Fair warning, I've not read the original novel(s) that low berths were
apparently stolen, er, taken from wholesale; but from what others have
posted, it sounds like it was presented there as (somehow
simultaneously) both an "ad hoc" repurposing of something meant for
transporting livestock AND as something in common enough use, presumably
by the truly desperate, that the custom of betting on how many live
bodies you got out the other end was well-established.

Again, I suppose that fits with the Age of Sail "coffin ships" mindset,
but I surmise that the gradual shift or evolution over successor
rulesets is due to an (IMO reasonable) assumption that few people living
in, or with access to, a society capable of interstellar travel are
going to put up with a method with a failure rate equivalent to the
ship's steward/purser meeting you at the gangplank with a loaded pistol
and requiring you to put it to your temple and pull the trigger before
boarding.

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Kelly St. Clair
xxxxxx@efn.org