A/N: Yeah, this is the same chapter that I posted a while ago, for those who have read it, but I posted the wrong version. A while ago I didn't like how the story was going (I write more than I post so I'm always ahead) so I rewrote it, including some of this chapter. It's the same thing, nothing really has changed, but still . . .
Thanks for reading so far! :D I'm so glad you guys love it, and thanks for all the reviews!
R&R!
In a timid manner Vanessa Kendrick walked down to the galley. The ship was now a construction zone, and the majority of the crew was cleaning up the destruction and repairing engines and such. She passed a small group of men who leered at her, their eyes brimming with lust and danger.
"Hey baby girl, how you doin'?" shouted an enormously fat alien with twisted spikes on his head. She didn't make eye contact, but picked up her pace. Their protruding stairs and loud cackles followed her down the wooden steps to the galley. A tall, obese cyborg stood at the stove, whistling a merry tune, and Jim Hawkins sat on one of the long wooden tables with a purp in his hand. He turned his head to look back at the intruder. Vanessa's eyes went back to the hem of her dark blue skirt.
"Why hello there!" the cyborg greeted, "Ye be the Captain's charge, yes?"
She nodded in response. Vanessa seemed to do a lot of nodding instead of talking.
The cyborg closed the distance between them and held out a robotic hand for her to shake, "I be Mr. Silver."
Vanessa did not shake it and continued her downcast stare.
"Aw, you too?" he sighed and retreated back to the kitchen section of the room, "You ain't be the only one, darling. Jimbo don't like me hardware either."
She took the chance to look at Jim, who was now glaring at Mr. Silver. Did he have some sort of prejudice against cyborgs?
"What's your name, girl?" Mr. Silver asked.
Vanessa took a deep breath before speaking, "V-Vanessa. Um – Captain Amelia doesn't have any work for me, so she sent me down here,"
"Speaking of work," Mr. Silver directed his red robotic eye at Jim, "Have you finished swabbing the deck, Jimbo?"
Jim only shrugged, taking a juicy bite of his purp.
"Well hop to it lad, and don't come back when you're – lass, what is that on your neck?"
"Location collar," Jim answered without missing a beat, "She needs it taken off,"
"Now let's see what we can do about that. Come and sit next to Jim,"
Vanessa bit her lip, but obliged and took the spot next to the boy. Jim looked at her through the corner of his eye, saying nothing. Silver came close and assessed the contraption around her throat.
"What's your name 'gain, lass?"
She opened her mouth to speak, and then frozen when she saw his robotic hand change into a wrench. He came closer to loosen a bolt, and she scooted back on the table with a whimper.
"It's alright, I won't hurt you,"
"Y-you can't take it off," she griped, "If you t-touch it, it'll -"
His tool clashed with the metal of the collar and a burst of electricity shocked them both, "What the - ?!" Silver shouted as he was knocked backward. Vanessa screamed with agony, falling back onto the table. The feeling of her skin burning on her throat was nothing new to her, yet it hurt all the same. In a short second it stopped, the shock leaving her breathless. Every time she tried to inhale, her chest seized up. A scent of scorching flesh hung in the air, as it always did.
In his own fit of shock, Jim had jumped up and bent over Vanessa, wide eyes and open mouthed, "Are you alright?!" he reached to help her sit up. She flinched away, making his hands recoil, "What the hell was that?"
"The damned collar must have a defense mechanism," Silver grunted as he struggled to get up.
I tried to tell you, Vanessa thought. She sat up when she felt strong enough and wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing the electricity from her nerves.
"Was there a device that controlled the collar?" Silver asked, "Yes? Well then, I can't get it off without the remote. I dunno, lass, I don't want to hurt you,"
Vanessa nodded, swallowing against the lump in her throat. She's lived with this for four years, she could live with it a while longer.
"I'll see if I can bypass the collar's system some other way. In the meantime, let's put you to work. Jimbo, go swab the rest of the deck -"
"But they're doing construction up there. It'll just get dirtier," Jim complained.
"I don't give a damn. Get up there and do it, and don't come back till ye've finished. You, little lady, can chop veggies for dinner. And good God, someone get this girl a purp. Thin as a skeleton, this one is,"
Jim grumbled under his breath and slid off the table, her side feeling suddenly cold without his presence. Reaching into the barrel of purple fruit, he picked two of them and tossed one to Vanessa. His eyes held pity when he looked at her. Then Jim climbed the stairs to the deck.
