Stars My Destination
The ship left a long graceful tail of exhaust as it roared off the launch pad and into the sky. The ship flew higher and high into the clear blue sky and within minutes it vanished from view and off into the great black of space.
"Bon voyage, buddy," said Gene Starwind from his position on the top of a hill that offered a spectacular view of launches from West Virginia Spaceport. His back against a tree and his hands behind his head, the young outlaw sat and starred at the point in the sky where he'd lost sight of the ship. After a few more moments of looking at empty sky Gene turned his gaze back to the spaceport and began to check to see if any other ships looked as if they were preparing to launch.
"Ah ha! I figured this is where you are. I've been trying to get ahold of you for over an hour!" came an irritated voice suddenly.
Gene turned to see his friend and partner in Starwind & Hawking Enterprises, Jim Hawking, trudging up the hill. In addition to looking slightly winded Jim had a grumpy look on his face. From experience Gene knew meant the boy was in the mood to give him a good chewing out.
"Hey, Jim. What's up?"
"What's up is that I've been trying to get in touch with you about a job we've been offered but you've been nowhere to be found," informed Jim, testily.
"Oh, is that all?" replied Gene with exaggerated casualness. "I must have, uh, accidentally turned my communicator off."
"Again," glared Jim who was only getting more annoyed by Gene's blasé attitude. This, of course, was exactly what Gene was trying to do. Grating on the Type A side of his friend's personality was a favorite pastime of Gene's.
"So how did you know to find me here?" asked the redhead.
At that Jim flashed a brief, self-congratulating smirk. "It's too early for the bars and the brothels to be open. There's nothing big going on in terms of gambling so it was a safe bet you weren't at the casinos. I knew you weren't at the shop so that pretty much just left here in terms of places you hang out."
"Wow, give the kid detective a prize. Maybe I should get you a magnifying glass and a deerstalker hat for your next birthday, Sherlock Hawking," replied Gene with a smirk of his own.
"Save the jokes, Gene," grumbled Jim. "This is a rush job and the guy's willing to pay extra to have this done ASAFP."
"Fine, fine. So what's the job this time?"
"Some kinda glitch down at Kingpins has all the machines act--"
"Whoa, hold up!" interrupted Gene. "By Kingpins you don't mean that bowling ally do you?
"Yeah, that's the place," confirmed Jim. "The pin setting machines have gone haywire and the guy that owns the place is pretty frantic since there's some big bowling shindig happening this evening. He said if the machines are still broken by then he'll loose a truckload of money."
"God, why the hell are people still playing an ancient game like bowling in this day and age?" grumbled Gene. "And why is a smart, dashing and all around cool guy like myself stuck being called in to fix pin setting machines? There's gotta be something better out there than this."
"If you've figured out a way to hit the Sentinel III lottery or something I'd love to hear it. But in the meantime we need money so we can have food and electricity and right now this gig is all we've got," said Jim. "The client is at the bank getting some money now and wants us to meet him at Kingpins no later than three o'clock. If we can get the machines working by five he said he'd even sweeten the deal a little more."
"He wants us there at three? That's more than two hours from now. We should just take it easy until then."
The look of irritation on Jim's face grew. "I was planning on getting on the net and trying to find some info on how these machines work. If we have some idea of what we're dealing with it'll save us a lot of hassle and time and make easier to get that bonus.
Gene made an amused noise. "Since when does 'Genius' Jim Hawking worry about blueprints or whatever? I thought you could fix anything you put your mind to."
"I can," huffed Jim. "If I have enough time. But when I'm on a deadline I make sure to get all the info I can before I start job. That's part of being a genius."
"I'm honored to be allowed to bask in your brilliance, Prof. Hawking," replied Gene with exaggerated politeness. "What are you going to teach us today? Will it be on the test? My dog ate my homework. I swear!"
Jim gave Gene an acid glare. "If you wanna try being funny why don't you go to the open mic night down at the comedy club on Roparzh Street? In the meantime how about you stop being an ass and he--"
"Christ, Jim, unclench already," snapped Gene. "I swear, if you had any idea how much I am going to get you laid once you finally hit puberty you wouldn't give me half the amount of crap you do."
