'Kay people! Rather medium-length chapter for me... nothing special. Just a sort of coincidental occurrence....
I wanna take this time to reveal this story's basic... eh... what's the word?... nature? It was conveyed to me by a faithful reader, OMGitsEMILY. She summed up Jim and Nova's relationship as "I think you're incredibly attractive, but I absolutely despise you as a person." I LOVED that, so that is now officially the nature of this story. Ta-daa! Thanks!
The beginning of this chapter is really just Nova ranting her butt off about Jim. lol
-ecto1B
I DONT OWN TREASURE PLANET. DUH.
Chapter 6
Oh, Look What I Found!
He was really starting to get on my nerves.
How could he accuse me of such evils? A convict? Puh-leese. I was one of the sweetest people you could ever meet. Why would I have stolen the map? Yes, it was a very special and consecrated object that many men would die to get their hands on… but that wasn't the point. The point was that this… good-for-nothing jerk had called me a convict. A convict of what crime? "Stealing" an object that had actually been given to me to protect from scumbags like him! He had no idea what my motives were. Not that he'd actually given me time to explain myself! How could someone be so insulting?
Anyway, as I sat there on the carpet of the Benbow Inn, holding in protests and wearing Jim's heavy jacket with my shoulder bleeding like no tomorrow, I looked painfully around at the others in the room. Amelia was untouched by Jim's horrendous statement. Both Delbert and Sarah appeared mortified. And Jim was… complacent. I balled up my fist, so ready to give him what he deserved: a good slug in the mouth. My conscience got the best of me, sadly, and I wished at that moment that my inner voice wasn't so strong.
Darn you, you cruel conscience. Why do you have to be so dominant… especially when he DESERVES to be punched?
I was quick to defend myself, though. "I'm not a convict, you dolt! I'm the guardian of that map!" The jacket slid from my shoulders and onto the rug, but I disregarded it. The cold Montressor air that was coming from an open window now caressed my cheek and face, giving me strength as I spoke. "I was personally assigned to guard the map by the commanding officer of the Royal Navy! The Queen was nice enough to advocate on my behalf when the job came up!" My speech emerged into a vindicated snarl. "I would never betray the Queen and the Royal Navy! They're the only family I have, ever since my entire family tree disappeared!"
I'd said too much. I slapped my hand over my mouth and hunched over, a sickening feeling shooting through my throat. Queasiness was one of the things I usually was immune to, but during this situation, I couldn't hide the fact that I was scared. Scared, and very seasick. My face grew sweltering hot…
A bucket was placed in front of me, and someone laid a wet cloth across my forehead. Good people live on Montressor my father had once said to me as we'd both peered over the ship's edge at the planet below us. Good, kindhearted people who protect one another 'til the death. They're also a very uncooperative planet. The Royal Navy has had some trouble keeping them aligned with the Queen. With that sentence, my father sighed, releasing all the stress flowing inside of him. But they're a good people, Nova. If you ever need help, that's where you go. Truly, I believed my father. He had spoken those words like a true spacer at the time. I'd only been six, but he'd understood everything about space, and was ready to convey the information to me.
Once I'd… thrown up… Sarah lifted my chin up so our eyes met. Motherly actions that made me want to cry.
"Calm down, Nova," she said softly. "Don't worry; we believe you. Jim was just…" –at that moment, she glanced back at her son, who was conversing intensely with Amelia and Delbert at the far end of the room—"just trying to protect us. His thoughts overcame his ability to reason with you. He doesn't see your innocence like I do."
"How can you tell?" I sniffed.
She chuckled. "I'm a mother. I can tell when a person is lying or not." She was unflustered… another motherly trait. I envied Jim; he had a very compassionate mother to love him. Mine was… gone. "You spoke with your eyes, Nova. That demonstrates honesty. A trait Jim could learn a bit more about. Honesty and empathy. Now," Sarah brushed her hands on her apron and helped me stand up. "It's getting late. Let's get you a nice bed to sleep in tonight. You can tell us more about what happened tomorrow when you're feeling better. That sound good?"
I nodded and yawned at the same time, still with a hand on top of my shoulder. Sarah led me up the wooden stairs and into the closest doorway, where a nice-looking bed, dresser and window awaited me. I thanked her as much as possible and laid myself into the bed. The sheets were clean and warm. She smiled at me and shut the door, leaving me to my dreams.
But when my torso tried to lay upon the bed, I felt a large lump in my uniform's back pocket that I'd not remembered noticing before. Irritated, I adjusted myself so I could reach behind me and, to my surprise, I pulled out the glittering golden sphere from my jacket pocket.
"It doesn't make any sense!" I growled fervently, tossing my long bangs. "How did the map survive the explosion? It's not possible!"
"I agree with Jim on this one," Delbert replied, intently looking at his wife and grasping her hand. "It's not physically possible that an object of that size and density couldn't have disintegrated at the extreme heat the planet exerted during its detonation!"
"So, you both are saying she's lying?" Amelia summarized hotly. She crossed her arms when we nodded. "Well, I for one believe her story. Those emotions flashing across her face cannot be replicated by even the greatest of liars." I huffed, and her cat eyes blazed at me. "Designating authenticity is a gift you have yet to discover, Mr. Hawkins."
"But what about the pirate she described?" I cut in. "It had to be Silver. There's no other pirate in the galaxy that would know about the map and be that determined to claim it. She's not telling us everything! Silver wouldn't… kill for the map! She must be dangerous!"
Delbert sucked in a breath, and I knew what was coming. He'd been faintly swayed to his wife's side. "Jim… I don't know how to put this in a good way, but maybe Silver..."
"Changed?" Amelia finished.
"Exactly." Delbert wouldn't let me get a single word in as he clarified his reasoning. "It's been two years, Jim. Maybe he's lost sight of what's good and bad while on the run from authorities?" I could tell he was desperately trying to use the right words so not to rub me the wrong way, but he wasn't doing so well. I trusted Silver with my life. He couldn't have changed in that way. Eradicating an entire crew? That wasn't the Silver I knew and had faith in. Something wasn't right. Okay, so this girl might not be lying. But I still wanted to know how the map hadn't been destroyed. That piece of the puzzle was yet to be found.
Mom came down the stairs, wiping her brow. I was right: she, too, believed Nova. Her face was swarming with confidence. It didn't sicken me as much with Mom as it did with Amelia. Mom was… Mom.
"We'll talk to her in the morning, Jim," she said immediately, watching my body language. "Don't go up and bother her, whatever you do. She needs sleep."
"Don't worry Mom, I won't."
Suddenly, there came a loud thump from upstairs. I waved everyone else back and sprinted towards the source of the sound: the girl's bedroom. I flung open the door, expecting to see her carrying some sort of weapon with the barrel pointed at me, but instead, I saw that she'd fallen out of the bed. Her large grey irises were even larger as she gaped at the object lying in her hand.
The map.
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