Note: Thank you to DragonWolf for correcting my spelling of 'Cygnus Cross'. I am ignorant.
Yay. *bows*
*****
Jim's mind was reeling. He walked into his classroom completely in a daze. He handed
the teacher his pass and sat down silently. A few in the class snickered at him, but most simply
ignored him. He was already thinking about the horrible conditions Silver was probably under.
He probably didn't get to see the sun very often. . . he probably didn't get a lot of space to move
around. . . True, the guy had betrayed Jim, but he had also saved his life, and had basically been
the father that Jim needed.
"Mister Hawkins! Had your attention been focused on the classroom, you may have noted
my question. . ." but Jim was already lost again. He nodded at the professor and mumbled his
apologies, but could not concentrate on classes for the rest of the day.
***
". . . and then she handed me this newspaper-" (Jim waved the paper in Aaron's face,) "-
and she was going on about how someone had been caught solar surfing down Main Street and I
thought for *sure* she'd seen me! I still don't kn-"
Aaron started laughing and jumped down off of the bunk above Jim's. "That was *you*?!
Why didn't you say anything about it earlier when I mentioned it?!"
Jim frowned at the interruption. "I didn't *feel* like it, ya nerd." He playfully pushed
Aaron onto the bunk. "Now shut up. I've gotta think about this."He began pacing again. "So then
I see the headline on the second page, and I read this article, and Silver's been jailed! I didn't
think they'd catch him, but-"
Aaron broke in again. "Wait, why do you care about Silver? He's just some old pirate,
and he'll hang soon enough. Nothing to worry about." Jim's mouth dropped in horror.
"I had completely forgotten about his sentence! Oh, jeez, they're going to *hang* him!"
"Woah, wait! Again: Why do you *care*?" asked Aaron.
Jim stopped pacing, and looked at Aaron, wondering if he should tell him about the
journey to Treasure Planet. Obviously Doppler hadn't said a word about it (which was
surprising), or Aaron would know how Jim knew Silver. "I. . . I met him a while ago. . ."
At this Aaron perked up. "No way! You knew an infamous guy like Silver?! Man, and I
thought I had something with Uncle Delbert being in the paper a few times. . ." Jim vaguely
wondered how much research Doppler had actually done when he hired the crew for the Legacy.
"Yeah. . . he. . . he wasn't such a bad guy. Not like everyone always makes a pirate out to
be," said Jim, the worried look on his face increasingly evident. "And they're going to hang him.
. . unless. . ."
"Pfft! Unless *what*?" asked Aaron while laughing. "Unless we go on a little rescue
mission? Right, sure, *that's* really likely." He then leaned back on the bunk with his arms
crossed behind his head. "Looks like Silver's in trouble, Jim. I can only tell you to not worry
about it." Jim saw him open one eye. "Hey, are you okay?"
Jim was smiling at Aaron. "We could do that."
Aaron sat up. "We could what now?"
"We could *do* that!" said Jim excitedly, and once again resumed the same pacing path,
much more eager now. "We could bust Silver out! Seriously! We could do it!"
"A-hah-hah, Jim, buddy. . . I think you're a great guy for sticking around with me, and I
know you're easily one of the smartest kids here at school. And if you can solar surf down Main
Street and avoid getting caught -well, except for aunt Amelia, but she sees everything- then
you're good. Very good. But Silver's going to be heavily protected by guards and electric
surveillance equipment and any number of other things, and nobody is *that* good."
". . . We could do it."
Aaron stood up. "I know humans can't hear as well as us, buy you can't be *that* deaf!
Did you not hear a single word I just said?"
Jim looked at him. "I heard 'You're good.' That's all I need to hear." He walked over to
the window in the dorm and looked out into the etherium. "I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it,
but I'll need help." He looked at Aaron challengingly. "Are you in?"
"You idiot. . ." muttered Aaron. "I can't believe you're going to go through with this!
You're going to be killed, or put in prison, and *then* you'll just be killed a bit more efficiently
and officially!" He walked around the room, waving his arms to illustrate how strongly he felt
about this, much in the same fashion as Doppler would. "Are you insane?! Do you know what
you're going to have to get through to get this cutthroat pirate out? It's ludicrous! It's complete
insanity!" He stopped walking, and turned around to face Jim. ". . . Of *course* I'm in!"
