(Told you I'd put up two! It's compensation! Go me. I'm just doing this because I have nothing else for this story and figure I'll do this now so I don't stall or anything. Review, flame, whatever. Do your worst! Lol... Have fun! Read on... To inifity and beyond...! Sorry, that was so random! Coming from me, it wasn't but it might be. Just read the story and review please! I'll send cyber candy to whoever does...)
Chapter 6- Jim's Point of View
Going on the R.L.S. Legacy meant freedom for me, a freedom I'd never known. It also meant leaving behind everything important to me: Montressor, mom, the old Benbow, Rose…
Only God knew how much I actually love that girl. And the day before I left, she disappeared without a good-bye; except that damn note. I think she's what I'll miss the most.
"Jim, oh Jim," Doctor Doppler called. He was wearing this ridiculous space suit; why? He was an embarrassment. The worst thing about it: he was wearing the suit wrong, it wasn't even plugged it. I didn't have the heart to tell him. "Jim, I think I found the Legacy!" I turned and found him in the crowd.
"Yeah doctor, I heard you the first time," I said. That's when I got my first look at the R.L.S Legacy. I was actually amazed with her- the ship I mean.
"Let's go aboard Jim! We'll be leaving in a little while and we best get to know the lay of the boat!"
"This is a fine ship, Doctor Doppler," a booming voice called. "I best not hear ya' call her a boat again!" The doctor cringed at his own mistake. The two of us walked up the gangplank and met the owner of the booming voice. He looked to be chiseled of stone.
"And who are you my fine sir? I'm guessing the captain?" the doctor asked. The man laughed deeply.
"I'm Mr. Arrow sir, but I'm the first-mate. The captain is aloft." I looked up, following his gaze through the riggings. I saw a feline-like creature flipping through the lines and sails as if they were there for such a purpose. An acrobatic, feline, feminine captain, I thought with a smirk on my face. What a treat this will prove to be… She landed without a sound on the deck in front of me and the captain. She brushed herself off and then stood straight up, looking rather professional.
"Ah, yes, hello doctor! Can you hear me?" she asked talking very loudly. She tapped his helmet.
"Why, yes I can hear you perfectly fine ma'am!" he said with a smile. She continued to tap his helmet.
"Hello doctor, can you hear me?" He removed the helmet quickly, receiving a tap to the head.
"I CAN HEAR YOU!" he yelled. She smiled, knowing he could all along.
"I am the captain of this ship, as my first mate, Mr. Arrow seems to have informed you. My name is Amelia; but you will address me as captain or ma'am at all times." She stared about the ship, and then her deadly gaze landed on me. "You must be Mr. Hawkins. You do have the, um, required papers, right?" she asked, talking quickly in a hushed voice. I nodded once. "Splendid! Now, let's go to my cabin and sort this all out." She walked off and two other people and I followed.
Her office was plain, too empty to seem like it was ever really used. There was a messy bed in one corner, a neat desk, and pictures and maps from around the galaxies. It wasn't too amazing to me. I think my room was more exciting than this could ever be.
"Mr. Hawkins; lets see this map of yours before we embark on this utterly useless voyage," Amelia said. She was rubbing her hands together with an excited look on her face that made me think her opinion on this trip was quite different than she had stated. I took out the small sphere and tossed it to her. She tried to open it, but became frustrated and tossed it back to me. "I don't usually need help with this sort of thing, but since you already know how to work this map, I'll let you." I held it, staring at the intricate design for the hundredth time since finding it.
"Jim," the doctor said giving me a stern look, "why don't you open it up?" I pushed in some of the dots, it spun and whirled to life; seconds later the room was bathed in the cool light of the map, th galaxy lain out before us.
"Wow," the captain said softly. I reached out and touched the spaceport and the map began to move quickly. Then, as it approached Treasure Planet, I closed the map. Everyone gave me sharp looks.
"People might be watching the room," I explained. The doctor and captain nodded approvingly.
