Chapter Two:

"Oh my-"

'Ankh.'

"You can say that again."

Amelia and I finally reached the ship only to find it swarming with the things we hated the most; pirates. Thankfully, amidst the sea of bloodthirsty strangers a familiar rock stood out. That really mean pun was so intended. "Mr. Arrow these hooligans cannot seriously be the crew for this ship," The Captain says making a statement not a question.

"'Unfortunately ma'am they are; hired by Doctor Doppler himself.'"

"Who?"

"'Our financier Captain.'"

"Oh, right. Well, let's start the preparations to get underway, shall we?"

"'Indeed, ma'am.'" Arrow starts barking orders and I venture off to explore more the ship.

She is a beau with a fitting name too; The R.L.S. Legacy. She has a sleek design and the newest kind of solar sails available. Outfitted with a jumbo cannon and turbo thrusters she truly is a fine specimen. Exploring deeper I found myself in the galley. Rounding a corner, I saw a sizable group of the crew gathered together apparently listening to one person speak. Bloody pirates, I was too far away to hear what they were saying so I decided to be abrasive instead of sneaky.

'Shouldn't you all be helping the Captain get the ship ready for departure? I know for a fact that there are a number of bags to be retrieved.' They all blinked, looked me up and down before leaving in a quiet single file line. Only one remained and he turned around to work in the small kitchen area. 'How come you choose to remain instead of leaving like the rest?'

"'Tis because dis is my work on dis ship.'" The speaker was a cyborg I noticed as I moved closer. My right hand lightly toyed with handle of my sword. 'What is your name?'

"Call me Silver."

'Well then, Silver; try not to distract others from their work, savvy?'

"Aye. But who are you?"

'Your commanding officer; so next time you address me it shall begin and end with ma'am. Clear?' I asked him in a hardened tone.

"Aye, ma'am. Now if you'll be excusing me ma'am, I'd like to get a stock count that way I knows if we need to make a run or not." He grinned broadly as if he wasn't annoyed by me. He's probably four times my age and yet I'm the one ordering him around. Tsh, pirates. I need a distraction. I made way up to the deck only to run into an equally agitated Amelia.

"Kalena."

'Captain.' We lock eyes, our expressions mirroring the others'. 'The usual?'

"Of course."

'What route?'

"From the crow's nest to the deck."

'Aye aye ma'am.'

Together we reach the crow's rest and stretch while plotting our descent. "The usual" is generally a race between Amelia and I. Depending on terrain its mixed victories but on ships such as this one Amelia generally wins, only because cats always fall on their feet. I popped two pills to be safe in case I get a massive adrenaline rush.

"Ready..."

'Set...'

"'GO!'"

Moments later Amelia has hit the deck and I follow close behind landing only two seconds later. "You lost." Amelia stands in front of me, pride flaring all over face. 'Only because Rosalind caused lag.' Amelia rolls her eyes and introduces herself to the Doctor and the youngster standing next to him. Then she talked a little about Arrow but before she could introduce me I started speaking. 'I'm Kalena Aderyn. The record keeper for voyage and third in command.' I flashed my warmest smile fully aware it didn't reach my eyes. While I was shaking hands with the Doctor he asked, "How old are you?"

'I am sixteen.'

"Astounding. Right Jim?" "Jim" gave only a curt nod; he was too busy staring at Rosalind. I raised one of my eyebrows then withdrew the sword so fast if one blinked they would've missed it. I had it pressed against Jim's throat before he was even aware I'd unsheathed it. "Wha-?" The doctor's voice began. Jim's eyes widened in panic and my smile became genuine. 'Did I mention I'm a weapons specialist with highest honors? Although my favorite tool is the one now against your throat. For future reference I don't take too kindly to strangers staring at my lower hemisphere; even if what they're looking at is my sword.' I smirked at Jim's doe-like eyes before tossing a menacing glare at the crew members that had stopped to watch. They continued their work and I sheathed Rosalind. The doctor, who seemed to have recovered rather quickly, started speaking a bit too loudly. "Oh Jim is no stranger. He's the one who found the treasu-" I watched as the Captain closed a hand around the doctor's blabbing mouth and pulled us all into her stateroom. I leaned against her locked door as I tuned out Amelia's lecture on secrecy. I know that when the Captain mentioned an insult about the crew the Doctor through a fit because she shut him up instantly.