***
The next few days were the most hectic of Jim's life. While he and Aaron balanced their
schoolwork, at night and during meals they would make plans, formulate ideas. They did
research on the security of the prison Silver was being kept in, on a planet far from most
habitable ones, near the Madrigal Nebula.
"Okay," said Jim eagerly to Aaron after three days of this. "So we've got our excuse out
of school-"
"I ask Uncle Delbert and Aunt Amelia to pull us out because of a family emergency-"
"-and I ask my mom for the same thing," finished Jim. "Mom and Amelia are going to be
hard to get it out of, but I bet if we ask Doc to pry enough, he'll convince them." Aaron nodded.
Jim continued, "We need a ride to the place-"
"-which we will get on the Legacy!"
Jim nodded. "Exactly. We'll need Amelia to come, and if Doc comes it'll be that much
better, because he can keep her happy enough. Mom can watch their kids," he added. "But I don't
want her coming."
"Gotcha," said Aaron. "Perfectly understandable."
"But the problem is. . ." said Jim, frowning, ". . . the problem is, we have no idea how to
get Silver out once we get there. And then, assuming we get him out, we have to escape. The
Legacy was made for long journeys, not fast escapes."
Aaron frowned, and his brow creased in thought. "What if we docked the Legacy on a
nearby planet and got a smaller ship to go into the prison on?"
Jim's face lit up. "See? You're a natural at this 'breaking the law' stuff! I'm so *proud of
you*!" He lifted his pillow off of his bunk and hit Aaron, who was bent over, reading a copy of
the paper, in the back of the head.
"Oof!" Aaron blinked, and recovered. "I wasn't ready for that, you jerk!" He kicked at
Jim's feet for a moment in an attempt to trip him. Jim jumped out of the way. Aaron gave up and
went back to reading.
"I just wanna get *going*!" said Jim, exasperated. "We've got enough time; the trial isn't
even for two weeks, and then who knows how long Silver's got until the sentence is carried out?
But the sooner the better. I hate waiting." He looked out the window, the old scowl that he wore
so much when he was younger. "Who knows what they're doing to him out there?"
*****
Ooooh. . . . . I have nothing interesting to say.
Yay. *bows*
*****
Jim's mind was reeling. He walked into his classroom completely in a daze. He handed
the teacher his pass and sat down silently. A few in the class snickered at him, but most simply
ignored him. He was already thinking about the horrible conditions Silver was probably under.
He probably didn't get to see the sun very often. . . he probably didn't get a lot of space to move
around. . . True, the guy had betrayed Jim, but he had also saved his life, and had basically been
the father that Jim needed.
"Mister Hawkins! Had your attention been focused on the classroom, you may have noted
my question. . ." but Jim was already lost again. He nodded at the professor and mumbled his
apologies, but could not concentrate on classes for the rest of the day.
***
". . . and then she handed me this newspaper-" (Jim waved the paper in Aaron's face,) "-
and she was going on about how someone had been caught solar surfing down Main Street and I
thought for *sure* she'd seen me! I still don't kn-"
Aaron started laughing and jumped down off of the bunk above Jim's. "That was *you*?!
Why didn't you say anything about it earlier when I mentioned it?!"
Jim frowned at the interruption. "I didn't *feel* like it, ya nerd." He playfully pushed
Aaron onto the bunk. "Now shut up. I've gotta think about this."He began pacing again. "So then
I see the headline on the second page, and I read this article, and Silver's been jailed! I didn't
think they'd catch him, but-"
Aaron broke in again. "Wait, why do you care about Silver? He's just some old pirate,
and he'll hang soon enough. Nothing to worry about." Jim's mouth dropped in horror.
"I had completely forgotten about his sentence! Oh, jeez, they're going to *hang* him!"
"Woah, wait! Again: Why do you *care*?" asked Aaron.
Jim stopped pacing, and looked at Aaron, wondering if he should tell him about the
journey to Treasure Planet. Obviously Doppler hadn't said a word about it (which was
surprising), or Aaron would know how Jim knew Silver. "I. . . I met him a while ago. . ."
At this Aaron perked up. "No way! You knew an infamous guy like Silver?! Man, and I
thought I had something with Uncle Delbert being in the paper a few times. . ." Jim vaguely
wondered how much research Doppler had actually done when he hired the crew for the Legacy.
