My Goodness! It's been a long time since I last updated! Sorry, everybody. The end of the semester has been really crazy. Anyway, let's get on with the story.

Contemplations

Montressor has not been an attractive planet for decades. Visitors certainly never come for its "scenery." The most fascinating topographical features are canyons. The majority of the days in a year are cloudy and gloomy. Nevertheless, I couldn't live anywhere else. This was home. Seeing beyond the shortcomings, however, Montressor is truly beautiful to its residents in one time of the year: spring. The winter's snow melts to soon bring forth some of the most breath-taking flowers and buds in random patches on the ground. This is truly uplifting to many residents. It sparks a certain emotion for most: love. That is why most of Benbow weddings occur in the springtime.

Watching outdoor wedding ceremonies of sweet Benbonians we did not know from afar reminded Jim and me of those days. Those days when we had graduated and had the time for courtship and true expressions of romance. Our wedding had been perfect. Not too many people but only our closest family and friends attended. The food was delicious. The dances with my new husband were almost in a dreamy haze. In all these years of marriage, the spark had faded slightly, but our love had grown deeper. Memories like these, however, would cause the spark to burn a little brighter between us. It was times like these that made us feel like newlyweds. Feeling each other's touch was thrilling. Kissing was wonderful. Like no other feeling in the universe.

This particular spring, Jim and I were in our early forties. Traces of gray could be seen at the roots of some parts of our hair. Some wrinkles began to form on our faces (one formidable place was under our eyes). Jim said that he had gained some weight, but to be honest, I did not notice it at all. Maybe I was just focusing too much on the more noticeable amount of weight I gained with age. I was not overweight, but I was still relatively short, making weight gain somewhat more evident in my eyes. The worst places (always) have been my hips and thighs. To this day, I still laugh thinking about it. Jim remained as handsome as ever with his clear, blue eyes. He told me I was still as beautiful as the day we met, but I had trouble believing that (of course, I wasn't calling Jim a liar).

Liz was still, of course, taller than me, and she was gorgeous. She caught the eye of several neighborhood and spaceport boys who never got the courage to talk to her (unbeknownst to her because she was so busy). Danny was still the focus of many girls because of his good looks. And he was still as annoyed as ever. (Not that I frequently eavesdropped on these admirers, but the more time one spends at the spaceport, the more one overhears.) He had grown a couple inches taller than I, was around Liz's height, but was still shorter than his father. He was aware that he would probably not grow much taller if he would grow any more at all. This irked him a little.

These times were pleasant for Jim and me as we watched the family and friends of the family go about normal routines as they should without interruption.

"B.E.N., just hold still for two seconds." Jim was trying to observe some of the robot's inner components in our living room when he visited one day. Of course, my "fellow navigator" had some trouble keeping still.

"Well, buddy," Jim concluded after about twenty minutes of checking B.E.N.'s memory circuit and "torso" (his navigation center and control center), "you'll always be falling apart if somebody isn't around to screw you back together, but you're looking pretty good. I think you're gonna out-live us all. He chuckled.

B.E.N., however, wouldn't hear of this. He bawled, "Oh, no, Jimmy! You're not all going to leave me alone, are you?" He sobbed loudly.

Jim laughed, "B.E.N., calm down. That's not going to be for a long time."

B.E.N. sniffled. "You promise?"

"I promise." Jim patted him on the back. B.E.N. cried out joyously, hugging Jim tightly.

I couldn't help but laugh at B.E.N.'s outbursts and relief. It was true, though, that we wouldn't be around forever. Complete happiness awaited in Heaven after this life ended, but I worried a little for B.E.N. As far as I knew, he'd be around as long as his robotic parts lasted. I hoped and prayed that he would always have something to do and be happy. I was almost sure that as long as our family line kept running, he would have friends. It gave me comfort to know that as long as he had friends, he'd be happy. I loved B.E.N. He was really part of our family.

As I was contemplating our aging, I asked Jim about Morph. After all, he was part of the family, and I loved him too. Not only that, but he had helped to save our lives. Jim told me what Silver had told him about morphs. In the case of life expectancy, they could live for considerably long periods of time. The healthy ones (including Morph) could live up to about eighty or ninety years.

This spring also brought Danny home for a vacation from the Academy. Liz was still in the process of looking for an apartment to rent, so she remained with us for the time being. Everything was running pretty smoothly. Danny was finishing up some school assignments while sketching in his spare time. Liz was in a lull period: no navigation jobs required her to be away from home.

