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weariness. "Oh what's the use? You're probably right. We might not even have enough computing power with the ship and Old Bob running in parallel." She looked tired and discouraged.
Jim felt elated. Finally, she was giving up! And she had admitted he was right! It was time to make his move. "That's ok, honey," he said as he slid off the hammock. He put his arm across her shoulders and guided her over to sit on the tent's packing crate.
"We tried. It's not our fault that the demo software won't plot the course home." She shot him a dark look, so he changed tack. "You know, I've been thinking. Would it really be that bad, just the two of us staying here together?" Now she was giving him another one of her queer looks. Slightly rattled, he pressed on while the moment was still right. "We get along pretty good. Wouldn't it be nice to live a simple life on a quiet planet, without all the pressure of--"
She shrugged his arm off. "You're talking crazy. And I'm not done trying."
Damn it--he had moved too quickly.
She stood up. "Come on, Old Bob. Go hook yourself back up." To Jim she said, "You do your own camp setup. I get it that you don't want to help, but please refrain from actively hindering my work."
He didn't say anything. So far he wasn't having much luck in the talking department. He looked down at the ground and kicked at the dirt, embarrassed at how quickly she had dismissed his idea.
After Nancy marched back into the ship, he turned to the tent pieces. The setup instructions were in the box--Old Bob hadn't needed them, of course--but they were hard to follow. He decided that Old Bob had made it more confusing by doing things out of order. He started taking it all apart but soon became frustrated. Stupid Nancy. Why should he have to do all of this menial labor?
He was thinking about taking a walk down to the lake when he heard loud cursing coming from within the ship. Nancy had left the hatch open when she went back in.
"Jim! Get