Treasure Planet – Version 2

 

by grab bag

 

 

“James Pleiades Hawkins!”

Sarah Hawkins opened the door to her three year-old son’s bedroom, only to find him shutting his motion-picture book, calmly lying on his bed.  She knew he had been reading it; she had heard the noises from outside his room.

“I thought you were asleep an hour ago!  You’re going to wake Skye!”

“But Mom, we were just getting to the best part!”

Sarah sighed.  “We?  Don’t tell me Skye’s in here again.”

A small girl’s face peered up from behind the bed.  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Hawkins,” she said, grinning widely.  “I couldn’t sleep.  May I stay?”

“Please?” Jim pleaded, hugging his favorite book tight, and both children begged with wide eyes.

“Oh, can those eyes get any bigger?  Scootch over.  Skye, you can sit right here,” Sarah added, picking up the girl.  Ever since Skye’s parents had abandoned her at the Benbow Inn several months ago, Sarah had tried to treat her as if she were her own daughter.  Jim, however, was more interested at the prospect of a constant playmate than a new “sister.”  Both being completely obsessed with space travel and pirates, they quickly became the best of friends.

Jim opened the book again, and the familiar story of Captain Nathanial Flint and his lost treasure trove was replayed in 3-D for the amazed three-year olds, who “oooh”-ed in wonder.

When the story ended, Skye turned to Sarah and asked, “How do you think Captain Flint did it, Mrs. Hawkins?”

“Yeah!” Jim exclaimed, climbing up on the headboard of the bed.  “How’d he swoop in out of nowhere, and vanish without a trace?”  He leapt off the headboard and fell onto the soft mattress, wriggling around under the covers in a mimic of Flint’s “vanishing act.”

“I have no idea,” Sarah said, then grabbed Jim out from under the covers and proceeded with a tickle war-a clever ruse to sap his excess energy.

“Okay, now these two little spacers have to get to sleep.  Skye, you run off to your room, I’ll be there in just a moment.”  Skye smiled and skipped out the door and down the hall to the guest room she would occupy until either her parents returned for her, which was unlikely after five months, or the Hawkins could fix up her own permanent room.

“Do you think anybody will ever find Treasure Planet?”  Jim asked his mom hopefully.

“Sweetheart, I think it’s more of a legend.”

“I know it’s real.  Skye thinks it’s real too,” Jim said, with the ultimate conviction in his voice that toddlers often have about their favorite fantasy.

“You win.  It’s real.”  Sarah kissed him on the forehead and said goodnight.

“I love you,” she whispered, closing his door.

“Love you, too.”

 

Only moments later, the glow under the covers was the only thing to suggest that Jim was still awake, reading his book for the fourth time that evening, convinced that maybe once more would show him just how to get to Treasure Planet.

 

“There are nights when the winds of the Etherium, so inviting in their promise of flight and freedom, made one’s spirit soar!”

 

12 years later

 

15 year old Jim Hawkins was skimming along the rocky terrain of the cliffs edge when the ground dropped out from under him.  Adjusting the solar surfer to catch as much sun as possible, he shot up through the clouds into the sky.  With a quick step, the retractable sail folded back against the surfer, leaving only the sleek metallic body to support him.  Jim reached the crest of his ascent and closed his eyes as the momentary feeling of weightlessness overtook him, brief and deliciously tantalizing.  Suddenly from above him, another surfer, this one a silver bullet in the sunlight, streaked down and passed him at a breakneck speed.  It spun and twisted as if in challenge, which Jim met by beginning his own sets of flips and rotations.  The two figures descended down the side of the cliff, plunged towards the canyons floor, and at the last possible second, both riders released their sails to catch a patch of golden sunlight at the bottom, giving the necessary boost to pull up before it was too late.  Hovering only feet above the ground and rocketing down the chasm, Jim and Skye let out twin cries of exhilaration as their paths crossed and re-crossed.

Reaching the end of the trench, Jim broke through a barricade, setting off an alarm.  Skye followed, but looked away quickly, hearing something in the distance.

“Jim!” she yelled, but he couldn’t hear her.  When Jim finally glanced back, she was gone.

No matter.  This was such a rush- grinding off the machinery, avoiding the overhanging parts.  Up ahead, he saw the rotating turbines used to remove rock.  Perfect.

“Come on!” Jim yelled.  Once again, he retracted the sail, and speeded up to the spinning gears...if the timing was just right...

“Whoo-hoo!”  Yes!  Jim had slipped right between the slats, bursting through with a yell of triumph.  Letting out another holler of elation, he leveled off, intending to move on.

That was when he heard the sirens Skye had noticed earlier.  Except these were much closer.

“Oh, great.”

 

It was a busy morning at the Benbow Inn, and Mrs. Hawkins had been running to and fro trying to serve everyone at once.  She was glad for a little relief when Skye finally showed up, taking several tables out from under her charge.  Sarah had had no idea when she had taken in the girl she would be such an aid.  A little rambunctious, of course (how could she not be, growing up with Jim as her best friend?), but still- recently, Sarah had needed all the help she could get.

“Sorry, Delbert, it’s been a madhouse here all morning,” Sarah apologized to her friend, the dog-like and “noted astrophysicist” Dr. Delbert Doppler.

Delbert was about to tuck in to his favorite dish (Alponian chowder with extra solara seed), when a small toad-like child, presumably a girl, approached him with wide eyes, and snatched a bit of food off his spoon with her tongue.

“They’re so adorable at that age,” Sarah commented with a smile.

“Oh yes, deplorable-ah, adorable.  Speaking of which, how’s Jim doing?”

“Much better,” Sarah began.  Skye looked up from wiping a table,  curious to see how she would play into this conversation.  “I know he had some rough spots earlier this year, and he did a fine job of getting Skye involved too, but I really think he’s starting to turn a corner.”

The door banged open to reveal Jim standing between two Robo-cops.

There was a crash from dropped plates as Sarah exclaimed, “Jim!”

“Ooh, wrong turn,” Delbert winced.

“Okay, thanks for the lift guys,” Jim attempted to shrug off the cops, one of whom clamped him firmly on the shoulder, bellowing.

“Not so fast!  We apprehended your son operating a solar vehicle in a restricted area, moving violation 9-0-4, section 15, paragraph...um...”

“Six,” both Jim and Skye muttered, one from the doorway and one from a table across the room.

“As you are aware ma’am, this constitutes a violation of his probation.  Due to repeated violations of statute 15-C, we have impounded his vehicle.  Any further slip-ups will result in a one-way ticket to juvenile hall, kiddie hoosegow, the slammo.”

“Thank you, officers.  It won’t happen again.”

“We see his type all the time madam.  Wrong choicers.  Dead Enders.  Losers.”

Jim snapped his head up to glare at the cops.  When he looked over at Skye, she mouthed silently “I tried to tell you,” but when the cops looked over, she bent over and pretended to clear another table.  After all, she was just as guilty as Jim was.  She just hadn’t been caught.

“Take care now!”  The Robo-cops turned on their gears and wheeled out the door.

Sarah and Jim Hawkins both turned to see the entire restaurant gaping at them.  In a moment, the normal chatter resumed, although slightly embarrassed.

 

Sarah turned on her son.  “Jim, I have had it.  Do you want to go to Juvenile Hall?  Is that it?”  Jim turned away and moved to join Skye clearing tables near the kitchen door, avoiding eye contact with his mother.

“Jim, look at me.  It’s been hard enough keeping this place afloat by myself without you and Skye going and-“

“Mom, it was no big deal, there was nobody around, those cops just won’t get off my-” He stopped.  His mother was glaring at him with the look that told him arguing was pointless.  Besides, she had figured out Skye had been there too- not that that was much of a secret- and there was nothing to be gained by fighting.

“Forget it,” he ended sullenly, and turned to resume gathering plates.

A customer’s request for purp juice distracted Sarah, and when she turned back to Jim, she said, “Jim, I just don’t want to see you throw away your entire future,” and left to tend to the customer.

“Yeah, what future?”  Jim breathed as he leaned heavily against the kitchen door.  Skye watched him deposit the dishes in the sink, sighed, and returned to waiting tables.

 

Later that evening, Skye climbed out the second-floor window, and sat next to Jim on the roof.  Whenever either one was brooding, tired, or just needed to be alone, they came out here, and sooner or later the other would join them.  It offered a wonderful view of the docks, which was part of the reason they liked it so much.  The other was its potential for eavesdropping.

Jim was pitching pebbles against the tin stovepipe when Skye sat down, and they remained in silence for several minutes.  This silence was broken only by the occasional rumble of thunder, but eventually two voices floated up from the dining room below.

“I really don’t know how you manage it, Sarah,” Dr. Doppler’s voice began.  “Trying to run a business while raising a felon...ah, fellow...like Jim.”

“Managing it?  I’m at the end of my rope.”  Sarah replied.  “Ever since his father left, well, Jim’s just never recovered.  I’m sure having Skye around has helped him some, but she’s just as headstrong as he is.  And you know how smart they both are- Jim built his first solar surfer when he was eight!  And yet he is failing at school, he’s constantly in trouble, and when I talk to him, he’s like a stranger to me.  I don’t know, Delbert, I’ve tried everything-”

But if she really had tried everything, Jim and Skye never found out.  At that moment, a damaged ship thundered overhead, sputtered loudly, and came to a crash at the docks.

Jim slid off the roof and hit the ground, with Skye following behind.  When Skye’s long skirt snagged and caught the roof on the way down, she grabbed the whole thing up in one arm, revealing pants beneath.  She ran much faster now and caught up with Jim at the strange spaceship.

“Hey mister?  You’re okay in there, right?”  Jim pounded on the glass window, and a clawed hand grabbed up from the other side.  Jim jumped back in surprise.

The window opened outward, revealing it to be a door, and a tortoise-like creature fell out amidst the smoke from within, dragging with him a large sea-chest.  Coughing, he addressed Jim and Skye.

“He’s a-coming.  Can you hear him?”  He grabbed Jim’s shirt and pulled him at this question.  “Those gears and gyros clickin’ and whirrin’ like the Devil himself?”  He coughed again and turned back to his chest.

“Hit your head there pretty hard, huh?”  Skye commented.

“He’s after me chest- that fiendish cyborg and his band of cutthroats,” the sailor muttered as he swung the chest up on his shoulder.  “But they’ll have to pry it from Billy Bones’ cold dead fingers afore I-” He was interrupted by a coughing, wheezing fit and was thrown onto the ground.

“Oh, my-” Jim looked at Skye, who had rushed over to help Billy Bones up, but was struggling under his weight.

“Come on, give me your other arm,” Jim said, and took most of Billy Bones’ weight on his right side, with Skye carrying the chest and steadying him on the left.

A crash of thunder from the beginning rain almost drowned out Skye’s words as they made their way up to the Benbow Inn-

“Your mom’s gonna love this.”

 

The view out of Sarah Hawkins’ window changed as she adjusted the picture-blinds.  If only everything were that easy, she thought.

“Thanks for listening, Delbert,” she said aloud.  “It helps.”

“It’ll be all right.  You’ll see,” Dr. Doppler assured her as he rose to leave.

Sarah smiled, and she opened her holographic locket.    Small, animated photos of Jim from years ago flashed before her eyes.

“I keep dreaming that one day I’ll open the door, and there he’ll be just the way he was.  A smiling happy little boy with a new pet, begging me to let him keep it.”

Delbert opened the front door as a crash of lightning and thunder resounded, illuminating Jim and Skye in the doorway.  They were both soaked to the skin, Skye’s skirt was torn and muddy, and between them hung a sagging creature.

“In the dream, was the pet dead?”  Delbert queried.

 

“James Pleiades Hawkins!”  Sarah exclaimed, rushing over to the three figures now through the doorway.

“Mom, he’s hurt- bad,” James explained, as he and Skye lay Billy Bones on the floor.  Bones gasped, and reached out his clawed hand.

“Me chest, lad,” he strained, panicked, and Jim pushed it towards him.  Moving as quickly as possible, Bones pressed the combination to unlock the chest.

“He’ll be coming soon.  Can’t let them find this.”

Bones removed an object from the chest.  Instead of some kind of fabulous treasure, he pulled out an object wrapped in a plain, dirty oilcloth.

Jim asked, “Who’s coming?”  Bones grabbed his shirt once again, and whispered in his ear.

“The cyborg!  Beware the cyborg!”  Billy Bones pressed the object into Jim’s hands.  He gasped, and sank to the floor, dead.

The four remained standing around this strange spacer, but there was no time for grief.  A rumbling overhead signified the arrival of another ship.  Jim moved to the window, and separated the picture-blinds a crack.  Between the slats, he could make out numerous armed figures heading towards the Inn.  The large one in front had what looked like a laser cannon.

“Quick, we’ve got to go!”  Jim grabbed his mother’s wrist and pulled her up the stairs.  Skye sensed his panic, seized Dr. Doppler’s arm, and pulled him behind her as they ran up towards the last room in the hall.  They were not a minute too late- the door cracked behind them as the laser broke through the wall, and dozens of pirates burst into the Benbow Inn.  They tore through the house, searching for something, knocking over the stove in the process, setting the floor on fire.

Jim and Skye watched in horror as pirates began running upstairs.  They’d be found in a minute.  Dr. Doppler was at the window, preparing Sarah to jump into his carriage below.

“On the count of three...one-”

“Three!”  Jim yelled as he pushed Delbert and Sarah out the window, and they landed in the cart with a thud, Skye landing a moment later.  Doppler cracked the reigns and the carriage barreled away from the burning Inn.

Sarah buried her face in her hands at the sight of her Inn, ablaze in the night.  Skye could only stare ahead.  Jim looked down in his hands, where the dirty parcel that caused so much trouble lay.  He pulled the string around it, and the cloth fell away to reveal a golden orb.  Examining it curiously, he couldn’t help but wonder what was in it, and if it was worth all this.

 

“I just spoke with the constabulary.  Those blaggard pirates have fled without a trace.  I’m sorry, Sarah.  I’m afraid the old Benbow Inn has burned to the ground.”

Sarah Hawkins, Dr. Doppler, Jim, and Skye were gathered around the fire in Doppler’s study.  It was a large area, piled high with books and scientific instruments of all kinds. Delbert handed Sarah a cup of tea, and Jim draped a blanket around his mother’s shoulders.  She was miserable-t hat Inn was her business, and a home.  She’s lived there as long as she could remember, and had inherited it from her father.  And now, it was gone.

Jim walked over to where Skye stood.  She had discarded her skirt in favor of the pants she wore underneath.  It had been all but ruined in the escape.  There wasn’t anyone here who would mind her wearing pants anyway.  On the table beside her was the object Billy Bones had given them.

“Ahem.  Well, certainly a lot of trouble over that odd little sphere,” Delbert Doppler remarked from Sarah’s side.  “Those markings baffle me.  Unlike anything I’ve ever encountered.  Even with my vast experience and superior intellect it would take me years to- hey!”

While Dr. Doppler had been talking, Jim had picked up the sphere from the table and been fiddling with the buttons on it.  Surprisingly, after pressing two or three, they all retracted, leaving various hemisphere divisions able to rotate along the scored lines in the surface.  At this point, Skye had taken the sphere from Jim to examine it.  She spun several hemispheres and it clicked open, glowing from the inside.  This interruption had made Doppler stop his sentence short.

Green points of light swirled upwards in a bright column.  Soon the entire study was filled with a dome-like grid that emanated from the brass sphere, encircling the four people.  Constellations and planets hung in the air.

“Why, it’s a map!” Delbert exclaimed. “Wait- this is us! The planet Montressor.”  Delbert touched the near-by holographic planet, and suddenly the map began to shift, as if flying through space to an unknown destination.  Doppler named several markers in space as they flew past- the Magellanic Cloud, the Coral Galaxy, and the Kerian Abyss.  But it was the place the map settled on that fascinated Jim and Skye most.

“What’s this?” Doppler asked as the largest planet focused.

Skye and Jim, with the same tone of awe in their voice, said simultaneously:

“Treasure Planet.  That’s Treasure Planet!”

“Flint’s trove?”  Dr. Doppler asked in amazement.  “The loot of a thousand worlds?  You know what this means?”

“It means that all that treasure is only a boat ride away!”  Jim murmured.  Looking over at Skye, he could see the same excited glint in her eyes that he had, that they both always had whenever they had a wonderful idea.

“Whoever brings it back,” Dr. Doppler said, “would hold an eternal place atop the pantheon of explorers!  He’d be able to experience-whoo!”  He stopped abruptly as the map clicked off.  “What just happened?” he asked, because he apparently didn’t read the previous sentence.

“Mom!  This is it!  This is the answer to all our problems,” Jim told his mother.

“Jim, there is absolutely no way-”

“Don’t you remember all those stories?”

Sarah turned to her son, “That’s all they were! Stories!”

“They can’t all be just stories,” Skye spoke up quietly, “if there’s a map people are killing to get their hands on.”

Jim was un-phased.  “With that treasure, we could rebuild the Benbow a hundred times over!”

“Well, this is- it’s just- oh my,” Sarah sputtered.  “Delbert, would you please explain to them how ridiculous this is?”

“It’s totally preposterous, the two of you traversing the entire galaxy alone.”

“Now at last we hear some sense!”  Sarah said, relieved.

“That’s why I’m going with you!”

“Delbert!”

“I’ll use my savings to finance the expedition,” he began, racing through his study, collecting items in a bag.  “I’ll commission a ship, hire a captain and a crew-”

Sarah was incredulous.  “You’re not serious.”

“Oh, he’s serious,” Skye grinned.  She’d seen that look before on Jim and herself.

“All my life I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this, and here it is screaming- go Delbert, go Delbert!”

“Mom,” Jim sighed, “I know I keep messing things up...and I know...that I let you down.  But this is my chance to make it up to you.  I’m gonna set things right.”

“Sarah, if I may?”  Delbert pulled her to the side.  “You said it yourself- you’ve tried everything.  There are much worse remedies than a few character building months in space.”

“Are you saying this because it’s the right thing, or because you really want to go?”

“I really, really, really, really want to go...and it’s the right thing.”

Sarah turned to Jim and Skye, who were watching her anxiously.  She reached over and pushed her son’s hair away from his face.

“Jim, I don’t want to lose you.”  He caught her hand.

“Mom, you won’t.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m going.  Someone’s gotta keep an eye on these two,” Skye interjected.  Jim glared at her good-naturedly, and turned back to his mother.

“I’ll make you proud.”

Sarah smiled.  Delbert took this as acceptance.

“Well, there we are then.  We’ll begin preparations at once.  Jim, Skye, soon we’ll be off to the spaceport!”

 

To any viewer from the planet or space, Montressor spaceport was just a crescent moon.  But the spaceport was not located on this moon.  It was, in fact, the spaceport itself.  And it was from this spaceport that Jim, Skye, and Dr. Doppler were to begin their journey.

Montressor spaceport was bustling with all sorts of businesses, people, aliens, creatures from far off worlds.  A soldier battalion was training on one outcropping.  The wealthy mingled, the odors of foreign foods wafted over the crowds, musicians and bartering could be heard amid the squawks of space-gulls drifting lazily over the activity below.  But Jim and Skye, each carrying a rucksack on their shoulder and admiring the amazing sights around them, heard one sound that was most unwelcome.

“Jim?  Skye?  Wait for me!”

Dr. Doppler’s voice was accompanied by a metallic clucking as he stiffly tottered up to the two teens.  He was wearing what was quite possibly one of the most bizarre and ungainly spacesuits ever seen complete with a small glass bubble to cover his face, which was currently up.  It was hardly short of embarrassing for Jim and Skye, both of whom were wearing long pants, boots, a T-shirt and jacket.  Besides variations in cut and color of the clothes, Skye had also shoved most of her long hair up under a cap.  This was due to two reasons-one being that she was more accustomed to tying up her hair to facilitate work at the Inn.  The other was her uneasiness of potentially being the only woman aboard the ship, and not knowing how this pant-wearing female would be received.  Tucking the hair up gave little relief of a disguise however; as Jim had playfully pointed out that with her figure it was unlikely that hiding her hair would make much of a difference.

“Well, kids,” Dr. Doppler said, “this should be a wonderful opportunity for each of us to get to know one another.  You know what they say, familiarity breeds, um...” Skye gave Doppler an amused but exasperated look, at which he said “...well, contempt, but in our case-”

“Look, let’s just find the ship,” Jim sighed, grinning.  He went on ahead, and before running to catch up, Skye turned to Dr. Doppler, shook her head, and flipped down the glass bubble, which clanked shut on his face.

 

“Second berth on your right!”

“You can’t miss it.”

Two strange characters directed Jim to the docks, and as he thanked them and turned to leave, Dr. Doppler trailed behind Skye, starting to complain.

“It’s the suit, isn’t it?  I never should have listened to that pushy two-headed saleswoman.  This one said it fit, that one said it was my color, I didn’t know what to do, I get so flustered!”

“Now you see why I don’t go shopping,” Skye remarked.  When she turned, she bumped right into Jim, with her abrupt stop bringing Doppler to a halt behind her.  Skye and Doppler looked to see why Jim had stopped.  While Skye gazed with the same amazement that Jim had on his face, Doppler smiled and waved towards the massive craft in front of them.

“Ah!  Jim, Skye, this is our ship, the RLS Legacy!”

“Whoa.  She’s...beautiful.”

“You got that right.”

The trio arrived on board amongst the hustle of orders being shouted and crew members running to and fro in preparation of the launch.  Jim, however, in his examination of the deck and surroundings, failed to notice a large, pink, fleshy alien working to the side.  When he tried to apologize, he was greeted with a series of angry farting noises.

“Allow me to handle this,” Doppler said.  He then turned to the alien and emitted similar rude noises, as if he were talking.  Jim and Skye watched as the alien paused then appeared to laugh.

“I’m fluent in Flatula, Jim.  Took two years of it in high school.”  He ‘saluted’ the alien with a raspberry and moved on.

“Flatula?”  Jim grinned and pushed his tussled hair out of his face, “Cool.”

Following, Skye adjusted her bag and groaned, “That is so gross.”

 

A uniformed man (if he could be called that, for he appeared to be made of stone) busy patrolling the decks, was often stopping to shout orders at the crew.  Doppler approached this man, assuming him to be the captain.

“Good morning, Captain.  Everything shipshape?”

“Shipshape it is, sir,” he replied, “but I’m not the captain.  The captain’s aloft.”

