She woke up, but kept her eyes closed for a little longer and tried to remember. Her head felt weird, once again. Right, there had been this mind link induction thing. Carefully she tried to move her arms and legs just to find she was still fixated on this contraption of an examination chair.

  At least no second voice in her head, besides Operator Andersen's presence. But wasn't she supposed to have learned something while she had been ... in this weird state of sleep?

  She heard steps of sturdy boots and opened her eyes. William came over from the desk with all those devices and displays and began to remove the electrodes from her head.

  "William, I don't think this has worked," she said while he worked to free her from the cables, "I still don't know anything about flying a dredger or whatever your machine was supposed to put into my head."

  "Ah, no, that is perfectly normal. Don't worry, you'll remember once you are sitting in the simulator and see the actual controls," William said while he removed her restraints. "If you feel well enough, we can go there right away?"

  She rubbed her forearms a little, even if there was no particular discomfort from the restraints, "I feel a bit weird in the head, but that's all."

  "Well, you do have learned some things, even if the memories aren't present right now."

  With a sigh, she got up and struggled for a moment to keep balance, but the dizzy feeling vanished as quickly as it had come.

  "The simulator room for dredger pilots just down the corridor. Please come with me," Williams told her and opened the door.

  After just a few steps, she already felt more secure on her feet and one thing had to be said. The important rooms in this mining outpost all were very close together. Just a few dozen meters and she stood in the replica of a dredger control cabin. A fairly plain metal box with clearly visible welding seams, windows simulated by screens which showed distant stars and in the middle was a horseshoe shaped console with a rather solid looking pilot seat in it.

  There were a terrible lot of controls on the slightly slanted surface of the console and three big screens arranged towards the front. The windows in the walls seemed to make no sense; from her place behind the screens, she would hardly be able to see anything.

  While she looked over the controls, memories appeared to her. The middle screen was the flight control, the left screen was typically used to keep track of the ship status, optionally also the gathering units and the right screen likewise could be switched between storage controls and the gathering units, depending on the pilot's preferences.

  She was sure it was the first time in her life that she saw a dredger control station, and nevertheless memories bubbled up for each control, switch, button, lever and item that she looked at. While memories about how the things actually worked were sparse, she could name everything and tell what it did and how or when to use it.

  "So", William inquired after watching her for a while, "Do you still think you have learned nothing?"

  "That's mindfuck 2.0 or something. I never saw any of this, but now I know the names of these things and what they are good for," she had to admit.

  "So, do you think you can do a systems check?" William asked her.

  She got into the pilot seat, "A systems check ..."

  This was more difficult. There was nothing to see which could trigger a memory. But there was a button which she recognized to start the automatic systems diagnosis.

  She pointed at it, "Automated diagnosis first? Then check the results and see if each system responds to commands?"

  William nodded and commented, "Not bad. So you can remember more abstract concepts too. Alright, just try it. It's a simulator and nothing bad will happen if you make a mistake. Today's sessions is all about finding out how much of the induction you can remember, and what additional training you'll need during the next days."

  She turned swiftly to him, "More mindfuck? Please!"

  He smiled and nodded, "But certainly. You can't learn how to operate a dredger in just thirty minutes, not even with mind link induction. Four more sessions probably, one each day so you brain has time to accommodate to the new memories and get itself organized again. Maybe one or two extra sessions if needed. And each time, simulator training too, to reinforce the memories. Alright now. Try to find out if your dredger is operational or if you need to call for repairs."

  She looked back at the controls and pressed the button to start the automated checks. So that would be the start of each working day from now. Get into the seat, run the diagnostics first.

  The front panel just showed a somewhat abstract map of the solar system with a blinking red dot all at the fringe, while on the left panel the results of the system checks arrived.

  Power stations. Four of six boxes turned green, two stayed yellow.

  Main control. Five of five boxes came up green.

  Life support. Four of five boxes turned green, one showed red.

  Main engines. Three green, two yellow.

  Communications. Two green, one yellow.

  Rattler cannon. Three green.

  Storage tanks. All green. That had to be sixteen boxes.

  "William, why are there so many systems with issues?" she looked at him suspiciously.

  "We simulate real life conditions here. You'll rarely have a dredger which is fully operational, not even the freshly refurbished ones are at one hundred percent. There is always something which doesn't work. As pilot you will have to learn how to deal with it, but also when to report a dredger inoperative because the conditions are too bad, or even harmful for the crew."

  She gave him an angry look, "So, I'll have to fly a ship with only half the systems working properly and tell my teammates we are fine?"

  "Better tell them the actual status, so they know what to prepare for. For example if life support is bad, you'll want to fetch some extra air tanks for your pressure suits. Maybe water too," William explained.

  "Thank you very much," she said with anger in her voice.

  Meanwhile the diagnostics were completed. She had a ship which could probably keep them alive for several days, had about 60% drive capacity, 100% usable storage and a fully working main control.

