A/N: Thanks for the awesome reviews guys! I'm definitely still trying to get Jim right, but it's coming. And I'm glad you like Fletcher. =)
A new character is introduced. Spence is a rabbit-type alien I'm going to call a Conevian. His accent would be close to a New Zealander's. (See first chapter for an accent disclaimer) Once again, I sincerely apologize to any Scottish and/or Kiwi readers. Oh yes – every single one of you.
*****
II. Hiring a Crew
*****
Aubrey watched Jim as he left her office. The kid had guts, she'd give him that. She snorted to herself. He also had an attitude to rival some of the worst Marconians she had met. But it was his confidence – and cockiness – that really appealed to her. She imagined that wherever he ended up, he'd be good at what he did.
She cleared up the majority of the paperwork around her desk, stopping to read over a few documents as she did so. She had to be out of the Academy by the end of the day if she was going to meet with Spence about hiring their next crew. She hadn't kept too much in her office: copies of tests and quizzes, a few of the better papers her students had written… She rubbed a paw-like hand across her jaw. 'I know it's here somewhere –' She opened up a folder, closed it again, and pulled out a tattered book from inside the massive desk. 'Aha!'
Her travel log.
Inside was a crisp piece of parchment.
Ms. Fletcher,
I write to offer you an employment opportunity. As you are aware, the Galactic Patrol has had their hands full with a slew of pirate attacks over the past two Empirical Years. While we have managed to keep the majority under control, there is one ship that has evaded our grasp. We formally request that you relay any information about the ship Revenge to our stations. We offer a reward for any information about the vessel and/or her crew, and a far more substantial reward if you are able to bring us any of her crew – dead or alive.
Respectfully,
Admiral Julius L. Fisher
Galactic PatrolBelow this formal print was the far more familiar handwriting of the Admiral's.
Fletcher,
This damned ship has slipped through my fingers far too many times. I'm willing to use any means necessary to capture the bastards, but protocol demands otherwise. I know you're sick of sitting in a classroom blabbering your stories, so why not come back to the etherium with a bang?
I trust in your abilities, Fletcher. I always have. It won't be easy, but then, you've always relished the more difficult jobs. I'm asking you as a friend: get these sons-of-bitches.
She smirked. The Admiral did always have such a way with words. She had read the note at least twice a day since she had received it. He knew her too well. She had been gone from the etherium long enough. She wanted to come back with style, and finding the Revenge would be just the way to do it.
She sighed and added the log to the chest of paperwork she was packing. Tucking a stray wisp of brunette hair behind her ear, she gave the office a last once-over before she stepped out the door and shut it behind her for the final time.
*****
Jim had gone back to his dormitory to finish packing up his things as well. He had prepared his résumé long before his meeting with Fletcher, so now all he had to do was turn it in.
Morph peeked out from behind Jim's bed and chirped happily.
"Well hey, Morph." He smiled and tickled the little blob under its chin. "You know, I think we've got it." He flopped down onto his bunk and folded his hands behind his head.
It was only a matter of time before he'd be off sailing the etherium once again. Finally.
He felt a bit guilty, not telling Fletcher his real reason for wanting to join up with her. From all her stories, it sounded like she had had plenty of run-ins with all sorts of spacers. Pirate-type spacers? He hoped so. Hell, maybe she had even run into Silver before she started teaching. He scowled at the ceiling. What would she say when she found out? Well, maybe she wouldn't find out. No. If they did run into Silver, she'd have to know they were friends. Otherwise, she'd figure it out on her own, and then things would really go down the tubes. Or worse, she wouldn't figure it out, and then she or Silver could end up dead. Jim sighed, rolled over, and punched his pillow.
"Damn it!"
Morph looked at him quizzically.
"I dunno, Morph. She seems like someone who'd understand, right?"
"Understand! Right!"
He chuckled. "All right. If I'm hired, I'm going to come clean. But you gotta make me."
"Make me! Make me!"
