My 2 main characters have escaped a remote colony world by hitching a ride with a bunch of pirates (or smugglers) who make their living by illegally importing agricultural products, medical products etc... to remote colonies where the local populace feels deprived at inflated prices.

What interesting incidental things about the trip and or spaceship could I throw in here to break up the conversations where Ryan is pestering Jan to restore his lost memories telepathically. Jan's hesitating to put it mildly. They're both fugitives at this point. Ryan is recovering from getting shot in the shoulder and a concussion and has some familiarity with interstellar travel.

This section leads into a long flashback which is the 'recovered memory'.

FYI: using a traditional hyperspace FTL system. The jump is pretty quick but getting out of the system to where you make it might take anywhere from a couple days to a couple weeks either end.
 

What happens in lightspeed stays in lightspeed.
 

Or, if it is less technologically advanced, you can do what they do to keep astronauts sane: lots of daily tasks (checking systems, running drills, etc) exercise.

You could also play around with induced sleep to make the time go faster, computer games, news broadcasts (TV. Great way to waste time.)
 

Getting hit by meteors, passing planets, neutron stars, cool nebulae (Nebuli? Nebulas? Nebulises? Whatever. Big clouds of colorful gas.)

But remember, space is mostly empty, so not much of this.
 

cleaning/prepping of weapons, if they're really a pirate ship. Stealth drive maintenance...

the in between times are probably used for working out, too. So they're fit for all those fights they get in when they're being pirates.

EVAs, perhaps, some kinds of exterior ship maintenance if they're not in the FTL portion of the journey (in FTL, well, that would be funky. Elizabeth Moon has written some about that...I'm blanking on which book it was in, but I could look back and find you a reference if you're interested.)

Pirates attack the pirates. Engine falure or some other failure. MC accidently spills one of the agricultural products and it becomes dangerous.

Think of bad things that could happen.

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[This message has been edited by Architectus (edited November 18, 2009).]
 

Don't make it too fun, make it tougher for them (unless this is YA, in which case I'm clueless). Fun is good too, to relieve tension and provide the cool factor, but it should serve to advance plot, characterization, or whatever too.

[This message has been edited by MrsBrown (edited November 18, 2009).]
 

-I was thinking about a sex scene, but it has to wait until after the flashback. I've already tossed in one juicy kiss between the captain and Jan. With Ryan wondering if she noticed Jan flinching since he's a mindreader (dilike of physical contact).

-As for being pressed into service by the crew. Jan certainly has. That's how he talked his way onboard. He's a genticist and is busy trying to un-tag some seed grain so the smugglers can resell it....

-As for medical emergencies. I just got done with Ryan being shot, and the 2 of them were the colony's only doctors until they left so there's been a lot of that up till now and one of the flashbacks will deal with a lot of medical issues.

There... More ideas please...

[This message has been edited by Lyrajean (edited November 18, 2009).]
 

"Come on, what don't you want me to remember? -- Have I seen you on the crapper?"

That sort of thing.
 

But I think the most realistic onboard passtime is playing music.

Edit: It is something you can do alone or in a group.

[This message has been edited by Andrew_McGown (edited November 18, 2009).]
 

Discover something medically/genetically wrong with the pirates that they can fix, but only after being threatened with death for learning the deadly secret?