Jim blushed a rather interesting shade of red. "First of all, I might still be a kid but the ladies always roll out the red carpet when I come around. So when I decide I want girlfriend I'm not going to need you help."
Having had a moment to regain his composure Jim again brought a confidence smirk to his face. "Besides, if hitting puberty means turning into a perverted horndog like you'd rather stay a kid forever."
Gene cocked an eyebrow at his friend. "You spend most of your time acting like an adult and now you want to be Peter Pan? Interesting contradiction."
"Me be Peter Pan?" said Jim with a chuckle. "If anyone around here is Peter Pan it's you, Gene."
"Whadda ya mean by that? I'm an outlaw not a Lost Boy, thank you very much," replied Gene with no small amount of indignation. "Believe me; I can give you a nice long list of ladies here in town who can testify about how much of man I really am."
"You're just proving my point," countered Jim. "You talk big about being all grown up but you run around after women, get into brawls, booze it up and can't hold onto money to save your life. Sounds pretty immature to me."
At that Gene grinned widely. "If not doing stuff like that is what being a grownup means then screw growing up. I'll be happy to stay a 'kid' forever. Congrats, Jim, I guess you win this argument."
"Well, bully for me," said Jim without enthusiasm.
There was a short, silent moment.
"You know…" began Gene.
"Yeah?" Jim prodded.
The outlaw was silent a moment longer before continuing. "My dad…He really liked the story of Peter Pan. I hadn't thought of that book for years until just now. But now I remember that sometimes he'd read Peter Pan to me as a bedtime story when I was little. Thinking back…I always loved that story."
Gene rarely spoke of his father so Jim pushed thoughts of work aside and sat down on the grass near his friend. Again there was silence and Jim took a minute to look over at the ships at the spaceport.
"It was my mom for me," said Jim simply after a while.
"Your mom?"
Jim nodded. "She was always the one who read me stories as kid. Including Peter Pan. My memory is a little hazy but I'm pretty sure she liked the story a lot. I did to."
"I bet that's a nice memory."
The boy gave a little smile and nodded. "Yeah, it is."
Again there was silence for a time.
"My dad was really big on all those classic kids' stories," continued Gene. "He read them to me as bedtime stories when I was a kid and used 'em to help me learn how to read when I got older.
"Dad was a huge Jack London fan. He loved stories like White Fang and Call of the Wild. Hell, I think that fact that London had such an adventurous life is part of the reason he decided to come all the way out here to the frontier to try and make it big."
"So your dad was a Jack London buff and you're Peter Pan," said Jim. "Gotta say, I never imagined books being a big part of your childhood. The only stuff you ever read these days always has pictures of naked ladies in them."
"I'll be nice and ignore that last comment. But if I'm Peter Pan then I guess that would make you…" Gene paused for a moment to scratch his chin in thought. "Ah! I got it! You're the kid from Treasure Island!"
"I've never heard of Treasure Island," said Jim. "What's it about and how does it fit me?"
"Well, it's been forever since I read the story but I do remember that the main character was a kid by name of Jim Hawkins."
Jim gave his friend a withering stare. "My name is Hawking, not Hawkins."
Gene waved his hand in dismissal of his friend's complaint. "It's a one letter difference. Big freakin' deal. Anyway, basically this Jim Hawkins kid is living a boring life in some little town in England. Then one day he fids this treasure map. That sends him off on this big adventure where he gets to sail the seas, meet pirates like Long John Silver and all sorts of other cool stuff."
"I'll pass on the pirates, thanks," said Jim "Messing with them is a good way to end up dead."
"You've no spirit of adventure, Jim," chided Gene. "Heck, Peter Pan himself even said 'To doe would be a great adventure'."
Jim let out a hearty laugh at his friend's words. "Wow! Gene Starwind quoting a book! They must be breaking out the ice skates in hell right about now!"
