Karl consulted the itinerary which he carried in his inside jacket pocket. Let’s see, he thought, Orion ought to be coming up pretty soon. And that’s certainly one I don’t want to miss. He stared at his watch, then at the two passageway doors in his room. Outside, through the compartment’s window, Karl could see specks of blue and glittery light. The door opened. It was the conductor.

“Don’t worry about the clocks, son, I’ll be taking care of them for you. But don’t be wandering through Room 600. We don’t want you getting lost!”

The last thing Karl needed was to be getting lost through Room 600.

“But you did want to see Orion, I hope,” said the conductor.

“Absolutely,” said Karl. “But will there be dinner first?”

“Yes, indeed,” said the conductor. “We’ll be eating on Betelgeuse, at Orion’s right shoulder. Dining at Rigel, Orion’s left leg would be quite something, but I’m afraid it’s so bright the ambience would hardly be conducive to a pleasant repast. You see, Rigel is about 60,000 times as bright as looking directly into our sun. It isn’t called the Cosmic Searchlight for nothing. If it were any closer to us we would have no nighttime at all. Not very romantic for dinner. No, sir. But don’t worry. That’s why we’re headed for Betelgeuse. She’s the biggest single object you can see in our universe with your naked eye. And she IS big. About 800 times as big as the sun. Nonetheless,” added the conductor, “she’s far enough away to give us some privacy, about 500 light years from here. Don’t worry,” he chuckled, “I’ll take care of the clocks!”