Rattle The Stars

Chapter Eleven: Supernova

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry about the pause. With the holidays came the passing of my beloved mother-in-law, and as you can imagine, I did not have the capacity to update. Getting back to normal now seems to be helping everyone with the grief, so hopefully my posts will go back to being consistent. I wish you all a very happy New Year, and I hope you love this chapter!



“That was…fantastical!” Alice sighed. She was still breathless and covered with ice as they floated up into the underside of the RLS Legacy.

“That’s an understatement, lass,” Silver gave a good-natured guffaw. He and Jim worked the lines, pulling the skiff up into the ship and securing it with ropes. “If I could maneuver a skiff like that when I was your age, Jim, they’d be bowing in the streets when I walked by today.” He flopped down into the boat, sprawling out dazedly.

“Bowing in the streets!” Echoed Morph, parroting his master as he fell onto Silver’s shoulder.

Alice giggled, while Jim ran his fingers back through his loose brown hair, knocking out a few ice crystals.

“I dunno.” Jim's proud smile faded a bit. ‘They weren’t exactly singing my praises when I left home.” His blue eyes took on a determined edge. “But I’m gonna change all that.”

“Are you now?” Silver asked thoughtfully, cocking his head to look at Jim with his cyborg eye. “How so?”

“Do tell,” Alice agreed.

Jim glanced at them both, a proud smirk spreading across his face.

“I’ve got some plans.” He stretched out, like Silver, pulling his arms behind his head and closing his eyes. “Gonna make people see me a little different.”

“What kinds of plans?” Alice pressed, resting her elbows on her knees.

Jim opened one eye to peer at her.

“Big, big plans. Secret ones, too.” He winked at her, and Alice looked away, smoothing down her frizzy hair to calm the warmth in her cheeks.

“Hmm,” Silver noted as he scratched his chin. “Sometimes plans go astray.”

“Not this time.” Jim settled back, his ease and confidence such a contrast to the bitter, rebellious young man Alice had seen the past few weeks.

A huge crash of an explosion slammed into the ship, rocking the skiff.

Alice shrieked, scrabbling to keep a hold on the skiff. Silver steadied the boat against the dock while Jim grabbed Alice’s arm to keep her from falling overboard.

“What the devil?” Silver growled, glancing around in concern.

“What’s happening?” Alice asked.

“I don’t know. But it doesn’t sound good.” Jim looked up toward the deck as frantic shouts echoed down towards them.

“Come on.” Silver beckoned them towards the stairs. They hurried up, and as they emerged on deck, the crew were scurrying all over the place.

Dr. Doppler, up in the observation basket, peered through a scope.

“What’s going on?” Silver shouted up to him.

“The star Permusa,” Dr. Doppler announced, his voice shot through with panic. “It’s gone…supernova!”

Alice and Jim exchanged fearful glances.

Captain Amelia sprang into action, her cat-like eyes dilated fully.

“Evasive action, Mr. Turnbuckle!” She barked.

“Aye, captain!” Turnbuckle spun the ship’s wheel, and Alice planted her feet and bent her knees to keep from falling as it turned.

“All hands, fasten your lifelines!” Cried Mr. Arrow.

The crew rushed toward the center mast, where dozens of wooden pegs had been fastened in a ring around it.

Silver handed Jim and Alice a rope.

“Go on now, knot it around yourself, then around the peg,” Silver explained, glancing in fear at the exploding star. Alice looked, too, drawing in a gasp as the star’s shockwave raced toward the ship. “Quickly now! No time to lose, lass!”

Alice did as she was told, trying desperately to remember the knot Jim had used to fix her tea cozy. When the knot failed in her shaking hands, Jim reached over and tied it himself, giving her rope a tug to make sure it was secure.

“Mr. Arrow! Secure those sails!” Captain Amelia called as fireballs began to burn holes through the sails.

“Secure all sails!” Came Mr. Arrow’s echo.

“You’re good.” Jim flashed Alice a thumbs up. “Stay here. I’m gonna help with the sails.”