*****
A few days later, Fletcher looked up at the R.L.S. Redemption with a surge of pride.
"Tha' ship may be old, bu' she runs like a dream, eh, Captain?"
Aubrey looked back over her shoulder to see her oldest friend slowly making his way up the walk to her.
"Spence! Ye old dog! Ah was wondering when Ah'd be seeing ye next."
The older rabbit-like alien, her elder by at least forty years, chuckled and felt his way over to her trunk, where he sat down with a soft thud.
"You mind your elders, especially th' ones with disabilities." He waggled a finger at her, then tapped his cheekbone with the same gnarled finger, and flicked a long ear. They both chuckled at a private joke, and she sat down on the trunk next to him. The blind creature blinked slowly and stared vacantly over her right shoulder.
"So I hear the ol' soapbox is ready to go, eh, Aubreh?"
"Aye, sir. Just got t' hire m' crew." She smiled gently, looking down at her hands. "Are ye coming too?"
"My dear young lady! As long as you are captain of tha' ship, I will be on board of it!" He grinned toothily. "And you can also expect me to put my paw into the hiring of this fine crew of yours."
Aubrey laughed and stood, holding out a hand for Spence. "Well then, let's not sit here all day waitin' fer them to come to us!"
"My dear, that is the smartest thing you've said since I got here."
Fletcher laughed. "Ah trust tha' ye remember how t' get t' the stateroom?"
"I do." He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Would you like for me to carry your trunk for you?"
She chuckled at the joke. Spence was barely able to lift himself up, let alone the trunk that was as big as he was. "Nah. Not t'day anyway, ye old coney. Ye're gonna have yer hands full enough anyway come tomorrow night. Ah expect t' have a full crew this go-round."
Fletcher hoisted her trunk onto her shoulder and led Spence up the gangplank. He drilled her with questions all the way to the stateroom.
"Galley stocked then?"
"Ye know Ah have m' larders stocked b'fore my crew's picked."
"You planning to hire Kilcrest this go-round?"
"Not after th' stunt he pulled his second trip out."
"She's a spotless ship, in't she?"
"Always, sir."
They reached the stateroom and Aubrey unlocked the door deftly. Spence walked right in, carefully measuring his steps before sitting down in a chair in front of her desk.
"You have a first mate in mind."
"Maybe. He's young, but his record is … well, it's fantastic."
"One of your students, then?"
"Aye."
There was a moment of comfortable silence before Aubrey spoke again.
"Ah'm thinking this crew will consist of most that made th' trip t' Delmarnium wi' me."
"Scrappers, then? Who exactly are you planning to pick a fight with?"
"The Revenge."
Spence gave a short bark of laughter. "You have been away from this old ship too long. You do know that the crew of that one is supposed to be – "
"Ah know. But Ah think – Ah know – we can bring 'em down."
Spence opened his mouth to say something, but wisely shut it again. This time the silence between them was a bit more uncomfortable. Fletcher thumbed through a few of the applications she had received for first mate. The rustle of paperwork was the only sound in the silence. She looked over at the older creature from the corner of her eye, sizing him up. She had known him since she was a pup, and trusted his advice, but she wondered if he was getting a bit senile in his old age. Her ship was the Redemption, after all. Her father and mother - and even Spence - had sailed it before her, and now it was hers. No pirate riff-raff had ever overtaken this ship in her near-century of use. She smirked. Then again, the usual reason pirates boarded her ship was to celebrate with her and her crew over a job well done. She shook her head. There was no way the Revenge would get the better of her.
She decided the silence had gone on long enough. Aubrey was once again the one to break it.
"Did ye check up on th' four cap'ns Ah asked ye to?"
"I did."
"An' did James P. Hawkins submit applications t' them?"
A smile tugged at Spence's lips. "Not a single one."
Aubrey grinned at the blind Conevian and tossed the stack of papers she had been holding into the trash bin.
"Ah've got m'self a first mate."