Academy to Marriage
I did see him again but only on occasion. We passed each other in the halls between classes and sometimes went out to eat about once every weekend. That was it...but that's what made it all the more special and worth while. I never considered him to be my boyfriend. Maybe just a peer or acquaintance. I was never sure. I found that his mother ran an inn in Benbow, Montressor. Pirates burned the first one to the ground so a new one was built using money from Treasure Planet (or so he claimed). It really got him talking when I asked him what the heck he was saying. He got started about Billy Bones and the map and how he had been the only one to open it. He recounted he journey to Treasure Planet, the loot of a thousand worlds. I listened in fascination. I believed every word. Why? It could have been just an embellished story. It was because I trusted him.
Besides, his story made sense. I heard about Billy Bones and all the stories of Captain Flint's trove. I had also read of spherical maps in some of my navigation books. They were very rare, but when he told me its shape was designed to activate a portal, it made even more sense (the spherical shape had been a mystery for ages). I believed it when he said he saved the crew. I believed him.
He mentioned once that he knew Delbert Doppler and Captain Amelia. I was amazed. Momma had close associations with Dr. Doppler and the captain. They sent us a wedding invitation but it came in the mail when we were both gone on a navigating job. When we returned, it was already too late, and we mailed them our congratulations and our apologies that we didn't make it.
Jim was a year ahead of me at the Academy, but because he hadn't gone through the year I was in, he had to take some courses over the summer to catch up. He smashed them, barely breaking a sweat. I knew Jim was brilliant.
Over the next five years, we both worked diligently at our studies. On breaks and vacations, we visited Montressor. Our home planet looked so gloomy compared to Academy headquarters. I met his mother, and he met mine. We discovered quickly that our mothers knew each other growing up outside of school. My mother was about four or so years older than Sarah Hawkins. Mrs. Hawkins always stated that Momma was somewhat of a shoulder to cry on when Leland Hawkins wasn't there. Apparently, Jim and I met when we were babies. Our mothers hadn't seen each other in years. The universe was small. Almost too small.
I grew to admire Sarah for her hard work and helped her whenever possible. I also met the ever-talkative Bio-Electronic Navigator, B.E.N. He was so thrilled to meet another navigator that it was almost scary. However, he had the biggest heart imaginable.
I never asked what happened to Jim's father, but one day it just spilled out of him. His eyes glistened a little when he relived that morning when he was eight. He informed me in a most assertive tone that Leland wasn't his father. John Silver was. He retold his voyage on the RLS Legacy this time focusing on the galley cook. He mentioned the name: my father's murderer. My friend's mentor. Who was this man? I dare not reveal the murder to Jim. Would he be crushed, or could he care less? That was more than nine years ago. I had to let it go. When Jim mentioned that Silver gave up a lifelong obsession to save the boy, my feelings about the pirate softened a little. It gave me chills, however, to think that the murderer was still out there.
The years went by, and Jim graduated as valedictorian, and one year later, I did as well (not conceited). We had become closer as time passed. At that point, I knew I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life. I loved him. I would never ask a man to marry me, so I waited for him to "pop the question," as the old cliché goes. After all, he was the most handsome, sweet man I had ever known.
One day, I was at Crescentia's main communication hub working in the navigator's section. The pixels showed huge interactive maps of the Etherium on giant screens. I would go there on occasion to keep track of ships' positions. They were just closing up the section for the day when I gathered my tools together. I suddenly found a small box next to my case...opened it. It happened. I met up with Jim that evening at one of the inns (he had been staying on Crescentia for a while himself for additional training to become a captain) and embraced him so tightly I swore he couldn't breath. I was crying joyous tears. We wed four months later. Momma walked me down the aisle.
It was the happiest moment of my life. We took a week-long honeymoon on the "cruise galleon," the Joyful Marie, and went back to Montressor to focus on getting a house. Jim finished his training and not only became the youngest captain to graduate from the training classes but also became head mechanic. I continued navigation, and we often worked on voyages together. Soon afterward, I was pregnant.
