"Jim... Jim... You need to get up... Jim" Came an echoing voice in Jim's mind. Jim slowly opened his eyes where the world was a blend of smoke-like colors and the ground was soft. He looked upwards slowly as a blast of wind caused his hair to flail wildly. He saw a shadowy silhouette of a man holding out his hand towards him, Jim knew exactly who it was.

"I didn't think I'd find you..." Jim said slowly reaching up

"You haven't yet!" Came the voice and suddenly the world solidified as a dried cracked and wooden tree lay before Jim.

He looked around to see he was on a dark desert-like planet where the atmosphere was so thin the stars could be seen as good as though they were on a ship. A sour wind howled through the area kicking up sand left and right. He saw that his white cadet uniform was torn at the shoulder and a large gash came around his shin. He must have lost a lot of blood as the sand from where he was laying was tinted with a reddish color.

Jim grabbed his broken sleeve and tied it around his leg and stood up a little dizzy from the effort. He looked around but there was an eerie light that only seemed to illuminate a couple miles before fading into complete darkness. In the darkness came a bloodcurdling roar that was unlike anything Jim had ever heard. I need to find Silver and the others! Jim said to himself turning around.

Behind him lay a sickening sight as the remains of two ships lay in a mass of rubble and debris in a sinking pool of sand. Jim could see the vessel of the Peace Keepers surrounded with several men unburying any survivors Jim held his place until they gave up and walked out of the sink-hole.

Jim could hear the cries for help coming from what remained of the Candice. He looked around and saw the part of the ship that used to be the brig and Alia and her father were still trapped inside. He rushed down the side of the hole and could immediately feel the tug of the sand trying to pull him under but it was easy enough to fight against but anyone trapped would have no hope of getting out alive.

He rushed to the side of the brig where Alia looked up at him through the large crack in the side.

"Give me your hand!" Jim yelled reaching down into the pit

Alia struggled revealing that she was still bound by the cords that Silver had instructed them to bind the mutineers with.

"Give me a break!" Jim mumbled to himself and looked around frantically as the brig started to sink faster. He finally found a rope that was attached to a rigging which he hauled over to the crack in the ship and let down into the hold. "Grab on!" He yelled as the wind and the sand hit him hard on the side of the face.

Alia was about to grab hold as her father pushed her aside with his elephant like trunk and grabbed hold of the rope. Alia was flung to the side where her head bashed against the metal bars that held her in the room and she fell with a thud onto the soft sand and immediately began to sink.

Jim pulled hard at the rope and soon the alien's trunk grabbed hold of the side of the ship and pulled himself up and out.

"What! Where's Alia!?" Jim yelled not having seen what had taken place.

"Who care's I'm gettin out a here!" The alien yelled fumbling up the side of the sink-hole. Jim looked into the hole to see Alia almost halfway covered with sand. Jim immediately jumped into the hole and unburied Alia then grabbed hold of her and started to climb the rope. Slowly and painfully their ascent up the rope took alot more energy than Jim had expected.

Finally he was able to pull himself up the side of the ship as part of it sank below the sand. He struggled with the pain of his shin as well as the weight of Alia as he climbed the slope and finally made it to the top.

He lay her down gently next to the tree and as he put her down he saw blood on his hand from the back of her head. He reached up and grabbed the other arm of his Cadet uniform and ripped it off tying it snugly around her head before untying the ropes that held her hands and arms. Suddenly Jim heard another cry for help.

"Are you serious!" He said to himself and turned to the hole. There was no one at the Candice and the Intrepid had more than half sank in the sand as Jim scanned the ships to find out where the cry was coming from. Suddenly he saw an arm waiving from the hull of the Intrepid. "Oh Come on!" he said and ran down the side to the ship.

"HELP!" The man inside yelled

"Hold on!" Jim yelled back

"Who are you?" The man called from inside the hull

"I'm the guy who's trying to save you." Jim said looking around the wreckage to see anything he could use to break the side of the ship. He found a metal rod that bent when he tried to pry off the large plank of wood that separated this man from freedom. He looked around and saw part of a metal box sticking up out of the sand. He pulled it up and on the side was written "Warning Highly Explosive". Jim tore open the top to see hundreds of small circular disks. "Mines!" He smiled to himself, "You're gonna want to back away from the hole!" Jim yelled down as he set an array of mines around the quickly sinking hull.

A loud explosion signaled success as a tall human exited the hold. Both of them climbed up the side of the sink-hole and finally rested, breathless, next to the withered tree.

After a moment the man finally spoke up, "Thank you boy. I owe you my life!" He said holding out his hand, "Gabriel, Gabriel Mandela at your service!"

Jim took the man's hand, "James Hawkins." Jim said simply suddenly finding a gun in his face

"You... You're the one we were meant to capture!" Gabriel said holding firm on the grip of the gun

"I just saved your life!" Jim said backing away

"Traitors get no special treatment!" Gabriel said looking Jim straight in the eye.

