AN: Hope this goes well!

Date: 002.070.1789

Location: Royal Light Ship Legacy, Crescentia Spaceport, C Berth 303

For all the ridiculous mishaps and shambolic attempts of organising a leading military force, the Admiralty of the Royal Navy never fails to surprise me with their sheer stupidity. To sum this mess up simply, they have decided to sponsor a lunatic scientist and his rebellious teenage ward to go gallivanting all over the galaxy searching for a fabled lost planet and its trove, and of all the Captains in their Reserve Fleet, they appoint me to lead it.

I would like to clarify that my commission and contract with the Navy, while participating in occasional drills and exercises, includes:

'…commissioned escorting voyages, shipping of tender and goods, and voyages of scientific significance.'

Nowhere on that list does it include 'carting a senile idiot around to find the loot of a mythical pirate' or 'babysitting a wayward youth with a criminal record' – yet this is what this infernal contract completely contains.

For context, I was first informed of this commission through telephone after returning from a quick shipping voyage of dummy ammunition from Crescentia to Port Ivy, home to the Interstellar Academy. I was just finishing my report in the public dining area of my lodgings (the damned bureaucrats want a detailed report on every insignificant out-going) when a boy ran in to inform me that I had a telephone-call. I slipped him a penny for his service, packed up my report and headed out into the hall. My lodging was only a small inn that did not have a private room for telecommunications, so I was forced to accept the call in the narrow front corridor with the contraption held to my ear.

It was Arrow, my second in command. The man has spaced with me for the better half of…well, never mind how long, but I have gotten so used to him being by my side that I even included in my contract that he should join me in every voyage I am commissioned for. We're a package, him and I. You won't get one without the other.

Fortunately, Arrow had some news from the base at Crescentia. He said we were to be given another commission immediately, an urgent one.

"Urgent?" I said, frowning. "What is it this time? Some big company contractor is too afraid to enter a current unaccompanied?"

Arrow chuckled down the line. "No Captain, they claimed that they have sponsored an expedition of exploration founded by a Doctor Doppler, from Montressor."

"We don't do explorations, Arrow."

"No Captain, but the Admiralty have insisted on this one." He explained. "This expedition is a…strange one indeed."

My frown deepened. "What do you mean by 'strange'?"

"I mean that it is a search for a pirate's loot, ma'am. Flint's loot."

There was a pause. Arrow, by his explanation, was on one end of the line eagerly awaiting my response with a held breath. I was on the other end, gaping in shock. "Have they lost their minds?"

Arrow and I met later that day to discuss this voyage. After picking the file up from the base, we locked ourselves away in my lodgings and talked in whispered conversation. If it ever got out that there was a treasure hunt sponsored by the Royal Navy itself, there would be a string of pirate and merchant vessels alike shadowing our trail.

The financier of this voyage is an astrophysicist by the name of Doctor Delbert Doppler, a man who specialises in stars. His story was that a friend's teenage son had recently come into ownership of a map to Treasure Planet, the legendary dwelling of the pirate Flint's lost treasure trove. He claimed that it was 'technology like no other' and that by gaining ownership of this so-called 'map', the young boy Hawkins and his mother soon lost their home in a pirate raid. After extensive communication to his bank, the University of Montressor and the Interstellar Academy itself, he was soon referred to the Admiralty and given sponsorship. Their side of the funding would be to supply the vessel for this expedition and its commander.

That commander being me.

"Is it worrying that I may actually accept this commission?" I quietly asked Arrow, who looked at me astonished.

"You wish to travel to the other end of the galaxy on a quest based on a hunch, ma'am?"

"Don't get me wrong, Arrow. There are many things wrong with this voyage." I replied, sliding the file across the table towards him. I sat back and folded my hands on my lap. "Firstly, we have no say in the crew. Secondly, the idea of a pirate's trove just sitting out there waiting for us is very unlikely. This contraption could very much be a fake. There's no estimated length of the voyage; we could be out in space for months, years even. We may lack supplies, get completely lost or be killed. And this Doctor Doppler has few merits to his name, and his ward has a criminal record despite barely being fifteen years of age."

"Then what compels you to accept the commission, Captain?"

