Jim Hawkins wondered around the Montessor Space Port for the first time in months. He walked the now familiar boardwalks with more excitement than usual, he was about to take his last field test. If he did well, he would be a graduate of the Interstellar Academy. He even went so far as to be smug about this, if his skills weren't enough, his favorite instructor would be his overseer for this last test, Ms. Hannah Richards. There was no way he could mess this one up. He arrived at their determined destination to look around for her, though he was positive that she would find him before he found her. Sure enough, a hand gently graced his shoulder.

"Mr. Hawkins," he turned to face her. She was clad in her deck garb which he had seen maybe twice before, its light colors made her royal blue skin stand out. All of her dark purple hair was put up into a worker's sun hat, so that only wisps of it showed in front of her large, green eyes. "Are you ready for our voyage?"

"Yes Ma'am," he responded.

"Well let me give you the background," she pulled him aside, out of traffic. "You will be chief engineer of the merchant vessel Chronicle. I will help when needed, but for the most part I will just evaluate your work. The Chronicle is taking shipments of sura crystals to Junkar. The voyage should take a month, two at most, longer than normal I understand but I have faith in you Mr. Hawkins."

"Thank you, Ma'am," Jim answered, honored.

"Right then, we'll be on our way," with that she led him out of the alley. Jim followed, but paused when Morph tried to escape from his hat.

"Not now, Morph," he whispered, keeping a hand on his hat.

"Something wrong, Mr. Hawkins?" Ms. Richards turned back to see why he stopped.

"No Ma'am," his manner went back to the respectful student.

"Then I suggest you keep up," she turned, and quickly flowed through the crowd.

Jim had to fight a little to keep up with her, but he managed. She stopped suddenly.

"Here we are," she spoke as if it were nothing at all. Jim, however, was frozen in awe at the size of the vessel. The last time he saw one near this size, was the R.L.S. Legacy all those years ago. Then, looking back, it had only been two, three years. Waves of memories rushed through him, which added more to his stunned silence. He approached the Chronicle cautiously, as if it would swallow him. Ms. Richards was already making her way up the gang plank. Jim made his way forward, still staring upward at the giant vessel. Ms. Richards turned to him and chuckled softly to herself. Embarrassed, Jim hurried up the gang plank.

"Hannah!" cried a small voice. A younger girl ran up to meet them. She, like Ms. Richards, had the long, thin limbs, wide green eyes, and the same dark purple hair. This girl's seemed darker, though it could've been because her skin was so much lighter, very pale with just the hint of blue, which made her look sick and frail. The girl threw her arms around Ms. Richards, who welcomed the embrace and laughed. When the girl let go, she turned back to Jim.

"Mr. Hawkins, this is my sister, Lilith Richards."

"Good day, Miss." He did as he was taught. Lilith curtly nodded her head.

"Sir," Ms. Richards gave her a death stare. Lilith rolled her eyes and turned back to Jim. "Good day to you, Mr. Hawkins." Jim held back a laugh.

"Now get back to your post. You're supposed to be making a good impression." They exchanged another quick hug, and Lilith left. "I apologize for my sister's behavior."

"She's a free spirit, huh?" Jim asked.

"I'm sure she would prefer that. Unfortunately she has me. She's joining us as a cabin girl. I wanted her to come so she could get some references for the academy."

"She'll be a student?" Jim didn't think she looked like one to join the academy, but he was sure he didn't either.

"I want her to consider it," Ms. Richards started to walk towards the bow. "She keeps telling me we can't afford it, and even if we could it would be pointless for her to go. She's so convinced she knows everything that she needs to know to run a ship." They made their way down to the energy room. The levers, buttons, and monitors seemed endless, but Jim knew each ones purpose. Two men were already at work at some of the machinery, but they stopped and turned as they entered.

"This is Mr. Hart," she waved towards the smaller of the two men. He saluted. "and this is Mr. Welp." The bigger man just eyed Jim with angry, beady eyes. Jim was sure he wasn't too happy about answering to a boy like himself. Jim stood tall; he wasn't going to be intimidated. The whistle blew above. "Alright, Mr. Hawkins, we'll begin."

"All hands to stations!" bellowed the voice of First Officer Thomas from the interspeaker. Jim turned it to face him as he turned the connectors for the sails on.

"Stations in energy, Sir," Jim turned to his engineers. "Mr. Welp, the thrusters, if you please. Mr. Hart, man the power." Both men did as they were told. Ms. Richards took down notes. Jim checked every monitor carefully, making sure every thruster and sail was working properly. The familiar hum of energy being stored filled the room as the men worked. The loss of gravity didn't seem to affect anyone in the room; all continued their work as if nothing was happening. Jim flipped the switch to send energy to the gravity turbine. Within seconds everyone was on the ground again, and still everyone continued working as if nothing could interfere. Jim flipped the final switches, and now watched the monitor of energy coming from the solar sails. He got the final order:

"Full speed, Mr. Hawkins!"

"Now Gentlemen!" Each man flipped his switches, and they were off. The room went silent. Every man's eyes were on the monitors as they waited. Then the hum came back, and the tension was released.

"Fine work, Gentlemen," Ms. Richards mused as she scribbled her final note and closed her notebook. Jim nodded towards the engineers. They nodded back and resumed their work. Jim did the same, but soon First Officer Thomas stood in the doorway.

"Ms. Richards, Mr. Hawkins," he nodded to each of them as he said their names. "The captain would like a word."

"Of course," Ms. Richards answered. She exited, followed by Jim and Thomas. The Captain's quarters were luxurious, but not excessively so. Wide windows bordered the back of the office. The desk had similar monitors as the ones in the energy room. The carpet beneath them felt very thick. At the small table at the opposite side of the room, sat the Captain.

"Ah, Ms. Hannah Richards," He stood to face her and bowed. He seemed young, yet still older than Jim. The Captain and Ms. Richards shook hands.

"It's wonderful to see you again, John," replied Ms. Richards. He waved the matter away and turned to Jim.

"Mr. Hawkins I presume! Excellent work today! I hope this nitpicker doesn't grade you too hard." Ms. Richards shook her head.

"I think that's the least of your worries, Captain. This is the James Hawkins, the one who not only found Flint's lost trove, but saved the whole crew from a fiery demise." Jim shook his head.

"I'm not that special, honest, Sir," he insisted.

"Hardly, Mr. Hawkins. You're graduating a year early from the academy! Why, even Rodgers didn't-" He stopped to look at Jim's hat floating a few inches above his head. Jim quickly snatched it down, but Morph still managed to escape. He flew around the room with his high squealed laugh ringing through the room.

"Morph!" Jim cried. Morph went to the Captain, and turned into an exact miniature of the Captain.

"Who is this little fellow?" the Captain laughed. Morph laughed as well.

"Little Fellow," he mimicked.

"This is Morph," Jim began "He was with me on the Legacy, actually. A friend of mine," Jim paused, thinking of Silver "sent him with me, to help me." Morph came back to Jim and turned into multiple different useful items. "He's actually quite handy."

"I see," the Captain walked toward him and patted him on the back. "Quite lucky you are to come across someone willing to send such an extraordinary creature with you."

"Yes," Jim agreed "Very lucky." Ms. Richards cleared her throat and smoothed her jacket.

"Well Captain, we'd best be on our way."

"Yes, of course," Captain said turning away from them, just to turn back "Oh, Mr. Hawkins, your solar surfer is down below with the long boats. Feel free to try it around dusk when the rest of the crew won't be too busy gawking at you to do their work."

"Thank you, Sir," Jim replied. He was excited about surfing this far out, he had always wanted to try it. First things first, he told himself and went back to the energy room.