Gene muttered a short curse under his breath and went back to starring at the sky. "So what if I'm not the most 'mature' guy around? If not being able to live however I want is what it means to grow up then I'll pass. Flying around all over the place, getting into all sorts of trouble with some good pals, fighting pirates, going on adventures and having a cute girl to protect…Yeah, Peter Pan knew how to live."
"Maybe so but Peter Pan is just a story," said Jim with a shrug. "You and me have to live here in the real world. In the real world adventures like that are about as rare as pixie dust."
Gene stood and stretched but continued to look out over the spaceport. "Yeah, and that sorta bites. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna stop dreaming about getting off this rock, getting a ship of my own, having some cool adventures and making it big some day."
As if in response to Gene's words a ship suddenly took off and within seconds was soaring away as the two friends watched.
"Where do you think they're headed off to?" asked Jim, quietly.
Gene gave a little smile. "Second start to the right, straight on till morning."
Jim gave a chuckle and smiled as well. "The way to get to Neverland. You're in a bit of a weird mood today, you know that?"
"Yeah, maybe I am," said Gene with a nod. "Come on, buddy. Let's go fix some pin setting machines. We gotta keep a roof over our heads until our ship comes in, right?"
"Right," said Jim, enthusiastically.
With that the two quietly left the hilltop.
Later that evening Gene sat near one of the windows back at home watching the sun slowly fade away. It had been hard work but he and Jim had managed to get the pin setting machines at Kingpins in working order before five. The owner had kept his word about an early completion bonus so for the moment Starwind & Hawking Enterprises was in the black.
Since they'd been paid in cash (all the better to avoid the taxman) Jim had headed off to pick up some parts for his car and a few other items they'd needed but had been too broke to afford.
Gene, on the other hand, had used the small bit of the payment he'd managed to squeeze out of Jim to order a large pizza for dinner and pick up a case of his favorite beer. The pizza had been washed down with two of the beers and a third was keeping Gene company as he watched the sun finally sink below the horizon.
"Yo! I'm home!" called Jim as he came in the front door with two shopping bags in hand.
"Your half of dinner is staying warm in the oven," informed Gene. "Did you get everything we need?"
"Yeah. I was even able to haggle the guy down on a few things," said Jim as he started to dig for something in one of the bags. "Oh, and on the way back I made a little detour and picked us both up a little somethin' special."
"Is it booze?"
"No!"
"Is it porn?"
"NO!"
"Well, I'm stumped," mumbled Gene as he took another swig of beer.
Looking slightly irritated Jim climbed up the steps to landing where Gene sat. Under the boy's arm were two books.
Gene raised a questioning eyebrow. "Stop by the library on the way home?"
"A used bookstore actually," informed Jim. "They're a little beat up but I was able to get these at a good price."
Jim then offered one of the books to the red-haired outlaw with a small smile. "Here, check it out."
Gene took the book, glanced at the cover and smiled. It was a copy of Peter Pan.
"Thanks, Jim. This was really nice of you," said Gene, earnestly.
"It's cool," assured Jim with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I got something for myself too." Gene wasn't the least bit surprised when his friend held up a copy of Treasure Island.
"After what you said today I figured it couldn't hurt to give the book a shot," Jim said with a small shrug.
"I knew there was the heart for adventure in there somewhere," teased Gene. "But really, Jim, I think you'll like that book a lot."
"Only one way to find out," replied Jim as he turned and headed back downstairs. "I'm gonna go grab some of that pizza before I crack this baby open."
As his friend headed off to the kitchen Gene looked out the window he noticed a single star in the now dark sky.
"Star light, star bright…" he whispered to himself. Gene couldn't bring himself to say the rest of the children's rhyme out load. "I wish…I wish that someday I could have some cool adventures." Gene allowed himself a little chuckle. "Just like Peter Pan. Oh, and my own ship would be nice to."
Feeling slightly foolish Gene drained the rest of his beer in a long chug. He then looked out the window again. Several stars were visible now.
The outlaw reached out and put a hand against the window. "Second star to the right, straight on till morning."
Gene allowed himself another small smile before he opened the book and began to read.
The End