  "We're supposed to work on a schedule, but with drives like that we'll not even make it to the place in time," she pointed out.

  William nodded, "Yes. You're supposed to report this to your operator and then receive adjusted schedules. Or maybe completely new targets which are easier to reach, and someone who's got a better working dredger will take those farther away."

  She sighed and called up details on the life support system which had come up red. At least this part of the controls was quite easy to understand. "William, that's not even some actual damage on the life support systems! Just the one unit is out of water for the air humidifier and the filters are clogged up. Someone forgot to do the maintenance!"

  William seemed pleased, "Good, so you also know how to check the individual systems. Now that you have an overview, you should tell your operator about the ship status and ask for directions."

  "I shall ping Operator Andersen right now?" It didn't feel right to her to bother them for no better reason than to tell about some simulated ship status.

  William nodded, "Of course. It's part of your job, and you need to practice it too."

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  She gave him an indignant look and tried to focus on Operator Andersen's presence in her mind, "Operator Andersen, I've got a systems diagnosis for the dredger in the sim training. The trainer wants me to contact you about it."

  It took a moment before thoughts arrived at her, "Yes, that is quite alright. So, how's the ship doing?"

  She began to repeat in her mind what the screen told her, just to receive a distinct feeling this was wrong and she stopped, "Operator Andersen, what's the problem?"

  "You're a three star, you should be able to just show me what you see. Look at the screen and then try to impress on me just what you see," she was instructed.

  "Alright?" she thought this more as a question than a confirmation but dutifully looked at the screen and tried to feel Andersen's presence in her mind as well. The first time she had to be aware of the outside and inside at the same time.

  It took a while, but eventually there was a feeling of some flow from what she was seeing to Operator Andersen's presence. It was tiring though, and after just a few seconds her focus faltered.

  "That worked," Operator Andersen's thoughts appeared to her.

  "And I feel like I've studied a book intensely and for hours," she tried to think towards them.

  "It will get easier with more practice. Close your eyes, rest a little and try again," she was advised.

  She looked briefly at Williams, "Got order to rest and try again."

  "I'll remain quiet. Your operator knows best what to do here. I'm link deaf, I wouldn't know anything," he smiled at her and she closed her eyes for a minute, maybe two till she didn't feel so dazed anymore.

  "I'll try again", she let Operator Andersen know and focused on the screen with the status report once more, then tried to funnel everything she could see towards their presence. It was not quite as exhausting as the first attempt, but she couldn't add a single thought of her own to it.

  It took way too long for her taste till she was relieved from the effort, "Thank you Vivian. That's pretty impressive. Not the ship status, but the detail you can transmit. First, don't worry about the life support. James and Merle can stay in their gathering units if needed, they have their own life support, at least for a day. One unit is enough to keep you alive, so four are plenty for all three of you. Comm status is not that important for you either, you and me have a well working mind link all the time. Power stations, you'll always want one more power station green than drives, because on top of the drives all ship systems need power too. So with three drives operable and four power stations you're good, just with a 40% reduced target for today."

  "But we could have five working life support units if not for some lazy ass who did not fill up the humidifier tank and replace the filters!" She send some angry thoughts.

  "Maybe they were called to a more important job. Or someone decided four life support units are plenty for a crew of three on this day," calming thoughts arrived at her.

  She took a breath and braced herself for the inevitable answer, "So, with a ship like this we are actually supposed to head off and collect some chunks of metal or whatever we are actually mining?"

  "Platinum dust in this region and some other rare metals. And yes, the dredger is good enough for a day's work. Your target will be reduced by 40%, because of the drives, so you have a fair chance to get a bonus still."

  Of course. A company, which didn't even supply enough clothes to change daily and had them shower cold if they were not among the first ones, also didn't spend more money on the maintenance of their ships than absolutely needed. How ever could she have expected otherwise.

  She took another deep breath, "Reporting ready for takeoff, Operator."

  "Clearance granted. Have a good flight," the reply came as thoughts with some gentle underlying amusement and Operator Andersen's presence in her mind faded into a greater distance.

  With some effort she focused on the outside world again, "Got clearance for takeoff. Even with two drives yellow."

  "How about you warm up the drives now and see if the power levels stay sufficient to feed them?" Williams suggested.

  Drive controls ... right that was the section over there, and once she looked at the controls fresh memories surfaced as well. Five main switches, with safety locks against accidental activation. She switched them on, one after the other, even the two drives which had not reported in green, "William, I remember if a drive has red status I need to switch it off, but what is with the yellow ones?"

  "Keep an eye on those. They won't explode the next minute, but if they go red, switch them off immediately," William told her.

  "How calming. So we are more in danger from shitty equipment than the actual work?" She looked angrily at him again.

