18:05 — Update: Ran into artship after crash, now in their kitchen. Big gun man watching me. He looks suspicious of my typing. Hold that thought.

18:08 — Okay, I got him to take me to the bathroom, so I can stall for a little while. This artship looks medium-old. It’s definitely not one of the newer models, but it’s no old beater. I bet their inspiration extractor is from that phase where they were actually comfortable to use. All of the sleek, plasticy extractors at the U are too hard to adjust to my head.

But I digress! There’s more important things to record!

My mission to Earth #427 was a bust. Sort of. I can’t believe I didn’t think to check under the floorboards. I inspected every torn piece of book and pile of rubble I could find, but those Heartless sure were thorough when they ravaged the Grand Library of Adnaxela. Nothing more than a few burned scraps of pages survived, except for that little journal the captain picked up.

I’m not sure what to think of Captain Ava, or anyone else here. They’re not Heartless, but they’re not exactly welcoming. That Silas guy especially. If he was a professor, he’d be the kind that assigns twenty page papers on inspiration extraction theory and has office hours for fifteen minutes every other Thursday. The kind who really doesn’t want to teach; he just wants the university paycheck to keep doing his research.

But I digress again!

The plan is to drop me off at the Zopa Station. I could probably find a ship heading back toward Earth #79. I don’t have enough credits left to buy a new ship of my own, not even an old beater. Or maybe I can find some work? I am pretty good with inspiration extraction, but I don’t really know how much I could get paid for that.

The way Captain Ava has that big guy, Kal, following me around, I think they’re hiding something. How many other artifacts do they have on this ship?

I think I hear him moving away from the door. Will update later.

20:27 — The good news is, I’m not going to the Zopa station! Actually, I think it’s all good news! Probably!

I snuck out of the bathroom while Kal was talking to someone else. I think it was the cook? And I made it up to the second level without being spotted, and the first doorway I saw led into the cockpit. (Is it the cockpit? I think Captain Ava called it the helm, actually. Professional terminology!) Space outside the windows was beautiful. (That’s one part I’ll miss about that old beater ship I crashed earlier. Just me and the engines and stars and planets forever. Sigh.) But what was even more beautiful was their ART DETECTOR.

They actually have one! We talked about the possibility in theory classes, of how aesthetic potential could impact transdimensional readings due to its ability to be converted into energy, but it was all theoretical! I don’t think even the professors in the U’s research labs have any reliable ways to detect aesthetic potential, much less pinpoint a location, but these people can!

After I barged into the helm and kinda freaked out about the Art Detector, Captain Ava took me back to her quarters. You know how some people’s rooms just look like them? Captain Ava’s quarters are so minimalistic, I felt like I’d been walked into a crime scene where all the furnishings have been stolen. There were exactly three decorations. On the plain white nightstand was an exquisite stained glass lamp with art nouveau flowers and trees, and hanging on the wall was an old-fashioned star chart tapestry, like the posters in the Navigation building at the U. There was also a tiny potted plant with two waxy leaves on the shelf, being used as a bookend.

She had me sit in the chair at her desk and stood over me for what felt like forever, just frowning and crossing her arms. I couldn’t tell if she was thinking or if she was waiting for me to crack. Eventually, she asked, “What were you going to do with that artifact from the Adnaxela library?”

“Try to restore it? Deliver it to a museum or an artship? I mostly just wanted to help find artifacts,” I said.

“You want to work on an artship someday?”

“Well, not someday, I have plenty of experience to handle a position now. Can we talk about that… What do you call it? The art finder?” (A stupid name, I know, but I was flustered!)

“The Art Detector is our biggest secret. We don’t even tell other artships in case word spreads. If the Scarships got ahold of an Art Detector, we might never be able to catch up with them,” she said, sitting on the corner of her bed.

I relaxed a little bit. “Right! I won’t tell anybody, I promise!”

“You better not, or I’ll charge you with treachery against you crew.”

I frowned, not sure if that was a joke or if something had simply gone over my head. She saw that I was confused, and the corner of her mouth twitched up in a little smile. (Ugh, I wish I could do that and look cool! I’d just look like a crazed chipmunk.) “You’re going to be an assistant for our chronicler, Silas,” she said. “He won’t admit it, but he’s barely keeping up with our need for inspiration energy. We have a whole collection of artifacts that need restored and stacks of artifacts that need translated. If you can help him out with that, it would be a massive help to us. And it keeps you close until I’m sure you can keep a secret.”

My mouth fell open, and I couldn’t say anything for a few seconds. “You… You’re giving me a job?”

“Probationary. We’ll see how it goes, and we’ll see what Silas thinks of you.”

I clapped my hands over my mouth, trying hard not to squeal. It was exactly what I’d wanted! Sort of! In hindsight, I probably should have been more concerned about the unspoken implication of what would happen if I couldn’t keep the secret about the Art Detector, but I was way too excited to think about that at the moment. “You won’t regret it, ma’am!” I said. “Should I salute?”

“No, and ‘Captain Ava’ is fine,” she said. She stood and angled herself toward the door. “Why don’t you go find Kal and tell him that I want him to help you settle in. I’ll talk to Silas.”

That was a couple hours of ago, and more has happened since, but I’ll have to update the record later. Next time: I don’t think Silas likes me, and my roommate is scary.