Omygosh!!! I am SO SO SO SO SO SO sorry!!! A whole week late!!! To my credit, my mom took away my labtop, so that reduced my writing time, but STILL! That's no excuse! And I'm uber apologetic. Never again, I promise!!! But at least I got it up eventually. So, without further ado, chapter 10.

Interstellar Naval Academy, Room 21-A:

The stack of books on Jim's desk now measured two feet, and the stack of papers was nearly half that. Jim got back in from detention at 11 o'clock, took one look at his homework, and began composing a letter to his mother.

Dear Mother, he began, and crossed it out. Too formal.

Mother, he wrote, and frowned. Not formal enough.

Sarah, but that was just weird. Finally, he decided on...

Dear mom,

How are you doing? I miss you already. He did. He had wanted a future. Now he just wanted his past. School up here is a lot of work, but it's fun. Well, at least half of that was true. My roommates are really cool, and I'm making some great friends. Yeah, if Richard the whiner and Rob the lump could count. I hope you're getting the Benbow rebuilt quickly! So I can come home. Miss you!

Love,

Jim

Sighing, he wrote a similar letter to BEN, slid them together into an envelope, addressed it, and licked the stamp. They could have communicated by Holovid, but Sarah was old-fashioned. Besides, at least writing letters was a good distraction. He tread lightly out into the hall, in a baggy sleep suit. Depositing the letter, he tiptoed back to his room. At least Richard had been up late, too. He was just turning the light out as Jim got back. Of course, Jim didn't think he'd ever seen Rob do any homework.

There was no way he could do all his homework well. But maybe if he half did it all... he wouldn't do particularly well in his classes, but at least he would escape detention. He picked up his Nautical homework, glanced through the pages, scribbled down a few notes. Bing. History. Fill out the worksheet quick as possible, don't think about the answers. Bing. Galaxies- draw the map as best you remember, don't take time to look in the book. Bing. Bing. Bing. Bing. Bing. He sits back, satisfied, his pile of books and papers that much lower. 4 in the morning. Time to sleep, for a good 3 hours. He crawled into bed, flipped off the light, and was out immediately.

RLS Bloodthirst, Hold:

Silver yawned, sitting up. He had been placed down in the hold, given a lumpy cot to sleep on. He hadn't seen the famous Captain Xen around for a while. Everyone had heard of Xen- Scourge of the Seas, Mantis of Death. He never had the same crew twice. He sailed through the oceans on whatever ship he currently ran, looting and attacking every ship they crossed. But the odd thing was that he gave his crew members each their share of the gold, chose one piece for himself, then dumped the rest and left it hanging in space. And the there was the tale of his encounter with death- some said that he had been killed in a battle, once, but returned to the Land of Lost Souls and clawed his way back to a kind of half life. Or that he had done a deal with the spirits, and received some of their powers. No one was quite sure. But what everyone did know was that he was not to be messed with.

Silver climber out of bed, stretching out first his real then his metal leg, joints cracking and gears whirring. He stood, pacing around the small room. He wasn't a prisoner, they insisted, but then again, he wasn't allowed to leave the room without one of the pirates escorting him. The ship was small and relatively simple- a captain's quarters, a brig, a hold, a kitchen, a deck, and an engine room. There were, however, some fast escape pods with fuel and food. That was how Silver was going to make his getaway.

He sighed, sitting back down on the bed. The question was, how? He could try to build the captain's trust, but that would take time. He could try to escape, but he would probably end up with a laser at his back. But speed was of the essence if he wanted to reach his Jimbo before they did. And he had to reach him. Had to keep him safe.

"C'mon," grunted Juhl, one of the dumber thugs. This guy was mainly belly and tentacles, oozing with every step he took. Silver grimaced.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Supper," he answered. A cold silence descended. Juhl filled it by picking his nose. Silver shied away.

The dining room was small, full of long wooden tables. The crew was rowdy, tossing their food around and slopping their drinks, shouting and laughing. As Juhl wandered off, Silver headed down to the emptier end of the table, took a sear as far away from the others as he could. He ate well, not knowing when he would get to eat again. I'm coming, Jimbo, don't you worry.

Again, I'm sorry. Now that I have my computer back, I should be writing faster. I was wondering if anyone had any more ideas for alien names- I shouldn't need too many more, but you never know. OH! I was watching Star Trek 2009 today, and I made a Treasure Planet reference. And half the people in the room got it!!! I love my church. So anyways, thanks for reading, and please review!