The night was quiet. The ship moved easily through space, trailing quietly in the tail of comets and soaring past planets. Jim reclined against the main mast, allowing himself the pleasure of enjoying the night. The ship was on its way to Crescentia, and Jim knew that a shore leave was awaiting him upon their arrival. He had been away from home for nearly three years, finishing his last year at the academy and then being assigned immediately to a ship where he would spend the two ship board years that were required of new graduates. He'd traveled far and seen some amazing things, but now he was ready to go home. In a few weeks he would be able to see his mother again. To sleep in his own bed. To ride his solar surfer (Jim smiled, knowing that the old machine would need some work and adjustments since he'd grown since the last time it had been used). Needless to say, Jim was excited. He'd been on night watch for the last few days, and he was now getting used to the late hours and the strain it put on his body. Despite the challenges that came along with his watch, Jim relished the time he was able to spend just being on the ship in the quiet of night, watching the scenery go by as they sailed home.
Jim yawned deep and checked his watch. Only a few more hours to go before dawn, and then he would be able to retire to his hammock below decks for some rest. His eyes scanned the area they were sailing into and there was something that caught his attention. A small dark shape at first, just off the right side of the bow. As they sailed closer Jim thought it looked like a longboat. It looked an awful lot like a longboat. He launched himself down from his post and ran to the other end of the ship where the helmsman stood passively at the wheel. "There's something out there," Jim said, the helmsman coming out of his stupor at Jim's approach.
"What is it?"
"I can't tell exactly, but it looks like a longboat. Just there off the starboard bow." He pointed out at the object as they came slowly along side it. Jim jumped back down to the deck where he was able to grab hold of the side of the longboat and pull it against the ship. The helmsman shut off the engines and was by Jim's side in an instant to help him tie the boat to the ship. It didn't appear that there was anything in the boat, but Jim decided to take a closer look anyway. Better to be safe than sorry. He stepped in at the stern end and headed towards the bow after checking all of the corners. He checked every inch of the boat as he moved, making sure there was nothing he was missing in the shadows. As he moved up he felt himself begin to tense up, like something was waiting for him at the front of the boat.
When he got up to the front he saw there was a bundle of what looked like blankets. Jim was leaning in closer to them and about to pull them away when the blankets were thrown away and before Jim knew what was happening he had been shoved back against the floor of the boat and he felt a vice grip around his neck. Jim struggled against the weight against him until he felt that weight rising and the grip was released. He saw the helmsman struggling against Jim's attacker, the huge man finally forced the flailing person to the deck of the ship, pinning their arms behind their back in an attempt to quiet them. Jim climbed out of the boat and steadied himself against the railing.
"What the hell is this about?" the helmsman said, concentrating on keeping the struggling person pinned on the deck.
"Exactly what I was thinking," Jim replied. For the moment the stranger had quieted, lying still beneath the helmsman's strong grip.
"You'd best be getting Mr. Connor," the helmsman said, referring to the first mate. Jim fetched the man, a bit disheveled at being awoken in the middle of the night, but was also anxious at the news Jim brought to him.
"Do you have any idea who they are?" Mr. Connor asked.
"No, sir," Jim replied. "There were no markings on the longboat, no colors being flown." The two approached where the helmsman was standing once again, the captive quiet in his grip, at least for the time being. Jim held back while Mr. Connor moved closer, taking his time to look the stranger over from top to bottom. He reached out and tipped their head, getting a better look in the dim light. Jim was taken aback. It was a girl. Although her face was covered in dirt and grime and her long hair was matted, her eyes burned with fury as she stared down Mr. Connor.
"Who are you," the first mate said, more of a demand of her than a question. The girl said nothing, she didn't need to. Defiance was written all over her body and especially in her eyes, which she kept locked on Mr. Connor's.
"Who are you," he said again, moving closer to the girl, trying to intimidate her. But she wouldn't budge. They stared each other down, neither one willing to budge. "Put her in the brig," Connor finally said. "Let her sit for awhile. We'll alert the captain in the morning and he'll decide what is to become of her." The helmsman dragged the girl, whose eyes were still raging.
