Rattle The Stars

Chapter Eight: The Launch

The captain downed several cups of Alice’s strong brew, then stood and tugged her jacket smooth.

“I must commend you, Miss Kingsley. The tea you made was just the right balance of smooth and stern.”

“At least I gained something from my sister,” Alice mumbled. At the captain’s puzzled glance, she dipped her head and smiled. “Thank you, captain. I’m happy you liked it.”

“Off you go, then.” Captain Amelia ushered her toward the stateroom door. “I’m sure you’re positively dying to see the launch. Tell me—is this your first?”

“Yes, captain.”

“All the better.” Captain Amelia smiled a feline smile. “I think you’ll find it quite exhilarating. Go on and find a suitable place on deck. Preferably someplace with a grip.”

Alice blinked. Why would she need a grip? “Um. Yes, captain.” She turned the handle on the door and stepped out onto the deck.

“All hands to stations!” Cried out Mr. Arrow. “Prepare to cast off!”

The crew became a flurry of activity. Alice gazed in wonder as aliens bounded here and there, gathering supplies, securing cargo, and manning the ropes to loose the sails overhead.

“Hey!” Alice turned at the familiar voice. Jim stood behind her, his wide, blue eyes taking everything in. “Where’d you end up?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“I mean, what’s the captain have you doing? Something better than the galley, I’m sure.” Jim rolled his eyes.

“Well, she wants me to be her personal assistant,” Alice said, a bit smugly despite herself.

“Of course she does.” Jim shook his head. “Girls always get the good stuff.”

“Loose all solar sails!” Mr. Arrow called, and they both watched in awe as the massive, glowing fabric billowed free in the wind. The fabric’s panels reflected and absorbed the copious sunlight, and as the sails rolled and twisted in the wind, Alice thought they looked quite like fishes in water, with scales flashing in the light.

“Heave up the braces!”
Next came the ropes and weights tying them down to port, pulled up by dozens of grunting crewmen. The ship began to float higher in the air, and Alice was glad to be wearing breeches and a tucked in shirt as she and Jim began to hover off the ground, an invisible force pushing them upward.

“So this is why the captain told me to find someplace I could hang onto.” Alice flailed her arms to avoid falling forward. “Oh, this is quite unpleasant!”

“Don’t worry. I got you.” Jim grabbed hold of her arm, and Alice gave him a grateful smile.

“Mr. Zoff, engage artificial gravity!” Captain Amelia called.
The alien who’d spoken in Flatula gave a noisy salute, then pulled a lever.

Alice and Jim landed lightly back on their feet, but Alice giggled as she heard the unmistakable clatter of Dr. Doppler’s spacesuit hitting the deck.

Jim smoothed his hair down, then moved toward the edge of the ship to look below. Alice followed him as the captain continued barking out directions.

“South by southwest, Mr. Turnbuckle, heading 2-1-0-0!”

“Aye, captain!” The alien at the helm saluted, then spun the wheel.

Alice grabbed hold of the ship as it turned and lifted, higher and higher.

“Full speed, Mr. Arrow, if you please!” Came the Captain’s call.

“Take her away!” Mr. Arrow boomed.

Alice heard something, almost like a great purr, from deep within the ship. She glanced wide-eyed at Jim, who grinned back at her, clearly enjoying the rush.

Without warning, the ship lurched ahead. Alice clung to the side of the ship to keep upright, but a laugh escaped her lips as a metallic figure went flying past and hit the back of the ship with a monstrous clatter.

Jim laughed behind her. “Guess he didn’t hang on to anything.”

“Poor Dr. Doppler.”

“Hey. You want to go explore?” Jim’s eyes were vibrant with curiosity.

“Of course. What did you have in mind?” Alice asked with a grin.

“Come on. I’ll show you.” He leapt up onto the rigging, then beckoned for her to follow. She clambered up after him, and as he helped her up, Jim pointed towards a mass of animals, moving through the air just below them.

“Whoa,” he chuckled.

Alice gawked at them. They appeared to be whales, or something like whales. But how were they moving through the open air?

“Look!” Alice pointed up, above the ship, where a great shadow had fallen over them. “There’s more! They’re all around us.”

Jim tugged her arm wordlessly, and she glanced over, only to nearly scream. One of the massive animals swam just alongside them, its great eye studying them as it moved past, a mere arms’ reach away.

