Melody awoke to a strange feeling. She thought at first that she was on a ship, but the lack of swaying told her that this was not so. She sat up groggily and blinked to clear her vision, noting that she was in a bed, in what looked to be a small cabin. So perhaps they were back on the Rising Tide, and were anchored in place? No, that couldn't be it; even stationary the ship would still experience movement, however slight.
She literally rolled out of bed and staggered when she put her weight on her bandaged foot. Vaguely, she recalled piercing it on an abandoned dagger in the sand. What else had happened? She rubbed the back of her head in an attempt to help clear her mind, forcing herself to remember. Running from pirates...meeting Silver...escaping from a horrible alien creature...
It was starting to come back to her. Sitting on the floor, she held her locket and recalled that she had swallowed the Sea Stone. She told herself she did it to protect it, but she couldn't help but feel foolish for doing so.
This "gift" from her grandfather was turning out to be more of a burden if anything. Why did you give this to me? she wondered to herself. Granted, the abilities that it bestowed on her had saved both her life and Jim's more than once. She reminded herself how she had controlled it briefly when she summoned a wave to aid in their escape from that alien Scroop. So she could control water, and become a mermaid, seemingly against her will, but maybe, with a bit of effort, she could learn to control that ability too...
Suddenly she heard a knock at the door, followed by Jim peeking his head in to see if she was up. Alarmed that she had seemingly fallen out of bed, he quickly set down the tray he had brought in and was at her side in two long strides.
"Are you okay? Did you fall?" he asked with concern as he put her arm over his shoulders and helped her stand up.
"I'm okay, just a little dizzy. I forgot about my foot," she limped on her good leg back to the bed with Jim's assistance.
"I had forgotten too. It started bleeding again after you turned back into a human earlier."
"So how long was I out this time?"
"Only about an hour. It's not even noon yet. Oh, I almost forgot," he crossed the room to retrieve the tray. "Brought you some food; figured you'd be hungry." Jim presented her with a small tin bowl of what looked like stew.
"Thank you, I'm starving," she took the bowl gratefully, though eyeing it curiously. "What is this, alien stew?" she wrinkled her nose.
"Haha, yeah, you could say that. It's Silver's famous bonzabeast stew. It's packed with protein and nutrients, or so he tells me."
Melody took a small sip, careful not to burn herself. It was actually pretty good! The stew tasted both nourishing and comforting, and she was soon feeling more like herself.
"So, we're on Silver's ship?" she finally asked, scraping the last of the stew from the bowl with her spoon.
"Yeah, he's found the Rising Tide, so we're headed in that direction," he confirmed.
"Then he'll drop us off and be on his way, I assume?" Melody sucked on the spoon in a most unladylike fashion.
"Not exactly," at this point, Jim had pulled up a chair near the bed. "He'll be joining us on board. You remember that alien you had the pleasure of meeting on the beach earlier?" Melody nodded her head. "Well, we're fairly certain that he's still tracking Silver's ship. Turns out he's been tailing him this whole time. So the plan, once we reach our ship, is to send Silver's ship back into space to lure Scroop away."
"I see..." Melody processed this new information. "Why was he following Silver in the first place?"
"Long story short, Silver is trying to track down the Elemental Stones before a nasty pirate named Ironbeard can get them all. Scroop works for Ironbeard, and he was sent to track Silver so he could report back once he found out where the other stones were," Jim explained.
"Oh my goodness..." Melody placed a hand to her chest. "Does he know that I have one?"
"No, and we're going to keep it that way. I didn't even tell Silver," he reassured her. Seeing the sly smile on her face, he quickly added, "Not because I don't trust him, okay? I just figured the fewer people who knew about this, the better. For your own safety." He locked eyes with her then, and he could see her fear hidden behind the brave facade that she was putting on. He nudged her playfully with his shoulder. "Hey, come on, there's no need to worry! You've got the best bodyguard in the galaxy watching your back! I won't let anything happen to you."
"Promise?" she nudged him back.
"Promise," he winked in return.
