Disclaimer: I don't own these amazing characters.
Chapter 10
As Jim dropped down onto the metal gangway his first thought was that he shouldn't be here, but up top with Silver. As he stood and straightened up his second thought was awe at the immenseness of the planets interior. He now truly understood why Silver had said it would take months to find the treasure. Morph trilled as he flew worriedly from Jim's pocket and flew in circles around the boy's head. Jim wrapped him up in his hands and comforted the small pink creature as best he could.
A muffled yelp from above drew Jim's attention to the flailing legs of the doctor as the Canid fell towards him. Jim managed to sidestep just in time and the doctor crashed onto the gangway with a cry of surprised pain.
"You alright, Doc?" Jim asked as he helped the astrophysicist to his feet.
"Depends on your definition of alright. If you mean physically, then yes. But if you mean in relation to our current situation of being pursued by angry pirates then no, I am not." Doppler brushed the dust from his jacket and straightened his cravat and glasses.
Jim couldn't help but smile at the odd doctor and was about to speak when he saw the Captain's feet appear above them and moved quickly to yank the Canid out of harm's way.
The Captain straighten easily, pulled her waistcoat back into place with only a moment of hesitation around her sore ribs, and tucked the loose strand of hair back behind her ear. "Right then. Which direction looks most promising, gents?"
Jim looked around, up and down, before settling on a course. "This way looks good." He said pointing towards a track that led down a short set of stairs and off to what he assumed was the west.
"Off we go then."
Jim stood stock still. "What about Silver?"
"He will catch up with us momentarily but it is prudent that we put a bit of space between us and the tower until then." Amelia ordered, stalking past the doctor and Jim in the direction the boy had indicated.
Jim opened his mouth to protest but Doppler grasped his arm and looked at him beseechingly. "Please, Jim."
"Doc, I can't leave him." Jim said, pulling back against the Doctor's grip.
"We aren't. We're just-"
The doctor was interrupted by a deafening boom that was followed soon after by an impact that sent the trio grasping for the handrails in order to stay upright. Morph fled back to the safety of Jim's pocket with a shriek.
Jim was about to ask what in the etherium was going on but he never got the chance. The initial explosion was followed by a rumbling that sounded as though the earth was crashing down above them. Then the gangway beneath their feet began to vibrate and sway alarmingly.
"Run you fools!" Amelia hollered, grasping each of them by their collars and propelling them forwards, as the groaning and screeching sound of metal under pressure joined the cacophony of noise around them. "We must get clear of the tower!"
Jim looked back over his shoulder repeatedly as they ran, torn between reaching safety and concern for a certain cook. He felt Amelia push harder against his back as though she sensed his very thoughts and nearly stumbled as they reached a set of stairs and another exceptionally large quake shook the metal walkway and the three looked back and saw the walkway they had just passed over fall away with a crash as it tumbled into the depths of the planet below.
Feeling they had gone far enough to escape the fallout of whatever was happening, Jim shook off the Captain's controlling grasp and turned to face the devastation they had just fled from. Behind them was a wreak of twisted metal and still crashing stone. A loud creak brought his attention back up to the ceiling they had just passed under and he watched incredulously as it began to crumble inward. Jim peered through the dust and falling debris to where he thought the entrance was and where he prayed he would find Silver.
Then he saw him. The Ursid tumbled through the entrance amoungst the falling rubble and dust, plummeting down with distressing speed, much further than they had dropped since the gangway they had landed on was no longer there.
"No!" Jim yelled, reaching out towards the cook in a useless motion, before feeling the Captain's arms encircle him.
Doppler turned away while Amelia attempted to cover Jim's eyes. Both convinced they were watching the cyborg plummet to his death.
Silver had just escaped the proverbial frying pan only to fall into the fire. The moment he began to fall he realized he was experiencing a much longer drop than the one he had expected when he had first laid eyes on the tunnel hours before. Through the dust and falling rock he could see the warped remains of the old walkway jammed across the tunnel, he would be reaching it within an flash, and he reached out was he approached and snagged the wreckage with his cybernetic hand. The force of his fall being so suddenly arrested nearly wrenched his arm from its socket and the walkway screeched and grated as it dropped several metres, sparks erupting as the jagged metal ends raked down the walls, before both it and the cyborg's decent came to an abrupt and bone-jarring end.
Silver hung for a second, amazed he had survived yet again, before beginning the painful process of dragging his increasingly battered frame to the relative safety of the lodged gangway. He collapsed and lay still, his chest rising and falling as he tried to catch his breath and calm his nerves, even as the rumbles and crashing continued far above him.
"Silver!"
He looked up to see Jim racing down a ladder towards the nearest complete gangway that rested a few metres away from his current resting place. The Captain and the doctor followed at a more dignified and mature pace. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and watched with a smile as the boy descended the ladder without the use of the rungs.
"Jimbo." He was happy to see the lad but did not yet feel the need to stand as he was still waiting for his racing heart to slow to a more regulated pace. His mind knew he was fine but his body hadn't quite got there yet.
Jim landed with the heavy thump of his boots on the gangway nearest Silver which was about two metres higher and four metres away from the piece of scrap he had latched onto as his lifeline.
"You okay?" The boy asked, concern etched clearly on his young face and echoed on that of the little protoplasm that flew out of his pocket towards the cyborg.
