Last crap-tastic chapter. thanks for pulling through this long. one more to go, then you can get into the real meat of the story!

Chapter 3

For Jim, repairing the harvester was a breeze. It also took his mind off his sadness, even with Clara there. She was pretty good with machines too, which was a big help. Talking to her while he replaced the robot's casing, screws, oil, wheels, harvesting blades, and everything else that needed replacement made him feel more at ease. He worked almost as well as he usually did-before Gene's death. He also realized, from talking with the girl, that she was human. She was torn up over at first getting separated from Harry when she was young, and had always looked up to him. He had actually been decent then, it seemed. She was an orphan from then on. When, after years of searching for him, she heard that her brother had been killed, and then a rumor that it was Gene that killed him, she went almost insane. She related all this to Jim shamelessly, not caring about what he might think, and he began to feel a strange attraction to her. He began to admire her bravery and her forthright devotion to what she felt she had to do.

They were just about finished when Clara spilled some oil on the shoulder of the great machine and slipped. Jim caught her, but both of them lost their balance. Clara fell face-forward onto Jim, and their lips met while they lay sprawled over the robot. Jim blushed deeply and helped her up as quickly as he could. She slipped again and he caught her-on balance this time. "Thank you, Jim" she said, and smiled. She too was blushing. Jim quickly let go of her arms, but they stared into each other's eyes for a while.

"Can you believe it? 530 Wong!" Jim paraded victoriously into Starwind & Hawking with his newly earned money raised above his head. Clara followed quietly behind him.

The place was empty. Puzzled, Jim looked around, but found no one. Hmm… Jim thought. "Maybe Mel went shopping for groceries?"

Clara nodded, "Most likely."

Jim went up to his room to put his money away, then came back down and flopped onto the couch. Clara sat next to him, and Jim turned on the TV. Subconsciously, Jim put his arm around Clara's shoulders. She snuggled closer to him as he did so, her eyes remaining on the TV screen. Jim jerked a bit as he realized what he was doing, but soon relaxed.

Several hours later, after watching seven shows and a movie, Jim got up to answer the door. He pulled a gun from the side of the door, and realized not only how long Melfina had been gone, but also that Gene's caster was missing.

Aisha came in when Jim opened the door. The moonlight blazed around her, silhouetting her against the sky. "Jim…" her eyes were wide, and her face was a mix of shock and utter sadness. "Melfina… she…"

She didn't have to finish before Jim realized what had happened. "Where is she?!" he half screamed at, half asked the shaken Ktarl Ktarl. She took a while to respond, and hung her head.

"She's gone. She used the caster…. a number…" she broke into sobs. She collapsed onto Jim's shoulder, and he fell to his knees.

Clara merely sat staring from the couch.

There was another funeral, but Jim didn't come. He didn't leave the house for a week. The morning after they heard about Melfina's suicide, Clara had left, leaving a short note on the kitchen table. It said that she had done what she had come to do, and that she was sorry for the trouble she caused. It explained that she never meant to hurt anyone, but the blind rage that had been building up since she was separated from Harry was too much for her to keep in. What struck Jim was that she had signed the note, "Love, Clara," and left a wad of money underneath the note to pay for her arm's repairs and her food.

Jim grew incredibly thin, eating little and drinking nothing but water. He had received three major blows in less than four months, and was finally overcome by the emotional strain.

He eventual closed Starwind and Hawking, removed the Outlaw Star from hiding, sold it, and drifted through space doing odd jobs. He purposely dropped contact with everyone he knew before, and put forth little effort to get to know anyone in his new, constantly changing surroundings. His money quickly ran out on shuttle fares, lodging, food, and alcohol, and he was forced to join a small band of outlaws. He changed his name to James Hawkwind, lost all of the humor and happiness that had once filled him, and forgot the love of a deep friendship. He joined an outlaw group, but they resented him for his great abilities at his young age.