Timetra gazed over the rail of the ship at the sunlight sparkling off the water. Lagoona was a beautiful planet with its lush green forests and massive glimmering lakes. It was warm, but not hot, and there was a pleasant breeze behind them. Wide winged mantabirds flocked past them toward the distant port. The rich scent of summer sun and humidity drifted on the breeze.
This would have been a rather pleasant stop if not for-
"Mr. Jim! Can you teach me some more knots?"
Timetra stiffened and whirled around just in time to see Brigit hanging off that damn human's arm. She wanted to like him, she really did; Silver loved Jim, Brigit loved Jim, and even though he was stand-offish and awkward, none of the crew had anything bad to say about him, and Sidon sure seemed to be enjoying Jim's company. But Timetra couldn't justify it in her own head.
She was sure he'd tried to apologize, but she had purposefully avoided him as much as she could because she knew she would hit him back. The only reason she hadn't in the first place was because she'd been in so much shock that it hadn't even crossed her mind or kicked in as an instinct.
John had tried to explain for Jim as well and she wouldn't hear it.
"Jest give 'im 'nother chance, Safflina, don' e'eryone deserve a second chance?"
Timetra sighed and had to hold herself back before she stormed across the deck to pull Brigit away from Jim. It had been close to two months now since he'd joined the crew and he hadn't shown any signs that he meant harm to anyone. If anything, he seemed to be keeping as much distance from everyone as he possibly could and isolating himself.
Even John had mentioned that Jim seemed distant. Not only that, but the relationship between the human and Sidon looked only to be physical.
I promised John I would give him another chance…
The ship jerked and Timetra stumbled. She looked up wildly, "Sound off, is everyone ok?"
Each crew member called out in turn and her shoulders relaxed when everyone was accounted for. The ship had been having a problem for more than a week where it would jerk and buck as if it were fighting against itself. The erratic movements of the ship had gotten so frequent that John stopped serving anything that required cooking on the stove to cut the danger of fire out of the equation. And with the increasingly violent motions all hands were required on deck to do everything possible to keep the ship under control.
It had been a relief when Sidon had made the order to change course and make port to diagnose and fix whatever issue was causing the ship's uncharacteristic behavior. Jim had turned them toward the nearest inhabited planet, where they were now, and they had descended through the atmosphere earlier that morning and were making their way over the surface of a great lake toward a port.
Timetra and the helmsman made eye contact. He held the wheel steady and shook his head with a shrug, "Nothing I can do other than stay our course."
"It's got to be something in the drive system. I've checked everything else I can think of."
Timetra stiffened. Jim made his way to the bridge, glancing at her as he went. He looked like he wanted to offer her his hand to help her up, but he changed his mind and continued past. She wouldn't have taken his help anyway. They both knew that. Instead, she accepted John's hand and he heaved her back to her feet.
Though she still wasn't comfortable speaking with Jim, she had a job to do, "How soon until we make port?"
"Thirty minutes, maybe forty," He answered after a glance at the navigation screen.
There was another tremor through the ship, harder than before, and Timetra called out, "Alright everyone, prepare to make port. Cut our sails by half. We'll have to be extra careful not to hit anything as we moor. Pick a dock as far from other ships as you can-"
The ship pitched violently to one side and Timetra was thrown off balance. A scream rang out and fear pierced her heart like an arrow.
Time slowed as she looked up. Brigit fell from a spar, her hands grasping wildly at the air as if they would find anything to catch her. Timetra's grip tightened on John's hand and they both started forward with a cry of terror on their lips.
She struck the shrouds roughly and her body went limp. All Timetra and John could do was watch as Brigit fell past the rail of the ship and disappear before anyone could reach out and grab her.
"BRIGIT!"
The world was starting to move again, sluggishly as if the whole universe had stood still to watch the scene unfold and it was returning to normal. Timetra looked over. She saw that Jim was running, throwing off his coat, jumping up on the rail of the ship. And then he dove over the railing after Brigit without a even a moment's hesitation.
Timetra's training kicked in despite her anguish and she screamed, "CREW OVERBOARD! Bring the ship around! Get a longboat down there! NOW! "
She flew to the railing and gazed down at the lapping waves below the ship. Her heart gripped in her throat, tears stung in her eyes, the breath in her lungs frozen solid. Not my baby-
Jim broke the surface of the lake with a gasp and hauled Brigit up so her head was also above water. She wasn't moving…
"Come on Bri! Breathe!" Timetra heard Jim shout.
Brigit coughed suddenly and her eyes opened and she looked up at Timetra with confusion and fear on her face. She flailed for a moment but ceased when Jim said something softly in her ear and she twisted around to hug around his neck.
"We're coming for you baby!" The sob in Timetra's chest bubbled over and she shouted angrily through her fear. "Where's that longboat?!"
Even as she was asking the question she saw one of their boats racing toward her daughter. John was at the helm - of course he was - and he drew the longboat up as close as he could. Tears fell hot and heavy down Timetra's cheeks as she saw him reach over the edge and pull Brigit out of the water and into his arms before he grabbed Jim and hauled him up as well.
Brigit was safe.
"R-return to our course," Timetra commanded as she tried to collect herself. "All hands secure lifelines until we've safely made port."
She hadn't stumbled so much in her life as she did while she ran to the longboat bay to meet them. And most of it didn't have anything to do with the violent rocking of the ship. Jim pulled the boat up and fastened the clips that held it in the bay, but Timetra only had eyes for John and Brigit. He cradled her to his chest, gently stroking her wet hair and speaking soothingly, and he met Timetra's gaze as she came to the side of the boat, "Brigit?!"