Above their heads, swinging from the rigging was what appeared to be a very tall cat, who landed in front of them with a stunning flip from the ropes.  It was indeed a feline alien, and what’s more, the captain was a she.

Doppler’s glass bubble fell shut once more.

“Mr. Arrow,” the Captain addressed the stone man in a harsh tone, “I’ve checked this miserable ship from stem to stern and as usual...” here her tone softened to one of playfulness, “...it’s spot on.  Can you get nothing wrong?”

“You flatter me, Captain.”  Arrow tipped his hat to the woman, who winked, and turned to go, running into Dr. Doppler.  Her eyes widened.

“Ah.  Dr. Doppler, I presume?”

A muffled noise came from within the closed helmet, the glass bubble blocking Doppler’s response.

“Hello?” the Captain smiled, calling as if he were far away, “can you hear me?” She knocked on the top of the helmet, which seemed to anger Doppler.

“Yes, I can, stop that banging!”  He attempted to remove the glass bubble so as to speak but the Captain beat him to it.

“If I may Doctor, this,” she grabbed hold of a piece on the front of the suit, “works so much better when it’s right way up and plugged in.  There you go!” she flipped it over and turned the Doctor around, plugging a cord into the back of his suit.  Doppler removed his entire helmet and turned to face the Captain.

“If you don’t mind, I can manage my own plugging!”

She immediately grasped his hand in a shake.

“I’m Captain Amelia, late of a few run-ins with the Protean Armada.  Nasty business, but I won’t bore you with my scars.  You’ve met my first officer, Mr. Arrow,” she turned to motion towards him.  “Sterling, tough, dependable, honest, brave and true.”

“Please, Captain,” Arrow said, slightly abashed.

“Oh shut up, Arrow, you know I don’t mean a word of it,” she responded immediately, smiling.

“Excuse me,” Doppler interjected, “I hate to interrupt this lovely banter, but may I introduce to you Jim Hawkins.  Jim, you see, is the one who found the treasure-”

“Doctor, please!”  Captain Amelia exclaimed, holding Doppler’s mouth shut with one hand.  Looking about, she then turned to him and said, “I’d like a word with you in my stateroom.”

 

Locking the door, Amelia addressed Jim, Skye, and Doppler.

“Doctor, to muse and blabber about a treasure map in front of this particular crew demonstrates a level of ineptitude that borders on the imbecilic, and I mean that in a very caring way.”

Doppler attempted to defend himself, but was interrupted when Amelia asked to see the map.

Jim looked to Doppler, who beckoned to give it to her.  He threw it to the Captain, saying simply, “Here.”

Amelia caught it one handed.  Examining it, her eyes grew wide.

“Fascinating.  Mr. Hawkins, you were the one who found it, the Doctor tells me.  Are you the one who knows how to open it?”

Skye piped up, “I found it too.  You need both of us to open it.”  Jim turned this over in his head, and found he had to agree.  He had no idea how she had rotated the sphere earlier, and imagined she did not know which buttons he had pressed.

“I see,” Captain Amelia said.  She walked to a safe in the wall, where she locked up the map.  “Mr. Hawkins, in the future, you will address me as Captain, or ma’am, is that clear?”

Jim rolled his eyes.

“Mr. Hawkins?”  Amelia fixed him with a steely glare.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“That’ll do.  This goes for you as well, Miss...”  Captain Amelia turned to Skye questioningly.

“Skye, ma’am.  My name is Skye.”

“And your last name?”

Skye hesitated.

“Well?”

“I have none, ma’am.  I...didn’t know my parents.”

“Ah.  Well, then Miss Skye will have to do.  Now, this must be kept under lock and key when not in use,” she said, referring to the map, “and Doctor, with the greatest possible respect- zip your howling screamer.”

Once again, Doppler attempted to defend himself, but Captain Amelia was clearly not finished.

“Let me make this as monosyllabic as possible- I don’t much care for this crew you hired.  They’re...how did I describe them, Arrow?  I said something rather good this morning before coffee.”

“A ludicrous parcel of driveling galoots, ma’am.”

“There you go- poetry.”

Skye grinned and said to Jim, “She’s got quite a way with words, huh?”  Jim turned away to fiddle with the doorknocker.

“Doctor, I’d love to chat- tea, cake, the whole shebang- but I’ve got a ship to launch and you’ve got your outfit to buff up.  Mr. Arrow, please escort these three neophytes to the galley straight away.  Young Hawkins and Skye shall be working for our cook, Mr. Silver.”

“What?  The cook?” Jim looked up, startled.

“Just like home,” Skye said under her breath- sarcastic though it was, there was still amusement in her voice.  She was cheered to not be the only female on board, and especially glad that the Captain was a woman.  Besides, it wasn’t like she didn’t expect to be a cabin girl.  She’d worked in an Inn nearly her whole life anyway- how bad could it be?

 

Clunking into the galley, Doppler was complaining again.

“That woman!  That...feline!”

“Careful where you go with that comment, Doctor Doppler,” Skye smirked, batting her eyelashes mockingly at Jim and Doppler and tipping her cap forward on her head.  “She’s the one in charge you know.”  He didn’t seem to hear her.

“Who does she think is working for whom?!”

Jim seemed more upset at his station.  “It’s my map, and she’s got me bussing tables?”

Mr. Arrow grabbed the two men by the back of their shirts.

“I’ll not tolerate a cross word about our Captain.  There’s no finer officer in this or any galaxy.”

Skye leaned over to Jim and whispered, “Oh, deal with it.  Think of it this way- we’re working on our own turf now.  Better here than the rigging or something we haven’t learned yet.”

“Speak for yourself.”

Skye scoffed at this.  She and Jim may be wicked solar-surfers, but she knew that neither of them knew enough about proper sailing yet to be of any use.  He was just angry.

Mr. Arrow called to the man standing at the stove in front of them.

“Mr. Silver?”

The man who was obviously the cook, Mr. Silver, turned and addressed the company.

“Why, Mr. Arrow sir.  Bringin’ in such fine and distinguished gents to grace my humble galley.  And it seems you got a young lady with you!  Had I known, I’d have tucked in me shirt.”

When he turned to examine the group, Skye inhaled sharply, and Jim noticed the same thing she had.  The joking mood left both of them.  She leaned in again and whispered to him.

“Jim...a cyborg.”

Mr. Silver was clearly a cyborg.  His right arm, leg, and eye were completely robotic.  The eye scanned over Dr. Doppler as he was introduced.  Doppler then pushed Jim and Skye forwards.

“Ah, this is Jim Hawkins and Skye.”

“Ah! Jimbo!”  Silver’s robotic hand extended to shake- composed of several pointy and dangerous looking accoutrements.  He chuckled, and flipped it around through the barrel of his arm to reveal a normal looking hand- as normal as possible, of course.

“Wrong hand, huh?” Skye muttered, bitterly.  Jim just glared at Silver.

“Aw, now don’t be too put off by the hunk of hardware,” Silver shrugged, and began to prepare a stew using only his robotic arm.  Using more gadgets than a Swiss Army knife, he chopped, sliced, and diced several vegetables.

“These gears have been tough getting used to, but they come in mighty handy from time to time.”

And useful they appeared indeed.  He managed to crack three eggs into the bowl, cook whatever else he had in the pan, and he poured it into the stew on the large central stove.  After tasting it, he then swept up a ladle and spooned the finished stew into three bowls, which he offered to Jim, Skye, and Dr. Doppler.

“Have a taste of me famous bonzabeast stew.”

Dr. Doppler lapped up a small taste, and commented, “Delightfully tangy, yet robust.”

“Old family recipe,” Silver said.  Doppler moved to eat the rest, but an eyeball floated from the stew in the middle of his bowl, staring up at him.  Doppler recoiled in disgust.

“In fact, that was part of the old family! Ha ha ha ha.”  Silver moved over and removed the eye from the stew, popping it into his mouth.  “I’m just kidding, Doc.  I’m nothing if I ain’t a kidder.”

Skye only growled “I guess that doesn’t make you much, huh?”  Jim pretended not to hear.  Examining his bowl at prompting from Silver, he lifted the spoon.  Suddenly it grew a mouth and turned very pink.  Jim almost dropped it when it turned into a small protoplasmic blob with a quite distinguishable face.

“Morph!  You jiggle-headed blob of mischief, so that’s where you was hiding!” Silver exclaimed as the blob proceeded to turn into a straw and suck up all the stew in the bowl, and burped.

“What is that thing?”  Jim asked, as the pink blob called Morph swirled around him, and formed an exact mini replica of Jim, perched on his finger.

“Why, he’s a Morph,” said Silver, as though it were obvious.  “I rescued the little shape shifter off Proteus 1.”  Morph flew through the air and rested on Silver’s finger, nuzzling his cheek.  “Aw, he took a shine to me.  We been together ever since.”

“Well, congratulations to the happy couple,” Skye sneered.  A bell from above deck signaled that the launch was to be soon.

“We’re about to get underway.  Would you like to observe the launch, doctor?”  Mr. Arrow asked.

“Would I?  Does an active galactic nucleus have superluminal jets?”  Arrow gave him a curious look, and Jim rolled his eyes.

“Um, I’ll follow you,” Doppler said.

Jim started to follow, but Arrow stopped him.

“Mr. Hawkins and the lass will remain here, in your charge, Mr. Silver.”  Silver spat out the soup he had tasted.

“Begging your pardon, sir, but-”

“Captain’s orders!  See that the new cabin boys are kept busy.”  At this, Arrow turned and left with Doppler.

 

“So,” Silver addressed the two, “the Captain’s put you two with me, eh?”

“Whatever,” Jim shrugged.  Skye remained quiet.

“Well, who be a humble cyborg to argue with a captain?”  Silver went over to the sink and began cutting up potatoes with a blade in his robotic hand.

“Hmm,” Jim eyed a barrel of ripe purp fruits, and glanced over at Skye.  He picked one up and began walking around the stove.  “You know...these purps...they’re kind of like the ones back home- on Montressor.  You ever been there?”  She quickly figured out what he was getting at.

“I can’t say as I have, Jimbo.”

Skye decided to pick up on the ruse.  “Now that I think of it,” she added, sitting next to Jim where he was perched on the counter, “just before we left, we met this old guy, who was kind of looking for this cyborg...buddy...of his, right, Jim?”  Jim nodded to her, and he took it from there.

“Yeah.  What was that old salamander’s name?  Oh yeah...Bones.”

“Billy Bones,” Skye finished, both teens looking to see if there was any physical notification of any familiarity with the name.

“Bones? Bones?  Mm, t’aint ringing any bells.  Must’ve been a different cyborg.  There’s a slew of cyborgs, roamin’ these ports.”

A whistle on deck and Mr. Arrow’s booming voice signaled that the ship was ready to cast off.  Silver smiled, and pushed Jim and Skye towards the door.

“Off with the two of ya’, and watch the launch.  There’ll be plenty of work a-waitin’ for you afterwards.”

Jim and Skye, both casting glances at each other and then Silver, headed towards the stairs leading up on deck.  Skye, however, only turned her back when they reached the staircase.  They both disappeared above deck.

 

Silver turned and watched them leave.  Handing a biscuit to Morph, he spoke aloud.

“We’d best be keeping a sharp eye on these two, eh, Morph?  We wouldn’t want them strayin’ into things they shouldn’t.”

 

Up on deck, the crew members were still bustling around to make final preparations for the launch.  A strange looking alien above in the crow’s nest announced what Captain Amelia had been waiting for.

“We’re all clear, Captain!”

Below at the helm, Amelia addressed Arrow standing at her side.

“Well, my friend, are we ready to raise this creaking tub?”

“My pleasure, Captain,” Arrow replied, and he yelled loud and clear, “All hands to stations!  Smartly now!”

Jim and Skye surfaced from below deck amidst the renewed activity, as crew hands raced up the rigging towards the solar sails above, and at Arrow’s command, released them.  As they unfurled like white wings, Jim and Skye had to stop and stare.

The RLS Legacy rose through the air, commands being shouted left and right, and Montressor spaceport began to shrink away from view.  The two teens raced to watch the sails fill out as they hit the sunlight, almost straining to catch as much light as they could.  There was so much to see, the two couldn’t take it all in at once.  They were actually there, on a ship being launched.  Of course they’d seen it dozens of times from the docks, but now, being there, it was so much more different.  So breathtaking, so...amazing.

Skye realized something was different.  She looked down to see she was floating in midair, and so was Jim.  She’d heard about this from spacers at the Inn, the weightlessness before artificial gravity was turned on.

The pink alien they’d run into earlier (whose name was Mr. Zuff) flipped the switch on a large machine next to him, and a purple glow washed over the deck.  Skye, Jim, everyone dropped back to the floor.  Jim and Skye landed easily, as well as Captain Amelia and Mr. Arrow, but Dr. Doppler wasn’t as lucky.

When the clatter ended and the pieces of the suit were collected, Amelia gave the coordinates to the alien at the helm, Mr. Turnbuckle.  She next turned to Arrow, who relayed her instructions to the alien below deck.

“Full speed, Mr. Arrow, if you please.”

“Take her away!”

Doctor Doppler once again proved that he didn’t really know everything- when the captain’s warnings to brace himself went unheeded, he crashed into the wall behind him as the ship accelerated at a remarkable speed into open space.

 

Jim and Skye climbed onto the nearest rigging as the ship headed towards a color-laced cloud of dust floating in space.  Manta birds cruised in flocks around the bow of the ship, and even Jim couldn’t keep in his amazement at what they saw next.

“Whoa!”

Pods of Galaxias were soaring on the starboard side of the Legacy, making a sound that was almost like singing, a melancholy tune that drifted through space.  One flew overhead, and another came right up next to the boat, so close that Jim could touch it.  It was enormous, dwarfing Jim and Skye like toys.  It blinked an eye the size of a coach wheel, and separated from its path along the ship to rejoin its family.

As it left, Delbert attempted to take a picture, marveling at this specimen of the Orcus galacticus.  Unfortunately, the whale spouted a stream of mucus from its blowhole, covering the doctor and plopping onto his instant photograph.  Captain Amelia chuckled, when a familiar voice directed her attention to the deck below.

 

“Ah, ‘tis a grand day for sailing, Captain,” John Silver remarked, tipping his hat in Captain Amelia’s direction.  “And look at you!  You’re as trim and bonny as a sloop with new sails and a fresh coat of paint!”  He swept his hat fully off his head with a bow and a mechanical wink in her direction.  Amelia, however, paid no attention to this.

“You can keep that kind of flim-flammery for your spaceport floozies, Silver!”

Morph transformed into a miniature replica of the Captain, and began reciting “Spaceport floozy! Spaceport floozy!” at Silver’s shoulder.  Silver nervously caught Morph up in his hat as he replaced it, and said abashedly, “You cut me to the quick, Captain!  I speaks nothin’ but me heart at all times.”  Again, Morph mocked him by yammering “Nothin’ but me heart!” as he floated upwards, raising Silver’s hat off his head.  Silver jammed it back, and gave the Captain another nervous grin.

Amelia eyed him strangely, then said, “Yes, and by the way, aren’t those your cabin boys aimlessly footling about in those shrouds?”

Silver turned to see Jim and Skye racing each other up and down the starboard rigging, laughing.

“A momentary aberration, Cap’n, soon to be addressed.  Jimbo!”  Silver turned and called towards the two teenagers, who both stopped their quiet laughter and looked up, still grinning.

“I’ve got some new friends I’d like you to meet.”  Silver said, slyly.

Jim looked around, curious and eager.

“Say hello to Mr. Mop, and Mrs. Bucket!”  Silver chortled, and threw each in turn at Jim and Skye, who caught them.  Jim’s face fell, and he glared, disappointed, at Silver.

“Yippee.”

Skye looked from the bucket of water and scrub brushes she held to Jim, scowling at the mop.  As they dropped to the deck to begin the chore, she arched an eyebrow after Silver, who was laughing as he left as though it were the joke of the century.

“I don’t get it,” she said.  She dropped the bucket, into which Jim plunged the mop.  Then kneeling to the floor, Skye stuck her hand in the bucket, pulled out a scrub brush, and began the familiar task that she had repeated everyday for as long as she could remember.  Jim let out a sigh of exasperation as he mopped the floor, and Skye glanced up at his face, which was dark with disappointment.  Skye knew exactly how he felt.

We may finally be on an adventure, she thought, but some things never change.

 

“Yeah, I got your ‘Mr. Mop,’” Jim grumbled only minutes later, as he pushed the mop across the floor.  Skye scoffed in disgust at the grimy water into which she was continually thrusting her hands.  She wondered how the deck could get so filthy with such a small crew.

Strike that- not all of them were small.  A Gravitas who went as “Mr. Hands” rumbled past Jim, pushing him so he nearly tripped over Skye.  Heavy and hulking, Mr. Hands turned and growled in a deep bass, “Watch it, twerp.”

“Hmm, yeah, whatcha gonna do about it, punk?”  Skye muttered to herself, attempting the sarcasm would enable her to brush it off.  When Jim looked over and saw her face screwed up in a silly pout, he couldn’t help but grin.  In a newly (and strangely) playful mood, he flicked the mop at Skye, sprinkling her with water.  She let out a little shriek, and then bristled the wet scrub brush, spritzing water right back.  He smiled and shook more water in her direction, when she suddenly grew quiet.  Following her line of sight, he saw three pirates muttering in a corner.  When they saw Jim and Skye watching, they instantly hushed.

One of the pirates with tentacle-like hair said quickly, “What are you lookin’ at, weirdo?”  With that, the head lifted off the shoulders to reveal that the head was in fact a separate alien from the body!  The chest of the torso (which was really its face) also glared in their direction, and echoed :

“Yeah, weirdo!”

Jim pretended to continue mopping, but Skye was still watching them out of the corner of her eye.  Her attention was caught, however, by a large red alien crawling down the rigging above her head.

“Cabin girls should learn to mind their own business, assuming they have any on a ship at all,” this bug-like sailor told her, approaching her fiercely.  His voice was raspy, but smooth- somewhat like a snake.

“Yes, well,” Skye said, sneering with an attitude Jim immediately recognized, “if I see anybody with no business here, I shall inform you straight away, but first I have to tell Mr. Silver to keep his cockroaches out of the rigging.”

The sailor’s claw hand snatched Skye around the collar.  Lifting Skye into the air, he replied close to her face, “Maybe your ears don’t work sso well.”  She grimaced and struggled to get free, but to no avail.  Her thrashing attracted the attention of other sailors, who gathered to watch.  Jim stepped forward and pushed past several creatures.

“Hey!” he yelled, rushing to Skye’s defense, “By the look on her face, I can tell her nose works just fine!”  In rage the bug tossed Skye to the deck, where she was seized by one of the other sailors and held with her arms pinned behind her.  The bug grabbed Jim in her place, and lifted him up against the mast.

“What did you say, you impudent little-” he asked.

“You heard me.  If you have a problem with her, it’s with me too.”

“Jim!  Don’t!”  Skye called to him, but was quickly muffled by the sailor holding her and drowned out by the excited crew members cheering on the bug.

The bug opened his left hand claw and held it up to Jim’s throat.  He tried to tilt his chin away, but was trapped by the mast behind him.  The bug’s eyes gleamed viciously and ignored the look of panic on Jim’s face.

“Any last words to say to your little friend there, cabin boy?” it snarled.

 

Suddenly, a metal vice-like grip seized the bug’s arm and pulled it away from Jim’s throat.

“Mr. Scroop,” Silver addressed the bug coolly, “you ever see what happens to a fresh purp when you squeeze real hard?”

Silver twisted Scroop’s arm back, so that in his pain, he dropped Jim to the deck and lay panting with relief.  Another voice was heard descending the steps.

“What’s all this, then?”  Mr. Arrow approached the crew member holding onto Skye.  It took only a stern look from the first mate to convince him to release the girl.  Arrow helped her to her feet, then turned to the rest of them.

“You know the rules; there’ll be no brawling on this ship.  Any further offenders will be confined to the brig for the remainder of the voyage.  Am I clear, Mr. Scroop?”  Arrow leaned in as if in challenge to the spider-like sailor.  A threatening glance from Silver to Scroop prompted the response.

“Transparently.”

Arrow walked away, with Scroop glaring angrily after him, but soon he left the deck with the remainder of the crew.

 

“Well done, Mr. Arrow, sir!  A tight ship’s a happy ship, sir!” Silver called after Arrow, who paid no attention to him or the clearing deck.  Silver then turned on Jim, brandishing the mop like a weapon.

“Jimbo, I gave you a job!”

“Hey, I was doing it, until that bug-thing started threatening Skye and-”

“Belay that!” Silver roared. “Now, I want this deck swabbed spotless, and heaven help you if I come back and it’s not done.”  Handing the mop to Jim, Silver turned to the pink blob floating beside him.

“Morph!  Keep an eye on this here pup, and let me know if there be any more...distractions.”  On this last word, Silver glared at the girl standing next to Jim, and then he turned to go below deck.

Jim flipped the mop right-side up and sighed, as Morph hovered about his and Skye’s heads with wide eyes the size of saucers.

 

 

In the kitchen below deck, the crew was assembled in a type of meeting.  Silver entered the room.

“So.  We’re all here then.”  He sauntered among the crew as he spoke.

“If you’ll pardon my plain-speaking, gentlemen, are you all,” he flipped his mechanical hand around to reveal a sword, “...STRAK-RAVING, TOTALLY BLINKIN’ DAFT?!”  He swung the sword wildly about the room, slicing the hat of a Mr. Onus in the process.  “After all me finagling getting us hired as an upstanding crew, you want to go and blow the whole mutiny before it’s time?”

Scroop hissed, “The girl was sniffing about...and the boy has the audacity to defend her.”

“You just stick to the plan, you bug-brained twit.  I wouldn’t worry about the girl, but as for the boy- I’ll run him so ragged he won’t have time to think.”

 

 

Skye had been scrubbing the deck near the kitchen ventilation grating when she heard the muffled yelling below.  It had been hard to hear with Morph jabbering away so much, but she had thought she heard...was it possible?

No.  There was no way she had heard what she thought she heard.  She must have been wrong.

Besides, a false accusation of mutiny brought almost as much of a sentence as the deed itself.

And who would believe her, anyway?

Skye pushed it to the back of her mind and continued scrubbing.

 

Jim and Skye both lost track of the time as they worked in silence.  They didn’t usually go so long without talking, but with Morph hovering about, Skye couldn’t have much of a serious conversation with Jim, so she let him alone.  It was while Skye was working on the upper part of the deck that Jim began talking to Morph.

