This was a beautifully illustrated little story by Voss. Set on Christmas Eve at five minutes to midnight, the men in the control room of a ship are interrupted by co-workers who insist that they enjoy the naked women that have been brought in to lighten up their overnight shift. Of course, this has disastrous consequences, leading to a collision with a ship that these men were meant to be watching out for.

Of course, this is a science fiction update of a trope that shows up where the men are meant to be watching out for icebergs and get distracted – only with more naked breasts. The premise is largely undermined by the fact that space is a very big place and the chances of something that big sneaking up on either ship is vanishingly small – smaller objects, yes.

Never mind all of that, though. Voss wanted an excuse to draw a disembodied hand holding a champagne bottle floating in a debris field. And a very pretty champagne bottle it is.

(Heavy Metal issue #33, December 1979 – Page 79 December 24th, 11:55pm by Voss)