The interior of the ship was just as new and bright as the outside had been, a series of sleek, shining surfaces that were - incredibly - part of hallways and bulkheads large enough to accommodate his Vuxarinan frame, and then some. Reid could get quite a bit larger and still fit within the vessel.
He'd only seen a few spaceships - or near-spaceships at this point, but Reid had enough of a feel for the things to appreciate how the ramp led directly to the cargo bay, but was separated from the bay itself by a kind of cattle gate, with an actual airlock that actuated down from the ceiling. Together, those safety measures would prevent issues like rapid decompression, and would serve to keep things from sliding around and falling off unintentionally in landing zones with a more typical atmosphere. It was a far cry from the ship he'd once been subjected to when it was open to hard vacuum. The cargo bay - or, hold, as Lycra's lightning-quick tour guide notes defined it - was already stocked high with metal crates secured in a set of rails mounted to the walls, floor, and ceiling. It all looked engineered to survive a head-on crash with an asteroid.
Along with the cargo bay, the lowest level of the vessel contained multiple mechanical and system rooms that Reid quickly lost the function of, as well as a backup weapons system suite that he very much paid attention to. Sure, air recycling systems were vital - but the idea of space lasers was far more exciting. There were, to Reid's initial shock, also a set of three heavy-duty holding cells. Each had a medium sized bed and a multi-species toilet, and Win explained she'd asked for them to be included in the build. Rational logic dictated that, somewhere down the line, they might need to keep someone locked down. And if not - you could lock the doors open to use the space as overflow for extra passengers. Not that they needed extra space.
A set of stairs so steep they were almost a ladder led up to the next level - as did a freight-style elevator that Lycra intentionally skipped over in the tour. Reid wondered if his friend knew that Reid was already thinking of skipping the ladder-stairs just so he could ride on the elevator thing. It seemed more fun. On the second level of the vessel, they found a series of crew quarters. Each one was, interestingly enough, spacious. There were three different configurations, set for differently sized individuals based on the size of the beds. Then, there were common restroom facilities set between those. As they continued, Reid mentally noted those down as the 'apartment' rooms. Further towards the rear of the vessel was a more typical, bunk-bed style barracks. That space had its own facilities attached, as well, and there was a second ladder-stair he'd missed that led down almost on top of the ramp section. Win confirmed the barracks was meant for transport and troops, if necessary, which was why it had such quick access down to the way off the vessel.
They backtracked, and came to a general mess hall kitchen just after the apartments. The long tables were bare and there was, seemingly, nothing stored nor cooked in the kitchens. Reid wondered in the back of his mind whether Norton would like cooking there. Past the mess hall was a pair of security hatches, and a long corridor that seemed to stretch on far too long. Both Lycra and Win hushed his questions - for good reason.
At the end of the hallway, the space opened into a circular atrium space, with a pair of curved staircases running along the outside, up towards an area that seemed to hum with energy. He could catch the barest glimpse of a tangle of tubing up there on the next level. But - there were another three doors in the atrium itself. Two were near the base of the staircases, each going off to opposite sides of the ship. The left and right were identical, with another long hallway, and a set of three doors. Behind each door were suites that Reid found downright palatial. Each one had its own bathroom, closet and storage space, a kitchenette, and flex rooms that could either be bedrooms or offices. He was pretty sure those suites had more square footage than his house on Earth did. Reid's suite, or at least the one Lycra had designated as his suite, was the first door on the starboard side of the vessel. Lycra's room was the first on the port side. He made sure to show Reid that he'd already converted one of the rooms there into a specialized workspace, and Jenna rolled her eyes.
The third door from the atrium was underneath the two staircases, directly across from the fourth and final doorway that led back down the long hallway. The third door opened up to a much more private group space, with a communal sitting area, and a kitchen that smelled recently active. As they drew closer to the kitchen area, Lycra walked in, nodded to himself, and walked back out with all the intent in the world to keep going. He'd spent five minutes talking about his personal workshop - but time to talk through the kitchen was apparently not worthwhile. Reid heavily disagreed, and stepped into the room to see what he'd be working with for meals.
And he froze.
There was a figure at one of the tables in the kitchen, hunched over a stack of papers. They had scales and large eyes like a goldfish, with a mouth that reminded Reid of a photo he'd once seen of a scale worm's mouth. Everything about him screamed that this person had their lineage in the sea - and everything about how they sat told Reid they weren't a fighter. At least, not a good one. So what the hell were they doing here?
"Wait - Lycra. Who the fuck is that?"
Win snorted, and Lycra spun around to give a rapid-fire answer.
"That's Baz. He's with us now."
His small-statured friend started to walk back towards the sitting area and the atrium, barely breaking stride. Reid had stopped in place.
"Lycra - that wasn't an explanation!"
He did stop this time - and shrugged as he walked back quickly to look into the kitchen. "He got kidnapped by the Culminist, then he stopped the Culminist from kidnapping Quinlan, and he also heard about you and Earth. So, Win said it was your fault. Now he's in witness protection. Or we're protecting ourselves because he's a witness. Maybe both. He writes numbers next to stuff. Hi Baz!"
