The next day we were to do the most amazing thing ever. Silver and let Jim and I fly the longboat to the comet. We climbed in. No one had ever let me in the longboat before, and I was excited. Jim hopped in first, and I untied the boat and got in afterwards. He grinned over at me.
"You ready, Sasha?"
"Yeah."
"Hold on tight." He grinned.
I clung to the seat, not really knowing what to expect when-- WHOOSH! -- We took off so suddenly and quickly that I was thrown forward. Jim grabbed onto me with the hand that wasn't on the tiller. I gasped and he sighed, smiling at little. It was an annoying smile, like 'I-shoulda-known' like I was a little kid who constantly needed supervision. His eyes locked firmly into mine, and my heart pounded. Why did I feel this way?!
"I told you to hold on, Sasha."
"Oh, shuddup." I muttered.
"I did it again, dangit! After I did so good at not making you mad--"
"Is that all you were out for?! The kicks of not picking me off?!"
"No, that's not it! Stop assuming!"
"Stop it, Jim!"
We remained silent, and every time he tried to scoot closer to me I scooted away until I was directly against the wall.
"Why won't you leave me alone, you contankerous pervert!?" I yelled.
He burst out laughing, and I wondered if he needed a sanity check. "I know you don't think that I'm a contankerous pervert, Sasha."
"You crazy, Jim?" I scowled.
"Depends on what you mean. Like this?" He did a barrel roll and I squealed.
"JIM WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! YOU--" I trailed off as we flew into the comets tail. It felt all tingly... Little bits of stardust floated around us everywhere in all directions. I reached out to touch the stardust, and tried to close my hand around it. That was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life... My mouth was open in awe one second, and then I realized that someone's lips were on mine. My eyes sprang open to see Jim and I thought about pulling back. But I didn't. I closed my eyes and let him kiss me. And y'know what? I hate to admit it, but from the way my heart raced and my head got all spinny, I really -did- love him... And I was okay with that. Eventually he pulled back.
"Jim..." I said awkwardly, the feeling still lingering on my lips.
Jim's face turned red and he pulled out of the feild of stardust. We went quickly back into the ship. I smiled slightly at him.
"....You still have Stary dust on you, Jim."
"I do?"
"Here," I smiled, "Lemme get it off."
I leaned close to his face and brushed the little sparklies off his cheek. I couldn't help it as a giggle escaped. Urgh.
"Sparklies don't look good on you, Jim. Sparklies are for girls."
I was about to lean back to my own seat but I didn't, because Jim grabbed my hand, causing me to topple down onto his lap. I tried to stand up but my legs had turned to jelly. Why was that? Why did he make me all tingly and nervous and all that crap?
"Did you enjoy the
ride?" he asked, smiling.
"....Yeah. You?"
"My favorite part... went about like this."
He leaned over to me again, so close I could see every little fleck of color in his eyes. He had beautiful eyes, did I mention that? And he got close enough that our faces almost touched. He leaned his forehead against mine for a second, smiling, then he moved closer and his lips touched mine. That feeling overwhelmed me again, and I thought -- and hoped-- that the kiss would last forever.
The whole world seemed perfect for a second, even though ten minutes earlier I would have sworn that I didn't like Jim. But about two seconds later, the Legacy rocked violently and I was thrown away from Jim. I screamed, hanging only to the ship by five fingers.
"SASHA!" Jim exclaimed, horrified.
I hadn't been that scared.... ever. Not ever. I was literally hanging on for dear life. If I slipped, just once, I would float off into space and die. I didn't want that.... no, not at all. I cried out and reached for Jim, who had jumped down and was grabbing frantically at my hand.
"Jim..." I reached for his hand, and I could see the same fear I was feeling reflected in his eyes.
He grabbed my hand, finally, and hoisted me up. I breathed heavilly.
"Are you okay, Sasha?!"
"....I'm fine..." I whispered. "Let's go see what happened."
We ran up onto the deck. Dopler was there, holding a telescope.
"The star Pellucid! . . It's gone supernova!!!" He yelled.
