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    © 2004 Andrew Dormeier
Steadily, Artemus pushed on, until suddenly a wall of rusted metal met him. He turned to the right and followed the hull. He came upon a large hole torn in the side of the ship, probably by the large jagged rock that was lodged in the hull where the tear ended. The dirt trees worked their way partially inside the ship. Sol finally stepped clear of them and shook himself clean as best he could from the ashy substance that coated him.
He stood at the bottom of a vast chamber. It looked as if this room took up a significant portion on the ship. In several places the ceiling had caved in, exposing the bottom to light from the sky. Underneath one of these skylights lay a pile of rubble from a structure that must have at some point stood on the deck above. The top of the pile was a wide, small tower that still poked through the ceiling, albeit at a noticeable angle. With no other way up in sight, Sol made his way over to the rubble and began to climb. At first he worried that the metal might be weak and brittle like the lattice in the valley outside, but it proved to be fairly sturdy. Artemus dropped the short distance from the edge of the broken tower to the deck of the ship. It creaked as he landed. The deck's surface was vast and covered in ruins. In many places the deck had collapsed. Many small buildings and towers near him had partially caved in. Everything was covered in so much rust and dust that everything but the most general features were impossible to make out. At the southern end of the ship rose a prominent structure that dwarfed the others. It was, or at least the parts of it that remained were, at least fifteen stories tall. It seemed as good a place as any to explore, so he made his way toward it, going at a slow and steady pace to avoid falling through the deck. Eventually, he arrived at the base of the tower and entered through a cracked, metal doorframe, the old hatch lying on the ground nearby. At the end of a short hallway was what used to be a staircase: now a pile of stone and metal. Sol climbed up two flights and continued down another hallway. This one went on for much longer. At one point, it teed off and he took the left route. He came to another ruined staircase, and worked his way up three more floors and took a right down yet another hall. Rusty doors on either side led into rooms with nothing in them but dust. At one point, a door opened to nothing but air and a far drop to the unstable deck below. The hallway ended at a large blast door that stood slightly ajar. Artemus grabbed the edge of the door and pulled, moving the door open little by little until he could fit through. The room on the other side had what looked like remains of consoles and stations. This area of the ship was likely the old center of operations for the vessel. He exited near the back of this room down a short connecting hall and turned to the right. A short way down on the left he came to another door, but this one looked different. It had a small window of very thick glass. Sol rubbed the dusty window clean enough with his cloak to see through. |
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