Author's Note:
Thank you to those who decided to comment on my story. And I shall continue...
PS Sorry for the wait: Christmas holidays and all that jazz.
Chapter 2: The RLS Legacy
The RLS Legacy was the most beautiful ship Ariah had ever laid eyes on. And she had seen many amazing ships in her short lifetime as a sailor.
The wondrous ship seemed to glimmer with wood polish, which effectively highlighted its elegant features. Passing citizens and sailors alike held his or her breathes the moment they spotted the legendary tall ship. The very mention of the ship's name brought some to their knees to worship it.
John Silver nudged Ariah out of her dream bubble. "If yeh keep gapping at the ship like a Space Fishy, we're gonna 'ave teh carry yeh onto the ship with the cargo, Ariah."
Ariah glared at Silver but she glanced back up at the beautiful ship. Excitement zapped through Ariah's mind as she remembered that she would be playing her part in commandeering this beautiful ship; a part she intended on doing well.
"This is going to be awesome!" Ariah cheered. She skipped ahead of the crew, with Morph closely following her. Silver rolled his eyes and shouldered his effects.
Ariah carefully crossed the gangplank, with her duffel bag of effects over one shoulder and Morph at her other shoulder, and she hopped onto the main deck.
The black-haired girl strolled down the polished deck of the RLS Legacy, walking down the steps into the lower deck. She walked through the hallway towards the crew's sleeping quarters. Ariah opened the glimmering wooden door and entered the dark room.
Lanterns cast amber rays of light across the crew's temporary lodgings, drawing sharp shadows around the room. Ariah set down her duffel bag down on the ground and began to set up her hammock near the centre of the room.
The long piece of white woven cloth would serve well as her bed for the voyage; and at least it would be much more comfortable than her previous bed at the inn... Ariah still had a kink in her neck from the pillows.
The captain of the ship was an agile cat-human hybrid who was quick, commanding and extremely witty. Captain Amelia was her name and John Silver's crew all knew to stay on respectable terms with the likes of her rather than play around as they usually did with their previous commanders.
Captain Amelia wore a long blue coat -edged in gold- with a pair of white elbow-length gloves pulled over her clawed paws, a tri-pointed black hat –also edged in gold- that she wore over her pointed ears, and a long pair of black thigh-length high-heeled boots. The talented captain recognized what belong where at the exact correct time, down to the nanosecond. She clearly knew every inch of her ship, from the tip of the flagpole -bearing Montressor's national flag-, all the way down to the keel.
Captain Amelia's first mate was a stony-man with a kind heart, named Mister Arrow. He had a definite commanding air about him. The rock humanoid wore a distinctive three-pointed black cap and a large crimson coat that squared off his massive shoulders.
The two commanders both stood on the polished deck by the mainmast, inspecting their ship and assigned appropriate roles for each sailor. Silver was sent to be the crew's cook down in the Legacy's elaborate kitchen and most of the rest of his crew remained in their normal positions. Ariah was quick to inform both Captain Amelia and Mr. Arrow that she was no scullery maid and would serve as a sailor.
Captain Amelia agreed with Ariah's proposal, it would seem that she had a soft spot for young women pursuing careers outside the usual female roles. Captain Amelia then gave Ariah the same warning that misbehaviour would not be tolerated on her ship and she would be treated equally when it came to punishments.
Ariah couldn't agree more, happy of the change from her monotonous occupation.
The long wooden gangplank remained joining the RLS Legacy's main deck to Montressor Spaceport's docks. The remnants of Silver's crew hauled their supplies onto the ship and other provisions needed for the voyage. They were still waiting for someone.
Ariah was something of an inventor, and with the plenty of time on her hands she decided to work on her latest project. She usually worked on her inventions whenever Silver and his crew abandoned her on one of the spaceports… or whenever they were docked in at a spaceport and she wasn't chasing the crew across town.
Her newest project was a bungee chord that she had designed to be small and compact, yet strong enough to hold up the heaviest person. The young inventor was hoping that this creation would effectively replace the twine lifelines as a more efficient means of saving lives aboard ships. The chord was a working progress, and Ariah had little time to test the invention before she would be busy with sailing duties.
That is if the invention failed to work…
The crew had finally settled, they all waited for the voyage's financier and whoever had the voyage's bearings to arrive. Ariah then decided, with the extra time on her hands, to begin testing out her invention.
The young woman clipped the elastic-twine rope onto a full body harness that she had purchased while waiting for Silver and the rest of his crew that morning. Then she scaled the mainmast of the tall ship with the aid of the strategically placed rope ladders. Ariah hitched the top of the long adjustable rope to the crow's nest, meeting up with Onus, the crew's lookout.
