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A/N: This is a verrrry short bit of a story. I wrote it two summers ago. I was only twelve then, which explains why it’s very short and the characters and plot aren’t as well-developed as I usually do them. What kind of a necklace obsession did I have? Heh…
More than anything else in the entire cosmos, Nicole wanted to be a Traveler. She had heard so much, so many amazing tales from the old Travelers in the village and the Travelers at the inn. Her friend Ryan shared this desire, and it was a favorite hobby of theirs to hang around the inn to listen to all the stories the spacers had to tell.
So you can imagine their excitement when a starship bound for adventure turned up at the port and the captain announced that they needed more hands.
“Mother, please?” Nicole begged her mother. “I’m sixteen already. This might be my very last chance to have an adventure!”
Nicole’s mother stood firm. “No. Sixteen is much too young. It’s too dangerous up there, Nicole. You never know what could happen! Nicole, I don’t want to lose you like I lost your father!”
But Nicole was oblivious to her mother’s cries. She marched upstairs, packed up some clothes, and put on the special necklace her father had given her. She gazed at it for a few moments, then tucked it safely under her shirt.
“I can’t believe we’re actually doing this!”
“We did it, Nicole, we’re finally going to be Travelers!”
Still flushed with their victory, they began to clean off the deck. No amount of cooking or cleaning could dampen their spirits!
In a shadowy corner of the top deck stood two crewmembers. One was a huge man, easily more than seven feet tall. His partner was a short, nervous looking alien with four arms and six eyes.
“Look at them work, Cerbrey. Such able-bodied young ones,” murmured the tall man.
Cerbrey’s head bobbed up and down. “Yessir, I quite agree, Velpney sir. Do you think…”
Velpney hastily interrupted him. “Shh, you fool! The captain could be listening to us right now! No, I think them two whelps are too loyal to the captain to join us in our… er… rising career. We’ll dispose of them with all the others, Cerbrey my lad.”
They slipped away to their stations.
“Still one more deck to go!” said Nicole cheerfully.
“Not right now,” said a different voice, from behind them.
A large, burly man stood right behind them, staring around at the shining deck.
“I’m supposed to introduce you to the crew before we leave the system entirely,” he explained.
“Oh!” said Ryan. “Are you the first mate, then?”
“No,” said the man. “I’m even higher up than that. I’m the captain’s personal assistant. My name’s Richard, by the way.”
He led them over to the central viewport, where a woman in uniform was standing. The woman was staring out of the huge windows, gazing at the stars.
“This is your captain, you two. Captain Dominique, These are the new crew members.”
The captain nodded and smiled. “Nicole and Ryan, aren’t you? Well, you’ve done a very good job on the deck.”
Next Richard introduced them to the lookouts, Danial and Amanda.
“Pleased to meet you,” said Amanda, smiling.
“Yes, very!” agreed Danial.
Richard led them down onto the lower deck. Most of the crew was milling around down here.
“That’s Geoffrey, he’s a gunner. Ah, hello, Cerbrey. He’s the communications officer. Poor thing, he’s always a bit jumpy. Ambrio, the crew supervisor and third mate, Eromblo, our designer, Nastira, she’s a scout. Oh, sorry, Blomin. Blomin’s the assistant steersman.”
They continued on, Richard introducing them to Carvers, Darina, Fealar, Gregor, Helsa, Ionode, Jarkers, Karkera, Radasta, and Lastia.
Richard counted the people they’d met on his fingers.
“Wait a minute, I’ve forgotten two,” he muttered. “Ah! There they are.”
He led them over to a really tall man and a very pretty woman.
“This is Velpney, our steersman, and Celebrin, another scout.”
Velpney looked at them coldly, then nodded. Celebrin smiled at them.
“Velpney’s first mate. He’s a bit grumpy,” added Richard, in an undertone. “Celebrin’s second mate, but I don’t think they like each other much.”
A soft note came over the communication channel.
“Oh, we’re going to go into lightspeed,” said Richard. “Come up to the viewport with me.”
They trekked up to the top deck, past Velpney, who was busy preparing. He flicked a ridiculously simple dial from “slow” to “fast”, and another from 3 to 7. Then he pulled back hard on a lever.
Nicole and Ryan stumbled as Destiny shot into lightspeed and the stars spiraled past.
“Whoa,” they breathed, watching the multi-colored streaks shoot past the window.
The amazing sight didn’t last long, however. Soon, the ship pulled out of lightspeed in the most beautiful system Nicole and Ryan had ever seen!
Dominique didn’t appear to know where they were, either.
“Celebrin!” she barked. “Where are we?”
Celebrin came up from the lower deck. She glanced at the stars and said, “The Ramora system, I believe, Captain. Nowhere near…”
She fell silent suddenly, partially because the captain had shot her a sharp glance and partially because she had seen Nicole’s necklace.
The captain beckoned her over. She whispered something to Celebrin, who nodded.
