My eyes must have been two inches from the screen of my port as I wandered aimlessly through the village, past the duck pond and the bookshop and the children's park. The screen's glow defied the shadows of clouds overhead that wished to dim its light. Word after word poured into my head, dancing and reeling, projecting vivid images in my mind's eye. I didn't notice the man who appeared in front of me until the portscreen was snatched from my hands. I looked up to see Captain Carswell Thorne standing in the shade of the willow tree I'd been passing under, swiping his finger across the screen.

"What are you reading?" he asked, squinting at the glowing surface.

"Doesn't matter," I retorted, snatching my port back.

"Your face was practically buried in it, Bell-a-roo. I think it matters."

"Don't call me that." I turned and marched the other way down the cracked pavement, but Thorne followed. I realized my mistake too late. The pavement led me straight to his cargo ship, the Rampion. Rumor had spread through the village in only a few days after the crew had arrived that the ship had been stolen from the American Republic, and the crew, excepting Captain Thorne, hadn't made much of an effort to deny the suspicions.

"You should come aboard, Bell-a-roo," he offered. He draped an arm around my shoulders and led me towards the open loading ramp, where his friends Wolf, Scarlet, and Cress were busy unloading boxes of cargo.

"No, I really don't think I should. Cress?" I called. "Can you please ask your boyfriend to stop flirting with me?"

Cress looked up from the box she was labeling, red-faced. "He's not my boyfriend," she said with a shy grin. "And sorry, I've tried to make him stop."

"I'm just an incurable romantic," Thorne agreed. "Besides, who could resist this face?" He smiled crookedly at me.

I punched him squarely in the gut and marched away.

"Cress, did I deserve that?" he wheezed.

"I believe so, Captain."

"Aces, that hurt."