Chapter 2

The students were standing on the deck of the Academy ship. The initial excitement hadn't exactly faded, but it had become more anxious and solemn. Trying to break the tension, Morph fluttered around, doing his normally very successful parody of professor Bruno. This didn't receive more than a few chuckles. There was a sudden gasp as the first student noticed the battered ships.

The group fell silent at the sight. There seemed to be hardly anything left of the Ngahere, and the other ships looked only marginally better.
"Ladies and gentlemen." Captain Amelia's voice was hardly more than a whisper, but it broke the silence like a canon shot. "I have been informed that the salvage on the Ngahere is almost done. We will instead focus on the other ships."

She held out her arm, drawing an imaginary line through the middle of the group, right between Liam and Serena. "You will come with me to the R.L.S. Matua," She indicated the left group. "The rest of you will go with first officer Smith to the Tāne."
The silence was unbroken as half of the group followed her to the longboat bay. Jim and Liam gave Serena a slight nod before they went below deck. Idly stroking Morph, Jim got the feeling that the day might become tougher than any of them could foresee.

Several pairs of boots landed on the charred deck. There was a grave silence as the students looked around on the damaged ship. The Matua had been close, too close when its companion had exploded. The solar sails were almost ripped clean off, and the main mast looked like it was about to fracture. Jim heard Liam curse as part of the deck nearly splintered away under his weight. A couple of fifth years were carrying a stretcher towards the Academy ship. A bloodied hand dangled from under the white cloth draped over it.

Dead…

Jim felt Morph shiver against his neck, and his eyes met those of his Leonid friend. It was worse than the two friends could've imagined. They looked up as a fourth year approached Captain Amelia and saluted. "We've found the captain in his stateroom. He's unconscious and rather cut up. Glass shards," He grimaced. "The windows were shattered. But it looks like he's going to be alright."
Captain Amelia nodded and dismissed the young man before turning to the group.

"You will spread out on the ship to look for survivors. Extinguish every fire you encounter, and neutralize any inflammable liquids you find. Hawkins, Fitzgerald -" She pushed extinguishers in the young men's hands. "You will go below deck."
Jim reached for his shoulder and picked up the little pink blob. "You stay here, Morph." He murmured, "You'll be safer here."

The two friends walked swiftly towards the adjacent trapdoors of the galley and the crew's sleeping quarters. "I'll get the galley." Jim said. Liam nodded in approval. "Let me know if you need help."
The explosion had forced the trapdoor down hard, and Jim had to kick it several times before it came unstuck. He walked down the stairs. The galley looked pretty much the same as the one on the R.L.S. Legacy, and once you stopped noticing the burnt smell from the charred wood, it even vaguely smelled the same.

Jim put out a small fire that was incinerating a fallen bench when he noticed something, a figure, lying in the back of the galley. He made his way through the upturned tables, and nearly landed flat on his face as he tripped over something metallic lying on the floor. An unpleasant jolt went through him as he looked down.

His mouth went bone dry as he picked up the object that had tripped him up, and fear welled up inside him as he looked down on the dented, dreadfully familiar robotic arm in his hands.


Author's Note:

amalimrock: Thanks for your review! I know what you mean with Morph. That part was actually added later because, just as you say, I had plain forgotten he was there.

OMGitsEMILY: Wow, thank you for your compliment! I used a dictionary a lot, though most of the time I was looking for synonyms rather than translations. I spent 5 months in New Zealand, that helps as well. (I'm not sure anyone noticed, but the names of the ships are Maori words)
I hope I can live up to your expectations.