Montgomery marveled as he followed the old man out of the cargo bay and into the rest of the ship. Noak grumbled out the names of the different rooms as they passed by their doors, not bothering to open any of them to his new companion. With this being his first time on any sort of ship, Montgomery was glad just to be here and that the old man hadn’t called the authorities on him to send him back. 

“And that one can be yours,” Noak growled as he pointed to a door and continued on down the rest of the hallway, leading his stowaway up to the “bridge” of the ship, which he explained was basically the control room of the ship. 

“Is it just you by yourself here?” Montgomery asked as he sat down at a chair in front of one of the numerous control panels. 

“And Ruth.” 

“Ruth?” 

A screen clicked on in front of the young man when he said the name and he was greeted by the AI that helped run the ship. “I did not know we were picking up passengers, Noak.” 

“Neither did I,” he replied as he tapped away at a keyboard across the room. “This one invited himself.” 

Montgomery felt his cheeks flush and began to stumble into an apologetic explanation that was quickly cut off by a waved hand and a promise from Noak to work him to the bone to earn his passage to the nearest free port. Grateful, if not a little embarrassed, Montgomery excused himself to go explore his bunk. 

When he entered the hallway again, he paused, not completely sure if he remembered the layout of all the identical doors. Cautiously, he began to open each door one by one. There was a closet full of cleaning supplies, a greenhouse with bright lights for growing plants on the ship, and a storage room of unmarked crates. Curious, he went to open one to see what was inside, but as he shifted the box to sit squarely on top of the stack a panel in the wall in front of him popped open with a gentle click. 

A stronger sense of curiosity took over, and Montgomery walked over to see what was behind the panel. Pushing the false wall aside, he was faced with an unfamiliar smell, similar to warm cloth, yet different. A soft yellow light showed rows of shelves with stacks of rectangular shapes, and when he picked one up it fell open in his hands to reveal papers of printed text. 

Unconsciously, Montgomery held his breath as he gently turned the pages of the secret contraband. He had heard about books from a friend who had heard about them from a grandparent, who had told them they were full of magic that could take someone away from terrible places and transport them to anywhere in the universe. 

Returning the book to the shelf, Montgomery looked around the secret room again and whispered, “He must be a wizard.”