A smile grew on my face. "Adventure, my dear friend. This sounds far more exciting to me than another escorting business or shipping timber to a dry dock."

Leaving the table, I poured myself a glass of port from a sideboard and drank. "Besides, I would very much like to see this map myself and if it does not impress me, I will shove it down this Doctor Doppler's throat and hurl him overboard for wasting my time. However, if it is real, then we could be instrumental in one of the greatest discoveries of the century."

Arrow chuckled. "So, you believe in Flint's trove then, ma'am?"

"Who can say? I wasn't alive when everyone feared this Captain Flint." I raised an eyebrow at Arrow. Being Cragorian, he has been alive for over a hundred years. He caught my eye and cracked a rare smile.

"True, ma'am. There was a time when every spacer feared that name."

I watched him carefully over the rim of my glass. "You don't believe he ever existed?"

Arrow grimaced. "I am not sure, ma'am. It's possible that I might have saw his ship once."

This was news to me; in all the stories I have heard Arrow tell me, about his journeys across space under the command of various members of my family, he never once mentioned a run-in with the most infamous pirate of all time. Arrow took my silence as a request for him to elaborate this story and so, he closed the file shut and turned to the window, looking out to the stars.

"I was spacing with your great grandfather, during one of his first commands. Our ship received a call for help and soon, we found a tender on fire and being raided by pirates. This pirate ship soon fled, and we pursued it into an asteroid field. For a brief second, the pirates turned a corner behind a huge asteroid but by the time our ship rounded it too, they were gone. We continued to search the field, but they were nowhere to be found."

"Vanished without a trace?" I muttered. "It certainly fits the other witness accounts."

"Many claimed to see Flint's ship in those days. His ship appeared from nowhere, attacked without mercy and fled within minutes. Of course, your great grandfather thought it was all nonsense. He was not one for myths and tales."

"I cannot blame him. A ship cannot just disappear like magic." I said, putting down my port. "But this voyage interests me, Arrow, even if I believe the Admiralty are fools for sponsoring it on such vague hopes."

Arrow nodded grimly. "It is certainly…different, ma'am."

"And after all these years of such boring journeys – shipping tender, escorting diplomats, and such - isn't it time for us to have another proper adventure? To go somewhere far away with no clue on what to expect?" I said wistfully, drumming my fingers on the sideboard.

Arrow turned from the window and gave me a rare smile. "You sound just like your father, ma'am."

"Do you think I would be foolish to accept this?"

"I do not, ma'am. It would be satisfying to solve the mystery of what I saw that day with a logical explanation – and like you said, it has been a long time since we had a rather exciting voyage."

"Then it's settled." I declared. "We'll accept the commission and spend months looking for a lost treasure trove that may not even exist. What could possibly go wrong?"

Of course, it all went wrong before we even launched the ship.

In the future, I may request to add a close to my contract stating that I will have a say in which crew is hired. Usually, any contractor or financier would leave finding a crew to me as my knowledge of spacing is far greater than any landlubbers. I have a list of plenty of suitable crews in port as long as my arm but unfortunately, the Admiralty's generosity only stretches so far. This meant that only Arrow and I would be on their payroll. The crew was hired by this financier and I had no say.

Which explains why they are possibly the worst crew I have ever laid my eyes on.

I arrived at the Legacy just before coffee with a spring in my step - only to find the crew had decided to make an early appearance. There are sixteen in all: a cook, helmsman, spotter, gunner and an engineer, the rest being a mixture of ropers and riggers. They are the most undisciplined lot I have ever met. They have no regard for hygiene, manners or basic decency. A few were scratching themselves in undignified areas, their conversation lewd and littered with slanderous words. One had a finger up a nostril. Another belched loudly.

They were all waiting at the bottom of the gangplank where Mr Arrow was in conversation with a large, cyborg Ursid. As I approached, Mr Arrow snapped himself to attention. At least the cyborg had enough brain cells to give some form of salute; the other members of this crew either stared at me stupidly or seemed to not care their commanding officer was in their presence.

"Gentlemen," I snapped, using the term 'gentlemen' loosely. "Pull yourselves together at once."

