literature

Just The Beginning

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The Crescentia Spaceport is one of the largest spaceports in the universe. But it is also one of the busiest. But Captain Amelia Smollet was used to the hustle and bustle by now, and was no longer bothered by the constant heat, pushing and yelling. As she neared her ship, the RLS Legacy, a sense of absolute pride washed over her. The golden accents of the Legacy shone in the scorching heat, and the solar sails waved idly as it sat in port. As far as she was concerned, the Legacy was the closest thing to a friend that she had right now. Well, besides Mr. Arrow. Speaking of which…
“Welcome aboard, Captain.” A gruff voice spoke from the bridge as Amelia stepped onto her ship.
Amelia turned in the direction of the voice, smiled and gave a short nod to Mr. Arrow, her First Mate.
“Thank you, Mr. Arrow.” She said as she joined him.
“I suspect you received the details of our next voyage?”
Amelia took her eyes away from her suddenly busy crew, and gave Arrow a confused look.
“What voyage?”
Arrow gestured to her stateroom.
“Perhaps we should discuss this one somewhere more private.”
Amelia frowned for a moment, and then nodded curtly.
“Alright.”
She walked to her stateroom, Arrow trailing behind her. She sat at her desk as Arrow locked the door, the joined her at her desk.
“Alright, Arrow. What is it about this voyage that couldn’t be discussed out there?”
Arrow tossed a stack of papers on her desk and smiled.
“Read the top sheet.”
Amelia gently pulled the top sheet of paper and read it slowly.
To The Captain of the RLS Legacy,
Financier: Doctor Delbert Doppler
Voyage Description: We have acquired a map leading to the infamous Treasure Planet and would like to request your assistance in following it to our destination. I have hired my own crew, and payment will be up front.
Amelia ignored the rest of the letter and looked at Arrow incredulously.
“This is a joke, right?”
Arrow shook his head and laughed.
“I’m afraid not, Amelia. I’ve seen the map personally. This is the real deal.”
Amelia shook her head in disbelief and ran her fingers through her hair.
“Blimey. The real Treasure Planet…”
Arrow smiled and sat in the chair on the other side of her desk.
“Do we want to accept?”
Amelia scoffed and rolled her eyes.
“Might as well.” She said smiling, pretending to wave off the subject. “Now, onto more serious issues. We need to talk about lunch break durations for the crew.”
Arrow laughed.
“Before we do that, we should probably check the background of this ‘Doppler’ character.”
Amelia nodded curtly and pulled out her small iPad-like device and tapped the power button. She smiled as the holographic display (like the one Tony Stark has in the Iron Man/Avengers movies) rose up, and then quickly typed in ‘Doctor Delbert Doppler’. Arrow got up and stood behind her.
“Hm…Astrophysicist. Wrote many works on the theory of Vanishing Dimensions… Featured in most of the newspapers both locally and universally. I’m surprised I have never heard of him.”
“Well, he is only featured in the astrophysicist section of the paper…”
Amelia chuckled at Arrow’s addition.
“True. Very true. I don’t do much of that kind of reading.”
Arrow smiled and finished reading the article on Delbert, and then let Amelia read it.
“He seems to check out alright.”
Amelia stood up and shut down the device.
“I suppose so. But let’s not be too hasty.”
Arrow nodded.
“Of course, Ma’am.” He said with a slight smirk.
Amelia smiled and strode out of her stateroom, with Arrow following her. The crew was bustling around, occasionally regarding Amelia with a tip of the hat or a nod.
“Mr. Arrow, inform me when the Guard calls. I need to speak with him about a matter.”
Arrow nodded and walked off to oversee the movement of cargo, as Amelia went up to the bridge.
“Treasure Planet… The Loot of A Thousand Worlds. I heard about it, read about it…Never seen it. What a voyage…”
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*RIIIIINNNGGG*
Delbert pounced on the phone as soon as he heard it.
“Hello? Yes this is Dr. Doppler.”
Jim peeked into the living room of Delbert’s mansion, obviously as excited as Delbert.
“Doc, who is it? What’re they saying?”
Delbert waved a hand for Jim to come in and continued to talk on the phone.
“Yes… Really?”
Sarah joined them, secretly hoping this was a disappointing call.
“I…Y-Yes! Thank you very much! Good day to you too!”
Delbert dropped the phone and grinned. Jim blinked and tried to seem nonchalant.
“Uh…What did they-”
“The captain of the RLS Legacy agreed to take our request!”
Jim’s eyes widened and he punched the air.
“Yes! We’re going to Treasure Planet!”
Sarah merely let out a weak cheer.
“Hooray…”
Jim noticed and gently hugged his mom.
“Mom… We’ll be home before you know it.”
Delbert sat on the other side of Sarah and smiled.
“You could always come with, Sarah…”
Sarah smiled and gently touched his arm.
“I appreciate the sentiment, Delbert. But I’m much better off here… Need someone at home base.”
Jim smiled.
“Guess I’d better go and pack.” He said smiling, practically skipping to his room.
Delbert stood and gripped Sarah’s shoulder gently, then smiled. She smiled up at him.
“Go on now. You’ve got some packing to do too.” She said with a chuckle.
Delbert smiled and ran up to his room, laughing and humming to himself. Sarah sighed and leaned back against the couch. She would miss them so much… Her only son, even with all his problems, who loved her dearly… And her best friend, who had helped her raise Jim… If anything bad ever happened to them…
“Stop that, Sarah. They’ll be fine. Hopefully.” She whispered to herself, then stood and tried to busy herself with tidying up the house.