I saw Amelia running up the steps to the bridge. Supernova... dangit...!
"Evasive action, Mr. Turnbuckle!!" Amelia shouted.
Turnbuckle really tried, but it was obvious he was struggling.
"Aye, Cap'n!!" he said, trying to act brave.
"All hands, fasten your lifelines!!!" Bellowed Arrow.
Jim and I hurried to fasten our lifelines. I had been four when something like this had last happened, and I hardly remembered it, but I knew it was terrifying above all else. The whole world seemed red, and in one second it looked like fireworks I'd read about in textbooks. Boom.... the star exploded, and time seemed to stand still.
"Mr. Arrow!!! Secure those sails!!!" Amelia ordered.
"Secure all solar sails! Brace them down, men!!" Arrow repeated.
We all tried to get the sails tied down while they were still intact. Suddenly a huge chunk of star, much larger than the Legacy itself, was upon us. No... No! It was quite obviously on a collision course. Meltdown fired a few futile shots at it. It rolled closer and closer to the Legacy. Doomsday was coming. And we knew it, although we could do nothing about it. I clutched Jim's hand. But then, like a miracle, the rock started to go... backwards?! WTF was giong on?!
"Captain! The STAAAR!!!" screeched Onus from the Crow's Nest.
Amelia and Doppler turned down in the bridge. On Doppler's face was a look of horror. I did NOT like that expression. Not one little bit.
"It's devolving into a. . . a black hole!!!" he informed us. All hell broke loose.
The spiral of the black hole seemed haunting, fascinating... I always did have a morbid fascination with things that brough death, and this was most certainly our deaths. Turnbuckle was struggling at the helm, but it was inevitable... this was the last ten seconds of our lives. Jim seemed speechless for a minute, incapable of comprehending the horrible death that aproached us.
"We're bein' pulled in!!" Turnbuckle yelled.
....Really? No crap? I thought -we- were pulling -it- in, ya goof....
Turnbuckle lost his grip, and I lost any hope I had. I closed my eyes, hoping this would be painless.
"Oh, no, ya don't!!" I heard Amelia say, and she sounded muffled as if her teeth were clenched. "Blast these waves, they're suffusedly erratic!"
Just hurry up.... I don't wanna think about this.
" No, Captain! They're not erratic at all! There'll be one more in precisely forty-seven- point-two seconds, followed by the biggest magilla of them all!!" That made me open my eyes and stare at him.
"Of course! Brilliant, Doctor!! We'll RIDE that last magilla out of here!!!" Amelia exclaimed. She must have been mad.
"All sails secured, Captain!" reported Arrow.
"Good man! Now, release them immediately!" She sounded absolutely crazy.
" . . . Aye, Captain! You heard her, men! Unfurl those sails!" It was obvious he was confused and hesitant, but he trusted Amelia with his life.
A few of the creeps that had come down from the rigging, Scroop, Mackricki, Oxi, Moron, and Birdbrain, stare at him.
"What?!" Mackricki looked dumb and puzzled. Nothing had changed.
" But we just finished-" Moron began.
" -tyin' 'em down!!!" Oxy finished.
"Make up yer bloomin' minds!!!" Birdbrain exclaimed.
Scroop simply glared, and I didn't have a good feeling about it, either. He followed the rest of the riggers back up into the rigging to unfurl the sails once more. Amelia continued to control the helm. She spotted Jim, who'd begun working on the sails.
"Mr. Hawkins!! Make sure all lifelines are secured good and tight!" Amelia ordered.
" Aye, Cap'n!!" Jim instantly dropped his work and rushed to the lifelines, pulling them good and tight. I turned away.
"Lifelines secured, Captain!!" Jim reported.
"Very good!" I could hear a tinge of proudness in Amelia's voice. "Sasha! Go work with Scroop!"
I dreaded this, but I did as Amelia told me. I rushed over to the sails, and I got to work... but the next thing I knew, there was a sharp pain in my arm. My vision started to slide and fade, but I saw Scroop's face, smirking and evil. I felt myself falling, falling.... So... tired... Sleep....... going...to....sleep...now..............