Chapter Thirteen

The warm winds of the Etherium brushed past Jim's face as he stood at the front of the ship. How had he gone so long without this? It was things like this, the sweet smell of fresh air on your face, the bustle of crewmen, going about their chores, the quiet whine of machinery deep within the ship, that made Jim remember why he loved sailing so much. THIS is why he became a Spacer.

"Captain, we are now within Imperial radiowave space. We're being bombarded by Imperial signals." Mr. Latch reported, bring Jim's head of out the clouds. Nodding, he followed the squat alien man down to the communications panel, and slipped the headphones over his ears. Looking over, he could see Doppler was already speaking on one of the frequencies, getting tonguetied as he tried to explain the situation.

"This is Captain James Pleiades Hawkins of the INS Silver, over," he spoke into the copper mounted mouthpiece. A short blair of static nearly shot out his eardrums before voices on the other end were heard, several of them, all shouting.

"Where in the Queen's name have you been, Hawkins!?" One voice shouted over the others as they died away. He recognized the voice as the chief in Command for the fleet. "One minute, you're on our intergalactic RADAR, the next you're gone! We thought you'd been snatched by the pirates!"

"Almost, sir," he said, half smiling. "And it isn't pirates, it's-"

"I don't care if they were space orcas, Hawkins, get to the nearest Naval base and file a report with the Officers! Because of you and your ship, we've been having a hell of a time keeping peace among the fleet! No one will go in after the little stunt you pulled!"

"They shouldn't sir, it's-"

"Over and out, Captain!" Another blair of static, and then the line was dead. Looking up at Doppler, Jim could tell he'd been given a similar treatment. Both stared at each other.

"They wouldn't even listen," Doppler said, disbelief thick in his voice. "I can't believe they wouldn't even let me explain!"

"Doc, that feeling I had before we left is back." Doppler gave Jim a puzzled look, but both were interrupted by a loud crashing below deck, followed by what seemed to be a small explosion. Tearing the headphones off, Jim made his way below, followed by several crew members, and followed the source of the sounds. The cargo hold latch stood open, and as he approached, Jim watched as Kel, the cabin boy, scrambled out, covered in what looked like soot.

"I dunno!" he shouted, running past the Captain down the narrow hallway, squeezing by the others. "I dunno I dunno!"

"What's he on about?" Jim asked, and the others shrugged. Looking back to the hatch, Jim stuck his head in, and his jaw dropped when he saw several boxes labeled 'industrial flashpowder' standing partially ripped open, parts of the crates littered around the small room. They'd been stacked along the wall, but it looked as if they'd been knocked over. About to straighten up and yell for Kel to get back here, Jim was stopped when he heard someone groan, and a few more boxes shift.

Swearing in her own language, Akmra sat up, similarly covered in what looked like soot, and tried to rub the bruise blossoming on the side of her temple.

"Akmra!" Jim shouted, both absolutely dumbfounded and angry. That's why he hadn't seen her scowling at them as they'd left; she'd been stowing away! He knew she would end up causing trouble for him he just knew it! "What in the hell are you doing!?"

"I was TRYING to find a way out of this tiny room," she said, squinting up at him, flashpowder in her eyes, "when that boy came in here and startled me! It was his fault the boxes exploded, not mine!"

"I'm sure Kel wasn't expecting to find a stowaway in here," he growled, walking over and lifting a box that had fallen on Akmra. "Get up. We're turning around to take you back."

"What!?" At this, she jumped to her feet and followed the Captain as he walked out. The crew parted for them both to pass, shocked to see the annoying girl that had plagued their Captain still aboard the ship. "You can't!"

"I can, and I am." Striding out onto deck, he looked up at Mr. Upstart. "Turn 'er around, Upstart. We're going back!" A chorus of 'why's rang out as more and more people came to stare at the stowaway. Akmra's cheeks only grew redder at the attention, but she continued to stare at Jim.

"I came here for a reason," Akmra said, walking to stand in front of Jim. "You're not getting rid of me. You promised you'd write Simkov a recommendation, and I am going to stay around until that time comes!" Jim snorted at this.

"Is that all? Jeez, I'm a man of my word, Akmra! I'll do it, have a little-"

"No! I have no faith in you! You are not getting rid of me, and that is final!"

"I say what's final on this ship! It's my ship!"

"I built it." A smug little smirk donned Akrma's face, though inside she felt panicked. She couldn't go back now. She'd never been off of her planet before, and she knew that if Jim made her return, she'd never get a chance out again. Her Father would make sure of that. And if she left, no doubt would Jim forget, or purposefully not recommend Simkov. She wouldn't let him do that to her brother, she loved Simkov too much to let anyone hurt him like that. "I can rebuild it, if necessary. You said it yourself, the repairs to your ship are like none Imperial hands could make. My Father's talent is my own as well."

The slight tone of desperation did not go unnoticed by Jim, and as Upstart and the other crew members awaited his command, he thought it over. The repairs were excellent. To have somebody to constantly upkeep the Silver at such a high standard would be an excellent addition to the crew…but on the other hand, she had no respect for Jim's authority. He couldn't have her on the ship, constantly undermining his authority. She had to respect him.

"If I let you stay," he said slowly, "then my word goes. And the very first time you misbehave, I'll report you to the Fleet Command as a stowaway, and have you shipped back to Lumria. Is that understood?" He gave her a hard stare, and she found it hard to meet his eyes. Akmra wasn't good at recognizing authority.

"Fine."

"And it's 'Captain' or 'Sir', is that understood?" Jim could hear Captain Amelia saying near the very same thing to him, over a decade ago. He wanted to laugh, but knew it wasn't the right time. But Akmra didn't stare at the floor as she responded like Jim had when he was a child; finally swallowing her pride, she lifted her head to stare him straight in the eyes.

"Yes Captain." She said.