"Yeah. . . he. . . he wasn't such a bad guy. Not like everyone always makes a pirate out to
be," said Jim, the worried look on his face increasingly evident. "And they're going to hang him.
. . unless. . ."
"Pfft! Unless *what*?" asked Aaron while laughing. "Unless we go on a little rescue
mission? Right, sure, *that's* really likely." He then leaned back on the bunk with his arms
crossed behind his head. "Looks like Silver's in trouble, Jim. I can only tell you to not worry
about it." Jim saw him open one eye. "Hey, are you okay?"
Jim was smiling at Aaron. "We could do that."
Aaron sat up. "We could what now?"
"We could *do* that!" said Jim excitedly, and once again resumed the same pacing path,
much more eager now. "We could bust Silver out! Seriously! We could do it!"
"A-hah-hah, Jim, buddy. . . I think you're a great guy for sticking around with me, and I
know you're easily one of the smartest kids here at school. And if you can solar surf down Main
Street and avoid getting caught -well, except for aunt Amelia, but she sees everything- then
you're good. Very good. But Silver's going to be heavily protected by guards and electric
surveillance equipment and any number of other things, and nobody is *that* good."
". . . We could do it."
Aaron stood up. "I know humans can't hear as well as us, buy you can't be *that* deaf!
Did you not hear a single word I just said?"
Jim looked at him. "I heard 'You're good.' That's all I need to hear." He walked over to
the window in the dorm and looked out into the etherium. "I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it,
but I'll need help." He looked at Aaron challengingly. "Are you in?"
"You idiot. . ." muttered Aaron. "I can't believe you're going to go through with this!
You're going to be killed, or put in prison, and *then* you'll just be killed a bit more efficiently
and officially!" He walked around the room, waving his arms to illustrate how strongly he felt
about this, much in the same fashion as Doppler would. "Are you insane?! Do you know what
you're going to have to get through to get this cutthroat pirate out? It's ludicrous! It's complete
insanity!" He stopped walking, and turned around to face Jim. ". . . Of *course* I'm in!"
***
The next few days were the most hectic of Jim's life. While he and Aaron balanced their
schoolwork, at night and during meals they would make plans, formulate ideas. They did
research on the security of the prison Silver was being kept in, on a planet far from most
habitable ones, near the Madrigal Nebula.
"Okay," said Jim eagerly to Aaron after three days of this. "So we've got our excuse out
of school-"
"I ask Uncle Delbert and Aunt Amelia to pull us out because of a family emergency-"
"-and I ask my mom for the same thing," finished Jim. "Mom and Amelia are going to be
hard to get it out of, but I bet if we ask Doc to pry enough, he'll convince them." Aaron nodded.
Jim continued, "We need a ride to the place-"
"-which we will get on the Legacy!"
Jim nodded. "Exactly. We'll need Amelia to come, and if Doc comes it'll be that much
better, because he can keep her happy enough. Mom can watch their kids," he added. "But I don't
want her coming."
"Gotcha," said Aaron. "Perfectly understandable."
"But the problem is. . ." said Jim, frowning, ". . . the problem is, we have no idea how to
get Silver out once we get there. And then, assuming we get him out, we have to escape. The
Legacy was made for long journeys, not fast escapes."
Aaron frowned, and his brow creased in thought. "What if we docked the Legacy on a
nearby planet and got a smaller ship to go into the prison on?"
Jim's face lit up. "See? You're a natural at this 'breaking the law' stuff! I'm so *proud of
you*!" He lifted his pillow off of his bunk and hit Aaron, who was bent over, reading a copy of
the paper, in the back of the head.
"Oof!" Aaron blinked, and recovered. "I wasn't ready for that, you jerk!" He kicked at
Jim's feet for a moment in an attempt to trip him. Jim jumped out of the way. Aaron gave up and
went back to reading.
"I just wanna get *going*!" said Jim, exasperated. "We've got enough time; the trial isn't
even for two weeks, and then who knows how long Silver's got until the sentence is carried out?
But the sooner the better. I hate waiting." He looked out the window, the old scowl that he wore
so much when he was younger. "Who knows what they're doing to him out there?"
*****
Ooooh. . . . . I have nothing interesting to say.