As he approached the lift doors, Alen felt like he was caught between a rock and a hard place. Or, perhaps better put, between a ghost ship and an Erik. If the large alien felt any trepidation about approaching the "forbidden decks," he sure didn't show it. "Do you guys think we'll see any actual ghosts? Ooh, or maybe monsters? Or maybe it'll turn out our 'Captain" is really a madman, and this whole ship is his twisted idea of a fun house designed to slowly drive all its inhabitants to madness? That might be fun!"

Alen didn't know why, but for some reason, having Erik double down on all the horrible things that might happen actually seemed to lessen his fear, even if they were disturbingly possible. Even Vanessa seemed to jump in. "I find myself doubting this ship could have any monsters scarier than you or I, let alone both of us together. However, although I have seen no evidence of the phenomena, I suppose that does not preclude the possibility of the ghosts you mentioned. Though could anything without substance offer any more in the way of a threat than a mild startlement?"

At that, Alen felt the need to interject. "You know, in most mythologies I'm familiar with, belittling ghosts is usually seen as a bad idea... Let's just say I'm scared enough for the three of us and call it good..."

Erik slapped Alen on the back, propelling him forward a few steps. "Ah, don't let your fear get the better of you! That's how they get ya! Sometimes you just gotta laugh in the face of danger and put it in its place!"

Alen looked back at the large alien with minor annoyance. "Easy for you to say, with your bone-like plate mail and muscles that dwarf your average bodybuilder!"

Vanessa tilted her head. "Among my people, it is usually not the builders of bodies that are overly muscled but rather the larger guardian constructs. They have more need of strength when overpowering their adversaries."

Alen had no idea how to respond to that. "I didn't... I mean, they don't... I don't..."

Erik laughed. "See, you have to tell jokes more often! Alen was so surprised; it broke him!" He then leaned over to Alen, holding up one hand as if speaking to him conspiratorially, despite the face Alen was confident Vanessa could still overhear. "At least I think she's joking when she says things like that. She can be hard to get a read on!"

Alen had to agree. Even now, he had no idea if she was sincere or if that had been a joke. For her part, Vanessa didn't seem interested in offering any clarity on the matter.

Once they reached the lift, Alen looked it up and down a moment before toggling the button to activate it. It hummed to life and only took a moment to reach their position. The doors opened, and for half a moment, he expected something to jump out at them, but when nothing did, he spoke into the empty lift. "Uh, hello? Captain Carter said that if we needed anything, I was supposed to be the go-between us and you all, so I'm just heading up to speak with him, is all... I'm not looking to cause any trouble or anything..."

He waited a moment before Erik laughed again. "I don't think the empty metal tube will answer you any time soon! Only one thing for us to do!"

Alen could think of a few things, including going back and thinking this through a bit more or even just waiting for Carter to put in an appearance again, though who knew how long that would take? Perhaps they'd already be in a fight long before he got a chance to speak to the Captain, and by then, it would be too late to make any requests...

With no other options presenting themselves and unwilling to simply give up with Erik and Vanessa right there to see, Alen swallowed his fear and stepped into the lift. Behind him, the two oversized aliens also entered. However, while Alen had been afraid Vanessa would crowd them in the smaller lift area, she pulled her eight legs in tight around herself in a way that made her look like some kind of odd alien statue.

A moment of slight vertigo later, they arrived on the bridge deck. Alen had been hoping for a straight shot to the bridge, as any sane ship would be designed, but of course, there was no such luck here. The corridor seemed to stretch both right and left forever into a gloomy shroud that made it appear as if this section of the ship hadn't been traversed in quite some time.

Alen was just steeling himself to step out when Erik beat him to it, followed closely by Vanessa. The larger alien looked around and grinned. "Well, this isn't too bad! It makes me wish I could see in the dark as well as you humans, though. You'll have to keep me from bumping my shins on something in this gloom!"

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Alen was finally stirred to motion when the door started closing on him. He slapped the door, which thankfully opened back up rather than trying to close on his fingers like he had just started to imagine, and he too stepped out. Both Erik and Vanessa looked at him expectantly. "So where to boss?"

Alen looked at the big guy with mild confusion. "Boss?"

Erik nodded. "Yeah, the way I see it, you were put in charge, right? Or would you rather I still call you kid?"

Alen blinked a few times. "Well, I'm not a huge fan of kid, but 'boss' just sounds weird. Alen would be fine."

Erik laughed. "Aright, Alen it is...boss!"

