5 Spaceship

Cain, Asher, and Miriam went back to camp, leaving PJ alone with Adah for fifteen minutes. Throughout that whole time, PJ was feeling especially annoyed because Adah was not staying put where she was, and PJ had to keep reminding her that this was an alien spacecraft.

"We haven't even confirmed what this is yet," Adah had said, "so we can't call it a spaceship."

PJ had crossed her arms, began to talk about it being a UFO and she could then define it however she wanted because of that, all while Adah rolled her eyes.

No need to say it, but PJ was relieved when Asher came back. He'd brought gloves, bandanas to use as masks, and a ladder they'd found at an abandoned construction site to help Adah get out - or rather, to help them get in.

"I'm not going down that," PJ said. "That'll give me tetanus." Despite having prepared her whole life for this moment, when confronted, she was kinda scared.

"There's nothing to worry about, unless you��re an anti-vaxxer," Cain commented as he slowly

"We are all wearing gloves," Asher pointed out. "Unless you scratch yourself, there is nothing to worry about."

"But if that still deterrs you, the possibility of getting scratched, you can stay up there. You can keep guard while the rest of us bang around this hollow space rock," Adah said.

PJ gulped, closed her eyes and put her hand out to stop Cain from getting any closer to the hole. "I'm going in first."

"Cause you're totally not sacred," Adah said as PJ descended down the ladder. As Cain began to come down, PJ turned on her flashlight.

"Wow, it looks like Thor Ragnarok in here, but black," Cain said as he jumped down the last four steps on the ladder.

"At this point, we can't deny it. This is an alien spaceship."

Adah started sarcastically clapping. "Congratulations! What are we going to do about it?"

PJ slowly turned, her flashlight illuminating the reflective metal. The room was only a five by five, as far as she could see, and as such having all five of them in there was going to be squeezed.

"Miriam, can you stay up there? Not all of us can fit. This is a airlock bay, or a holding bay, or something like it," PJ said as Asher was halfway down the ladder.

"Okay," Miriam said. "I'll be watching for people I guess. Just keep me informed." It wasn't a secret that she was relieved. She was scared, and knew it, and that was what kept her from being called a coward, because true cowards always denied their cowardly actions.

PJ then began going up and down on her flashlight, and eventually caught a look at something. "There's an airvent up there!" She exclaimed. "Or some sort of vent. I'm assuming its air because anything else would've settled in here and we wouldn't be able to breathe it."

"Everyone, get to the rear so I can move the ladder up. I think I can pry it open," Cain said, pulling a swiss army knife from his vest.

After a minute of shuffling, everything was in place. Cain had both of his hands off the ladder when he reached the top. Just like the panel that Adah fell through, it was slightly loose in an area.

"It's only a foot wide. None of us can fit through it," Cain commented, putting some stress into his tone to make sure they knew it was ironic.

"Move aside, Jock," Adah said, shaking the ladder. She was incredibly skinny and lightweight - the reason she was the aerial kid on the cheerleader team.

"Whoooa! I'm coming down!" Cain exclaimed.

Adah then scrambled up the ladder and she rested her left arm on the now opened vent. "What am I going to do if I get stuck in there?" She asked, looking down at her twin.

"Well, if PJ is correct about it being an airlock, there should be a button on the other side. But I mean, aliens might have different standards then us, but a button letting people in seems like a universal concept," Asher said and then snorted. "Heh. Universal."

"Alright," said Adah. "Here I gooo-woooah!"

She landed on the other side with a crash and after a second shouted, "Man, I'm going to be so sore tomorrow!"

She turned to look behind her. She was in a long, narrow chamber. At the end of it was a half-wall with an open area in the middle. Past that, she could barely see anything.

Maybe I need glasses too, she thought, thinking about her brother.

"So what am I supposed to do? Stab things with a pocket knife until it opens?" Adah called, running said knife up and down the lines on the wall.

"No, press the wall. Try to find a button. This three or so feet is a door-length I assume, so go a tiny bit to the left or right of that," Asher instructed.

Adah nodded, not that anyone could see that, but they could certainly hear the repetitive slap of her hand on metal.

"I don't think he meant it like that!" Cain called over the wall.

"No, that's a perfectly valid way of doing it," Asher told Cain.

Adah moved to slap a piece of wall and the wall did not push back, and it only sunk in. For a second, she thought she broke something again, but after a second she heard a click noise, and the screeching of metal as the doors disconnecting her from her twin opened.

"Wow!" Asher gasped as he stepped in and observed the room. Connected to the top and bottom of the room were rails, which would be useful in zero-g. Strapped to them were bits of cargo. Near the front were five blocks, which he was rather confused by.

He took a step forward and PJ stopped him. "Wait, there could be traps."

"I highly doubt it. We've already passed the security," Cain said, striding forwards.

"Alright, be like that," PJ muttered through grit teeth.

Everyone else followed Cain's strict footpath through the middle set of rails. Luckily, nothing happened. As everyone got closer to the front, they could see an indent coming out of the wall, and buttons stemming from it, each inscribed in some sort of rune. The five objects Asher saw were revealed to be chairs.

All of them were turned away from them, but the one spearheading it, the one in the center front, was emitting a smell like roadkill.

Adah turned it around with one gloved hand, and they all screamed.