Ch#3— RLS Legacy
"Why?" The voice of one of his brothers asked.
He looked around at the boys and girls around him— ranging in age from 17 to 14. None of them were blood related but they were the the closest thing to a real family he had ever known.
"Why did you let us die, Will?"
"I tried—" He began to say before Richard cut in again; "I thought we were supposed to watch each other's backs; isn't that what family does? Why would you leave us behind?"
"I know, Rich…I'm so—" His sentence was cut off as he was thrown from his hammock and thumped onto the hardwood of the floor. The air of the ship's hold was humid and stuffy, filled with the sounds of snoring and soft breathing— smelling vaguely of dirty socks and stale breath.
He let out a groan against the wood as he heard a series of farts, sounding unmistakably like laughter, behind him. He swore quietly as he picked himself up from the floor.
"Can you really not get out of the top, without knocking me onto the floor, every time?" He said, throwing an accusatory look at the large farting creature that inhabited the hammock-bunk above his. "Because I could swear I hear you laughing right now."
In response, the creature flailed it's fleshy appendages and farted at increased frequency— obviously feigning not being able to understand anything but his native tongue.
"I know you can understand me to fat sack of methane!" He said from his spot on the floor before hearing his name being called from up on deck.
"Willy, ma boy!" Said a familiar, jolly voice easily carrying down into the hull of the ship. "Come help me whip up breakfast!"
William suppressed a groan and moved to get dressed— taking a second to move his duffle bag of meager belonging over to the available hammock adjacent to his, so he wouldn't have to be under the gassiest member of the crew anymore. The young man pulled on his boots—leaving on his semi-clean loose fitting shirt, before pulling his shaggy and disheveled mane of black hair back and tying a bandana over it to keep it out of his face.
"Gotta cut that again soon." He said to himself, touching the knife that was tucked into his boot that he had employed previously in the task. Once he was ready he ran his hands over the scruffy attempt at a beard on his face and made his way up steps onto the upper deck and then into the galley to help a familiar cyborg with preparing breakfast for the crew.
"Mornin' boy-o, I need you to take breakfast to the Captain and her first officer in her cabin. Once they are done you'll bring them a nice, hot pot of Surtilian coffee." The older man said while opening a container of coffee beans then pointing to two plates with fancy looking foods set on them. "I'll get the coffee going while your gone, hop to it, Laddy."
"Aye, Ca—…Silver." William said, stopping and correcting himself when he caught a sharp gaze from the cook's bionic eye. He quickly put the dishes onto a tray and went about his task.
—
That very same 19 year old, cabin 'boy' found himself— a few hours later— helping load last minute cargo onto the deck of the ship. By this time, he had rolled up his sleeves and untucked his shirt; feeling himself sweat freely underneath the heat of the nearby star. He had some experience on ships before and had spent the last month with this crew before they had been contracted for this expedition, so he had a pretty good handle on the direction and flow that things moved around the deck and ship.
He was still a cabin boy though, so most of the time people were dumping tasks they didn't want to do onto him. Most young men his age would have complained but, he was getting used to it and had been slowly earning respect from the crew one step at a time.
At the moment, he was aloft amongst the vast array of ropes and platforms secured between the three large masts with solar sails that were currently secured in the upward position because they weren't being used.
William was assisting in the hoisting of cargo via ropes and a pulley system, acting on orders shouted out by Lt. Commander Arrow— the ship's first officer. Arrow stood ramrod straight as always in his spotless red uniform, Moving and speaking with confidence in his craft and although he wasn't much the friendly type— William could see he was an excellent officer.
His firm and no nonsense leadership style often stood in contrast with Captain Amelia's more seemingly erratic, flexible, and ingenious style, but overall they worked quite well together. The Captain was young, fiercely intelligent, and ambitious which had lead to her being very highly ranked for her age and had chosen to take the junior officer under her mentorship to help prepare him for the next levels of command.
Although Captain Amelia and Lt. Commander Arrow were, without a doubt, Navy to the bone; they were technically operating independently from the Navy on this journey— even if they were still wearing their uniforms. Hence, the need to hire on a civilian crew. They were sailors that were most commonly referred to as buccaneers or privateers; civilian or reserve military personnel, operating a privately owned ship to harass or raid rival ships or shipping lanes.
Basically government sponsored pirates to fight the 'enemy' without starting a war with overt aggressions. It was a tactic put into practice by many of the largest powers at play in this corner of the universe. Currently the most common adversary was the Procyon Expanse that had, only a couple years ago, reluctantly agreed to a ceasefire to the bloody war they had been waging with the Terran Empire for decades over control of the largest and most stable Etherium currents. With many people now very reluctant to go back to war— and despite their obvious antagonistic attitude towards each other— both sides refused to take overt aggression. Thus resulting in unofficial sponsorships of officers like the Captain and the Lt. Commander to go into a reserve status and 'privately' hit the Procyon's where it hurt.