"Another invention, Miss Clarke?" Onus asked, his accented voice made any spoken 'I' sound like an 'E'.
"Yep." Ariah nodded curtly, stretching herself out. "And this one will work."
The cascading inventor pounced from the broad mainmast, free falling towards the polished deck of the Legacy. The summer air circulating through the Legacy whipped her black ponytail behind her and warmed her face pleasantly.
Just as she would've crashed through the polished deck, Ariah tugged on one of the adjustments attached to her harness and bounced back up towards the crow's nest. She halted her ascent and quickly grasped onto of the booms that branched off of the mast, climbing up onto it and looking out onto the spaceport.
From where she stood, there was a fantastic view provided of Montressor's Lunar Spaceport. Hundreds of ships both tall and small were docking in and setting out for voyages. Millions of aliens greeted their loved ones with tight hugs and kisses. Others wished their treasured friends and family good luck for their voyage, hoping dearly for their safety and maybe for a spot of fortune to return with them.
Ariah's attention immediately switched to a quick figure somersaulting across the riggings at great speeds. It was Captain Amelia, who appeared to be checking the Legacy's status for any errors.
The last passengers must've approached her ship, giving her reason to give her ship one last check-over before they set out on the voyage. She hopped and twirled around the jungle of ropes and poles, and at times was literally walking vertically up the mainmast of her ship with nary a care.
On the main deck near the base of the mainmast stood two people, who weren't part of Silver's crew, they were likely the passengers for the voyage. One was the dog-faced alien that had hired their crew; beside him was a scowling teenage boy.
Ariah clearly noticed that the dog-faced alien was wearing one of the most ugly and outdated space suits that had ever graced her presence.
The teenager held a duffel bag over his shoulder, had messy brown hair with a braided rattail and a single piercing on his left ear. He glared at the sailors around him, clearly nervous about the voyage but determined to show no weakness.
Ariah snorted in disbelief, that's all their crew needed... a pair of tourists. She could tell, from her experience, that something was bound to go wrong.
Mr. Arrow was introduced as the Captain of the Legacy; he chuckled lightly at this flaw, glancing up at the riggings for Captain Amelia. As if on cue, Captain Amelia flipped through the last of the ships riggings and landed lightly beside her first mate.
The jaws of both of the male passengers dropped as they stared at Captain Amelia's uninjured blue-uniformed body. It was hard to decipher whether they were impressed by her lack of injury, her more-than-averagely attractive appearance, or both.
The captain's posture was straight like one of the solid wooden masts of her ship and she hardly remarked the fact she had leapt at least twenty feet. She paced towards the passengers.
Ariah watched as Captain Amelia affectionately complimented Mr. Arrow's eye for perfection, for the ship's over-exceeding status. The young sailor couldn't catch the rest of their conversation but leaned forward to see Captain Amelia curiously observing the dog-man's poorly maintained space suit, knocking on the window with her clawed gloves. Ariah had trouble containing her laughter but managed all right.
Suddenly something jostled the boom Ariah was standing on, and she slipped from her position on the mast. The female sailor quickly eased herself into an inverted position, which would slow down the velocity of her fall. The soles of her leather boots slowly skimmed the elastic rope, rubbing against the speed of her drop.
Ariah pulled an adjustment on her harness and halted herself between the Captain and the space-suited alien, just as they were about to begin a heated argument.
The dog-human hybrid leapt backwards a few feet with a yelp of alarm while Captain Amelia simply raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Mister Arrow also gave Ariah an odd look while the brunette teenager, who looked to be about Ariah's age, seemed caught between looking surprised and looking curious.
Ariah was suspended between the two hybrids. The end of her ponytail nearly brushed against the already impeccably clean deck. Her copper-brown eyes inquisitively observed her upside-down surroundings while her red bandanna served its purpose to push back her black bangs.
The black-haired teenager cleared her throat awkwardly. "So..." Ariah nervously glanced up at Captain Amelia and Mister Arrow with her copper-brown eyes. "Who exactly are these two, uh…?" She then looked at the two new passengers from her inverted view, trying to find appropriate titles for them. "Gentlemen?" Ariah pointed at the two new passengers of the RLS Legacy.
"This is Doctor Delbert Doppler, astrophysicist." Mr. Arrow introduced the dog-faced alien who was wearing the rotund and rusty spacesuit; he then turned to the other passenger. "And this is Jim Hawkins..." He introduced to the brunette teenager. The first mate glanced at the captain for an appropriate position.
