As usual, the shuttle-port was a buzzing hive of activity. There were people going in every direction and constant announcements in about a million different languages wherever you turned. Rimmer felt Dave press close to his side, slightly overwhelmed, and frowned when he felt him shivering. "Come on," he said decisively, "Let's get checked in. It'll be warmer once we go through to the lounge and we can find somewhere to sit down and have lunch. You need to keep your strength up."
At the desk, he found himself holding his breath once more as they checked Dave's passport. Once again, his fears were unfounded. The man behind the desk stamped his boarding papers cheerfully, "New recruit, eh?"
"Yeah," Dave said simply.
"Show 'em the stamp at the gate and they'll wave you straight through. They'll know you won't have a proper ship-issue ID yet, so don't worry if everyone else seems to have one."
"Okay. Cheers," Lister said, smiling weakly.
They found a small cafe that smelled of coffee and chocolate brownies and found a table near the heater. After a bowl of hot soup and a toasted sandwich, Rimmer was relieved to see Dave starting to look less peaky. "You feeling okay?" he checked, just to make sure. Dave smiled and nodded,
"I'm fine. Just a bit tired."
"You still have to go the medi-bay once we get on board."
"I know, I know."
They wandered out to the long rows of cushioned seats found in all airport or space terminals; the ones that are required by law to have a family with a crying baby and way too much luggage and at least one drunk guy somewhere in the mix. They found themselves some space and sat down. They had another forty-five minutes before they had to board the shuttle so Dave stretched out along the empty seats and nestled his head in Rimmer's lap for a snooze. Rimmer found himself wishing for a moment that the shuttle would never come.