- Why does the Gateway Company insist on stuffing the Hechee ships to the hilt with crew? Some of the main problems on a trip are running out of supplies and getting on each others nerves due to overcrowding and lack of privacy. Why do they need five crew members in a "five" ship? Everything they do at the destination can probably be done with just two people: one to go in the lander, and one to stay in the main ship, just in case. With the same quantity of supplies, a trip could be 2.5 times longer and still be survivable.
- And "ones" have problems with cabin fever... and more crewmembers means more chances if someone does die. Also, Earth is so overpopulated and human life so cheap, nobody really cares.
- They still have to survive wherever they land, and it's mentioned "five" ships are reserved for target coordinates that are expected to be more dangerous than the average.
- Why is the duration of a trip presented as a total crap-shoot? The Company must by now have enough statistics to make statements of the type: "there is a 20% chance that a trip will take longer than 80 days, and a 10% chance it will take longer than 100 days". Then they can adjust the size of the crew and the supplies so that the risk of an overrun is, say, below 5%.
- Statistics are statistics. They don't foresee the future. There's several mentions of characters trying to find some sort of pattern (e.g. do large ships go to more dangerous places?) and always failing.
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