From what William could gather this would be Arrow's final journey before taking the test and going through the process of promotion to Commander— which meant independent command of a larger vessel similar in class to the Legacy. Through the entire morning, Arrow had been in sole command of the ship and getting ready to set off, with the Captain darting around the ship and watching his actions from unseen positions— looking meticulously for errors.
Her current hiding place was hanging from a rope from one of the highest parts of the Mainmast. Although she was hidden behind the folded up solar sail, William had known she was there for a while— watching Arrow's actions— and he guessed that the first officer had also discovered her location by now as well.
Most of the time, William couldn't help but find their back and forth a bit enjoyable to watch. His thoughts strayed from the command team however when he saw an even more interesting, and seemingly out of place, duo— walk up the gangplank and onto the bustling deck. After finishing with the final crate, William studied the unusual sight.
The most eye catching one seemed to be a man of some sort— possibly a canine male— who was wearing an outfit he had obviously been conned into buying. It appeared to be an old set of jerry-rigged Void Diving equipment— accompanied by an overly stocked backpack with numerous tools and useless add-ons hanging off the sides and tied to the outside. William laughed and the man's impulse to over prepare; their destination may exist on the edge of known space but it was still easily within the Etherium so a Void diving suit wouldn't be necessary unless things went very wrong.
The Etherium is an inter connected section or multiple sections of space, along the spiraling arms of the Milky way galaxy, that contain breathable air and were the only parts that life was known to exist. A related phenomenon, know as Etherium currents, were pathways of Etherium that stretched between the empty area's in-between the Etherium and made travel easier and faster between the arms of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Void, as it was dubbed, was the space outside of the Etherium that was had no breathable air and thus remained relatively unexplored— also partially due to the fact that only a few brave souls had ever had the intestinal fortitude to equip a void diving suit and venture into the unknown.
In front of that man, walked a young woman— who if William had to guess was somewhere near his age or a bit younger with a look of child-like amazement on her face. She was much more normally dressed than her companion— albeit in commonly male clothes rather than female ones but, on a ship that was probably a good idea.
'Not really what I expected them to look like…' He thought.
He began to make his way closer, while he continued to look at her. He noticed she had shoulder length brown hair with blonde highlights, streaking through a majority of it. Lost in his observation he misplaced one of his steps and slipped— losing his balance on the yardarm he was walking on before quickly grabbing a nearby rope and catching himself before he fell the the deck.
As soon as he could, he pulled himself back onto his feet— hoping no one had just seen him. When he looked back to where his original focus was however, he was met with an amused gaze from a pair of honey colored eyes. The young lady he had been observing was looking up at him as she walked, clearly having seen him almost fall and catch himself in a rather undignified manner. William quickly turned his attention away to check that the already secured sail was extra secure.
When he glanced back around, he saw the same member of the crew that had woken him up this morning, farting furiously at the girl— via the numerous tentacles across his body. It appeared like she had done something to offend him but, wasn't sure what to say to calm him down.
While William was wondering if the confrontation would amount to anything serious, her older companion stepped in front of her and said; "Allow me to handle this." Then proceeding to make various farting noises via his mouth and armpit. The previously agitated crew member looked slightly surprised before letting out what was clearly a laugh and went about communicating back and forth with the man.
"Well, damn. I didn't expect that either." William said quietly to himself, with a smile ghosting across his face. He saw them move to Arrow and start speaking but, before William could make his way closer he saw a flash of blue flipping and jumping through the rigging— out of the corner of his eye. Captain Amelia had finally come down from her hiding spot and she was probably trying to show off a little in front of the financier of the expedition. She finally passed him by, swinging down on a rope before letting go in mid-air, completing a backflip and landing on the deck— perfectly poised.
After moving closer to listen in on their conversation, William settled into a menial task that left his back to them and would make him look busy if he drew their attention while he eavesdropped.
It was the Captain he heard speak first, casually strolling forward and addressing Arrow first in a firm voice. "Mr. Arrow, I have checked this miserable ship from stem to stern and as usual…" A friendly tone entered her voice, "It's spot on. Can you get nothing wrong?"
William turned his head slightly to see a small smile break through the first officer's rocky features as he lifted his hat off his head and gave a small bow. "You flatter me, Captain."
Her smile dropped and she turned her attention to the two newcomers on her ship. She stepped right in front of the canine man in the void diving suit and she let an amused look color her face when she started speaking.
