The air was crisp and cool across his face as the ship glided forward. He couldn't get enough of this feeling. The feeling of not knowing what road lay before him or of having to always be on everyone else's rules. Now he only had himself to follow, his own heart to guide him.

The RLS Legacy, he was sure, was floating through space far away at the behest of it's seemingly arduous captain. Sometimes he missed them. Dilbert and Amelia. His mother most of all, even B.E.N. But he took comfort in the fact that he'd given them all he could, something Sarah had always gone to great lengths to reassure him was more than enough. He sometimes couldn't help the feeling that he'd also abandoned her, like his father.

But he wasn't like his father at all. Jim sent messages to his mother every week along with money and trinkets from his voyages. He was doing something with his life. His days at the Academy were behind him, he was a full fledged captain now. His own ship and his own, albeit modest, crew. It'd been a long two years since his adventure to Treasure Planet. Sometimes it seemed like a different life.

He was distracted from his thoughts by a tap at his shoulder. Jim turned to see a man not much older than him. He had coiffed blonde hair and a stature that let anyone within earshot know that there was rarely a moment he wasn't in charge. "Yes, Mr. Herms?" Jim asked a little exasperated as he slumped against the helm.

"Captain Hawkins." The man addressed him. "I was wondering how we're doing on time. I have an important meeting on Earth."

"Since you asked me an hour ago?" He couldn't avoid the sarcasm in his voice, this man maybe paying him quite a bit to be chauffeured to one of the farthest parts of the galaxy but he was pompous and Jim really wanted to take him down a peg or two. "Mr. Herms, I assure you that you will arrive to your meeting on time. In fact you may even be early. But I am the captain of this ship, I'll sail how I see fit-"

"And slow is how you see fit?" Mr. Herms interrupted.

"Yes, it is." Jim stood up straight and stared the man square in the eye. "I don't believe Mr. Herms that you've ever been trained as ship man, because I assume that if you were you'd be sailing your own ship instead of paying me to do it. And if you were you'd know that those-" Jim stabbed his finger in the air, pointing to a swirling pinkish green cloud among several that littered their path, "... mean there are star storms ahead. And trust me, you don't want to be in the middle of one of those this time of year. Because if you'd been trained you'd know that being caught in one at this time would tear this ship apart like paper in water." Satisfied by the abashed look on Mr. Herms' face, Jim continued more calmly. "Now if you don't mind, Sir, I'm going to commandeer this ship as safely as possible to Earth. And I'll be doing it without you sniffing over my shoulder."

Mr. Herms left to the deck below without another word. He really hated it when he was hired by guys like Mr. Herms. Who simply believed that because they'd hired you that also meant that they knew better. He vaguely thought of the hypocrisy of that thought. On his first voyage to Treasure Planet, he'd been nearly as arrogant.

Stashing those thoughts away Jim turned his gaze back to the bow of the ship. They'd been on the ship for most of the week. Earth was at the farthest reaches of the galaxy, It would be Jim's first time there. From what he'd heard, the planet was enormous and mostly untouched by the alien technology and lifeforms he'd spent his whole life around. He was also under the impression that not only were the people of Earth untouched by his world, most most didn't even know it existed. He deduced this because he'd been specifically instructed to land in the part of the ocean that they wouldn't be noticed.

Jim felt another nudge, but this time it was something familiar and small settling on his left shoulder. Jim turned to the tiny pink creature with a smile and stroked his finger across it's back. "Hey Morph, where y'been?" His question was met with an ambivalent little gurgle. Jim laughed and adjusted the helm. He stared ahead in a daze, still caught up in his own thoughts. "I wonder what it's like there..." His voice came out sounding as distant as his thoughts felt.

There was a short gurgle from his shoulder. Jim glanced at Morph before gesturing ahead. "Earth."

Morph sprung from his shoulder and turned into a dozen tiny people bustling past each other. "All humans, huh?" Morph chirped and settled back on Jim's shoulder. "That can't be very interesting. We may be there for awhile, I don't even know why I agreed to this stupid trip." The tiny pink creature flew up, suddenly becoming several gold coins that clinked as they fell into his breast pocket. "Oh yeah, that's why." His voice unsurprised when Morph began making consistent chirps, indicating that he'd fallen asleep in Jim's pocket.

"Maybe Herms is right. After all, the faster we get there, the sooner we can leave." Jim eased the ship forward a bit faster with a sly grin on his face and the wind in his hair.