"Right now we are in the crew quarters. This is where you sleep."

  Jonathan finally took the time to take in the room.

  He was sitting on a bed about twin size, built into a cabinet that slid out from the wall. Craig looked over to the other side of the room, which appeared to have a similar configuration — only slightly bigger to accommodate his larger form. With both beds extended, there was only a small path to actually walk out of the room.

  He imagined that when it was time to sleep, a person would simply get in, then press a button for the entire thing to slide back into the wall.

  Jonathan noticed that his side of the room had two bunks for a total of four sleeping spots, whereas Craig had two much larger cabinets on his side.

  "What's the other bigger bed for?"

  "Guests."

  "Oh, do we have a guest?"

  "No."

  Craig apparently wasn't a big talker.

  "Oh, so can I use it until we get one?"

  Craig shrugged. Jonathan wondered if shrugs were universal. He decided not to push the issue and just take the smaller one anyway — he wasn't claustrophobic and was fine sleeping on his back.

  Doors on both ends of the room opened.

  One side was the "bio facilities" — which included two sections that every biological crew member likely needed: a bathroom and a kitchen.

  The kitchen wasn't much. There was some kind of food processor, a food preserver that acted like a fridge, a water dispenser, a handful of thermos mugs with big handles, and trays that could serve as a plate or a bowl if you were in college.

  There was no cutlery, but then it didn't sound like there was a huge variety of food, so maybe that wasn't an issue. Definitely still beat eating from tubes, which was an idea that grossed Jonathan out.

  Behind the kitchen was the bathroom area, through a door in the back. There was some kind of shower and a toilet that looked remarkably like one you'd find on an airplane.

  They proceeded back out through the crew quarters and out the other door.

  The hallway Jonathan found himself in wasn't exactly remarkable. There were a couple of pipes or tubes running along the wall, and of course the hamster ball track for Rex — but aside from that it was just grey paneling with thin strips of light near the corner of each surface, including the floor. Each door was large but fairly thin. The doors unlocked and retracted into four separate triangular wedges when someone got close.

  The entire ship felt very cramped, but still bigger than expected given what Jonathan knew about ships.

  "How big is this ship compared to an American space shuttle?"

  "Humble Beginnings is about 5 to 6 times the size of a space shuttle, with room for possible expansion through the flex module system."

  "-4% Earth standard gravity!" Thanks, Pal.

  They talked as they walked, though it wasn't very far between each destination. The Rex ball needed to be in line-of-sight for him to appear, but even as they passed through rooms his voice could still project continuously. Rex didn't walk through doorways — he just appeared in whatever room he entered. He used this as an opportunity to try lots of different outfits, mimicking various space uniforms from popular sci-fi shows.

  Most of the ship looked pretty much the same, and it didn't take long to get to the first room.

  "This is the cockpit. I do most of the flying, so it's not usually necessary for anybody to be here."

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  "This would also be where weapons are operated from — but we don't have a weapons expert yet, and we're running light on arms at the moment."

  "As in you're running low on ammunition?"

  "No, just not many weapons. The only thing we have that could constitute a weapon right now is a simple projector beam — it can send signals, infrared, or a few other things. Its main purpose is to disarm, confuse, or otherwise destroy hostile satellites and mines. It's what we use for ship-to-surface communication."

  "Is space combat that rare?"

  "Oh, no — space combat is somewhat common. The problem is weapons are expensive. They're on the list of things to acquire. For now we rely on our low overall worth and somewhat powerful engines."

  "How long have you guys been at this again?"

  "A little under 4 cycles — close to 5 Earth years. Admittedly, a large percentage of our time and money were spent in recuperation due to some wounds sustained a couple of missions back. But the good news is that we're trending up! That last haul was pretty good, and we recently made an acquisition that is sure to increase our odds at a much better haul next time!"

  "What's that?"

  "You!"

  Jonathan walked right into that one.

  They didn't go into the cockpit. Instead they went back the other way, past the crew quarters again. The hall doors all opened in preparation for Jonathan's arrival. They walked past one that Rex called the "briefing room" — they'd get to that at the end of the tour.

  Next up was the "Utility Station" — part supply closet, part makerspace.

  There was a fabricator, which apparently worked very similarly to a 3D printer but with all sorts of materials. There was a laundry pit, where you threw laundry in the top and it eventually came out the bottom clean and somewhat mended. And there were a couple of equipment lockers where they stored gear used on missions.

  After that, they walked toward what Rex said was the center of the ship. There they entered a large vestibule.

  "This is the hangar. Adjoined to it is our cargo bay."

  Inside the somewhat cavernous room was the dropship they had ridden up on. It looked like there was enough room to house four separate drop pods — which left three empty bays.

  Using nautical terms that Jonathan wasn't familiar with — yet knew anyway due to his friends feeding him basic knowledge — they were coming from the bow, or front of the ship. On the starboard beam side was the cargo hold, and on the port beam side was an airlock.

  As they walked through, Jonathan noted a few futuristic-looking hand carts and a large pile of goods. Rex followed his eyes.

  "We're still sorting things out, as you can see. We're currently headed toward a way station to unload our cargo."

  Jonathan took a quick peek into the cargo bay.

  His eyes drifted to a pile of Earth goods stacked haphazardly on the nearest shelf. He recognized some of his own belongings — his laptop bag and his phone.

  "That's all my stuff?"

  "Everything you had with you. Not much due to the circumstances, obviously — but these are considered your personal possessions and we're not going to take them from you. Unless you want to sell any of it, in which case the proceeds would be yours."

  The laptop itself was critical, but maybe he would sell his tablet and phone if he could find a buyer.

  Aside from that, there were a few shelves with some boxes on them. One read "NUTRIENT BLOCKS" — presumably what they put in the food processor. It apparently worked like a food synthesizer from Star Trek, but rather than create things out of elements, you would feed large blocks of material into a slot, and the food would be created using this material as a base.

  Jonathan moved on. He couldn't get over how weird it was seeing something as mundane as a stock room on a literal spaceship. There wasn't much else here — a couple of other boxes, some odds and ends that might have been souvenirs from planets they'd visited that wouldn't sell.

  They walked down through the aft exit of the hangar bay into the flex space.

  There were several rows of rooms here, but every single one was gated off with large blast doors.

  "This is where our flex modules would go... IF WE HAD ANY." Rex changed into a fairly odd white dress shirt and black tie before going very grave and dramatic for that last part. Jonathan knew he was referencing something but couldn't quite place it.

  "Let me guess. Too expensive?"

  "Correct! One last section before we turn around."

  They went past the flex spaces to yet another locked door.

  "This is engineering. Unfortunately, access is strictly prohibited for those without the Engineer role. So we're definitely keeping our eyes open for one of those next, if we can."

  "So what happens if something breaks with the engines?"

  "We turn on our hazard lights, try to pull over to the shoulder, and call AAA."

  It took longer than most, but Jonathan was finally starting to get tired of Rex's smartassedness.

  "I'm kidding, of course. But it's not that far from the truth — which is why we pay an exorbitant amount of time and money every station visit to make sure we don't get stuck."

  "So is that everything? What about recreation or fitness?"

  The thought of Craig absolutely annihilating a box of snack cakes crossed Jonathan's mind. What was the BMI of the average raider?

  "Data not found!"

  "Recreation is typically reserved for when we're at a way station, or in some cases on planet. Usually we're either at one or on our way to one. Physical fitness is greatly increased by your Passenger, who essentially works out your muscles while you rest — though there's a limit, so be careful what you eat."

  "The Earth food is off limits for now anyway. Don't want you eating into our profits… or in the captain's case, eating our entire stock."