Chapter 4
Airborne
Alice stared at the book in her hands as she walked down the deserted corridor toward the cafeteria. A majority of the school had already gone to the mess hall for dinner. Alice was attempting to finish up a reading assignment from one of her classes so it didn't interfere with her and Jim's time together later on. She was so absorbed in the history of the Neophlin Space Pact she didn't realize where she was going until it was too late. Smacking into the person, she stumbled back as her book slipped from her fingers and hit the floor.
"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going and –" Alice stopped short when she realized who she had bumped into. "Doug?" Doug shifted uncomfortably.
"Oh, hi, Alice," he greeted, waving a wing, trying to shuffle past her.
"Why aren't you at dinner?"
"Uh, I'm just not feeling so well," he stammered. Alice frowned.
"Maybe some soup will help, you could get some at supper," she suggested, wondering why he looked so nervous.
"No, I should really get going, I just don't feel good, bye!" he waved and took off down the hall before Alice could stop him.
"Um, bye?" Alice raised a hand in an awkward farewell before shrugging her shoulders, picking up her book, and continuing on her quest to the cafeteria. Once in the noisy great hall she located her table of friends and slipped into a seat beside Jim who didn't acknowledge her. "Hey, guys, do you know what's up with Doug?" she began, tapping her fingers against her textbook.
"No. Why, is something wrong?" Dalia asked, slurping up some noodles.
"I just ran into him the hallway. He looked uncomfortable and told me he was sick," Alice replied. Dalia shrugged as she swallowed her bite.
"Probably just an Aviate thing," she said before turning to Anne Marie who looked a little worried. "Do you know what's going on, Anne?" Dalia nudged her. Anne Marie looked up in surprise.
"Oh, uh, no. I don't. If you guys don't mind, I think I'll skip dinner tonight. I'm not that hungry," she admitted, her beak turning pink.
"Of course you're not," Ray snorted, crossing his arms and refusing to look at her. Josephine smacked the back of his head making the boy cry out. "Watch it woman!"
"Go ahead, Anne Marie. Ignore Ray, he can be insensitive," Alice assured the girl, passing her a smile. Anne Marie gave Alice a grateful look before sweeping from the room.
"Seriously, what was that for?" Ray grumbled, still rubbing the back of his head.
"You're being rude," Josephine retorted with her own pointed look. Ray scowled.
"I'm just saying that whenever Doug's not around she runs away. Seriously, she needs to back off of my best friend. If I know Doug I know that he needs space, something he won't get if she's always in his way."
"Ray, you're being daft, did you ever think she may be more comfortable with Doug? Did you ever think Doug might not mind her presence?" Dalia scoffed. Raymond stared between Josephine, Dalia, and Alice all nodding their heads in agreement as the boy sat, finally at a loss for words.
"Jim, back me up on this," Ray called. Jim just grunted, staring down at his plate of rice and an odd type of meat.
"Jim, what's wrong?" Alice asked. Jim scratched the back of his neck, keeping his head bowed and refusing to answer.
"Jim got detention," Raymond supplied.
"What? How?" Alice demanded.
"Brian was being a jerk in our Mechanics class, but Harckham caught Jim about to beat him up. I tried to stop him, but I was tad too late," Ray explained.
"He wasn't just being stupid. He's working with Rob and he has read Thatcher's column," Jim finally ground out. Alice bit her lower lip.
"So what did he say?" she whispered.
"He said enough," Jim retorted. "Now I have to serve detention tonight. So much for our date."
"We have plenty of time this weekend," Alice assured him. "Besides, I have to get some homework done. Just…" she hesitated and took Jim's hand. "Just try to ignore them, Jim. I know it's not easy, but…try. Rob wants you to slip up. He's trying to push you over the edge."
"I know," Jim sighed as he checked the time. "I should go, I don't want to make Harckham have another reason to 'discipline' me," Jim mocked and got to his feet while taking his tray and leaving the lunchroom and his friends behind. It took him a while to reach the Mechanics classroom but when he did he spotted Harckham bent over his desk. The only light in the room was a small kerosene lamp casting a flickering glow over the professor's desk. Jim cleared his throat and knocked on the doorframe. Harckham looked up before he smiled.
"Ah, Jim, yes, come in, come in," he greeted, waving Jim into the room.
"So what am I supposed to do, Sir?" Jim asked, trying to remain respectful. He had to earn his place again and it was better to start right away.
"Tonight I'm going to have you straighten up some papers for me. This stack here needs to be organized. I've been meaning to do it for weeks, but, you know me. I'm quite the clutter brain," he chuckled and slid a rather imposing stack of papers toward Jim across the desk. Jim pulled up a seat, his heart sinking down into his stomach. Shaking his head he reached for the first few papers and began to sort them into respective piles.
At first Jim didn't pay much attention to the documents he was sorting, but as the hour pressed on he began to notice words and phrases here and there. As Jim reached for another paper his eyes located the Intergalactic Naval Emblem in the top right corner. Pulling the paper into his lap so Harckham wouldn't notice what he was doing, Jim began to read.
