Winds of the Etherium

Epilogue

Jim POV

I look out the window of my apartment that the academy had gifted me when I graduated 5 years ago, it sat on the space port, sandwiched between 2 other town homes. it reminded me of Captains home before she moved in with Doc. there was one difference hers wasn't lived in. mine was. for the last 4 years in fact. I hadn't gotten a mission for 4 years. I'm not sure what it was, i graduated salutatorian of my graduating class and left the interstellar academy with a bright future.

I turn away from the window sighing

whats the point in waiting for the mail. todays not going to be any different from the last 4 years

I walk down the stairs finally listening to the rumbling in my stomach "Ben?" I shout

the bot walks out of the kitchen holding a plate up in the air

"oh! Jimmy! I was just about to bring this up to you" Ben said calmly

listen. listen, i couldn't stand Ben's energy for 4 years so i... made some modifications...

"thank you Ben." I grab the plate from the robots hand and sit down at the table and start to eat the breakfast Ben had made.

"Oh! here's the mail Jimmy" Ben says handing it to me

"thank you Ben. Just put it on the table." i eye the mail, hoping with every fiber that the mail i actually care about is there.

"sorry jimmy. nothing from Gigi today."

"ah, well" I smile, but its more of a sad smile.

I haven't heard from G for about 10 months, last i heard she was leaving for a mission for a while and would try and stay in contact, but i haven't heard from her in well. 10 months. it was strange going from seeing each other everyday in school to not seeing each other for weeks at a time. of course we sent each other letters when we had the chance but space mail is pretty slow. I really thought something was going to happen between us. I mean it makes sense, she definitely only sees me as a friend. we were living together for a while until she got called into duty. shes a captain now. and a damn good one at that.

I finish with my plate and bring it over to the sink where ill wash it later. I walk back over to the table and pick up the mail

Might as well look through it. maybe there's something cool

junk, bill, bill, junk, junk, junk, j-

my thoughts are cut off by my fingers running over the seal of the captains drafting academy. was this it. is this why I hadn't heard from Gail in 10 weeks? is she actually really... dead?

I tore open the letter i didn't bother to use the letter opener Ben had left for me

Dear Admiral Hawkins,

your presence is being requested on the R.L.S. Legacy as the ships second in command in one week. please write back if you are able to comply to the summons, details of the mission to follow.

you and your captain will be setting out on a ten week journey to transport 20,000 pounds of lithium rock to the syntax galaxy. you and your captain will command the ship to the galaxy, drop off the lithium rock and command the ship back home. you will be receiving the payment from the customer. and you will be required to bring all the money back and present it on return. hope you are able to respond to your summons.

the best,

the captains drafting academy

Third person POV

a stamp lined the bottom of the page not too dissimilar to the one on the bottom of his recommendation to the the interstellar academy.

"Ben!" Jim shouts standing up quickly "get me a quill and paper quickly"

"Whats all this commotion?" Ben says walking into the dining room and seeing the letter on the table "HOLY EITHER!" (a word Ben had picked up from Gail) "IS THAT A LETTER FROM THE CDA! YOU'VE GOT AN ASSIGNMENT!"

"I sure do! I need to get my things packed. I wonder who my Captain will be? Ive got to respond to that letter" Jim starts rambling

Ben hands a quill and a piece of paper to Jim "Already got it started for you Jimmy"

"thanks Ben." Jim smiles and takes the paper.

One week later

Jim jumps down the stairs and grabs a purp muffin off the counter that Ben had made the other day. and heads straight out the door.

"woah! heyo jimmy! dont forget your coat." Ben says holding it out the door

Jim turns around and grabs the red coat from Ben's hand "Thanks Ben. I'm not sure what i would do without you buddy." Jim grabs Ben and pulls him in for a hug "take care of the house while I'm gone. and don't open any letters from Gail. I'll open them when I get back."

"alright Jimmy. be safe."

"I will"

Jim turns and books it. dodging all the people going down the street. jumping over crates, ducking under ladders.

"'scuse me! sorry!" Jim says as he maneuvers around the people on the street

"Watch it boy!" an alien says as Jim tries and fails to not run into him

"sorry!" Jim says as he takes his last few strides to reach the ship. he sees it flying above him, the same feeling of awe washes over him, that feeling that washed over him the first time he saw it. as it docs he steps aboard and starts to bark orders

"so captain, are you the one transporting these... er lithium rock?" says one of the passengers who was supposed to keep an eye on the crew, ever since the journey to treasure planet (or whatever they're calling now) they send someone to make sure no pirates make their way on to the ships. which doesn't make any sense since it was a premeditated attack.

"not quite sir, you'll find that the captain wears blue." just as the word "blue" leaves Jim's mouth a thud is heard in front of the two.

Jim turns and sees a tall girl with dark hair and dark eyes. her coat is blue but under it she has a black and grey jacket that looks almost exactly like the one Jim had when he was a teen.

"hey Hawkins."