I did see him again but only on occasion. We passed each other in the halls between classes and sometimes went out to eat about once every weekend. That was it...but that's what made it all the more special and worth while. I never considered him to be my boyfriend. Maybe just a peer or acquaintance. I was never sure. I found that his mother ran an inn in Benbow, Montressor. Pirates burned the first one to the ground so a new one was built using money from Treasure Planet (or so he claimed). It really got him talking when I asked him what the heck he was saying. He got started about Billy Bones and the map and how he had been the only one to open it. He recounted he journey to Treasure Planet, the loot of a thousand worlds. I listened in fascination. I believed every word. Why? It could have been just an embellished story. It was because I trusted him.
Besides, his story made sense. I heard about Billy Bones and all the stories of Captain Flint's trove. I had also read of spherical maps in some of my navigation books. They were very rare, but when he told me its shape was designed to activate a portal, it made even more sense (the spherical shape had been a mystery for ages). I believed it when he said he saved the crew. I believed him.
He mentioned once that he knew Delbert Doppler and Captain Amelia. I was amazed. Momma had close associations with Dr. Doppler and the captain. They sent us a wedding invitation but it came in the mail when we were both gone on a navigating job. When we returned, it was already too late, and we mailed them our congratulations and our apologies that we didn't make it.
Jim was a year ahead of me at the Academy, but because he hadn't gone through the year I was in, he had to take some courses over the summer to catch up. He smashed them, barely breaking a sweat. I knew Jim was brilliant.
Over the next five years, we both worked diligently at our studies. On breaks and vacations, we visited Montressor. Our home planet looked so gloomy compared to Academy headquarters. I met his mother, and he met mine. We discovered quickly that our mothers knew each other growing up outside of school. My mother was about four or so years older than Sarah Hawkins. Mrs. Hawkins always stated that Momma was somewhat of a shoulder to cry on when Leland Hawkins wasn't there. Apparently, Jim and I met when we were babies. Our mothers hadn't seen each other in years. The universe was small. Almost too small.
I grew to admire Sarah for her hard work and helped her whenever possible. I also met the ever-talkative Bio-Electronic Navigator, B.E.N. He was so thrilled to meet another navigator that it was almost scary. However, he had the biggest heart imaginable.
I never asked what happened to Jim's father, but one day it just spilled out of him. His eyes glistened a little when he relived that morning when he was eight. He informed me in a most assertive tone that Leland wasn't his father. John Silver was. He retold his voyage on the RLS Legacy this time focusing on the galley cook. He mentioned the name: my father's murderer. My friend's mentor. Who was this man? I dare not reveal the murder to Jim. Would he be crushed, or could he care less? That was more than nine years ago. I had to let it go. When Jim mentioned that Silver gave up a lifelong obsession to save the boy, my feelings about the pirate softened a little. It gave me chills, however, to think that the murderer was still out there.
The years went by, and Jim graduated as valedictorian, and one year later, I did as well (not conceited). We had become closer as time passed. At that point, I knew I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life. I loved him. I would never ask a man to marry me, so I waited for him to "pop the question," as the old cliché goes. After all, he was the most handsome, sweet man I had ever known.
One day, I was at Crescentia's main communication hub working in the navigator's section. The pixels showed huge interactive maps of the Etherium on giant screens. I would go there on occasion to keep track of ships' positions. They were just closing up the section for the day when I gathered my tools together. I suddenly found a small box next to my case...opened it. It happened. I met up with Jim that evening at one of the inns (he had been staying on Crescentia for a while himself for additional training to become a captain) and embraced him so tightly I swore he couldn't breath. I was crying joyous tears. We wed four months later. Momma walked me down the aisle.
It was the happiest moment of my life. We took a week-long honeymoon on the "cruise galleon," the Joyful Marie, and went back to Montressor to focus on getting a house. Jim finished his training and not only became the youngest captain to graduate from the training classes but also became head mechanic. I continued navigation, and we often worked on voyages together. Soon afterward, I was pregnant.