[He didn't try to tell her she was either too young or too short to be a spacer lieutenant, so he's already ahead of some people, mostly annoying stationers. She waves away the apology with a small smile.]

You weren't to know. Usually I'm in uniform, but not here. Take your time. With taking it in, I mean. It's a lot, for anyone.

[She understood about routine, although trying to carry on with hers hadn't exactly been successful.] You're doing the right thing in keeping busy. I thought I'd go mad with all the empty downtime when I first got here. Finding ways to fill it helps. What line of work were you in, back home?