Alice watched as he followed Silver and the other crew members up the mast.

“Alice! Alice! Where are you?”

Alice spun toward Dr. Doppler’s voice.

“I’m here, Doctor,” Alice said. “Are you secure?”

He stood beside her, out of breath, tapping frantically on a tablet. “Yes. Sarah will kill me if I don’t bring you and Jim back alive, but…” He turned a knob, his eyes fearful behind his glasses. “That kind of involves keeping everyone alive at this point. So just stay out of the line of fire, okay?” He hurried off again, towards Captain Amelia at the helm.

“Silver!” Jim yelled, and Alice whipped her gaze up toward the sails, gasping as she saw Silver falling, his rope broken. She couldn’t reach it, not without climbing the mast, but Jim lurched forward, balancing on the cross beam, and caught the end of the rope. Silver’s descent halted, and Jim grunted, pulling him back up to the cross beam. Alice released a tense breath.

Silver embraced Jim, his eyes wide.

“Thanks, lad,” he said. They made their way down the mast, but as they reached the deck, Alice looked toward the helm.

A huge boulder was hurtling toward them. The crew mate who’d been blasting plasma cannon balls at the star debris took off running across the deck, followed by the rest of the crew.

Alice shrunk away, unable to believe what she was seeing.

But the boulder slowed its approach, then stopped, then began to reverse course.

“Captain!” Shouted one of the aliens from the observation basket. “The star!”

“It’s devolving into a…a black hole!” Dr. Doppler announced.

The ship lurched toward the swirling, massive black heart of the star.

“We’re being pulled in!” Cried the alien at the helm. The wheel spun, knocking the alien to the ground.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Captain Amelia leapt into his place, wrangling the wheel the opposite direction with all her strength.

“Oh, dear,” Alice said, clutching her lifeline with shaking hands. “Oh, dear, oh dear. I never should have left home.”

“You might be right about that,” Jim agreed, his blue eyes wide and fearful.

“I would have wanted to draw everything I’ve seen and publish it back home. But,” Alice continued, watching the star come closer and closer, “I don’t think I’ll make it home. I don’t even think we’ll make it off this ship.”

“Never been one to sugar coat things, lass,” Silver quipped with a humorless laugh. “I think you’re spot on.”

“Unfurl those sails!” Called Mr. Arrow. Alice looked in astonishment at the crew, who’d just finished tying the sails down.

“But didn’t they—“

“Mr. Hawkins!” Captain Amelia called from above them. “Make sure all lifelines are secured good and tight.”

Jim saluted. “Aye, captain!” He hurried around the wooden pegs, checking knots and double knotting those that were loose. “Lifelines secured, captain!”

“Very good!”

The ship began a slow spin as it hurtled towards the black hole, knocked faster by the periodic waves of energy blasting from it.

Then, as Alice watched with an open mouth, she saw a pair of red-orange eyes gleaming wickedly against the backdrop of the darkening sky, and a single claw clipped a lifeline, sending a figure hurtling into space.

“No!” Alice yelled, snatching at the end of the rope, but she could barely hear herself over the noise from the star’s next explosive wave. She stumbled to the side, then fell on her backside, and the rope slipped out of her grasp. “No! Somebody help him! Man overboard!”

“Captain!” Yelled Dr. Doppler, pointing frantically at the screens near the helm. “The last wave! Here it comes!”

“Captain!” Alice cried, but the lithe feline didn’t hear her.

“Hold on to your lifelines, ladies and gents!” Captain Amelia warned as she leapt toward the helm. “It’s gonna be a bumpy ride!”

Alice, already clutching her lifeline for dear life, realized it was hopeless. She couldn’t save the man Scroop had cut from the ship. She huddled close to the mast while Silver shielded her and Jim both with his bulk, pressing them against the mast. Alice glanced at Jim, and he looked back, his blue eyes round as plates. Wordlessly, he put his arm around her shoulder, the skies around them rapidly darkening as they neared the event horizon of the black hole.

She huddled against him and closed her eyes against the inevitable destruction awaiting them.