“Well, this has been a fun day, huh?” Jim addressed the pink blob that burped up bubbles from mopping alongside him, “Meeting new friends...like that spider psycho.”

Morph formed a miniature version of Mr. Scroop and babbled, “Spider psycho! Spider psycho!” in his high pitched voice.

“A little uglier,” Jim suggested, and Morph changed appropriately, making his eyes big and giving a silly grin, complete with evil laugh.

“Pretty close,” Jim conceded.

“Well thank heavens for little miracles,” Silver’s deep voice said as he came up the stairs, carrying a bowl of refuse- potato peels, apple cores, and the like.  “Up here for an hour and the deck’s still in one piece,” Silver joked, tossing the slops over the edge of the ship, which Morph followed after, perhaps to snatch a stray snack.

Jim hesitated a moment, then said to Silver, “Um, I...what you did back there...” he couldn’t think of the right words, so he just said, “Thanks.”

Silver turned curiously and asked, “Didn’t your pap ever teach ya’ to pick your fights more carefully?” Jim’s eyes darkened and he turned away.

“Your father’s not the teachin’ sort?” Silver asked.

“No,” Jim replied, and busied himself with mopping so he wouldn’t have to face Silver, “He was more the taking off and never coming back sort.”

Silver only murmured, “Oh,” joined Jim at the railing of the ship, and finished, “Sorry, lad.”

“Hey, no big deal, I’m doing just fine,” Jim retorted, but leaned on the edge with a look that said otherwise.

“Is that so?” Silver mused, stroking his chin with his mechanical hand.  Suddenly, he had an idea.  This boy, something about him appealed to Silver, and his earlier promise to his crew mates had just been made a lot easier with this information.

“Well,” Silver began, “since the Captain has put you in my charge, like it or not, I’ll be poundin’ a few skills into that thick head of yours to keep you out of trouble.”

“What?” Jim asked, incredulous.

“From now on, I’m not letting you out of me sights!”  Ignoring Jim’s protests, he continued.  “You won’t so much as eat, sleep, or scratch your bum without my say-so!”

Jim was livid. “Don’t do me any favors!”

“Oh, you can be sure of that, my lad,” Silver replied with a chuckle, and patting Jim on the shoulder.  “You can be sure of that.”

 

********************************************************

 

“Put some elbow into it!”

Silver yelled at Jim, as he pried one space-barnacle off the hull of the Legacy.  Looking up, Jim saw Skye hanging upside down a few feet above him.  Using Morph as a short-length bungee cord, she was gently bobbing upside down along the hull, using her momentum to scrape several barnacles off in one go.  Jim sighed, and moved on to the next patch.  This was going to take a while.

 

*I am a question to the world, not an answer to be heard,

Or a moment that’s held in your arms*

 

Jim sat in the corner of the kitchen peeling potatoes.  He paid no attention to Silver at the table or Skye sitting next to him.  He was staring up out the ventilation grate.  A golden light shone through from a nebula they were passing, and he was stuck in here.  Doing kitchen work.

Many years before, a younger Jim stood with his mother at the window of the Inn.  He watched the ships docking outside, wanting so much to be on one.  But his father was late again.  He wouldn’t be riding his first one today.  His mother hugged him close, sensing her son’s disappointment.  Another day, she told him.  Another day.

 

*And what do you think you’d ever say?

I won’t listen anyway*

 

At the stern of the Legacy, Silver attempted to teach Jim how to tie a knot.  Skye glanced at Jim, who wasn’t listening to a word of it.  Silver was better off talking to air.  He began to demonstrate the proper tying of the knot he had just finished explaining.

 

*You don’t know me,

And I’ll never be what you want me to be.*

 

Silver looked up from the knot he finished, and was startled.  Jim was no longer there.  His rope lay tied around a knob, and Silver saw over the edge of the rail that he had climbed down to the deck below.  Skye’s eyes followed Jim along the deck, and then looked to Silver.  Without waiting for any reply, she rose, swiftly copied the knot, hooked hers over another knob, slid down and hurried to catch up with Jim.

Silver examined Jim’s knot.  It was identical to his own.  Impressive.  Silver smiled after the teenager who was walking away.  Maybe he had underestimated Jim.

Or maybe not.

 

*And what do you think you’d understand?

I’m a boy, no, I’m a man,

You can’t take me and throw me away.*

 

Jim was kneeling on the deck, scrubbing away.  He paused for a moment to look up at Skye, who had tied scrub brushes to her feet, and was “skating” on the soapy water, whistling to herself as she cleaned the deck.  However, Jim’s momentary break was caught by the watchful cyborg eye of Silver, who stood over Jim in reprimand and challenge.

Jim rose.  He wasn’t intimidated, and although no words were spoken, Silver won their eye lock combat.  He produced a new bucket of water from behind his back, which he thrust at Jim, and pointed to the still dirty deck.

Jim tossed the water down, kneeled, and resumed scrubbing.  Skye may have been oblivious to his temperament, Jim thought, but he was miserable.

 

*And how can you learn what’s never shown?

Yeah, you stand here on your own,

They don’t know me, ‘cause I’m not here.*

 

7-year-old Jim sat with Skye on the carpet in the front parlor of the Benbow Inn, where Jim had just finished making his first model of a toy ship.  They grinned at each other, both missing a front tooth.  The front door opened, and Jim’s father walked in.

Skye nudged Jim, who stood and proudly showed his new creation to his father.  He patted Jim on the head and went upstairs without a second glance.

The smile faded as Jim looked down at the boat, wondering what was wrong.  He sank to the floor, dejected.  Skye looked from the staircase to Jim.  She wanted him to cheer up, she hated when he was so sad like this.

She leaned over and said softly, “I like it, Jim.”

He looked up and gave her a slow smile.  He appreciated her effort, but they both knew that it was his father’s approval that mattered more.  Jim retuned to the boat, determined to make it better.

 

*And I want a moment to be real,

Want to touch things I don’t feel,

Want to hold on, and feel I belong.*

 

Jim stood on the very tip of the bow, the strange winds of the Etherium blowing his hair across his face.  It felt wonderful to be out here, with stars moving past him on either side.  Occasionally a gust of wind would blow up from beneath the bow, lifting his jacket and hair upwards.  It felt like falling, but...in a good way.  It felt like being free.

 

That evening, Jim and Skye sat on the stairs of the kitchen, sipping mugs of hot soup.  Silver was entertaining some sailors with an animated story of pirates that traveled the galaxy, encountering pin-wheeled plants of doom and dragon-like serpents with long spike-covered tongues.  Jim smiled at the ability Silver had to weave a tale with such color and vibrancy, and the shadow puppets created by his mechanical arm only added to the effect.  Jim wasn’t used to stories being told aloud, only the ones from books.  He had to admit that he liked Silver’s kind better though- it was really quite cool.

 

*And how can the world want me to change?

They’re the ones that stay the same

They don’t know me, ‘cause I’m not here.*

 

The kitchen was full of dirty dishes, and Jim couldn’t put them off any longer.  But as Skye was drying the last dish, Silver dropped a whole fresh stack of filthy pots and pans in front of Jim.  As he left laughing, Jim scowled and grabbed a grungy bowl to scrub.  Silver probably thought he would shirk this off and could then scold him.  Well, he’d show him.

 

*And you see the things they never see,

All you wanted I could be,

Now you know me, and I’m not afraid.*

 

When Silver returned later, he found Jim sound asleep over a cooking pot, and Skye sleeping sitting up in a corner, her arms wrapped around her knees for warmth.  He looked around the kitchen- every dish shone spotlessly in the moonlight.  Jim shivered, and Silver, with a kind of paternal care, wrapped his coat around Jim’s shoulders.  He grinned with respect for the boy’s determination and developing responsibility.

Skye opened her eyes just in time to see Silver’s legs making their way up the stairs out of the kitchen.  She glanced towards Jim, who had just closed his eyes with a smile, clearly aware of what had happened.  Skye turned her head away, falling uneasily back to sleep.

 

*And I want to tell you who I am.

Can you help me be a man?

They can’t break me, as long as I know who I am.*

 

Up in the crow’s nest, Jim stared up at the stars.  Silver was pointing out the Nortius Star, Sombrero Galaxy, and various other sky markers for finding your way when you’re lost.  Jim was mostly paying attention, he really was, but he turned away for a minute to refocus his eyes.

Skye was mopping the deck far below him.  It was strange, actually, how often the deck needed to be mopped.  Jim should have been doing it right now, but Skye had volunteered so Silver could teach Jim.  It was a stroke of good luck for him really, considering it was such a good night for watching stars.  It might not have been so lucky for Skye, but he would have done the same for her.

Jim continued watching Skye.  He didn’t know why he couldn’t look away from the deck when he was missing so much of what Silver was saying.  He had never noticed it before, but something about her was overpowering, absorbing his thoughts for those few seconds...he couldn’t explain it.  It was a weird feeling.

But whatever it was, it wasn’t new.  Just...newly realized.

Skye felt Jim looking at her from above and looked up, brushing a strand of hair from her face.  She met Jim’s gaze, and smiled.  She raised a hand to wave lightly, but just as Jim was about to return it, Silver caught him by the shoulder and turned him around, pointing to a new constellation above.  Jim snapped back to the stars and immediately the unease he had experienced was gone.  He caught up quickly to what Silver was discussing, feeling much better.  Focused.

Skye’s brow furrowed.  She looked down at her reflection in the bucket of water beside her, but her sight rested on the reflection of the attentive teen and the laughing cook in the crow’s nest above.  She kicked the bucket over, but the image of Jim and Silver wouldn’t go away.  Instead, it was now magnified, spread over the deck.  She grimaced, and left the deck, her boots splashing through the water, churning up the reflection into ripples and soap suds.

 

*And I want a moment to be real,

Want to touch things I don’t feel,

Want to hold on, and feel I belong.*

 

A small boat was hanging above their heads in the docking bay at the bottom of the ship.  Jim helped Silver to pull the boat to the side where it would be accessible when lowered.  Together, they pulled it down as Skye drew the lever that opened the doors below.  Jim smiled at Silver.  He was letting him help.  He felt useful.  Respected.  Cared for, even.

 

*And how can the world want me to change?

They’re the ones that stay the same

They can’t see me, but I’m still here.*

 

Leaping across the gap, Jim released one of the ropes that held down the boat, as Skye unlashed the other.  It began to slide down to where Silver waited below, but Skye noticed it wouldn’t clear the ramp.  She quickly grabbed several pulley ropes and pulled them to maneuver the craft to a safe distance.  No one noticed.

Jim raced to watch as Silver descended in the boat below.  The solar sails filled with light and energy, and the craft glided away.  Jim’s face fell in disappointment.  He had wanted to go too.

 

*They can’t tell me who to be,

‘Cause I’m not what they see*

 

Jim woke up in his bed with a start.  Something was wrong.  Very wrong.  He looked out his window and saw a lone figure making its way to a ship docked at the mooring.

His father.

 

Jim raced down the stairs.  True enough, his mother sat at the kitchen table, sobbing.  10-year-old Skye was sitting at the table too, holding his mother’s hand, but the older woman took no notice of the girl.  Her shaking shoulders revealed there was little to comfort her.  Skye glanced up and saw Jim, and rose from the table.

 

*Yeah the world is still sleeping while I keep on dreaming for me,

And their words are just whispers and lies that I’ll never believe.*

 

Jim ran to the door, ignoring Skye’s calls.  His eyes grew damp as he scrambled down the path after his father.  In his haste, he tripped, but ignored the pain as he leapt up and continued.  Jim wasn’t aware of the girl running after him, his mind was unfocused.  It wouldn’t be too late, he thought, he would talk to him, make him stay, for Mother, for him.  This couldn’t be happening.

Jim dashed down the dock, as his father stepped aboard the ship.  He reached the end of the pier as the boat lifted off.  Jim didn’t stop- he would have jumped right off the edge in futile attempt to stop the boat, if the girl’s hand behind him didn’t reach out and pull him back.  Skye had caught him by the shirt before he fell out into open space.  Jim let out a sob.  It was too late.  He was gone.

The tears that had been held back in hope of return came freely now.  Jim turned away from the ship shrinking into space and buried his face in his best friend’s shoulder, weeping uncontrollably.  Skye’s arms wrapped around him; she was his rock right now.  He didn’t care that he was outside in his pajamas, being held up from collapse by a girl.  This was no time for pride.  One word resounded in Jim’s head: gone, gone, gone.

 

*And I want a moment to be real,

Want to touch things I don’t feel,

Want to hold on, and feel I belong.*

 

The ship rose up and Silver beckoned for Jim to join him.  He could go after all.

Jim’s face split into a grin, and he jumped into the ship.  Skye saw him disappear, and started over towards the open bay doors.

Jim watched as Silver once again attempted to explain what he already knew.  But this time, instead of watching with contempt or boredom, he examined Silver’s smiling face with admiration and respect.  This man was willing to give him a chance, to teach him, to help him grow.  He could make Silver proud.

Jim adjusted the lever, pressed several buttons, and pushed the steering stick forward, sending the ship rocketing into space.  Above, Skye stopped short as the boat below her left with Jim and Silver in it.

 

*And how can the world want me to change?

They’re the ones that stay the same

I’m the one now, ‘cause I’m still here.*

 

The boat sailed along through space and came up behind a bright comet.  Jim glanced at Silver, determined to impress his mentor.  He lunged into the comet’s head, racing the icy tip, and streaming through the brilliance of the blue streak in space.  They burst through the bottom, laughing, covered in ice and dusty sapphire vapor.  The sails opened once more, and Jim, grinning more brightly than he had in a long time, turned the vessel out again into open space towards gentle maroon clouds.

 

*I’m still here*

 

Back at the Legacy, Skye watched as Jim took Silver on a fantastic joyride.  Even as the bubbly Morph floated beside her, she felt horrible.  She could finally place a name on how she felt- a name for an emotion that was as dark, ugly, and miserable as she felt.

It was jealousy.  Pure, unfiltered, angry jealousy coursed through her as she watched her best friend forget her.  A small part of her was glad he had found a surrogate father of sorts, and that he was happy, but the overwhelming majority of her wanted to squash it down to nothingness.  She was alone, forgotten, with only a silly pink blob to accompany her.  Jim was gone.  And she also strongly suspected where this jealousy stemmed from, but dared not even think it to herself, for it terrified and bewildered her.

Morph was quiet for once, bobbing about her head, and he examined her face, contorted with loneliness and anger.  He tried to cheer her up by forming a smiley face, but when she looked at Morph, she sighed, exasperated, and waved her hand as if to swat a mosquito away.  Turning crossly on her heel, she went above deck, and sat in a dark corner near the captain’s quarters, where she could stare at the wall and forget all that had happened since they joined the crew of this vile ship, and her best friend had begun slipping away.

It was then that Mr. Arrow turned a corner of the ship and saw her sulking.  He may not have been the best when it came to reading people, but he could tell something was very much the matter with the usually cheerful cabin girl.  Making enough noise so as not to frighten her, Arrow climbed the steps to where Skye sat.

Gently, he asked, “What’s wrong, child?”

Skye looked up, and sighed.

“I hope you’ve got some time on your hands.”

Arrow gave a slight smile, and said calmly, “As much as you need.  Go ahead.”

 

*I’m still here*

 

Skye sighed.  Where to begin?  How do you describe these kinds of feelings to someone, especially someone like Mr. Arrow?

She looked up at the stone face of the first mate, and saw that maybe he did care that she was upset.  It was hard to imagine that someone made of stone could feel compassion, but maybe he did.  Skye decided just to let it all out and see what he thought.  It might feel better to get it out, even if she wasn’t too friendly with Arrow.

“Mr. Arrow,” she began, “Have you ever had a friend who...who meant a lot to you?  Who meant more to you than almost anything in the world?”  Her voice caught, and she hesitated.

Arrow nodded solemnly, encouraging her to continue.  After a pause, she just began blurting out everything on her mind, if only to sort it out for herself.

“Well...I’ve...I’ve been friends with Jim for as long as I can remember.  I’ve lived with his family, since mine couldn’t-wouldn’t-care for a child that wasn’t a boy.  I’ve been through everything he has.  He’s closer than a brother to me.  We’ve done everything together.  We’ve been there for each other.  We’ve gotten each other into and out of more trouble than I care to count.  I was never close to his father though, but when his father left, I was there for him.  I didn’t say anything, I was just...there, because I knew- I knew that he would have done the same thing for me, and in a way, he and his mother had.  She had a difficult time getting through that-his mother, I mean.  I tried so hard to be supportive to the both of them through it.  To repay them, almost.  I...I thought that meant something to Jim.  It certainly meant something to me.

“After that, Jim kept pushing everyone away.  He was just so upset at his father, I think.  I know he didn’t really mean to hurt Sarah- that’s his mother, you know.  She tried to tighten her hold on him, sort of, I think because she didn’t want to lose him like she had his father.  But then, just because I lived with them didn’t mean it was my place to say anything about it, so I didn’t.  He rebelled against it and, well...sometimes I thought that the only thing that kept him from leaving like his father was seeing what it had done to his mother.  And...because of his friendship with me.

“It sounds selfish, but he...he needed me too, in a way.  I could feel that.  Maybe I’m just flattering myself, but I used to think that I was his anchor, almost, keeping him in touch with Sarah.  But then I would feel guilty about holding him back, so I’d go along with whatever crazy scheme we concocted, and we’d both get in trouble.  I imagine that’s how we ended up here.

“But now he’s got Silver.  He’s like a father to him, I can see that.  And as much as I’m glad to see him happy, I feel useless now.  Like I really am just dead weight, being excluded, and I have so much less to offer now.  I’m unimportant.  He doesn’t need me, or...or want me.  And I’m losing him, Mr. Arrow.  He’s drifting away, and it’s selfish, but I don’t want to lose him.  He’s all I’ve got...and all I’ve ever really had,” she concluded, looking up, sadly.

Arrow knelt down beside Skye, and said quietly, “I see.  Well, child, I imagine you must at least now know how his mother must feel.”  Skye was startled at this realization, but agreed.

“I think that you are a strong person to be able to recognize your shortcomings on this,” he continued, “and that you are being in a way selfish, even though that is understandable, given the history you’ve told me you have with the boy.  But I should think that the best way to resolve this would be to tell him yourself what you just told me, or at least a similar version of it.  Perhaps he also recognizes this separation, and perhaps he is just as troubled by it, somewhere under his excitement of having an older mentor.”

“Do you really think so?” Skye asked.

“I wouldn’t say so if I didn’t think so.  Remember, he has the same history with you that you have with him, and if he’s any sort of decent person, it means something to him.  But only you can tell him this.”  Arrow stood up, smiled gently at her, and turned to leave.

Skye sniffled a bit, and stood as well.  She called to Mr. Arrow, who stopped.

She suddenly gave Arrow a hug around his stone middle.  He seemed a bit surprised, but smiled nonetheless.

“Thank you so much for listening,” she told him.

Arrow stepped back, and told her, “Anytime, child.  You’re a spirited girl, and I hope you and your friend can resolve this.”  As he left, Skye felt much better.  It was good to get everything- well, mostly everything- out to someone, and even better to hear words of encouragement.

Skye moved over to lean on the railing, and heard Arrow’s voice as he turned the corner, calling back one last piece of advice.

“And child, if there are any other thoughts you may have, then I suggest you tell him those as well.”  When Skye turned to look at him, he gave her a wink and continued around the bend, out of sight.

The corner of Skye’s mouth turned upwards slightly.  Mr. Arrow was able to read between the lines much better than she had suspected.

She turned back to watch the stars and space drift past.  They were nearing the star Pelusa, and she’d heard this red giant was even more breathtaking up close.

As it came into sight, she noticed something odd about the star.  It seemed to pulse and ripple strangely, and was much larger and redder than it should be at that distance.  All of a sudden, a bright light exploded from the corona of the star.

It was then in horror that she saw the first blast wave of energy rushing towards the Legacy.

 

Silver maneuvered the boat up under the Legacy as Jim grabbed hold of the pulley ropes that would lift it the remaining distance to dock.  They returned from their test ride of the longboat in good spirits, laughing and joking.  Morph floated down to meet them, unaware of the foul mood that Skye had left in.

Jim and Silver pulled on their ropes, raising the longboat up through the docking bay to a level where they could tie it off.  Jim, being the younger, pulled harder and mocked his older mentor with teasing jabs.

“Having a little trouble, there?” he joked, yanking hard on his rope so the craft tipped up at his end.  Silver chuckled and playfully scolded Jim to get away.  He felt a need to comment on Jim’s flying, it had impressed him so much.

“Oh, Jimbo,” Silver said, tying off his end, “if I could maneuver a skiff like that when I was your age, they’d be bowing in the streets when I walked by today!”  He let out a small grunt of relief as he plopped against the side of the boat.  Morph copied him, so the small Silver jabbered “bowing in the streets!” and also fell against the “side” of an imaginary boat in the air.

Jim tied off his rope with an identical knot and disagreed good-naturedly. “I don’t know- they weren’t exactly singing my praises when I left home.”  He sat down heavily on the seat across from Silver.  He looked up to see Silver wipe his brow with a cloth, and Jim added cryptically, “But I’m gonna change all that.”

This caught Silver’s interest.  Stroking Morph, he cocked his head towards Jim, asking, “How so?”  This he wanted to hear.

“Uh, I got some plans...gonna make people see me a little different.”  Jim rested his head against the side of the boat, closing his eyes.  He could see it in his mind’s eye- returning home rich with legendary treasure.  His mother would be proud of him and never need to look at him with shame on her face.  At school his name would be well-known, he’d never be picked on.  He would be respected, praised even.  He might even be accepted into the Interstellar Academy.  That would be a dream come true- sailing the galaxy, learning about far-off lands, maybe even captain a ship someday.  And Skye would, well... well in any event, Jim would at least be able to get her into the Academy too.  He would make sure they wouldn’t refuse her just because she was a girl.  Jim let himself forget any worry by dwelling on this particular fact, and the others he had thought of as well.

Silver said with a touch of sadness in his voice, “Ooh...sometimes, plans go astray.”

He looked over at Jim.  A smile played about the corner of his lips, and he murmured, “Not this time.”

Silver thought a moment.  Then, propping his metallic leg on the bench, he attempted to loosen a screw on the side.  He needed to relieve some of the pressure on the joints, for even though it was metal, he still could feel the tension, and it caused him a semi-arthritic pain.  He groaned with the effort of unscrewing it with his bare hand, but Morph kindly formed into a wrench, which facilitated the task.