"Ah, Dr. Doppler, I presume." She said, before interrupting his stammering response— muffled by the enclosed helmet around his head. "Hello? Can you hear me in there?" Knocking on his helmet and irritating him.
"Yes, yes I can— Stop that banging!" He responded, trying to get his helmet off.
"If I may doctor." The Captain stated, quickly grabbing the power unit on the front of his suit and turning it and grabbing hold of a retractable cord. "It works so much better if it's, right way up and…plugged in." Pulling the cord out and forcibly spinning his body so he was facing away from her before shoving the connection into the socket that was place right over his rear end, with much more force than seemed necessary.
The doctor jumped in surprise and spun back around, finally pulling off his helmet and pulling the plug back out then wagging it at her slightly.
"If you don't mind, I can manage my own plugging!" Ignoring his irritation, the Captain simply took his outstretched hand and shook it in a normal handshake while she introduced herself.
"I am Captain Amelia Mayflower, owner and commander of this vessel— the RLS Legacy. Both late a few run-ins with the Procyon Armada— nasty business, but I won't bore you with my scars." Her words came fast-paced, leaving the doctor no room to cut in as she continued and gestured to Arrow.
"You've met my first officer, Lt. Commander Samuel Arrow— sterling, tough, dependable, brave, honest, and true."
"You are too kind, Captain." Arrow said, with a proud smile— he would probably be blushing if he had the ability.
"Oh shut up Sam, you know I don't mean a word of it." The Captain threw back in a jovial voice.
Dr, Doppler finally cut in by clearing his throat. "Yes, yes—Well, nice to meet you both. I am Doctor Delbert Doppler, as you already know, and this," he said indicating his younger female companion. "is Juliet Hawkins; the one who discovered the treasur—"
The doctor's words were abruptly stopped when the Captain clamped his mouth in an iron grip and quickly looked around for anyone who was listening. William made an extra effort to look concentrated on his fabricated task when he felt her gaze linger on him— probably since he was the closest crew member. He reached down and scratched an itch on his left ass cheek, barely keeping in his laughter at the Captain's almost palpable disgust at his scruffy and disheveled appearance and attitude that stood in such harsh contrast to her own, perfectly poised and elegant manner.
Shaking her head slightly she turned back to the doctor— whose face was still caught in her vice-like grip.
"Doctor, I would like a private word with the both of you in my cabin." She said quietly, before turning and leading the small group back to her personal quarters. As soon as the door shut and locked, William grabbed onto the nearby rigging and slid down a rope to get lower before dropping to the deck.
"How much of that did you get?" a nearby crew member asked quietly.
"Enough." He responded simply, before turning towards the galley.
—
"She won't have anything more than a gut feeling to go on, so it probably won't amount to anything as long as I am careful not to attract anymore negative attention." William said, handing a large pot to Silver. 'And as long as she doesn't recognize me somehow…' He thought to himself but chose not to share with Silver.
"Well, I suppose that's the best we can hope for, for now." Silver responded while he set the pot on the fire and started preparing a stew. William moved to pull down the ingredients that he knew the cyborg would need for the familiar dish. Silver saw that the correct ingredients had been laid out for him and gave the younger man a curious sidelong look.
"Don't look at me like that. I may not be amazing in a kitchen, but bonza beast stew is a pretty common dish— easy, fast and simple." William explained, a small smile coming across his face as he thought back to the many shared meals he had helped make in his earlier years.
"Well you may have made some wild man, barebones, bonza beast stew but what I am cookin' right here is a special family recipe for bonza beast stew!" Silver said with a bright smile and grandiose movements. "The likes a which ya never experienced before!"
"Oh, I beseech thee, great clanking one, teach me the secrets of the bonza beast stew." William said with a laugh and an exaggerated reverence. "Whats so special that you add into it?" He added in a normal voice.
Silver just shook his head with a smile. "You ain't gonna get my secrets that easily. If it was that easy then even the Procyons would be makin' it by now!"
Their conversation was interrupted when they heard voices and foot steps descending down the stairs to the galley.
"I'll not tolerate a crossword about our captain; There is no finer officer in this, nor any galaxy!" Arrow's voice said, carrying easily down the stairs.
William rolled his eyes, leaned back against the counter a bit deeper in the kitchen and crossed his arms casually as the group with Arrow, the Financier, and the younger female neared. He sat in the shadows and refrained from moving so he could watch the interaction while escaping notice.
"Mr. Silver." Arrow called out.
"Why Mr. Arrow, sir; bringin' such fine and distinguished guests to grace my humble galley," Silver said with a jolly kiss-ass charm while he wiped in hands and came forward out of the kitchen section. "Had I known I would of tucked in me shirt." Tucking his apron into his pants to emphasize it as a light hearted joke.
