There was no enlisted men's mess to distinguish it from, because every man aboard was an officer. Even the three who shared duty shifts as cooks. But the traditional usage continued. It was one of the few comfortable places to work on board. He used the thin screen on the wall and avoided his so called cabin, which was just slightly larger than a hot slot rental bed and was only spacious compared to a coffin. The coffee maker was just behind the head of the table, so he didn't have to bother someone to run it to his quarters. They were on long count to leave and he had a new man Émile on lock watch, guarding the dock entry to the vessel. He had a senior man Anton, unobtrusively keeping a watch on the newbie as a backup. When he got a call from the new man, it rang alarm bells in his mind. "Commander, we have visitors on the dock, asking permission to come aboard," the newbie reported to him. That was unusual and he decided to see for himself. The older officer should have stepped in and handled the matter, unless it really did require his attention.
