Chapter 9 – Whispered Words
"Why do you want to deal with such losers? They aren't worth the time or the effort."
"I don't care…I want them to suffer, especially Dolphers. What she did to me, how she-,"
"Oh, how she hurt your pride? Come on Carren, you are tougher than that! All you have to do is beat the shit out of her, nothing more!" Carren, Vivian, and Stella were in the crew's mess hall, where they were alone, except for the cook, who of which was paying no attention to them. It was Stella who had jumped in when Carren was speaking, but, what she told him did sound perfect for all of them. Maybe Dolphers did need the shit beaten out of her.
"No, I want both of them to suffer," Carren said, "we are going to be landing on a small planet where we will break up into groups of twos, one group will have three, taken that we do not have enough people, and I am next to positive that Dolphers and Hawkins will join up."
"What are you thinking?" Vivian asked.
"A trap," he said, thinking it over, "Get them separated."
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It was Dolphy's turn for lookout duty, and she sat there, intent on finding something before it attacked the ship. Jim had offered, and then ordered her to let him stay up with her, but she wouldn't let him, and pushed him to bed. Reluctantly, he did go. The night was cool and crisp, and her blue jacket was warm against her skin. The stars were beautiful in deep space, but, her mind wasn't on the stars. It was on Jim.
Whenever she was around him, she felt safe and happy, and not the outcast that she was. She could talk to him about whatever was bothering her, and feel more than comfortable about it. She smiled to herself and continued her lookout. Pictures and words filled her mind, of her and Jim together, but, something nagged at her at the back of her mind: did he feel the same way about her?
"Does he?" she asked herself, but, pushed it away. She couldn't think about that. What he had asked her back in his rooms came into her mind. Nope, she never did go anywhere without her sketchbook. She had finished a full notebook already within the past week they have been on the ship, and she started a new one, which already had numerous pictures of Jim and herself, along with her lioness.
She was thankful that she and Jim, who had paired up with each other for the Botany survival challenge, were put together in the same room. It didn't bother her, and it didn't seem as if it bother Jim at all. Early the first morning, she had met the little creature he called Morph. She was asleep, and felt something against her face.
"Five more minutes, Mom," she whimpered, falling back into sleep. She heard a growl, and then felt a tugging at her hair. She opened her eyes and saw these big black eyes surrounded by pink protoplasm, and instantly awoke and screeched. Jim awoke and saw the two, and merely laughed. "What the hell is that?" she asked. She poked at it and it formed into a little her on her finger.
"What is that?" He mimicked.
"He's a morph. He was given to me a while back by a real close friend," Jim said. The pink blob flew over to him and pushed its face against Jim's, who chuckled and rubbed the back of the…thing, "and yes, his name is Morph." The pink blob chirped and rubbed its face against her like it had Jim and she smiled.
Morph was with her now, at the Crow's Nest, resting on her shoulder and cooing silently to her and herself. It was as if he could feel her feelings, and Dolphy chuckled. She rubbed the back of the blob of protoplasm and continued her gaze on the stars and on her sketch.
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After the "squabble" he and Dolphy had, Jim surrendered and went to his room he shared with Dolphy. It didn't bother him at all, in fact, when he saw his name on the door with hers under it, and not Carren, he was about ready to scream he was so happy.
As he sat on his bed, unable to fall to sleep, his thoughts drifted to Dolphy, not knowing that she was doing the same above him. She was beautiful, of course, but the fact that she had out-smarted Carren in his own game made her irresistible. When he first saw her sketch of him and her together, she blushed and instantly went dark from him, but now, whenever she finished, she called his name and would show it to him.
But were they still friends? Something in the way she moved made her feel like more than a friend to Jim. She never seemed to not like holding hands or hugging each other. In fact, Jim wondered if he should ask to be more than friends, and get her input on the idea. What if she was only playing the part and it was a prank by Carren and his goons? No. He wouldn't have allowed her to clobber him like that. It would hurt his pride.