An explosion split the air and rocked the ship, sending them violently lurching back the direction they’d come in, hurtling away from the black hole. Silver stumbled back, and Jim toppled to the deck, pulling Alice down with him. But the crew around them cheered, and as Alice pulled herself up, she saw that the star was already far behind them, and their speed was leveling out, the sails glittering and glistening, full of star power.

“Whoa!” Jim laughed as he stood up. “That was…crazy.”

“It certainly was,” Alice agreed, dusting off her breeches. “I thought for sure we’d be dead.”

“But we’re not.” Jim smiled at her, his eyes full of a boyish wonder. “If Mom ever finds out what almost happened…” He laughed again, running his hands back through his hair. “Well, just promise you won’t say anything to Mom. She’d freak out.”

“Justifiably so,” Alice sniffed. But she softened under Jim’s wide-eyed, pleading gaze.

“Alright. I won’t tell.” She looked away from him, trying not to smile. “Stop with the eyes. It’s not fair.”

“Hey, it’s the only good quality I’ve got,” Jim teased with a mischievous smirk. “Have to use it to my advantage.”

“Oh, of course.” Alice crossed her arms.

“You two quit yer flirting, now,” Silver snarked, clapping a hand on both their shoulders. “Captain’s addressing us.”

Alice’s cheeks burned and Jim fell silent; she didn’t dare look over at Jim.

“Well,” said Captain Amelia, standing at the helm. “I must congratulate you, Mr. Silver. It seems your cabin boy did a bang-up job with those lifelines.”

Jim laughed as Silver patted his back and ruffled his hair.

“Only good quality, hmm?” Alice teased, grinning at Jim.

He chuckled, grinning at her.

“Okay. Maybe I have two good traits.”

“All hands accounted for, Mr. Arrow?” Captain Amelia glanced around expectantly. But when Mr. Arrow didn’t immediately respond, her brow creased with worry. “Mr. Arrow?”

Alice glanced around with the others, but her heart, buoyant with gratitude, fell with dread into the pit of her stomach as she saw Scroop approaching with a rope in his hands, his big, orange eyes sorrowful.

“I’m afraid Mr. Arrow has been lost,” he said, holding up the rope. “His lifeline was not secured.”

Captain Amelia looked with a pained shock at Jim.

Alice opened her mouth to object, but Jim ran around the mast, checking the ropes.

“No,” he said. “I checked them all.” He paused at a knob, empty where a lifeline should have been tied around it. “I…I did.” He ran his fingers back through his hair, distressed. “I checked them all. They were secure.”

“Captain,” Alice began, but Scroop coughed loudly beside her. As she glared at him, he glared back, as if daring her to speak.

She opened her mouth again, but Captain Amelia had removed her hat, and the crew had fallen silent. Jim shrunk, devastated, as Captain Amelia glanced at him once more, her eyes a storm of anger and sadness.

Alice moved to stand closer to him, throwing another venomous glare at Scroop, who only smiled mysteriously at her.

“Mr. Arrow was a…” the captain began, before the tears gathered in her throat threatened to choke her up. She cleared her throat. “A fine spacer. Finer than most of us could ever hope to be.” She pierced the crew with her hawklike gaze. “But he knew the risks, as do we all.” She swept her hat back on, turning to walk up the stairs to the helm. “Resume your posts. We carry on.”

Jim stared after the captain a long moment, even as the crew obeyed the captain and moved back to their posts. He walked away, circling the mast several times as he checked each lifeline again and again, mumbling to himself.

Alice stepped in front of him, putting a gentle hand on his arm.

“Jim, please,” she began. “You must realize it’s not your fault.”

He sighed, scowling at the ground, but said nothing.

“You’ll see.” She caught Scroop’s angry glare again. “The truth will come out.”

“What truth?” Jim demanded. “The only truth here is that I screwed up. I got somebody killed, okay?”

Alice pursed her lips. “You did no such thing, Jim Hawkins. That’s ridiculous, and—“

“Hear now, lass.” Silver’s lilting growl sounded across the deck, and she heard the clanking of his cyborg leg as he approached. “Cap’n has need of you.”

