Morph woke Jim up the next morning by changing into cold water right above him,
"Gah! Morph!" he tried to be quiet, but knew he wasn't succeeding. Morph laughed, and flew up the steps. Jim threw his boots and jacket on, and followed him. He stood in the darkness while his eyes adjusted, but then he heard a laugh. He recognized Lili's voice:
"Where did you come from?" Morph laughed, followed by a louder giggle from Lili. "Do you have a name?" Jim walked up to meet up with them, but everything went silent. A big man loomed over Morph and Lili.
"I do believe, Miss, you still have plenty of work to be done," his big voice was deep and frightening.
"Back off, Grog. I'm working as fast as I can," her once happy voice became resilient.
"I think you could work faster if you weren't playing with pets," his voice rose in anger. He tried to grab Morph, but Morph bit him.
"Come here you little-" Morph turned into a mouth and stuck his tongue out at the man. Morph laughed, and ran away. Lili tried her hardest to stifle her laugh, but none the less it escaped. The man pulled her up by her hair. "I swear, you urchin, that when I find your pet-"
"Let her go," Jim ordered. The man looked up at him.
"I don't believe that this is any of your concern," he responded, not letting go of Lili.
"I think it is, because it's my pet you're threatening, not hers," Jim stood tall. The man threw Lili to the ground.
"Well, then, I'll make this good and clear," the man put a knife in front of Jim's face. "If that thingdistracts my cabin girl again, you can pay the consequence." Lili was starting to make her way up, when the man kicked her and sent her down again. Jim went to help her.
"Are you alright?" he was truly concerned. She waved him away.
"It's nothing," her voice cracked, she got back on her knees to scrub the deck. Jim, too, grabbed a rag and began to scrub. She looked at him, puzzled. "So, that blob thing, that's your pet?"
"Kind of," Jim answered.
"What is it?" she dipped her rag back in the bucket.
"I don't know exactly what, but I call him Morph."
"Morph," she laughed "I like him."
"Judging by the way he bit that guy, he likes you too," she blushed. Then she took the rag from him.
"I won't keep you from your work anymore. Besides if Grog comes back, he'll probably beat us both," he reached out to take the rag from her, but like her sister, she too had the amazing reflexes. She grabbed his wrist, and kept it firmly, inches away from the rag. "Really, go."
He gave up trying to fight her; instead he stood and walked away. The energy room was quiet save for the reassuring hum and beeps of the monitors. Jim took his seat and began his work. About an hour later, he heard someone enter the room.
"Well, Mr. Hawkins," Ms. Richards walked towards him "Mr. Grog was not very happy about your incident with your pet and my sister." Jim shrugged.
"Sorry if it upset you, Ma'am." Ms. Richards took a seat next to him.
"I just don't want her to think she can talk back to her superiors and get away with it," she gave him a scolding stare "Please don't encourage her." Jim looked back at the monitors, ashamed.
"Yes Ma'am. I'll stay away from your sist-"
"No, not that," she shook her head smiling "I'm very appreciative that you have taken her under your wing, she doesn't get that very much, just please try and-"
"What do you mean she doesn't get that very much?" Jim was quietly fidgeting with the monitors again.
"She just hasn't made many friends," Ms. Richards murmured. "All her life, I wished I could have been her friend, instead of her parent."
"Did something-" Jim stopped, thinking he was getting too personal. Ms. Richards looked at him expectantly, so he continued. "Did something happen to your parents?"
"Our mother died shortly after Lilith was born. My father wasn't the best father figure," her tone told Jim that she was not going to tell him anymore.
Jim sat on deck with his board, waiting for Lili. He decided maybe she couldn't come, and decided to get the board ready. As he kneeled next to it, he barely heard her silent footsteps behind him. He stood, and turned to her. Shock ran through his body.
"What happened to you?" large bruises covered the right side of her neck. She looked at him, puzzled.
"What do you mean?" he reached out to her and she flinched back.
"What happened to your neck?" he slowly approached this time. She gave a sharp wince when he adjusted her head to see better.
"Nothing," she answered, it sounded rehearsed.
"We have to get you to the doctor," Jim insisted, taking her hand. She pulled away from him.
"Really, it's nothing to worry about," she gave a half smile. Jim didn't seem convinced. Lili's eyes became pleading. "Please, Jim, I just really want to fly," Jim sighed.
"If we fly, we have to take care of that later," he offered, pointing to her neck. She smiled again.
"Deal."
Jim set her up again, and got on behind her. She gripped the sail with excitement.
"I'm going to let you steer a little more this time, okay?" he asked her as he started the engine. She seemed a little unsure, but she answered:
"I'll try," the board went into the air, and they were off. Jim didn't know why she seemed so scared on a board, she was doing a better job than he'd see any beginner do. She even out did some experienced surfers. She landed the board on the deck, and jumped off with otherworldly grace.
"I don't know why you doubt yourself so much," Jim told her, taking down the board. "You did an excellent job." She blushed. "Now, let's take care of your neck."
Down in crew quarters, Jim pulled out his small first aid bag. He took the cleaning cloth and broke ache relieve capsules over it. Once the liquid covered a large portion of the cloth, Jim put it on her neck.
"Hold it there for a while," he told her. She winced a little, but tried shrugging it of as no big deal. Her eyes never came off of him, like curious lily pads. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she answered, her eyes darting away "I'm just thinking..."
"About what?" he started to get the cleaning supplies ready.
"You were-…on the ship the Legacy?"
"Yes,"
"You saw Flint's Trove?"
"Yes."
"How? Everyone says you had to go to pirates to know how to get there." Jim laughed.
"No," he shook his head "I had a map. The pirates pretended to be honest sailors and threw a mutiny once we saw the planet."
"Do you hate pirates?" she asked, genuinely curious.
"I probably should," he smiled "but one saved my life, and did so much more for me. I thought I hated him when he betrayed me, but I couldn't."
"Was he the one who gave you your pet?"
"Yes." Lili paused.
"Where do you come from, Jim?" she started swinging her legs.
"A mining planet called Montressor," he went to take the cloth from her neck. "What about you?" Lili looked down.
"I don't know."
"You don't have somewhere to call home?" Jim asked quietly. She shook her head.
"We never stayed in one place long enough to call home." Jim cleaned her neck, silent. Lili broke the silence: "Tell me about your home."
"I live in an inn-"
"You don't have a house to live in?" she interrupted. Jim laughed, she sounded like a little child.
"No, the inn is my house. My mom runs it. Montressor doesn't get much rain. It's mostly uninhabitable desert, which makes it a perfect place to fly," he paused.
"Does your dad help in the inn?" she asked casually. Jim would normally feel a pang of sadness and pain, but this time it didn't come.
"My father left us when I was really young," Lili's eyes grew even bigger.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered.
"Don't be," he insisted smiling "I had a guy, guess you would call him a father figure. He taught me a lot." She was silent for a while
"He doesn't work in the inn, does he?" she guessed. Jim smiled again.
"He was the pirate who saved my life," he sighed, and finally looked back at her. "I haven't seen him in three years." Lili, stood up.
"Thank you, Jim," she looked at him in earnest "For everything." Seconds later, her feet disappeared up to the deck.
"No problem," he answered, but she didn't hear.
