The S.S Delinquent

Chapter 17 & 18

Chapter Seventeen

   Tatts and Matchsticks reluctantly left behind the luscious Hydroponic Deck, before their hormones ended up getting them into trouble. As they hadn't actually left the Landing Docks behind yet.

    They climbed up a rickety metal spiral staircase that lead back up the higher levels where the other sections of the ship were. Now that everyone else was all unpacked, settled in and had nothing else to do, they had all already taken their seats in the storage hanger. 

   They were all ready and waiting for take off before the announcement had even been given. It seemed it wasn't just Tatts who was keen on escaping the dirty clutches of the United Space State Alliance.

   The rest of the young offenders and alien orphans were sat among the cadets of the Loser Squadron, they seemed to be enjoying some banter and were bragging about their fighting skills. Everyone finally seemed to be getting along a little better which was very pleasing.

   As Tatts and Matchsticks walked past them all on their way to finish the rest of their tour, she caught her best friend's eye and smiled at her. Pinkie looked like she was having the time of her life with all those big, strapping lads around her, who were gazing at her adorably and hanging off her every word.

   Pinkie returned the smile and gave her a wink, it was as if she knew what had almost happened between them. Annoyingly, she seemed to have some sort of sixth sense about these things, but she was going to have to wait until later for her juicy gossip.

   Knowing that they did not have long until they also needed to take their seats, they had a hurried tour of the Kitchens and Medical Bay that were adjacent to the storage hangar. There was quite a lot to unpack before they took off, so Rat Features and Lippy did not have much time to talk to them.

   The Kitchen also doubled up as the dining room where there were simple benches and tables to sit down and eat their meals. You could even watch Rat Features cooking and preparing the food as it was all open plan. Tatts didn't know if this was a good idea or not, but she was really looking forwards to trying real food.

   The Medical Bay was obviously much smaller than the one on the S.S Europe. It had a lot less storage space for their limited supplies and a very compact operating area. There were only two ward beds so if they had more two ill or injured people at a time, poor Lippy was really going to struggle to cope.

   Towards the back end of the ship was the crew's shared Living Quarters and bathrooms, which were directly over the Hydroponics Deck. Unlike at the Orphanage, there were real comfortable bunk beds attached to the walls rather than being enclosed inside the wall.

   It looked like everyone else had already bagged which bunk they wanted by dumping their personal kit bags on them, so they could secure who they wanted sleeping next to them. The place was already a mess and lacking any of the usual cadet discipline and tidiness.

   "Oh.... there doesn't look like there is any space left for me" Tatts noted upset. She didn't fancy having to sleep on the floor, even her old bunk was preferable to that.

"I think you'll find there is" Matchsticks told her with a grin, obviously itching to show to her something.

"Where?" Tatts wanted to know, wondering if he was talking about sharing with him?

   Matchsticks took her hand and lead her to the back of the room, where there was a door leading to small room tucked away from the other bunks. On the door it had a little wooden sign that read 'Captains Quarters'.