Yay! Chapter 4! Unfortunately, I'm returning to the h*ll the government calls school tomorrow, so no more speedy updates. At least once a week, though, just not 4 in a week. Anyways. On to Jim.

RLS Bender, Deck:

It was a beautiful night out. The setting sun painted a vibrant watercolor of purple and pink over the water shimmering far below. The stars peeked out, growing brighter and brighter as they pulled farther away from the planet. The various moons and planets competed with each other, each trying to shine the brightest. Jim took this all in, leaning over the naval figurehead on the front of the ship.

"It's beautiful," he whispered to Morph.

"Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!" the pink blob squeaked, then changed into Silver's head.

"Yeah, little buddy," Jim said sadly. "I miss him too. I wonder where he is now."

"Who are you talking to?" a voice asked at his ear. He jumped, turning around to see a blond human girl, about his age.

"What?" he asked, running his fingers through her hair, leaning casually back against the wood.

She smirked. "Um-hm. I said, who are you talking to?"

"You," he replied coyly. "And what's your name?"

"Emma," she said. "Emma Jumo. And you?"

"Jim Hawkins," he answered. "You're going to the Interstellar Naval Academy?"

She shrugged. "I kinda have to. It's the only school I got a scholarship for, and-" But she broke off, looking embarrassed.

"Hey, that's cool," he said. "There's no shame in not owning a planet and a half."

But she flared up. "I wouldn't expect you to understand!" She turned on her heel and flounced away. Morph imitated her, making Jim laugh as he turned back to the stars.

"Girls," he said. "Yeesh."

Interstellar Academy, Dock:

The ships RLS Bender pulled into the dock at the Academy in early afternoon. As the new students piled out, they stared up at the massive building in awe. It was self-sustaining, not on a planet, built around the orbit of a near-by sun. It was a huge collection of metal buildings and docks, attached by walkways connecting them all. It was all over- up and down, side to side, a giant tangled mess of pipes.

"Wow," Jim murmured, swinging his bag up over his shoulder. A woman strode up to their group, a candid. Aside from her species, however, she was fairly reminiscent of Amelia. Jim smiled. The abrupt captain would fit in perfectly here. Distantly, he wondered why she had left the navy.

"Welcome to the Interstellar Naval Academy," she said brusquely. "I'm Captain Sierra, and I'm to give you the tour. Please stay close, pay attention, and hold onto the handrails while on the walkways." She led the way into the building so quickly that some of the younger teens had to trot to keep up.

"This is the mess hall," she was saying, and Jim had to force himself to pay attention. "You'll be eating in here. Across from it is the study hall, in which no talking will be tolerated. Down the hall there is the library, and out there is the gravity-simulation court yard."

The rooms all seemed huge, filled with older students who barely paused to glance up at the newcomers. Morph buzzed along by Jim, seemingly as amazed as he was. Sierra led them across their first walk-way, and it was a strange feeling. They had some artificial gravity, but a much lower amount, so each step was more like a jump. He understood why they wanted you to hold onto the handrails, it would awful to step too hard and go flying up into the Etherium.

"This is the dorm section, at least for students your age. Boys on the right, girls on the left. You can check your cabin assignments later. Across this walkway is one of the classroom portions of the building. You're going to want maps, believe me. For the first day or two, teachers won't be too strict about lateness, but after that... well, let's just say that we have all sorts of chores for you to do. Now, go check your assignments and get settled in. Dinner is ay 7 sharp. Tomorrow, your lessons begin."

She turned and strode away. The students stood silently for a moment, then collectively hurried over to the board.

"Room 21-a," Jim said, smiling down at Morph. "This should be fun."

Longboat, Far Reaches of Space:

"A bottle o' rum, love, a bottle o' rum,

Every man deserves even a bottle o' rum," Silver trailed off mournfully. The old sea shanty fell flat against the dark reaches of space.

"You really did it this time, didn'tcha, Silver?" he asked. "Thousands of miles from anything, no sun to power your sails, no food or drink... don't know how to get out of this one, old man."

He heaved his legs over the edge with a grunt, just for a change of posture. He had no idea how long it had been since his longboat had come to a juddering halt in the middle of nowhere, far from any light to power his sails. He had run out of food... actually, he had no idea how long ago, but long enough for the empty feeling in his belly to have turned into constant shooting pangs of hunger, his throat swollen and parched.

"What to do?" he asked himself softly. "No one knows where you are. No one cares."

For one desperate moment, he thought of his Jimbo. But Jim was at the Academy, now, wasn't he? Not likely to think of a lonely old cyborg.

"Nothing to do," he answered himself, leaning back and staring up at the unchanging darkness. "Nothing to do but hope and pray."

Don't worry, Jim's not going to get a girlfriend (unless anyone actually wants him too). I just figured it would be fun to have him flirting. Anyways... You see that little green button? The one that says review? Click on it. Come on, it's lonely!