"She's fine, Safflina, jest a bit scared 'n wet."
"Bring her to my clinic," Demitria's voice came from behind Timetra and she motioned urgently. They moved as a unit after the Zora healer, leaving Jim to tie off the boat.
John had been right. Brigit was fine aside from a few small cuts and a goose-egg bruise on the side of her head. The tumble didn't seem to have fazed her even for a moment and she was back up in the rigging and among the sails to help close them when they'd moored. Timetra figured she and John were more shaken about the whole ordeal. The two of them had watched in terror as she immediately scampered up the shrouds - lifeline SECURELY attached - and trotted happily along the jib to aid the crew.
Jim had come up not long after, still sopping wet, to collect his coat. The look of shock that had gone over his face had been almost comical when Silver heaved him up and into his arms from behind to hug him.
She felt bad now for treating Jim so coldly. She should have trusted John. Jim hadn't shown any indication at all that he had any ill-will toward her, or John, or Brigit, and she thought back now on the looks of hurt and dismay that had gone across his face when she'd caught him and Brigit speaking and pulled the girl away.
Where is he?!
Timetra stopped in the middle of the deck and crossed her arms over her chest. Jim had been on deck to help moor the ship, and she'd heard him rejecting Demitria's offers to examine him for injuries more than once even after they'd come to a stop and were safely tied to the dock. But then he disappeared. Every single place she could have checked for him hadn't yielded anything and it was starting to get frustrating.
No one had been given permission to leave the ship and he especially had express orders from Sidon himself to stay on the ship.
"This is stupid, he won't be down here," Timetra started toward the cargo hold and longboat bay. How she wished she had a strong nose like John and Brigit now.
Sure enough, a cursory glance around the longboat bay indicated he wasn't there, and she shook her head as she walked back through the cargo hold toward the stairs to the deck. A soft pained gasp had her pausing on the steps and she cocked her head to one side.
Another muted whimper reached her and she turned to search for the source. There was a stack of crates in the far corner that looked distinctly like a wall and she treaded toward it carefully. Upon coming around the stack she was met with the sight of Jim tucked in the corner, his shirt stripped off and a needle and thread in one hand as he stitched along a cut on his upper abdomen.
"What are you doing?"
He yelped and looked up in surprise, "Timetra! How- what are you doing here?"
Timetra stepped closer, "Why are you stitching your cut? Just go to Demitria!"
"There's no need," Jim tied the end of the thick thread off and cut it with his knife. "I just finished, and she's got other things she has to do-"
"It's her job to keep the crew healthy. You included."
He looked up at her with a startled expression. He managed to splutter out "it's fine, really" and Timetra looked about the two of them, her arms going over her chest. He was lying back in what looked to be a make-shift nest, with a sack of onions as a pillow and a thread-bare blanket tossed to one side. Jim's pack, which he'd brought with him onto the ship, sat next to him. She realized suddenly that he was using this corner as a living space and her heart dropped out of her chest, "Why didn't you set up a hammock in the crew's quarters?"
"No space," Jim answered quietly. He dug in his bag for a shirt and yanked it on quickly and stood to settle his appearance to the customary look Timetra had grown used to seeing. She noticed how thin he was before the shirt came all the way down and felt a frown go across her mouth.
"How long have you been sleeping here?"
He didn't answer and just set to putting his needle and thread away. She crouched beside him and set her hand on his and he went still as stone, "From the start of the journey?"
Jim nodded after a moment's hesitation and Timetra sighed. Guilt weighed down on her shoulders. That wouldn't do. It was her job to coordinate with all the crew members, whether she liked them or not, and for Jim to not be taken care of like the rest of the crew had been- it was a gross misuse of her power to ignore his needs.
"I'm sorry," He said it before she was able to and Timetra jerked her hand back in surprise. He continued quickly, "I didn't mean to hit you. I'm sorry if I hurt you. It's no excuse, but…I've been in situations that required me to fight and…I reacted instinctively. So, I'm sorry…"
"I should be the one apologizing," Timetra ran a tired hand over her face and rocked back on her heels. "John asked me to give you a second chance so many times I lost count, and I was too wrapped up in my own pettiness-" she groaned "Come on. Get your bag."
"What?"
"Get your bag and follow me," She hooked a finger, giving him her 'don't argue with me' face and he obeyed quickly.
It took only a moment to reach the hall with the private cabins and Timetra pushed a door open, "There you are."
Jim peeked in, then looked up at her with wide eyes, and hooked his thumb over his shoulder, "The cargo hold was fine-"
"Don't you ever suggest anything like that ever again, do you hear me?" He shrank under her sharp tone and the pointed finger she leveled in his face. "If John finds out you've been sleeping in there this whole time he'll…" she trailed off and felt her face twist with worry, "He already goes on about how skinny you are and that you don't take care of yourself."
Timetra caught his shoulder in her hand and directed him into the cabin and she stood imposingly - using every inch of her height over him - in the doorway so he wouldn't try to sneak back to the cargo hold, "If you need anything else, you just tell me, understand?"
"Yes, ma'am-"
"None of that, call me Timetra. We are family after all, aren't we?" She grinned at the way he looked at her in shock. "What? Did you misunderstand John when he talks about you and calls you 'his boy'?"
Jim's face flushed the smallest amount and he smiled, looking away from her and he processed what she said. She started to turn away, but stopped when Jim whispered, "Thanks Timetra."
"Of course. Now settle in. I expect to see you at dinner."
"Yes, ma- Timetra."
She chuckled as she walked away, feeling better, though still a little awkward. It would take time, she knew, but it seemed they were on the right track.