Taken aback by the Captain’s response, the surprise on her face was evident, but it soon gave way to amusement and relief. She laughed, “thank the lord for that then cap’n, ah really didn’ think ah coulda made it through this here mission hangin’ on ceremony.”

She only seemed to notice her feet on the table at that moment, “oh, never min’, looks like ah already forgot that one.”

Not that it meant she would be taking her heavy boots off the white table, she was comfortable right now, and certainly unaccustomed to adjusting herself for the benefit or feelings of others. More than a few others had already joined them in the cafeteria, including her own immediate superior, Zelda. Alice wasn’t yet sure what to make of her, they hadn’t really spoken much before the beginning of the voyage, so she was still an unknown. There was a good chance, unfortunately, that she would follow on in the footsteps of the engineers in the hangar who had overseen her work, caution, way too much caution. The Aphelion was based on the original design specs of the Prometheus, but other than that they had almost built her from scratch, and Alice had been present for much of it, at least on the engine deck anyway. Though several of her designs and additions had either been accepted or simply slipped under the radar, her recommendations for other tweaks had been turned down, normally because the overseers didn’t want to take any form of risk. It was somehow beside the point that Alice knew exactly how much her babies could take before they started to strain, she had been involved in their construction from day one after all.

Still, maybe Zelda would allow the tweaks she had already proposed, and indeed, applied in her brief time in the engine room already. She may have to tread carefully about her if she was worried about playing things by the books. Alice already knew she was unlikely to advance any further in Weyland-Yutani, she didn’t have the connections, and she certainly didn’t have the money or education, so she wasn’t too fussed about pissing off the higher ups.

She smiled at the pilot’s words, Raymond wasn’t it? Before responding in her thick southern accent. “Ah’ve found that those there books are never right, don’t worry, mah baby can put out a lot more than the engineers say, she’s gotta lotta spunk in her, she’ll do whatever ya want of her.”