"On schedule for a while there," he teased, elbowing her gently. He knew full well that his involvement wasn't part of her plan, and he guessed she would have preferred he wasn't involved fifty times before deciding once it might be all right. But, he was here and they'd make the best of that.

Without hesitation or prelude, he curled his fingers in between hers. "We did some flight training." Al had argued at one point that he should be allowed an automatic pass but Stern had only sighed and walked away. "We trained some on command and command structure, learned some about our backup roles... Ate some terrible food." He laughed. "And we got to use this- this simulator! It was the command module and the buttons..." His eyes widened and he practically buzzed with enthusiasm, focus distant as he turned a little toward her. "So many buttons..."

"It was four days. Or four days worth of hands-on, and then the test. We had to label every button. Ninety-six percent or below?" He whistled along with the bombing gesture his unoccupied hand played out.