When Silver stepped forward out of the kitchen, William noted the way the girl's eyes locked onto Silver.
"May I introduce, Doctor Doppler, the financier of our journey." Arrow said, gesturing to the man in the void diving suit.
"Love the outfit doc." Silver said, scanning over it with a red laser from his cybernetic eye— which clearly made the canine uncomfortable because he immediately started to cover up his body with his hands. As if he thought Silver's eye had some x-ray function.
"Oh, ah…yes well thank you— love the eye…" The doctor fumbled out, before turning and grabbing the female and pushing her forward into the line of fire. "This young lady here is Juliet Hawkins."
"Julie!" Silver said, happy for yet another person he could assign a nickname to, extending out what looked like a hand made out of sharp and dangerous looking instruments meant for cooking— pausing when he noticed then switching back to his regular hand before he extended it in an offered handshake once again.
The young woman's eyes narrowed suspiciously and she held her stance and left her hands at her sides. William's eyebrows came together in a second of confusion. Most people were sometimes put off slightly by cybernetics and the like but, this seemed to be something else.
Silver saw that he wasn't going to get a handshake in return and he played it off. "Ah, don't be put off to much by this ol' hunk of hardware, lass."
He moved back over the the ingredients and began cutting and preparing them in a fantastic show of coordination and skill that was exceptionally rare for people using prosthetics to typically have. Cutting up ingredients and tossing them in the air while switching tools in his arm, adding it all together into a smaller pan and putting a flame under it before throwing it into the larger pot and mixing it. "They do come in mighty handy from time to time."
Silver pulled out two bowls, ladled scoops of stew into them and handed both of the new comers a bowl. "Here ya go, have a taste of me famous bonza beast stew." He said before leaning back and looking at them expectantly.
Juliet's suspicious look didn't pass from her face as she glanced back and forth from the cook to the contents of the bowl. The doctor on the other hand sniffed and then lapped lightly at the stew. "Mmmm! Delightfully tangy and…robust."
"Old family recipe." silver said proudly, then seeing the doctor's surprise when an eyeball floated to the top of his stew. "In fact, that was part of the old family!" Silver added before throwing his head back in laughter and slapping the doctor on the back.
The doctor looked rather uncomfortable again. Silver's laughter slowed down and grabbed the eyeball and tossed it into his mouth. "Just kiddin' Doc; nothing if I ain't a kidder."
"Go on Julie, give it a swig." He said, to the young woman who wasn't looking so hungry at the moment. She bravely picked up a scoop in the spoon, pausing to look at it to make sure she didn't get any eyeballs or anymore pieces of the old family. Her spoon however suddenly turned pink and translucent in her hand and a mouth closed around the scoop of stew with a smile.
The spoon soon slipped out of her hand and formed into a pink floating blob before turning into a straw and sucking up the rest of Julie's stew— burping when he was done, looking rather content sitting in the now empty bowl in a once again gelatinous state.
"Morph! you bubble-headed blob of mischief!" Silver said, with a mock stern voice. "Thats where you've been hiding all of this time."
Morph floated up in front of Julie's face to inspect her while she inspected him.
"What is this thing?" Julie asked, poking the blob with her hand and watching him split apart in multiple little pieces before reforming on her finger in a miniature version of her.
"That's a morph." Silver answered simply. Morph flew over to him and licked his face and nuzzled into his cheek. "Saved the little fella on Proteus I. He took a shine to me and we've been together ever since."
Arrow cleared his throat before cutting in. "Well, that's all well and good, but it's about time to get underway." Turning to Dr. Doppler he asked: "Would you like to watch the launch doctor?"
The doctor lit up, excitedly. "Would I? Does an active galactic nuclei have superluminal jets?" Looking at the blank expression on Arrow's face he added more quietly; "I'll follow you."
The party of three began to move towards the stairway and Silver went back to his cooking pot of stew, but Arrow held out a hand and stopped the young girl. "Miss Hawkins will be staying here, under your charge, Mr. Silver."
Upon hearing this Silver coughed up the spoon of stew he had been taste-testing and joined Juliet in sputtering out in protest. "Beg your pardon sir, but—"
"Captain's orders!" Arrow said harshly, leaving no room for discussion. "See to it that this new cabin girl is kept busy."
Both Silver and Juliet tried to give more excuses but gave up when the first officer simply ignored them and disappeared out onto the deck. They both deflated slightly.
"So the Captain's put you with me…" Silver said after a long and awkward silence, looking over the young woman before shrugging and turning back to the pot. "…Ehh, Who be a humble cyborg to argue with a Captain." He stated, resigning himself to the hand he had been dealt.
