Chapter Nine:

Things are receding to normal round here, well, as normal as things could possibly be on a ship full of mutiny-prone pirates. I have recovered from my fit of sorts and am thankful to have a somewhat clear head once again. For now I have learned to accept—but mostly ignore—these stirrings of the heart that I feel for Jim from time to time but I mostly manage to brush them off before my imagination succeeds in running off with me. Jim and I had a successful scouting adventure earlier that doubled as his reward for staying by my side even as I pushed him away. He makes for enjoyable company on this otherwise lonely venture; I had forgotten how unapproachable the Captain is when we are at sea. It's getting dark out—as unfathomable as that is when in space—and I will be late to my rendezvous with Jim if I do not leave now.

K. A. xx-xx-xxxx

I rise and stretch, a slight yawn escaping my lips, my days had been brief but still tiring, only because everything is exhausting to a narc. I place my journal back upon its shelf and move my pen back into its rightful holder. On my way out I passed by my mirror and stopped, taking in the image resting there. 'I guess I look a tad overdressed.'

With some hesitation I removed my outer-wear until I was left with a rather odd looking ensemble. Frustrated I pulled everything off and switched to a black turtleneck sweater and loose slacks over my boots. Tentatively I decided against leaving my sword, it was a moot point really. In case of ambush it was my best bet against attackers. Besides, it's still important to maintain the façade, can't make it to obvious that we are on friendly terms.

I feel slightly embarrassed as I make my way to the gallery, as if I'm underdressed and under-protected. I grip Rosalind's handle and her dependable presence provides me a small measure of comfort. Jim is waiting outside dressed in his usual, with a look of tired peacefulness stretched across his face. Between tending to me and keeping up with Silver's demands he is close to pushing exhaustion. He smiles at my approach but quickly regains himself as he realizes that this is no private conversation. While we are here someone will always be watching, listening, gazing at the officer and the cook's hand.

"Good evening Miss Aderyn." He bows slightly struggling to maintain his mask of unfamiliarity.

'Evening Mr. Hawkins, what brings you here on this night?' My tone and facial expression betray nothing.

"I'm here for camaraderie, dinner, and maybe some story-telling on Silver's part."

'As am I. What a coincidence... shall we?' I allow Jim to enter first and I wait a few seconds before following. The noise of the voices drops an octave or two after I enter and I meet more than one dirty glance. One the crew members brings me a steaming mug of what appears to be violeta tea. I eye it suspiciously until I catch Silver's eye where he nods reassuringly. This would have to be my most foolish mistake if I were to die by this tea. I sip tentatively and force myself to contain both my smile and sigh of content. I raise my cup in Silver's direction as a sign of appreciation before taking a spot at the back of the room in an empty corner, pondering who tipped him off as to what my favourite poison is.

The only possible answer sat across the room, eating as well as sitting by himself. I had a feeling before the night was over he would be at my side. Evening dragged and the lights dimmed, I sipped my tea, watching always watching as the crew came and went. At some point I must have lost consciousness because I woke to find my head on Jim's shoulder. I lifted my head and he stood and left, only to return and press a new cup of tea into my hands.

'Thank-you.' I whispered and he nodded as he drank from his own cup.

I half-listened to Silver's tales of past adventures on the sea. No matter how much I tried to resist I found my eyes unable to stray far without Jim in my sight. At some point—I'm not entirely sure when it happened—somewhere between the story about the maiden from the world of rain and light and the one about finding his creature Morph on Proteus One did I realize that Jim was holding my hand. I looked at him questioningly but he was refusing to meet my gaze and was blushing like mad. I smiled and leaned against the wall pulling his hand and the rest of him towards me. The crew was beginning to get rowdy so I think they were too intoxicated to notice. I couldn't shake off the feeling that we had been seen, but I put it down to my paranoia and left it at that.

Jim walked me to my cabin where we parted somewhat with redness showing on both of our faces. My days just keep getting more and more interesting aboard this ship.

xXx

There's a hostile air emanating from the crew, I swear I hear snorts and growls whenever I pass by. Had I been of lesser strength I would have felt threatened—scared or terrified even!—but I am not, so they may glare all they like but my only response will be to tighten my grip on Rosalind. One hand holding my sheath steady and the other poised to draw. It does get a little unnerving after awhile, the glares and dirty glances soak into my skin like poison, leaving an on the edge and overly-tensed me waiting for the fight that won't come. I could avoid them all and hide in my cabin but the air begins to suffocate me the longer I remain doing absolutely nothing. So I find myself doing rounds about the ship, irritably pacing in mindless laps as I wait for Jim to return from his surprise long-boat trip with Silver. The air is static from my impatience and I find myself constantly being drawn to the hold where I stored my present for Jim. I ran my fingers across the misshapen heap's rough covering as I tried to envision the facial expression he might bear when he uncovers it. Hopefully it would be one of elation, appreciation, and maybe, just maybe he might look at me with those big blue eyes as they give away his total adoration for me. I blushed and pulled myself away from the present with some difficulty. I shook my head and rubbed my cheeks as I made my way out of the hold. I averted all gazes as I returned to the choking boredom that filled my room.

I unstrap my harness and gently place Rosalind into her case before I strip off my light uniform and change into a pair of gray slacks with a matching tank top and black trench-styled coat. I slipped various mechanical tools from one of my desk's drawers into several pockets weighing them all down sufficiently. They would be of important use to me later. I pulled my journal out of its hiding place and grabbed a fresh pen from its holder.