Captain Henley Howell stood over his desk, feverishly consulting his maps and checking his scanner every few minutes. He was a dead man if he showed his face in Arlington without the princess. And he had lost his lieutenant, whom he was solely responsible for. What would the Academy think? They would probably banish him to Earth, along with his wife, Abigail. She was also here on Earth, but spent most of her time at the castle whenever he was out at sea. How he missed her! He hoped to retire in a few years, so he could spend more time with his wife. Perhaps banishment wouldn't be so bad...
The scanner suddenly fizzled to life as it picked up a massive object heading their way. Tapping the screen, he knew it couldn't be another ship. It was moving too fast. Its speed was more reminiscent of a spaceship. He was not expecting any spacers, so he grabbed his rifle and headed up to the deck to meet the mysterious visitor.
First Mate Leif Nelson was at the helm and looked questioningly at his captain as he marched up the stairs with his weapon ready.
"Is something wrong, sir?"
"We have unexpected company," Howell scanned the horizon for signs of the approaching ship. A small black dot soon came into view, growing bigger and bigger within seconds. Several members of the crew took notice and shielded their eyes from the burning sun as they stared at the floating vessel. Howell grumbled to himself, already mentally preparing for the necessary mind wipes he would need to conduct later. With the exception of Jim, whom he presumed to be dead, he was the only person who knew about spacers. The rest of his crew were in for quite a surprise.
The vessel suddenly swooped above their ship, hovering in place as the engines hummed into rest mode. A long rope ladder was hurled over the side, floating right behind the captain and first mate. Howell raised his gun, waiting for the first alien to dare board his ship. A young man slid recklessly down the ladder before dropping to the deck in a crouch. The man rose, meeting Howell's eyes. He immediately dropped his weapon as he realized who the visitor was.
"Hawkins! We thought you were lost to us!" he allowed his surprise to break his normally stoic demeanor as he regarded his Lieutenant.
"It's a long story, sir," Jim responded as he saluted.
"And the princess...?" Howell wasn't sure he wanted the answer, but it was necessary to ask.
Another figure slid swiftly down the ladder as Jim turned to catch them. He caught the young woman and quickly set her down, who leaned into him slightly, favoring her left foot.
"Princess?" the captain hardly recognized her in her unkempt state. The storm had certainly not taken mercy on either of them. Their clothing was ripped to shreds and they looked a bit worse for wear.
"Captain," Melody saluted him, making him involuntarily chuckle at the unnecessary gesture.
"Are you quite alright, miss?" he motioned towards her bandaged foot.
"Better than can be expected, Captain," she smiled brightly, yet the tired look in her eyes betrayed her.
"Alright, let's get you both to the infirmary before debriefing. At ease."
"Permission to speak, sir?" Jim requested. The captain nodded. "I would like to debrief you before I head down, if I may. It's an urgent matter."
No sooner had he said that, than a larger figure landed on the deck with a loud, metallic thud. Howell narrowed his eyes, gripping his rifle in anticipation.
"You have a lot of explaining to do, Hawkins."
Jim finished his story, leaving out the part where Melody swallowed the Sea Stone. Instead, he opted to simply divulge that she had it in her possession. Silver had been detained outside until Jim could finish debriefing Henley. He was a known criminal, and Henley was not too keen on having him on his ship. Nor was he keen to the fact that he would have to mind wipe the entire crew.
"I realize that it's against protocol to expose our alien culture to the locals, but you understand that I had no choice in the matter. The princess is in danger as long as Ironbeard is on the loose," Jim boldly defended his actions.
"I have half a mind to send Silver on his way tied to his own ship. Let those pirates find him and deal with him as they please!" Howell paced the room. "If I thought for one moment that he could be trusted not to talk, I would do just that." He sighed heavily to calm himself. "However, the circumstances being what they are, I'll concede that your plan is the only choice we've got."
"Then with all due respect sir, we have to send his ship away now, before it's discovered," Jim reminded his captain impatiently.
"Agreed, Hawkins. You may go aboard and set the vessel's route to the opposite direction where we are headed. You are dismissed."
Jim saluted and quickly left the room. He made his way up deck and ran into Silver, who was entertaining the guards with his sleight of hand. Jim sighed. They were supposed to be guarding Silver, but he couldn't blame their curiosity.
"Jimbo! What's de verdict?"
"The captain has graciously allowed you to remain aboard, assuming you don't cause any trouble," Jim looked pointedly at his friend.
