"Attention to all units," Commissioner Hanz barked into the radio, "I want everyone from this quadrant to be on the lookout for a fully rigged, deep space vessel bearing the name the Donovan. Should you see it you are to detain it then inform me of it immediately!"
Sarah had stopped crying and was looking straight at the floor while Delbert was standing at the window.
"How do you expect to locate them? Everybody knows that Montressor has one of the smallest police forces in the sector when they get there they'll probably be out of your jurisdiction anyways." Delbert said once again sitting next to Sarah.
"Get... there!?" Commissioner Hanz repeated softly and turned to look at Delbert who immediately recognized his mistake.
"Well by there I mean their destination, well I mean surely they aren't going to stay here, so if it's not here its..."
"Doctor did you know that anyone charged with conspiracy or treason can have his entire family charged as well? It would certainly be a shame if your family were to be separated because you decided to aid a fugitive from the law."
"But I..." Delbert started but was interrupted by Sarah
"Delbert please! I can't allow you to get into this too." Sarah turned to the Commissioner, "If he tells you where they're headed will you promise to bring my son back?"
"As long as he cooperates he will be returned to Montressor." The Commissioner promised then turned to Delbert who fiddled around for a moment.
"Thados." Delbert said softly regretting that the commissioner had ever gotten involved
"Now was that so difficult doctor?" the Commissioner smiled a dry and toothy grin then turned to the radio, "Bring about the vessel we're going to Thados!" He turned to the two still sitting in the dining area, "I hope you two have a pleasant day." He said and turned exiting the door which closed quietly behind him.
"Why? Why? Why would Jim ever decide to go with Silver, I mean it just doesn't make any sense." Delbert said frantically
"What did Jim say they were after?" Sarah said slowly turning her head to face Delbert
"The Fountain of Life. But I don't see why Jim would ever take on such a foolhardy voyage with a man that had just kidnapped him."
Sarah turned to face a small table that had a picture of her and her son resting peacefully, "I do."
It had taken a couple days for them to get out of familiar space and Jim could feel the freedom of deep space once again. They'd taken care to avoid all of the main routes of travel that would be watched by the police, it was no small feet especially for a ship this size but Silver commanded his crew as though he were born to do it and soon they were far enough out that they could unfurl the sails and recharge the reserve power.
Jim was awake early looking as the stars drifted by feeling the cool night on his skin it pulled back memories of his voyage to Treasure Planet and how he had been the cabin boy then and now he was first mate. Morph and Ben spent most of their time with Silver, Ben because he was the last tie to Flint and Morph because he missed Silver. It gave Jim silence and a chance to think.
Behind him he heard a clatter of wood and turned to see Alia had fallen over and was struggling to pick herself up. She started to get up and then clutched her side and fell again as Jim rushed over almost slipping in the mop water to give her a hand.
"Go away! I don't need your help!" She said angrily as Jim grabbed her arm.
"You're hurt you need attention." Jim said. As he lifted her up part of her sweater lifted revealing a boot shaped bruise across her midsection. "Come on I'm taking you to the medical section."
"I said I don't need your help!" She yelled throwing the bucket which hit of one of the masts and she stormed off down to the kitchen
"Don't you worry about her," Silver stated coming in from the side with a smile, "She's a viper that one not missin much of the spunk you had when you were cabin boy."
"She's hurt." Jim said looking at Silver
"She'll be fine she's a tough one. In the meantime it's about high time you started to learn somethin about bein a first mate." Silver said leading Jim away. Jim looked back towards the black entrance to the kitchen hoping that Silver was right.
Over the next few weeks Silver had Jim working from before the sun rose to after the sun set on learning what it meant to be a first mate. Every once in a while he would catch a glimpse of Alia but as soon as she saw him she would go and work on another part of the ship.
The training was more mentally difficult then physically especially when it came to giving orders. Jim had only been a cabin boy before where everyone was above him and now the only person in a higher rank was Silver. Jim enjoyed being around Silver and when they weren't training Silver would tell stories from his days of being a spacer and would attract quite the crowd, even Alia couldn't resist to slow her pace of work to hear what he had to say only to pick it up at double pace when she saw Jim.
One night Jim had just gone off duty and was staring out at a nearby comet thinking when he heard Haversham barking orders. He turned to see the blue-green alien yelling at Alia that she would have to mop the whole deck again. Jim came over and noticed that Alia was fighting to not attract his gaze.
"Sir!" Haversham said standing at attention
"Stand down Haversham, I'll take it from here." Jim commanded
"Sir!" Haversham responded and walked below deck
Silver and Morph came up onto the bridge and looked out below them to see the two lonely figures in the twilight. Morph chirped and Silver smiled before taking control of the wheel.
"How many times do I need to tell you I don't need your help!" Alia said mopping back and forth in an angry fit
"You've made that very clear so this time I'm not going to help you, what I am going to do is to stand here and make sure that you scrub every inch of this deck before you go to sleep tonight."
"Don't do me any favors." She said under her breath
"You won't need to worry about that. Tell me is this how you treat everyone who tries to help?" Jim said slightly annoyed
"Nope! Just you." She said sarcastically
"What did I ever do?" Jim asked angrily but Alia remained silent. Jim put his arms behind his back and looked upwards at the sky, "You know you'd cover a lot more area if you went in a figure eight." Jim said not turning to see the look that Alia gave him
"And what do you know about work? A kid like you has had his whole life handed to him." Alia said with contempt
"What!?" Jim stated in disbelief
"You heard me. Your uniform is from the Galactic Academy and Silver just chose you out of the blue to be his first mate. That school isn't cheap."
"What this?" Jim said Gesturing to his white uniform, "I'll have you know I earned this doing the exact same thing that you're doing right now!" Alia didn't respond but Jim could tell she was listening, "When I first met Silver he was a cook and I was his cabin boy. We served under one of the meanest, toughest captains in the fleet by the name of Amelia. We went to find Treasure Planet..."
"You were on the voyage to Treasure Planet?" Alia said casting her gaze to Jim
Jim nodded, "Silver caused some trouble and I helped him get out of it," Jim said and turned towards the blanket of space leaning against the rail of the ship, "In the end he was more of a father to me than my real dad ever was."
"Is that why you decided to help in this voyage? Because of Silver?" Alia asked confused
Jim looked away and started to head towards his cabin, "Why don't you... take the rest of the night off. First-Mates orders." He said and walked away as Alia stood there with a mop looking at the ship's cat that had just hopped on the rail.
Thanks for reading I know this chapter is a bit shorter but I don't want to reveal too much at this stage. From the reviews it looks like people are exactly where I want them to be. The reason for Jim to give up everything and go with Silver will be explained later. How much later I don't know but I know that you will about crap your pants with how amazingly it is going to tie together. I have also been forgetting to thank my Story followers and favoriters(?!) so a special thanks to LilweenGalatrass, Music Anime31, and snareplayingpiccolo for faving and following the story Ultima S. Next, Thados' Graveyard.