“Oh, thank you, Morphy.”  These actions caused Jim to look over at Silver.  He wondered why it had never occurred to him before that this was not natural.  Certainly Silver must have had both of his arms, legs, and eyes at one point.  He had to have lost them somehow.  Immediately, he felt bad for not having noticed this before.

“So, uh, how’d that happen, anyway?” Jim asked hesitantly.  He was a little uncomfortable asking this personal question.  How many times had Silver answered it?  Did it cause him pain to think of it?  After all, Silver had human feelings too, and maybe he didn’t like to dwell on this handicap.

Silver looked down at his cybernetic hand.  Flexing it, he said simply, “You give up a few things, chasing a dream.”  There was a tone of remorse in his voice.  Silver thought back to the incident that had forced him to make a terrible decision that would eventually lead him to lose the entire right side of his body.  He had sacrificed a part of himself, if only to keep alive his dream, the dream which the Legacy was heading towards through space.

Jim saw that Silver would say no more on it, but he had to know one final thing.

“Was it worth it?”

Silver smiled, and moved to the other side of the boat to sit next to Jim.  Putting his arm around Jim with a warm kind of affection for the promising, helpful lad, he placed the hat onto Jim’s head.

“I’m hoping it is, Jimbo.  I most surely am.”

Jim pulled the hat down over his eyes and leaned his head against Silver’s arm.  They both closed their eyes to muse on the exciting time they had had earlier on the skiff.  Silver thought of Jim’s talented flying, and Jim was just glad that Silver had let him join in, that he was there for him, had given him the chance he needed to prove himself.

Suddenly the Legacy lurched, rocking the ships in the docking bay, and knocking the two nearly out of the skiff.  In surprise and terror, they ran towards the stairs that led above deck.

What was going on?

 

“What the devil?”

Silver and Jim hurried up onto the deck, looking around in bewilderment for the cause of the ship’s turbulence.  As Silver looked for the Captain, Skye rushed over and grabbed Jim’s arm, speaking with unmistakable anxiety in her voice.

“Jim, we’ve got trouble.”

As if to confirm her fears, Dr. Doppler whipped out his telescope and examined the source of the problem.

“Good heavens!” he exclaimed, “The star Pelusa- its gone supernova!”

And indeed it had.  An incredible shock of heat, light, and star fragments was already blasting its way towards the Legacy, where Captain Amelia was reactively shouting commands.

“Evasive action, Mr. Turnbuckle!”

The alien at the helm turned the ship away from the deadly fireball, and Arrow ordered for all hands to fasten their lifelines.  There was a brief scramble towards the post where ropes were immediately tied and tightened round the waists of all the crew members.

The Legacy raced the enormous explosion through red-orange dust, hindered by holes being blown in the solar sails.  Amelia saw this and shouted towards Mr. Arrow, whose loud booming voice carried over the roar of sizzling elements.

“Secure all sails!  Reef them down, men!”

Half a dozen crew members scrambled up the ropes and fastened the main sails while a portly alien fired an energy cannon at the largest of the hurtling shards.  Jim, Skye, and Silver made their way along the bow, heading out to release the sail rigging on the end.  As Silver attempted to free a snagged pulley, one of the meteors crashed into it.  While this freed the sail, it made Silver lose his balance, and he began to fall over the side.

“Silver!” Jim yelled, and grabbed the lifeline before it could slip away.  Skye dashed over and also grabbed the end, and together they hauled Silver back onto the bow.

“Thanks, lad,” Silver smiled at Jim as he helped him back to his feet.  The relief was short lived, however.  An enormous piece of the star was tearing through space on a direct collision course with the Legacy.  The energy cannon did little more than inflict dents in it, and soon the post was abandoned.  Jim, Skye, and Silver could only stare in horror as the heat increased and the fragment advanced.  The air crackled with the enormity of the looming impact...

But it never came.

 

Looking at the swirling vortex that had sucked back the cataclysmic fireball, the crew watched in terror and amazement as Doppler spoke what no one wanted to hear.

“It’s devolving into a black hole!”

This was even worse than an explosion.  The gravity so dense that not even light escaped was pulling them in.Captain Amelia took the helm herself, but to no avail- the pull was relentless.  The crushing blackness erupted with a wave of heat and copper red dust, knocking most of the crew over, only adding to the horror of such a fate.

“Blast these waves!” Amelia shouted in anger, “They’re so deucedly erratic!”

“No, Captain.  They’re not erratic at all.  There’ll be one more in precisely 47.2 seconds, followed by the biggest magilla of them all!” Doppler corrected her with panic, but a seed of an idea had formed in his mind.  Fortunately, Amelia had the same idea.

“Of course! Brilliant, Doctor!  We’ll ride that last magilla out of here!”  The spark of determination returned to Amelia’s eyes, but of course this meant more work on the terrified crew’s part.

“All sails secured, Captain!”  Arrow called up to Amelia.

“Good man!  Now, release them immediately!”

Arrow faltered a moment.  Was she mad?  However, he dutifully confirmed her order and spoke with conviction.

“Aye, Captain.  You heard her, men!  Unfurl those sails!”

The crew that had just climbed down from the rigging grumbled in annoyance.

“What?!”

“We just finished tying them down!”

“Make up your bloomin’ minds!”

They took to the rigging again, and Arrow joined them to speed the task.  If Amelia demanded such an unusual and risky charge, Arrow thought, she must have an idea.  Despite his size and appearance, he climbed nimbly with the rest of them.

“Mr. Hawkins!” Amelia called to Jim, “Make sure that all life-lines are secured good and tight!”

“Aye-aye Captain!” Jim rushed to his task, and Skye set to tying down the sails at the starboard side of the ship.

Jim pulled the last rope taut, and yelled up to Amelia, “Lifelines secured, Captain!”

“Very good!”

 

An unexpected gust of fire exploded from the developing black hole, so strong it knocked Amelia over.  So strong, in fact, it sent Mr. Arrow hurling through space- until his lifeline stretched tight, stopping his fall.  He had begun to pull himself back up, but when he looked up, what he saw filled him with fright.

 

Arrow’s hat plummeted back to the deck, where it dropped in front of the last sail Skye fastened.  She recognized it and looked up, where she saw Mr. Arrow hanging from his lifeline.  She gasped in shock at the same thing that had scared Arrow.

Scroop’s spidery form was illuminated by a shock of lightning from the swirling clouds of electrons and protons ripped from Pelusa.  His face twisted into a smile of pure evil, and revenge seeped through his yellow, bug-like eyes.  A clawed hand opened, and Arrow and Skye knew what was coming even before Scroop made his move.  Both pairs of eyes widened as Scroop thrust his claw at Arrow’s lifeline.

 

Although Arrow’s scream went unheard by most of the crew, Skye’s memory would hear it echoing in her head forever as she watched him spiral downwards into the iniquitous crushing vortex of the black hole.

 

Skye was jerked back to reality with Doppler’s frantic voice.

“Captain!  The last wave!  Here it comes!”

“Hold on to your lifelines, gents, it’s going to be a bumpy ride,” Captain Amelia called out as she turned the Legacy.  As the ship was sucked downwards, Jim dragged Skye away from the railing of the ship, and in the process, she dropped Arrow’s hat.  Had she not been so dazed, so unfocused, she might have struggled to grab it back, but she could not think straight.  All she could think was that they were falling, falling into the same black depths that Arrow had just disappeared into.

Though she hardly felt the hand on her arm, Jim pulled her a safe distance away from the side of the ship.  He pressed her up against the main mast and shielded her body with his.  The two were secured by Silver’s larger body and mechanical arm holding them tightly against the post.  Morph formed the shape of a rope and tied himself to Jim’s lifeline, and the ship sank out of sight, down into the inky, total blackness.

 

An explosion rocked deep within the black hole.  The shattered core of the ex-star twisted and warped its oxygen, carbon, and iron around the fabric of space-time as the astounding anomaly took form.  But the cosmic catastrophe would take no more prisoners from this ship.

All sorts of dusts and elements, quarks and leptons, light rays and neutrinos, particles of protons and electrons and nucleons from the death of the star Pelusa filled the Legacy’s sails, and the ship soared out into calm blue space, cruising on this destructive yet beautiful blast wave of energy.

 

An enormous cheer went up from the crew of the Legacy and Morph melted into a puddle of relief on the deck.  Silver and Jim looked around tentatively, but soon became swept up in the excitement.  Yes, they had done it.  They had survived.  They had looked destruction in the eye and lived.

Jim smiled widely.  That was excitement, adventure.  He turned to Skye, expecting her to share his elation, but she had disappeared.

Dr. Doppler stood up and disentangled himself from the pile of cord he had fallen into during the amazing escape.  He spoke, rather flustered, to Amelia as she walked past.

“Captain, that- oh, my goodness.  That was- that was absolutely- that was the most-”

“Oh, tish-tosh,” she cut him off, never one for being extolled.  She preferred giving credit where credit was due, and so continued as she examined a piece of equipment for damage, “Actually, Doctor, your astronomical advice was most helpful.”

Doppler was a bit surprised at this at first, but then said, “Well, uh, thank you.  Thank you very much.  I have a lot of help to offer anatomically- amanamonically- as-astronomically.”  He groaned and hit himself on the forehead for his foolish slipup.  Luckily, Amelia didn’t notice.

Also giving due credit, Amelia stepped down the stairs towards the deck, and said, ‘Well, I must congratulate you, Mr. Silver.  It seems your cabin boy did a bang-up job with those lifelines.”  Jim nudged Silver, who pushed him back, both chuckling.

“All hands accounted for, Mr. Arrow?”

Silence.

“Mr. Arrow?”

Everyone looked around, but soon saw the red spider-like alien approach Captain Amelia, holding a hat.  Arrow’s hat.

“I’m afraid Mr. Arrow has been lost,” Scroop said, solemnly.  He handed the hat to a speechless Amelia.  Then, with feigned responsibility, he added, “His lifeline was not secured.”  He shot an accusing glance at Jim, which Amelia doubled.

“No, I checked them all!” Jim pushed past two aliens to prove it, but stopped abruptly.  True enough, there was one rope missing from the pegs that held the lifelines.  In disbelief, Jim said more to himself than anyone else, “I-I did.  I checked them all.  They were secure.”  Then turning to the Captain, he said, “I swear.”

Amelia’s glare did not soften.  Jim realized with despair that she did not believe him.  Nobody did.

Actually, there was one other person who knew the truth.  But when the still unsettled Skye made the slightest movement in Jim’s defense, Scroop had given her such a fierce, terrifying look that she stopped in her tracks.  He knew that she knew.  Witnessing the event did her no good- she realized that saying even one word would make her next, and all her strength was gone with grief and fear.

Silver looked with pity towards Jim, until he saw Scroop’s twisted smile.  He scowled at the alien’s sadistic pleasure of Arrow’s demise and Jim’s guilt.  If that Scroop wasn’t a key member of the plan, he’d have demanded to know how Scroop was the only one who knew anything.  It was quite suspicious indeed.

Amelia looked at the hat in her hand, and began to speak softly.

“Mr. Arrow was a...ahem...a fine spacer.  Finer than most of us could ever hope to be-” She paused to collect herself; too much emotion was sticking her mouth shut and flooding her eyes.

“But he knew the risks.  As do we all.  Resume your posts- we carry on.”  Jim left the deck quickly, and Silver could only watch with empathy.

 

Amelia walked up the stairs to her quarters.  Doppler stood by the door, offering comfort if she needed it.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, but Amelia could not speak to him.  She entered her stateroom and closed the door.  Looking around quietly, she moved towards the mantle and placed the hat above the fireplace- the highest place of honor on a Confederation ship.  As she gazed at it, dappled in the blue light of the fresh nebula forming behind them, a single tear rolled down her cheek- her first in a very, very long time.

 

The cool blue dust of the nebula glowed defiantly, a beautiful tragedy.  Columns and swirls of gas emanated from the bright center, where the black hole was slowly eating away at the remnants that escaped destruction.  They would eventually be sucked in, but for now they gleamed blue and white.  The dazzling radiance would have reflected prettily off of Skye’s tears as she sat on the port rigging, except she was not crying.

Skye’s face was dry.  Her entire countenance was a blank mask of stone.  Too many thoughts, too many feelings rushed through her head to sort out one that would allow her to cry.  It was amazing how you could feel hopeful and respected one moment, and then all of a sudden, the person responsible for your reassured ease is gone, and you are left with a void.  She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she did not notice Jim approaching from behind until he swung around the rigging and climbed up to sit next to her.  She could sense his resentment of himself, the tenseness and disappointment he had.  She had seen it on his face before, and it had remained.  He was miserable, and she knew it was her fault.

Skye felt so guilty- she was the one who could have redeemed Jim, but she was so pathetic she couldn’t even stand up for herself, let alone someone else.  Jim sitting next to her only reiterated the fact that there was so much she could have done- to save Arrow, to save Jim, to save herself.  She wanted to say something to make up for her weakness, at least for Jim’s sake to ease his pain.  He didn’t deserve this guilt.  She racked her brain for something to say, but could only come out with two words.

“I’m sorry.”

Jim turned to face her, resentment blazing in his eyes.  Of course he knew nothing of what Skye was going through, but he did know that he didn’t want her sympathy.

“How can you be sorry?” he asked in anger, “You’re not the one who messed up!  You didn’t cause someone to, to-” He cut himself off, he wouldn’t say it.  He knew it, but saying it aloud, even to Skye, made it sound so much more...real.  His silence only forced Skye’s hastened words.

“Jim, you don’t understand, it’s not your fault!”

Jim couldn’t stand it.  He refused to let Skye deceive herself with her natural defense for him.  Against his inclination, he spilled out his frustration.

“Like hell it wasn’t my fault!  Skye, you don’t understand.  I try to tell myself it wasn’t my fault, but it was.  I can’t refuse to accept it, I screwed up, and it cost someone their life!” Jim replied.  Skye saw his anxiety, heard the guilt-ridden pain racking his voice, and knew she couldn’t let him do this to himself.

“It was Scroop, Jim.  I saw him, he cut Arrow’s lifeline,” she blurted out.  She had no idea where this unexpected courage to speak came from, but didn’t care.  Suddenly she found herself saying things she didn’t even realize she had been thinking.

“It was Scroop, and I couldn’t say anything because then I’ll be next.  It killed me to not be able to defend you, you know that?  But he’s evil, Jim, you have to understand, he’ll do anything for revenge!  He killed Mr. Arrow in cold blood and then blamed it on you!  You have to understand, it’s not your fault, its mine!  I saw it, I was there, I couldn’t help Arrow and I couldn’t help you-” Skye’s voice had risen in a crescendo of emotion, when Jim cut her off.

“Skye, you’re making things up, Scroop didn’t do it and he’s not out to get you.  Just because of that scuffle the first day doesn’t mean-”

“Jim, they’re pirates.”

A beat.

“What?”

Skye drew a deep breath and continued, knowing she was already in too deep.

“They’re pirates.  Planning a mutiny.  I heard them talking, all of them.  Even...” she stopped.  She knew what the next sentence would mean.

Jim inclined toward her, and asked, “What?”

Eyes downcast, she whispered, “Even...Silver.  He was the leader.”

Jim leaned back in disbelief.

“No.  No, you’re lying.  It’s not true, he would never-”

“Jim, it’s true.  Maybe he had nothing to do with Arrow, but I heard him talking about a plan.  About us.  About you.”  She hated doing this, but he had to know.  It was too late to take it back.

Jim wouldn’t believe it.  “No.  You’re just jealous, you must be-”

“Maybe I am.  Maybe I am jealous that the one person on this ship who would listen to me is now dead,” Skye’s voice rose and trembled slightly.  “Maybe I’m jealous that you don’t want me around anymore.  But that still doesn’t change the facts,” she said, “and I’m warning you to be careful with Silver.”

Jim’s face set rigid.  This was his best friend who had never lied to him in his life, but that fact was buried deep under his refusal to believe that his mentor was a pirate.  He pushed the doubt to the back of his mind and disregarded it completely.

“Jim...Jim, I’m sorry.”  She touched his arm gently, but he shrugged her off.

Skye grimaced, and turned away from Jim.  She couldn’t stay here.  They both needed time to cool down.  Turning, she climbed up the rigging in anger, and sat in the crow’s nest high above the deck, and away from Jim.

But even as the hot tears welled up behind her eyes, she refused to allow them fall.  Jim could refuse to believe her, but she wouldn’t let herself cry.

 

Below, Jim realized what he had done.  He was pushing Skye away, when he needed her now more than ever.  He still blamed himself for everything, no matter what Skye would say, and despite all his rough talk, even just her presence was enough so he didn’t feel completely alone.But now he had only his fevered self-accusations and growing frustration to accompany him.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

A good amount of time later Silver strolled over to the port rigging, where Jim still sat.  He was cold, tired, and very much alone.  He regretted arguing with Skye and his thoughts kept returning to it, making him more angry and depressed each time.  In a futile attempt to calm his nerves, he had picked off a frayed piece of rope and was twisting it around his hands, which often came back to a simple clove hitch- the knot around the lifelines.

Silver looked up and saw the troubled boy determinedly avoiding looking at the deck.  Silver puffed on his pipe and leaned against the rail.  He spoke quietly, calmly to Jim, if to do no more than fill the silence.

“It weren’t your fault, you know.”

Jim sighed with the memory of his fight with Skye.  Why couldn’t Silver just leave him alone?  It was his fault, everyone thought so, even the Captain, and he felt terrible.  Wasn’t that enough!?

“Why,” Silver gestured with the pipe, “half the crew would be spinning in that black abyss if not for-”

Jim tossed the bit of rope out into space and leapt down to kneel on the railing, yelling at Silver.

“Look, don’t you get it?!”  He dropped to the deck, yelling now.  “I screwed up!  I mean for two seconds, I thought that I could do something right, but- aagh!”  Jim let out a cry of passion and rage as everything Skye had said took final hold in his mind.  She was right.  She was right, and he was failing- at his duties, with the crew, and with Skye, his best friend.  At the top of all his frustration, he missed her, and he couldn’t think or concentrate or anything.  He was hopeless, a failure, and had pushed everyone away, even the ones he needed most.

Jim turned away from Silver, too embarrassed to be like this.  He sighed dejectedly and leaned against the main mast.

“Just forget it.  Forget it,” he said, his voice breaking with the vent of his emotion.  He wiped his eye, and sagged against the pole.

 

Silver found it hard to believe that this promising young man could possibly not see his own worth.  Silver reached out his hand, turned Jim around, and spoke clearly to get him to focus.

“Now you listen to me, James Hawkins.”  Silver could finally look Jim in the eye, and it was clear he was on the threshold of tears.  He continued, speaking honestly, “You got the makings of greatness in ya’, but you gotta’ take the helm and chart your own course!  Stick to it, no matter the squalls!  And when the time comes you get the chance to really test the cut of your sails and show what you’re made of, well...I hope I’m there, catching some of the light coming off ya’ that day.”

Silver smiled gently at Jim, who was speechless.  If there was any doubt about the extent of Silver’s caring for Jim, his respect and honesty, it was abolished with those few words.  Jim sniffled, and leaned his forehead against Silver’s stomach, weeping softly.

Silver looked around, slightly surprised.  However, he saw the coast was clear, and put his arms tentatively around Jim’s trembling shoulders.

“There, there,” he reassured Jim, “Lad, it’s all right, Jimbo.  It’s all right.”  He closed his eyes for a moment.  This was new, different.  Giving paternal condolence to this boy, why, it was very satisfying to know he could help.

But it was dangerous.

Stepping back a bit uncomfortably, Silver cleared his throat and straightened his hat.

“Now, Jim, I, um, I best be getting about my watch,” he jerked a thumb over his shoulder, “and you best be getting some shut-eye.”  He gave Jim a smile, and a gentle nudge towards the stairway leading beneath the deck.

Jim walked away, but just before he headed below, he turned, and gave Silver an appreciative smile.  Silver, he believed in him, he had faith.  Silver gave him hope, and above all, respected him as an individual.  As a young man.  Like he would a son.

Silver smiled weakly after Jim as he trudged down the flight of steps.  The smile left, however, as Silver realized just what this connection they had could mean.  Morph had floated over, and Silver spoke aloud to the cuddly pink blob.

“Getting in too deep here, Morphy.  Next thing ya know, they’ll be saying I’ve gone soft.”  Morph, not quite understanding the seriousness of such a situation, cuddled up against Silver, forcing him to chuckle.  Silver turned away smiling to himself as he went about his watch.  That boy, once you got through to him, John Silver decided, he could be downright likeable.  He wasn’t so bad at all.

 

Unaware to Silver, a spidery, red alien watched from his perch on the sail above.

He had heard everything.

 

The crew leaned over the side of the railing, eager to feast their eyes on the sight of the beautiful green planet.  Grinning, Silver tried to get as close a view as possible, but his cybernetic eye couldn’t see through the unusually thick atmosphere surrounding the terrestrial ball.  He searched his pockets, but his hands came up empty.

“Where the devil’s me glass?”

 

It actually lay on the galley table, next to a paring knife, and not four feet away from Jim emerging from his purp barrel hiding place.  Skye also lifted herself out, and watched Jim stumble against the table.  He put his hand to his forehead in dismay, but suddenly his eyes cleared as his head snapped up, focused.

“Skye,” he said, ignoring his personal distress about the new revelation, “we’ve got to tell the Captain.”

Jim raced towards the stairs with Skye at his heels, but was barely past the door when he stopped sharply at the surprised sound of his name.

„Jimbo.”

Silver was there.  Right there.

Skye twisted away before Silver caught sight of her, pressing against the inner wall besides the stair-well.  As he stepped down into the room, his back loomed so close she couldn’t see Jim for a moment, blocked by Silver.

“Playing games, are we?”

Silver’s voice sounded strange.  Forcedly pleasant.  Though Skye couldn’t see his face, she imagined he had a guilty smile.

“Yeah.  Yeah, we’re playing games.”  Jim’s voice was cold.

He backed away and bumped into the table behind him.  Though cornered, he could still see Skye hidden in the shadow of the doorframe.  He grimaced at Silver, angry, untrusting.  Silver sensed his fear and loathing, and did some quick-thinking.

“Oh, I see.  Well, I was never much good at games.  Always hated to lose,” Silver said.  To Skye’s horror, the mechanical hand hidden behind his back swiveled to be replaced with a pistol, Silver unaware that she was even in the room.

