The whole workout

I kept trying to work this scene into an issue, but finally I just had to go ahead and render some shots of it so I could do my New Year's Resolution contest image.

One of the hidden fun parts about working on Pirates of the Coal Sack is building the interior sets. The Phoenix has three big, visible windows; I wanted to figure out what was behind them so I could show them better in closeup. The first answer: port side aft opens on the gym.

Aeneans generally aren't into big spaces, but they make an exception for actual community use. The pools are one. The new crew is in the process of repurposing the others from their original role as shrines to the elements (the baths being the shrine of water).

Terran custom, following a revival of Greco-Roman practices, is to work out pretty much nude; some guys wear jocks and some girls wear bras to avoid painful bouncing. Everybody oils up. (Of course this has nothing to do with producing sexy scenes.) Terran gyms and baths are officially status-neutral places, though on Earth location has a lot to do with the clientele each will get; still, you're not supposed to look down on a member of the lower orders in the baths next door to the Senate.