Sarah and Momma were in their sixties. Sarah continued to effectively run the Benbow Inn with what seemed like constantly renewed energy (how did she do it?). Momma, on the other hand, retired from navigation. She wasn't much older than Sarah, but it seemed that incessant fatigue and the inevitable migraines to which she was prone were taking their toll on her. Nothing was ever serious, but now it seemed that she could no longer handle constant travel. Otherwise, she remained in a relatively favorable state of health.

The Dopplers kept on with their jobs. Although I would never ask them their ages, I assumed they were around our mothers' ages. Graying hair was now quite apparent on our mothers' and the Dopplers' heads. It seemed that we hardly ever saw the Doppler "kids" (who were in their twenties). By now they had taken up residence on Crescentia or another nearby planet to make use of their careers. However, they often wrote to their parents about the progress they made in their jobs.

One evening was warm with a slight breeze. The skies were clear. The perfect night for sky watching. I set up the telescope for Danny who liked to observe the celestial bodies on occasion. He'd frequently question me about the name of this star, this nebula, that constellation, or that planet. After all, he wasn't taking navigation courses at the Academy. He only needed to learn the names of basic celestial bodies for the sake of emergencies in travel and for the sake of intelligence. Liz would joke, "That's what navigators are for, right?" She only looked through the lens on occasion to make sure her skills were sharp; but quite honestly, I think that when it wasn't necessary she was a little tired of looking at the same "star charts" in the sky as the ones she studied on paper and in the navigation systems. I, however, had always believed that the real "charts" in the sky were more amazing that any map could display.

Liz and Danny went to bed early that night. Jim and I discussed some of my recent thoughts while sitting at the kitchen table. For a man with the spirit of adventure forever embedded in his heart, he was always willing to listen to my less exciting conversations and give some great input. I suppose it naturally came with love. Some of the men under him in the Navy would never guess their captain had a softer side.

In mid-sentence, Jim stopped as the familiar sound of the rockets and engines on a solar skiff came to our dock. The muffled roar stopped with the skiff. Jim looked out the window. The starlight revealed a dark-haired man getting out, he said. Jim looked at me for a minute as we both had the inner sense that we knew who this was. My mind raced with mixed emotions.

Just as we suspected, Sam Prentice was at the door. We invited him inside with seemingly warm greetings. He was as polite as ever. For some reason, I was not surprised when I found that it was really he who had arrived. I knew that somehow he could not stay away from our daughter. And for some odd reason, I was not worried when this privateer (who could just as easily have been called a pirate) entered the house. Maybe it was the fact that even though he endangered our lives, he had played a part in saving them as well.

He sat down with us at the table. We began with some friendly, trivial conversation. This melted into more serious matters.

"So, Sam," Jim began hesitantly, "where have you been these past—how long has it been, Laura?—four years about?"

"Well," Sam responded without emotion, "after Gwen and I left Montressor that night,"—he paused, remembering, I assumed, the extraordinary kiss he shared with Liz—"we headed to the planet Pelsenor where we went under a couple of aliases to keep the Procyon search parties from finding us. After all, we were pretty much fugitives. Obviously, I was no longer working at the Neblaria inn at this point. We did some more moving around, not really settling in any one place for too long. About a year ago, we found that the search parties had given up and went home, but we still kept moving, just in case that danger was not completely gone. Gwen and I sort of parted ways. At least for a while. She's one who craves adventure. I'm not sure where she is or what she's doing now, but our paths will cross sometimes I'm sure. She's just delighted to be free. Anyway, I've been working in some general stores on planets and spaceports for the most part. It's really not a bad sort of place to work. Anyway, I may take up rigging again, but I've completely given up being a privateer. Thank heavens."

I glanced at Jim. The corners of his lips were turned upward only slightly in what was almost a smile. After a minute, he said, "Well, Sam, I'd say your doing pretty good for a former pirate." He gave some emphasis to "pirate," and Sam looked down. He knew very well that there was a fine line between pirate and privateer.

"I'm planning on settling down now and taking life a little more seriously." Sam sounded sincere. An apologetic look was in his eyes. "That's why I came here tonight. I don't want to talk to Liz. Not now. So don't wake her up." He held up a hand as I was about to go get her, knowing she would be thrilled to see Sam. I sat back down immediately.