A few continued to stare dully, others surly stood up straight. I quickly set them straight with a cold glare and within seconds, they all were at attention to me. Glancing over them, I did not like the look of them. There was something calculating in some of their eyes. Others were just void and simple. What had Doctor Doppler sent me?

"Good morning, Captain-"

Mr Arrow's greeting was rudely interrupted by the cyborg he had previously been in discussion with. The man had taken off his hat and bowed in a great sweeping gesture. I looked at him incredulously, but he continued.

"Tis a gracious honour to be meeting you, Captain!" He spoke with a strange lint in his voice, an accent I had only heard in the furthest reaches of space. "Can I just say how humbled me and the lads are to be joining you on this wee excursion-"

Those who know me are aware of my lack of tolerance for such flimflam. "Yes, thank you, Mr…?"

"Silver, ma'am. Ol' Long John Silver-"

"Yes, thank you, Mr Silver but I presume you have your papers with you?" I cut him off once again and eyed him suspiciously. I do not have good experiences with those who use such toady language.

Silver handed over his papers, revealing him to be commissioned as the cook for our voyage. He even produced his passport and immunizations forms, although I waved them away as unnecessary, but what surprised me the most was when he handed over the papers for the rest of the crew as well. I took them cautiously, and flicked through. They all claimed that the churlish group before me was 'one of the finest crews in the galaxy' and had the pleasure of leading some of the 'galaxy's greatest ships' into space. A load of poppycock if I ever saw it. This team wouldn't be allowed within five nautical miles of a Royal Light Ship, yet alone crewing one.

"Listen up, all of you." I addressed the crew. Usually, I would prefer to address them from my post on the bridge but I had to settle for the port-side. I couldn't let them get aboard without knowing who was in charge first. Thankfully, they all had learned from their previous mistake and, although with some delay, stood straight to attention.

"My name is Captain Amelia and I will be the commander of this voyage. This here is Mr Arrow, my second in command. There are a few basic rules for you all to follow. There will be no brawling, swearing, or gambling aboard my ship. Curfew will be in force immediately at twenty-two hundred hours. Anyone caught breaking these rules will be confined to the brig for the remainder of the voyage. Is that clear?"

A few grumbles escaped some tightly pursed lips but after a flashing glare from myself and Arrow, they soon saluted and confirmed. Nodding, I turned and started my way up the gangplank with Arrow close behind. I couldn't help but let a sigh escape me. What in the galaxy were we about to get ourselves into?

By seven hundred hours, Arrow had joined me in my stateroom. He found me sitting crossed legged behind my desk with the crew's papers scattered around me, devising the watch cycle. I looked up at him as he locked to door behind him and motioned to the papers with my ears perked.

"Have you seen these?"

"Unfortunately, I have." Arrow rumbled.

I started flicking through the sheets of paper surrounding me. "Have you seen these names? Dogbreath, Birdbrain Mary, Oxy and Moron – are they having a joke? These can't be real papers, surely?"

"I wondered the same ma'am but…they are definitely an experienced lot. From what I've seen already, they are certainly capable of bringing this ship into space." Arrow sighed and stood beside me.

I shook my head. "What has this Doctor Doppler sent us, Arrow? This ludicrous parcel of drivelling galoots is one I would gladly return to sender."

Another sigh escaped me as I shuffled the papers back into order. "We still have time to change our minds, ma'am." Arrow offered hopefully. Again, I shook my head.

"No, we've committed ourselves to this. Maybe we can whip them into something that resembles a crew over time."

"If we wanted to train spacers we would have joined the Academy's staff, ma'am."

"Quite so," I filed the papers away in my store cupboard, locked away with my pistols and some of my personal belongings. "But still, I would like to give Doctor Doppler a piece of my mind when he boards. What time is he due to arrive?"

"Around noon, ma'am. He is coming straight from Montressor with the Hawkins boy."

"I wonder how many screws he has loose to hire such a ridiculous group of spacers." I muttered under my breath.

Thankfully, our coffee arrived promptly (I had made sure to inform Mr Silver that I expected a café lattoid on my desk every morning at seven hundred hours sharp). The rest of my morning was spent preparing the ship for launch, signing off the deliveries of supplies as Arrow supervised the crew's work in the tops. Once that was complete, I climbed the shrouds myself to inspect the ropes while Arrow began stocking the ship. It was when my inspection concluded that I finally came face to face with the infamous Doctor Doppler.