"Well, at least, you will have some company." Silver added, before turning his head towards where William still sat— unnoticed thus far. "Say hello Willy, she'll working with you from now on, show her the ropes and keep her out of trouble."
William felt slightly embarrassed at the nickname Silver had given him but refused to show it on his face when he moved out of the shadow and into easy sight— receiving a surprised look from the female. William gave a slight wave in her direction.
After recovering from her initial surprise he saw a flash of recognition flash over her face. Amusement also came and went quickly before suspicion narrowed her eyes once again as she looked between the two— obviously deciding that the two men seemed close enough to classify William as 'guilty by association' of whatever she suspected Silver of.
Her demeanor changed to more casual after a moment as she walked over and grabbed one of the fresh purps out of the open barrel, then sitting on one of the counters as she spoke. "You know…these purps remind me a lot of the ones back on Montressor; you guys ever been there?"
"I can't say I have, Julie." Silver said, not turning away from the pot. When her eyes fell on William, he shrugged nonchalantly. "This is my first time in this system and I have been pretty much stuck here on the ship." He lied, thinking back to very old and very new memories of being on the dusty planet's surface.
Juliet seemed unfazed by their denial and continued, still in a casual voice. "Come to think of it, just before I left…I met this old guy, who was looking for a cyborg buddy of his." Her eyes sharply examined each of them for any reactions.
"Is that so?" Silver said, sounding like he was barely paying attention.
"Yeah. What was that old salamander's name?" She said, tapping her chin as if trying to remember. "Oh, yeah. Bones, Billy Bones."
"Bones, hmm. Bones?" Silver said, as if testing out how it sounded. "Mm-mmm. T'ain't ringin' any bells."
"Must have been a different cyborg." William added. "There is a slew of them around since the war ended not too long ago. Cybernetics are the most popular prosthetics around."
Juliet bit her lip, seeming slightly annoyed at such a logical response. The conversation was thankfully cut short by the whistle of the boatswain's call from the deck— followed by Arrow's command, "Prepare to cast off!"
"Eh, off with you, lass. Go and watch the launch." Silver said, waving her off with a casual smile. "There'll be plenty of work a-waitin' for you afterwards."
The excitement that bubbled up in Juliet's face eventually won over the suspicion and she nodded and ran up the stairs. Silver looked over and William and jerked his head in the direction of the stairs. "You too, Willy."
William nodded silently and made his way up the stairs.
—
Juliet
—
She stood there blinking for a few seconds, listening to the flurry of noises on deck while her eyes slowly adjusted to the light.
"ALL HANDS TO STATIONS!" Bellowed the stone like first officer she had met earlier; causing an explosion of movement around the deck. Everything seemed to be moving as Julie walked around on the deck.
"LOOSE ALL SOLAR SAILS!" She heard Arrow call. Looking up in wonder, she watched as the sails fell into place and came to life with the energy of the nearby star. Her attention was stolen for a moment when a crew member who was pulling on a rope shoved into her and yelled at her in a scratchy voice to get out of the way.
Quickly making her way over the the side of the ship, she felt the deck move and looked over to see the dock slowly getting further away. As they got further away Julie felt herself slowly rising off the deck of the ship; looking around she saw the rest of the crew floating up as well. She couldn't stop the smile from coming across her face while she tried to keep her feet under her; when the artificial gravity was activated by Mr. Snuff— the farting crew member she and Delbert had encountered yesterday— she landed lightly on her feet.
The bow of the ship slowly swung upwards, towards the bright center of the galaxy. Julie was filled with excitement at the thought of what was to come as she looked out over the bow to the adventure that was waiting.
"You might want to hold onto something." A voice said behind her. She glanced back to find the cabin boy from the galley with one hand grabbing the lower part of the shrouds. Julie huffed out a breath and rolled her eyes before turning back towards the bow. She had become an expert at riding solar surfers at top speeds, so she was confident that she could handle whatever this large ship had to offer.
"TAKE HER AWAY!" Arrow ordered into a comm down to the engine room. For a few seconds nothing happened, then the ship seemed to catapult away and Julie's firmly planted feet slid from under her and she was propelled backwards before jerking to a halt when she felt something attach to the back of her jacket— stopping her from tumbling down the deck into something or someone behind her.
She looked up to find the muscular and tattooed arm of the cabin boy, 'Willy,' the cyborg had called him, was holding her firmly by the back of her collar and giving her an annoyed look. Her cheeks were slightly red when he finally pulled her up so she could grab onto the shrouds in front of him.
Once she had a secure hold on the rigging, Julie looked back to find that the young man was already climbing up the shrouds above her. Shrugging she followed him and climbed to a good height off the deck; looping an arm and a leg in the rigging, she leaned out and couldn't help but gasp when she saw a pod of large creatures the ship floated into the midst of.