The only words I was actually listening for were "ship to launch". We left the room with it still swarming with tension. I went into my small cabin and got the log ready for when I would come back to it.

I love watching ships launch, even though there's consequences. For me, it involves a ton of vomiting afterwards. I'm pretty ashamed to say I suffer from motion sickness just like anyone else who's never been on a ship before. Except, in my case I've been on hundreds and I still get sick. The only reason I go back to Montressor is because the nausea really tends to take a toll on me after every launch. My lack of "sea legs" is especially exacting when the mission I'm on requires multiple stops on distant planets or ports.

xXx

The launch was pretty standard; smooth and straightforward, no horrible complications to the mission yet. I retired to my cabin knowing full well that later I won't have the stomach to sit and write as the ship rocks along on its merry way. Picking up where I left off I start to write.

The ship is crawling with pirates. My instincts tell me this but even so it's horribly obvious; I don't see how the doctor hired this "crew" without noticing. But maybe it's because they're leader is such a good actor. Silver, a pirate cyborg. That's a deadly combination if one is tossed into a confrontation with him. Our financier was none other than some silly, easily-excited, tongue-tied Doctor. He and Amelia are going to have plenty of run-ins I can tell.

The financier doesn't have too poor of judgment though. The Legacy is a work of art. Tiny as she is, she operates beautifully. Another object that's pretty amazing is the map that shall lead us to Treasure Planet. Even the Captain herself was fascinated by it. It will, however, remain locked up when not in use. If the "crew" got a hold of it (and somehow managed to open it) we'd have a fierce mutiny upon us.

I stopped writing as the ship gave a particularly unpleasant lurch. I scooped up the journal and shoved it into a hidden compartment. Moving in time to the ship's swaying I tear my cabin apart looking for nausea medicine. Guess I forgot to pack some. Curse my luck! I nearly trip leaving my cabin. I run to Amelia's state room only to remember that Amelia doesn't get nauseous. Therefore she has no reason to carry medicine around with her. Oh the stupidity of me!

As I'm fleeing back to my room I'm thrown against a railing due to an unexpected sway from the ship. Struggling to keep my insides together I feel sleepiness coming on. Grasping the railing, my eyelids become dangerously heavy and I pass out onto the deck. Any hold I had is gone as my body falls prey to the vessel's dives and tosses.

xXx

I wake up to find myself in my cabin. How did I get here? Thinking back I know no one else was around when I passed out. I'll be damned if I let the bloody crew witness my struggles.

I climbed out of the bed; happy when my stomach remained still. See? My motion sickness isn't that bad; only in the beginning. I was quite irked however, when I found that someone had stripped me of my sword. I put on the harness and strapped on my sword; content with its familiar weight on my hip. When I left the cabin it was already night time. How I hate being a narc! I could feel my arms becoming a little less limber as the paralysis sat deciding whether or not to take over. Better safe than sorry; I grab a bottle of pills from the pocket inside my shirt's secret pocket I popped two and tried not to vomit at their dry taste.

Knowing there was nothing else to do I settled down in a net of shrouds. The view was spectacular. I had an overview of the whole ship without having to turn my head. I could see a small figure mopping the desk while trying to not so obviously eavesdrop on the crew members that were gossiping. He's a foolish one, sooner or later they're going to spo-. Yup, caught dead in the act. The boy tried to go back to his work only to be confronted by a large spider-like crew member. Sarcasm must've been used because the spider psycho was now hoisting the boy up in the air preparing to beat the living daylights of him. I was fully prepared to stop the fight—for Silver had just gotten involved—however, Mr. Arrow did the job for me. That didn't stop me from joining him though.

Gripping my scabbard I jumped down next to Mr. Arrow, my boots giving off a quiet 'thump' once I hit the deck. "There will be no brawling on this ship. Am I clear Mr. Scroop?" The spider psycho must've said yes for Arrow left.

'Back to work, the lot of ya.' Under my breath I cursed them, 'Bloody pirates.'

Silver stayed to lecture the boy like none other and I returned to my watch. Scroop... I'm gonna have to observe him and Silver from now on.