I was pleasantly surprised by the crew's work. Although they appeared hostile, obtuse and down-right uneducated, they clearly knew how to rig a ship. My inspection concluded with delightful results and as I swung my way back down the ropes to the deck, I was already planning my praise to Mr Arrow.

"Mr Arrow, I have checked this miserable ship from stem to stern and as usual-" I began, striding past my friend as he stood to attention. "It's spot on. Can you get nothing wrong?"

A smile broke across Mr Arrows face and he tipped his hat to me. "You flatter me, Captain."

I winked and as I turned to head back to my quarters, ran straight into our incompetent financier.

His appearance said it all. The man was wearing some sort of pressurised space suit, at least over a century old, that was clearly unsuitable for modern spacing. Not to mention that it was a poor fit, in desperate need for a buffing, and not even activated. Through the helmet's glass window, I could see a large nose, droopy ears and a pair brown eyes hiding behind a small pair of spectacles. A candid, surprisingly. This amused me greatly.

"Doctor Doppler, I presume?"

My question prompted the Doctor to start stuttering and blubbering. I mistook his awkwardness for confusion and assumed that due to his suit, he could not hear me. "Hello? Can you hear me?" I asked, knocking on the metal helmet.

"Yes, I can. Stop that banging!" The Doctor scolded and attempted to remove his helmet. Of course, it was stuck on. Why would he bring one along if he did not know how to use it?

"If I may, Doctor, this works so much better when it's right way up and plugged in." I activated the suit for him, spinning him around on the spot to plug the cord into the correct socket. "Lovely, there you go!"

While the Doctor was fussing, I shot a smirk over my shoulder to Arrow. Clearly, we were dealing with another buffoon. Landlubbers are so painfully incompetent aboard a ship that it is almost impossible for seasoned spacers like Arrow and I not to laugh at them from time to time. The Doctor, who by now had finally removed his helmet, was not impressed. "If you don't mind I can manage my own plugging?" He said haughtily.

Lucky for him, I was in a good mood by now at the prospect of spacing again. I ignored his statement and shook his hand. "I'm Captain Amelia, late for a few run-ins with the Procyon Armada. Nasty business but I won't bore you with my scars."

Strangely enough, Doctor Doppler did not seem too impressed by my introduction. Still, I ignored the frown forming on his face and continued by formally introducing Arrow.

"You've met my first officer, Mr Arrow. Sterling, tough, dependable, honest, brave and true."

"Please, Captain." Arrow interjected, blushing as much as a Cragorian can. For clarity, may I state that this sort of banter is the usual between myself and Arrow. We have been working together for many years and are good enough friends to poke a few jokes at each other.

"Shut up, Arrow, you know I don't mean a word of it."

The clearing of a throat interrupted my introduction. "Excuse me?" Spoke the Doctor, displeasure written across his canine features. "I hate to interrupt this – lovely banter but may I introduce to you Jim Hawkins?"

Sighing, I folded my hands behind my back and resided myself to listening to yet another boring, pompous client. He gestured to the teenager his side, the delinquent that our witless financier insisted on bringing along. The boy is a human, fifteen years old (according to the data supplied to be prior) and wore a dark hunting jacket too large for his form. A hand-me-down perhaps. The boy was gazing up in awe at the rigging but quickly pulled his attention to the conversation once he heard his name. I chose to ignore him mostly and try to at least pay attention to the Doctor's ramblings. It was lucky that I did for I was about to discover our financier is a complete blabbermouth.

"Jim, you see, is the boy who found the treas-"

"Doctor! Please!" I grabbed the man's face to stop him from announcing to the universe we were in the possession of a possible treasure map. From the corner of my eye, I could see Mr Hands – a burly roper – clearly listening into our conversation. I watched him until he growled and continued with his duties.

I wonder how long has Doctor Doppler's tongue has been wagging? Hopefully, not long enough for rumours about a treasure map to reach the ears of a band of pirates or the other kinds of scum of the galaxy. However, by the appearance of the crew, I fear they already have.

