Rattle The Stars

Chapter Twelve: The Makings of Greatness

After a second cup of tea and quiet, amiable chatter, the captain released Alice and handed her a small, leather-bound book with blank pages and a stick of charcoal.

“Go find yourself a little nook to draw, and maybe a biscuit or two. I reckon you’ve some recovering of your own to do, after nearly being eaten by a black hole,” Amelia told her with a weary smile.

“Thank you, captain.” Alice gave a little curtsey as she left the stateroom. She made her way down the stairs to the deck, gazing up at the deep indigo of the night sky, made light with the nebulous splendor of distant galaxies, and the fiery pinpricks of thousands of stars.

The nearby grumble of Silver’s voice brought her back down to reality, though, and she paused to listen.

“Why, half the crew would be spinning in that black abyss—“

“Look, don’t you get it?” Alice recognized Jim’s voice, strained and full of rage. “I screwed up!”

She tiptoed around, hiding behind the center mast so she could see them more easily. Jim paced the deck, so frustrated it seemed he didn’t know what to do with himself.

“For two seconds, I thought that maybe I could do something right, but….” He gripped his hair angrily. “Aagh! I just…” He glanced at Silver, and Alice saw the bitter storm in his blue eyes. “Just forget it.” He stormed over to the mast, and Alice froze, edging to the side so that she’d remain out of sight.

He collapsed against the mast, his hand nearly touching her as he threw his arm around it to support himself. “Forget it,” he muttered softly.

Alice knew she couldn’t stay hidden much longer. As she looked back toward Silver to see what he’d do, she realized he’d seen her.

He looked at her meaningfully, as if trying to tell her something, his cyborg eye going back and forth between her and Jim.

Alice realized Silver was asking her to help. She wanted to, with everything in her. Somehow, though, she knew her words wouldn’t be as powerful as Silver’s.
In the last few weeks aboard the Legacy, she’d come to respect the grumpy cyborg and his efforts to be a friend to her and Jim both. She’d seen his slow, consistent progress with Jim, and she’d seen the way Jim looked at Silver, with blue eyes full of admiration and respect.

Jim needed Silver now. He needed the old cyborg’s friendship and encouragement.
She shook her head firmly, nodding back at Silver.
“You have to help him,” she mouthed silently.

Silver heaved a sigh, then set his features sternly.

“Now, you listen to me, James Hawkins,” he growled, pulling Jim away from the mast. “You got the makings of greatness in ya… but you gotta take the helm and chart your own course. Stick to it, no matter the squalls!” He tapped Jim’s chest with one large finger.

Alice watched in wonder as Jim gazed at Silver, rapt in his words.

“And when the time comes you get the chance to really test the cut of your sails, and show what you’re made of,” Silver went on, smiling proudly, “Well. I hope I’m there,” he whispered, spreading his arms, “catching some of the light coming off ya that day.”

Alice covered her mouth with her hand as Jim sniffled, then leaned forward against Silver and began to sob.

Silver glanced at Alice in surprise, giving her a helpless, questioning look.

“Hug him,” Alice mouthed.

Silver looked uncertain for a moment.
“There, there.” He laughed nervously, but as he looked down at Jim, he smiled. “Lad, it’s alright, Jimbo.” He wrapped his arms around Jim and hugged him, closing his eyes as he smiled softly. “It’s all right.”

Alice felt her heart warm, and a smile welled up from deep within her.

“Enjoying the scenery, are we?” Whispered a raspy voice close to her ear.

Alice whirled, coming face to face with bug-eyed Scroop.

He grinned at her menacingly, brandishing his lobster-like claw in front of him—the claw he’d used to send Mr. Arrow spinning off into space.

“Stay away from me,” she snapped, backing up against the mast.

“As long as you keep your pretty little mouth shut, I’ll be happy to,” Scroop rasped quietly. “I know exactly what you think you saw. And if you value your safety, you’ll be quick to forget it…and never mention it again.”

Alice scoffed, moving to the side to escape Scroop’s creepy yellow gaze. But he stuck his other arm out, blocking her.

“Do I make myself clear?” He warned, and Alice glared at him. That was a line straight out of Mr. Arrow’s book, and the way he smirked triumphantly at her told Alice he knew it.

“Leave me alone, you insect,” she hissed. “As if it isn’t bad enough what you’ve done, now you’re going to go and threaten a proper young lady.”

Scroop began to chuckle low, but his laughter stopped abruptly as Silver loomed behind him, and his cyborg hand clamped over his snout.

“You’ve been unwise in the past, Mr. Scroop,” Silver said coolly. “But surely you’re not stupid enough to think you’ll get away with picking on this young lass, a favorite of the captain’s, if I may remind you.”

Scroop simmered, his glare still leveled at Alice.

Alice glared back, unafraid, but she felt a tug on her arm. Jim stood next to her, jerking his head toward the side of the ship.
“Come on. Let’s get away from this creep.”

“Gladly.” Alice ducked under Scroop’s outstretched arm and followed Jim away.

“Keep an eye on ‘er for me, Jimbo,” Silver called after them.

