Jim put his hands over his head, stretching them up into space, imagining he
could be touching the stars. But they eluded him, just as they always did.
He wasn't concerned though, the stars would always be out of reach. Just
beyond his fingertips and shining ever so seductively. He smiled, knowing
that at least one thing in his life would remain constant. It was his last
night of duty, tomorrow he would be switched to a new rotation and back to a
more normal schedule of sleep and work.

It had been a few days since he'd been to see the girl in the brig. He'd
forced himself to stay away, not wanting to become more involved than he
ought to be. He had to admit though, staying away had been harder than he
had thought it was going to be. But he should be doing it, for his own good.
At least that's what he had been telling himself for the last few days. And
he would continue to repeat that mantra over and over until they docked and
he could put distance between himself and this mystery girl.

Jim heard the door creak open, but from his lookout vantage point he didn't
look down to see who it was. Probably just a spacer out for some fresh air,
seeing as how the crew sleeping arrangements were known to become stuffy. It
surprised him then when a flash of what was probably light fabric caught his
attention out of the corner of his eye. He looked down only to see the hem
of long garment dissapeared from view, headed towards the bow. Scaling down
the mainmast quickly he made his way to the front of the ship, his stomach
in knots, suppresing the suspision of who would be wearing such a long hem
on this voyage. Instinctively he knew that it could only be one person, but
he didn't want to say it. Let alone think it definitevly.

As he approached he recognized the outline of her, and his footsteps slowed
to keep from startling her. She stood still at the very bow, leaning into
the forward motion of the ship, her arms crossed in front of her and her
hair blowing slightly in the night breeze. Jim thought she looked like one
of those intricate mast heads he'd seen on merchant vessels in port, she was
standing so quiet. He loathed breaking the silence.

"Hey," he said, hating the way the word shot out into the air, tainting the
moment. The girl spun on her heels, bumping against the railing and fixing
her eyes on Jim with that same fearful intensity he'd seen so many times.
"It's ok," he said, putting his hands up and backing into the railing
opposite of her, trying to put distance between the two of them. "I'm not
going to hurt you." Her eyes seemed to relax a bit, once she realized who it
was.

"My boat is gone," she said. Once again guilt flooded through Jim. He remembered watching the little long boat float away after he'd pushed it, and he'd felt guilty then as well.

"I'm sorry," he said. She turned away from him and looked back off into space.

"I need that boat," she said.

"Where do you want to go?" She didn't answer though, just kept staring off into the abyss. Suddenly it occurred to Jim, what was she even doing out on deck? Why he hadn't thought of this before he didn't know, but now that he had he forgot taking precautions.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, moving over to stand next to her and look at her face. Her eyes met his again, and they reflected the starlight around them.

"I need that boat," she said again, more force behind her voice this time.

"Well, look," Jim said, "I'm sorry that your boat is gone, but there's nothing I can do about it. And as far as I can tell there's not much you can do about it right now either."

"Are you always this reassuring?" she said looking at him with cold eyes.

"Only with good friends," Jim said. He relaxed against the railing again, putting his hands in his pockets. "What are you doing on deck?"

"What's it to you?"

"Because I'm on watch and it's my duty to know what's going on. For all I know you could be up to some unsavory activity."

"Don't concern yourself so much with my activities."

"If you'll forgive me it's a bit difficult to trust what you say, seeing as how I know nothing about you." If looks could kill, Jim knew he'd be six feet under at that very moment. But he found the antagonistic exchange between the two of them to be amusing, fun in a way. He smiled.

"What's so funny?" she said, venom in her voice.

"Well, it seems like the only time you're willing to talk to me is when you're mad."

"It's not my fault if you elicit that reaction from me," she said. Jim felt the sting more than he had expected to. "If you'll excuse me," she continued. "I'll remove the stress of my presence from your watch." She left Jim standing on the bow, a dead weight in his stomach and wishing he'd just mind his own business for once.

XXXX

She was sleeping in the infirmary now, after being removed from the brig by the doctor and installed as his extra help. Returning now to the tiny medical room, she felt her exasperation growing to the point of explosion. Her escape plan had completely backfired, although looking back now she wasn't entirely surprised at the outcome. It was rather hastily planned and she hadn't thought through all the elements. But that hadn't stopped her before. And there was the issue of this man who kept getting in her way.

"Who does he think he is?" she said aloud to her self, her frustration getting the best of her. She sat down on the bunk, balling her fists and putting them to her forehead, trying to press calm into her skull. Tears began to well in the corners of her eyes, she felt trapped. Her boat was gone, and how she was going to get off this wretched ship without being noticed was beyond her.

She turned and looked out the porthole on the wall, scanning each direction that she could see, looking for any sort of motion or sign of life in space. At the moment she didn't see anything, but that didn't keep her from tensing when she lay down to sleep that night.