"Orcas Galacticus." She said, before she vaguely heard Delbert saying something similar and try to take a picture of one before catching— what could only be described as— 10 kilos of snot from the blowhole of one of the creatures with his face.
Julie laughed, looking out at the gigantic creatures that flew through the Etherium. They were large but seemed rather graceful in their movements, one passed close by the side of the ship and gave the young woman an cursory glance before moving off with the rest of the pod. The Legacy slowly broke away from the group of creatures as it continued on its way.
It was a few minutes later that Julie finally tore her attention away from the stars; she looked up and down the shrouds and realized the cabin boy who had helped her earlier was no longer nearby. 'Guess I will say thanks later then.'
"Julie!" She heard the cook call as he came across the deck towards her with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face. "I got two new friends I'd like ya ta meet."
More excited than she would be willing to admit, Julie climbed down to the the deck and look around expectantly.
"Say hello to Mr. Mop," Silver said, tossing a mop from behind his back, soon followed by a bucket. "And Mrs. Bucket."
Catching both with a sullen expression, Julie simply replied "Yippie."
—
"I got your Mr. Mop." The young woman said to herself, thoroughly annoyed that she was the only one made to clean the huge main deck of the ship. She was even more annoyed at the continued movements of the crew over the areas she had already mopped; it almost seemed like a purposeful attempt to negate her efforts at cleaning.
She was broken out of her thoughts by a large limb shoved her back a few steps when a passing four-armed crew member came too close to her.
"Watch it, Twerp!" The very large creature said harshly before stomping away. Julie bristled slightly but, stayed silent. She may have been a good fighter in general but, against that giant mass of moving flesh with multiple arms with only a wet mop— she wasn't exactly confident in her odds. Julie thought more about her earlier encounters with the crew— namely the cyborg and that cabin boy.
She didn't really have any reason to be suspicious of the cook because she honestly wasn't sure how common cyborgs were nowadays; that cabin boy made a pretty logical point about the war, so it may have really just been a coincidence. However, the way that same cabin boy had seemingly materialized from the shadows of the galley had been uncanny. He just felt…different than anyone she had previously know but, she could figure out why.
'He did help me out, by not letting me bounce around the deck during the launch, though…' Julie thought to herself, not really sure what to think about him— or anyone else on the ship besides Delbert for that matter.
While she was lost in thought the cabin girl accidentally strayed too close to an ongoing, whispered conversation. Upon noticing the whispers, Julie looked up and made eye contact with one of the whispering crew members and he smacked his friend's arms and drew the other two's attention to the nearby girl with a mop.
Julie turned her attention back to the mop but when she glanced up again she found all of their eyes on her and scowls on their faces.
"What are you looking at weirdo?" Said one to the three. To Julie's surprise the 'head' of the one who had said that crawled off the shoulders of what she had thought was his torso with tentacles that she had thought was hair. A face appeared on the creature she had thought was a torso and agreed with his former 'head' that had crawled onto the barrel in-between the four crew members. "Ya, fuckin' weirdo!"
Julie wasn't sure what to say back but, she missed her chance to respond when she heard a hissing noise coming from the shrouds above her. She looked up to find a large red and black arachnid-like crew member coming down towards her.
"Cabin girls should learn to mind their own businesssss." he said, when he finally stepped onto the deck and loomed above her threateningly. 'Why does everyone who has a problem with me have to be double my size?' Julie thought to herself.
"Why, you got something to hide, bright-eyes?" Julie responded, still half paying attention to mopping. This didn't seem to entertain the spider-guy so much because he proceeded to lift her off her feet by her collar and speak even closer to her face.
"Maybe your ears don't work sss'well." He hissed at her, causing her to grimace as she caught some of his breath.
"Too bad my nose works just fine." She said truthfully— only succeeding to piss him off more.
"Why you impudent little worm!" He said, before pinning her roughly against the mast a few feet off the deck. Other members of the crew who had begun to drift closer, now gathered around them cheering on the fight. Most of them, Julie noted, were cheering for the arachnid to start slicing her with his claws. One of which found it's way under her chin. Her feet dangled in the air and she fought harder to breath as he pressed the claw holding her up into her neck.
"Any last wordss, Cabin girl?" He hissed out before another voice responded from nearby. "I should be asking you the same question, Scroop."
They both looked over to see the cabin boy stepping through the cheering crew members.
"Stay out of this Cabin Boy!" Scoop said, taking the claw that was under Julie's chin and pointing it at him while he kept Julie suspending against the mast with the other. The young man didn't show any sign of wavering at the threat.