"Capt'n," Mr. Arrow said opening a safe. She took the sphere from my hands and tossed it to Mr. Arrow who locked it away.
"You are not to touch, talk about, or even think of that map until we land. Is that clear to you all?" Amelia said. I nodded my head. "Now Jim, you are to be the cabin boy working for the cook. Go down to the galley right now and get to work; we don't let anyone on this ship and not make them work for their keep."
"Cabin boy, but I found the map! Without me, this wouldn't be happening!" Can you say I was a little mad? I didn't like to think I was being reduced to the ranks of cabin boy after discovering the map responsible for this damn mission. Without me and my map, well, then we'd not be here.
"Mr. Hawkins, I gave you an order. Now get down to the galley before I decide you're to sit in the prison hold until we reach the God-forsaken planet!" Can you say she overreacted? She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, then continued in a calm voice. "You are to assist the cook and the other cabin boy."
"What about me?" The doctor asked. I was wondering what he expected really.
"Do whatever it is you want, as long as you aren't in the way of my crew or me. If you are in the way, then consider yourself in the kitchens working as well," Amelia replied stoically. She was smiling to herself, even I could see that. "Is that clear?"
"Yeah captain," I said through clenched teeth. I was furious over her treatment towards the doctor and myself, treating us like slaves or worthless junk she could boss around. Who did she think she was?! Well, obviously the captain, but my point is… Never mind, I guess, I'm just venting.
Mr. Arrow led us down to the galley; the captain and I complained back and forth the whole way.
"Ye won't disrespect the captain while I'm around to hear it! There be no finer captain in this here or any galaxy and I won't stand to hear you say anything dirty about her!" Arrow said. There was obviously at least one person on this ship who didn't despise the overly strict captain. Just then, I was aware of loud singing in the galley below us. We finished walking down the dusty, dark steps and I had my first look at the man I'd be working for during this little voyage across several galaxies.
A cyborg on the ship! That creature- Billy Bones- was hiding the map from a cyborg… How many can there be in one galaxy, let alone two in only a few days? If this was the same one, on the same ship as the very map Billy had died trying to save- it could mean trouble. I'll have to watch him very closely the entire voyage.
"Why Mr. Arrow sir, bringing such fine gents into me humble galley! If I had known, I'd have tucked in my shirt." the cyborg said with a throaty laugh.
"May I introduce Doctor Doppler, the financier of this voyage," Mr. Arrow said as Delbert stepped forward.
"Love the outfit doctor," the cyborg said as his laser eye zoomed over the doctor's outfit.
"Well, um, uh, thank you; love the eye," the doctor replied sheepishly. "Uh, this young lad is Jim Hawkins." He pushed me forward against my will. I couldn't help but shoot him a dirty look.
"Jimbo," the cyborg said, stepping forward and sticking out his mechanical hand. Instead of his metal fingers though, he extended several knives, acting as if it was a mistake. I'll bet it wasn't. He quickly switched to his normal hand and offered it for me to shake. I just glared at his too-happy smile. "Aw, don't be put off by this hunk of hardware." He then proceeded to cut up various foods with his mechanical hand. "Whoa," he said, faking slicing his hand off. "These gears take a bit o' gettin' used to, but come in mighty handy from time to time." He thus went on, slicing and dicing, and then lighting a quick fire for them to cook over. It all went in a big pot and he seasoned it and everything. "Here now, have some cups o' me famous bonzabeast stew." He handed a bowl to the doctor and me. The doctor hesitantly lapped some up.
"Mmm, delightfully tangy, yet robust," he slurped some more up.
"It's an old family recipe," the cyborg said. An eyeball suddenly popped up from the stew.
"Ah," the doctor screamed, almost fumbling and dropping the bowl. The cyborg began to laugh.
"In fact, that was part of me old family!" He laughed heartily and ate the eyeball. "Just kiddin' doc; aw, but if I ain't a kidder. C'mon Jimbo and have a swig." He nudged me as I picked up the spoon to try the stew. Just as I was about to try the spoon, it began to wiggle in my fingers, turning pick as the stew disappeared. Suddenly it morphed and turned into a little pink blob that kept squeaking playfully and wagging a "tail" as if it was a little dog.
