Entry 35

“Let’s give Carlee the grand tour,” Ven said to Blaue. “She’s going to have a bad opinion of you if we just keep her down here in the dreary cargo bay.”

“I love giving the grand tour,” Blaue responded happily. “Come on Earharts. Follow me.” She turned and began to walk towards the edge of the gray room.

“Are you really there?” I asked, unable to help myself. She seemed real enough. I thought I might be able to reach out and touch her.

“No, this body is just a holographic projection meant to help me better communicate with the people who inhabit me,” Blaue responded. “I am the ship; this image simply provides a more manageable interface for organic sentients.”

“Don’t use that phrase, Blaue,” Ven said sharply. “You know how I feel about it.” Blaue rolled her light blue eyes and then winked at me, as if saying she would use whatever phrase she wanted.

The wall before Blaue seemed to fall in on itself. I stepped to the right, trying to get a better view of what was happening. The wall fell in and seemed to form a set of stairs going up.

“What sort of technology is that?” John asked curiously. I looked up at John in surprise. I had assumed nothing would come as a shock to him, that he knew everything about the galaxy. I wondered how much of that assumption was false.

“Just your basic atomic manipulation,” Blaue answered as if it was nothing. “I can rearrange my particles on a small scale. There was only a thin wall here and the stairs were already there. I simply made the atoms in the wall part of the atoms with the stairs. It’s also how I created the whole in my hull so you three could come in.” John looked very impressed. I had barely had a few weeks of chemistry and absolutely no physics, so I had no idea what she was talking about. I stored her words away in my mind, so I could ask John about it later.

Blaue ascended the stairs with an easy elegance, Ven following close behind her. John motioned for me to go ahead of him, and then he followed me through. The stairs were slightly too high for my preference, or perhaps my height. I was by far the shortest one present. Blaue was nearly as tall as John.

The staircase was not the same dreary gray as the cargo bay. The walls were a warm and cheery yellow, making me feel like I was in a home rather than a starship.

The staircase backtracked, taking us up and over where the cargo bay was. Then it platteaued into a hall, which was the same warm and cheery yellow color. Like the cargo bay, there were no harsh meetings between the ceiling, floor, and walls like there was in Earth architecture. The walls simply curved into the floor we were walking on and the ceiling overhead.

“This is the main hall,” Blaue said motioning about her. “All rooms are off of this hall. The bridge is directly opposite of us.” She motioned ahead. I looked past her but saw nothing but the cheery yellow walls. “The captain’s quarters and two guests quarters are on this hall as well as the mess.”

“I’m not a very big ship,” Blaue said modestly. “Just a light personal vessel, but I trust you will find your rooms adequate.” She waved her hand two holes appeared in the wall, holes large enough to be doorways. “I will open the doors to your rooms whenever you ask, and I can always hear you no matter where you are as long as you are in the ship. Should you need anything, do not hesitate to let me know. Carlee’s room will be the one to my right and John’s room will be the one to my left…”

“The android doesn’t need a room,” Ven interrupted her sharply. Blaue stopped and leveled an even stare on Ven.

“The android will need a room,” Blaue responded. “He cannot share a room with his owner, as he is designed to be male and Carlee is a little young to be exposed to the grotesqueness of a nude human male. I know you would never share a room with him. He will need a room.”

“It can stay in the cargo bay,” Ven said, crossing his arms over his chest. Blaue simply rolled her eyes and turned back to us.

“You will be staying on the room to my left,” Blaue told John. “Please ignore my captain. He doesn’t like androids much.”