Jim eyes flicked towards Skye.  She noticed the knife on the table, and the idea came to her.  She jerked her head ever so slightly in its direction, while her eyes darted from Jim’s to Silver’s pneumatic leg.

The next few seconds may have moved fast, but they seemed to play in slow motion.  Jim’s hand closed around the paring knife just behind him on the table.  Skye saw him grab it, and shouted, “Us too!”  Silver jumped towards the unexpected sound, and his momentary distraction enabled Jim to leap forwards and plunge the paring knife into the accordion-like mechanism of Silver’s leg.  It punctured, spewing air and crippling Silver, who collapsed to the floor yelling in pain.

Jim didn’t stop moving.  He grabbed Skye’s wrist and pulled her up the stairs after him, dashing towards the Captain’s stateroom.

Silver pulled himself up onto the deck.  His eye clicked open, scanning the ship, and focused on two teenagers and a morph slamming the stateroom door.

“Oh, blast it all.”

Staggering from the damage to his leg, Silver managed to prop himself up.  He curled his mechanical hand into a fist and blew through it, producing a piecing whistling sound.  The crew members on deck turned, puzzled.

“Change in plans, lads!”  Swiveling a cutlass into position, Silver yelled loudly, “We move now!”

A great cheer went up from the deck as the pirates let loose.  They swung and slid down the rigging to join their comrades.  Mr. Hands broke through the door into the supply hold, and reemerged with a triumphant roar, holding multiple weapons in each massive fist.  Silver called to the multi-eyed alien in the crow’s nest.

“Strike our colors, Mr. Onus,” he instructed.

“With pleasure, Captain,” Onus sniggered, and the pirate flag went up, waving for the first time in a hundred years over Treasure Planet.

 

* * *

“Pirates, on my ship?  I’ll see they all hang!”

Amelia was livid.  She tore open the cupboard in her stateroom, removed a pistol and inserted a laser charge into the side.  She collected other weapons, and hastily tossed one to Doppler.

“Doctor, familiar with these?”  She asked brashly.  Doppler caught it, fumbling, and fingered the gun cautiously.

“I’ve seen...well, I’ve read-”

ZAP.

The glass globe beside Amelia exploded with the stray shot, strewing crystal shards over the floor.

“Um, no.  No, no I’m not.”

Amelia rolled her eyes.  Suddenly the bolt on the door to the stateroom began to glow red-hot.

“Mr. Hawkins and Ms. Skye!  Defend this with your lives!”  Amelia instructed, and attempted to throw the brass sphere map to one of the two.  Skye moved to catch it but Morph, ever the playful, snatched it from midair in his mouth, giggling.

“Morph!  Gimme’ that!”  Jim yelled, as he wrenched it from Morph’s grip and tucked it in his pocket.  The door bolt sparked.

“How are we going to get out?” Doppler asked, panicked.  Skye and Jim looked at each other, and then to Captain Amelia.

Amelia’s eyes flashed. She had an idea.

 

Outside the door, Silver pushed through the crowd of pirates firing at the door latch.

“Oh, you’re takin’ all day about it!”

His mechanical arm went to the metal leg, and from the side of it he drew a large laser cannon.He fired, and the door to Captain Amelia’s stateroom was destroyed in the same way the Benbow Inn was.

They charged into the room, and looked about wildly...and found a hole in the floor.

“Oh, stop them!”  Silver bellowed, and tossed a pirate down the hole.

 

Below deck, Amelia, Doppler, Jim, Skye, and Morph raced down the corridors towards the docking bay, pirates hot on their heels.  Doppler tripped and Amelia pulled him into the room, slamming the door just in time.

“To the longboats, quickly!” she ordered, while fusing the lock shut to buy a few seconds.

Jim and Doppler leapt into the longboat to prepare for launch, and Skye pushed down hard on the lever to open the bay doors.  A pale, green-tinged light streamed upwards, and the door was being cut away by the pirates on the other side.  Amelia flipped through the air into the boat, then reached a hand out and pulled Skye in after her.

It was then that Morph seized the map and floated away, thinking it a game.

“MORPH!!!” Jim yelled, and dived out of the boat after it.

The door burst open and several pirates rushed into the room.  Amelia began shooting at them, hurling insults.

“Chew on this, you pus-filled boils!”  Doppler, wanting to be useful, plugged his ear against the noise and shot.

His shot hit an exhaust vent above the loading deck, severing the cables that held it up.  It plummeted down towards the planet’s surface, taking out a large section of the deck and at least three pirates as well.

Amelia watched them fall downward, then turned to Doppler with admiration.

“Did you actually aim for that?”

Doppler looked at the gun in his hand in surprise and remarked, “You know, actually, I did.”

But the glory was short-lived.  Amelia pushed Doppler out of harms way as laser shots sizzled the air around them.

Skye heard an unwelcome rumbling noise.  The bay doors below them were sliding closed.

Silver.

“Oh, blast it!” Amelia swore, and, looking around, did a quick calculation in her head.

“Doctor,” she told Delbert, “when I say ‘now,’ shoot out the forward cable, I’ll take this one.”  Delbert’s eyes set on his target, and he steeled himself to aim.

Jim, meanwhile, was still chasing Morph.  However, Silver was too.

“Morph!” Silver called to the pink blob when he had stopped for a moment.  “Morphy, come here!  Come to your dad, come on now,” he whistled and called.

At the same time, Jim was trying to coax him in his own direction.

“Morph, come here boy, hey!  Hey!  Morph!  Here! Now!”

Morph looked back and forth between the two, and, utterly confused, dived into a coil of rope, taking the map with him.

Both men lunged towards the rope, but Silver’s damaged leg betrayed him- Jim reached it only seconds before Silver pulled himself into arm’s reach.

Jim looked down for a moment, hesitating, then turned and ran.

Silver cocked his pistol, powering it up, and took aim at Jim’s retreating figure...

...but he couldn’t do it.  He couldn’t shoot.

 

As Jim jumped towards the boat, Amelia shouted, “Now!” and both she and Doppler fired.  The two cables snapped, and the boat plunged down towards the still closing doors, where it jolted and bumped against them, causing Skye to stumble and trip backwards against the side of the longboat.

Jim’s fall missed his target, and he grabbed onto the edge of the craft as it slid past the closing bay doors.  The vessel fell outward and down, Jim dangling from the side.  Just as Jim was losing his grip, Skye managed to disentangle herself from where she had fallen, and reached over, pulling him in by the collar of his shirt.

Amelia took the helm swiftly.  “Parameters met, hydraulics engaged...”  The small boat’s solar sails shot up, and Amelia directed it towards the planet’s surface.

Above them, the portly alien was aiming the ship’s laser cannons at the boat, and was about to pull the trigger when Silver pushed his cannon aside.

“Hold your fire!  We’ll lose the map!”

Unfortunately, the alien’s finger “slipped,” and fired anyway.  But luckily Silver’s intervention sent the cannonball’s course askew.

But not enough.

“Captain!  Laser ball at 12 o’clock!”  Doppler yelled, too late to give adequate warning.  Though Amelia banked hard to the right, the energy ball still hit their tail, blowing off the sail.

As the four plunged in a haphazard descent, they grazed a tree, bumping them and damaging their rudder further.  They couldn’t turn, which was a problem considering that another large tree was looming ahead.

“I got it!”  Skye yelled, snatching up a pistol and taking aim, intending to blow it apart before they reached the collision point.

Amelia tried to warn her, “No!  Skye, that one’s loaded with-”

But it was too late.  A blast of icy energy shot out of the barrel, and the characteristically strong recoil sent Skye reeling backwards.  At the same time, the tree in front of them froze under the ice beam, and the boat smashed into it at a gravity-driven breakneck speed.

The impact sent shards of ice flying.  The longboat closed the gap between it and the forest floor, where it flipped over and skidded to a bumpy, grinding halt.

 

Jim and Dr. Doppler pushed the boat up, groaning.  Jim looked over, rubbing his neck, and saw that Skye’s left arm was bleeding.

Jim asked her, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she replied, “I just caught a couple of icicles back there, let me tie this up and I’ll be fine.”  She tore off her sleeve where it had ripped on the boat and wound it around the cut.  “Dr. Doppler?”

“Oh, my goodness,” Delbert sighed, “that was more fun than I ever want to have again.”

“To think we wanted to do this for a living,” Skye joked.

“That’s not one of my gossamer landings,” Amelia chuckled as she stood up.  Then, with a gasp of pain, she clutched her side and fell to her knees.

“Captain!” Delbert cried, and he helped her to her feet, supporting her weight for a moment as she collected herself.

“Oh, don’t fuss,” she protested, “slight bruising, that’s all.  Cup of tea and I’ll be right as rain.”  She looked about for a moment, then turned to Jim.

“Mr. Hawkins, the map, if you please.”

Jim removed the gold sphere from his pocket and held it up, smiling.  Suddenly it rose into the air and hovered for a few seconds...

...and swirled into a pink blob, hysterical with laughter.

There was stunned silence for a moment

“Well,” Skye jeered, “it’s not the map.”

“Morph!” Jim yelled, realizing his blunder, “Morph, where’s the map?!”

Morph formed a miniature version of the map, and depicted it being put into a coil of rope.

“Are you serious?!  It’s back on the ship?”

Amelia turned towards a humming in the distance.  “Stifle that blob, and get low.  We’ve got company.”  A second longboat was heading from the Legacy towards smoke in the distance, no doubt from the cannon ball that had destabilized and ultimately caused the crash.

Crouching behind the wreckage of the boat, Amelia turned to Jim and Skye.

“We need a more defensible position.  Mr. Hawkins and Ms. Skye,” she handed each one a pistol, “scout ahead.  But Skye- don’t take the freeze ray.”

“Aye, Captain,” Jim acknowledged.  Skye nodded solemnly, her left arm bandaged now.

Amelia gasped once again in pain, and Doppler eased her down to lean against the boat.

“Steady,” he said, “Now, let’s have a look at that.”

 

Skye turned to follow Jim into the jungle, but paused for just a moment as she passed the pile of weapons lying next to the boat where Amelia had gathered them.  After only a slight hesitation, she reached down, snatched up two cartridges, and slipped them inside a safe place- her left boot.

One cartridge was a regular laser refill.

But the other was an ice charge.

Hey.  You never know.

 

Spongy mosses sunk under Jim and Skye’s feet as they made their way towards the forest on the quest for a shelter.  Perhaps forest wasn’t exactly the best word- the planet’s surface seemed more like a huge moldy piece of bread that nobody wanted to throw it out for fear they’d have to touch it.  Still, they didn’t know of a word for a cluster of fungus the size of trees, so “forest” was the most accurate description to use.

And what a forest it was.  Huge mushroom like caps towered above them, and Skye tripped more than once while craning her neck to see the tops.  Beneath their feet sprung lichens and mosses, with colors ranging from the palest sea-green froth to the richest, smoothest emerald velvet.  The sound of whistling wind and melancholy birds echoed around them, giving the planet a distinctly deserted atmosphere.

The two teens slid down the slippery, mossy bark of a warped-over tree, landing softly on the lower ground beneath them, a cushioned sunken valley of spore pods and green pitcher plants.

Jim and Skye picked a path through this lush grove, Morph chattering absentmindedly.  Skye began to walk along a raised ridge of firm branches, balancing herself with arms spread out, when she heard a faint noise from behind that made her pause.

A louder noise caused Jim to turn quickly, and Morph let out a tiny gasp as they caught sight of something rustling back into the underbrush behind them.

“Shh,” Jim warned Morph, as he charged up his pistol, approaching the bush in question with caution.  He leaned over a pitcher plant, saw the rosy hint in the belly of the depression, smelled the sweet, rain-washed nectar pooled inside-

When a robot screamed in his face.

“AHHH!” it yelled, spazzing out.

“AHHH!” Jim yelled, falling backwards with the robot on his chest.

“AHHH!” Skye yelled, slipping and falling off her perch on the branches in surprise.

“Oh, this is fantastic!” the weathered robot cried, prodding Jim as if inspecting a specimen, “A carbon-based life form come to rescue me at last!  I just wanna hug ya’ and squeeze ya’ and hold ya’ close to me!”  The copper robot pulled Jim to his feet with an enormous bear-hug, clinging to Jim in affection.

“Okay, okay, will ya- will you just let go of me?!” Jim exclaimed in frustration.  Skye, who had regained her footing and was now sitting on a log, laughed in spite of herself at Jim’s predicament- an ancient piece of machinery clinging to his middle.

“Oh, I’m so- I’m so sorry,” it stumbled, as Jim brushed himself off.  “It’s- it’s just that I’ve been marooned for so long, I mean, solitude’s fun, don’t get me wrong.  You know, all that free space, the chess tournaments you never lose, and you can always leave the seat up, but I mean after a hundred years, YOU GO A LITTLE NUTS!” it babbled, laughing, and slinging an arm around Jim’s shoulders.

Jim just stared.  The robot apologized quickly.

“I’m sorry.  I am, uh...” he paused, apparently “deep” in thought.  “My name is...um...” he clutched his head.

Skye arched one eyebrow and muttered, “Don’t strain yourself.”  Morph, at Jim’s shoulder, formed a smaller version of the robot, and a cuckoo clock bird popped out of its head.  Jim smirked, and forced the bird back into Morph’s head, who swirled back.

“B.E.N.!  Of course, I’m BEN!” the robot called out, proud it had remembered, “Bio-Electronic Navigator!”  BEN gave the dial on his chest plate a spin, and the whole mechanism sagged outwards.

“Oops!” BEN said, pushing it back in, then turned to Skye, who was still sitting on the log.  “Your name is, lovely lady?”

“Since I’m the only lady here, I’d have to assume you’re talking to me, lovely or no.”

“Since you’re the only lady I’ve seen in about a hundred years,” BEN replied without a single hint of offensiveness, “I’d have to say you’re the most lovely I’ve seen in a long time.  At least I think you’re the only lady I’ve seen, although Bob was questionable...” he trailed off into confusion.

“That’s reassuring, really,” Skye replied, “and I’m sure later I’ll regret telling you, but my name is Skye.”

“Fantastic!  And your escort?” BEN turned to Jim, who was bending to pick up his pistol where it had fallen.

“Jim,” he said simply.

“Oh, what a pleasure to meet you, Jimmy,” BEN said, grabbing Jim’s hand and shaking it violently.

“It’s Jim,” he corrected, removing his hand and grabbing the gun, as BEN leaned on Jim’s head.

“Are you sure?  Because I like Jimmy better, I had a friend on Latraus named Jimmy, he was such a clever fellow, great with chopsticks-”

“-it’s Jim, and we have to get going,” Jim interrupted.

“I dunno, Jimmy, suddenly I’m liking the new nickname,” Skye taunted, aware at how much this was bothering Jim and thoroughly enjoying it, even though she suffered too.

“Look, we’re in a hurry,” Jim retorted, grabbing Skye’s wrist and pulling her to her feet, “we’ve gotta find a place to hide and there’s pirates chasing us.”  Even before Jim finished his sentence, BEN was talking again.

“Pirates!  Don’t get me started on pirates!  I don’t like them!”

“Funny,” Skye whispered as they started walking away, “neither do we.”

But BEN’s next comment made Jim and Skye stop in their tracks so suddenly they didn’t collide.

“I remember Captain Flint!  This guy had such a temper!”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Jim asked, “you knew Captain Flint?”

“I think he suffered from mood swings, personally, although he might have had an Oedipus complex, he was mighty touchy about his mother.  I asked him one day about her and he went all red like a beet, unless he was hyperventilating, I’m not a therapist, and anyway...but I- you let me know when I’m rambling!”

Skye slapped her forehead into her palm and shook her head.

“But then that means...you gotta know about the treasure?” Jim asked hopefully, “you know, Flint’s trove, loot of a thousand worlds?”

“Yeah, who’s wasting time now?” Skye interjected, but Jim shushed her.

BEN stood slowly, thinking.

“Wait...it’s, it’s all a li-li-little fuzzy...wait, I r-r-r-re-remember...I do, I- treasure!  Loads of treasure!  Buried in the centroid-centroid-centroid of the mechanism!  And there was this big door opening and closing and opening and closing!  And Captain Flint wanted to make sure nobody could ever get to his treasure so I helped him- aah!”

Sparks of electricity snapped from BEN’s head, which spun around and short-circuited. “Aah!  Data inaccessible!  Reboot! Reboot! Reboo-”

Jim slapped him hard across the face.  BEN blinked.

“And you are?”

“Wait, what about the treasure?” Jim asked, stressed.

“I want to say Larry.”

“No!  It’s Jimmy and Skye, what about the treasure?” Skye leaned in, but it was too late.  BEN was gone.

Jim tried a different approach.  “You know, buried in the centroid of the machine or something...”  He realized how stupid and meaningless it sounded, especially when he said it.

“I’m sorry, my memory just isn’t what it used to be, I’ve lost my mind! Ha ha, I’ve lost my mind.  You haven’t found it, have you?” BEN grabbed Skye and pushed her face first against a tree, patting down her pockets for something.

“Hey!” Skye yelled, not thinking about what came out, “There’s only one person here allowed to search me and it isn’t you!”  A split second later, she hated herself for those bold (and she prayed, misinterpreted) words.

BEN rambled on, ignoring both Skye’s comment and Jim’s startled response to it.

“Come on, my missing piece?  My primary memory circuit?”  He pointed to a spot in the back of his copper head where loose wires played about and a chunk was clearly missing.

“Look, BEN, we really need to find a place to hide, so we’re just going to be, you know, moving on.” Jim took Skye’s arm (avoiding looking at her face, she noticed), and pulled her away from the tree.  BEN, however, stayed where he was, gloomy.

“Oh, uh, so, well, then, I guess, uh...this is goodbye, huh?  I’m sorry, that I’m so dysfunctional.  So, uh, go ahead, and I...I do understand.  I do.  Bye-bye, lovely lady.”  He collapsed into a tiny folded form on the ground, completely playing on sympathy.

Skye spoke next to Jim, sarcastically but honestly.

“You see, we have on the one hand my warm, maternal instincts to help a sentient being and not deprive him of the company he apparently craves.  And on the other, he really annoys the piss out of me.  What to do.”  She turned to Morph, who gave a pitiful that clearly said the former.

Jim sighed, knowing he would pay for this.

“Look, if you’re gonna come along, you’re gonna have to stop talking.”

BEN stood up and spun in jubilation, crying, “Huzzah!  Ha ha ha, this is fantastic!”  BEN leapt into Jim’s arms, shouting, “Me and my best buddies are looking for a...”  Jim’s glare silenced him.  BEN “cleared” his throat, and said, “Being quiet.”

“And you have to stop touching me!” Jim said, dropping BEN.

“Right, talking and touching, my two big no-no’s.”

“Good,” Jim mustered his courage to then say, “because there’s only one person here allowed to touch me and it isn’t you.”  He didn’t wait for a response, hoping to gloss it over.  “Now I think we should start heading this way-”

“Say, listen,” BEN interrupted, “before we head out on our ‘big search,’ um, would you mind if we made a quick pit stop at my place?”  BEN parted a tall stalk of weeds to reveal, in the distance, what looked like a hollow ship covered in Spanish moss, with a large overview of the clearing and a secure hiding place.

BEN kept rambling about it being urgent and something about “leaking oil,” but Jim just grinned and said, “BEN, I think you just solved our problem.”

Jim turned to Skye and said, “Look, you go with BEN, make sure everything’s okay, I’ll head back and get the Doc and the Captain.”  Skye only nodded.  She may have imagined the wink he gave her before he turned and ran off, but she went with BEN, almost numbly.  She drowned out his chatter by turning the last few minutes over in her mind, and hoping her hearing was still as good as she had thought.

Jim, on the other hand, was running to drown out the roaring in his ears that came with the pounding in his chest.  What he had just done took more risk than he had ever encountered, pirates included.

Thank God BEN never shuts up, he thought, or he might have been forced to explain his words.

And he certainly wasn’t ready for that.  He wasn’t even sure he knew what they meant.

 

“Uh, pardon the mess, people,” BEN told the group as they entered what would serve as a base for them.  Doppler carried the injured Captain Amelia in, and Skye carried in the few weapons that had survived the crash.  Jim and Morph surveyed the area as BEN continued rambling.

“You’d think in a hundred years I would’ve dusted a little more often,” he cleared away a chess set, “but you know, when you’re batchin’ it, you tend to, uh, let things go,” BEN finished, throwing a large frilly pair of outdated underwear to the side.  He immediately changed track when he saw Doppler setting down Amelia.

“Aw, isn’t that sweet?  I find old-fashioned romance so touching, don’t you?  How about drinks for the happy couple?”  He offered a tray containing some sort of oil based liquid in two rusty pipe sections, daintily garnished with a wrench and cogwheel.

Doppler leaned back slightly, removing his coat, and politely said, “Ooh, no thank you, we don’t drink, and uh, we’re not a couple.”  He gazed down at Amelia, who smiled back softly, appreciatively.  BEN addressed Jim and Skye, who had sat down together and were discussing the weapons array they possessed.

“What about this young pair?”  BEN asked.

Skye grinned mischievously and took the vibrant green drink.  “Thanks, BEN,” she said, and when he turned away, she dumped it behind a nearby overgrown piece of machinery.  The caustic liquid ate a hole though the floor.

Jim blushed furiously, though nobody saw it in the shadows.  That was twice since meeting BEN that Skye had been referred to him in a way that was more than friendly.  It was weird; thoughts were being planted in his head that made him nervous and unable to focus.  He refused to look at Skye sitting next to him; he didn’t like this feeling at all.

Doppler cleared his throat, looking around him.

“Look at these markings.  They’re identical to the ones on the map.”  Indeed they were.  He continued, “I suspect these are the hieroglyphic remnants of an ancient culture.”

Doppler was interrupted by Amelia’s strained voice.  “Mr. Hawkins!  Skye!” she said, “Stop anyone who tries to approach!  Ohh!”  She groaned, sagging back against the rock she was propped up on.  Doppler folded his coat behind her head and scolded her gently.

“Yes, yes, now listen to me.  Stop giving orders for a few milliseconds and lie still.”  He laid his hand on hers to steady her.

“Very forceful, Doctor!” Amelia said softly up at him, “Go on, say something else.”  Doppler just smiled tenderly.

Just then, BEN pointed out the opening of the base, yelling, “Hey guys, look!  It’s some more of your buddies!”  He leapt up into plain sight, jumping and calling loudly, “Hey fellas!  We’re over here, fellas!”

