aimedforthemoon

Outside, it is raining. Hard. Not impossible to walk through, but the kind of weather where you'd get drenched within a couple of minutes unless you had the right clothes. They are obviously in a city, and a major one at that; although Cormond is built on the salt-flats, overpopulation has meant that people build up, and given one side of the street has no buildings, there is a wide view of the rest of the city. It looks not unlike an Earth city, at least from a distance.

The buildings themselves are built in a style that is both functional and stark at the same time as being organic, and there is a science-fiction feel thanks to the airspeeders and the aliens (some rather obviously alien) mixed in with the humans.

"The port is just at the other end of the street," Esfir explains as they stand under the eaves.

When Esfir arrived at Milliways, it had been after several years of cosmonaut training and, no, it wasn't all maths and computers. They had to be able to withstand the g-force of a launch, had to be able to push their bodies until they knew exactly when they started to pass out. She was, in short, exceedingly fit when she arrived, and even if staying in shape wasn't a habit by now, it at least passes the time.

It's not surprising that she's far, far more in shape than one Calvin Chandler, and this fact has just been made effortlessly clear.

A fine early autumn morning, a moderate jog at a decent pace (she wouldn't be cruel enough to race him, just set the speed), and it wouldn't be complete without some mockery.

It's another thing she's good at, which is why the tiny woman (dressed in sneakers, shorts, and a t-shirt) is currently cocking her eyebrow at her companion.

Even though they've reached the starting point again, she doesn't say anything.

Possibly, she doesn't need to.