Sarah Hawkins was busy washing dishes in the Benbow Inn's kitchen when she heard the front door slam. "Jim? Is that you?" she called.
"Yeah, Mom," came the muffled reply. She picked up a towel, walked out of the kitchen while drying her hands, and found Jim standing next to a teenage girl. "Jim, Who's this?"
"This is my friend Janna Silver. You remeber her, right? My penpal from Cainipus."
Sarah smiled. "Oh, yes! Hello, Janna."
"Hi."
Jim looked at Sarah and shifted his feet nervously. "Uh, Mom? I kinda need to tell you something."
"What? Don't you dare tell me you've gotten in trouble again, young man!"
"No! Its nothing like that." He grinned at his mother. "I passed, Mom! I passed all of the tests at the Academy without messing up!"
Sarah stared at Jim, shocked. "James Pleiades Hawkins, are you fooling me?!"
"No, Mom, its the truth! We were just over to the Doppler's and Doc told me."
Sarah hugged Jim and cried, "Oh, Jim, this is wonderful! When are you going to graduate?"
"Um...next Tuesday. At least thats what Doc said."
While Jim and Sarah continued to talk, Janna stepped outside to look at the sky. It was full of boiling black clouds. "Well, looks like I'm stuck here. I can't fly my solar-surfer in this weather," she sighed. Suddenly she noticed a ship heading for one of the docking platforms. It anchored quickly and a lone, tall figure stepped out. It walked up to her and asked, "Excuse me, but is this the Hawkins' place?"
She noticed that its face looked strangely like Jim's as she nodded.
"Are they home right now?"
"Yeah, but they're sorta busy right now."
The man frowned. "What do you mean 'busy'?"
"Well, Jim just passed the Interstellar Academy's final tests and his mom is completely thrilled. They're busy talking."
"Do you think they'd mind if I went in?"
"I don't think know. Probably not."
"Alright." The man turned and went into the Inn. A few seconds after the door shut, Janna heard Sarah cry, "Leland?!" and Jim yell, "Dad?!" She ran into the Inn and saw Sarah and Jim both hugging the man. Jim looked up and smiled at Janna. "Janna, uh...this is my dad."
Janna's eyes widened. "Really? The guy who left you and your mom?"
Leland Hawkins nodded sadly. "I'm afraid so. I guess I left because I wasn't ready to be a father yet. But I think I am now," he said as he smiled down at Jim. Suddenly a crack of thunder split the silence. Morpha jumped out of Janna's pocket where she had been hiding. She snuggled up to Janna and chirped worriedly.
Leland frowned. "Where did you get that pet?"
"From my grandfather. Why?"
"One of my former boss's daughters had a pet exactly like that."
"What was your boss's name?"
"Sameul Silver."
Janna stared at Leland. "That-thats my dad! You worked for my father?"
"I did a few mechanical jobs for him after I, uh, left here." He smiled sheepishly at Sarah. "I'm really sorry I left you, hon."
"Its okay, Leland. Jim and I...managed."
Leland looked around the room. "Well, it looks like you entirely rebuilt the old place."
Sarah smiled. "Well, actually Jim got the money for the building."
Leland looked at Jim strangely. "Where'd you get the money, son?"
Jim smiled. "Uh, well you know that holobook about Treasure Planet I always insisted on reading?"
"Yeah?"
"Well...it turned out the legend was true. Doctor Doppler and I went on a voyage to find the treasure and thats where I got the money."
Leland nodded thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, I might've heard something about that voyage. Was it on the RLS Legacy"
"Yeah."
Leland smiled. "How about you and your mother tell me about it?"
Sarah smiled and began, "Well, it all started seven years after you left when Jim brought this wounded alien in the door..."