Space Cat
an excerpt

Avril Jensen, known as Azza, sat back in the high-backed swivel chair and put her crossed feet on the blank space on the edge of the console. She hugged the can of Milo chocolate drink that she’d smuggled on board to her ample chest and shoveled in several spoonfuls. As she crunched she contemplated the slow panorama of the star system Solena. The seven planets with their assorted moons, occasional belts of asteroids and random debris barely moved from day to day, the cloud-patterns on the faster inner planets were the only diversions.
She yawned and stretched her long bony fingers through her shock of orange hair. Sentinel posting was, in her opinion was a waste of time… ‘nothing happens; bloody planets, bloody asteroids, bloody sun… uhhhh!’ she muttered. She stared at the little tub of grass she’d dug out from the soil of her family’s farm before she’d started training. It helped her pass time by stirring recollections of the life she only visited on her short-lived holidays. Sentry duty was the bane of those who had passed Rookie status and were waiting to be awarded Ensign in the CYMAX Security Corps. She was only half-way through her stint, and almost past suffering the indignity of her co-sentry, an odious young man named Stanislav, with an unpronounceable surname consisting mostly of the last five consonants. His predeliction for garlic-laden curries and pornography grated her cheese like nothing else in Space. Right now she could hear the grunts and groans of a movie he was watching. She pulled her vidpod from her pocket and stuck the headphones in her ears, drowning out Stinky Stan.
Since the six Sentinal Stations conducted automated surveillance, the two humans on board were only required to respond to any events apart from the authorised trade and personnel movements. Solena’s system was a pretty quiet neck of the woods. The Security base itself revolved between the third and fourth planets, which housed the Corps’ vessel repair facilities.