Alice frowned. “But I—“

“Captain’s orders, lass. Unless you want to distress her further.” Silver fixed her with his cyborg eye, but there was no meanness in his stern gaze. “Leave the lad to me. He’s got work enough to do. That’s what we all need after that mess. Not scoldin’, good-intentioned though it may be.” He winked at her playfully.

Alice glanced at Jim, crossing her arms. He scowled back at her, but said nothing as he turned and followed Silver down to the galley.

With nothing else to do, she took the steps up to the helm, looking for Captain Amelia.

“Cap’ns gone to quarters, missy,” said one of the crew.

“Thank you,” Alice said numbly. She made her way to Amelia’s stateroom and knocked.

“Come in,” came the captain’s call. Alice stepped inside, and a new wave of grief washed over her as she saw Mr. Arrow’s empty chair beside Amelia’s.

The captain sniffed, her eyes wet, though she sat straight as a board.

“Come sit down, child. I could use your more civilized company.”

Alice nodded, then took Mr. Arrow’s chair. She noticed Amelia’s empty tea cup and gingerly picked up the tea pot—also empty.

“More, captain?” She asked, standing.

“Yes, thank you,” Amelia sighed. Alice went to the stove and put another kettle on to boil, wrapping another handmade tea cozy around the serving pot and dropping in three large tea bags. When the water was ready, she poured it in and took the pot back to the table to let it steep.

Amelia let Alice pour her tea, taking the hot cup gingerly in her feline fingers.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice rough and broken. “You know, before you came, Mr. Arrow was the one who would…” she trailed off, clearing her throat. “He would make the tea for me.” She sniffed, then smoothed out her features, running her hands down her coat. “Not that your tea isn’t delightful. But no one made it as strong as him.”

Alice chuckled softly. “Tea that strong could wake the dead.”

A hint of a smile crossed Amelia’s face. “It certainly could.”

Alice thought back to Jim’s look of horror, and Amelia’s critical gaze as Scroop announced Mr. Arrow’s death.

“Captain,” Alice began tentatively. “You know…I feel quite badly for poor Jim.”

“Oh, dear, yes.” Amelia swirled the tea in her cup. “Given what we were facing—a rapidly deteriorating situation, a monstrous black hole waiting to swallow us whole, massive, erratic waves of star plasma—it would have been hard for anyone to keep his head long enough to secure all the lifelines. Though I did expect Mr. Hawkins to rise to the challenge.”

“I don’t think we should be so hard on him,” Alice put in. “There may well have been factors outside of his control. I watched him secure each and every lifeline, captain.”

Amelia gazed at Alice, her usually stern gaze softening a bit.

“You, my dear girl, are as loyal a friend as they come. You must be, to take up his defense even at the risk of upsetting me.”

Alice looked down at her hands as she blushed. “It isn’t loyalty that leads me to defend him. It’s the truth.”

Amelia sighed, then poured Alice a cup of tea.

“You must know I harbor no ill will towards Mr. Hawkins, if that’s what you’re getting at. There is never any promise, even with a job well and correctly done, that it will be enough to overcome the difficulties we face as spacers.” She sighed, taking a sip of her own tea. “If I’m quite frank with you, Alice, I don’t much care how it happened, or who is to blame.” She looked at Alice, her feline eyes full of sadness. “What I care about is that my most trusted officer and dearest friend is no longer here. And with all my experience, all my skills… I can do nothing to bring him back.”

Alice sat silently, holding her tea for a long moment.

“So much of life is outside of our control,” Alice mused. “There are a lot of things I wish I could go back and change, too. And it’s fine to feel those losses, I think. To really feel them and grieve them properly. But we cannot blame ourselves for them. That’s counterproductive, as my older sister would say.”

Amelia gazed at Alice over her tea, and her face lit up, just briefly, with a full-blown smile.

“Alice, my dear,” she said, patting Alice’s hand with her gloved claw, “you are a wonder.”



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