Toto - "Africa" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D1Yvnwj-jQ

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Tankaa sighed. Why, of all things, did that have to be this song that survived DRM, data decay, format wars, legal disputes, and the Transcendent Discontinuity? It could be worse, at least the spaceport wasn't trotting out the loop of a dozen militantly cheery (or uncomfortably sleazy) winter Solstice holiday songs. Those tended to make sophonts homicidal after a few hours of peppy auditory torment, which is the last thing you want prior to jamming them into a stubby-winged metal can and launching them into orbit.

Okorona. That's where the next job was. Another hab that needed another trained medic. Dr. Elvira Torres stared off into space. Sometimes she just wanted to throw the towel in, the hours were hell, but then again, if there wasn't someone to treat collapsed lungs and the other injuries common to spacers, who would?

Captain Haruo Mason was not having one of his better days. First he had been yanked out of a Matsumoto Mutants baseball game, then the metro had broken down on the way to the hotel. Rush flights sucked, since they usually just plunked you into a pair of seats with the row in front of them removed as versus having a properly fitted seat. But what Reggie Cobra wants, Reggie Cobra gets, so the big grey tyrannosaurid threw his stuff into a bag and now waits in the terminal for a delayed shuttle to the transfer station.

Toshikazu Yasui sat with his wife and son, trying to conclude a last-minute deal with contractors for KFDF. There's nothing like being caught between an obligation to eat Obaachan's sponge cake and one's career as an offworld purchasing agent.

Ori had paperwork. Endless paperwork. He had thrown in the towel on attempting to find another contract for EVA work and was preparing for a return to the Blood Rhinos. Unfortunately, he had to return as a commissioned officer and would have to get his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering after all...

Captain Adelmar Matos was involved in the shift change, and the usual snafu had slowed down the crew transfer. The personnel car was waiting next to the mobile lounge as he headed down the jetway.

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This didn't quite turn out as well as I hoped, amateur art is unpredictable. But with this, I can declare the book closed on the Photoshop Era (aside from color adjustment for the toy projects) and start learning how to make the most of software packages I actually own. Fixing my technique vices is probably a good idea too...

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~I hear the drums echoing tonight/cheers only whispers of quiet conversation~