"Spacer's promise, lad!" Silver held up his cyborg hand in submission.
"Alright, wanna come help me adjust your ship's auto pilot?" Jim strolled up to the helm where the ladder still hung. He nodded at the guards that it was okay to release Silver.
"There you go, right as rain!" the ship's doctor, Romley, patted Melody's newly bandaged foot. He had needed to add a few stitches, which was not pleasant, but nothing compared to the transformation process. "Just be sure to keep off of it for the next few days, alright ma'am?"
"Yes, doctor, thank you very much. It feels better already!" Melody smiled and hopped off the gurney, making use of the wooden crutch that he had supplied. She had insisted on taking a quick bath and changing into clean clothing before coming down to the infirmary. Her lightweight coral colored dress was flowy and comfortable. She slowly made her way up the stairs and almost bumped into Jim.
"Jim! How did your meeting go? Did the captain agree to your plan?" she was glad to see him.
"Yeah, we're all set. Silver and I just finished programming his ship to fly far away from here. That should give us plenty of head start," Jim offered his arm to her and helped her up the rest of the stairs.
"Poor Silver, will he ever get his ship back?" Despite not fully trusting the pirate yet, she still felt sorry for his loss.
"Who knows?" Jim shrugged. "He's not too attached to things anyway. Comes with the job. How's your foot?"
"A little sore; Doctor Romley had to stitch up the cut. He said it should heal quickly if I keep my weight off of it."
"That's good to hear. Let's head up to the deck and make sure Silver is behaving himself."
Melody happily obliged as she was already becoming bored with being cooped up in the infirmary. Once on deck, they saw that Silver was making himself useful by checking that everything was tied down and secure.
"Silver!" Jim called to him. "Are you actually putting yourself to work?" A smile appeared on the cyborg's face before he wiped his hands on his pants and strolled over to the pair.
"Aye, Jimbo! Someone's got ta make sure dese crates are tied down properly, wit good decent knots! T'is a wonder dey 'aven't flown clear off de ship yet!" Silver joked, not realizing how right he was about that. Jim and Melody shared a knowing look before laughing to themselves.
"An' what's so funny bout dat?" Silver placed his hands on his hips indignantly. This made them laugh harder. "Don't ye two lovebirds 'ave somethin' else to do?" Silence. Both of their faces instantly turned red and they searched for something to look at besides each other or Silver. "Dat'll teach ye to laugh at dis ol' seadog!" he turned his chin up in triumph and sauntered away, leaving Jim and Melody in awkward silence.
"So, uh, what do you wanna do now?" Jim nervously scratched the back of his neck, avoiding looking at her.
"I have a chess set in my sitting room, we can play at the table in there," Melody suggested, eager to change the subject.
"Alright, lead the way, peg leg," he teased.
"Hey! I still have my leg, thank you very much!" she stuck her tongue out at him and marched across the deck.
Melody finished setting the board and looked up at Jim expectantly.
"Black or white?" she held a pawn of each color in each of her palms.
"Black," he reached for the black piece and placed it in its square on the board.
"Alright, I go first then," Melody moved a pawn from the center forward one space.
"Now why do you get to go first?" Jim squinted his eyes at her.
"White always goes first. Everyone knows that," she folded her arms and narrowed her eyes right back at him.
"Well where I'm from, black goes first." He moved a pawn forward two spaces.
"Well we're not on your planet, we're on Earth, so we're playing by my rules," she moved another pawn forward one space.
"Well, well, well! Look who's getting bossy," Jim leaned in, making his move.
"I'm not being bossy! You're the one who's trying to cheat!" Melody also leaned in, challenging him.
"It's not cheating - that's how I was taught to play!"
"Then perhaps you were taught wrong, Lieutenant," Melody lowered her voice, trying, and failing, to sound menacing.
They were both leaning over the board now, faces only inches apart. Suddenly, their lips met, and neither could tell who made the first move, but neither seemed to want to break apart either. It was a short, sweet, kiss, and it left a pleasant burning sensation on their lips when they parted.
Melody's eyes were wide, and her cheeks were blushing fiercely. Jim stared back at her, his own complexion turning quite red. Neither spoke for what seemed like an eternity, until Jim finally broke the silence.
"I believe it's your move."