“Upon my word, an Orcus Galacticus!” Announced Dr. Doppler, just below them on an observation ledge. He held a camera in his hands and leaned over. “Smile!”

“Uh, Doctor,” Captain Amelia called, “I’d stand clear—“

Alice clamped a hand over her mouth as the mammoth creature sprayed a bubbling, green liquid from its blowhole, all over Dr. Doppler and his camera.

“Oh, dear,” she giggled.

Jim snorted a laugh. “Figures.”

“You know, this is quite fantastical.” Alice leaned back against the rigging, reaching out a hand to touch the lavender tendrils of nebula they were passing through. “I’d have never imagined this kind of world, even with an imagination as big as mine.”

“What do you mean?” Jim asked.

“Well, you see, where I’m from… we don’t have ships that sail through space. We only have ones that sail on water, across seas. And space…well, it’s just a distant fantasy, an unknown, unexplored world.”

“Huh.” Jim frowned as he studied her. “What kind of place are you from, anyway?”
“I can’t help but feel as if this is some kind of strange dream, like the last place I visited. But at the same time, it’s all so real.” She sighed. “I can touch stardust. I can fly past the planets. In this place, I feel like anything is possible.”

“I guess it would feel pretty crazy, if you didn’t even have space travel where you’re from.” Jim looked away from her, scowling at the deck. “Seems like your home planet still has all the same problems ours does, though. Parents abandoning their kids, family dumping you because you’re a burden to them…” He tossed his hair out of his eyes. “No matter how far we come, no matter how far into the universe we reach…parents still suck.”

“But Jim,” Alice pressed. “Your mother seems like a very kind and loving person.”

“I’m not talking about her.” Jim’s voice was quiet, his eyes on some distant point in the stars. “I’m talking about the one who isn’t here.”

Alice felt into the tense silence between them, then nodded. She’d never had a chance to fully know her own parents—they’d been taken from her. It seemed that Jim knew his parents, but only one had chosen to stick around for him.

She felt a similar pain when she thought about her sister. Her heart ached, and she frowned.

“I’m sorry.” She rested her hand briefly on his shoulder.

Jim took in a deep breath and flashed her a pasted-on smile.
“Hey, don’t worry about it. We’re on an adventure, alright? I don’t want to be a downer.”

Alice smiled back. “It is only proper that we enjoy ourselves.”

“Jimbo!” Came a call from down on deck. Alice peeked down, then gasped.
A large man—no, robot...she couldn’t make up her mind—peered up at Jim with one metallic eye glimmering red in the darkness. He stood with his hands on his hips, and one of his arms seemed more like a machine than a limb. The same could be said of his legs—where his right foot should have been, a stump with gears and wires was instead.

She remembered Billy Bones’ talk about cyborgs…was this what he meant? Was this who he’d meant?

Was this the man who’d shot them out of the sky?

*

Jim sighed. Just as they’d begun to explore a bit, of course Silver, his new boss, would come along and ruin the fun. It was bad enough he was stuck in the galley with a suspicious cyborg this whole trip. It’d be even worse if the grumpy old creature was constantly invading his explorations.

Jim leapt down from the rigging and reached up to help Alice down.

“Well, bless my stars!” The cyborg swept into a low bow upon catching sight of Alice. “I didn’t know Jimbo had a sister. Wouldn’t have guessed she’d be so pretty.” He laughed boisterously at his own joke, while Alice gave a forced smile.

“Begging your pardon, sir, but I’m not his sister,” Alice explained. She gave Jim a sideways glance. “I’m a…friend of the family, I suppose. My name is Alice Kingsley.”

“Glad to have you aboard, Miss Kingsley. You’ve probably guessed ladies are rare aboard these types of ships.” Silver leaned in conspiratorially. “A pretty, civilized lass like yourself might keep the crew in check, if you know what I mean. Make ‘em mind their manners.”

“I do hope that will be the case,” Alice sniffed.

Silver laughed again, then ruffled Alice’s hair. “I like you already, lass. Name’s Silver, at your service.” He swept off his hat and kissed her hand like a gentleman.

“Charmed.” Alice pulled her hand back quickly, and Jim saw something flash in her eyes as she studied his cyborg hand and eye.