Hours later, after dinner had been served, Vanessa went up to the deck carrying a fresh bucket of water. She was very tense around Jim already, and now she had to work alongside him? She didn't want him to get her in trouble. Her eyes scanned the deck and spotted him holding a mop, talking to some kind of floating pink blob, his lips moving but nothing to be heard until she came closer.
"Well, this has been a fun day," he sighed to the blob, a hint of humor in his tone, "Making new friends – especially that Spider Psycho," he wiggled his fingers for effect.
Vanessa watched as the blob's shape twisted into the form of a member of the crew she saw earlier, the one which looked like a mix of a giant crab and a spider, "Spider Psycho! Spider Psycho!" the blob squealed, lunging playfully at Jim.
Jim laughed, "A little uglier,"
The blob covered his face and let out an evil, high pitched cackle, as he now had an uglier, hag looking appearance. Leaning against the handle of the mop, Jim laughed again, "Close enough. And then we got to fight some pirates, how cool was that?" his voice held more enthusiasm than his actions did as he dabbed his wet mop on a dry spot of the deck, "And Vanessa Kendrick . . . God, she looks like she's been through hell. Wonder what happened to her,"
The pink blob took notice of the girl standing at the top steps of the galley and let out a strange squeal that was surprisingly cute. Jim's head suddenly snapped back to look at her, his eyes flickering to the location collar and then back to her face, "Hey,"
Vanessa took this as an invitation to come closer. Silently, she put the clean bucket on the ground and took up the one that was dirty. With this bucket she went to the edge of the ship and threw the water out.
"Thanks," he said, "I've only got the small patch over there left to do," Jim pointed to an area by the mast, and then added as Vanessa got to her hands and knees and soaked her rag in water, "I can do it, you don't have to help,"
But she ignored him. Wringing out the rag a bit, she threw it down on the only dry spot and began scrubbing. The two worked in silence until the floor was completely clean. Vanessa wiped her hands on her leggings while looking up into the sky. The colors of space made perfect serenity and stars flew past her so fast that she couldn't tell if they were stationary or falling.
It was then that the realization of a miracle hit her.
Vanessa Kendrick was free. And she couldn't help but grin from ear to ear, her lips cracking from happiness, the first real grin that graced her lips in a very long time.
She was free!
"They took you, didn't they?" his deep voice asked. That enlightening feeling vanished as quickly as it had come when she turned to see Jim staring intently at her, "Captain Tromis and his gang? They kidnapped you, that's why you disappeared from Montressor, isn't it?"
Vanessa's smile faded and she turned away, a redness brushing across her cheeks. Jim was smart; how quickly he came to the correct idea, and how, even though she didn't give him an answer, he knew he was right.
"What happe -?"
He was interrupted by thudding footsteps coming their way. Silver appeared without his black coat and hat, holding a bowl of what looked like slop left from the last meal ,"Well, thank heavens for little miracles. Up here for an hour and the deck's still in one piece," he chuckled, dumping the slop over the ship's side, "Sad I can't say the same for the rest of the blasted boat. Can't take a hit from a laser cannon,"
Silver glanced at the two teenagers, at Jim in his suddenly brooding mood, and Vanessa's scrawny body, "We need to fatten you up, lass. Never seen someone look so damn skinny,"
Irritation swelled inside her, but she ignored it. Silver turned his full attention to Jim, half-heartedly adding to her, "You be done for the rest of the day. Go on to the kitchens and fix yourself whatever ye little heart desires,"
She nodded gratefully and took the bucket with her, noticing that, as she passed Jim, he had a weary but apprehensive expression on his hard features when he looked at the cyborg.
"Um – look, I – uh . . . what you did . . . thanks,"
Vanessa stopped at the top of the stairs to listen. There was a pause before the cook responded, "Didn't your pap ever teach you to pick your fights a bit more carefully?"
Jim didn't answer at first, and Vanessa almost turned around to observe the pair before Silver spoke, "Your father not the teachin' sort, is he?" he tone sounded soft.
Jim's tone was even sadder, "No, he's more of the taking-off-and-never-coming-back sort,"
She felt her heart sink and many questions pop up in her mind. Jim's father was there last time she heard. Did he leave while she was gone? Albeit she had nothing to be sorry for, Vanessa sent out a silent apology to him before continuing her descent.