 After being drafted into the working force reserves, how many trips did Si have to complete in order to retire?
They also had a banquet for him, complete with speeches by such bigwigs of the Department of Space Exploration as Academician Lofting Gubelin and Doctor Hans Girard-Perregaux. In common with recipients of gold watches of a score of generations before him, Si Pond would have preferred something a bit more tangible in the way of reward, such as a few shares of Variable Basic to add to his portfolio. It was better to retire on a limited crediting, on a confoundedly limited crediting, than to take the two or three more trips in hopes of attaining a higher standard. He'd had plenty of time to figure it out, there alone in space on the Moon run, there on the Venus or Mars runs. There on the long, long haul to the Jupiter satellites, fearfully checking the symptoms of space cafard, the madness compounded of claustrophobia, monotony, boredom and free fall. Time to decide that a one room mini-auto-apartment, complete with an autochair and built-in autobar, and with one wall a teevee screen, was all he needed to find contentment for a mighty long time. Even as Si listened to their speeches, accepted the watch and made a halting little talk of his own, he was grinning inwardly. His explanation was that a phobia against having his eyes touched prohibited either surgery to remould his eyeballs and cure his myopia, or contact lenses. Doctor Girard-Perregaux was convinced Gubelin would have even worn facial hair, had he but a touch more courage. Slumped in an autochair in the escape room of his Floridian home, Lofting Gubelin scowled at his friend. His friend said drily, "Either of us could have volunteered for pilot training forty years ago, Lofting. Girard-Perregaux grunted his sarcasm and dialed a glass of iced tea and tequila. Percentages were against his ever being drafted into industry. Automation being what it is, only a fraction of the population is ever called up. His industrial aptitude dossier revealed him a possible candidate for space pilot, and it was you yourself who talked him into taking the training ... pointing out the more pragmatic advantages such as complete retirement after but six trips, added shares of Basic so that he could enjoy a more comfortable life than most and the fame that would accrue to him as one of the very few who still participate in travel to the planets. Took his training, which, of course, required long years of drudgery to him.
 6 trips
 1 trip  6 trips  5 trips  15 trips