Suddenly Gabriel's eyes roled up into his head and he fell forward and there stood Silver with a small club-like attachment on his mechanical arm.

"It's a good thing I came when I did!" He said as Morph poked up from behind his back and repeated "Good thing, good thing, good thing!" in increasing enthusiasm.

"SILVER!" Jim said running up and giving him a hug.

"No what say we stop this man from followin us." Silver said turning his arm to a blunderbus.

"NO!" Jim yelled pushing his arm aside, "I don't know why but," Jim said turning to the downed man, "I feel we may need him."

Silver hesitated for a second then shrugged his shoulders and turned his arm back to a hand and turned to face Alia. "We need ta get somwhere safe Jim or this one might not make it." He said and put her over his shoulder and then grabbed Gabriel and put him over his other shoulder.

They ran out into the darkened sands as the sounds of growls and howling filled the very edge of their sight they dared not stop. After what seemed like hours in a dizzying array of wind and sand they finally found a small cave and climbed inside. There was a small stream of water that collected in a small dish-like crevice and in the center was a fire pit.

"Looks like someun's found this place before!" Silver said taking out his gun and firing into the center of the pit. There was a small explosion as the fire lit the cave brightly and Silver and Jim gasped as bones aligned the walls.

As their hearts stopped palpitating they went over to the bones. Each one was sitting down with their heads relaxed against the wall as though they had been asleep. It was obvious they were of many different breeds of aliens however their clothing was the same.

"Each of em was from the same ship." Silver said inspecting a four-eyed carcass.

"Not just any ship!" Jim said as he pulled out a portable logging device and on the back was engraved the symbol and name, "The Candice".

"Well it looks like ol' Amadeus' men found a way ta get here!" Silver said

That night they leaned against the walls having just thrown twenty piles of bones out into the night they were exhausted from the days efforts.

"Silver," Jim said quietly, "I'm sorry... you know about the ship."

Silvers face took on a sad appearance, "There was a lot a hope wi'that ship." Silver said kind of sad

"Where did you get it?" Jim inquired

"Well I never told ya I gave ya all me loot now did I?" he smiled, "Each piece was worth it's weight in gold and then some!" Silver laughed a little, "I had always dreamed of ownin a fully rigged ship an the Donovan was just right. I went around fer monts after I acquired it lookin' fer a crew who was loyal an' upstandin'. We had great fun Jim, monts and weeks out among the stars answerin' ta nobody. I wish ya could'a been there. After a while I got tired, no real adventure no dream ta chase anymore. One day I heard about Flint lookin' for the Fountain a Life an I decided that was my new dream. I knew where ta find the ol' key but you were the only one who could open it. It made me think back to the days when we was spacin'. It'd have been just the two of us and a whole ship ta command chasin' down a treasure but now that dream is lost." Silver said clenching his mechanical fist.

"How did you get that?" Jim asked looking at the mechanical side of Silver

"When I sailed with Billy Bones as my captain we was obsessed with findin' Treasure Planet. We finally found Flint's key on a ship near the space-port. We were so ready to get our hands on that treasure we stole the key and tried ta escape. Just out inta space we was when a police cruiser fired and blew a hole in tha side a tha ship. I got trapped. There's not a feelin' like it in tha universe when yar blood starts ta boil and you think it is the end." Silver said looking at his arm once again

"What happened?" Jim asked

"Ol' Billy Bone's pulled me in right quick an' took me to a place that did this ta me. Afterwards I went a little crazy fer the treasure an forgot all what ol' Bone's done fer me."

The fire crackled slightly as Silver finished his tale and the sound of Gabriel groaning to the side made the two wary of all of the noises that surrounded them.

"An what about you Jim? Why did you ever decide ta stay wit me even after I kidnapped ya?" Silver asked turning slightly to Jim.

"I had a promise to keep, I had forgotten about it for a long time but when I awoke on the ship I remembered it all..."

(Flashback to Jim standing on the dock looking out as his father drifted away on a skiff)

Jim slowly walked back in to his mother who hadn't stopped crying. He went over to her and hugged her tightly and she returned his embrace.

"Mom..." He said as his voice cracked slightly with emotion, "Where is Dad going?" He asked

"Your father..." She said between tears, "your father is looking for a myth, trying to find a fountain that doesn't exist." She said pulling her son closer.

"When is he going to come back?" Young James asked

"I don't know... I just don't know."

"Mom," Jim said pulling slightly away from his mother, "I'm gonna find him someday and bring him back!" His mother held him close, "I promise!"

Thanks for reading everyone I hope that all is going well in your lives and that this story is keeping your interest. So now you finally know why Jim stayed with Silver but believe me there is still a lot of story to go around. Just in case none of you read my profile page I'll tell you that I write everything as I go I don't truly know what's going to happen until it's out on paper so to ask me what's going to happen is quite useless as I have no idea until it's written. Anyways there is still a lot to go so please continue reading and leave me feedback, it's hard for me to tell how well I'm writing when no one leaves me feedback. Thanks again, Ultima S. Next, "A planet deserted?"