"Whoa," was all I said to show my shock.
"Morph, so that's where ye was hiding!" the cyborg said. "You little pink blob o' mischief." It dove into my bowl, splashing it slightly, and drank the rest of it down, burping in content when it was down.
"Whoa, what is that thing?" I asked as it brushed up against my cheek.
"What is that thing?" it mimicked, morphing into me.
"Why, it's… it's a morph. I rescued the little shape shifter off o' Protius I. We've been together since," he said. The little blob began to nuzzle with the cyborg and he began talking to it. A bell rang in the background.
"We're about to get underway. Would you like to observe the launch doctor?" Mr. Arrow asked.
"Would I?!" the doctor asked in excitement. "Does an active galactic nucleus have superluminal jets?" It was silent for a moment. "I'll follow you."
"Mr. Hawkins will stay here in your charge, Mr. Silver." Silver almost began to choke on his stew. I'm not sure if that would have been a good thing or not, but definitely a show.
"Begging your pardon sir-"
"Captain's orders; see to it that the new cabin boy is kept busy." Mr. Arrow said, cutting off Silver. He didn't seem to tolerate nonsense at all. The doctor disappeared with a sorry glance over his shoulder, leaving me with the cyborg.
"So," Silver said to break the silence. "Another one of ye little worms to be under me charge, eh? This'll prove to be rather interesting."
"Whatever," I said, retrieving a purp from the large barrel and eating it slowly. I was assuming the lavish meals would be reserved for the higher ranked people on the ship, not the cabin boy.
"Where's me other cabin boy? Blast it; I can barely control one, never even mind a second! Cabin boy, git your sorry bum in here now! Can't even remember the other's name; ridiculous o' the captain to assign me any help. I handled it all by myself before; I can surely do it now! They think I'm getting' too old for this job, but I'm more able than ye young twits!" I let him ramble, nodding my head to seem like I was listening; in one ear, out the other. "So I best give you some work I guess."
"You don't have to really," I said. If these guys thought he needed help, maybe he had a screw or two loose after all. That'd be a definite plus on my part. I was just along to get rich, not work.
"I think I should though. The captain and crew count on me for the food, you should do work as well. If you're here, you need to earn your keep," he said with a glare. The bell went off once again and the noise of feet above head grew more and more frantic as last second arrangements were made and the ship was prepared for launch.
"But-" I was about to argue I'd found the map, but remembered that it was a secret. You never know who's working the other side, and I wasn't ready to trust this particular cyborg.
"Well, I guess ye can watch the launch and git to work after that. There'll be plenty o' time for working later on in the voyage… plenty o' time for sure." I smiled; maybe I could trust him a bit. I bounded up the steps, almost running right into someone I hadn't expected to see.
"Hey there Jim; working hard already I see?" Rose said with a broad smile. If I was smiling at the prospect of putting off work, seeing Rose almost made me burst. We hugged quickly, clearing the top of the stairs so people would stop giving us dirty looks.
"What are you doing here?" I asked. She smiled evilly.
"I enlisted as a cabin boy on a voyage, and luckily for the two of us, got a job working here! Ain't that just great! I had hoped to get picked, maybe see you out here, but when I saw the name of the ship I'd be on, I was stunned. Talk about luck right?!" she talked a mile a minute, but years of practice helped me keep up.
"It's definitely lucky," I said as the ship began to take off from the spaceport.
We watched from the top of the mainmast as home grew smaller quickly. This would prove to be a real whirlwind adventure, especially since none of us really knew what it would hold.
(HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! EAT CANDY AND GET FAT! LOL, DON'T TAKE THE POISONED STUFF THOUGH! MAKE YOUR FRIENDS EAT THE STUFF YOU THINK MIGHT BE POISONED, WORKS FOR ME! ENOJY, TRICK OR TREAT! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!)