We still have no reliable leads as to where the Procyon Ambassador, Amos Morgan, is stashing his secret plans. We've had several eye-witness accounts of Procyons and Procyon trimaran ships around the galaxy, but they appear to vanish before police or other law-abiding civilians can stop them. What worries us all is that the Procyons are planning something much, much larger than what the Empire is ready for. There have only been reports of a few attacks here and there by ships attempting escape, but no fleet has been spotted, no reason to assemble an army, yet. Our best guess is that the Procyons are hiding out on their home planet, assembling a war fleet to sail for Parliament.
Yet, if this is so, nobody can understand why they haven't done it already. We have our top researchers trying to find out more of the Eternity Star's massed weapon of destruction and the Queen fears they are still trying to harness this power.
We have been unable to successfully capture one of their marauding ships to take in for questioning or to use to the Empire's advantage.
However, about two weeks ago one of the squadrons in the area around Planet Anoba in Redcoast picked up word that Procyons were in the area. When investigating the abandoned base they found no signs of the coons, but one of the captains managed to discover an odd sort of natural red dust which is now being dubbed Red Matter. When taken back to Waystation Grant for further scientific examination, this Red Matter is nothing that any of our top-most researchers have ever seen, but they have managed to assemble some of its properties.
Red Matter is extremely combustible and has a similar smell and feel of gun powder, yet instead of blowing outward like a standard detonation Red Matter implodes, sucking in anything within the surrounding area and vaporizing it. This is a call to arms for all Intergalactic captains, commanders, cadets, etc. There is no longer any doubt that the Procyons are planning to use Red Matter and therefore it is the Royal Navy's duty to stop their treason before –
"Something wrong, Jim?"
Jim reluctantly dragged his eyes away from the information in his lap to look up at Harckham's expectant expression.
"No," he lied, sliding more documents onto his lap to cover up the one he'd been reading. Harckham gave him an intense stare.
"Those are all just old notices from the Navy. We've got to be prepared for anything nowadays with the threat of the Procyons on the horizon," he explained. For a while Jim was silent as Harckham returned to his work.
"Sir?" he spoke up again. Harckham folded his purple fingers and looked up once more. "Doesn't the Empire have any leads at all?"
"Only one," Harckham sighed. "The one the crew of the Legacy handed over."
"The Eternity Star," Jim mumbled, looking down.
"I do not blame you, Jim, or anyone else that was aboard your vessel when the Procyons attacked. It was only a matter of time before they tried to revolt again, and the Legacy was the catalyst. You've probably realized there are still others who seek to put the blame on you and your friends," Harckham said.
"Yeah, I've noticed," Jim whispered.
"There is even some conflict amongst the teachers here, especially regarding Captain Doppler, as I hear she's called now. The wise feline is now also facing estrangement. I'm not going to lie to you, Jim. The road ahead of you will be no easy path. Tread carefully," he warned. Jim felt a shiver run up and down his spine at his words. Even though talk of war was brewing, there was still very little chance Jim would experience the fighting while only in his second cadet year at the Academy. But while he was protected within the walls of the Interstellar, what did that mean for his friends and family still out and about in the galaxy? Jim couldn't help but worry.
"It's called Red Matter," Jim explained a few days later during lunch as he and Ray both carried the solar surfer out onto the Academy's flying field. They finished the contraption at last and had decided to take it on a test flight. "At least, that's what the Navy is dubbing it as. If the Procyons have found a way to use this stuff the whole galaxy is in grave danger," Jim continued as they laid the solar surfer on the nicely cut grass.
"Mmmhmm," Ray hummed as he double checked the board to make sure it was in working order.
"And we're the ones that let it happen," Jim continued in a dejected voice. "Because of us the Empire could be destroyed."
"Mmm."
"Are you even listening?" Jim frowned as Ray stood up and sighed.
"Look, Jim, I get it that this Red Matter is a nasty piece of work and that we're all doomed and that Procyon power is on the rise, but what can we do? We're just two teenagers at an Academy. All we need to do is focus on the 'here' and the 'now' and right now we've got a race to win," he announced, slapping Jim's back. "So get on that board and test it, for Kinapis' sake!"
Jim didn't want to let the subject drop and he didn't like the way Raymond disregarded it so easily, but the prospect of getting to fly a solar surfer again excited him enough to forget about his problems for now. Jim ran his hand over the board's sleek design, just feeling the beauty he and Ray had constructed. The best part about flying, for Jim at least, was getting to taste freedom. Whenever he flew his problems couldn't catch him. Two years ago it had been an easy outlet for his resentment toward his father. Not much had changed, Jim still felt relief when he tried to escape his complications via piloting a solar craft, but now his problems had become more extensive. Perhaps Ray was right, a ride on super-powered solar surfer was what he needed.
