"Who are ya?" The man asked again, after I didn't respond the first time.
I didn't know what to say. Did I tell him my real name? Or give him a fake one? Should I just run? Or would that look bad?
Without thinking, I instinctively said the first thing that popped into my mind, "My name is Asher Greenwood, I'm 18, and no I am not sexually active."
I wanted to slap my own face.
The man looked extremely confused, "What?"
I laughed nervously.
"Look. I don't know who ya are, but ya need to get out of the storage room. The captain will be mighty angry if he finds ya tampering with his treasure."
"Treasure," I asked, "Isn't this just a bunch of mail?"
"Yeah, well, it ain't all valuables. Sometimes ya end up with a couple duds, it's not so unusual in this business."
I wanted to know exactly what he meant by "this business", but I felt it better not ask.
Instead I just stood there awkwardly.
"Well?" he said, "Get out!"
"Oh! Right!" I exclaimed. I ran towards the door and slid past him into the next room. Well, it was more like a hallway. He then turned to look me up and down once more before moving inside the storage room and shutting the door. Slowly, I turned around and take in my new surroundings. It was remarkable.
It was large for a hallway, but obviously so, as there were no windows but many doors along the walls. Some people were busy bustling about, moving from up and down the long corridor. I wondered what kind of building I was in. The walls, doors, floor, and ceiling were all made of metal, which I found highly unusual. But despite the lack of varied material, the place had a certain charm and appeal. It was stylish no doubt, and perfectly crafted, but I had never seen any design like it. The walls curved in to create a half sphere, with consecutive columns all an equal distance apart. The metal did vary in shade with the different components of the hall, some darker than others. The floor had a sort of bluish-gray carpet laid down the center, about four feet wide. Two more feet could be found on either side of the carpet, making the corridor eight feet wide in total. The ceiling was about as close to the ground as most places I might think of, nine feet in all. There was no other decoration to speak of, besides maybe the bright, fluorescent lights above my head. It was a strange, but pretty nice place. It didn't look like somewhere a kidnapee would be taken.
After I'd finished gawking at the marvel of the hall, I started to make my way down it, turning to the left, as that was the direction most people were headed. I gained some odd looks as I passed but no one stopped me, so I held my head high and tried to ignore the stares, though it was difficult.
Soon enough I reached the end of the hallway, and suddenly it appeared less impressive than a nice tree. Before me was quite possibly the most extraordinary thing I had ever laid my eyes on. The puny corridor was in fact leading to a ginormous room which spread out in a grand display of glass and metal. It must have been nighttime, because all I could see was stars. In every window, they were shining. I had never seen such a vibrant sky. Normally it would be dimmed by light and pollution, but here, it seemed untainted. Everywhere I looked there was a wide window filled with the glory of space, all of them curved into a dome shape overhead. It was almost as if I had left Earth and come to space myself.
I soon realized the stares I had been receiving had just then increased by tenfold, and I quickly picked up my failing jaw so I could scurry to a quiet corner of the room. I was slightly embarrassed, but too impressed to care much. I continued to stare out at the stars as people watched me in their business, like an odd animal which was only for their entertainment. Actually, the staring was starting to get annoying. What was it about me that made them so interested?
Just then, a very tall man with a very long beard walked into the room, and started to survey the bustling crowd. When he spotted me, he fixed his stare and began to walk angrily towards me. I gulped. He didn't look very friendly.
"You there!" he shouted from halfway across the room.
I ripped myself away from the wall and squeaked out a, "Y-yes?"
As he approached I broke out in a cold sweat, and my eye started to twitch. When he'd finally covered the distance between us, he came straight up to me and leaned over my frail body with his insanely muscular one and said, "What do ya think ya're doing here?"
I gulped for the third time that night, "I was just- just looking at the stars."
Well, that was lame, I thought.
Suddenly the large man drew a gun from his side and held it directly to my face, "I mean," he said curtly, obviously impatient, "What do ya think ya're doing on this here ship?"
A ship? Were we at sea? Was that why the sky was so clear?
"Um, like I said? Stargazing?"
The man apparently did not like my answer because he grabbed me by my collar and dragged me to the center of the room in a very hurried fashion. He then threw me to the ground and put his gun to my forehead again. By this time, I was soaked with sweat.
"Do ya think this is a game, ladey?"
I didn't respond, the gun pointed at my head had frozen my speech.
"Well, do ya?" he insisted.
I managed to croak out a very weak, "No sir."
"Then tell me what ya're doing on me ship." he said with an icey sneer. His eyes were angry and they bored into me like a hawk's. I nearly pissed myself.
"I-I'm sorry. I really don't know what I'm doing on your ship. I just woke up here and-"
"Ya think ya're lame excuses are gonna work on me?!"
"No-no sir! I'm terribly sorry sir!"
"Me ship hasn't had any stops since we left D-97F! The only explanation for ya being here is you stowed away somewhere on me ship!"
"Like I said sir, I really don't know how I got here, I don't even live near the sea!"
The man paused, "What do ya mean, 'the sea'? What's that?"
"Huh?" I was confused.
"I asked ya a question!" he responded, pushing the gun closer to my forehead.
I wasn't ready just then to be shot, so I squeaked out an answer, "The sea, you know sir, big body of water? Fills over 70% of the planet?"
The man now looked even more confused than me, "Now what nonsense are ya spreading? What do ya mean, 'the planet', which one ladey?"
"What?"
"What?"
"Ya're in space ladey, don't ya know that?"
"Space, like outerspace?" I was almost shocked out of speech again.
"Are ya playing with me ladey?"
I didn't respond. I was on a spaceship, and suddenly the gun being held to my head was far less important than my current location.