Win was wearing a smile, and waved to 'Baz' as well. The new face timidly rose up from his seat, and brushed himself off. His goldfish eyes blinked like he was trying to refocus after reading for way too long.
"Um, hi... I'm Bazdamirt. Thank you for having me. I'll work for my place here, until you let me leave. Oh- I'm a logistician. If you haven't had one - lots of people don't - logisticians are, well, best for larger crews or long haul travel. So I keep things running, and keep things stocked. Like the hold - and both the big galley and this smaller one. I made sure we have some instant rations and meals, but also plenty of preserved vegetables and meats, which should last well after this flight. Plus, I like to keep an assortment of drinks. We got lucky, and were able to get quite a bit of the stock bought from the locals - the Vuxarinans. Well, bought through Win. I wasn't allowed to leave the ship."
Reid looked the newcomer up and down. "Drinks, like coffee?"
He nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! I also had Win get us two spare coffee makers that are in the hold. I learned early on in my career to always keep extras on hand when it comes to bean juice."
Reid already knew that if Win had allowed this person on board, she likely had given it some thought. He trusted her judgement, in the same way she'd trusted Hugo and James based on Reid's word. He gave Win an appreciative nod, then grinned at the boy. "He can stay."
Baz relaxed, and half-fell back down into his seat. Reid... hadn't realized the kid was that intimidated by him.
The tour went on - at the top of the spiral stairs was something honestly mesmerizing.
A massive, glowing crystal stood, separated out from the rest of the space with clear walls. It had a dizzying array of pipes, tubing, and wires running from its surface to channels and holes in the floor and ceiling, which then went out to... well, everywhere in the ship. Reid couldn't see any of them, but Lycra traced over their paths as he spoke.
"Oh! And this one is for the secret hatch, which is different from the ramp, and it goes this way, right next to the section for the life-saver pods. BUT! There's another one hidden under both, and that goes to the obfuscation generator, which is really good at hiding stuff, so it hides that the ship is C grade."
Reid paused. "The ship is C grade?"
Lycra nodded vigorously. "Yes! That's why it has a C-grade ship capable crystal! It's amazing! Just look at it!"
Reid did, with new appreciation for what he was seeing. It was still just as mesmerizing, but he also now let himself understand that what he was looking at probably hand enough power contained within it to level half the Vuxarinan planet below. Crystals were all powerful - they had latent energy just waiting to be used and applied correctly to some problem or outlet. Reid still didn't get all of the specifics, but he had some concept of how the mana might behave. His knowledge was lacking compared to Lycra's, of course, but that, too, was expected.
And, on the subject of expected things - there was a workshop. Or, more accurately, there were a series of workshops. One held golems rigged in standing positions and various states of assembly. Another seemed to be entirely for crystal carving, and there were enough barriers within that Reid and the others had trouble stepping through as Lycra gave his tour. Another seemed to be for prosthetics. It made Win roll her eyes, and Reid caught Vidita flexing the fingers on what looked like a recently-regrown Vuxarinan hand. More spaces waited, but Jenna managed to get Lycra to move on from the workshops - and to the final stop.
Up another small ramp was an ovoid deck - the command and control space. The racecar-sleek protrusion gave them nearly 360 degree viewing, with screens positioned to offer awareness to the blind spots. Chairs were set into the floor, with multi-point harnesses, next to control panels. They glowed with touchscreens - but also had a series of dials and switches to provide more physical options. A braid of fine cabling was visible running from each panel, down into the floor. The frontmost seat was twinned, and each had an aircraft-like Y-yolk set into the control panel in front of the chairs. Jenna gave the left one's back a squeeze with her hand, and stared down intently at the controls as Lycra continued his tour-guide impression. He hadn't lost a single iota of the energy he'd started with.
"Those are the pilot's chairs, and there's two in case something happens and Jenna is unconscious, but I don't think that will happen, plus the ship is designed to keep this area safer than the rest, even though you can see out of it. The pilot's chair controls are almost all manual, too, which Jenna likes. I think they should all be a mix, but that's not high up on my list of things to modify. Oh, and this is the identification plate!"
He pointed to a bronze-colored rectangle, with raised lettering.
- - -KINSTRELPROPERTY OF LYCRA ASCHERONC-GRADE FRIGATEMUNITION-LICENSEDPRIVATELY OWNED VESSEL- - -
"Kinstrel?"
Lycra nodded. "It's a great name! Win picked it out."
The woman had a half-bashful, half-relieved smile on her face. It was the most reserved she'd seemed all tour. "It's from a program Lycra likes. Kinstrels are familial avians that have a song they make together, one line at a time, until it becomes something special."
Lycra hug-slammed her leg. After a moment, Reid took the implied invitation and joined. It was the first time the three of them had embraced one another, together, since the warrens. So many things were different - but holding onto these two felt just the same as it had then.
When they separated, Reid stepped over to the plate, and ran his thumb over the lettering. Jenna moved from the distance she'd given the trio's hug, to sit down in the pilot's seat. There was a glint in her eye as she reached for the controls and started flipping toggles.
More than any room or bed or space, this ship felt like an anchor. A place that was theirs... A home.
"Alright, Kinstrel. Let's go."