"Scroop." He said in an eerily calm voice. "Put her down." Before the arachnid could respond, the gathered crowd grew quiet and a metal clamp captured Scroop's claw that was pointed at the young man.
"Mr. Scroop." Said Silver's voice. All eyes fell onto him as he continued speaking while casually eating a purp. "You ever see what happens to a fresh purp, when you squeeze real Hard." The metal clamp squeezing down on the arachnid's claw with so much strength that it made the arachnid yelp out in pain and suddenly let go of young woman.
Julie fell to the deck, abruptly landing on her ass and supported herself with an arm while she gratefully sucked in air.
"What's all this then?" Came the firm voice of the first officer, as he came down the stairs. The crew quickly started dispersing, trying to avoid the attention of Mr. Arrow. Julie picked herself up as he continued to speak to the crew, "You know the rules. There will be no brawling on this ship; any further offenders will be confined to the brig for the remainder of the voyage."
Then leaning down and speaking directly to the arachnid in a lower tone, "Am I clear, Mr. Scroop?"
Scroop growled slightly under his breath but, responded; "Transparently."
Satisfied, Arrow stood back to his full height and marched off, straight backed and squared in his shoulders.
"Well done, Mr. Arrow, sir!" Silver said in a somewhat kiss-ass sounding voice; shooing off the other members of the crew as he continued. "A tight ship's a happy ship!" Once the first officer was out of ear shot Silver turned to Julie and grabbed the discarded mop off the deck.
"Julie!" Silver said, pointing at Mr. Mop. "I gave you a job to do!"
"I was trying to do it before that bug-thing—" She started to defend herself before Silver cut her off; "Belay that!"
Silver then turned his eyes towards the cabin boy who was slowly trying to slip away. "Don't even think about trying to dodge me Willy!"
The young man mumbled something under his breath and came over to stand next to Julie with a sullen expression on his face while Silver continued to berate him. "I told you to watch her back and keep her out of trouble, you will never be anything more than a blimey cabin boy if you can't even do what you're told!"
The young man stayed silent and Silver shoved the mop into his hands, then shoved the bucket into Julie's hands and after searching for a second found a scrubbing brush and tossed it into the bucket. "I want this deck swabbed spotless!" The cyborg said to the two. "Heaven help ya if I come up here again and find it ain't done!"
The cyborg turned to the pink blob on his shoulder. "Morph, I want you to keep an eye on these pups. Let me know if there be any more distractions."
The small blob saluted, making an affirmative noise and made his eyes double the size of his body to look down at them as the cook moved off back to the galley. Julie huffed out an annoyed breath and looked over at her now co-cleaner who had an emotionless look on his face.
"Start cleaning. I'll go grab another bucket." He said, turning and walking away before she could say anything which only seemed to annoy her more.
—
"You could have at least said something." Julie grumbled as she pushed the brush back and forth like she had for the last few hours. "He might have actually listened to you."
"He was right, you didn't do your job and I didn't do mine." The young man that was mopping close by responded flatly. "And complaining isn't gonna get this deck clean any faster, so be quiet."
"Whatever, you're just fine because you aren't the one with the fucking brush." Julie snapped, shooting a venomous look from where she was kneeling on the deck. She looked back down at the brush and started pushing it roughly back and forth. Julie knew it wasn't his fault and that snapping at the only person who had helped her out thus far on this ship wasn't a good idea; but she was frustrated and felt an itch for a cigarette. The brush was suddenly snatched from her grasp and when she looked up at the cabin boy he shoved the mop into her hands and turned back to his task.
"Oh, uh…thanks." Julie mumbled, feeling guilty for directing her anger at him. He only grunted in response and started scrubbing the deck diligently. She started mopping but within ten minutes felt the need to at least say something to break the silence. Morph floated around her before turning into a mop and swabbing around where she stood, sliding over the young man's hand and then over Julie's boot.
Julie smiled down at the blob, turned miniature mop, before it flew up and floated around her head— turning into a pink blob once again. Letting out a sigh she leaned on her mop and spoke to the friendly blob.
"Well this has been a fun day, huh?" She said, "Making new friends, like that spider-psycho."
Morph changed into a miniature version of the arachnid and mimicked her words in a small squeaky voice. "Spider-psycho! spider-psycho!"
"A little uglier." She said with a smile. Morph stretched the face and let out a maniacal laugh which in turn made Julie laugh for real for the first time in a couple weeks.
Morph flew over to the nearby cabin boy who had stopped scrubbing to watch and gave him the same show. A small smile came across his face. "Pretty close."
