Rattle The Stars

Chapter Sixteen: Silver's Bargain

BEN scrambled out of Jim’s grasp and waved like a madman in front of the entrance, just as Jim saw the tell-tale blue flare of a plasma gun loading in one of the pirates’ hands.

“Get down!” Jim shouted, both to BEN and Alice, before diving to the floor and covering his head.

“Why are they firing at us?” BEN asked incredulously as he darted away from the entrance. “They’re your buddies!”

“They are not our friends!” Jim growled as they all moved further back into the cave. “That’s what I was trying to tell you!”

“Stop wastin’ your fire!” Jim heard Silver’s familiar grumble echo against the rock walls. The rain of shots stopped.

Jim loaded his own weapon and crept along the sides of the walls, then peeked carefully out.

Silver stood close to the hideaway, waving a little white flag. His band of pirates had retreated back well out of earshot and out of weapons range. “Hello, up there! Jimbo? Lass?”

Jim’s heart twisted with betrayal and hurt.

“If it’s alright with the captain…I’d like a short word with ya both. No tricks. Just a little meeting.”

“Come to bargain for the map, no doubt,” Amelia hissed. “Pestilential…ow!” She winced in pain, and Dr. Doppler lowered her back to the floor.

“Captain,” he scolded.

Jim frowned. If Silver had come to bargain for the map…that meant…
“He thinks we still have it,” he whispered.

Alice met his gaze, her blue eyes wide with understanding.
“We have the upper hand, then,” she replied softly.

Jim nodded. Alice stood, and Morph followed her, whimpering and giggling as he peeked over her shoulder down towards Silver.

“Be very careful,” warned Dr. Doppler as he studied them. “Both of you.”

Jim and Alice exchanged wary, tense glances, then headed out into the sun.

Morph sped ahead of them and snuggled up to Silver with a happy squeal.

“Ah, Morphy!” Silver grinned. “I wondered where you was off to.”

Jim approached slowly and carefully. He glanced over at Alice. Though her features were set and stern, her fingers grasped his arm tightly, and she trembled a bit.
She met his glance, and he gave her a short, encouraging nod.

Silver eyed them sidelong, then sat on the ground and massaged his injured leg.
“Oh, this poor old leg’s downright snarky since that game of tag we had in the galley.” He chuckled softly, but Jim’s furious expression didn’t budge. Neither did Alice’s.

“Ah.” Silver glanced at them, and his smile faded. “Whatever you heard back there…at least the part concerning the two of you…I didn’t mean a word of it.” Silver looked between them, his eyes pleading, his voice breaking. “Had that bloodthirsty lot thought I’d gone soft…they’d have gutted us all.”

Jim sighed. He wanted to believe Silver, with everything in him…but how could he possibly trust him, after everything that had happened?

He glanced at Alice. She chewed her lip, but her brows were still furrowed, and there was a storm in her blue eyes.

“Listen to me,” Silver pleaded. He got up and limped closer to them. “If we play our cards right…we can all walk away from this rich as kings. And queens.” He winked at Alice.

Jim and Alice exchanged glances. He could see in her eyes that she wanted no part of this deal…but they did have the upper hand. If they played along, maybe they could get something out of Silver. Information, at least.

Jim gave Alice a surreptitious wink, and she nodded back, just a bit.

“Yeah?” He replied to Silver with a grin.

“Do tell,” Alice put in, raising an eyebrow.

Silver gave a good-natured guffaw and clapped them both on the shoulder. “Listen. You get me that map…and an even portion of the treasure is yours. A third for each of you, to do with whatever your heart pleases.”

Jim and Alice grinned at each other.

“An inn for your mother,” Alice breathed.

“A solar surfer theme park,” Jim put in.

Silver nodded. “Yeah? That and more, my young friends.” He shook their shoulders. “What do you say, eh?”

Jim laughed, but his smile quickly faded. “Boy,” he said. “You are really something.”
Silver’s smile faded fast as he sensed the storm in Jim’s words.
“All that talk of greatness…light coming off my sails…what a joke.” Jim let the full force of his hurt come through his words, and in the glare he pierced Silver with.

“Now, just see here, Jimbo,” Silver pleaded, but Jim shook his hand away.

“You betrayed him. You betrayed us all,” Alice growled.

“I mean, at least you taught me one thing,” Jim went on with a shrug. “Stick to it, right?” He took Alice’s hand and backed away. “Well, that’s just what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna make sure that you never see…one drabloon of our treasure!”

Silver’s cyborg eye reddened with rage. “That treasure is owed me, by thunder!”

“Well, try to find it without our map, by thunder!” Jim got up into Silver’s face, his fists clenched and chest heaving.

*

Silver glanced between them both, Alice standing back with her arms crossed, Jim standing defiant and ready to fight.

“Oh,” Silver muttered. “You still don’t know how to pick your fights, do you, boy? Fine. We’ll do this the hard way.” He grabbed for Alice abruptly.

Alice gasped and scrambled back to avoid him, but fell onto her backside with a squeal.