Skye dove at BEN, snatching him out of sight, but it was too late.  They had been seen.  Laser blasts seared towards them, and Jim rushed to the opening, firing when he got the chance.

The shots stopped just as suddenly.  Silver had called them off.

Jim reloaded his pistol as he heard that unmistakable voice calling up to him, “Hello, up there!”  Jim looked out the window, and saw a crude white flag waving.

“Jimbo?” he heard, “If it’s all right with the captain, I’d like a short word with you.  No tricks.  Just a little palaver.”

Jim looked to Amelia, who muttered angrily, “Come to bargain for the map, doubtless.  Pestilential-ugh!”  She couldn’t get up.  But Jim caught something.

“That means- that he thinks we still have it!”  He looked over at Skye, the queasy feeling gone, and asked her, “Come with me, Skye?  For back-up?”

“No,” she shook her head, “He said you.  This is something you have to do alone.”

Jim set his jaw, nodded, and turned to exit, Morph trailing behind him.

 

* * *

Morph, however, was the first to reach Silver.

“Ah, Morphy!” Silver exclaimed as the blob nuzzled him, “I wondered where you lit off too.”  He groaned and sat down heavily, the damaged leg now needing extra support from a crutch made by the mechanical arm.  Jim approached cautiously.

“Oh, this old leg’s been downright snarky since that game attack we had in the galley, eh?”  Silver chuckled, obviously trying to make the best of the situation.

Jim just glared.  Silver’s face fell.

“Whatever you heard back there, at least the part concerning you,” Silver tried to explain, “I didn’t mean a word of it.  Had that bloodthirsty lot thought I’d gone soft, they’d have gutted us both!”

Silver seemed to be getting through, if only a little, and continued.  “Listen to me.  If we play our cards right, we can both walk away from this rich as kings!”  Jim appeared to respond better to this, considering the angle.  Silver went on, “You get me that map, and an even portion of the treasure is yours!”  He chortled quietly, and held out his hand to shake.

“Boy,” Jim sighed, “you are really something.  All that talk of greatness?  Light coming off my sails?  What a joke.”  Silver was taken aback, but Jim ignored him.  “I mean at least you taught me one thing, stick to it, right?  Well that’s just what I’m gonna do.  I’m gonna make sure that you never see one drabloon of my treasure!”

“That treasure is owed me, by thunder!” Silver roared.

“Well try and find it without my map, by thunder!”  Jim mocked right back.

“Oh, you still don’t know how to pick your fights, do ya’ boy?  Now, mark me.  Either I get that map by dawn tomorrow, or so help me, I’ll use the ship’s cannons to blast ya’ all to kingdom come!”  Silver turned to leave, but paused.

“Morph,” he called back, “hop to it.”

Morph stayed by Jim.

“NOW!” Silver bellowed, but to no avail.  Morph would not go, quaking behind Jim’s shoulder.  Silver let out a cry of frustration and stormed away.

Jim turned to go back to the base.

 

As Silver left, he gave one remorseful glance over his shoulder at Jim’s retreating form.  He was sorry it had come to this.

But he was too close now.

 

* * *

That evening, as dusk closed in over the planet, the group listened as Amelia attempted to keep control.

“Gentlemen, we must stay together, and...” she trailed off.

“And what?  What!?  We must stay together and what?!”  Doppler panicked.

“Doctor,” Amelia murmured, “you have wonderful eyes.”

“She’s lost her mind!” Doppler cried.

“Well, you gotta help her!” Jim said.

“Dang it, Jim, I’m an astronomer, not a doctor!”

Skye blinked.

“Well,” Doppler explained, “I mean, I am a doctor but not that kind of doctor, I have a doctorate.  It’s not the same thing, you can’t help anyone with a doctorate, you just sit there and you’re useless!”  He put his head in his hands in anguish.

“It’s okay, Doc.  It’s going to be all right,” Skye said, laying her hands on his shoulders.  Whether or not she believed it was one thing, but they couldn’t have both adults breaking down.

BEN tried to help, “Yeah, Doc!  Jimmy and Skye, they know exactly how get out of this, they just have this knowledge of things!”  BEN stepped over to where Jim was watching the camp of the pirates below.

“Jimmy, “BEN asked, “any thoughts at all?”

Jim looked up at the Legacy above them, and then towards the pirates.

“Without the map, we’re dead.  If we try to leave, we’re dead.  If we stay here-”

“We’re dead!  We’re dead, we’re dead, we’re dead!” Morph giggled.

Jim sighed, and Skye said with no humor in her voice, “Well in that case, I’m willing to cash in my chips and call it quits.”  Jim sat down next to her, despondent,  and hid his face in his knees.

“Well, it looks like Jimmy and Skye could use a little ‘quiet time,’” BEN said, “so I’ll just slip out the back door.”

Jim and Skye’s heads both popped up.

“Back door?”

“Oh yeah, “BEN grunted, pushing a rotating spherical opening into place, “I get a delightful breeze through here, which I think is important because ventilation among friends-”

But no one was listening.  They were staring at the amazing sight beneath them.  Walkways and cables, bridges, catwalks, wires and machines snaked along below, extending as far as they could see.  A strange glow emanated from beneath, underlighting them as they peered down.

“What is all this stuff?”

“You mean the miles and miles of machinery that run throughout the entire course of the inside of this planet?” BEN asked.  “Not a clue.”

Skye turned to BEN and said, “I don’t know whether to kiss you or kill you.”

Jim yelled to Doppler, “Hey, Doc!  I think we’ve found a way out of here!”

“No, Jim, wait, the captain ordered us to stay here!”

“I’ll be back!” Jim said, and dropped to the landing below, Skye right behind him.

“Cannonball!” BEN screamed, following with Morph.

Doppler only muttered, “Woof.”

 

Navigating the tunnels was a tricky business.  Luckily BEN had a compass imbedded into one of his many dials, so they could roughly determine which way it was to the pirate’s camp.

Skye was not happy to hear that.

“What do you mean, we’re headed to their base?!  Has it occurred to you that they want us dead?” she said in alarm.

“Hey,” Jim called back to her as they approached one of the openings above them, “I’ve got a plan.”

That’s so reassuring,” Skye scoffed, but went along anyway.  She wasn’t really angry at Jim at all, but she was beginning to doubt her impulse to let BEN come along.  This was because he hadn’t stopped talking since they entered the tunnels.

“...and then they made me their chief-” BEN rambled, but he stopped when he realized that Jim and Skye had disappeared up through the manhole in the ceiling (or more appropriately, the ground).

“So what’s the plan!?” he yelled, joining them.

“Shhh!  BEN, quiet!” Jim hissed, as Skye clamped her hand firmly on BEN’s mouth.  She smothered the urge to throw him into the group of pirates who were snoring only meters away.Let’s see how much talking he could do as scrap metal.  Unfortunately, that would probably result in their discovery as well, so she refrained.

Jim turned to the muzzled BEN, and outlined his plan quickly, quietly.

“Ok, here it is.  We sneak back to the Legacy, disable the laser cannons, and bring back the map,” he whispered.

“That’s a good plan,” BEN muttered through the corner of his mouth, “but the only thing is, I’m wondering, how do we get there?”

“On that,” Jim nodded towards the skiff tied up near snoozing John Silver.

 

Four invisible shadows slipped around the perimeter of the illuminated ring created by the pirate’s campfire.  The faint humming of the Mission Impossible theme song from the robot was the only thing that could have given away their position.  Luckily, the pirates slept on.

Jim and Skye shimmied up the rope that tied off the longboat, and lowered themselves in gently.Jim helped BEN over the edge, making sure he kept quiet.  Skye moved to the launching gear, a let out a small moan.

“Jim- they’ve locked up the controls!” she whispered in despair.

Jim stepped over, his eyes darting in panic.  Skye was right.  Everything was bolted securely.  There was no way to release any of the levers.

“Now what?”  Skye asked, and sat down heavily, despondent as the plan and hope slid away from them.  Jim did the same.  There was silence for a few moments as they tried to think.

BEN piped up with absentminded chatter, “You know, ships these days have no dignity, locking themselves up like that, so rude of them.  I mean here are two completely well-meaning kids trying to save the day and the ship has to go be locked.  The Mambo Queen would never do anything like that, never, she’s as trustworthy and reliable as the day is long, however long that may be...”

Morph was the only one listening to BEN’s prattle, but Jim and Skye had heard the last few sentences.  They looked at the robot, who was trying to figure out exactly how long a day was anyway.

“Wait,” Jim asked slowly, “who, or what, is the ‘Mambo Queen?’”

BEN glanced up and with a wave of his hand said, “Oh, just my boat.  She’s a beauty, she really is, I built her myself, you have that kind of free time on this planet-”

But Jim wasn’t listening anymore.

“You have your own ship and you didn’t tell us?!” he demanded.

Skye muttered, “Is there any reason to be terribly surprised?  He’s got a safe base, an escape system, why not a ship?  Anything else you’ve got that we should know about, BEN?  Like the map for instance?”

BEN smiled and chirped, “Nope, don’t think so.  But I’ve got season passes to Waterworld if you want.”

“Whatever,” Jim moaned.  “Just get us to your ship.”

 

* * *

 

The rickety Mambo Queen docked alongside the Legacy, and Skye made sure the coast was clear.She hauled herself over the ledge and landed lightly.  Jim and BEN climbed over as well, but BEN collapsed with a yelp, pulling Jim with him.

“BEN!  Shh!”

“Sorry!  Sorry,” BEN apologized sheepishly, “It’s just, um...I’m sitting on something squishy...”

“That,” Skye growled, “would be my face.”

“Oops.”

 

They slinked down the stairs, and Jim instructed BEN as he peered around the corner.

“Ok, I’ll get the map.  You wait here.”

“Roger, Jimmy!  I’ll neutralize laser cannons, sir!”  BEN saluted, and turned down the hallway.

“BEN!  BEN, no!”  Jim hissed after him, but BEN was already wheeling down the hallway, singing.

“Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me!” he hummed, and Skye turned to Jim.

“I’d better go with him, make sure he doesn’t blow anything up.”

“Good idea,” Jim agreed, and watched Skye run down the hallway after BEN and turn the corner, then he himself started towards the docking bay.

 

BEN entered the room containing the switchboard for the Legacy’s controls.

“Disable a few laser cannons, what is the big deal?”  BEN said to himself as he entered the room, Skye following behind him.  “All we got to do is find that one little wire-”

He opened the panel board to a jumble of red, yellow, and blue wires and plugs that was so tangled he couldn’t see the back of the switchboard.  His eyes boggled.

“Oh, mama.”

Skye smirked sadistically, and sat down, leaning against the wall.  She could use the entertainment.

 

Jim removed his mask as he entered the docking bay.  Instead of sneaking around, he had had Morph form a mask to make him resemble Mr. Onus, and by wearing it managed to sneak by the two pirates taking a break in the sleeping quarters.

Jim hurried over towards the coiled rope, Morph following.  He reached in, pushed the coils around-and pulled out the map.

Jim sighed in relief.  Just then alarms blared.

He panicked, then bolted.

 

“Bad, BEN, bad!” Skye snapped as BEN fumbled with a wire.

“Ok, fixing!”  BEN said, and plugged the wire in.  The blaring stopped.

Jim, out of breath, skidded towards the stairs panting to himself “That stupid robot’s gonna get us all-”

He stopped on the stairs.

“-killed,” he finished in surprise.

Scroop was at the top of the stairwell.  His right claw snapped open.

“Cabin boy.”

Jim took off.

Racing down the passageway, he knocked barrels over as he passed.  They didn’t seem to be slowing Scroop down any.  Jim could hear the clacking of Scroop’s bug-like legs scrabbling along behind him, gaining ground.  Scroop’s many feet enabled him to climb over the walls and ceiling, and as he caught up, Morph shrieked.

Morph changed into a pie and smashed into Scroop’s face.

Growling in anger Scroop wrenched a custard-cream Morph off his face and flung him into an exhaust pipe, which sucked him up and send him ricocheting through the tubing down the hallway.

Jim slipped around a corner, using Scroop’s delay to charge his pistol.

Just as he swung around and aimed, the lights went out.

 

BEN’s eyes lit up like flashlights as he looked around the room.

“Ok, don’t- don’t panic.  Breathing in, breathing out.”

“BEN, quit with the Lamaze and get the lights back on,” Skye called.

 

The red glow of the emergency back-up lighting slid on and Jim’s eyes readjusted.  But there was nothing there.  Scroop was gone.

Jim’s eyes darted back and forth, looking around.  The shallow breathing and blood pounding in his head was all that filled the silence.

Where was Scroop???

 

A shadowy figure lowered itself slowly from the ceiling.  Opening his claws, Scroop leaned towards Jim...

 

When Morph popped out of the exhaust vent next to Scroop’s head.  With a gasp, Morph tuned into a hand, poked Scroop in the eyes, and darted back into the piping.

Scroop’s yell of pain caused Jim to look up in fright.  Scroop knew his opportunity for attack was lost.  In a desperate attempt, he managed to swing at Jim, knocking him to the ground and sending the pistol skittering across the floor.  Scroop leapt in attack, trying for Jim’s throat.  He struggled, panicked, trying to reach the shooter that was just out of reach.

 

BEN placed his hand on a red wire, and said to reassure himself, “This has got to be cannons!”

He pulled it, and the artificial gravity shut off.

“Maybe not,” BEN said embarrassed, as he, Skye, and anything not bolted down began rising through the air.

 

The lack of gravity enabled Jim to give Scroop a good kick, sending the bug-like pirate crashing into the grating above, which broke.  Unfortunately Jim floated right up through the hole as well, and his attempt to grab the pistol as it rose only resulted in it accidentally firing a hole in the deck of the ship, and it soared above Jim’s head.

 

The hole in the deck was directly above the room in which BEN was trying to stay near the panel board.  He was still holding the wire, but Skye was rising freely.  Once the ceiling was blasted open, nothing prevented her from drifting up and out as well.  What she saw as she drifted above the deck terrified her.

 

Scroop had grabbed onto a rope attached to the mast, and as Jim rose past him he lunged out, snapping his claw.  The blow sent Jim careening, glancing off the crow’s nest, out towards open space.  At the last minute, Jim grabbed the black pirate flag, and he saw the pistol fly out of reach into the inky blackness.  But his eyes widened at what happened below.

Beneath him, Scroop climbed up the mast, grinning wickedly.

 

Skye, watching all this as she drifted slowly upwards, knew she had very little time to help.  She had an idea, but...but there were so many things that could go wrong...

 

Scroop reached the rope holding the flag- all that kept Jim tethered to the Legacy.  His claw clicked open, and he used the serrated edge to slowly saw away at the rope.

 

Skye couldn’t afford not to take the risk.  Jim was in danger.  Now.

Abandoning all caution, she removed the two charges she had hidden in her boot, and slipped the laser cartridge into her pistol.  Firing at the deck, she used the inertial momentum to jolt herself up towards the crow’s nest.  There was no room for error now.

 

“Do say hello to Mr. Arrow,” Scroop sneered, as the rope frayed, snapped, dwindled down to one twisted skein…

 

What happened next took place very quickly.

Jim climbed down the flag and grabbed onto the pole of the mast.  Scroop, seeing this, jumped up towards him in anger, and Jim pushed off, bouncing off Scroop’s back.  This sent Scroop reeling up, and he grabbed the flag in panic.  He was about to climb back down, when Skye switched the charges in her gun as she soared past Jim clutching the mast above the crow’s nest.

“Tell him yourself!” she shouted, and fired.

Scroop’s arm froze into ice, claw ripping through the flag, and the impact from the energy blast caused the weakened rope to snap where Scroop had sawed at it.  The flag spiraled off into the open void of space, taking Scroop with it, screaming all the way.

 

Below, BEN yelled at the wire he held, “Back you go, you naughty plug!” and thrust it into the correct socket.  The familiar purple glow washed over the Legacy, and BEN, Skye, and Jim crashed down, along with whatever hadn’t floated away.

 

Jim lay face up on the floor of the crow’s nest.  When Skye had fired the ice charge, the intense recoil sent her reeling, colliding forcefully against Jim.  With the gravity she had fallen back across his body, she could feel his heart racing and exhausted breathing beneath her head.  Quickly they both sat up, gasping for breath.  They looked at each other, their eyes saying the same thing:

We’re alive.

Skye stood and helped Jim up.  Once he was on his feet, he squeezed Skye’s hand before releasing it, whether in reassurance or gratitude she didn’t know.

Morph emerged from an exhaust pipe, coughing dirt., as a voice called up from the deck.

“Laser cannons disconnected, Captain Jimmy, sir!  Gee, that wasn’t so tough,” BEN called up, even though from the looks of him, covered in sparking broken wires, it was.

Skye turned to Jim, and he held up the golden sphere, answering her unspoken question.

They had the map.  They were both alive.

But it had been close -too close. 

They hoped it was worth it.

 

Jim hoisted himself up through the hole in the floor, and looked around.  The underlighting that streamed from the mechanical shaft below cast murky shadows throughout the room, but all was quiet.  Jim lent a hand, then took the map from Skye and rushed over towards where Doctor Doppler was sleeping.

“Doc!  Doc, wake up!  I got the map!”

To Jim’s horror, a metal arm darted from the shadows and clenched tightly around the orb.

“Fine work, Jimbo,” Silver sneered, emerging into the light, “Fine work indeed.”

Jim’s eyes widened, disbelieving.  Yet as he turned about, he saw the darkness melting away to reveal Doppler and Amelia bound and gagged, held by brawny grips.  Everywhere, he saw the same shining, malicious eyes and that triumphant, evil grin.

The pirates closed in, and Jim felt Skye draw nearer to him.  Keeping backs together, they watched, minds racing, as the circle of villains tightened.

With no warning, Jim grabbed Skye’s wrist and yanked her towards a gap in the formation.  Jim dipped into a nimble slide across the mossy ground, out of reach, but Skye was roughly seized.  She kicked and thrashed, but to no avail.  They held firm.

“Skye!” Jim started, but was grabbed from behind by numerous arms and tentacles.

Morph darted to the rescue, biting a pirate’s tail, but was bopped by the very appendage.  Whimpering, he slipped into Jim’s pocket.

A female pirate leapt to yank BEN from the shaft, shrieking, “What’s this sorry stack of metal?”  She pressed a crooked, lethal looking dagger to BEN’s neck.

“Watch the face, I just had it deoxidized!” was all he yelped.

 

Silver approached Jim, grinning dangerously.

“You’re just like me, Jimbo,” he leaned in wickedly, “ya’ hates to lose.”

Jim struggled, and met the pirate’s gaze with fierce determination.

Silver only chuckled.  Turning his attention to the map, he positioned his metal fingers on it and twisted sharply.

Nothing.

A puzzled expression flitted across Silver’s face.  The hand retracted and tri-pronged, slender claws appeared.  They spidered over the surface of the orb, skipping and skittering, looking for a switch or catch.

Still nothing.

Silver’s eyes glinted steel, and a thick wedge of a vise now clamped over the map, brute force.

The metal sphere refused to yield.

Silver’s frustration peaked- until he saw Jim’s knowing smirk, light and easy.

“Open it,” Silver commanded, thrust it forward, and released.

Jim caught the map as it fell; the pirates had released him and Skye, who was now standing next to him.

He glared.

Never.

Silver recognized Jim’s all too familiar obstinacy, but knew that this time he had the upper hand.  His mechanical hand swiveled once more.  A pistol emerged.

“I’d get busy,” he muttered darkly.  Silver’s eye glowed red, and looked at Doppler and Amelia, still gagged.  Jim’s eyes followed.  Amelia met this gaze, shaking her head ‘no.’

A moment later Doppler noted this as well and changed his nod to match.

The pistol cocked.  Silver’s sidelong glance took notice that Jim still made no move.  He changed track, and lowered the firearm to where Silver knew it would have the most leverage.

Pointed at Skye.

Although she stood firm, Silver’s threat hit home.

Jim, without taking his eyes off the gun, pressed the correct buttons effortlessly.  He tossed it to Skye, who twisted the right hemispheres, never once averting her stare from the pistol.

A cascade of green points of light spilled from the sphere, swirled up into the air, and formed the image of Treasure Planet.  Winking bright beams pulsed gently as the image dissolved and formed a path through the sky of the planet, coiled with strange hieroglyphs and symbols.

The pirates stared in awe.  Silver laughed.

“Tie him up, and leave him with the others until we-”

And the path vanished.

Skye had shut it off, causing the hologram to recede into the brass sphere.  Jim spoke.

“You want the map?  You’re taking us too.”

Silver grinned.  The boy couldn’t resist adventure.  A downfall they shared.

“Fine.  We’ll take him, but only him.  The girl stays with the Captain and the dog.”

Ignoring Doppler’s protests, Jim made one of his own.

“She goes where I go.  I can’t open it without her.”

Skye smirked, and spun the map atop her fingertip like a basketball, mocking.

Silver sighed.  The loyalty between the two was irritating.

“We’ll take ‘em all.”

 

Silver’s longboat soared above a green path, shocked gold by periodic pulses of light.  The map’s path was unlike any other the occupants of the boat had ever seen, dematerializing behind them into a light haze as they traveled along it.  Flying past wide, mushroom capped trees and winding trunks resembling centipede legs, the pirates looked eagerly into the distance where the thin green line disappeared over the horizon.

When the foliage became too thick to carry on in the craft, all but one of the pirates followed Silver, Jim, Skye, and BEN into the forest.  The remaining buccaneer guarded Amelia and Doppler at gunpoint, who were left tied in the boat.

Jim looked around nervously, half expecting members of Flint’s crew to jump from the shadows.  Strange that he should be more afraid of long dead pirates rather than the ones threatening them right now.  In attempt to reassure himself, he patted the shivering Morph in his pocket, speaking a few words of comfort.

BEN, meanwhile, was panicking.

“Skye?Jimmy?  I-I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to see my life pass in front of my eyes!At least, I think it’s my life.  Was I ever dancing with an android named Lupe?” he shrieked.

“BEN, shh,” Jim hissed, looking to John Silver advancing into the dark forest.

“This isn’t over yet.”

 

Silver looked up.The pulse of the golden light had quickened, vanishing into a thicket of bamboo like trees.

“We’re getting’ close, lads!” he bellowed, drawing his cutlass.  “I smell treasure a-waitin’!”  Silver grabbed Jim by the shirt and pulled him towards the grove, followed by excited, cheering pirates.  The sword slashed through the trees, sending sticky sweet sap oozing over the ground.  The treasure was right ahead, just behind this last bamboo, they could feel it, they could see-

“Huh?”