In the same shadowy corner, Velpney and Cerbrey were having a whispered conference. Velpney nodded, and they strode quickly off toward the lower deck.
As Nicole and Ryan resumed staring at the system, Celebrin joined them. She was holding something in her hand.
Nicole greeted her cheerfully. “Hello! The Ramora system is really beautiful, isn’t it? What’s that?”
Celebrin showed her what she was holding. Nicole gasped. It was a necklace exactly like her own!
“The captain wanted me to give this to you,” Celebrin said. “She seems to think it… wise.”
She handed the necklace to Nicole and slipped off without another word.
“What do you think that was all about?” Ryan asked her.
“Dunno,” she replied, and they both turned to look at the stars again. To their astonishment, they saw a ship gliding toward them! It had the skull and crossbones symbol painted on the hull.
Destiny suddenly exploded into action. Geoffrey rushed to the lasers at once, shouting “Pirates!” over his shoulder. Celebrin shot toward the lower deck.
“Look!” Ryan yelled. Many of the ship’s escape pods were barreling toward the pirates’ craft.
“They’ve mutinied!” cried Dominique. “Celebrin, get us out of here!”
“Already done, Captain!”
The ship shot forward into lightspeed so suddenly that it knocked them all off their feet.
The captain called what remained of the crew toward her.
“It’s time for me to tell you all the truth about this voyage. Some of you already knew, but not many of you. This cruise is actually a treasure hunt.”
Amanda and Nicole gasped. Geoffrey looked stunned. Danial and Ryan’s mouths dropped open. Richard and Celebrin, however, looked nonplussed.
“We are currently carrying two maps on Destiny, one to the planet and one to the treasure.”
“But who has the maps, Captain Dominique?” inquired Danial.
Dominique, Richard, and Celebrin glanced at each other.
“I…I do,” said Dominique quickly. “Celebrin, take us out of lightspeed. It’ll take them a while to find us.”
Celebrin shot down into the lower deck. The ship slowed, and they emerged next to the constellation of Mikhaeldra.
Nicole busied herself with examining her fellow crewmates. Amanda had dark brown eyes with green flecks. She had long, sleek black hair. Dominique had dark brown eyes and black hair. She walked straight and had a regal bearing about her. Celebrin had sky-blue eyes that shimmered like Geoffrey’s. She had long black hair. She seemed to enjoy looking at Geoffrey.
Danial, on the other hand, had bright green eyes flecked with brown, and sandy-blonde hair. He often flirted with Amanda. Geoffrey had shimmering black eyes and light brown hair. He had a light step with a limp. He often walked with Celebrin. Richard was a large man with dark blue eyes and brown hair that lay thick and flat on his head. Ryan, as she knew so well, had green eyes and black hair.
Nicole then went down to lower deck. She saw Adnama and Danial, but they looked to busy to disturb. She went back up to the upper deck to look at Mikhaeldra. The planet Mikhaeldra shone like a jewel in the center of the constellation.
The ship suddenly exploded with action again.
“They found us!” cried Ryan. “The pirates!”
Destiny blasted into lightspeed once again. Celebrin was getting good at this.
“Celebrin…” called Dominique, “… take us out when I tell you.”
She bent over a star chart.
“Now!”
The ship came out of lightspeed right next to a beautiful green planet streaked with blue.
The crew “ooh”ed and “aah”ed.
“Is this the planet the treasure’s on?” asked Geoffrey.
Dominique simply nodded. She seemed to be contemplating what to do next. Her shaky resolve was immediately hardened, however, as the pirate ship burst out of lightspeed behind them.
“They tracked us!” yelled Adnama.
As Celebrin shot once again toward lower deck, Geoffrey and Danial manned the gunning post. They began to take potshots at the pirate’s vessel to test its shields.
“Hurry up, Celebrin!” called Ryan. “It looks like their shields are too strong for our lasers!”
Destiny started to sink quickly toward the planet’s surface. The pirate ship’s hull came so close that Nicole could read the name on its side: The Black Hole.
“What will we do when we touch down?” she asked the captain.
Dominique shook her head. “I don’t know. We can either run with the maps, or we can stay on board and send a distress signal. Not that there’s a civilized planet for the next few star systems.”
There was a slight jolt as Destiny touched down, and a much larger one as the pirates blasted their communications module.
“Run for it!” cried Dominique. She led them out of the ship and onto the grass.
“Head for those trees!” called Richard. “And stay together!”
The small crew pelted headlong into the trees, where they crouched down to watch the pirates.
The Black Hole landed much more smoothly than they had. A ramp lowered, and most of the former crew disembarked and boarded Destiny, including Velpney and Cerbrey.
“Okay, guys,” muttered Dominique, “We take Destiny back by stealth. They’ve only placed two guards on the upper deck, so that’s where we’ll board. We can take them out one pirate at a time.”