"Never better, lad." Silver replied with a relieved laugh as he gazed up past Jim to where his fall had begun. He had cut things a little too close. He had allowed his rage towards Scroop overcome his better judgement and it had nearly ended in calamity. Morphy collided with his cheek and cooed happily as Silver leaned into the comforting touch.
"What happened up there?" Jim asked, leaning out over the walkway he stood on to get a better look at Silver's ledge, trying to ensure it wasn't in danger of immediate collapse.
"Tha' tower collapsed." Silver said with a moan, finally feeling up to standing. Morph flew behind Silver and tried to lend his small strength to the Ursid's efforts.
"I figured that much out on my own." Jim replied with a smirk. "You know what I mean."
"I was jus' followin' tha' good Captain's orders." Silver answered as the Feline and Canid appeared on the gangway with Jim.
"Well done, Mr. Silver." The Captain congratulated in her normal demure manner. "I dare say I couldn't have it better myself."
"Yer landin' would probably 'ave been a mite smoother, I'd wager." Silver responded, brushing off the praise and trying to devise a way to reach the others without imperilling himself yet again. Before he could come up with even a hint of a plan the Captain had leapt across the gap and landed softly beside him. The platform shuddered but held firm.
"Ye might give me a warnin' before yah do sumphin' like dat in the future." He informed the Feline tersely as he grabbed his chest with one hand and the rail with the other. He didn't need any more surprises this night.
"Oh tish tosh, man, you're perfectly fine." She replied without concern. She quickly scaled the portion of the wall behind them and grasped a thick cable that was tangled a good fifteen feet above the cyborg. Upon untangling the cable she slide down it and landed light as a feather next to Silver.
"Hawkins, catch." Amelia swung the cord with force towards Jim and Delbert, which Jim caught with ease. "Now wrap it around that rail and swing it back." She instructed.
Jim wrapped the cable around the top rail and then leaned down to swing the lower half back to the Captain who caught it deftly.
"Age before beauty." She said with an uncharacteristically mischievous smirk as she held the cable out to the cook.
Silver went to reply but thought better of it and took the proffered cable and, testing its strength first, pulled himself up the four metre distance with relative ease. He climbed over the railing and received a quick hug from Jim and a hesitant pat on the back from Delbert.
"Toss it back, now." Amelia called, reaching out in anticipation.
For the briefest moment Silver thought about keeping hold of it but realized that would be an unwise. It was pertinent that they all retain the burgeoning trust they had established if they were to have any chance of escaping with their lives. He swung the cord back with an easy grin that he hoped belied his fleeting moment of hesitation. It helped that his smile was partially genuine brought on by the efforts of a small pink protoplasm that was pulled by, more than pushing, the cord as it swung back towards the Captain.
The Captain was up the cable in the blink of an eye and, without a word, began leading the rag-tag group onwards despite the fact that none of them had any clue as to where they currently were.
Jim, Delbert and Silver looked to one another as the Captain blazed off ahead of them. Delbert looked at the woman's fleeing back then back to the others before shrugging and following suit.
Silver and Jim sighed in unison and set off after the two, belatedly realizing she was most likely still living down being carried up the last climb 'like a sack of tubers' as she so eloquently put it.
Silver was getting his first good look at the worlds interior. They were surround by what appeared to him to be the workings of a giant engine room and he was surprised they hadn't heard sounds, or at least felt the vibrations, of the vast amount of machinery that rumbled and hummed beneath the surface of the planet before.
"Pretty incredible, huh?" Jim asked from his place at Silver's elbow.
Silver nodded as he continued to look about.
"Makes you wonder what the point of it all is. Like, who even built this?" Jim's voice rose to match the level of his growing excitement. "Do you think Flint made this?"
Silver grunted. "Doubt it, lad. Flint t'were a great pirate but 'e weren't no engineer."
Jim froze in his tracks causing Silver to stop and turn back to face the boy.
"You knew Flint?"
Silver could suddenly feel eyes boring into his back and realized all three of his companions wanted to know the answer to the question the boy had just posed. Silver's head swivelled between his compatriots as he struggled to come up with an answer that wouldn't break the fragile peace he and Amelia had brokered or serve to alienate Jim.
Scroop fumed silently as he scowled at the remnants of the tower-like structure that had once stood in the centre of the field. The glow of over a dozen fires illuminated the rubble but the shadows cast by the dancing of the flames was aggravating the arachnid to no end. Movement appeared constant amoungst the debris but, in reality, was non-existent. The pirates stood watch around the perimeter, pistols at the ready, but there had been no sign of survivors or bodies for that matter. Scroop knew better than to discount yet another escape on the part of the wily pirate captain. Until he saw the proof with his own eyes, that is. He had sailed with Silver for years and been impressed time and time again by the Ursid's uncanny ability to escape from the most dire of situations. No, this was child's play for Long John Silver. Scroop stared down at the flames and contemplated his next move, as he was sure the cyborg was as well, wherever he was. After a time he came to the conclusion that he would have to wait until the light of day to find the answers he desired. He settled back and gazed at the sky, waiting for the dawn to break, and passed the time by running through all the ways he would torture his former shipmate when he finally found him.
So what do you think? Gimmie some love, or like even, I'll take it Thank you to you several committed reviewers, you are awesome and, like I said before, I am writing this for you. The story is moving forward and there will be more action in upcoming chapters. Thanks.