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Amelia ran her fingers through her hair as she stood by her stateroom window, holding the files for the Treasure Planet voyage. The sun had gone down, and the lights of the spaceport glowed softly. She looked over at Arrow and sighed.
“They look like a bunch of pirates. Where did this Doppler man find these men? The bloody sewer?”
Arrow chuckled weakly.
“I suppose he has never traveled the Etherium before…”
“Great. An inexperienced man hired an inexperienced crew.”
Amelia closed the file and tossed it onto her desk. She slid into her chair and gently fingered her hat, sighing. Arrow gently stroked her hair, smiling.
“ Nervous?”
Amelia looked up at him and hissed softly.
“I’m never nervous. Just… Cautious. I have this feeling. We need to be extremely careful about this voyage, Arrow.”
Arrow nodded and grabbed his hat from on top of her desk.
“Of course, Amelia. Now, I’ve got some matters to attend to, and so do you.”
Amelia stood up and sighed, tossing her own hat onto a hook near the entrance to her private quarters.
“Alright. Report for departure in one week.”
Arrow nodded curtly and exited, leaving Amelia to her thoughts. With nothing better to do, she walked to her desk, sat in her chair, booted up her iPad-like device and typed in Delbert’s name once more. She found only more information, but no photos. She let out an irritated sigh and shut the device down. She pressed a button on her handheld phone and spoke softly to the man on the other end.
“This is Captain Amelia Smollet of the RLS Legacy. Could I speak to Mr. Washington?”
“This is him.”
“Oh hello James.”
“Good evening Captain. Is there something I can do for you?”
Amelia found herself absentmindedly twirling a lock of her auburn hair around her finger.
“I need some information on a certain Dr. Delbert Doppler. Could you help me?”
There was slight pause, and then a chuckle.
“Anything for a friend.”
Amelia smiled. She had known James Washington since her years in the Academy. He was a lizard-like man, tall, with piercing blue eyes and a smile that could light up a room. They had become friends only because they had been in most of the same classes, and had similar IQ scores. But as soon as they graduated, they went separate ways. James went to a desk job at the Academy Office, and Amelia hopped onto the next transport to the Navy. But since they had been so close in school, they kept in touch, and did favors such as this for each other.
“Alright. Dr. Doppler… Astrophysicist… IQ off the charts... Not very social. Currently living on the eastern side of Montressor…  Single, lives alone…Associated with a… Mrs. Sarah Hawkins & a Mr. Leland Hawkins.  Oh and a James Hawkins. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins are clean, except Mr. Hawkins is reported to have disappeared around… 10 or 11 years ago. Mrs. Hawkins runs the… Benbow Inn. James has been reported for many felonies… Wow. Only 17 years old and already convicted of… Several crimes. Mostly trespassing. Amelia? Is there any particular reason why you needed this information?”
“It has…pertinence…to a voyage I’m about to embark on.”
“Well, be careful.”
“You must have forgotten who you are talking to.” Amelia laughed.
“Even you aren’t invincible, Captain.” James chuckled.
“Indeed…I must go now. Thank you again for your help.”
“No problem. It was nice speaking with you again. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
Amelia ran her fingers through her hair and stood, gently unbuttoning her jacket. She tugged it off and hung it on her bedpost. She sighed and quickly changed into her Academy-issued pajamas, a loose tank top and shorts, and walked around her stateroom, gently checking everything as she did every night.
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“Goodnight Delbert.” Sarah smiled as she walked past his open bedroom door on her way to bed.
Delbert looked up from his book quickly and smiled.
“Goodnight Sarah.”
Jim peeked his head in as soon as Sarah walked off.
“Hey, Doc? Can we talk?”
Delbert smiled and waved him in.
“What’s going on, Jim?”
“Well uh… I’m not scared or anything. It’s…It’s whatever. But, I mean, are you… Are you nervous about this Treasure Planet thing?”
“Nervous?”
“Yeah like…” Jim shoved his hands in his pockets quietly. “What if the map’s wrong? What if the treasure’s already gone when we get there? What if all the stories Mom read me when I was little were just stories like she said?”
Delbert rubbed the back of his neck quietly.
“Um…I guess we… We can only hope it’s not wrong.”
Jim shrugged and turned to leave.
“Yeah. When do we leave again?”
“In...A week, I believe.” Delbert replied, consulting the letter from the Academy he had received a few hours ago.
“Cool.” Jim said with a weak smile. “Uh… Night Doc. See ya tomorrow.” He left quietly, obviously still not reassured.
Delbert groaned and smacked his forehead. Jim had come to him with a legitimate concern, and he had barely said anything to help.
“Just a few months… Just a few awkward, tense months in the vast emptiness of the Etherium…” he sighed, and scratched his head tiredly. He yawned, closed his door, ran his fingers through his wavy brown hair and took off his glasses.
“I hope I made the right decision…” he whispered as he changed into his pajamas.
Chp 1 of my new story Just The Beginning! Hug  SOOO tired... My eyes hurtHuh?! .... Anyway, I'll upload as i go!Happy Clap  But if i don't... Please dont come kill me. Heh. Just kidding. Kinda.Anna  Frozen icon  Anywayyyyy... If you want me to write a oneshot for you, just let me know! :happybounce: 
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are you trying to be sneaky with that "academy-issued pajamas" that are apparently a tank top and short pants.  Shiet.