7:26 - I’ve been thinking a lot about what Sarge said about being sure I could handle things out here, and I think she was right. I didn’t really know what I was getting into. But, I can change that. I think it’s time to find out more about the crew of the Sanguine Sojourner.

I’ll do some research when I can, and I’ll keep notes in here. After all, as an Artship crew, there has to be at least a little documentation on them. I can check the Artship Defence Corps database and see if they have bios or appear in old reports. Though they’re such a small ship, I don’t think the database will have much on them. Still, there has to be something!

12:48 - Did some searching on my lunch break. Captain Ava Islestorm does appear, but pretty much just on the registration of the Sojourner as her captain. Silas and Vedod are also listed as crew members, but Kal and Sarge aren’t. Silas has been on other artships in the past, a lot of the same ones as Captain Ava, but Vedod has only been on one other. At least as far as has been recorded. But small artships pick up and leave crew pretty commonly (like me!) so the database definitely doesn’t have the full story.

I wonder if I should check wanted lists?

18:10 - A little more research before dinner. Couldn’t find any of the Sojourner crew on wanted lists, but I did find some information on Boss Riggh. Looks like he’s been associated with smuggling, blackmail, piracy, and even some dealing with scarships!

Whoops, Vedod is calling us for dinner.

19:34 - So Boss Riggh is most wanted because apparently he used to traffic with scarships, supplying them with materials and equipment, sometimes art. I guess they must pay well for it to be worth the risk, but I don’t know anything about that. I’ll check into that.

Okay, yeah, found some articles about scarship dealing. Apparently it’s not that uncommon in the criminal world. Scarships have bastardized versions of our Inspiration Extractors that allow them to destroy art for energy, but that process is volatile, so they have a lot of technology devoted to protecting themselves from mishaps or repairing people who get injured. I’ll do some more reading.

23:47 - Holy smokes. Sarge used to work with Boss Riggh, who used to work with Scarships.

Sarge has a robotic arm.

4:15 - I can’t stop thinking about it. I think I have to get a closer look at Sarge’s arm.

7:46 - That was… a bad idea. A very poor idea.

I got up right after I wrote that last post and tried to get a closer look at Sarge’s arm, but she hangs it up right above her head. So I stood there in the dark and silence for a long time, trying to work up the nerve to take it down. When I finally did reach toward it, her hand snapped up out of nowhere and grabbed my wrist, and I swear my soul nearly left my body.

“Curiosity and cats,” she said, and then let me go and pulled up her blanket, going back to sleep.

I just slunk my way back to bed. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt that embarrassed in my life.

18:04 - I finally broke down and tried asking Vedod some questions, but didn’t get anywhere. To get out of work a little early, I told Silas I had a headache and was going to get some painkillers, but he didn’t even look up from treating the book cover he was working on. (Side note, I’m making great progress translating that Ascentan book! It reads like a novel, but I wonder if it was a form of popular literature or an adaptation of a folktale. Either way, interesting stuff! I need to write up a full report on it eventually.)

Anyway, I went down to the mess hall, where Vedod was cutting up vegetables and Sygornan tubers for a massive batch of fried rice. I tried making small talk about the food. I’m guessing people don’t ask him about cooking much, because he got really excited and kept talking about it for almost half an hour. I kind of just stood there and nodded along, and eventually I gave up on asking about Sarge’s arm or the crew’s past. I didn’t want him to feel like I was just coming to talk to him for information. Thinking about that, I do feel bad that that’s why I went to talk to him in the first place.

You know, of all the people on this ship, Vedod seems the most… like an ordinary person. At least to me. I could imagine a past for him if I wanted to, but the others? I have no idea, and I don’t think I could ask them without things getting tense or secretive. Maybe I should talk to Vedod more. I’ve never had a lot of friends, especially after I started really studying to be a Chronicler. Mom said I was always too focused on studying. And in the last couple years, I’ve been hunting jobs and traveling a lot, which makes it hard to keep in contact with people. I still feel like there’s a barrier of secrets between me and the rest of the crew, but Vedod is more comfortable to be around.

20:02 - Captain Ava told us that we’ll be arriving at the Belt in a day or so, and that we’re following a lead from Boss Riggh. She didn’t explain what exactly we were searching for, but I’m sure it has something to do with her and Kal’s past with Boss Riggh. I got the impression that she was only giving us the bare details for now. Hopefully that means she’s giving us more information soon?

I did do a quick search on the Belt, just to make sure I had my information right about it. It’s a very neutral place, just a strand of asteroids and dwarf planets near Earths 56-58. Plenty of crime and minimal law enforcement. I don’t think scarships are welcome (I mean, they’re never welcome anywhere) but it sounds like the kind of place where scarship dealers like Boss Riggh might be. The biggest thing there is the Asteroid Rally, a sort of homemade spaceship race? I think there’s categories and gauntlets for different kinds of spaceships. I saw some promos for both traditional propulsion ships and chariot-style. (I thought chariot style was banned? But I guess this place isn’t very law-abiding, so that makes sense.)

Whatever happens when we get there, I will not be going anywhere by myself. It sounds like a perfect place to get mugged. I want to stick with Sarge or Captain Ava, maybe Kal if it came down to it. I’m still kind of upset that he ran off and left me behind after causing a commotion in the Port Sumeria haggling den.

21:14 - This is just a tiny hunch, and it could be totally wrong. But by the way Kal’s been brooding around the lounge and glaring into his food, I think he might’ve been to the Belt before. Even if that’s wrong, he’s not happy to be going there.