The golden green path continued pulsing, in mid-air, at the edge of a ravine.

But there was nothing at the end.

Emptiness.  A void.  Blankness.

“Where is it?” Silver roared.

Mr. Onus snarled, “I see nothing!  One great big stinking hunk of nothing!”

It was then that the map sealed up and the path swirled away.

 

Silver turned to Jim, “What’s going on, Jimbo?”

Jim pushed the buttons, impulsively attempted to twist the hemispheres.

“I don’t know!” he said, “I can’t get it open!”

Cries of dissent rose up from the crew.  In the hubbub, Birdbrain Mary, the pirate who had threatened BEN earlier, leapt up towards Jim.

“We never should’ve followed this boy!” she spat, and her nimble legs gave him a sharp kick in the back.  Jim crashed forwards onto the mossy turf.

“You better get that gizmo working again, and fast!” Silver warned, menacing.

Skye kneeled beside him.  “You okay?” she asked.  But he wasn’t listening.  Jim’s gaze was fixed on the ground in front of him.

“Do you see that?” he asked.

“See what?”

“Hold this.”  He gave her the map, then used both his hands to clear away a large quantity of moss from a slight indent in the ground.  Skye let out a small gasp, and clutched the orb tighter.

The indent revealed to be a semi-spherical port, the same size and containing the same markings as those on the map.

Coincidence?

Jim looked at Skye, whose expression was clearly one of doubt.  Could they trust it?  Would something bad happen?

Voices behind them threatened.

“Let’s rip their gizzards right out, right now!”

“Throw them over cliff!”

Jim knew they had no time for doubt.  He closed his hand over Skye’s and pressed down.

 

There was an audible click, and a light spread outwards from the port, illuminating the platform they stood on with a rich green wash of light.

The port glowed white, and out from the ground rose a green holographic sphere, turning gently on its axis.  Before Jim could rise and reach out to touch it, another amazing thing happened.

Green-gold streaks shot across the floor of the valley.  They sped towards the point where the group stood, converged, and created a thousand foot high column before them.  Quickly, the bottom opened up and spread apart, forming an enormous triangular window.

There was a picture inside this triangle.  They stared in disbelief at the pale wispy vapors that swirled against dark space, floating blue, purple, and green, silvery stars winking behind them.

“Oh, have mercy,” Silver muttered, amazed at the sight.

“The Lagoon Nebula?” Skye asked, scarcely believing this herself.

Silver rubbed his chin, puzzled, stunned.  “But that’s halfway across the galaxy!”

Jim looked down at the holographic sphere, covered in strange yet familiar symbols.  He noticed that one in particular stood out, pulsing more gold than the rest, all green.  Then it clicked.

“A big door...” he murmured, “opening and closing.”  He touched a few of the symbols.

The floating Crystal Cloud cities of Quakzee shimmered into sight, followed by wind tunnels of Dunaltia, dusty from the sunset sand storms common to the red planet. Another symbol opened up on a school of graceful Wake Angels, shimmering, translucent creatures like ghostly manta rays or delicate birds of vapor, air, and ice.  Two or three sailed out through the portal, swirling mist around Jim and Skye.  A mournful cry from the school called them back, and the sailors were left alone again.

Jim had an idea.  Examining the map, he found his bearings, locating the simple shape.

“Montressor spaceport.”

The gleaming white crescent glowed back from the other side of the triangle door.

“So that’s how Flint did it!” Jim said, impressed, trying other doors.  “He used this portal to, to-”

“-to roam the universe stealing treasure!” Skye exclaimed, finishing his sentence.

“But where’d he stash it all?!  Where’s that blasted treasure?!” Silver roared, flinging Jim aside, who glared.

Silver’s mechanical fingers leapt over different symbols.  A view of a fiery supernova disappeared, its place taken by the glowing purple balls of electricity hurtling down a tunnel of lights.A dusky silver mirrored sea lit by a dying sun gave way to a vicious roar from a Mantelbramon of the musty, craggy world Zsarspod, and then a swirling ring of plasma orbiting an asteroid in the Sigma quadrant.

Jim lowered his eyes in anger, but BEN caught his eye.

“Treasure?...treasure...” BEN racked his circuits, trying to remember.  “It’s buried in the-”

“Buried,” Jim recalled, “in the centroid of the mechanism.”  What did that mean?  Certainly there was some connection between that important phrase and this portal, this gateway.  He tried to put two and two together...

“Jim,” Skye laid a hand on his arm in question, “could...could the map be the mechanism?”

It clicked.  Of course!  Skye hadn’t gotten it quite right, but she was pretty close.  All the strange things on the planet that he’d seen- the unusual vegetation, the shafts underground, even the quality of the air, the texture of the land supported it.

“Skye, maybe this whole planet is the mechanism!  And the treasure is buried in the center of this planet!”

The pirates who had been listening cheered, grabbed up their shovels and pick-axes, and began to dig.  Unsurprisingly, they struck metal.

Silver was at the end of his rope.

“And how in blue blazes are we supposed to get there?”

Jim nudged Silver aside and reached out, a tingle racing up his arm as he touched the golden heart of the map’s sphere.

“Just open the right door.”

 

It worked.

Like most crazy and irrationally brilliant ideas, it worked.

Because, of course, it was originally thought up by the craziest, most irrationally brilliant pirate ever to roam the Etherium.

Captain Flint always sent his pirates into the most unlikely battles, they attacked at the most unlikely times, they stole from the most unusual people.  Outnumbered or outweaponed nine times out of ten, they still managed to win.

Flint used surprise.  He used the shocking.

He used genius.

That was why he had collected so much treasure over the years, why no one could find it.

Until now, as a ragtag group of sailors and pirates stood staring through the enormous portal at the door that would take them to the product of a bewildered and ingenious mind: Flint’s Trove.  The door opened up for the first time in 100 years.

 

* * *

Jim stuck his arm through the glowing translucent screen of the door, the portal flickering gold and green where it made contact with skin or sleeve.  Trusting the safety, Jim pushed through, sending darts of alien symbols, of alien code across the divider.  Jim started to smile, but a grip on his shoulder stopped it.

John Silver’s mechanical hand roughly clamped him as he thrust into the room.  The eagerness was smoldering behind both Silver’s eyes as he examined the room- vast, incredibly vast, indescribably vast.  So great, several of the largest treasure ships from Galleona could comfortably fit inside, with room to spare.  Of course, this was no surprise as it was the center of a planet, but it’s difficult to imagine just how small you are unless you are standing inside one.

Once Skye and the other pirates had moved through, they walked towards the edge of a ridge ahead.

No one saw the tiny red beam that had been tripped upon Silver’s entrance.

~~~

The group paused at the ridge they’d seen, although “stopped dead still” might be a better way to describe it.

Their first thought was that everything was awfully shiny.

The second thought was that there was no way there could be that much of the shine.  It was impossible.

The next thoughts were all jumbled together, consisting mostly of realizing where they were, what was making all that shine, and that putting the two together was entirely logical.

Silver gaped; BEN’s jaw dropped.  Jim seized Skye’s hand and squeezed hard to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.  The pirates whooped in exhilaration, running off to collect.

It was treasure.

Boatloads upon boatloads.

Mountains upon mountains.

Heaps upon heaps.

Treasure upon treasure upon treasure.

And just when you thought there wasn’t any more- there was.

The loot of a thousand worlds.

~~~

Silver stepped off on his own, marveling at the sight he saw.  Finally...finally.

