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Sorry about the wait again! Here's the next chapter with more to come soon! Thanks!
Jim brought Alette out of the cabin and walked her onto the deck. It didn't take them long to get to the wheel of the ship. He turned to her and whispered low enough for just her to hear, "I need to make an announcement that way none of them try to slit your throat while you sleep."
She swallowed hard at the statement. Giving a small smile, she nodded. What had she gotten herself into?
Jim cleared his throat and addressed his crew, "All hands gather on deck!" He waited until he saw each person accounted for on the large deck of the ship. Alette felt a presence behind her back and she turned slightly. She was greeted with the kind warm brown eyes of a canine species. He was also very attractive for his kind but there was something off about the shape of his eyes. They were almost that of a cats. She jumped when Jim started to speak to his crew. His voice was incredibly loud.
"Attention all hands! I have taken up this woman to be my apprentice. She will be working on this ship for quite some time. As my personal apprentice I will be teaching her the ways of the ship. Please welcome Alette here as your new crew mate!"
The crew gave a small applause for Alette. The canine next to her yelled out to the crew, "Okay time to get back to work! We should be arriving at Eygrore in about a month!"
Everyone grumbled a little and walked back to their respective posts. Jim turned to Alette and saw that another one of his crew members didn't leave. He smiled, "Ah, well if it isn't my first mate! Alette this is Edwyn."
She looked back at the young canine. He was no more than the age of 16 but he had a passion in his eyes that she had never seen before. She offered her hand to Edwyn which he shook with surprising force. "Nice to meet you, Alette."
He had a kind voice with a hint of a British accent. She nodded and stepped back from the first mate. Jim then offered his arm for Alette to take as they walked, similar to the first time they met.
…
The tour itself was interesting to Alette. She had never been on a ship this big. She felt like a kid again as she looked around in the engine room and she was more than intrigued when they entered the cargo hold. Boxes upon boxes where piled up. All of which were tied down. Alette recognized the alien that was sitting down in the hold. She had to put her hand over her mouth to suppress a squeak of fear. It was the same person that was guarding the cargo when she arrived on the ship.
Jim looked down and gave her a concerning look. "I'm fine, uh, you said you were going to show me the kitchen next?"
Jim nodded and with a final look he led her to the kitchen.
When they arrived Alette was greeted with the sweet smell of pork smothered in brown sugar. Along with quail, lamb and other kinds of meat that she wasn't familiar with. She looked around and saw that there were foods of all colors. However the most colorful thing in the kitchen was the cook. She was a Bosan. Alette was completely fascinated. You never saw one of these creatures if you were walking around town, let alone on a ship.
The Bosan was a beautiful reptile species. This specific female had very soft and slim figures. Her eyes were a startling red. The rest of her was covered in green with bright blue highlights. Her hair was pulled into a tight red bun that was covered with a hairnet. Upon hearing the arrival of the captain and his new apprentice she turned around with the bowl that she was using still cradled in the crook of her slender arm. She looked from the captain and to the guest. Flicking out her tongue.
"Hello my name is Demetria. I am the cook here. I understand that your favorite food is Berry Cobbler and that you are a vegetarian. I know that you are around eighteen and that you are keeping secrets, girl."
Demetria turned to Jim and narrowed her eyes, "Why did you let this thing on the ship?"
"Umm… She was put on this ship by accident. We decided that the best thing for her right now is to learn the ways of the ship. This way we can get her home by using our schedule and teaching her along the way."
Demetria glanced back at Alette, "Captain Hawkins, why are you here?"
Alette was fed up with her attitude so she answered for him, "He brought me here because he thought that I would like to meet the only other woman here on this ship. Now that I have I would like to leave because you have scared me out of my wits and insulted me in the past minute."
She turned around on her heels and walked to the deck of the ship, not even caring that Jim was practically running to keep up with her. Once she reached the captain's quarters she opened the door and walked to the bed. Jim followed her and kneeled down so he was at her level.
"What's wrong? From the small amount of time that I've known you, I didn't think that you would be so upset over someone's words."
She looked into his eyes, "For one, Jim, I have never met a Bosan before. How could she tell so much about me already? And for two, why did she call me a "thing?" I did nothing to her."
"Bosans have this rare ability to taste specific things about a person. She flicked her tongue out before she spoke and that was when she discovered information about you. Like your age and your diet. However, I cannot answer the second part because even I don't understand."
Suddenly, without warning, she jumped up, "Alright, now that I have met the crew and had a tour of the ship I am ready to start my training."
