14th chapter, here it comes ! But you'll hate me at the end of this chapter ! :P
Forever Courage : Thanks, but if the last chapter got you emotionnally, this one might kill you ! :P
Thanks for the new followers ! :3
FANFICTION
Treasure Planet II : The Quest of Tala
CHAPTER XIV : Divided
[ Silver and Caliban find a way to track down Alexander Carter, knowing the name of his ship : the Tala. But when they realize Jim and Hope have been kidnapped, they can't find them until Jim managed to create a huge clue to lead the two men to the pirates' nest. He killed a man in the action and Carter escaped. Jim and Hope are safe and sound and more importantly, together, despite Jim's guilt… ]
On the RLS Glory, a few days later
Days had passed since theRLS Glory had left the pirates' spaceport of Myn. They finally had clues to find Alexander Carter and, more importantly, Hope and Caliban's grandfather. Caliban had sent a message to the Queen indicating that they had lost the necklace but had ways to track the pirate down. They knew he was on a ship called the Tala and had probably sent their grandfather somewhere else with another ship a few days earlier. Days passed without a hint of Carter but finally, a Queen Armada's ship had seen a ship fitting the description of theTala and now, theRLS Glory was heading right to the pirates.
Hope and Jim had spent days either training, or performing duties… But they would always find time to see each other in the lifeboats rooms and spend time with each other… If Silver and Andrew were trying their bests to ignore the obvious relationship between Jim and Hope, Caliban was trying not to throw Jim overboard. He couldn't say he didn't trust Jim or didn't like him, but he didn't want his little sister heartbroken and was trying his best to protect her… He felt like she was slipping away from him and he hated that…
One day, Hope went to her brother's office to take a book to read but she found him with Andrew talking about plans and looking over a map of the universe to locate Blondie. She stopped when they turned to her :
"Oh, sorry, I didn't know you were there, Andrew," she said. "I'll.. come back later…" She added, turning back to the door.
"No, it's all right, Celeste", Caliban said. "We were finished anyway…"
Andrew saluted Hope and stepped out of the room while she turned hesitantly towards her brother :
"Any news about theTala ?" She asked.
He sighed and lifted his blue eyes from the map :
"We have a lead, we're following it but Carter is trying to escape us and erase his tracks. He seems to be heading towards the Large Cloud of Beladur…" He said, worriedly.
Hope frowned, not understanding what he meant. He looked surprised then remembered she was memory-less for most of her knowledge, including about the universe and its laws… He sighed and started to explain :
"This Large Cloud is a galaxy without planets with any riches except solar crystals necessary for almost everything in the universe, especially sails. It is our most valuable energy source…"
"But what's the matter ?" She asked, knowing that he wouldn't be worried if there wouldn't be any problem with this Large Cloud.
"This Cloud used to be part of the Procyon Empire. It used to be at war against our Empire. They lost, we won and since they had no other choice but to sell us their crystals…"
"But why would Carter go there ? It isn't where Tala is, right ?"
"We don't know where Tala is and Carter doesn't either, he still needs one of us to get to it."
"But what about grandpa ?" She asked in a worried tone.
Caliban swallowed, trying to be as discrete as possible but she still noticed his concern and the light of apprehension in his eyes. He looked up back at her and answered :
"We don't know about his situation. But I know is that neither grandpa or I would say anything, we both are militaries. We wouldn't help Carter and he knows it as well. This is why he wants you so much… He knows you could break down and help him…"
Hope lowered her head and gripped her dress anxiously, and guilty that she had let Blondie get her golden necklace, a part of the map…
Caliban noticed her trouble and his features softened when he straightened, looking at her :
"Don't worry about that, I won't let him have you and you have nothing to feel guilty about… You tried your best but Carter was better this time. He is more clever than I thought he would be…" Caliban muttered under his breath.
Hope glanced at the map and frowned :
"You still didn't answer me about why Blondie would go to the Large Cloud of Beladur…"
Her brother sighed and he shook his head :
"It's easy… He wants the Treasure of Tala and the Procyon Armada wants revenge on the Queen Armada and got over us. What he wants is an alliance with the Procyons : he would have as much resources as he wants, he will get the Treasure and the Procyons their revenge. Everyone would be satisfied…"
Slowly, Hope realised what this meant and she opened her eyes wide, shocked :
"He wants to start an intergalactic war…" She whispered, horrified.
The Commodore nodded, darkly. He sighed once again and looked at Hope, smiling to reassure her :
"But don't worry, I won't let that happen. He won't get to the Cloud, I called to the Queen Armada's ships to intercept the Tala before he gets any closer to the Cloud. Then, we will catch Carter once and for all !"
She didn't say anything but nodded silently. Noticing her worry, Caliban sighed and walked slowly towards her, putting his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look up at him :
"Celeste," he started, "I tell you again, you have nothing to feel guilty about…"
"But.. it's my fault…" She whispered. "If I wouldn't have been so stubborn, Blondie wouldn't have the necklace and wouldn't try to start a war ! What.. what if he does cross the Cloud and start it ? This war would be my fault ! All the dead ones would be my fault ! And what if.. what if you have to go and fight ? I.. I don't want to lose you !" She exclaimed, tears in her eyes.
"Celeste…" He whispered painfully with sad eyes and a sad smile.
He put a hand on her face, wiping away her tears and continued :
"It's my job to protect the Queen and the universe from war. I won't let that happen, I promise… And even if it does start, it won't last. We are prepared against the Procyons. And they wouldn't send high ranked spacers immediately. They will start with lower ranks, commune soldiers or the Interstellar students. You don't have to worry about me."
