 Why wasn't the narrator's compartment clean during blastoff?
A you-are-there type of report? Jones (that's the co-pilot; I didn't quite catch his first name) is scarlet-faced, barrel-chested and gives the general appearance of belonging under the spreading chestnut tree, not in a metal bullet flinging itself out into airless space. I asked to look, but he said not yet; the instrument panel is Top Secret. Actually, he explained to me, the screen is supposed to keep the image of space locked into place no matter how much we spin. No sign of canals, but Pat says that's because of the dust storm down below. Pat gave him a cigar he'd smuggled on board (no smoking was allowed on the ship), and Jones threw it away.
 The gyroscopic spin caused the narrator to vomit.
 The crew ransacked the narrator's room. They were not happy to have a journalist forced upon them for this journey.  The narrator forgot to secure his belongings when they boarded the ship. The gyroscopic spin knocked unsecured items all around the room.  The force of the inertial gravities knocked unsecured items all around the room. The narrator did not secure his belongings when he boarded the ship.  The gyroscopic spin caused the narrator to vomit.