Jim darted in front of her and blocked Silver.
“Don’t. You. Dare.” Jim’s words were sharp and low.

Alice glared up at Silver from the ground, tears welling in her eyes. “Despite everything, I wouldn’t think you’d stoop so low as to attack a lady. Perhaps it’s you that doesn’t know how to pick your fights.”

Silver studied her, his brow creased. He seemed sorry, for just a split second. Then his features darkened. “Now mark me,” he hissed. “Either I get that map by dawn tomorrow…” He clenched his fists. “Or so help me, I’ll use the ship’s cannons to blast ya all to kingdom come!” He punctuated the last phrase with a sweeping gesture before turning and marching away. “Morph, hop to it!” He patted his shoulder.

Morph, who’d become a whimpering mess, whined in protest.

Silver glared back over his shoulder at the poor blob.
“Now!” He shouted.

Morph dove under Alice’s hair and quivered.

Alice patted him affectionately, then glared at Silver.
“Shameful,” she scolded. “You big bully.”

“Oh, blast it!” Silver threw his hands in the air and stormed away, defeated.

Jim stood tall and straight until Silver was out of sight. Then his shoulders slumped, and he turned back to Alice.
“Are you okay?”

Alice nodded, still petting Morph absentmindedly. “What are we to do? We don’t have the map.”

“Not yet,” Jim corrected. He helped her off the ground and put an arm around her shoulder, leading her back to the hideaway. “I think it’s time we sit and make a plan.”
Alice nodded.

As Jim helped her climb back inside, Alice could hear Amelia murmuring.

“Gentlemen. Alice…” Amelia tried to look them all in the eye from her place on the floor. “We must stay together and…oh.” She fell back into Dr. Doppler’s arms.

“And what?” Dr. Doppler gently shook her shoulders. “What? We must stay together and what?”

“Doctor,” Amelia said with a dreamy smile. “You have… wonderful eyes.” She slumped back into his arms, gazing at him with an unaccustomed affection.

Dr. Doppler yanked off his glasses and stared at Alice and Jim as they approached. “She’s lost her mind!”

Alice chuckled, and Jim rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well,” Jim told him. “You gotta help her.”

“Dang it, Jim, I’m an astronomer, not a doctor. I mean, I am a doctor, but I’m not that kind of doctor.” Dr. Doppler moved his hands in wild gestures as he talked. “I have a doctorate. It’s not the same thing. You can’t help people with a doctorate. You just sit there and you’re useless!” He heaved a frustrated sigh and grasped at his dog-like ears.

“Oh, come now. You’ve been a great help,” Alice comforted, patting his shoulder.

“It’s ok, Doc.” Jim knelt beside him and patted his other shoulder.

“Yeah, Doc!” BEN chimed in. “Jimmy and Al know exactly how to get out of this. It’s just…they have this knowledge of things.” He tapped his metal head eagerly, then glanced over at Jim and Alice. “Any thoughts at all, guys?”

Jim sighed. “That’s kind of why we’re here. To think things out.”

Alice pulled out her notebook and tapped her chin with the charcoal stick.

“Without the map, we’re dead.” Jim ticked off a finger.

Alice glanced outside, towards the rapidly fading light, and saw campfires just outside their hideaway. Dread sunk in her stomach.

“If we try to leave, we’re dead,” she pointed out.

“If we stay here…” Dr. Doppler put in, looking crestfallen.

“We’re dead!” Morph chimed in happily. “We’re dead, we’re dead, we’re dead.”

Jim sighed and rubbed his hands down his face. Alice reached up and trapped Morph between her palms.

“Settle down,” she whispered to the pink blob, her gaze fixed on Jim. He paced back and forth, running his fingers through his hair, looking absolutely distraught.
She wished she could do something to comfort him, but not even her map could help them now. They were trapped.

“Well,” BEN put in with a laugh. “I think Jimmy could use a little quiet time.” He crept toward the sphere near the center of the hideaway, then turned it until a soft blue glow filtered into the cavern. “So I’ll just slip out the back door.”

Jim glanced up in alarm. “Back door?”

“Oh, yeah.” BEN shrugged. “I get this delightful breeze through here.”

Alice and Jim both hurried to the edge of the sphere and peered down into a hole. Mazes of pipework, gears, and metal machinery Alice didn’t recognize spiraled out as far as she could see.

“What is all this stuff?” Jim asked.

“You mean the miles and miles of machinery that run through the entire course of the inside of this planet?” BEN announced matter-of-factly. He then shrugged. “Not a clue!”

Jim glanced at Alice, and she looked back dubiously.

“I’ve fallen through holes before,” she noted, “but this seems quite dangerous.”

“It’s either this, or get blasted by cannonballs at the break of dawn.” Jim shrugged.

“Good point.” Alice glanced back at Dr. Doppler and Amelia.

“Where do you two think you’re going?” The doctor put his hands on his hips. “The captain ordered us to stay—“

“We’ll be back.” Jim grinned at Alice, and she grinned back.

BEN jumped in with a shout of “Cannonball!”

Jim took Alice’s hand, and they jumped after the robot.


AlyCatAuthor