Dear passengers, Flight R-A-3399C from Rendili Planet to Annaj Planet would soon arrive at its destination, Annaj Planet. We had left the hyperspace lane and entered the planet's gravitational range. We were now traveling under Sublight engines. We were expected to arrive at Annaj Planet Spaceport in ten minutes. Please gather your luggage and disembark in an orderly manner. Do not crowd...
The sweet female synthetic voice over the announcement startled Carl Kestis awake. She snapped her eyes open and instinctively surveyed her surroundings. Only after finding nothing unusual did she reluctantly relax.
She checked the backpack she had been using as a pillow. Once she was sure no one had touched it, she got up, set the bag down properly, removed her sweat-soaked clothes, and unzipped it.
There were several plain t-shirts inside. She took one out and sniffed it. Since it did not smell quite so bad, she put it on. Then she gathered the other clothes hanging from the foot of the bed and stuffed them into her backpack.
This Leviathan-class passenger liner could hold a full fifty thousand passengers, but Carl Kestis felt that this trip had definitely been overloaded. There had to be at least sixty or even seventy thousand people aboard. Food and drinking water were plentiful, and the living conditions were acceptable, but that was all. There was absolutely no bathing service available on the ship.
Only the few who were willing to pay a considerable sum for a bath qualified to enjoy such a luxury. Everyone else could only wipe themselves down with wet towels during this six-day journey, or, like Carl, keep changing clothes.
After packing her things, Carl carried her backpack to the porthole. Quite a few people had already gathered there, looking at the beautiful azure planet slowly drawing