Part Two - Deception
Seven
The next morning, they all set out for the Spaceport. It felt like a slow journey, as things always do when the air is ripe with anticipation. But eventually, they got there, and boarded the Legacy for a last meeting before they all split up. They all solemnly entered Captain Amelia's stateroom, and Jim noticed that little had changed since the last time he had been there. He smiled in spite of the serious mood, and then sobered down.
Amelia nodded at Diana, and she left the room. Then Amelia turned to the young men and spoke.
"You will both be part of the crew, but as you are not supposed to know each other, show no signs of familiarity, not with each other and especially not with Diana. You must remain completely secretive." Amelia gave them each a grim look, and continued, "You will not contact me unless it is of severe importance. And I will find you if need be. Now, here are your suitcases." She handed them each plain bags. "Mr. Hawkins, yours contains your uniform and other such items. There are also a few other things that may come in handy." She gave him a strange look, and turned quickly to Alex. "Mr. Turnbuckle, yours contains rather standard clothes for a captain, as well as other props for your façade. Now, both of you change, I will return in a moment."
Amelia left and closed the door behind her, walking down the width of the ship to another door, where she knocked.
"Come in!" Diana's muffled reply called, and Amelia opened the door to find the young woman in an elaborate gown and gloves.
Amelia stepped inside the cabin, and closed the door gently. "My dear," she said gently to Diana's slightly pale face, "are you quite alright?"
"Oh, yes, yes." Diana replied hurriedly, turning to a mirror fixed to the wall, and adjusted her elaborate hair.
"Diana," Amelia started. Then she paused, but continued. "Do you remember anything about your mother?"
Diana looked at her sharply, and replied, "Very little. You've been my mother these years, Amelia."
Amelia smiled, and put an arm around the girl. "When she died, she told me something Diana, and made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone, excepting you when you were old enough."
Diana turned to her, confused. "What?"
"I should have told you sooner, but you have the right to know, now that you will be getting involved in these matters." Amelia's ears drooped, but she still stood tall. "Your – from your mother's side – your blood is . . . different."
Diana suddenly turned pale, and thought to herself, That's what Alex said! But different? Different how? And what does she mean by 'getting involved in these matters'?
Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by a loud knocking from the door. "We have to go, we'll be late!" Dilbert's muffled voice came through the door.
Diana's stomach was churning with emotion and anxiety. What, what, WHAT? She asked. What's wrong with me? What's this secret something about my blood? Why is it so important?
Soon enough, Diana found herself hugging everyone goodbye, her mind wandering. Then, before she could do anything to prevent it, she was on her way, boarding the large merchant ship with the airs of an important person; she was a good enough actress to stay in her part, even when her mind was wandering. Diana was led to her room in a daze, though all viewers would have heartily believed that she was keeping a sharp eye on all proceedings. But when she got to her room, all the attendants left and the door was closed, Diana lay down on the bed and closed her eyes. She was breathing deeply, as if she was asleep, but she was really wrestling for control of her thoughts and emotions. When Diana felt that she was sufficiently governed, she pulled out her façade, and quickly touched up her hair. Then she grinned wickedly at the mirror.
It was time to go find some pirates.
Jim reported to the first mate, and his grey uniform identified him as part of the Heavy Working Crew. The Attendant Crew, or the Light Working Crew, as the HWC had nicknamed them, had blue uniforms; they were the ones who would be seen.
Jim heard the cry of "Half hour til we're off lads, you have half that time to be back here!" as he joined in the throng of grey uniforms. They were all heading to their rooms, something almost unheard of for crews on voyages. This ship was equipped with many small rooms with bunk beds, an idea that was supposed to prevent brawling on ships with large crews.
He followed a hallway down to the last room to the left which had his room number on it. He opened the door warily, but his roommate hadn't arrived yet. Jim put his suitcase on his bed, and began to haphazardly unpack. He pulled out a few more grey uniforms, another pair of plain black work boots, as well as some blandly coloured shirts and pants. Jim saw an extra pair of boots under what he thought was his last article of clothing to unpack, and pulled them out. Then he laughed in astonishment – they were dress boots, fancy shoes that were very unsuitable for someone who was part of the Heavy Working Crew. Jim looked back down, and realized that there were more things under the boots he had just pulled out.
Mr. Hawkins, yours contains your uniform and other such items. There are also a few other things that may come in handy . . . Jim stared, disbelieving. What would Amelia think he needed those for? Before he could search the rest of his suitcase, Jim heard footsteps outside the door. He quickly threw the boots back inside his suitcase, locked it, and slid it under his bunk quietly.
Just then, a young man appeared in the doorway and grinned. "I suppose you're my roommate?"