The fact that she gave that to him made a smile pull at his lips. Had she done that in private, or in front of everyone? Probably in front of everyone, Jim thought. That was when he would most likely try to get her in trouble, with other people there to view it and to get confirmation if something did happen to "His Highness". But, if he had, why didn't she get in trouble? Surely he would get revenge and tell a teacher, or someone who could get her seriously hurt. Why didn't he even try? The teachers would listen to Carren over Dolphy anyway.
Jim pondered on that thought for a while until he fell into sleep.
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Captain Amelia of the RLS Inheritance, after appointing who would stand and watch on the ground and in the Crow's Nest, retired to her rooms, a small thought troubling her mind: well, three thoughts actually. The first was of a nebula that was showing signs of…danger. Things that she was told to look out for, but, not completely abandon. She was told that some of these students needed discipline. The thought was driving her crazy, and as she pulled off her boots and gloves, she sat down on her bed, thinking of what else this trip had brought her.
Dolphy, Mr. Hawkins' acquaintance, was someone different indeed. She had pictured Mr. Hawkins as the juvenile delinquent when he first arrived on the Legacy with her and her crew, and now, she saw him a bright young man worth his skin. Being selected to join her had lifted the dark thoughts on her mind the day she was assigned this job and service to the Academy she went and graduated to. She had told her to keep watch over the skies, make sure nothing was wrong, and if she did see something, alert the crew and herself immediately. She seemed enthusiastic about the position, and when Mr. Hawkins had offered to join her, she told him to get some rest and she would do her job, and that was it. Captain Amelia was impressed by her bark, but, the cat felt a little uneasy about her. She was someone Mr. Hawkins would risk his own life for if the time came to it, and that his actions could be clouded by that idea sent a shudder throughout her. We will see when the time came.
The third thought bothered her the most. She had dealt with crews that had disguised themselves to not look like their true form: Pirates, including the original crew about the Legacy. It was pirates that killed Mr. Arrow, but, she told herself not to dwell in the past. This new Lieutenant too, also seemed…unusual. They all seemed to listen with him when he barked an order, and when she gave her own, they wavered for a split second to look at him, and then scurry off at the order. Sometimes she heard whispered words from behind her back, but, even with her cat senses, couldn't pick out what they were saying.
When she dropped off these new recruits she would check backgrounds with this crew…again. Ever since the incident with Treasure Planet, she would check the background of each crew member making sure they never boarded her ship if she doubted them any more than normal, which she did now that she has seen them work. Some of these students seemed to do the same thing as she gave her orders for the day, which bothered her. This planet, as well, bothered her. It was quite far from any civilization, and if something went wrong, it would be a while, even at top speed, before they could reach any place with a hospital or supplies.
This planet, known as Botany, was filled with luscious plants, and animals in all sizes and weaknesses. From the searches and maps she was provided that now sat on her desk, it was also a very dangerous place, with all sorts of noxious plants and animals. One crew, who had done a mission to actually see what the students will go through, had lost one member of its team to a poisonous plant, her husband, Doctor Delbert Doppler, notified as the Menispermum Canadense, or otherwise known as the Moonseed plant. He told her that she had nothing to worry about unless one of the crew members or students ate one of the berries. It will tell them in their survival guide booklet on dangerous plants and animals they will be handed when they are dropped off, not to eat it, along with many other plants and animals.
She still felt uneasy going to this new planet, but, she laid her head down and drifted to sleep.
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"So that is what we'll do," Carren said with a malevolence smile and gleam in his eyes. Vivian and Stella had listened in well when he explained the plan to get back at Dolphin and Hawkins. They both had the same wicked smile on their faces. "Understand?"
"Perfectly!" Vivian whispered, looking at the plans they made out.
"Only two more days…" Stella, Carren, and Vivian sneered, before blowing out the lights and heading to bed. The second boy, who was also a roommate with them, named Rakitan, had listened in and had added his input to the plan. Carren somewhat reluctantly, added him to the group. He was blue skinned, four eyes, and had only three fingers on each hand, but, they ended in deadly claws.
Claws almost as bad as Vivian's own…
