"I had paid for passage from Tortane to Portavera, and the trip had been relaxing. I loved watching the stars and climbing the rigging. My mother," Lucy cleared her throat, "she worried I'd fall and break something."
Silver imagined her story.
"Lucy! Be careful, please!" a woman yelled far below on the deck.
With a smile on her face, Lucy swung down the riggin' and landed in front of her mother. "Mom," she complained, "I'll be fine! Isn't this great?"
"Great is one word for it, dear. The captain, he, watches you too carefully in my opinion. Stop showing him you'd make a great sailor!"
Lucy's eyes sparkled, "I would make a great sailor wouldn't I?"
"Lucy, are you listening to me?"
Lucy rolled her eyes at her mother, "Mom, I'll be fine! Now, I'm going to go see that star from the crows nest!"
Her mother tried to yell at her to return, but Lucy was already half up the riggin', her laughter following her.
Lucy could see everything from the top of the crows nest, and she studied the bright star miles away. It glowed pink and red, burning silently.
Then Lucy looked to the port side of the ship. They were going to fly right above a white planet. She crawled down the riggin', hoping to find someone who could identify the planet for her. She found the captain.
"Captain, what planet is that?"
The Captain smiled at her sweetly. "Why it is Cartacaibo, Lucy. Despite being one of the largest planets in the galaxy, it has a small population."
Lucy looked at him quizzically.
The Captain kindly answered her unspoken question, "There are raging ice and snow storms below. Not many can survive the below zero temperatures without a lifesuit. Those that can survive it are known to be uncivilized savages."
Lucy's nose wrinkled, "Why are they considered savages?"
"Rumors abound tell us they eat human flesh to stay alive in the cold temperatures. Apparently they've never heard of storing food-heavens know they could just keep it outside to freeze!" His laugh rang out over the ship.
Lucy continued to grimace. They would eat their own people? She watched as the ship sailed closer to Cartacaibo. Then decided she wanted a better look. She waved goodbye to the captain and ran to the bowsprit. She loved to balance at the front most part of the ship, imaginin' that she was flying, instead of the ship.
Then, an explosion came from behind her. She quickly looked back and saw smoke billowing up into space. The crew rushed around in a frenzy, yellin' to each other that they were under attack.
"Pirates!" The word rang out.
Lucy scanned the deck for her mom, frightened. She ran off the bowsprit, down to their cabin, and still found nothin'. Up on the deck once more, Lucy saw men fightin' men and cutlasses cutting through flesh.
One burly alien saw her, smirked, and pulled his cutlass out from another man's chest. He began to walk towards her, his sword gleaming with blood. Lucy tried to back up, watching the him fearfully. She had not thought to carry a weapon. She slammed onto the deck, having slipped on blood. The alien stood over her now, leerin'.
Then a cutlass cut his chest open and blood fell onto Lucy's face. The alien angrily swung his sword at his new attacker-the Captain-but could not remain standing as the Captain yanked his cutlass from his body. The alien slumped to the deck, dead.
Lucy stared at the body for a long time. She'd never seen anyone die before. The Captain yanked her to her feet and yelled somethin' at her, but she could not make out his words. He pushed her toward his cabin, only letting go when he had to fight off another pirate.
Lucy stumbled toward the bilge, realizin' now that she had to get off the ship or die. She followed the flow of crewmen down to the lowest part of the ship where they harbored the lifeboats. Screams came from in front of her, and she saw the pirates had already claimed the area. The crew valiantly fought through the enemy, trying to save their skins.
Due to the sheer amount of crewmen coming at them, the pirates faltered. The door opening into space had slowly opened, allowing some of the crew to push the pirates out into the nothingness.
Somehow Lucy found herself in a lifeboat with other crewmen, sailin' down toward Cartacaibo. They entered the atmosphere, fog blinding them. Lucy couldn't see any of the other crewmen in the same boat. She reached her hand toward someone, anyone, just to know that she was not alone.
Then the ship hit something hard and Lucy fell forward, slightly under the benches. She heard the screams of the others as they fell out of the ship. She tightly closed her eyes, prayin' this nightmare would be over soon.
The ship hit the ground, the metal crying as it was cut open, and slowed to a stop.
Lucy did not move for what seemed like hours. She only listened to the howlin' of the wind around her. Her mind seemed slow to work, but one thought kept screaming at her. She had left her mother.
When she finally began to move, Lucy's body creaked and moaned. She tried to see in front of her, but the fog was still too think. Her hands reached out, looking for any other people. She touched something soft.
"Hello? Are you okay? Hello?"
No answer came. Lucy then decided to grab what she believed to be an arm. Perhaps she could wake the person up. Grippin' the arm, she pulled hard toward her. She heard a cracking sound before she fell back onto her bum, the arm in her hands.
Screaming, Lucy threw the arm back where she found it and jumped out of the boat. She landed in cold white powder. Immediately her body began to shiver and she swore loudly. The sound reverberated around her.
To stay warm, Lucy decided she needed to keep walkin'. After the boat disappeared from view, she came across a piece of the sail, and she wrapped it around her left arm, trying to keep the warmth in.
She had no idea how long she had walked or whether or not she just walked in circles. A couple of times she woke up layin' face down in the snow. Each time she stubbornly got up again and kept walking. Then, Lucy tripped over something sharp, landed once more on her face, and gave up. She couldn't walk anymore. She couldn't even feel her legs.
"The next thing I knew, I was laying in a bed, with a boy standing over me."
Lucy's voice brought Silver's mind back to the present. Lucy was standin' near the large windows of the Captain's Quarters, darkness filled the room as the star became a distant memory.
She continued, "The boy had found me out there and brought me to his house. He nursed me back to health, but no amount of warmth could bring back my legs or my arm."
"Aw, lassie," Silver said as he stood and walked over to Lucy. He placed a hand on her shoulder. She sniffed and wiped the tears off her face viciously.
"I . . ." she began gasping for breath, "I left my mother on that ship."
Silver pulled her into a hug. "There, there, lassie, it's alright. Shhhh. Shhh. Your mother, well, I'd bet me good hand the only thing she wanted in that very moment was to make sure ya survived. And ya did, lassie! Ya survived." He rested his head onto the top of her head. Her hair smelled of lavender.
Lucy hesitated as Silver held her, then, softly, she wrapped her arms around the large cyborg and cried into his stomach.