Diana was on the deck, sitting at a table, and laughing uproariously with about six other ladies who all had slightly questionable edges if a person looked closely.
"Oh my, Diana, you are simply a riot!" one of the women declared, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. "You are marvellous. Aren't we the luckier that she introduced herself, eh girls?"
The other women nodded and laughed a little louder than was appropriate. One had a thin scar on her arm, another manners that were far from cultivated. But Diana had noticed all their small signs of not-so-honourable pasts, and chosen them for that very reason. Diana laughed along with them and thought, if anyone knows the sketchier figures on this ship, it's them.
"But my," Diana declared, "there are many handsome men on this ship!" She said, feigning enthusiasm. Him, Di! Her mind said, but Diana put it away quickly. "I say, do you girls know any you could introduce me to? I am terribly shy," she finished with a wicked grin. It set all the ladies off laughing again.
"You, shy!" one chortled. "Well, I do declare, Miss Diana Arbultstone, you are the baddest of us all!"
Diana grinned, and then made it give way. "But really," she said, looking down, "I find it terribly boring to just walk up to a man I don't know and introduce myself." She looked up. "But I do suppose that you girls know some fellows who know how to have a few laughs!"
All the women laughed again, and agreed, fully captivated by Diana Arbultstone.
"Well, there is an opening ball tonight, and I daresay that our little flirt Diana would like to be introduced to some handsome young men!" The woman on Diana's right, Tamara laughed.
"Oh yes," Diana grinned.
"But it's a masked ball," one of the ladies pointed out.
Diana laughed. "Oh girls, you'll know who I am." She grinned. "I'll be the one wearing a dress like nothing you've ever seen before!"
"I daresay you will," another laughed, "but just the same, let's meet at –"
"No, you girls go ahead," Diana put in. "You meet, and I'll join you later. It takes me an awfully long time to get ready for these sorts of things, you know how it is."
They all fairly screamed with laughter, but Diana was thinking, Oh my, I'll have to wear a simply ridiculous getup for this!
Alex was in his stateroom, making sure everything was perfect. Looking over his papers, he shuffled a few to the side. He smiled and sat down; yes. Everything was ready for his part of the voyage.
Jim was well acquainted with his roommate after a few minutes, and liked him rather well, except for a small part of him that thought the other young man was missing something vital. He had light brown hair and brown eyes, a wicked grin and a thin scar running the length of one side of his face.
Before he was there long enough for Jim to wish that he would leave, he disappeared out the door with a grin. After a moment of listening to his footsteps, Jim pulled out his suitcase, and opened it. A . . . suit? He asked in astonishment. It was black, with a white shirt, complete with gloves. Then, warily, he began pulling out other items. There was a long, pale blue bandage that shimmered. Jim furrowed his brows, trying to remember where he'd seen something like that before. His memory failed him, and he turned to pull out other things.
Next, there was a black mask that snugly covered the area around his eyes. Jim was questioning, but as it matched the suit and boots, he laid it beside them. Next, he pulled out a small dark container. He wondered for a moment if a compact from the pile of makeup Amelia had insisted, for the sake of being undercover, that Diana pack, had ended up in his bag. But when he flipped it open, he found two pairs of brown coloured contacts.
Diana's eyes are already brown, he thought, these couldn't possibly be for her. But the suit . . . the boots . . . the mask . . . the contacts . . . and that bandage! Jim shook his head, and then remembered the time. Then he noticed that there was one more small item left in the suitcase. He pulled it out. It was a very deep blue square, with the depth of only a few millimetres. It was about the diameter of his wrist, and Jim was completely baffled by it. It didn't look mechanical at all; on the contrary, it looked like a piece of the sky had been cut away. Jim tucked the square into his boot, and threw everything back into his suitcase, and hurried out the door. He closed it quietly, and noticed that everyone was gone.
Jim hurried down the hallway quietly and was about to turn the corner, her heard hushed voices, and stayed in the shadows.
"But tonight! That's so soon!"
"There's no better time. No one will suspect. The longer we draw this out, the harder it'll be. It has to be tonight, during the masked ball."
"But sir, are you sure –"
"Quiet! My father pays you; you'll do well to listen to me."
"Yes sir."
"Now, I've sent the message and the coordinates of where we'll be. All you have to do is act normal, Crowley, if that's not too much trouble."
"Y–Yes, sir."
"Good. Now, we'll be late, go."
Jim heard boots on the wooden floor, and saw from the shadows only the backs of two regular-looking humans walking away.
They're human, that narrows it down some. Jim commented to himself, then took a different corridor than the others had gone down to fall into the crowd of uniformed crew, thinking only, Tonight. I have to tell Diana.