“Oh, I know, lass.” Silver twiddled his hands apologetically. “Jimbo’s already given me the once-over, too. Ain’t nothing for it, though. T’was the only way to fix me up right again. Don’t mind me creaking and whatnot, lass. There’s a soft heart under all this metal.” He winked at her, then turned to Jim. “Now listen, lad. I got two new friends I’d like you to meet.”

Jim straightened, then glanced around in expectation. Maybe they would help him in the galley, so he wouldn’t have to do all the work alone.

“Say hello to Mr. Mop and Mrs. Bucket.” The cyborg pulled the cleaning supplies from behind his back and shoved them into Jim’s hands.

Jim scowled, then blew his hair out of his eyes. Alice stifled a laugh, while Silver guffawed, clutching his stomach.

Jim threw Alice a glare. “Yippee,” he snarked.

Silver tipped his hat again, then stumped off toward the galley.

Jim sighed and got to work. He was used to this kind of mind-numbing manual labor. He’d done plenty of it back at the Ben Bow Inn.

He remembered his mom and stifled a pang of guilt. He needed to mind his manners. Getting to Treasure Planet—and getting the money to rebuild the Inn and make his mother proud—depended on it.

“I’ll help.” Alice picked up the bucket and sloshed some soapy water over the deck. “I don’t know how he expects you to do all this alone.”

“I don’t know, either.” Jim knew he should probably thank her, but his pride had been pricked, and his temper was fragile. He decided to indulge his curiosity instead. “I saw you look at Silver kinda funny earlier. What was that about?”

Alice picked up a scrub brush and knelt down. “It just seems rather odd. Mr. Bones warned us about a cyborg. He’d said the cyborg was who came after us and shot at our ship.”

“Yeah.” Jim rested his hands on the end of the mop as he thought. “That’s the same thing I thought, too. But I already asked him about Bones. He swears he’s never heard of him.”

“Perhaps Mr. Bones meant a different cyborg. Perhaps there’s more than one,” Alice mused as she scrubbed. “After all, Silver hardly seems like the pirate type.”

“I guess only time will tell.” Jim got back to mopping. A huge alien tromped past him and Alice. It hit Jim with one of its four arms as it swept past, knocking him into the side of the boat.

“Watch it, twerp!” The alien turned and curled his fists at Jim.

Jim glared in disbelief at the alien. He hadn’t done anything.

“Are you alright?” Alice put a steadying hand on his shoulder. She eyed the aliens chatting across the deck, her brows furrowed.

“I’m fine.” Jim turned back to his mopping, but he studied the aliens from the corner of his eye.

The aliens noticed them watching. One elbowed the other, and they glared back at Jim and Alice.
“What are you looking at, weirdos?” The alien’s head crawled from its body, and Jim heard Alice gasp behind him.

“Yeah, weirdos.” The alien’s torso opened, forming eyes and a mouth.

Alice clapped her hand over her mouth. “Oh, dear.”

A hiss from overhead made Jim look up. The first things he saw were a pair of bright yellow eyes, glowering at him. The alien attached to the eyes was just as beastly—some kind of arachnoid creature, with long, segmented legs and crab-like claws gripping the rigging.

Alice gave a squeak of alarm and backed away from the creature.

“Cabin boys and girls should learn to mind their own business,” the alien growled at them.

Jim had to admit—the alien was pretty terrifying. But he was loathe to swallow his pride for the second time in less than an hour.

He grabbed his mop and smirked. “Why? You got something to hide, bright eyes?”

“Jim!” Alice hissed, her brows furrowed incredulously. It seemed she wasn’t a fan of his attitude. She’d made that much clear back in the captain’s stateroom.

Still, these creepy aliens were getting under his skin…and he wasn’t about to just let it go.

The spider psycho alien pushed Alice out of the way, then grabbed Jim by the collar and lifted him off the ground.

Jim gulped. Maybe Alice was right—maybe he should have backed off.

But anger surged through Jim’s veins. Why did these aliens want to pick on them, anyway? Was there some law against looking at people that he wasn’t aware of?

“Maybe your ears don’t work so well.” The alien was right in Jim’s face now, and his eyes watered. Its breath smelled awful.

“Put him down!” Alice shrieked as she pounded on the alien’s back, but all Jim could register were the glowing bug eyes of the alien and the rancid stench on its breath.

“Yeah. Too bad my nose works just fine,” Jim coughed.

