That quote is now stenciled on the wall of the Vanguard Dawn’s mess hall. What makes Andersen a favorite among passengers (the ones who aren't terrified of space, anyway) is her dry, grounding wit. During turbulence, she doesn’t recite sterile safety protocols. She gets on the intercom and says things like: “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re hitting a patch of gravitational chop that feels like a giant toddler shaking a snow globe. Please return to your seats. No, we are not dying. I have a bottle of very expensive scotch waiting for me in my quarters, and I refuse to let the universe waste it.” Her first officer, Julian Voss, tells me she keeps a small garden of cherry tomatoes in the hydroponic bay. She talks to them during red alerts.
— Mira Solis, Deep Space Weekly
“Learn to fix the engine before you learn to fly the ship. The sky doesn’t respect your title. It respects your hands.” captain zoe andersen
If you’ve flown the notoriously treacherous Jovian Run or navigated the solar flares off the shoulder of Proxima Centauri, you’ve probably heard her voice over the comms—calm, low, with a slight Pacific Northwest drawl that sounds like a warm blanket over a screaming engine. But until last week, she’d never sat still long enough for an interview. That quote is now stenciled on the wall
