Chapter 9

Jim found himself approaching Amelia the very next day. "Captain?" he asked.

"Yes, Mr. Hawkins? Is there something I can do for you?" Amelia asked, her demeanor calm and unhurried.

"No, Ma'am. I just wanted to inform you that we will be home at Montressor in just under four weeks' time," Jim relayed to her.

"Ah, thank you, Mr. Hawkins," Amelia said. "That will be all…"

But, Jim was not quite finished speaking yet apparently. "Oh, Captain… one last thing," Jim began.

Amelia turned a cool eye his way, but allowed him to say his piece. "Yes, Mr. Hawkins?" Amelia replied.

"It's just this, Captain. I know you don't like Silver, and a part of me doesn't blame you for feeling that way," Jim continued. "But, please realize that Silver understands, and doesn't blame you for being furious with him."

Amelia stared out ahead, but answered in a rather clipped voice. "Make your point, Mr. Hawkins," she urged him. "You do have a point, don't you?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Do me a favor, if you will. Make up two lists: one for all the bad things he has done; and one list for all the good things he has done. Now, if you review both lists, I'm willing to bet that you'll find the good one is far longer than the bad. And, with that being the case, see if you can't find it in your heart to give him a second chance. That's all I'm asking, Ma'am," Jim told her, then tipped his hat to her and made his way back down to the main deck once more.

Later that afternoon, Delbert made his way to Amelia's stateroom. He knocked politely, then stuck his head in, calling, "What are you doing, Amelia dear?"

"Working on a suggestion from our all-too-clever Mr. Hawkins, actually," Amelia told him. "Do come in, dear."

"So, what sort of suggestion has Jim come up with?" Delbert asked, coming over to stand beside where she sat behind her desk.

Amelia explained the gist of Jim's suggestion, then let her husband review her results. Delbert peered down through his spectacles at her two lists, then observed, "Well, this one list is longer than the other. Is that a good thing, dear?"

"Well, that depends on your point of view, darling. It is bad for me, but good for our resident cyborg cook," Amelia said and looked down upon the lists.

"Ah, Mr. Silver again, is it?" Delbert declared. "What do you plan to do then, Amelia?"

"Come along, and you'll find out, my love," Amelia said, and got to her feet, beckoning for her husband to follow her.

She found Silver a moment or two later, lounging against the rail where he and Jim had talked the previous evening. "Ah, good evening, Mr. Silver," Amelia declared primly, her eyes very neutral, her hands clasped firmly behind her back.

"Ah, Cap'n," Silver returned. "Hey there, Doc," he added, nodding to Delbert. "Feelin' the need fer some peace an' fresh air now, Ma'am?"

"Something along those lines, Mr. Silver," Amelia replied. She then tugged her coat into place, and cleared her throat.

"I have had a discussion with our mutual friend, Mr. Hawkins. It seems he gave me a useful bit of advise about you," Amelia related.

"Is that so?" Silver replied, clearly not sure where things were heading just yet.

"Yes, indeed he did. At first, I will admit that I was loathe to listen to this clever young man… but his logic proved airtight, I'm afraid. Look, I am ready to make a deal with you, Mr. Silver," Amelia told him, maybe a bit bluntly, yet kindly.

"Well, yeh've got me full attention, Ma'am," Silver replied, nodding his head.

"I have decidedalbeit a bit reluctantly, perhapsto give you a second chance, Mr. Silver," Amelia said. "If you can prove to me that I can trust you…really trust you…then I am willing to forgive and forget the pirate you were, and give you a clean slate, as it were," Amelia declared. She then thrust out her hand to Silver, "Do we have ourselves an agreement, Mr. Silver?"

Silver paused a moment, looking frankly at Amelia, studying her. Then he grinned, and took her hand and shook it firmly. "Yeh have yerself a deal, Cap'n!" he said. "Oh, and thank yeh, Ma'am."

"Oh, don´t thank me, Mr. Silver… thank your Mr. Hawkins," Amelia stated before turning on her heel, and heading back to her stateroom once more.

Silver smiled at Amelia's back. He couldn't believe his ears… that somehow Jim could of pulled off something that could of changed Amelia's mind about him. He smiled and began to think. Now, how was he to make the Captain Amelia trust him, he thought.

For some reason, he looked out into the the expanse of the Etherium. His attention was diverted when a burst of happy laughter made him look up into the rigging. It was the Doppler children and the cabin boy, Jake, up in the rigging talking amongst themselves. Silver smiled, shook his head, and looked back to stare into space once more. As he did so, he became aware of a sudden movement, one that dragged his head around to stare. There! A glint flickered off their port bow. Silver realized just what that flicker might be, and his face paled. Taking his glass from his pocket, he yelled up to the lookout on duty in the crow's nest.

"Ahoy, spacer! Cast yer eyes to the southwest, man, an' tell me what yeh be seein'!"

The lookout frowned, and brought up his glass, and looked in the appropriate direction. The spacer stiffened, and snapped to attention. He looked down upon Silver and stammered aloud, "There be P-P-Pirates!"