Jim slid his foot into the leather strap, keeping him secured while allowing his left foot to have access to the buttons that operated the solar sail and thrusters. The antigravity cloud both boys had installed allowed the board to hover on a bank of air a foot off the ground – similar to the way galleons and carriages hovered when stopped or docked on piers. Wheels were not necessary in their universe.
Jim popped up the enormous solar sail and sucked in a deep breath of satisfaction as he grabbed onto the handle allowing him to steer the dorsal fin shaped sail. Almost at once the Arcturian solar crystals imbedded in the cloth material began sucking in sunlight, draining it into the engine for Jim to have maximum power. Jim looked around at the cloudless blue sky. It was the perfect day to test their contraption – there was plenty of sun and the air currents were subdued.
"Ready for this?" Jim turned to Ray and asked. The dark skinned boy laughed.
"Just get on with it, Jim. I want to see my masterpiece fly."
"Your masterpiece?" Jim arched an eyebrow. Raymond blushed.
"Ours," he corrected as Jim smirked and slipped his left foot back, hitting the thrusters. At once the engines roared to life, blasting Jim off into the sky. The teenager let out a yell of delight as the wind and sunlight caught the sail as Jim traveled higher and higher, flying up into the blue sky as far as he could go without getting lost in the stratosphere. Once Jim decided he should go no further, he snapped the solar sail down so it retracted onto the side of the board and the engines died. Closing his eyes, Jim held out his arms as he tipped backward and began to fall. It was time to really show off his moves. As he gained speed, falling toward the Academy's grounds at breakneck speeds, Jim drew his arms back into his chest as he began to spin the board so he and the solar surfer were slicing through the air upside down.
Right before Jim was about to hit the ground, he straightened the board, pulled up the sail and shot across the grass faster than he had on any solar surfer before. Once again retracting the sail, Jim bent his knees and gripped the edge of the board when his eyes locked on something perfect for his flight. A devious glint entered his eyes as he zeroed in on the stack of crates. Once again, Jim waited until the last minute before he jerked the board upright, climbing at a ninety degree angle, just missing the cargo. Gripping the edge of the board he spun it around and flew back toward the grassy terrain, angling the board once more so he blasted across the field.
"Woo! Yeah!" Jim screamed, flipping around in the air, doing loop de loops and even attempting the Cygnus Spin – an old solar surfing trick he had taught himself back on Montressor.
Jim had never felt a solar surfer run so smooth in his life. The board was built for speed and adrenaline – the perfect mix of everything Jim desired. The aerodynamic design allowed him to bend the wind whilst in flight and the distributed weight provided Jim with perfect balance – an element very important when riding a solar surfer.
It felt like Jim was flying for ages when Raymond finally called him back down. Jim slowed the board and jumped off in front of his friend as he laughed, breathing hard and running his hand through his windswept hair.
"So I'm guessing it worked, eh?" Ray smirked as he twirled a screwdriver around his fingers with ease.
"That's the fastest board I've ever ridden!" Jim exclaimed, high fiving his friend as he pulled the board up and ran his hand over the sanded wood. "It's perfect. There's no way we can't win this thing."
"I sure hope you're right, Jim," Ray scratched the back of his neck, crouching down to observe one of the metal thrusters still warm from its latest test flight.
"Of course I'm right. Rob won't stand a chance against us," Jim replied, still unable to stop his crooked grin. Ray stood up with his own proud smile before a frown slipped into place.
"Even so, I don't trust Rob. Make sure you've got some extra Arcturian crystals in your pockets and a screwdriver in case he pulls some nasty trick," he rubbed his chin.
"Relax, Ray. Rob may have some bulk on the ground, but he's got nothing against me when we're airborne." Ray still didn't look convinced.
"Just be careful, Jim. I don't doubt that you can rub his face in the dirt when it comes to solar surfing, but that doesn't mean he won't do everything in his power to stop you if he can."
Jim's mouth set in a grim line at that ominous thought and as the two boys dragged their flying machine back to the mechanics room Jim made a mental note to keep some tools in his pocket lest Rob did attempt something against the rules.
A/N: Annnd! The next chapter is finally posted! Woo! So this chapter was mainly just some epic shots of Jim flying on a solar surfer again, because he looks so freaking awesome when he does. Also, this chapter is severely important to the plot. Red Matter, everyone. That is going to come up later in the story. The Red Matter idea in this story I actually based off of the Red Matter in Star Trek *is sneaky* but don't assume it's the same plot or same thing going on in this story.
Also, I forgot to mention, but I'm going to be splitting this story into TWO PARTS again. PART 1 is called The Contrivance. Yeah, I'll let you guys ponder what that means.
Finally, Doug…what's up with him? I'm sure most of you can figure it out since I'm terrible at keeping secrets from my readers, but if you can't you'll have to keep reading ;)
Special thanks goes to lazyX1000, PartofYourWorld-ArielMermaid, The Gabification, and Lady Le Fleur
You guys are seriously rockin' :D