Jim watched her go below and turned back to Mr. Connor who was observing the same thing. "Cut her boat loose, Mr. Hawkins."
"Sir? But she'll need it-"
"No. She won't be needing it anymore. She's not going anywhere. Now, cut it loose, and then return to your post."
"Yes, sir." As Connor went back to his cabin, Jim untied the longboat from the ship and pushed it away. He watched it drift further and further, thinking that he was somehow doing the wrong thing. There was something about this girl, alone in the middle of nowhere, that didn't sit right with him. This girl with the wild eyes, whoever she was, had caught Jim's attention, and he wanted to know what was hidden behind those eyes.
The next day he found the ship abuzz with rumors of the girl. While no one had seen her yet, they had concocted several different versions of Jim's encounter, all of which were completely false. Jim kept his mouth shut, which encouraged the other men even more. He didn't want to have to answer a thousand questions, to have to explain a thousand different times what had gone on. So he was going to let them speculate, to wonder what had gone on.
While that was a driving force behind his silence that day, he also wanted to see the girl again, to cement in his mind what had happened the night before. After his watch had finished and he'd retired to his hammock, he'd lain awake thinking about her, the way she looked, her dirty face and hair. But most of all it was her eyes that stayed. The way they had burned with total anger and hatred. Jim had never seen anything like them before. Never had he seen emotion like that. He wanted to see them again.
He set off after his breakfast for the lowest deck in the ship where the brig was. It was dark below, and a chill crept up his spine as he descended into the hallway that was lit only by the light that managed to find a way through the cracks in the ceiling. Despite the ship's ability to provide heat, this particular corridor remained cold. There were cells along one side of the narrow passage, each one empty, and Jim moved along them, knowing that she was most likely being held in the farthest one. He was right. At the last cell he stopped and looked inside. She was there. Chained in one corner, her back pressed against the wall and her knees drawn up tight against her chest. She looked like she was going to strike out at any minute.
Jim leaned against the wall and eased himself down to sit on the floor, to be on her level. "Who are you?" he whispered. She didn't move, just stared at him, her eyes still hard. Suddenly Jim felt stupid. What made him think that she would talk to him. "Sorry," he said. "I can't imagine why you'd want to talk to me. After all you tried to kill me last night." He smiled now, finding it funny that here he was with the person who had attacked him. This whole situation was completely ludicrous.
"You know how insane this is, right?" Jim said through his smile. "You appear out of space, out of no where, and then you attack me. And who knows where you came from. Who knows where you're going. Geez, who even knows who you are." Jim was positively losing it now.
"It's not funny." The voice was so quiet he almost didn't hear it. Almost. Jim snapped back to reality when he heard her speak.
"What?" he said in disbelief, even though he'd heard perfectly what she had said.
"I said it's not funny," she repeated. She was staring deep into him, her eyes once again burning with that fire he'd seen the night before.
"I'm sorry," Jim said immediately, not wanting to upset her anymore, but wanting her to keep speaking. "I didn't mean anything by it." She'd gone silent again, but she still held eye contact with him.
"You know," he said, "I didn't mean for this to happen to you. I'm really sorry." He looked around himself at the cell she was in, the cold corridor and the darkness that encroached from all corners. "It's freezing down here." He muttered, more to himself more than anyone.
"I know," came her reply. It made him smile.
On the stairs there came the heavy sound of boots resounding off the wooden walls. Jim rose quickly from his place on the floor and found himself staring at Captain Rollands and Mr. Connor. The captain moved down the hall with a feeling of extreme importance and stopped abruptly in front of the girl's cell. He looked down at her, considering her for what felt to Jim like an eternity. The girl looked at him, but pulled herself as deep into the corner as she could. She was trying to hide. Jim caught Connor's eye and noticed a hard look in the first mate. It put Jim on edge.