“Will do, Silver,” Jim replied. He glanced at Alice as they leaned over the side of the ship, staring down into the cosmic void they sailed through. “What was he even doing, messing with you?” Jim shook his head. “I feel like the guy has a vendetta against anything that breathes.”

Alice gave a short laugh, though she refrained from replying as she glanced back toward Scroop, who still had her in his sights even as Silver berated him.

“He’s absolutely horrid,” Alice agreed.

“Pretty stupid to pick on a girl, if you ask me.”

“Well, what other girl is he going to pick on?” Alice replied. “Though I’d like to see him try to pick on Captain Amelia.”

Jim laughed. “Yeah. I’d love to see her put him in his place.” His smile faded a bit. “Hey, uh. How is she, by the way? I know after…earlier, she was pretty upset.”

“She’s in mourning.” Alice reached out to touch a stray bit of interstellar cloud. “She just lost her first mate.”

Jim sighed, and the bitterness had returned to his eyes.

“It wasn’t your fault.” Alice’s words were firm as she touched his shoulder. “Captain Amelia really doesn’t care how it happened. She’s not angry with you. She blames herself, I think.”

Jim looked at Alice, confused. “Why would she do that? It was my job to secure the lifelines. She trusted me to do that.”

“And you did it,” Alice reminded him. “I watched you. I saw all the lifelines secure. I even told Captain Amelia that.”

Jim’s blue eyes widened in surprise. “You told her…you defended me?”

“Of course.” Alice smiled earnestly at him. “I told her the truth.”

Jim turned his head, staring out into the stars, though his look of stunned amazement remained.

“There are things we can’t control, no matter how hard we try,” Alice went on. “But even the most horrible of circumstances can turn into something that makes us better, if we let it.”

Jim sighed, resting his head on his crossed arms over the railing.
“The hard stuff…it’s really hard. Way harder than I thought it would be.” He shook his head. “Sometimes I wish I would have stayed home, maybe even listened to Mom for once.”

Alice thought of Wonderland, of all the things she’d learned, especially about being careful what she wished for.

“The hard part is unavoidable,” Alice replied. “But the good things we find along the way are priceless and unique, and we can’t find them anywhere else.”

Jim straightened, smiling crookedly at her.
“Alright, Miss Tea Cozy. When did you turn into some kind of poet?” He snarked.

Alice grinned, then shrugged. “I’ve always thought deeply about things. I suppose that’s why I’m an artist.”

Jim gave a short laugh, and they resumed their stargazing. A bright, sparking meteor shot overhead, just missing the ship, and they both leapt up, following it with their eyes.

“Whoa. That was neat,” Jim breathed, his voice full of wonder.

“Neat indeed!” Called a familiar voice. Dr. Doppler hurried up to the helm, tapping into the screens. “The Leonid meteor shower is directly in our flight path.”

Apprehension twisted in Alice’s gut. “We’re not in danger again, are we, Doctor?”

“Danger?” Dr. Doppler laughed. “The only danger here is missing the show!” He flopped out a portable chair and parked himself by the helm, equipped with a telescope and binoculars.

“Come on.” Jim grinned and took Alice’s hand. He ran to the center mast and pulled her with him, then leapt up onto the ladder and beckoned for her to follow.

She climbed gingerly after him, and he helped her clamber into the crow’s nest. Up here, the view was unobstructed by the sails, and Alice felt tiny, surrounded on all sides by the impenetrable darkness of the skies and the burning auras of a billion stars and distant planets.

“Oh, my,” Alice sighed, her breath shaky as she clutched her hands to her chest. “It’s…overwhelming.”

“Great view, right?” Jim grinned at her.

“I’m afraid I should be lost forever if I stayed here.” Alice took out the leather sketchbook Amelia had given her and began to make dots on the page, impressing the skies she now saw into the paper. Lightly, she sketched in the tell-tale swirls of galactic arms, and the effervescent clouds that marked nebulas.

“You’re really good at that,” Jim noted as he watched over her shoulder.

She smiled, then blushed, unused to being praised for her work.
“Thank you. And, if I might say so, you’re quite amazing at space sailing,” she replied.

“Well, I’m glad two whole people in the cosmos think so,” Jim sighed. “I guess it’s better than zero.”

Alice tapped her chin thoughtfully with the charcoal, then thought better of it, wiping the chalky dust off on her sleeve.
“I feel somewhat the same, I must confess,” Alice said. “All my sister used to say about my artwork is that it’s a distraction from what I should actually be doing.” She twisted her lips into a grimace. “But who truly enjoys just sitting around sewing and cooking all day?”

Jim laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sounds pretty lame if you ask me.” He grinned lopsidedly at her. “Though I can’t see you being able to sit still for very long anyway. Not after seeing you jump on board for that skiff ride.”

Alice chuckled. “That was quite an adventure. I shall never forget flying in the glowing train of a comet.”

“You weren’t scared?” Jim asked.

“No.” Alice smiled at him. “I trusted you knew what you were doing…and I was right.”

Jim looked up at the sky, still grinning. “Look. Here comes another one.”

Alice tilted her head back to watch the incoming meteor streak across the sky. It hit some sort of invisible shield around the ship, sparking dramatically right over their heads, though none of the debris found its way to the ship deck.

