A fortnight later I found myself at the Tuas Spaceport, waiting impatiently for the hapless desk attendant to figure out why my trip to Collapsar 1A 0620-00 was booked in economy, instead of business. I shouldn’t have cared, as we’d be spending most of the 1,000 parsecs in stasis without the ability to distinguish a reclining sofa from a sardine can. Still, it was the quality of rum served in the two classes that had me concerned.

Once aboard the MASARYK-2, I saw in my row none other than the Silver Bug! I sat down with a heavy sigh. He winked at me – a bit too slowly for my liking, and with both eyes – and said he escaped by pretending to be crazy (the ward only locked up sane people).

“As we have a few hours before we’re outside of Luna’s gravity well, let me ask you something”.

I wondered when the drink service would begin.

“Which technologies will affect silver consumption the most?”

I explained, “In 2000, photovoltaic (civilians call them solar panels) demand breached 1 million ounces (Moz) for the first time. By 2020, solar panel end-use rose to 92 Moz; 10% of total demand”.

He was nodding enthusiastically – spasmodics I mistook for interest – so I continued: “The consensus analyst forecast is that solar panel demand will average 100 Moz per year between 2021–25, this compares to 82 Moz on average between 2015–19. But there’s quite a bit of variation among the analysts. Looking at nine different estimates for 2021–25 the range is an incredible 100 Moz per year, between 5–15% of total demand”.

Silver Bug was moved very deeply by the uncertainty and let out a respectful whistle. “That’s some range, that 100 million”, he observed.

“It’s the best there is”, I responded, though by then the drink service began and I can’t say whether I was thinking of the estimates or the Havana Club Máximo Extra, likely the latter.

I informed CASE (the rectangle-shaped Rubik’s ‘cube’ steward-bot that serviced these star jumps) to return every seven minutes with another glass.

“Did I ever tell you about the 1960 Western Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Seattle?”

“This is only the second time I’ve ever talked to you”, I said.

He continued as if he didn’t hear. “A businessman and his wife were sitting in the coach class seat. He claimed later that he saw – Oh Deus it’s all coming together now! – he saw a gremlin fooling with the engine”.

I uttered what I hoped was a non-committal “Mm, hm” and made a mental note to have CASE accelerate the schedule to five minutes.

“No one believed him but when the plane landed the engine had been tampered with”.

He looked at me expectantly. I calculated that we had about six hours before we got past Luna and were herded to the acceleration tanks. Cursing the Earth-Luna system’s relativistic speed limit silently under my breath, I decided to ignore his gremlin tale:

“With respect to vehicles, silver has been increasingly used by the automotive sector as the number of gizmos within each car increases: night vision, automatic breaking, lane departure warning, tire pressure monitoring, regenerative braking, entertainment systems, etc.”.

His eyes drooped. I pressed my advantage.

“The industry crossed the 1 Moz mark in 1995 and stayed near that total for the next six years. The pace picked up ever since and in 2020, 50 Moz were used. Forecasts put the annual average at 68 Moz for 2021¬–25, a 25% increase over the 2015–19 average”.