship in... the only concession he would make historically. The whole room was nearly two hundred feet long, supported by duradium beams that arched the tall ceiling. The massive doors at the end led to the ramp, which in turn led into Belfast Lough. 36