Dear diary, so is it still small dick syndrome if it is a spaceship instead of a car

Okay, so if that is the main corridor, then that must be the emergency shut-off valve. Nice, I might actually get a hang of how this big place fits together, and from what I will call my casual walks to burn off dinner, I have figured out where the plate is with some certainty. I mean, it is the only place that is heavily guarded besides the prison, that is.

So, I have the basis of a plan now. Since Travellers are known to have disasters happen in their presence, I just have to wait for one to happen here and then grab the plate, head to the shuttle bay, and get out of there. I admit it is not a great plan, but it is all I have. Somehow, being in a forest cold and running away does not seem like such a big deal anymore.

I keep walking the halls, trying my best to come up with a better plan or a way to obtain a gun. It is like this that I enter the engineering bay. There is some kind of machine or ship being dismantled. I am not really sure. It looks to be in rough shape as if it has been hit with the space equivalent of a wrecking ball. A little bit further in, I spot the green-skinned girl who helped me set up the tablet.

“Hey there, you're Lucy, right?” I ask.

The girl jumps in surprise “Yes, ma’am… why are you here?”

“Oh, I got bored, so I thought I would explore the spaceship for a bit and see how everything works on the ground level,” I say

“Really, isn’t that beneath you?”

I shrug. “It’s hard to see what needs improving from all the way at the top. So what are you working on?”

She looks at me for a bit, clearly trying to make a decision on something before she decides and points at the spaceship. “Mostly that apparently the Traveller used that to escape.”

I let out a whistle. “And we are sure she is still alive. I mean, that thing is wrecked.”

Lucy looks at me like I am some strange creature. “Travellers are immortal. You can’t kill them. It is one of the reasons the higher-ups want them so badly”

I am stunned a bit at that revelation. How does that work? Wait, does that mean I am immortal? That makes no sense; I still bleed. Gilford ensured that when I started shouting weird things after I found out I was immune to fire.

“Immortality, huh? You sure it is not because of their weird travel thingies?”

“Kind of. They say they held the traveller for a hundred years in the black fort prison, and she did not age a day.”

Wait, please, no, I don’t want to stay a kid forever. That sounds really inconvenient. “So, are the travellers really that bad?”

“I don’t know the reason I became a mechanic is because of a traveller. She saved my planet when I was young, so I always admired her,” she says, contemplating.

“I see, so you think she might not be an enemy.”

“Yes, wait, no, she is an enemy. That is why we are hunting her.” She suddenly says, getting really nervous.

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“Don’t worry about it. This is exactly why I am here. You know, it means that we have communicated poorly to you about why she is bad,” I say, trying to reassure her.

“I see. Then can I ask why she is so bad?” she asks, looking at me curiously.

“I don’t know, really to me, she always felt more like the good person,” I say

“Really, what does Captain Morgon think about your stance?”

“I don’t know, really. Not my problem, either. I don’t answer to him.”

“I wish I could be like you about such things.”

“You are clever. You figure out how to get there at some point.” I say, trying to give her a comforting smile.

“I hope so.”

“I believe it to be, so now, why don’t you tell me what you do?” I say, trying to find a different topic

“Uhm, sure, but I don’t work much here all that much at the moment. I was just gathering tools to work on the crafts in the specialised spacecraft hanger.”

“Specialised hanger? I did not see anything like that on the blueprints.”

“Yeah, the captain recently put it in on specialised order.”

“Really, that is interesting; well, show me the way then.”

Lucy nods and takes me to the specialised hanger. And it is not much of one. It is basically just a big private garage where one fancy ship is docked. I don’t recognise the ship as one from the military catalogues I was looking through for flight training, but then again, this one looks way fancier than any of those. Like a sleeker custom paint job and everything, it looks more like a luxury craft.

“Lucy, tell me, what kind of ship is that?” I ask while observing it.

“It's is a BJA Valcom, one of the pleasure ships created by Altumer Corporation.”

“I see. Why is it on a warship?” I am a bit confused. According to the blueprint, There should be a point defence turret at this location.

“The captain uses it to entertain important guests that come to visit to make them more comfortable.”

I frown. “Lucy, I am not up to date on the military code, but what does it say about situations like this?”

“I don’t know what you mean?”

“do you think it is normal for a ship like this to be here on a permanent basis?”

“I really don’t know the rules all that well. I am just a mechanic.”

“I see. Do you want to take a look inside?”

“No, we could not. We are not important guests.”

I quirk an eyebrow at her “Have you forgotten who I am?”

Her eyes go wide. “Yes, right away, ma’am.”

“It is fine, and call me Tav. That is what my friends call me.”

She smiles “Okay, miss Tav, let's go inside and look”, she says as she picks up some kind of remote and presses a button, allowing the back hatch of the spacecraft to open up.

I step inside. The ship is luxuriously decorated with fancy couches set around a table, a little bar in the corner stereos, and all kinds of other rich crap that I don’t even begin to comprehend the use of. I walk further in, inspecting the cockpit, if you could call it that. There are no walls separating it from the rest of the ship. I look at the controls and frown.

“The controls look different,” I say.

“Yeah, most of the ship is controlled by a powerful AI, allowing even the untrained to fly the ship”, Lucy says.

“Wow, that is impressive,” I say as a plan starts to form. This hanger is way closer to the plate, only a few corridors, and if it is easy to fly, I might actually get away.

“It really is a beauty”, Lucy says.

“You think so? If you like it so much, I make sure to get you one for your birthday,” I say with a smile.

Lucy whips around to me in surprise” You can’t? These ships are worth billions of credits, and you barely know me.“

I laugh “I guess you are right; I am just in a good mood, that is all.”

“It is good to see that you are happy yesterday. You were frowning a lot.”

“Oh, I just had a difficult problem to solve,” I say. “We should probably get out of here though,”

“I thought you said we were allowed to be here?”

“Oh, we are, but that does not mean Stevens won’t be a pain in the butt about it, and I really can’t deal with even more shmoozing and wine.”

“I understand how awful wine is,” Lucy says in an exaggerated tone.

“If you want wine, you can come to my room after work. I am sure I still have some bottles lying around there.”

“Really, you know I am not familiar with all the fancy stuff, right.”

“It is fine. You just have to be a fun conversation partner, that is all,” I say with a smile.

“Then I am done in an hour. Can I see you then?”

I nod. “It would be an hour, Miss Lucy, to host you. Well, let me not delay you any further. I am going to go back to my room for now.” I say before I leave the room.