The captain turned back to Connor, ignoring Jim completely. "Unlock the door, Mr. Connor. I want to see her." Connor fumbled with the keys but managed to open the door. It swung open and the captain stepped inside. Jim watched as the girl attempted to shrink further into the wall, trying to become part of it. The Captain stood right in front of her, she stared up at him, her eyes never wavering.
"Stand up," he ordered, but she didn't move. "Stand, up." He said again, separating each word with emphasis as if this would make her understand. Jim watched, growing even more uneasy as the minutes passed. The Captain finally reached down and grabbed the girl by the shoulders, pulling her easily off the floor. He pushed her up against the wall and held her there, gripping her arms against her sides. Jim saw the fear in her eyes, the terror, as she stared at the Captain. It took all of his self control not to intervene.
"The first law of this ship," the Captain said, his voice low, "is that when I give an order, it's obeyed. Do you understand?" The girl nodded, her whole body visibly trembling. "That's better." He kept holding her, looking her over from head to toe. The silence stretched on while he held her up before finally releasing her. She remained standing, staring at the Captain as he backed away. The man continued his appraisal of her, his eyes moving up and down her frame repeatedly.
Eventually he turned back to Connor, who was studying the exchange with immense interest. Exiting the cell the Captain caught Jim's eye only briefly, but enough to convey that this had been an incident that should not be recalled over the evening meal with the other spacers. Jim understood. Connor locked the cell once again and the Captain moved down the hallway. Jim followed, close enough to hear what they were saying but far enough to be out of the way.
"Clean her up," the Captain said. "Keep her in the brig for now. She'll return to port with us, and then we'll turn her over to the police."
"What will happen to her?" Connor asked.
"They'll have to decide that. But if she doesn't start talking soon then we have no choice but to assume the worst of her."
Jim stopped at the base of the stairs and watched the two other men ascend to the above decks. He looked back down the corridor and a rush of guilt spread through him. He wasn't sure why but he was sure that this was his fault. The look of terror that had filled the girl's eyes and her trembling body was even more disconcerting than the anger he had seen the night before.
He returned to the end of the corridor and sat once again in front of her cell. His heart broke to look at her now. She had pulled her knees up tight to her chest again and her whole body was trembling. Her cheeks were shiny with tears and Jim wanted nothing more than to comfort her. She didn't look at him, just kept staring ahead and shaking. Her tears were silent, although Jim thought it would be less hard if she had just collapsed on the floor in great sobs. Break the stoic silence that surrounded her.
At the sound of boots on the stairs Jim straightened and tensed, noticing that the girl did much the same. He looked up to see Connor descending along with the ship's doctor, an elderly man with a kind face. The doctor shuffled along the corridor, carrying a bundle of clothes in his wrinkled arms. He gave Jim an easy smile and Jim felt himself relax a bit. Connor unlocked the cell and the doctor went in, smiling the same at the girl. He knelt down to her and spoke quietly to her. Jim couldn't make out what he was saying, but saw the girl nodding slightly, understanding, at what she was being told.
"Mr. Hawkins," Connor said, "You should return to the upper decks. I believe that we can handle this situation."
"Yes, sir." Jim turned reluctantly away, but not before noticing the girl's gaze following him as he went.
The ship was warm that day, and conversation buzzed all around. Jim had never before been so acutely aware of how much gossip circulated around until he had become the subject. It wasn't something that he particularly enjoyed. He spent the remainder of his day helping in the rigging. The men were less likely to chatter up there, as focus was needed to remain balanced upon the beams. It was peaceful up there, and the time spent above gave him the room to think on this girl. Part of him was fascinated by her, but there was another part of him that was frustrated. Just yesterday he had been so consumed with the thought of going home, why had he all of a sudden switched that energy to worrying over a drifter. Over someone whose name he didn't even know. It was ridiculous really. Completely ridiculous.
That night he was back on duty, watching the horizons and enjoying the quiet noises of the darkness. The eatherium would offer up no more surprises that night, and Jim enjoyed the return to his routine. He decided he would forget about the girl, push her out of his mind and focus again on the fact that in a few weeks, he would be back home.