"I don't know how you manage to work on the same ship as guys like that." Julie said to the young man. He thought for a moment before getting up and leaning against the bulwark and looking up at the passing stars. "I haven't really been with them for very long, but if you keep your head down and do your work then they won't bother you. Hell, they even might start to acknowledge you in passing."
Julie raised her eyebrow at that. "Seems like they somewhat tolerate you so far; how long have you been with them?"
Again, he thought for a few moments as if debating on whether to tell her or not. Apparently deciding it couldn't hurt he responded. "I think it's been about a month so far. It was a bit rough at the start since I didn't have all that much experience compared to everyone else as far as being a spacer went, but it worked out in the end. A few scuffles with a few members of the crew and a whole lot of hard work later and here I am— everyone's favorite cabin boy." He finished with an exaggerated bow.
He heard the young woman let out a laugh at his response. "Well, I'm glad they accepted you— despite you still slipping off the yardarms and almost flopping onto the deck, Willy."
'Willy' grimaced slightly and sent her an annoyed look, only to be met with the same amused look he had gotten earlier that morning. The unwavering smirk on her face made him roll his eyes with a groan.
"Just William or Will is fine." He said. "Silver just likes giving everyone nicknames; your lucky he just shortened yours."
"Well then" The young woman said, stepping closer to him and extending her hand in an offered handshake. "Juliet Hawkins. Most people call me Julie."
"William Kepler; Most people call me Will." He said, taking her outstretched hand in a firm grip.
"Well, look at this." Said a voice from nearby causing them to both turn and see Silver carrying a large pot of left over scraps from dinner. "Up here for more than a couple of hours and the deck's still in one piece. T'ank heaven fer small miracles."
Julie felt the warmth of Will's callused hand leave hers and he went to pick up the brush again. "Look, uh…" She started, drawing both of their attention. "For what you guys did…well, Thanks…for looking out for me." She finally managed to get out while looking between them, switching the mop between her hands.
Will leaned back against the bulwark again, not sure how to respond to the sincerity in her voice; Silver was the first to respond. "It's no problem, Lass. But didn't yer pap ever teach ya to pick your fights a bit more carefully?" He said in a friendly voice while he tossed the scraps over the side of the ship. At his words Julie's face fell a bit and the warmth slip away and she went back to mopping.
Will and Silver exchanged a look and Silver spoke again. "Your father's not the teachin' sort, huh?"
"Nah…He was the takin' off and never comin' back sort." She said with a hard bitterness in her voice. Will felt a familiar bitterness that he had carried since he was young burn slightly in his chest.
"Oh…" Silver responded a little softer before putting the pot down and walking over to lean on the bulwark next to where Julie was mopping and Will was sitting. "Sorry, Lass."
"Hey, no big deal." She said, trying to shrug her shoulders nonchalantly— sounding more like she was trying to convince herself rather than either of them. "I'm doing just fine— really."
"Is that so?" Silver said, rubbing his chin and looking over to the girl.
"Well, since the Captain's put you in my charge— like it or not— I'll be pounding a few skills into that thick head of yours to keep you out of trouble!" Silver said enthusiastically, poking his finger into Julie's forehead to illustrate his point.
"What?!" Julie said in disbelief.
"From now on I won't be lettin' you out of me sight!"
"Y-you can't do that!" Julie protested.
"You won't so much as eat, sleep, or scratch yer bum without my say so!" Silver threw back, slamming his bionic hand down on the bulwark with an even wider smile on his face at her protests.
"Don't do me any favors!" Julie spat, thoroughly annoyed.
Silver pat her on the head, good-naturedly. "Oh, you can be sure of that, Lass. You can be sure of that." Julie bristled and pushed his heavy hand away and looked back at him with all the ferociousness of an angry kitten and a frizzy mess of hair. Before she could protest any further Silver turned to Will, who was still sitting on the bulwark watching the interaction.
"Don't think you will be getting out the fun, Willy ma boy!" William opened his mouth about to protest but closed it once again and rolled his eyes knowing he couldn't escape his fate. "Yes, sir."
"Now, that's what I like ta hear."Silver said, then turned back to Julie. "You could learn a thing or two from 'im, Lass."
Julie just let out a groan and watched as the cyborg walked away while he whistled a jolly tune that was vaguely familiar. "I can't believe that guy, how can anyone work with him?!" Julie said, looking back to find Will already back to scrubbing the deck.
"You get used to it." He responded simply. "Now, Let's get to work; no doubt we will be up again in a few hours."
With a heavy groan, Julie went back to mopping— at least grateful that they were almost done with the cleaning. "Guess this is my life now, so I better just get use to it." She said, sullenly resigning herself to whatever Silver had planned.
"Now, you're starting to get it." Will said, with a smirk she could practically hear slide across his face.
.