“Why, you impudent little…” The alien slammed him against the mast, and Jim found himself struggling for breath. He kicked and clawed to get free, but the alien’s pincers were like a steel trap. The crew surrounded them, shouting threats at Jim. Above them all, he heard Alice’s piercing cries.

“Let him go, you monster!”

“Oy! No girls allowed!” He heard a thump, then a shriek, and his blood boiled.

It was one thing to pick on him. But putting their hands on Alice was too far. His mom had taught him better than to leave a lady undefended.

Besides, Alice hadn’t been the one to smart off to Scroop. He had.

“Leave her alone!” Jim growled. “Geez, picking on a girl? That’s pretty low even for creeps like you.”

The alien snarled and thrust his pincer under Jim’s throat, and Jim choked.
“Any last words, cabin boy?”

Jim gulped. He should have listened to her. He should have just gone back to mopping and minded his business. But his regrets were no use now.

“Mr. Scroop,” said a familiar voice.

The alien’s bug eyes widened, and Jim saw who’d come to his rescue.
Silver.

The cyborg stood casually, examining a purp. His metal arm was clamped down hard on Scroop’s pincer.

“You ever see what happens to a fresh purp when you squeeze real hard?”

Scroop shrieked in pain as Silver twisted his arm.

Jim fell roughly to the deck, massaging his throat. Alice rushed to his side and pulled him out of the way.

“What were you thinking?” She hissed at him.

Though he knew she was right, her scolding inflamed his pride. He crossed his arms and scowled, refusing to answer.

“What’s all this, then?” Jim looked up as Mr. Arrow’s rocky form descended the steps from the helm. “You know the rules. There’ll be no brawling on this ship.” His small, dark eyes rested on Alice. “The captain will not be pleased to learn her crew involved a young lady in this unfortunate incident.”

Alice looked sheepishly away.

Jim frowned. She hadn’t done anything wrong. She’d been trying to help him.

But Mr. Arrow was pacing up the lined ranks of the crew, his hands behind his back.
“Any further offenders will be confined to the brig…for the remainder of the voyage.” He stopped in front of Mr. Scroop and leaned in threateningly. “Am I clear, Mr. Scroop?”

Jim watched as the spider psycho glowered at Arrow, physically changing color from dark red to orange. But Silver aimed his cyborg eye at the alien, and Scroop relaxed his shoulders.
“Transparently,” he hissed.

“Well done, Mr. Arrow, sir!” Silver called as he stepped close to Jim. “A tight ship’s a happy ship, sir!” He reached down and hauled both Alice and Jim to their feet. “Now listen here, lass. You’d best run off to the captain before you get in any more trouble. And Jimbo, I gave you a job.”

“Hey,” Jim protested, “we were doing that job until that bug thing—“

“Belay that!” Silver bellowed. He grabbed the mop and bucket and shoved them into Jim’s hands. “It weren’t the lass’ job to help you to begin with. Now, I want this deck swabbed spotless, and heaven help you if I come back and it’s not done!”

“But, Mr. Silver, I was only trying—“

Silver shooed Alice away with a stern glare. “Off with you, lass, unless you want the captain to hear all.”

Alice sighed, but did as she was told.

“Morph?” Silver called for his shape-shifting blob pet, who burbled up merrily around his face. “Keep an eye on this pup…and let me know if there be any more distractions.”

“Okay, aye-aye.” Morph gave a nebulous salute. His little eyes grew to the size of purps as he became a satellite around Jim’s head.

Silver tromped off, and Jim heaved a sigh.

“So much for my help.” He threw a regretful glance toward the captain’s stateroom, which had just snapped shut behind Alice. He wrestled with a sickening feeling of guilt. He hadn’t meant for her to get dragged into all that. “Guess it’s just you and me now.”
“You and me!” Morph echoed happily.

As he mopped, Jim thought back through his interaction with Scroop, and Silver’s rescue. He’d thought the old cyborg cared nothing for him, and it frankly shocked him that Silver could intimidate an alien like Scroop.

The way Silver had looked at Scroop when Mr. Arrow was threatening him also raised Jim’s suspicions. What secrets were the crew discussing? What connections did they share that they didn’t want Jim, Alice, or anyone else to know about?

Jim didn’t know, but the idea that Silver somehow controlled the others—and that he cared for Jim and Alice— was growing stronger with each interaction he watched.
The only question was, why?


AlyCatAuthor