Finally, I let go of Doctor Doppler's maw and tapped his wriggling nose with a claw. "I want a word with you in my stateroom."

It's safe to say that Doctor Doppler and I have not got off to a brilliant start. Personally, I think the man is a buffoon and too incompetent to take seriously. He certainly does not think very highly of me – during our discussion in my stateroom, he had the nerve to raise his voice to me in front of Mr Arrow and our newly-appointed cabin boy Mr Hawkins.

Speaking of whom, I don't particularly care much for the teenager either. He is moody and constantly views the universe through two sullen eyes hidden under a furrowed brow. In the stateroom, he stood slouched with his hands buried in the pockets of his hunting jacket and avoided eye contact. He remained quiet and passive as I reprimanded the Doctor for his former gossiping (Arrow later told me that he was greatly amused by my choice of words) but remained withdrawn when I asked to see the fabled map.

He and the Doctor made a series of gestures before the boy hesitantly tossed an object from the deep pocket of his jacket. "Here." He grumbled, void of any respect. I caught the object with ease and gave Mr Hawkins a look of disapproval. However, this object drew my attention immediately with its…strangeness. The map is a copper sphere carved with various circles and lines. In all my years of travel, I had never come across anything near its appearance.

"Fascinating."

As I turned to lock the map in my cupboard, I decided to address Mr Hawkins' insubordination. "In the future, you will address me as 'Captain' or 'ma'am'. Is that clear?"

The teenager rolled his eyes and sighed in disgust.

"Mr Hawkins?" I said sharply, my patience slowly waning. If this behaviour was to continue, clearly the boy needed either a few hours of cooling off in the brig or to be dumped over the side of the ship and back onto port.

Thankfully, he complied. "Yes ma'am."

With the map locked safely away, I turned my attention back to the Doctor who I caught, amusingly, trying to sneak a sly peek at a chart unravelled on my desk. I warned him again to keep his mouth shut, sat down and informed him about my displeasure of the crew. He took it in an unrefined manner and responded by slamming his hands on my desk and raising his voice.

"Doctor, I'd love to chat." Standing up, I cut him off completely before he could start barraging the insults and foolish comments. "Tea, cake, the whole shebang but I have a ship to launch and you have your outfit to buff up."

And with running a claw up his laughable suit, I left our financier speechless and glaring.

With Arrow escorting Doctor Doppler and our new cabin boy to the galley, I found a moment to reflect on the prospects of this voyage as I finished up preparing the watch cycle. Of course, our financier is an arrogant scientist with a delinquent child to babysit and the crew are a bunch of hostile slobs and our destination is probably nothing more than a fairy-tale. To think I was so excited to be heading out on an interesting voyage for once, only for it now to be ruined by the company. Thank goodness I have Arrow beside me otherwise I very much doubt I would have continued with it.

However, after finally seeing this so-called map…I am given a reason to pause and think.

My family has a history rich in all kinds of exploration, travel and adventure. As a child, I remember listening to all kinds of tales from my relatives – my father, my grandfather, even Arrow himself. I have seen and held all kinds of objects and artifacts brought to my family's collection from all corners of the galaxy. I know how to distinguish a Venusian vase from an Xenusian. I can differ victorium metal from allstonium. Yet for all my knowledge and experience, I have never come across something so unique.

The map, as I said before, is a sphere purely made of a metal I've never seen before. Originally, I assumed it was copper or bronze yet on further inspection, the map shows no sign of corrosion. It's rather heavy and I am currently considering borrowing a set of scales from the galley to weigh it. As for its size, it fits rather neatly into one's own hand. If it was not for the eccentric engravings, I would have mistaken it for a toy.

Across its surface are circles in various sizes, connected to each other by lines of different lengths. The circles act as buttons and I assume that they must be pressed in order for the map to open. After the launch, I will have to use it to calculate our course. I've initially been told to sail towards the Magellanic Cloud but navigation from that point must be done by myself using this map (if any details were to leak about our course, we could have some frightful encounters later down the line).

Until then, the map remains locked away in my cupboard with the key upon my person at all times. If someone is so desperate to get their hands on this map, they will have to go through me first.