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Richards repeatedly told all of them to move around as much as possible, and warned them that giving in to the temptation to spend hour upon hour resting in their bunks would drastically increase the ill-effects of their time in space. But often, even she was unable to summon the energy to move around. They were all cold, all the time. And they frequently complained about it. Except Back, who seemed impervious to the cold.

When they weren’t asleep, they talked. The crew discovered that when they left the doors to their chambers open, they could converse with one another without leaving their bunks. Mostly they talked about Earth, and about food. Sometimes they talked about their pasts. They avoided any mention of the expedition and how they would be greeted when—if—they returned to Earth. But it was frequently in their thoughts, and they could not always keep from mentioning it. The only member who did not participate in these conversations was Franklin. When they asked him about it, he said that he felt tired and needed to rest.

During one such conversation, Hood observed that they had set a number of records on their journey. He did not realize where such a conversation must inevitably end.

Richards agreed, pointing out that they were the first Martians to orbit Mars.

‘And we’re the only ones who’ve orbited Ceres,’ Hood added.

‘We’ve definitely been in space longer than anyone else,’ said Ge Ge. ‘And we’ve traveled farther than anyone, too.’

They all joined in the conversation, becoming almost lively in adding to the list of their accomplishments. It was one of the happiest moments in the last few months.

‘Flinders was the first person to be eaten by a cat in space,’ said Greenstockings.

No one said anything in reply.

‘Lu was the first person to hang himself in space,’ she continued. ‘But he was only the second person to be eaten by a cat out here. Akaitcho was definitely the first person to be killed by a toilet in space. We’re setting all kinds of records, aren’t we?’

‘What are you doing?’ said Ge Ge.

‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘It’s just a little weird how we’re all out here starving to death, but nobody’s dying of starvation.’

And so it was that Greenstockings exposed one of the great universal truths of the galaxy—most death comes from hunger, though it may not look like it. Of course, historians do not credit her with understanding what it was she was saying.