Author's Note:
Ooh now what's going to happen?
There was a minute tapping at Tristan's cabin door. The first mate had just calmed down from the ordeal and slowly stood from his desk. He opened the door and was surprised to see who was at his door.
"Miss Clarke?" He raised an eyebrow.
Rebecca cleared her throat. "You dropped this." She held up his hat.
Tristan nodded, silently taking the hat. "Thank you…" He murmured.
"You're welcome, Master Mantra." Rebecca turned away.
"Tristan…" The first mate cut in. Rebecca glanced at him over her shoulder. Tristan cleared his throat. "You can call me Tristan, if you wish…"
"Alright… Tristan." Rebecca smiled weakly, turned away from him and walked down the hallway to her quarters.
Tristan looked over the hat in his hands and placed it back onto his head. He didn't tuck any of his bangs under the hat, and gently closed the door behind him.
Rebecca decided to wait until it was darker before she would venture onto the main deck.
After dinner, the Siren's Sonnet passed through a galaxy devoid of nearby starlight, and the ship was forced to run on the solar energy that was stored in its generators while the solar sails strained to absorb the light from faraway stars.
The young woman stood at the bow of the ship. She leaned against her forearms on the wooden railing of the ship and looked out into the dark reaches of the Etherium.
She heard a set of footfalls from behind her, and turned to see Simon.
"Quite the number Mister Tristan did on that stupid-head." The cabin boy stated and then sighed. "Densadrons are all the same you know… dense bodies but denser heads."
Rebecca smirked and looked out at the Etherium as Simon stood behind her. "I thought I saw you amongst the fighting, Simon…"
"Well…" The youth rubbed the back of his neck. "It's kind of complicated, really."
Rebecca sighed, feeling the ship's environment cool down generously from the lack of starlight.
"So, um, Miss Clarke…" Simon cleared his throat. "Why are you going to Los Terrano?"
Rebecca clasped her hands and looked at her fingers. "It's a bit of a long story."
"Well… I've got time, for now." Simon stated with a smile.
Rebecca smiled faintly and looked out at the distance stars. "My mother wanted me to find a suitor… to settle down like the rest of my family." She cleared her throat. "But I wanted to explore the Etherium, at least before settling down and getting married…" Rebecca sighed. "My mother wouldn't let me go unless I agreed to hiring an escort of mercenaries from Los Terrano, as it's the closest planet with those services." She shrugged and glanced at the cabin boy. "That's why I'm going to Los Terrano."
Simon pondered for a moment. "Did you ever think of finding a suitor during one of your voyages?" The youth enquired.
"What do you mean?" Rebecca asked.
Simon smirked. "Well… you and John seem to get along well enough."
Rebecca gasped, offended. "I can't believe you would suggest such a thing, Simon Campbell!" She glared frankly at the young cabin boy.
Simon raised an eyebrow. "And what if I am?" He asked smugly.
Rebecca sighed, folding her arms over her chest. "John and I…" She looked out into the Etherium, "…we're just… friends." She stated faintly. She recalled that fateful night, and wondered what powers in the Etherium had made her do what she did. "Good… friends."
"Alright… alright…" Simon rolled his eyes. "Listen, I've got to go do some cabin boy stuff and check up on those stupid-heads in the brig." He gave Rebecca a casual salute. "I will see you later, Miss Clarke."
Rebecca mutely nodded and continued looking out into the Etherium.
The ship's atmosphere was beginning to cool down to an uncomfortable temperature and Rebecca wondered if the ship would still be able to sustain the lack of starlight.
Before she could begin to get hypothermia, Rebecca decided to retire to her cabin for the evening, hoping that she would be able to keep warm in her quarters.
When Rebecca next awoke, to the clanking of the breakfast bell, it was still dark out. She rose from her bed and dress herself in the deep green skirt, ivory blouse and deep green jacket that she had worn on the first day of the voyage.
She then proceeded to the mess hall, noticing how cool the entire ship was without the warmth of the solar winds. Upon arriving in the crowded room, she sighed at the relieving warmth from the cauldron of hot food.
Simon, John and Mr. Gibson were kept busy serving portions of hot food to the loudly demanding crewmembers.
Once the entire crew had been served, Mr. Gibson retreated into the galley, Simon was sent with two plates to give to the captain and first mate, and Rebecca invited John to eat with her.
The two young adults ate in silence, when they had eaten a generous amount of the food Rebecca decided to strike up a conversation.
"Where is your home planet John?" She enquired.
"It's on the other side of Los Terrano," John started, "Between Los Terrano an' the Theta Nebula…" he cleared his throat, "a little planet called Romano…" John couldn't help but smile as he thought about his home.
"Romano?" Rebecca smiled. "Then how did you end up in Treaka?"
John shrugged. "Just went off exploring when I was a young lad, I guess." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I took a few jobs as cabin boy on a few ships, an' finally ended up in Treaka…" He cleared his throat and nudged at his food. "I took a liking teh the place, an' lived a few years upstairs of a little restaurant in the Rocka-Towa sector of Towata."
Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "You were a Towatan?" She mused.
John chuckled. "Don't suppose I act like the grease monkeys from that sector, but that's where I truly found me specialty in the culinary arts."
Rebecca smiled and looked back at John. "It's good to have someone who knows Treaka, you know?" She stirred the food on her plate. "It keeps me from missing home…"
"Glad teh talk 'bout it…" John smiled widely. "Don't want teh forget me memories…"
Rebecca smiled warmly and continued eating her breakfast. John, having nothing to talk about, continued eating his food.
The Siren's Sonnet slowly began to regain speed from the lack of starlight as it approached the Tetra System, in which several white dwarf stars glowed brilliantly.
Los Terrano was within sight of telescopes, a small tawny dot on the horizon.
Rebecca stood at the bow of the ship, feeling the warm starlight against her face, and watching the small planet gradually grow bigger.
This voyage was coming to a close, and soon the next would begin…
Day Twenty-Nine, Voyage One
Dearest friends and family,
We're expecting to arrive at the spaceport in Los Terrano mid-afternoon tomorrow.
I'm glad of the friendships I've made on this voyage, as well as the lessons I've learnt (despite having to learn most of them the hard way), and I wonder what will be in store for me tomorrow... but I'll have wait until then to find out.
It looks like the next chapter of my adventures is about to begin.
Rebecca.
Author's Note:
Hmm… I sense that this story's going to be quite a few more chapters that the first of the series -that is- if I don't type up longer chapters…
Oh well, more to do I suppose, thanks to Whisperwings for her proofreading work and to you readers for your undying patience.
MG#6