ALERT: I made a HUGE mistake in the last chapter. Nova actually stayed with Billy Bones for a few YEARS, not weeks. Jeez! Then she'd be about 12 years old! So sorry for the slip-up! :(
I apologize that I'm just firing these chapters off like no tomorrow. It's spring vacation, and I'm very bored. When I am bored, I write. And write. And write. I'm planning on the next chapter to be my longest yet, so please don't hate on me when I don't post anything tomorrow. I'll just say that the next chapter will be the set of the story. Ba-bam. Yes, the set. You're gonna find out what all of them are going to do about the map and things. And, if you read below, they've got someone watching them...
I always feel like somebody's watching me!!!!
Had a Geico moment there. Haha. Hope you enjoy. Not a long chapter, but full of VERY important info. Who's Big S?
And I apologize for the lame names in this chapter. I usually make up the MOST ORIGINAL names. Not today... *sigh*
Enjoy and review!!!!!
-ecto1B
DISCLAIMER. I DONT OWN TREASURE PLANET.
Chapter 8
Somewhere Above Montressor…
A thin, emotionless man wearing a billowing cloak stood at the top of the ship's staircase, unmoving. His sharp red irises remained focused on the deck, almost inhuman. Beneath his cloak he hid a secret that only few spacers had lived to tell about. Truly, he was not accustomed to revealing his secret, for it was one of deadly consequences. An uncontrollable reflex that caused many to cower beneath his lithe shadow.
His great grandfather would be proud of what he was doing. That was certain. Pushing tireless energy towards finding the map was all that currently mattered. Whatever piece of him he lost, he gained in the reward. Immortality was worth every limb, cargo and soul in the galaxy. His grandfather had died keeping it safe. And the duty had been passed on to him: Domis. He would find the map and then find the six locations. It was all a matter of time before the Queen lost her crown and a new sovereign sat at the throne. No longer would there be a Royal Navy. No peaceful trade routes. Only the strongest men and women would survive, which is all Domis wanted. The Firsts would finally be the Lasts. And the name "Flint" would be carried through history over again, sparking fire into eyes and fear into hearts.
He shut his eyes finally and chuckled. He'd been staring at the same spot without blinking for over an hour. Wilhelm and Hayden had yet to return to the ship, which meant they had failed. Oh, a miserable fail… their lives would be the token of redemption, fed to the Candarian zap-wings that flew around a nearby black hole. That would be the only way to clean the mission. No stone left unturned, no—
"Captain!" a frail voice called through the night. "We found the man!"
Domis narrowed his eyes, watching Wilhelm and Hayden park the longboat up next to the ship. They heaved a muscular figure from the boat and onto the deck. The man's blood stained the wood the moment they touched. His elongated orange beak hung open, and his eyes were shut tight.
"Dead?" Domis prompted. Hayden, the grotesque pea-green gargoyle-looking man, nodded eagerly.
"As soon as we jumped 'im, he decided to die on us!" Wilhelm, a chubby purple man, said enthusiastically. "And guess what?" He opened up the pelican's pockets and rummaged around. "No map! He tricked us!"
Domis's eyes became fiery coals. "Are you saying he is a decoy?!?!" he spat.
Wilhelm and Hayden gulped, wringing their hands.
"Yeah… the map must be on that planet he landed on!" Hayden hardly had time to do any more, because Domis's cloak spread out, and long red tentacles appeared. They shot out and wrapped around Hayden and Wilhelm, pulling them up to Domis's furious face.
"You let a decoy trick you?" he snarled savagely, tightening his grip on the spacers. "That is unacceptable! You both will be fed to the zap-wings as soon as possible!" He flung the men against the ship's mast, and they cried in pain. Wilhelm moaned and stood up weakly, facing Domis.
"We know where the map is!" he tried to reason with his demonic captain. "This old spacer flew down to Montressor and dropped off the Bravery's captain, along with the map! It's down there right now!" His teeth were chattering madly.
Domis's tentacles retracted and hid back beneath the cloak. "What?"
Hayden placed a hand on the mast and tried to stand. "Yeah, we saw 'im do it! The map is on Montressor!"
Full of realization, Domis spun around to face in the direction the cabins were. "CREW! TO YOUR STATIONS! WE'RE SEARCHING THE PLANET!"
Around twenty or so husky spacers swarmed from behind the cabin doors, manning every part of the ship in less than a minute. Some men prepared the sails, others readied the cannons. A few began mopping up the deck of the dead man's blood. Domis smiled at his crew's speed. They would have the map in no time.
Strolling over, he stared down at the dead spacer's body, all tattered and wet. A single tentacle slid out and crawled across the man's chest, looking for a nameplate of some sort. When he found one, the tentacle brought it up to his eyes.
"Patchy, eh?" Domis murmured. "Second-In-Command to Cpt. Nova Aphelion. Hmm." Domis dropped the name tag onto the floor and thought for a moment. "Nova Aphelion. She's the one that has the map." His eyes darted over the ship's railing at the peaceful green planet hanging below. "I think I might let Big S take care of her, since my own crew is too insubordinate to do a job correctly." Domis glanced back at Wilhelm and Hayden. "Fetch me Mr. S from the lower deck," he instructed. "Make sure he's still under our influence, then send him and a few others to the exact location our friend here hid the map." He kicked Patchy's shoulder. "Pitiful waste of time…"
As long as he had control over Big S, Domis was safe. Especially if that Hawkins boy got involved. This had been his plan all along. He'd heard many whirling stories about the young captain, some incredible and some pathetic. Hawkins was merely an obstacle that could be blown aside. And if anyone else got in his way… he'd take care of them in a blink of an eye. This Nova girl might present a problem, however. She was commanding and persistent, but also young and naïve to what was really going on. She was much like her parents: using tireless energy to protect the map. And if she and Hawkins joined forces… Domis might be stuck for only a moment… until Big S came into play. He'd move so fast, they wouldn't know what hit them.
Struck with a pang of authority, Domis, still towering over the body, called out to his most burly crewmember, Brody.
"Come and toss this filthy body overboard," he ordered, stepping back. "I want my ship to be rid of all foulness immediately."
The four-armed alien grunted and scooped up Patchy's body. With a single heave, Patchy once again vanished into the darkness of space.
Big S?
Lol thanks for reviewing!
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