A Course Across the Grain

I gripped the control lever with both hands, easing our vessel forward across the flat expanse of dark polished timber. A ceramic mug sat anchored near the edge like an imposing lookout tower, casting a long, quiet shadow in the evening light. Beside it lay an open hardcover book, its thick cream-colored pages forming gentle ridged terraces. Pausing near the base of the spine, I surveyed the route ahead. The air was still, carries only the distant, steady hum of the refrigerator. With a slow nod to the astromech perched before me, I steered gently between the mug and the paper slopes, settling into a secure coordinates pocket right along the smooth bevel of the table edge.