"He'll be working in the galley with Mister Silver as our cabin boy." Captain Amelia stated lightly.
"What?" The teenager named Jim suddenly exclaimed.
He glared angrily at the two commanders with his water-blue eyes. The dark glower had basically no dominating affect on either experienced spacer. Apparently he had been searching for a more glamorous job than cabin boy.
"Ariah Clarke," The inverted sailor introduced herself, still hanging upside-down. "Sailor for the majority of the time and head programmer if needed." She cleared her throat and smiled weakly. "Though I'm sure that I won't have to reprogram anything in this ship, as it's already excellent enough." Ariah aimlessly flicked at the adjustments on her harness.
"Come with me Doctor Doppler, you as well Mister Hawkins." Captain Amelia began walking towards her quarters. "We have a few things to discuss in private." The feline turned to the upside-down sailor. "As you were, Miss. Clarke." She stated firmly.
"Aye Captain..." Ariah saluted to the commanders of the Legacy and the new passengers.
With a short tug of one of the strings on her harness, Ariah bounced back up to her position, wondering what Silver would make of this rebellious cabin boy. She was already feeling a little light-headed from hanging upside down for so long… and her face was quite flushed from the blood rushing to her head.
"All hands to stations!" Mister Arrow's commanding voice boomed.
The rest of the crew prepared to launch the Legacy from its reserved dock. Ariah positioned herself below the topsail on the mainmast.
Doctor Doppler and Jim walked back onto the deck, from the Legacy's galley. This seemed to be their first ship launch into space by their wide-eyed expressions.
"Loose all solar sails!"
The sailing crew quickly opened the series of fan-like solar sails on each of the three masts of the tall ship. Once secured, the fragile sails glimmered, reflecting the sun from which it absorbed its energy.
"Heave up the braces!" Called Mister Arrow.
"Braces up!" One of the crewmembers shouted.
Each sail began to absorb the bright sunshine; one of Silver's crewmen adjusted the power functions on the ship.
Suddenly everyone on deck began to float up towards the stars.
"Mister Zoff, engage artificial gravity." Captain Amelia ordered.
The flatula alien, partially suctioned to the deck, communicated an agreement and pulled the lever. A violet force field sprayed down through the ship. Everyone landed gracefully back into his or her previous positions… except for Doctor Doppler who landed on his head with a metallic THUMP! He was still wearing his ridiculous space suit.
"South by Southwest, heading two-one-zero-zero, Mister Turnbuckle!" Captain Amelia ordered to her temporary wheelman, ignoring the fallen astrophysicist at her side.
"Aye captain, two-one-zero-zero…" Mr. Turnbuckle answered as he steered the ship to its appropriate heading.
"Full speed, Mister Arrow, if you please." Captain Amelia stated once the RLS Legacy was in position for the launch.
"Take her away!" Mr. Arrow called down the mouth of a pipe, which communicated with the sailor working the RLS Legacy's generators.
Ariah braced herself against the mainmast of the Legacy, as did the rest of the sailors still up in the riggings. Mr. Arrow and Captain Amelia braced their legs against the deck, properly positioned for a launch. Jim mirrored this position, but Doctor Doppler seemed to be fussing over the Captain's blunt remark to mind his footing.
The ship soared towards the stars. It exited the Spaceport's farthest boundaries.
Suddenly there was a horrendously loud CRASH and Ariah looked over at the Legacy's aft where Doctor Doppler was planted in one of the walls. It was evident that he hadn't listened to Captain Amelia's advice.
Ariah shook her head solemnly and sighed at the hopeless hybrid, 'would he ever learn?'
She doubted it... she extremely doubted it.
Later on, Silver sent his new cabin boy, out onto the deck for a thorough scrubbing after being briefly chastised by the captain.
Ariah lowered herself down from the solar sails' riggings, until she was just a few feet above the deck. There she could hear Jim accidentally bump into one of the crew's members while scrubbing the deck.
"Watch it, twerp!" The massive four-armed alien -named Mister Hands- bellowed angrily to the cabin boy before the Densadron continued on his way.
Jim moved out of the way and looked up from his mopping at a group of talking sailors.
They caught his eye and were silent. "What are you looking at, weirdo?" A head of an alien growled gruffly, using its burgundy hair to walk off of its body.
"Yeah..." A mouth opened in the alien's stomach and mimicked its head in a high-pitched voice. "Weirdo." Jim backed away from the alien nervously.
