Chapter 1:

Zarabeth had just finished tidying up Captain Amelia's state-room when she heard footsteps approaching. The door swung open to allow everyone entrance. Along with the Captain and Mr. Arrow, there were two people Zara had never seen before. One was a boy with strangely styled brown hair in dark clothing, he looked about her own age, and the other was a sort of dog-man wearing a ridiculously oversized yellow and silver spacesuit.

Zarabeth quickly addresses the Captain, "I've finished up here. May I go back to the galley, ma'am?"

The Captain's feline head twitched about, scrutinizing the room. "A job well done. You have my permission to go."

She dipped her head in thanks and left the room in a hurry. Making her way to the door, she caught the boy watching her as she left. As soon as she closed the door, she let out a sigh of relief. On deck, Zarabeth made her way through the knots of spacers who were making preparations to launch. She half walked, half skipped as she avoided barrels, piles of rigging, and crates of supplies. She was almost to the galley when she suddenly tripped over something. She panicked and reached for a nearby barrel, which caught her from falling on her face. Looking back to see what she'd tripped on, Zara came face to face with the most disgusting member of the crew.

Mr. Scroop, a spider-crab alien, with his foggy yellow eyes and thin gray hair, smirked cruelly at the girl. His voice was like a bag of rocks grinding together in a horrible growl. "Watchh your ssstep missy." Without another word, his six legs clicked sharply as he chuckled and went off to continue his work.

Zarabeth hoisted herself upright, mumbling about Scroop all the way until she descended the steps into the galley.

A great booming voice, heavily accented, was there to greet her. "Well if i' t'ain't me favorite pastry chef. Zara, those puffs are smellin' mighty fine. Ready yet, are they?"

Zara had to smile. The stout cyborg, they called Silver, could cheer her up without even trying. He was the ship's cook for this voyage, and a very skilled one at that. Even though, they'd never met prior to this trip, they'd spent the last three days together, getting everything prepared. Silver and Zara meshed instantly. She hoisted herself to sit on the counter next to him, sniffing the aroma that filled the dimly lit kitchen. "Smells delicious, Silver. What is it?"

The old cyborg gave her "that" smile. Zara knew that Silver was proud of his cooking and was always itching to rattle off whatever impressive meal he'd prepared. It was always interesting to watch him cook. Silver had been in some type of accident, which affected only the right half of his body. With one bionic arm and leg, the cyborg was a bit frightful looking. But in his chest beat the heart of a teddy bear. He used his bionic arm to chop vegetables, flambeau sauces, and crack eggs all within seconds.

"'Tis me famous bonzabeast stew. Can't tell yeh nothin' else." He nudged Zara as he whispered, "Old family recipe, yeh see." He gave the girl a mischievous wink as she winked back.

Hopping down from the counter, Zara pulled on a pair of oven mitts and extracted a pan from the low flames of the stove. On the pan were beautiful, golden puffs of pastry, wisps of steam curling from their perfect forms. She tipped the pan so that the golden spheres rolled down into a chilled bowl to cool.

Silver casually waltzed over to observe. "Now wha 't'er yeh gonna fill dem with, lass?"

"Well, technically speaking, since they're cream puffs I should fill them with cream. But, my personal favorite way to fill them is with perp jelly." She grinned at the cyborg in satisfaction.

"Well ain't cha the next wonder of de universe! With smarts like t'ose, paired with some trainin' at university, you'll be goin' places, Zara." Silver gave the girl a pat on the back, looking as proud as though he were her own father.

Zarabeth forced a smile as she faced him. "You know I've told you I can't go. I already have work, work for Ame- the Captain. And even if I didn't, it costs a fortune to go to pastry school." Zara tried to look reassuring, but she had a feeling she wasn't very convincing. She wanted to go to school, more than anything. But she knew she had to be content. Trying to cover her own tracks, she continued, "Besides, who needs school when I've got people like you to be my Guinea pigs. You've been very willing to try everything I've made these last few days."

Silver just shook his head and smiled as he walked back to the counter he'd been working at.

Zarabeth opened a drawer next to her and took out a large pastry bag and a short silver tube to put in it. "Now for the perp jelly." The girl walked around the half circle room, which made up the kitchen, to the large closet that served as a dry goods pantry. Since there was no light or handle from the inside, Zara had to prop a bag of potatoes in front of the door to hold it open. The light from the cook fire behind illuminated the closet enough to see.

Zara gave the shelves a once-over, but didn't see the jar she was after. She scratched her head in frustration, trying to remember where she'd placed it. "Where are ya you little stinker..." Upon second inspection, her eyes fell upon the right jar. "Aha! Found ya!" But as soon as she laid hold of it, the glass jar melted away into a pink blob with little eyes. Zara gave a little gasp, but she soon regained composure. "Morph! Did you hide my perp jelly?"

The little pink blob floated about Zara's head and chirped amusedly. Morph was Silver's pet shape-shifter. Even though he was cute, he could be very troublesome sometimes. Morph buzzed twice around the girl's head before pulling out the jelly from behind some sacks of potatoes. After handing the jar over, Morph hurriedly floated back into the kitchen to see Silver. Zara laughed quietly to herself as she unblocked the door to close it behind her.

The old cyborg called out to her as she came out of the pantry. "Ah Zara! There's a lad here I'd like t'introduce ya to."

Zara turned to see that the boy she saw in the Captain's state-room was standing awkwardly by one of the wooden tables.

"Zarabeth, this here is Jim Hawkins, the new cabin boy."

Jim gave the girl a half smile after saying a simple "hi".

Zara smiled courteously. "Welcome aboard, Mr. Hawkins. It's good to have you."

"You can call me Jim."

Silver joined in, "Captain's put Jimbo under my charge, so we'll all be seein' quite a bit of each other."

Jim turned his face away as he sighed. "Yippee."

Zara tapped her nails against the jar she was holding. "Well this is awkward", she thought to herself.

A shrill whistle from above deck broke the silence, signaling that the ship was about to take off.

Silver cleared his throat. "You go on lad and enjoy the launch. There'll be plenty of work awaitin' ya when ya get back."

Once Jim was out of sight, Zara made her way back to the counter where she had been working. "A bit of a quiet one, that Hawkins boy."

Silver wiped his hands on his apron. "Oh I dunno. He'll come around eventually. You'll see." The cyborg gave Zara a mischievous glance. "Awfully fine to look at tho, eh meh girl?"

Zarabeth looked back towards the stairs. She chuckled at Silver's prodding. "I suppose. But I would like to lop that ponytail-braid thing off the back of his head."

Silver slapped his good knee as he laughed. "Well then, yeh just might be da one ta do it. Mmm?"

Zara turned away and smiled as she began to fill the puffs with jelly. Quite the guy, Silver was. This was promising to be an interesting voyage.