  William didn't readily respond and after some moments of staring angrily, she decided to check the power levels as William had advised. At least that seemed to work. Same problem though, two power units were indisposed and she didn't know enough about tech to tell how serious the actual issue with them was. More serious than an empty water tank and a clogged filter, she assumed, "How likely is it that the power stations blow up if they go red and I miss to notice it in time?"

  "Not very. They should shut down automatically if they fail to operate within a safe parameter range. The actual problem is that the other power stations might not like the sudden increase in load if they are already running near their maximum capacity. So unless you are really pressed for time, don't let the drives suck up all the power output."

  At least the confirmations came in one after the other that the drives had warmed up and were ready to fire. Even the two with yellow status. She switched those two off anyway before they changed their minds to a more explosive condition.

  "Alright", William continued his lecture, "Power is stable, drives are ready to go. Next you'll have to plot a course to the destination. If there are no obstacles on the route, you can just transfer the location from the flight schedule and let the autopilot do the work. Otherwise you'll need to set up way points along a safe flight path to assist the autopilot with routing."

  ----

  She had barely noticed time passing in the simulator, when she heard James' voice from behind her, "So, that's a dredger control station?"

  William answered before she could, "Yes, exactly the model Vivian will pilot during the next weeks. The simulation is based on sample data from a real SC-3 dredger which we operate."

  She nodded and looked at James briefly, "You just heard it. They are serious that I'm supposed to fly a dredger", before she switched off the simulated main engines and let the power stations return to idle.

  "How's it to be dredger pilot?" Merle wanted to know.

  She checked a few last settings. All systems were on idle or standby. Even if this was just a simulation, she had no intention to return from lunch to be informed that her simulated dredger had exploded meanwhile because she had forgotten something.

  "Not bad, but I'm pretty sure it will look very different once we are on a real ship. Most systems are automated, I just need to press the right buttons at the right time," she replied and looked at William, "Lunch break?"

  He nodded, "Yep, we are done with the training for today. Tomorrow morning we will continue. You can find me over at the holo table tomorrow morning 8am."

  She got up from the pilot seat and stretched briefly, "8am. That means we need to get up early and have an actual chance for warm water in the shower."

  William shrugged, "One never knows. Can as well happen that the water isn't warm yet if you're too early."

  "Great," she sighed and looked at James and Merle, "So, let's go and see what is on the menu today?"

  "Porridge surrogate", James supplied, "Better get used to the idea. This far away from earth fresh food is more valuable than gold. At the end of the day we'll have mined some hundred kilograms of platinum dust, but not seen a single head of lettuce within a million kilometers. Lucky, if you can catch a space rabbit."

  "A space rabbit?" she looked at him while they made their way to the food distribution center.

  "They are supposed to be tasty, but very hard to catch," James showed a dead serious expression when Merle interjected, "Vivian, he's kidding you. Don't get your hopes up. There is only synthetic food out here, made from whatever bio stuff is available. If we're lucky they got some yeast farms or mushrooms which don't need light to grow. But I wouldn't hold my breath for that."

  She didn't want to think about other possible sources for organic matter that could be turned into nutrient paste and with some determination she pressed the infamous red button at the food machine which thousands of fingers before hers had pressed already. It rattled and whirred and despite what both James and Merle had told her, she eyed the steaming bowl that slid out with clear discontent. Porridge surrogate again, the same pale nutrient paste as usual with a hint of cocoa scent this time. She was sure it wouldn't take long till she got a frustration fit and flung the sad bowl with an angry scream all across the room. Yet, with a sigh, she lifted the steaming bowl onto her tablet and walked over to the table where James and Merle were already sitting and took seat as well.

  "So, are your two gathering units also as trashy as the dredger? Half the systems in the simulator had issues and my job was to keep random things from blowing up before the end of the day," she briefly looked at them, before she scooped some of the porridge to blow and cool it to an edible level.

  James shrugged and swallowed some porridge, "Maybe not that bad, but definitely not in top condition either."

  Merle chuckled, "Lucky if yours flew straight. Mine had thruster issues and I had to constantly correct the course. It was annoying as hell."

  She sighed, "Great. And we're supposed to work on a tight schedule and our bonus pay depends if we can beat the estimated time. But they just give us trash. Two of the five main engines were damaged and I could chose to be late at the mining site or risk one of them blowing up and ruining the whole day."

  Merle reached over and rubbed her shoulder some, "Rather bring us back alive Vivian. The bonus won't help us if we are dead."

  James chimed in, "I think so too. At least until we know the equipment better, know what risks we can take and what we better don't try."

  She scooped and ate some more of the fake porridge, "Good, then we all agree on the safe over sorry approach. One thing made me really angry though, the one system failure was not a real defect, but someone had skipped maintenance. A filter was clogged and the water tank empty. I mean I can understand if they cannot repair a drive over night till we are supposed to head out again, but that wouldn't have needed much time or brain to fix before we start our shift."

  "What was that needed for, the filter and tank?" Merle asked.

  "Life support. Nothing important, you know", she replied.