Sam continued, "I came to talk to both of you." He looked over his shoulder out of the kitchen to make sure that no one was there. He still spoke in a near-whisper. "I have been talking with an old friend of mine who used to work at the Neblaria inn with me. We were thinking of setting up a general store at Crescentia. We'd probably carry stuff for travelers mostly. I'm planning on staying up there." He took a long, deep breath and paused a while. Finally he said, "May I have your permission to ask for Liz's hand in marriage?"

My jaw dropped. Jim looked shocked too. I knew we had the same feelings. We weren't surprised he wanted to marry her. I believe we saw it coming if we had ever thought of seeing him again. But here this young, confident, virile man was, asking us if it was all right to propose to our daughter. We had expected him to just propose to her, shocking us all. But this was not the case.

Sam saw our faces and said somewhat quickly, "I don't want to keep surprising you. I want to start over by just being honest. Now, I'm not trying to be conceited or anything, but I'm pretty sure—or at least I'm hoping—she'd say yes if I just went up to her and proposed. But I'm pretty sure you wouldn't really want your daughter to suddenly be engaged to a former pirate without your permission. And if you did not approve, I wouldn't want her heart to be broken if the engagement was broken off suddenly. That's why I want your permission before I even see her. Besides, if you do approve, I want to start out by being honest and up front with you as my potential in-laws. If you don't approve, I can just leave tonight, and we can forget this ever happened. Liz doesn't even have to know I dropped by."

This touched me, and my respect for him returned. I gave Jim a look that reflected these feelings, but I left the tough part to him. Jim would give him a thorough interrogation.

"You state a good case, Sam." Jim was not easily bent. "However, I can't just give her away. You understand that." Sam nodded. Jim continued, "It seems like you're going to settle down and work nearby unless you work as a rigger as you said you might. You probably won't do any more traveling than Liz will do when she's navigating. Your past is a little rugged though. Here's something I know nothing about." Jim paused a moment, thinking about how to word the question. He soon said with a half-smile, "How have your past relationships been with women?"

I leaned forward. Guilt flickered in Sam's eyes. After a few seconds, he made a sound between a laugh and a cough. "Okay. I gave you my word that I'd be honest so I guess I'll have to be. Uh," he cleared his throat, "I've had several relationships."

Jim dug deeper. "Have they ever been—how shall I say?—deep? Intimate?"

"To some extent. I mean, they never lasted long." Sam was hesitant the whole time. Jim heard enough of this subject. That was all he wanted to know about it. I was quite uneasy about Liz marrying a man with this sort of history, especially concerning women. Jim was too.

Jim considered this for another few moments and said, "Sam, why do you want to marry my daughter?" This was the most important issue of all.

Sam looked Jim straight in the eye. "Captain," he began in the most sincere voice I had ever heard escape him, "I am madly in love with her. I know I've been with several women, but Liz—there's something about her that amazes me. She makes me feel something I've never felt from another woman. I can't exactly put my finger on it. But on top of that, she's kind, patient, brilliant, stunningly beautiful. I've been longing to see her again and realized I couldn't be without her. I'd do anything for her. Anything to make her happy. And I've never felt that way about anyone. I love her, Captain. More than life itself."

He spoke from his heart. I could tell. Jim glanced at me and said to Sam, "Well, you seem truly serious about this. I think Laura and I need to spend some time talking about it." I nodded. "You can stay at my mother's inn until we can give you an answer as long as you don't let Liz know you're here. I don't want her getting excited or upset over something uncertain at this point. Here. I will pay for your stay at the inn." Jim pulled out some doubloons.

"Oh, no, Captain, I couldn't."

"Just take it. I insist. After all, you are my possible potential son-in-law."

Sam smiled a little and took the coins as if they were some sort of near-guarantee that we would in fact approve of a marriage. Jim was not trying to give him any hints though. Sam was just counting his mantabirds before they hatched. As he left, I thought I detected a bounce in his step.

Author's Note: That was a pretty long one. Thanks for hanging in there. A little bit of romance in this one was kind of nice in my opinion. Sorry if some of the descriptions kind of dragged. Anyway, the story's far from over (my famous quote). Hey, it's a long story! I've actually got the basic plot all planned out, so there's definitely a direction with this. Thanks for reading. Oh, yeah! Almost forgot:

To be continued…