Ariah loosened some of the adjustments on her harness while pushing her leather boots against the mainmast of the Legacy and leaning back. She ignored the cabin boy and her fellow sailors for a moment and tried to get back to sleep. She wanted to catch up on the hours of sleep that she had missed while intoxicated from the previous night.
A gradual hiss and the click-clack of six pointed feet against the mainmast disturbed her slumber. The young woman instead listened closely while staying in her comfortable sleeping position.
"Cabin boys should learn to mind their own business." Scroop's recognizable voice hissed at the brunette teenager. "Why? You got something to hide, bright eyes?" Jim retorted. Ariah sighed quietly to herself. This guy was going to get the skin peeled off of his skull if he kept picking fights with sailors like Scroop. She listened closely and kept low-key. "Maybe your ears don't work so well." Scroop growled. Jim grunted. "Yeah..." He cleared his throat. "Too bad my nose works just fine." "Why, you impudent little-" Scroop snarled dangerously.
Suddenly there was a loud CRACK, which startled the mast. Ariah moved so suddenly from her sleeping position that she somehow slipped out of her harness. She landed on two figures, Jim Hawkins who was still held in the pincers of Mr. Scroop.
"Ow..." Ariah groaned faintly, rubbing the back of her aching head. Her bandanna had been pushed down over her eyes, blocking her vision. But she had landed on something relatively soft and could clearly hear some familiar noises; like the creaking of metal machinery, and a loud thump on every second footstep.
"Mister Scroop…" It was John Silver, though in the midst of the moment he was acting quite casual.
Ariah irritably pushed her bandanna back from her copper-brown eyes and looked up. It was Jim's torso that had broken her fall, and she was face to face with the cabin boy. The brunette teenager was watching Scroop and Silver rather than paying attention to her.
Silver bit into a purple purp. "Yeh ever seen what happens teh a ripe purp, when yeh squeeze real hard?" There was a creak of mechanics as something clamped down onto Scroop's free claw. Scroop released his hold on Jim with a loud hiss, and stepped away from the two teenagers. Silver gave the arachnid's arm a twist before pushing him back onto the deck.
"What's all this, then?" Mister Arrow's voice boomed. "There will be no brawling aboard this ship. Any further offenders will be confined to the brig… for the remainder of the voyage." The stony man turned to the crimson alien. "Am I clear, Mister Scroop?"
Scroop grumbled, until he spotted a warning laser glare shining out from Silver's mechanical eye. "Transparently." He murmured indifferently.
"Good." Mister Arrow turned to the other alien sailors. "And to the rest of you, back to your stations."
Ariah quickly rolled off of Jim's torso and steadied herself uneasily against the wooden railing of the ship. The rest of Silver's crew dispersed, returning to their workstations.
"Well done, Mister Arrow, sir!" Silver said enthusiastically. "A tight ship's, a happy ship." He quickly turned on the spot and snatched the mop up from the deck where Jim had dropped it. "Now Jimbo..." Silver's voice was back to its normal disciplinary undertone. "I gave yeh a job." He narrowed his eyes.
"I was doing it until that… bug thing attacked me." Jim retorted.
"Belay that!" Silver interrupted. "Jimbo, yeh need some common sense when handlin' this lot."
"Yeah as if there's any common sense among them," Jim retorted bitterly.
"Hey!" Ariah cut in, glaring at Jim.
"I wasn't talking about you!" Jim defended himself aggressively.
Silver shoved the mop back into Jim's hands. "Now I want yeh teh polish this deck 'til I can see me face in it. An' if I come back an' the job's not done-" He cut off his own statement. The aged cyborg motioned to the cotton candy-pink blob hovering at his shoulder. "Morph." He ordered. The transformer chirped. "Keep an eye on this, pup. An' let me know if there be any more distractions."
"Aye-aye." Morph saluted. He quickly enlarged his eyes so the were nearly the size of Jim's face and hovered around the young cabin boy.
Ariah narrowed her eyes, walking towards her dangling harness. She strapped herself back into it, tightening it a bit so she wouldn't slip out again. "By the way, you still owe me one for saving your butt." Ariah stated.
Jim rolled his water-blue eyes. "Yeah, right…" He scowled. "As if you actually planned on falling."
"Maybe I did…" Ariah narrowed her eyes back at the cabin boy. "Someone's got to watch your neck since you seem so set on intentionally getting it in the path of a guillotine." She tugged at the adjustments and sprung back to her station.
Jim growled. "Hey, you might as well thank me for breaking your fall!" He shouted to Ariah and continued mopping the main deck of the RLS Legacy.
Author's Note:
I'll be sure to update...Thanks a billion to: Whisperwings for her beta services.
MG#6