“A lifetime of searching,” he whispered to himself, scooping up a handful of gems and coins, “and at long last- I can touch it!”  It was a dream, a wish, finally granted.

~~~

Jim saw Silver walk away, and immediately began looking around, surveying the area.  Something made him nervous.  Maybe it was the way the treasure-covered core, spinning, was kept in place by little more than lasers.  Spikes of machinery above the core shot out purple blasts of light and code, interacting with the center of the planet.  This unsettled Jim, and he was immensely relieved when he saw a battered old ship crash landed on a pile of treasure not too far away.

“Skye,” he whispered, “come on.  We’re getting out of here and we’re not leaving empty-handed.”

The two, followed by Morph and BEN, picked their way past the tempting piles until they reached the ship.

“Do you know what’s strange?” BEN commented as Skye and Jim lifted him into the treasure filled ship, “I can’t tell you how frustrating it is, ‘cause there’s something that’s just nagging at the back of my mind, why this is all familiar-ahh!”  He was cut short toppling into the boat, but Skye had seen something else to cause her to drop BEN.

“Captain Flint?” she breathed, incredulous.

“In the flesh!” BEN shivered, righting himself.  “Well, s-sort of, except for skin, organs, or any thing that-that resembles flesh.  That’s not there.”

It was true.  The unmistakable skeleton of Captain Nathanial Flint grinned wickedly at them from a perverse golden throne, the ancient tattered clothes a limp, mocking shroud.

Jim and Skye moved towards the body, BEN talking on.  Creepy though it was, this was THE Captain Flint, a legend to.  Gold tooth among fangish ones.  Six eye socket slits.  A clenched, bony hand.

Wait.

His hand.  There was something in the hand.

Jim pried open the grip, breaking fingers off in the attempt to extricate the object.  It was copper; sort of a half-moon with colored wires and plugs emerging.

Jim studied it, when everything BEN had been rambling about registered.

“It’s so odd,” he had said, “I remember there was something horrible Flint didn’t want anyone else to know, but- I can’t remember what it was!  Oh, a mind is a terrible thing to lose!” he wailed.

Skye turned at this.  She saw BEN half sobbing in self-pity, but what interested her was the back of his head.  Colored wires protruding from a half-moon hole.

Well, she thought, obviously.

“BEN,” Jim said, “I think we just found your mind!”

Skye placed her hands on BEN’s head to steady him.  “Hold still!” she said, positioning him so his back was to Jim.

“Skye!  Your hands are so very cold, I-”

He stopped.

Jim had placed the half-moon of copper wiring up against the indentation at the back of BEN’s head, and, as though magnetized, the piece had sprung back into place like returning to an old friend.

“Whoa!” BEN said, his head spinning, giving a jerk.  His eyes flashed, and he said, simply, “Hello.”

“You know, Jimmy, I was just thinking,” he said, then stopped, realizing what he had said.

“I was think-...It’s all flooding back, all my memories!” he trilled in delight.

“Right up until Flint pulled my memory circuits,” he finished, “so I could never tell anyone about his booby trap!”

A loud explosion split the air.

“Speaking of which...” BEN quaked.

Every head turned to see what had made the noise.  The metallic prongs that surrounded the treasure center were being riddled with fiery blasts as explosion after explosion rocked the core.

BEN immediately began talking.

“Flint wanted to make sure that nobody could ever steal his treasure, even in death.  After collecting for so many years and reaching the end of his life, he rigged this entire planet to blow higher than a Kalepsian kite!”

A laser spike of machinery separated from the rest of the planet’s mechanics and drove downward into the core.  A loud jingling filled the air as treasure began spilling into the new chasm, and disrupted laser paths streaked the purple energy across more piles of loot, destroying all it touched.

BEN and Morph tugged at Jim’s arm, yelling, panicked, “Run, Jimmy!  Run for your life!”

Jim’s world paused as he decided.

Running was out of the question.  Not now, after all this.  He was standing on a ship, wasn’t he?  He was going to get out of here and with loot to spare.

“You go back and help the captain and Doc,” Jim commanded BEN sharply, “If I’m not there in 5 minutes, leave without me.”  Jim dropped to the deck below an outdated navigational panel, immediately tinkering away.

BEN gripped Jim’s boot to yank him out, saying, “I am not leaving my buddy Jimmy!”

As Jim slid out from the pull on his leg, two wires that he gripped near his chest crackled and sparked.  They threw into relief the cold glint of steel in his eyes that meant only one thing.

Do it.

BEN gulped sheepishly.

“I mean, unless he looks at me like that...bye Jim!”

BEN and Morph leapt over the edge of the boat and raced towards the glowing portal door.

Skye didn’t bother to watch them exit.  She dropped to the floor next to Jim.

“What do you need, mate?”

Without waiting for an answer she slid under the panel and took over the wiring.  Jim instructed as he stood up.

“We need power to these controls, can you do that?”

“You know I can.”

“Good.”  Jim turned his attention to rerouting the directionals and overrides on the navigation of the 100-year-old ship.

He hoped it would work.

If it didn’t, they were toast.

 

A loud rumble filled the air.

Doppler and Amelia looked up. It was the first movement they had made in a long time. After all, there wasn't much more you could do when you were tied up and held captive.

Doppler sighed. That rumble meant something, something was happening. And he was missing it, here, trussed like a pig. It was pathetic. A testament to his ineptitude, as the captain would have put it.

The captain. He was most upset that he had proven so worthless to her. Here was a fine, intelligent, snappy woman who was worth ten of him. His efforts had failed her. Had he not financed the voyage they probably would have been better off without him. He wanted to apologize to her, explain. He owed her that.

"All my life I dreamed of an adventure like this," he found himself saying. "I'm just sorry I couldn't have been more helpful to you."

"Oh, don't be daft," Amelia replied. "You've been very helpful. Truly." Her voice had a sad, soft whisper to it.

"No. Don't say that to make me feel better," Doppler countered. He didn't want pity or sympathy. He wanted to explain, and apologize. No more.

Well...

When Amelia said nothing in reply, his exasperation built.

"I feel like such a useless weakling!" he sighed, and hid his face in his hands.

Doppler did a double take. His...hands?

The rope dangled loosely from his right arm, clearly improperly tied.

"With abnormally thin wrists!" he remarked.

A plan formed in a twinkling. He hid his freed hands, and called to the guard.

"Excuse me, brutish pirate."

He was met with a belch.

"Yes, you," he continued, unfazed, refined, "I have a question. Is it that your body is too massive for your teeny-tiny head, or that your head is too teeny-tiny for your big, fat body?"

Amelia raised her eyebrows.

The pirate did not absorb all of this, but could tell he had been insulted somehow. He covered the few steps between them in a second, grasping Doppler by the collar.

"I pummel you good!" he threatened.

"Yes, I'm sure you will, but before you do I have one more question..."

The wrong side of a laser pistol jabbed into the pirate's stomach. The other end was attached to Doppler's free hand.

"Is this yours?"

        Only a few minutes later, the spot in the longboat that had been occupied by Doppler and Amelia was now being used by their ex-captor, now bound and gagged. Doppler and Amelia were looking through the trees for any signs of the others. They could very well follow, and weren't going to leave for the Legacy until Jim and Skye were safe and sound.

        Amelia rubbed her wrists, wincing with the damage from her arm. Doppler looked over with compassion- she had been delirious only hours before, and was in no condition to be giving commands, but it had been her logic that kept Doppler from wandering into the forest to look for the teens. If only he had that kind of strength, that courage and ability.

        Amelia let out a small gasp of pain. The rope had chafed her even through her captain's gloves, and Doppler took her hand.

        "Stop touching it, it will only get worse." His padded, canine hand remained on her delicate feline wrist, but he looked into her eyes, now wide. She was surprised, he had such a gentle touch, and a soft brown gaze behind those spectacles.

        "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" came a voice from below.

        It was BEN. Morph was with him. As per usual, he was still talking.

        "Because look, I'm sorry if you were having, well, having a 'moment,' its so hard not to be walking into one thing or another; between you two and Jimmy and Skye, I'll be lucky if I'm not attacked by pirates before it happens again!"

        Strangely enough, at that very moment, four pirates came bolting out of the forest screaming.

        BEN reacted remarkably quick. Whether it was from his new-found memory or just involuntary surprise they didn't know, but BEN let out a shriek, and a large net exploded from a chest compartment, encasing the pirates and tangling them beyond movement.

        Amelia and Doppler blinked.

        BEN turned and said, "Now how about that? What did I tell ya', huh?"

Amelia smiled lightly, and instructed BEN to help get the pirates into the longboat.

"Speaking of boats, Jimmy says that we should get to the Legacy about now, considering the planet is going to blow up and all," BEN chirped.

Nearby, fissures in the ground began to separate, and red heat from the core emanated up as the vegetation fell in or wilted way, no more than burned mold.

Doppler looked to Amelia and said, "Well. Looks like we're following cabin boy's orders."

"And girl's," Amelia added, turning to see BEN hoist the last of the pirates in. Doppler took the helm of the longboat, and the two sailors, a robot, a morph, and five bound pirates set off to the Legacy, in hopes of helping the two teens miles below their feet.

 

A cascading golden river spilled into the fiery chasm of the deteriorating core, jingling musically as it took a few unlucky pirates with it.

Silver was beside himself.

His dream was trickling away, slipping from his grasp.  Years of hard work and frustration and searching all disappearing in an instant, while his minions raced for the exit, empty handed.

“Come back here, ya’ blighters!” he roared.

How could he save any of it when those cowards ran like dogs?

Then, he remembered- Jim.

He turned and saw the boy.  Skye was with him.

On a boat.

A treasure-laden boat.

Bingo.

 

The engine sputtered, then roared to life as the standard, though outdated characters on the instrument panels winked on.

“Yes!” Jim shouted, “Skye, we are so out of here!”  He banked the craft sharply, heading for the enormous door.

Skye nudged his elbow, both grinning at their ingenuity, when a voice froze the smiles.

“Ah, Jimbo!  Aren’t you the seventh wonder of the universe?”

Silver climbed his way aboard the ship.  Skye bristled, but Jim seized.

How...why?  Silver...

One thought.

Silver.

Silver had betrayed him.  For treasure.  This treasure.  His treasure.

He whirled, instinctive.  Grabbing the nearest object, he pointed it at Silver- a rusted old sword.

“Get back,” he warned, anger fuming hotly through his voice.

Silver’s eyes darkened, lowered.

“I like you lad.  But I’ve come too far to let you stand between me and me treasure.”  Silver advanced, slow, menacing.

Jim backed away, bumping into the hard wood of the helm.

He...he didn’t know what to do.  What could he do?

-frozen-

Skye screamed.

“Look out!”

A blast of energy from fallen machinery sliced sizzling through the air, blasting past the ship, rocking it full force, and sending them flying through the air.

Silver grabbed onto the ship’s rail and pulled himself to a safe footing on a slanted metal platform beneath.

Skye landed with a thud on the platform and skidded to a stop.

Jim wasn’t so lucky.  He landed a few feet away, slid, bounced off the edge of platform, and collided with a steep opposite wall.

He grabbed hold of an outcropping of machinery with one hand, and dangled, struggling to keep a grip.  He felt a rumbling, a slip under his fingers.  In horror, he looked up.

The mechanism was retreating into the wall.

Silver was still holding onto the boat’s edge.  It started to drift away.

“Oh no, you don’t!”  Silver was amazingly strong- he pulled the boat back towards him.  THIS treasure wasn’t getting away.

Groaning, he strained his neck back, squinting.  Through the shimmer of molten core heat, he could make out a figure...no, two...

...Jimbo!

Switching the mechanical hand to a clamping claw, he extended his arm as far as it would go and tried to reach Jim from there.  Maybe he could...

...no!

Jim’s hand grabbed air as the mechanism disappeared into its metal wall.  He fell, dropping down, down-and felt a yanking on his arm.

Skye had grabbed him from her place on the ledge.  Jim tightened his hand around her forearm, but she only had one extended...why?

“Give me your other hand!” he called.

Skye couldn’t answer.  All her energy was focused into holding Jim up, and he quickly saw- her left arm, the injured one, had started to bleed again from her fall. There was no way she could use both hands... but even with the other one, she wouldn’t be strong enough...

Their arms slid apart inch by inch.

Silver looked from the boat, to Jim, and back.  His arm was stretched as far as it would go, and he still was nowhere near the teens...

...but...

Treasure.  Legends.  Dreams.

...he...

Past.  Present.  Future.

A choice.

“Oh, blast me for a fool!”

Jim slipped.

And a rough pirate’s hand grabbed his.

Silver swung Jim to the platform; they both climbed on.

There was a blast of heat and light, and the ship exploded where it contacted with the constant energy beams.  Gold rained down and vanished below them.

The last of Flint’s trove was gone.

Jim, Silver, and Skye burst through the triangular portal.  Jim turned to the pirate.

“Silver, you gave up?”

“Just a lifelong obsession, Jim,” Silver sighed, “I’ll get over it.”

But Jim couldn’t help thinking that it must have been harder than that.

Another voice floated down, that was, for once, welcome.

“Aloha, Skye and Jimmy!”

BEN!

“Hurry, people!” BEN called, brandishing what looked like a stopwatch, Morph hovering, “We’ve got exactly two minutes and thirty-four seconds till planet’s destruction!”

The RLS Legacy lowered shakily, bumping against the ledge.  Doppler was driving, Amelia giving words of encouragement and caution.

The pirates tied up below deck, however, expressed one thought as to Doppler’s captaining skills.

“We were better off on exploding planet!“

Jim and Skye helped pull Silver into the Legacy.  At Amelia’s word, they lifted off.  Silver swept off his hat to her.

“Captain!  You dropped from the heavens in the nick of time to-”

“Save your claptrap for the judge, Silver.”

Silver chuckled sheepishly.  Amelia was back to her old self.

It was then some flying debris took off the topsail, breaking the main mast and crashing to the deck, breaking the laser cannon.

“Damage report, metal man!” Amelia barked.

“Missile tail demobilized, Captain.  Thrusters at only 30% capacity.”

“30%?  That means...We’ll never clear the planet’s explosion in time!” Doppler breathed.

Amelia said nothing.

Jim looked back towards the portal through which they had emerged.  His eye caught the sparking laser cannon engine on the deck, and a piece of thick sheet metal from the debris flickered in the electric glow.

He had an idea.  Crazy.  But it was an idea.

“We gotta turn around!”

“What?!”

“There’s a portal back there.  It can get us out of here,” he explained, leaping the stairs and hurrying towards the parts.

“Pardon me, Jim,” Doppler asked, “but didn’t that portal open onto a raging inferno?!”

“Yes, but I’m gonna change that,” Jim grunted, extricating the long narrow sheet metal.  “I’m gonna open a different door.”

Skye’s eyes widened.  Of course!  The holographic map, it was brilliant!

Doppler tried to protest, but Silver interrupted.

“Listen to the boy!”  He ignored BEN’s countdown and leapt towards Jim.

“What do you need?”

“Some way to attach this!” Jim held up a rope and pointed to the laser cannon engine.

Silver pushed Jim well out of the way and his metal hand, always useful, swiveled a welding torch into place.

“This might take a few seconds,” Silver cautioned, gritting his teeth, knowing by BEN’s counting just how little time they had.

Jim backed away while the flame lit up, and stumbled into Skye.  She reached out a hand to steady him, but he didn’t get a chance to face her, for Silver called out, “There you go.”

The three lifted the strange contraption onto the edge of the starboard rail, with even Morph helping out.  Silver positioned it alone, however, because Jim had turned away, to Skye.

Jim’s eyes darted over hers quickly, and he decided fast.  Before either could think twice, Jim had seized Skye’s wrist, pulled her roughly forward, and crushed her lips beneath his.

He turned away immediately.  It was fast.  It was brief.

But it was done.  That was all he’d wanted.

He’d wanted it done at least once.

And right now, it looked like once was all it’d ever be.

It was enough.

Jim leapt up onto the makeshift solar surfer and positioned himself, refusing to dwell.  He turned towards Silver, on the other side.

“OK, now no matter what happens, keep the ship heading straight for that portal.”

Jim looked at Silver once more, and was met with a solemn nod.

Good luck, it said, and God speed.

Jim stepped down on the sparker lighter, and a cannonball blaze propelled him away from the Legacy.

Silver watched him zoom off, then turned to Doppler and Amelia above.

“Well, you heard him!  Get this blasted heap turned round!”

Amelia said to Doppler, “Doctor, take us back to the portal.”

“Aye, Captain.”

Skye stared over the edge of the rail, half-dazed.

For once, she had more to worry about than Jim having all the fun.

 

It took Jim a moment to adjust to flying.

The junk solar surfer was buffeted about at first by the rising heat currents and blasting lasers jolting through the air.  First the shoddy base caught too much wind and soared left, then it slacked too little and dipped down right.  But Jim was an expert surfer and adjusted all the minute balances that could mean the difference between a good ride and a splatter on the machinery below.  He couldn’t afford to be a splatter today.

Jim took advantage of the drifting chunks of machinery to remedy the fickle motions and dips- he grinded off anything that came his way.  It was a good thing too- his first cannon blast had lost most of its power and the craft was slowly sinking lower and lower.  The grinds gave a nice platform boost.  Soon, though, even these weren’t enough.  Jim sparked the second charge to life, and blasted onward through the heat.

Jim realized he couldn’t stay this high up and expect to make it with only one blast left.  He zoomed lower to the planet’s surface, which was quickly becoming a blur, an explosive chasm of metal ridges and obstacles.

Up, right, right again, shift balance, dip down, lean, quick!- keep the portal in sight- BANK LEFT! LEFT!!!

The Legacy trailing behind him was having just as much trouble maneuvering the canyons.

Jim coasted his surfer along a long stretch of metal wall, ollied off, and came to an open stretch over an enormous canyon.  He didn’t have enough juice to make it past on this one, he knew.  Time for blast number three.  Jim stepped down hard on the sparker.

CLICK.

What?  He tried again.

CLICK.  CLICK. CLICKCLICKCLICKCLICKCLICKCLICK...

Nothing.

The surfer started to fall.

No! NO!

Jim stepped and stepped and looked up to see the Legacy drawing nearer, saw Silver’s anxious face, saw Skye leaning over screaming something about a wall, saw more than heard BEN’s frantic counting of the ticking clock...

Saw the molten core rising up, up, looming...

No, not now, this couldn’t be it, they needed him, no...!

Wait...the wall...?

THE WALL!

Jim flipped his surfer around and jammed the rear end of the exhaust against the mechanical chasm wall.  Sparks flew from grated metal on metal.

Sparks that ignited the cannon laser charge.

A blasting roar of heat and light only meters above the molten liquid sent Jim soaring up into the air, out of the chasm, behind, now under the belly of the Legacy, now streaming abreast...

Doppler winced against the heat emanating from the giant portal door leading into the explosion of the core.  BEN shouted out the seconds till destruction, Skye and Silver leaned anxiously to see below them...

Five!

Jim neared the hologram map...

Four!

He was nearly there...

Three!

What if he couldn’t reach the right door?...

Two!

Did he get it?  They couldn’t see!...What if...NO!!!

One!

...

 

The calm night blue Etherium above Montressor Spaceport, speckled with light from faraway distant suns twinkling in the darkness, was ripped apart by an explosion of enormous magnitude and intensity as the triangular portal that had gone unused for a century blasted open.Out of it poured flaming sulfuric dust and fiery tongues of heat and metal, and, almost hidden in the inferno, the Legacy and a makeshift solar surfer.

Jim’s whoops of exhilaration were echoed by all those on board the larger ship- he had done it.  They made it.  They were safe.

Jim circled around the bow of the Legacy, swooping down to give Silver a high five.  The elder spacer beamed with pride as Morph burst into his own personal display of fireworks.

“Didn’t I say the lad had greatness in him?” Silver crowed.

Even the pirates held captive below deck were cheering.

Doppler and Amelia embraced, elated.  They pulled back slightly, seeming to realize what had happened- and grinned slyly.  Amelia leaned forwards and nuzzled Doppler’s nose with hers.

They didn’t have to say anything at all. 

Jim pulled his surfer up to the side of the Legacy and leapt off; it spun away, refuse in space.  He was immediately attacked by Morph, who licked his face, puppy-like.  Amelia and Doppler approached, and what Jim heard next was unexpectedly thrilling- praise from the Captain.

“Unorthodox, but ludicrously effective.  I’d be proud to recommend you to the Interstellar Academy.  They could use a man like you,” she said.  She didn’t know it, but Silver behind her was beaming just as much as Jim was at hearing those words.

Doppler as well had his ideas.  “Just wait until your mother hears about this!...Of course we might downplay some of the more life-threatening parts.”  Jim nodded his agreement.  No need to worry her, after all.

Doppler and Amelia stepped away, arms round each other, to give room to the robot that had pushed through to Jim.

“Jimmy, that was unforgettable!” BEN cackled.  “I know you and Skye don’t like touching but, well, get ready for a hug, big guy, ‘cause I got a hug in me!”  BEN jumped onto Jim, and for a brief second hung there, tentative...until Jim hugged him back, spinning around in what was, quite possibly, the best hug BEN had received ever, in this century or not.

“Hey, you hugged me back!  Oh, I promised myself I wouldn’t cry!”  Contrary to this statement, BEN bawled happy robot tears, and sniffled, “Anybody have a tissue?”

Jim patted BEN comfortingly, and took the opportunity to look for Skye.  She was sitting quietly on the deck stairs, her smile gentle.  Jim excused himself from BEN.

Skye rose as he drew near.  He was a bit nervous, really, to see her just now.  Before he could say anything, she wrapped her arms around him in a congratulatory hug, and whispered close-

“Silver’s headed for the long boats.  Talk to him before he goes.”

He looked up, a little surprised at her sudden caring tone when referring to the pirate she had so far detested, but she gave a small smile, locked her fingers in his, and squeezed gently.

So they walked, quickly, to the docking bay.

 

 

Silver didn’t hear Jim and Skye enter until Jim spoke up.

“You never quit, do you?”

Silver jumped, and chuckled with a guilty smile, caught.

“Ah, Jimbo!  Ha ha.  I was merely checking to make sure our last longboat was safe and secure.” He quickly retied the rope where it had been loosed at the holding peg.  Jim left Skye leaning against a support beam by the hatch controls, crossed the launch deck, and squatted next to Silver.  He examined the rope as Silver watched nervously.

In one fluid movement, Jim untied the slipknot and deftly formed a tight double hitch in its place.

“That should hold it.”

Silver grinned, and said, “I taught you too well.”  When Jim didn’t say anything, he continued, leaning in as Morph floated, giggling.

“If you don’t mind, we’d just as soon avoid prison.  Little Morphy here, he’s a free spirit.  Being in a cage...” he gently trapped Morph in his mechanical hand to emphasize the point, “...it’d break his heart.”  He patted the small pink blob, and gave a sympathetic, pleading smile.

Jim smiled too.  Silver wasn’t a bad person.  He’d saved his life several times since he’d met him, after all.  Silver’s only real crime had been, well, pursuing a dream.  When dreams are all we have to keep us going, when they’re all we have in the end- no one should be punished for that.

Jim looked back at Skye.  The corner of her mouth quirked up, and she leaned over to pull the switch.

Jim untied the rope as the docking hatch opened below.

Silver couldn’t believe it, and yet at the same time, he knew Jim would do it.  Jim was a good kid; he had a good heart, even if he did have a knack for trouble and adventure.

Like him.

“What say you ship out with us, lad?” Silver offered.  “You and me, Hawkins and Silver!  Full of ourselves and no ties to anyone!”  He meant it too.  The lad had potential; he was full of intuition and intelligence.  Morph formed a sailor’s three-cornered hat and plopped onto Jim’s head, equally excited.

Skye’s breath caught.

Jim hesitated for a split second, then took off the hat and tickled it.  “You know...when I got on this boat I would’ve taken you up on that offer in a second.”  The hat swirled pink, and Morph chirped, pleased by the petting.  Jim turned to look out the hatch at the pink and orange vapors swirling about the ship, left over from the explosion.

“But, uh, I met this old cyborg,” Jim continued, calm, “and he taught me that I could chart my own course.  That’s what I’m gonna do.”

“And what do you see,” Silver inquired, “off that bow of yours?”

Jim glanced back at Skye and grinned.

“A future.”

Silver chuckled, and when Jim turned to him, both were beaming.

“Why, look at ya- glowing like a solar fire.  You’re something special, Jim.  You’re gonna rattle the stars, you are.”

Jim knew that for every word Silver said, he meant it, sincerely, with every ounce of conviction in his heart.  It was wonderful to have the feeling that he was proud of him.  This was the feeling of family.  This was the feeling of home.

Silver held open his arms, and Jim was enveloped in a giant bear hug.  This was different from when Doppler clapped him on the back, or when his mother hugged him goodbye, or even when Skye had hugged him before.  This was the one hug he had never had before- this was a hug from father to son.

As much as Skye wanted to respect this moment, she couldn’t look away- it was beautiful.  She could recognize it for what it was, and had never seen Jim this happy.  She was happy for him.

Silver broke away, clearing his throat.

“Got a bit of grease in this cyborg eye of mine,” he sniffled, and turned his back for a moment.  Skye knew that this moment hadn’t been lost on them either- Jim’s eyes were bright and damp too.

Morph, seeing this, finally realized what was going on.  He wailed and melted into a puddle of tears in Jim’s hand.

“Oh, hey, Morph, I’ll see you around, OK?”

Morph murmured, “See ya’ around,” and licked Jim’s face.  He started towards Silver, but then remembered- Skye.  Morph zipped back and nuzzled against her.

“Oh, Morph.  No, don’t do that, you’ll get me crying too,” she said, but it was too late- tears were brimming in her eyes.

She walked towards Silver and Jim to try and herd Morph back to his owner.  The pink blob gave one last nudge, and perched, sniffling, on Silver’s finger.

Silver hesitated, then raised his hand to eye level and spoke to Morph.

“Morphy, I got a job for ya.  I need ya to...to keep an eye on these here pups.  Will ya do me that little favor?”  He sniffled.  Morph stood as upright as he could, saluted, and chirped, “Aye-aye, Captain.”

Morph snuggled against Silver’s cheek one last time, and floated back to Jim and Skye where he repeated the action.  Silver knew this was right- they’d need Morph more than he did, and…well, he wanted Jim to have something to remember him by.

Silver turned to Skye, who had approached him.  She offered her hand.

He was touched by this gesture of peace, and shook her hand heartily.

The pirate climbed into his longboat and began lowering it.  Jim and Skye stepped together, and Skye felt an arm around her waist.

 “Oh, and one more thing!  This is for your dear mother,” Silver called up from below, as if struck by something he had just remembered.  He tossed several items up from below, and called, “This is to rebuild that inn of hers!”  Jim looked at the objects he had caught- a few gems, gold coins, and rings.

Silver winked.

“Stay out of trouble,” Jim chuckled, “you old scalawag.”

“Why, Jimbo, lad,” Silver laughed back, “when have I ever done otherwise?”

The cords holding the longboat released, and Silver dropped down below the Legacy.  Morph, Jim, and Skye waving, he tipped his hat, chuckling.  Then, with a wink of flashing sails, he soared off, lost among the glowing Etherium stars.

 

Skye sighed happily, Jim’s arm still holding her close.

“Now I’m really glad I left that treasure in his boat.”

A beat.  Jim faced her, puzzled.

“What?”

“Well, I figured he could use something if he’s leaving, you know, so he doesn’t have to use piracy for a while.  So I snuck some treasure into his longboat, even though it seems he doesn’t need it.  It was nice of him to give that to your mother.”

Jim blinked.

“You saved some of...of the treasure?”

“Of course.  That,” she pointed to what Jim held,” is for your mother, though, so now we can use all of mine to pay for our entrance to the academy.  Here.”  She reached into her pocket and dumped a stream of gold into Jim’s hands.

“There’s more where that came from,” she added.

Jim looked at her, realization starting to dawn on his face...except...

“Where...where were you carrying it all?”

She laughed, a happy, sparkling laugh Jim had never heard before.

“Oh,” she replied with a wink, “a little here, a little there.  You’d be surprised how much can fit comfortably in one boot.”

Jim grinned widely, and said, “Well, can I help you locate it all?”

Skye gave a mock expression of propriety and offense.  “Now, that’s inappropriate.  You’re going to have to watch how you speak to me at the Academy.  I’ll be a proper lady there, and we ladies don’t mix with that...element.”

“What are you talking about?  You’re no more a proper lady than I am,” Jim teased.

“Not many people like a girl who refuses to- a girl like me,” Skye murmured, motioning towards her pants.

“No, don’t think that, Skye.  People at the Academy, they can’t be like that.  They’re smarter than that...” Jim’s voice lowered to a murmur.

“Besides, I... I like you- just the way you are.  Pants and all.”

Jim brushed his fingers across her cheek, and Skye looked up with a little gasp.  His hands found her waist and they were suddenly aware of just how close they were to each other...how achingly close their lips were to each other’s-

-When Morph swirled up in a giggly, bubbly pink blob, interrupting with his happy babbling chatter.

They smiled.  Doppler and Amelia needed help on deck anyway.

As they turned to go, Skye hooked her arm through Jim’s.

Jim couldn’t remember being happier in his life.

 

*It’s good to see the sun and feel this place,

This place I never thought would feel like home.*

 

Sarah Hawkins could not find her son.

She had received word from Montressor Spaceport that the ship her son had joined would dock today.She’d gotten passage to Crescentia, and now was scanning the bustling ports, looking for Jim and Skye.  They were nowhere in sight.

She felt a hand on her shoulder that turned her to face its owner.

Jim!

And, much to her surprise, Jim enveloped her in a hug.

It went unnoticed by nearly all on that particular dock- a small act of kindheartedness, momentous to those involved, but somehow trivial on the grand scheme.  But it was wonderful.  Jim was home.

And, maybe more importantly, Jim felt home.

 

*And I ran forever, far away, and I

I always thought I’d end up here alone.*

 

Sarah looked into her son’s eyes, and saw, looking back, who she knew was the real Jim.  The same Jim she had seen so many years ago, the happy boy with the new pet.

A pink blob swirled in front of her, chirruping happily.

Sarah smiled.  Jim really was the same person underneath the tough exterior he seemed to have shed.  Doppler was right- nothing like a few character building months in space.

Skye moved through the crowd to catch up with the two.  She was glad to see such a happy reunion of mother and son and also hugged Sarah.  When she stepped back and took Jim’s hand, Sarah’s eyes smiled.  She knew this was bound to happen some day.  It was a bit later than she had expected, of course, but it made sense that this journey was where it happened.

It was probably for the best, too.

Another form- this one metallic and noisy, began to chatter aimlessly as he introduced himself to Mrs. Hawkins.  Sarah, although charmed by BEN’s amiable attitude, was hoping there were no more hitchhikers.

 

*And somehow the world has changed and I’ve come home

To give you back the things they took from you.*

 

Skye nudged Jim gently in the ribs, and nodded towards his mother.  When BEN (finally) finished talking, Jim reached into his pocket and pulled out a single shining object.  Sarah saw, and gasped.

 

A few months later, the ribbon was cut, officially opening the newly rebuilt Benbow Inn.

 

*And I feel you now, I’m not alone,

I’ll always know where you are.

When I see myself I always know where you are

Where you are*

 

The grand opening party was conveniently planned- Jim and Skye were expected to be home for the monthly break from the Interstellar Academy.  BEN had prepared a gorgeous cake (he apparently had a vintage baking program logged away- Flint loved a good penne ala vodka) to celebrate and was serving it to the guests.

Among these were the new Doppler family- Amelia and Delbert, their triplet girls, and the one boy, who looked like his father.  (When asked how they could produce such a large family in such short time, Delbert replied “Large litters,” and Amelia said, “Short gestation periods.”  These are in fact both true, especially among Caninus/Felinicus cross-breeds.)

           

*And I’ve found something that was always there

Sometimes its gotta hurt before you feel*

 

The party was going strong.The food was fantastic, the music was lively, and the regular patrons there as guests were dancing merrily.  Skye had been home for some time now, and Jim was expected any minute.

When the door banged open, two robo-cops framing the door.

Everything stopped...

...and the cops parted to reveal their escorted guest- Jim, in his Academy attire.

Everyone cheered.

Jim shook hands with the cops, who saluted and joined the party.  Morph formed a shiny medal, pinning himself to Jim’s overcoat in decoration.

 

*And now I’m strong and I won’t kneel,

Except to thank who’s watching over me.*

 

Jim had adjusted well to the Academy.  He had numerous friends there, healthy grades, and joined the solar surfing team.  Although he needed work on many formal aspects of sailing and taking commands from superiors, he was bright and eager to learn as much as he could, already skilled in many aspects.

Sarah suspected this had much to do with Silver’s teachings.

She didn’t know it, but there was just as much thanks to her as well- nurturing love and support goes a long way.

 

*And somehow I feel so strong and I’ve begun

To be the one I never thought I’d be*

 

Jim made his rounds- accepting congratulations from many, giving to others, such as the Dopplers.  He owed many thanks to them as well, even beyond Amelia’s recommendation and Delbert’s scientific aid.  Old friends were the best for retelling stories, and the story of Jim’s adventures on the RLS Legacy were that much more exciting and fun when told with them joining in.

 

*And I feel you now, I’m not alone,

I’ll always know where you are

When I see myself I always know where you are

Where you are*

 

BEN pulled Jim into the dancing.  They added to the colorful fray with expertly managed, though outdated, robotic moves on BEN’s part, and classic dancing by Jim, learned from experience and at the Academy.  Everyone was laughing and having such a good time, even the Dopplers’ children (watched by Morph), that it was difficult to believe that they had ever been otherwise.

However, once Jim was settled in to the party, his eyes scanned around for another familiar face.

 

*Now it’s all so clear, and I believe

That everything’s been opened up to me.*

 

It took him a moment to locate her.  Although they attended the same school, many aspects contributed to their separate schedules in such a large academy, and he hadn’t seen her for a while.  He wasn’t even sure what she would be wearing- she had been able to wear pants at the Academy...but would she keep them here?

Glancing back to the opening kitchen door, he saw the all too familiar curvy figure ease her way around to the gleaming bar counters and refill the glasses of patrons, with a muted grace of its own that could never be matched.

Jim smirked- she never quit, not even at their own party. Her selflessness and persistence were only a few of the qualities he admired about her.  Even her faults- like the barely noticeable jealousy she let slip when other girls flirted with him- were just parts of what he liked about her.  She was a unique combination, an adventure unto herself.

He loved it.

 

*And I feel you now, I’m not alone, I always know

I always know where you are*

 

She almost didn’t see him, but she felt his gaze locked on her actions.  Looking up from her task, she glanced him on the other side of the room, smiling in that infuriatingly adorable teasing way.  She set down the pitcher and paused for just a moment, returning the smile.

Then she ran to meet him.  She was wearing her Academy suit- pants and all.  No one minded.

Their greeting was a subtle one, merely a hug- neither was comfortable in such crowded surroundings.

Skye wanted to show Jim something anyway.  She took him by the wrist and led him not outside to the arbor, but upstairs.    

 

*When I see myself I always know where you are*

 

Skye’s room faced the docking ports outside that had stood there as long as either could remember, and these could be seen easily when the window was open, as it was now.  Inside, a glass casing of several medals glinted, a well-kept solar surfer leaned against a corner, an empty pistol charge lay on the dresser, and numerous pairs of pants hung in the closet- including that first pair from the voyage. 

But Skye and Jim couldn’t see any of this from where they were.

They were on the roof.

 

*When I feel the sun I always know where you are*

 

A particular favorite design Skye had come up with herself, the roof outside her window, facing the sparkling Etherium, was nearly flat.  It was at the perfect angle to lay back and watch the stars, or to sit and think.

Skye pointed up into the inky blackness at a series of the puncture points that were the stars.  Jim leaned his head close to hers to see just what she had to show him.  At first he saw nothing special, but as the misty clouds of Montressor drifted by, he could just make it out...

Jim grinned in surprise.  When those puffs of clouds swept in at the right angle and if you squinted just a little bit, the stars formed the outline of a familiar grinning face.  The face’s right eye flashed, the star glowing yellow, then red, then back again.

It was a wonderful gift of sorts- a reminder of the man who would be carried in Jim’s heart forever.

And it was from the woman who carried Jim’s heart, and always had, whether or not he knew it.

 

*When I see myself I always know where you are*

 

Skye looked to Jim to see what he thought.  The look of wonder and appreciation on his face...that was the best part of it.  Or it was...until his arm slid around her back, nestling her against his side.  Maybe that was the best part.

“...Well?” Skye asked.

“I love it,” he replied.

“I knew it.  When I found it earlier this evening I thought-”

“I wasn’t talking about the stars,” Jim cut her off.

There was a pause, then he murmured, “Thank you.”

“For what, if not the star thing?”

“Everything.”

Skye wanted to say something to that...but there was nothing to say.  Sometimes, she thought, it’s better to speak up, but with those you’re most comfortable with- you’re beyond words.  She knew what Jim meant, how he felt, and he knew the same about her.

Which was why it was no surprise at all when he kissed her.

And it was no surprise that she just as easily kissed him back.

 

High above their heads, detached, the stars of the Etherium twinkled, each one a promise of future.

 

*Where you are*