Realizing he might as well give up while he was only this far behind, Alen sighed and nodded off into the gloom. "Well, straight ahead, I guess."

-

Alen wasn't sure just how long they'd been walking. It felt like it had been close to an hour, but there was no way this ship was that long. He'd seen it from the outside, so it must just be his mind playing tricks on him. It was just about then that they reached a dead end. Alen looked at the wall, which was blocking their progress, with annoyance. There had been a few rooms they'd passed by, but there hadn't been any hallways or turn-offs he was aware of. After a moment, he turned around and looked at his two companions. "Maybe I just got turned around, and now we're at the back of the ship? I guess we should head back the way we came..."

Erik grinned and nodded, though the expression looked all the creepier in the gloom. "That makes sense! Lead the way, boss. We're right behind you!"

Alen was a little thankful that Erik's low light vision probably meant the alien probably couldn't see when he rolled his eyes. The last thing he needed was to encourage the oversized man right now.

With no other option presenting itself, Alen turned and started walking back toward where they'd come from, but they didn't get far before coming across a large crosspath that stumped Alen. He looked down both split-off paths with a frown while Erik echoed his thoughts. "Now, I might not see all that well in the dark, but I'm pretty sure this wasn't here a few minutes ago!"

Vanessa seemed to agree. "I have no such hindrance, and I can confirm this was not here when we came through originally."

Erik looked back and forth before offering his thoughts. "Well, we could all take a path..."

Both Vanessa and Alen spoke up loudly at the same time. "No!"

Erik had probably just been baiting them, but Alen didn't want to take the risk. Instead, he cleared his throat and spoke a little more calmly. "That's probably not a good idea. Even if one of us found the right path, there'd be no way to get word back to the other two, and we could end up just getting lost even worse. I think we should go all the way back down this single path first before considering any split-off sections. If that doesn't lead us anywhere, maybe we should go back down to our deck and plan this out a bit before we start exploring any hidden passages."

Erik laughed. "Well, that might not be as fun, but it does sound smart. Alright, lead on, oh bossman. We got your back!"

Alen somehow felt like "bossman" was a step-down. Maybe Erik had seen him roll his eyes after all... With a shake of his head, Alen decided to keep moving.

-

This time, Alen was confident they'd traveled for longer than the first time, and yet they hadn't passed by the lift again. What was worse, the hallway seemed to be covered in old dried fluids that might have been oil and grease, but he suspected it was at least supposed to be something more organic in origin, and they were walking around all sorts of clutter that hadn't been here before, as if this portion of the hall had been abandoned in a hurry. At this point, the fear should be settling in, but Erik just kept needling him, and it was starting to get on his nerves. "Hey, boss. I think we passed the lift a while ago! Well, not the lift, but rather where it should have been. I think we're lost! How'd we get lost going in a straight line anyway? This is the lamest ghost ship I've ever been on!"

Finally, Alen turned around and snapped at him. "Yes, we're lost. I've noticed thank you! Now, do you have anything helpful to contribute, or do you just want to narrate this whole walk? And just how many ghost ships have you been on anyway?"

For a moment, Alen feared he might have pushed his luck, but Erik only grinned. "Heh, it worked!" Then he turned to Vanessa. "See? What did I tell ya?"

Alen looked back and forth. "What worked? What are you talking about?"

Vanessa seemed to sigh despite not breathing with lungs as Alen understood them. "Erik has long held a theory that annoyance is the opposite of fear. I believe he's been doing his best to pester you in order to keep you from getting too nervous."

Alen just stopped and looked back and forth between the two before settling with Vanessa. "You're kidding...right?" Then, turning to Erik, "She's kidding. That's not what you're doing, is it?"

Erik only grinned. Alen pinched the bridge of his nose as if to fight off a headache. "I don't know if I should thank you or curse you... Although, as much as I hate to admit it, it seems to work. But can we please find a less...obnoxious way of keeping me calm? I don't know if my blood pressure can handle this method of help much longer..."

Suddenly, the hallway was lit by an eerie green glow as a nearby room opened up. As Erik turned to look, Alen could swear that if he were just a little more cat-like, his ears would be perked forward, and the large alien's grin widened. "Oh, now that looks interesting. We don't have to go in, but can we at least check it out, boss?"

Alen rolled his eyes. "Why not? It's not like we have any idea where we are anymore, despite only walking in a straight line!"

As the trio approached the door, Alen wondered what fun new surprise the ship had in store for them next...