Swamped

Now, it's not like you don't know anything at all about ships. The bridge is usually towards the back. You think you might have read or heard the reason why once, something about being near the rudder, but you don't recall it very well.

The problem is, you aren't too sure about where you are right now. You glance out the window again, but nothing strikes you as a clear indicator of which way the ship's facing. Maybe you'd notice something if you knew a bit more about ships, but you've never been on one like this. Only the Bogknights' barge occasionally, and of course that flying one you were on before getting stuck in this mess...

Bah! You should have asked Carma, your cover story with her would explain why you don't know where the bridge is. You were just too fixated on getting out of there. But it's such a stupid question to ask for someone who's supposedly been on a ship for six months, you'd give yourself away.

Someone pats you on the arm.

"Don't let old Salty get to you," they say. "He just gets irritable when things don't work the way they should."

Right, you've been just standing around. Must look upset, too.

"It's fine, I'm not doing so good either. With all that's happening, I'm so stressed I have trouble remembering where everything is."

"I know what you mean. It's a big ship. Sometimes I take a wrong turn on the way to the galley for dinner and it's half over by the time I realize it. You said you were going to talk to the officers on his behalf?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Well, they'll be on the bridge. And it'd be a real embarrassment to miss the last turn and walk into one of our special guests' rooms, so I bet you're worried about doing something silly like that, hmm?"

You nod.

"Well, fortunately the path up to that point is pretty clear, just got to keep headin' upstairs," they laugh. "And then the last turn is to the right."

"What if I forget where the stairs are?" you say, laughing nervously.

"With how often we walk up 'em? You'd have to take a pretty strong blow to the head to forget that!" They chuckle and walk off. "Good luck, friend. I know things are rough right now, but I got a hunch we'll pull through it."

Well. You got the basic information. Now you just need to find your way upstairs.

Fortunately, it turns out not to be too hard to find the next staircase. But you're not really prepared for what you see when you reach the top of it.