When the Captain's announcment came, Ben was awake in his cabin, getting some reading done. Ben had the foresight to grab some books from home to take on the ship. Much of the ships existing library contained texts of a practical nature. Agricultural almanacs, engineering guides, things of that nature. Ben tried to grab books that were more, [i]interesting? soul-enriching?[/i] Something like that. Ben liked to think that he held the last copy of The Divine Comedy in existence. 

After the Captain Lucson's orders regarding the memorial, Ben decided that he couldn't stay inside all day, as much as he wanted to. He got out of his cot and started putting on his dress uniform. Other than his combat fatigues and a few t-shirts, it was the only set of clothes he owned. When he finished dressing himself, he headed out toward the cafeteria. On any other day, he would never it in these clothes, but with the world coming to an end, that just didn't seem as important.