A little shocked Jim nodded. "If you're ready then we could start with steering and directing the ship. We are nearing our first port."
Alette was so excited to finally be doing work.
…
It has been three months since Alette joined the crew of the SC Aurora. She had become a well-respected member of the crew. Jim had made sure to teach her about every part of the ship and every job that came with it. He found that she was extremely skilled at reading the sky and looking for dangers that may be in their path. The two had grown to become good friends. They had grown close enough that he appointed Alette second mate. This position holds the same responsibilities and rank as a first mate. However, the second mate has more control of the route that the ship will travel.
Currently they were heading to Giovis, a wealthy trading planet in the Andromeda Galaxy. Once they arrived there they will sell the designated amount of cargo and stock up for the next trip. According to Alette's calculations they were about two days of travel away from the planet. She was reading the different signs from the stars when Jim walked behind her. He chose to be silent, in order not to alert Alette of his presence.
He leaned his face down to where it was only a few inches away from her ear. Jim then spoke to her in a hushed tone, just loud enough to startle her.
"See anything interesting?"
Upon hearing his voice so near Alette jumped and moved away from her captain in a hurry.
"Jim!" She exclaimed, "Must you always scare me like that? I am trying to work here!"
She laughed lightly and crossed her arms over her chest. Jim couldn't help but snicker at her attempt to look angry with him. No matter what the poor girl did she still wouldn't be menacing to him. Of course, she had the "menacing" look down to an art when it came down to his crew. Most of them scurry out of her way when she walks by.
"Scare you?! Why I would never do such a thing! All I did was ask if you noticed anything that I should know about."
She sighed and glared at him a little only achieving yet another smirk, "Well, Captain, if you must know, there is a storm about 13 hours away. It looks like it will pass our ship with ease but, we should still be on our guard."
Jim's smile faltered slightly, space storms were highly unpredictable and it could change its course in a second. But he nodded, trusting Alette's judgement, "I will let the crew know right away. That way we will have our life lines ready if there is a need for them."
Alette glanced up from the sextant that she was working with, "Jim, you look tired, maybe you should go and get some rest."
Yet again, Jim was surprised at how attentive Alette had become. He was hoping that when he scared his fellow crew member she would not pick up the bags under his eyes. He wasn't sleeping well at all. Something was keeping him up at night and he couldn't pinpoint exactly what was bothering him.
"Alette, I'm fine. I can't sleep when there is a ship to be run."
This statement was proven when there was a loud bang and a sharp scream. Alette looked over and noticed that one of the crew members had dropped a crate on one of his six feet. She shook her head in disbelief, some of these crew members were level ten idiots.
Focusing back on Jim she firmly commanded, "Jim, go lay down and sleep. You need it. If you want to captain this ship then it would be better when you have had some sleep." She made a shooing motion with her hands, "Go, everything will be fine."
From being with her in these past three months Jim had learned that Alette's stubbornness is something that cannot be challenged. He shuffled away to his poor cabin and got ready for a much needed nap. Meanwhile Alette was watching the storm. It was acting irregular. Sometimes going North and other times going south. It was like the poor thing couldn't make up its mind about where it wanted to go. She stopped watching the storm and ended up gazing at the stars instead. With her time on the ship and out in space Alette had developed a love for the stars. The way that the light flickered in the brightest stars was what most often captured her attention.
About an hour passed while she gazed when suddenly she had a strange feeling. She grabbed the nearest spyglass and looked for the storm. It didn't take her long to find it. It was almost upon them! They had about ten minutes before it hit them. Alette sprinted to where the first mate was, she was gasping for breath by the time that she found him.
"Edwyn! You need to alert the crew NOW! There is an energy storm heading our way. It is highly erratic but, I'd say we have about seven minutes before it hits the ship."
With not a moment to lose Alette ran away from the canine and to the captain's quarters. Along the way she was chastising herself. She shouldn't have left her gaze from the storm for one second. Now they were all in danger.
Arriving at her destination she burst through the door, not caring about Jim's nap.
"Jim! Jim, wake up!"
She ran over to his bed and shook his shoulders violently. He was up in a second, "What, is it? What's wrong?"
"There is an energy storm heading straight for us. It should hit us at any second. I took my eyes off of it for a minute and then it was here."
"Alette, it wasn't your fault. Let's just get to the crew and help make sure they're safe."
They both started to sprint to the door when they heard the first of the meteors hitting the deck. The storm was here faster than they thought.
