"Ah, Jimbo..." said Silver carefully, glancing around to make sure no one was watching. He descended the stares to the galley, all the while Jim backing up. "Playin' games, are we?"
"Yeah," said Jim, anger and hurt plain in his voice. "Yeah, we're playing games."
"Ah, I see. I was never much good at games," Silver said quietly as the boy reached for an eating utensil behind him. "I always hate to lose."
"Yeah?" he asked, diving down. "Me, too!" The utensil pierced a hydraulic mechanism on the Cyborg's leg, causing it to malfunction. Jim ran as fast as he could to the bunks, where Kate was still asleep.
"Kate! Kate, c'mon, you gotta get up! Come on!" he said urgently, shaking her.
She groaned and opened her eyes, hair a total mess. "What? What's goin' on?" she asked blearily.
"We're about to die, that's what, let's go!" he said, already back on his feet.
"Um, okay. Just let me get my bag-"
"No time." he said, grabbing her arm and dragging her out of the bunks. To his surprise, she resisted forcefully, finally managing to get out of his grip as she ran back toward her hammock. "Kate, come on!" he yelled, running back to her as she snatched something on a chain out of the hammock. He grabbed the back of her shirt, trying to pull her away.
"Just gimme a second!" she yelled, grabbing an object out of her bag.
"We don't have a second! Let's go!" He finally wrapped his arms around her waist, dragging her away. Whatever it was she'd pulled from the sack was dropped, but she seemed to realize there was no going back for it. He still had his arms clamped tightly around her when he saw Scroop blocking the stairs. "Oh, no," he muttered. Kate squirmed out of his grip, grabbed his hand, and ran the other direction.
"Come on! There's another exit back here!" she said.
"You spent a lot of time in the corners, didn't you?" he asked, almost losing his footing.
She pulled him to a darkened part of the sleeping quarters, tugging him down. "Through here, come on."
"Where does it go?" he asked as they crawled through.
"Captain's state room. What's going on?" she asked.
"Silver and the rest of the crew are pirates." he said, anger coloring his voice. "They just want the treasure, and they're willing to kill all of us to do it."
"Well, that just figures." she hissed. "Why should we have an easy boat ride to an undiscovered planet and just test this theory that the treasure's real? What's the point in actually getting where we want to go?" She muttered a little more as they crawled, then whispered, "Here. Amelia's state room. Don't bother being sneaky." Jim complied, shoving himself out of the passage after Kate.
"What – Mr. Hawkins? Miss Wenslow? What on earth-"
"No time. Captain, you're ship's full of pirates and they're taking it as we speak." Jim said quickly.
"Pirates? On my ship?" she asked, crossing to her gun locker. "I'll see them hanged!" She pulled out a gun and tossed it to Doppler. "Familiar with these?"
"Oh, I've seen – well, I've read-" Suddenly, the gun went off and hit something on the wall next to Amelia. "Uh, no. No, no, I'm not."
She rolled her eyes, then took the map out of the locker. "Mr. Hawkins, defend this with your life!" She tossed it to Jim, but Morph caught it first.
"Morph! Give that back!" he cried, tugging the ball from the blob's mouth.
"Here they come." said Kate, placing the chain she'd rescued around her neck. Outside the door, pounding and yelling could be heard.
"Oh, what do we do? What do we do?" cried Doppler, nearly trembling.
Kate, patience wearing thin, grabbed his gun. "Gimme that." She pointed it at the floor, shot it a few times, then handed it back. "Alright, we're outta here."
Morph was the last to go through the hole just as the door burst open. They ran through the passages beneath the deck, knowing the pirates would be coming soon. Kate and Jim were the first to enter the hangar, then Amelia. Doppler fell right as he made it to the doorway, so the captain dragged him out of the way as she closed the iron door. "Get to the longboats, quickly!" she called as she welded the locking mechanism shut with her rifle.
Kate and Jim climbed into the boat, followed almost immediately by the two grown ups, when Morph stole the map from Jim's pocket. "Morph! NO!" he cried, jumping out of the longboat.
"Jim! Get back here!" Kate called as the hangar doors opened. She leaped from the boat as the pirates burst in, guns ablaze. Grabbing the edge of the catwalk, she hauled herself up to follow the boy. A stray shot hit her arm, and she fell back on the metal. "Ah! Son of a..." She got back on her feet, seeing Jim and Silver each attempting to get Morph onto one of their sides. The poor shape-shifter seemed unsure of what to do. Trying not to think too much about the pain in her arm, she leaped forward, grabbing the map before it fell into the rope coil below. "Come on!" she yelled, grabbing Jim by the arm and dragging him as she ran.
"We're gonna have to jump!" he yelled, watching the longboat fall awkwardly out of the hangar. They ran straight off the bridge, aiming for the boat. The only one to actually make it inside was Kate; Jim clung to the outside of the boat, all his energy focused on not falling. Doppler managed to pull him back in just as Amelia opened the sails. "Parameters met! Hydraulics engaged!" she called, manning the controls.
"Here." Kate snapped, shoving the map at Jim.
"Kate, your arm!" he exclaimed, seeing the blood.
"Not our biggest problem right now!" she yelled, a laser bullet blowing their sails to shreds.
After that, the longboat shuddered violently and began a speedy descent to the ground. They crashed through what seemed to be giant mushrooms, being jerked around the whole way. The boat hit the ground and flipped over, launching Kate and the map away from the craft. As it slid about twenty feet, Kate landed, back against a rock, and blacked out.
Jim lifted the edge of the boat, rubbing his neck. "Ow," he muttered, looking around.
"My goodness..." said Doppler, standing and rubbing his back. "That was more fun than I ever want to have again."
Jim looked over and saw Kate against a rock, unconscious. "Kate!" he yelled, jumping over a piece of broken mast to get to her. "Kate, wake up! Come on!"
She stirred in his arms, blinking as her eyes opened. She groaned, shifting a little. "Well... that was certainly an exciting landing." she coughed, grinning ruefully.
"You okay?" he asked, looking her over. "What about your arm?"
She looked at it, as though just remembering the wound was there. "Oh, yeah... I think that fat one shot me when he was trying to hit the captain."
"Well, come on. I think there might still be bandages in the boat."
"Mr. Hawkins!" Amelia called. "The map, if you please."
"Oh, right, right," he answered, delving into his pocket. "Where...?"
"Here." Kate said, picking up the ball from the ground nearby. Jim reached for it, but the second he touched it, it turned soft and gooey in their hands. What the-"
"Morph!" he shouted as the shape-shifter cracked up. "Morph, where's the map?"
The tiny blob showed the map hopping into a pile of rope. Kate groaned as he yelled, "Are you serious? It's back on the ship!"
"Perfect." she muttered.
"Stifle that blob," Amelia commanded quietly. "And get low; we've got company."
They looked up, seeing another longboat flying slowly through the sky. The captain, crouched behind the boat, watched it. "We need a more defensible position." she said, pulling a gun from its holster on her hip. "Mr. Hawkins, Miss Wenslow; scout around."
"Aye, Captain." Jim said, taking the gun.
Suddenly, Amelia collapsed, Doppler catching her. "Steady," he said. "Now, let's have a look at that."
Kate, now on her feet, followed Jim as he exited the crash site, attempting to staunch her bleeding arm with a strip of cloth from her shirt.