Despite the obvious quiet aboard the ship and amongst the crew I find myself filled with an instinctive uneasiness the closer we come to our destination. I'm sure the crew is just waiting for the most opportune moment to strike as soon as their leader gives the signal. I've come to believe that their leader is none other than Silver, the seemingly gentle old cyborg and mentor to Jim is really the only one I could see in a leadership role and the way they hung onto his every word when we was storytelling only confirms my suspicions. Now my imagination could just be a wonderful storyteller and nothing more—even I was wrapped up into his tales of grandeur and adventure—but my gut tells me otherwise. Knowing the truth but being unable to act leaves this terrible ache in my belly and I am anxious to bring justice to these bandits.

I'm sure I wouldn't notice or give this much attention to the situation if it wasn't so bloody boring aboard this ship, what I mean to say is that, yes I would give the proper amount of concentration into confirming that the crew is indeed made up of pirates but it is so boring that I am now actually just adding more thoughts into the situation—basically I'm over thinking it all. Now granted my adventures with Jim are exciting and pleasant and an excellent distraction but frankly I don't see how the Captain can stand it. But then again, as a Captain there are always a thousand and one things to do. Reports to write, orders to be given, navigational progress to be checked and measured, etc. etc. etc.

I think a little conflict would do us all some good and it would certainly bring out the crew's true colours and we would see firsthand how they react under stress. Should push come to shove I'm fairly certain the Captain, Mr. Arrow, and I could handle the lot but I would probably get saddled with having to protect the Doctor and Jim as well. Perhaps I should teach him a thing or two about swordplay and perhaps even some gun training. Hmmm... All in all I am ready for this journey to pick up a little in the adventure department.

K.A. xx-xx-xxxx

I close my journal with a light snap just as there is a knock at my door. I smile despite myself and rise before I make quick work of concealing my journal once more. After placing my pen back in its holder I strap my harness and Rosalind back on before adjusting my trench coat so that they are both hidden. Before I go to unlock the door I give myself a quick onceover in my mirror and smooth my brown hair down ever so. Finally I move towards the door and ask tentatively, 'Who is it?' There's a slight pause before I get my answer.

"It's Jim." I open the door and find myself face to face with him, our grins a reflection of the other's. Nervously, hesitatingly, I take his hand and begin to lead him to the hold.

'I have something for you, come with me?'

"Of course." His hand is warm in mine, a little rough from callusing due to Silver's endless amount of tasks. The pleasant feeling didn't last long though, once we were in plain view of the deck I let go of his hand; I didn't want people assuming I'd gone soft and lost all of my discipline by being sweet on the ship's cabin boy. The lighting was poor in the hold and it took all of my memory to remember where to step to avoid tripping or knocking my head against a long-boat's hull. Once I had Jim positioned where I wanted him I retraced my footsteps and brightened the lamps. As I returned to Jim he asked me, "So what exactly are we doing here?"

Instead of responding I took his hand once more and brought it to the oddly-shaped heap covered in heavy canvas material. Unspoken communication traveling between us I stepped back as he pulled the cloth off to reveal my gift to him. He let out a barely audible gasp and began to dig and sort through the various metals and pieces of equipment. 'Do you like it?' I ask uncertainly.

"Of course I do! But uh, what are we building?" His joy is slightly shadowed by the puzzled look on his face.

'A solar surfer, for you.' I tell him quietly as I pad over and take a seat next to Jim on the floor. Already he has begun to assemble it but stops when he realizes he has nothing to connect the parts with.

"Without any tools?" I reach into my many pockets pulling out all sorts of mechanical items.

'I have them all right here.' He looks at me like there's something he desperately wants to tell me but instead he focuses on the project in front of him.

xXx

Minutes shift into hours as Jim and I soon find coated grease and our arms slick with machinery fluids. Almost oblivious to one another's movements our hands touch as we realize that we both reached for the same tool. We look up and our eyes lock and I am sorely tempted to glance away as the creeping brush blooms across my face. I'm embarrassed beyond belief and I turn my gaze elsewhere as I pull my hand away from his. I had long ago shrugged off my coat so there was nothing to stop him from capturing my right wrist and pull me closer to him.

My heart is pounding and I'm doing my best not to look up at him because I'm afraid of what it might betray but he uses his free hand to turn my face back toward him. His touch is gentle as he slides his fingers down to cup my chin and begin to tilt it ever so slightly and I find my eyes closing as I reach for him with my lips. We brush against each other just the tiniest bit before the ship lurches violently. We're both thrown and I end up flying into Jim's torso as he hits the side of a long-boat.

"What in the world was tha-?" He begins but is cut off as the ship shakes tremendously once more. I end up hugging Jim's torso tightly as he grips the sides of the long-boat so we both don't end up sliding again.

As everything settles my instincts start screaming at me to get up and get out. My throat closes painfully as I stumble to my feet and stride quickly over to where my coat lay. I pull it on blindly and begin to exit. "Kalena? Kalena, what's wrong? Where are you going?!" Jim's frantic footfalls echo after my own swift ones.

I barely managed to choke out, "Amelia" before my throat sealed itself off as I made my way back to the deck. Jim accidentally ends up colliding with me as he comes bounding up the stairs because he wasn't expecting me to be frozen at the top of the stairwell. He follows my gaze and together we are both transfixed by the sight before us. The Legacy and all her crew were being pulled into a black hole.