“It’s almost like fireworks,” Jim noted. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“I don’t think I’d ever get tired of this view.” Alice lifted her hand, tracing a constellation. “The stars have always made me dream of other worlds, and now I’ve seen so many of those worlds.”

“There’s still one more world left,” Jim reminded her.

“Treasure Planet.” Alice nodded. “Will it really be full of gold, do you think? And jewels and crowns?”

“More than that,” Jim asserted, his eyes round with wonder. “The books always said it was ‘the loot of a thousand worlds’. There’s bound to be all sorts of rare things, things we’ve never seen before that are worth more than gold.” He smiled at her. “Not to mention that giant door you mentioned.”

“Precisely,” Alice put in.

“Yeah.” Jim was still smiling, but some of the joy and wonder had fallen from him.

“What’s the matter?” Alice asked.

Jim huffed a little laugh through his nose, but shook his head.
“I’m fine. It’s just…” He glanced at her, giving half a smile, but his blue eyes were sad.

“Just… what?” Alice pressed.

Jim sighed. “It’ll be a little sad to say goodbye if you do find your way home. That’s all.”

Alice sighed, too. “Oh, I know it will. It’ll be dreadfully hard. But,” she went on, looking at Jim, “no matter how difficult, I’ll never regret any of this.”

Jim gave her a lopsided smile.

“Here it comes!” Dr. Doppler shouted from the helm. “Oh, this is so exciting!”

Alice and Jim looked up to see several bright, comet-like meteors shooting towards them. Alice instinctively braced herself, shrinking back, but the meteors exploded against the ship’s transparent shield harmlessly, creating an even bigger, brighter spectacle.

“It’s alright.” Jim’s voice was close to her ear. Alice blushed a bit, realizing his hands were on her shoulders and that she’d backed into him. He moved beside her, leaning against the side of the crow’s nest to watch.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Alice lifted her head, mesmerized by the meteor’s dazzling colors.

“Me, either.” Jim’s hand brushed hers as he moved a bit closer.

She glanced at him sidelong and realized his wide blue eyes were fixed on her, and not on the prismatic sky above them. Her face flushed with heat.

“You know, you still haven’t seen what solar surfing is really like,” Jim noted. “When we get back to Montressor, I want to take you on a ride.”

Alice grinned shyly. “You know what Dr. Doppler said. You’ll turn me into a ne’er-do-well.”

“Psh.” Jim scoffed and waved a dismissive hand toward the doctor, who was laid back in his lawn chair and gazing through his binoculars. “Right. Because solar surfing is totally the pastime of all the criminals in the galaxy.” He rolled his eyes while Alice laughed. “Besides. I saw how you looked on that skiff. I know you’d love it.”

Alice hugged her arms, then reached up to her loose hair and began to braid it. “It was magical.”

“It brought something out in you,” Jim remarked. “It made you light up.”

“I could say the same for you, Mr. Hawkins.” Alice grinned at him. “I’ve never seen you happier.”

Jim’s face lit up in a genuine, boyish smile. “What can I say? It’s my first and only true love. I was born to fly.”

Alice felt a tinge of disappointment. Not as if she’d expected him to have a true love at all—they were only 16, after all. It was preposterous to think she could want him to fall for her, after only knowing him a few weeks. Besides, he hadn’t meant it that way. She was fairly sure he hadn’t anyway.

Curious. What did she think of Mr. Hawkins after all?

She twisted her hair tight as she battled her mind and heart. Why was she asking herself this question, right now, in the midst of a lovely conversation she didn’t want to end?

Something touched her hands, stilling them as they pulled the braid tight.
“Why’re you doing that to your hair?” Jim pulled her hands away. “You’re gonna pull it out.”

Alice chuckled. “I do that when I think sometimes.”

“You should let it down.”

Alice glanced at him quizzically. It was unusual for males to give their opinion on women’s hair so freely back in England. She’d resigned herself to Jim’s carefree and rebellious attitude from the start—she found it quite refreshing.

But there was something hiding in his expression, and he wouldn’t look at her. This was something beyond a difference in culture, she was sure of it.

“Why?” She asked him.

“It just seems to suit you better.” He shrugged. “It came down when you were on the skiff. I thought it just…” His cheeks darkened. “I mean, you should wear it however you want. I like it regardless. I mean…ugh.” He sighed. “It’s none of my business.”

She studied him as he stared up at the sky, avoiding her gaze. Her own cheeks flushed as she ran her fingers through her hair and loosened the tight braid she’d just made.

“You really think it suits me better?” She asked quietly.

Jim smiled, just a little, though he still didn’t look at her. “It’s just one uneducated opinion. Take it with a grain of salt.”

Alice pulled the scarf from her hair and retied it, then fluffed the ends of her blonde locks. It did feel lovely to have it loose and not pressed tight to her scalp, and as they sailed along, a gentle breeze rushed through it.

She’d never get away with this hairstyle in England. But here, in this magical world of stars and galaxies and meteors…she could look any way she wanted.

The thought made her heart soar with a feeling like flight.









AlyCatAuthor