Hope's heart skipped a beat and she suddenly wanted to throw up. She stepped away from her brother. He looked at her, surprised. Her breathing was heavy as Caliban's words turned again and again in her head :
"The.. Interstellar students ..?" She repeated painfully.
"Yes, the- oh !" He exclaimed, understanding why she was so touched.
He looked uncomfortable and slowly, Hope raised a hand to her mouth, trying to cover it her eyes lost in fear and guilt…
"Celeste, it won't happen," her brother said again, but his voice wasn't firm enough to be convincing…
"I.. no ! No ! I.. I don't want Jim to.. to.."
She turned away from her brother, closing her eyes to prevent tears from running down her cheeks. She bit her lips to control her trembling body and Caliban stared at her, still surprised and shocked by her reaction. Slowly, he realised that she cared as much for Jim as she did for him, her own brother… Maybe even more… But even Hope wasn't realising it…
"Celeste…" He started, his voice serious and firmer than earlier.
She turned to him, fighting against tears and he continued, his blue eyes looking right into her silvery ones, trying to read her mind to understand :
"What do you feel for this Hawkins ?" He asked, his voice bittersweet.
She looked at him, shocked and mouth wide opened. What had stricken her wasn't even the fact that her brother was asking about her feelings for Jim but the hard tone he had had when he asked…
She looked disgusted at him and stepped away :
"Why do you want to know ? Why would you care ? You hate him !"
Caliban sighed but didn't deny anything either. She shook her head and stepped away once again :
"You would be so glad if this war comes and kills Jim !"
"Celeste, I didn't-"
She turned her back on him and walked out of the office, ignoring his calls. She hurried to the back of the ship, wiping away her tears and ignoring the crewmen's glances even Jim and Silver's ones.
Jim was washing the decks when he saw Hope almost running to the stern, into their place, the lifeboats' room. He didn't care about what Silver or Michelson would say, he dropped his mop and hurried after her, ignoring Silver's calls.
The cyborg frowned and took the mop, looking at it and staring back from where Caliban was looking at the scene. He had tried to follow Hope and had seen her hurrying to the stern, Jim on her heels… Unexpectedly, the Commodore turned his heels and went back in his office.
Hope was breathing heavily when she arrived below decks. She clenched her fists around her dress, trying to ignore her hurting heart. She closed her eyes and felt tears running down her cheeks. Suddenly, she jumped in surprise, feeling warm hands around hers.
She opened her eyes and stared at Jim who was looking at her worriedly. He squeezed her hands and forced her to let go of her dress, stroking her fingers into his…
"Hey, what's going on ?" He asked in a low voice.
She tried to answer him but suddenly, she saw him fighting Procyons and dying because of her and her bloody stubbornness… She fell in his arms, sobbing while he looked at her, surprised before he put reassuring hands on her back :
"It's my fault ! Everything is my fault !" She yelled, her voice vibrating with guilt and sadness.
"Hey… Everything's fine," Jim hesitated, rubbing her back. "Why don't you calm down and tell me what's going on ? You argued with your brother again ?" He asked.
After few minutes of sobs and tears, Hope finally calmed down. They sat against a wall, in a dark corner to be seen by no one who would come down there. Jim was looking at her intensely and listened to her carefully when she told him everything her brother had explained to her. He didn't express any feeling during the entire speech, squeezing Hope's hand when her voice threatened to break again…
He didn't say a word for a long time, so long that Hope thought he didn't want to talk to her at all. She glanced at him, worry all over her face when she opened her mouth :
"Do.. do you hate me ?" She asked with a low voice.
He seemed surprised and stared at her :
"Why would I hate you ? You did nothing wrong, you just.. wanted to make your brother and I understand you weren't a puppet… You lost the necklace but it's nothing compared to what Blondie would have done to you…"
She wiped a tear that rolled down her red cheek and he continued, looking in front of him :
"And.. I don't care fighting in a war if it means protecting you and the galaxy… Being a spacer.. it had always been my dream… I had a chance to become one thanks to Treasure Planet and Amelia. I won't destroy this dream and I will face all the consequences of my choices. I want to fight, even if it means I'd probably die, because that's what I've wanted to do of my life…"
"You.. wouldn't have any regret if.. if.."
She didn't end her sentence but Jim turned his head to her, smiling sadly, his eyes shining even in the dark :
"I would probably think of my mom and of you, regretting to leave you two behind me… But I won't regret my choice… Don't worry about me, Hope…" He added, taking her hand.
When he touched her skin, he hesitated and put his hand back while she stared at him :
"But.. I would understand if you.. don't want to keep going on this way.. you know, with me… If you don't want to get.. any more attached to me, I-"
"Oh, shut up ! I won't give up on you ! Not like that ! Not for such a stupid reason ! And especially not if.. if a war is coming ..!" She breathed.
He looked at her with his sad smile and an intense relief in his blue-green eyes, more than he thought he would feel :
"Great… Because I would miss you too much…" He whispered.
She smiled sadly and he turned to her, gently wiping away her tears before leaning to her. He didn't kiss her but put his forehead against hers and they both closed their eyes. She put her hands on Jim's, still on her cheeks then she fell against his torso, staying into each other's warmness…
Silver went down the stairs, looking for his two lads with Morph floating around his head when he realised they weren't coming back. He looked for them in the sterns and finally found them in a corner, embraced into each other's arms and deeply asleep… They looked so peaceful and lovely together, Silver couldn't find the strength to wake them up or break their serenity…
He looked at Morph with a mischievous smile and stroked on the head while the little pink blob chirped in happiness :
"Let's get back on the decks, Morph'. We shouldn' wake up those two lads for now…" He added with a low voice.
A few days later, closer to the Large Cloud of Beladur
Hope was staring into the infinite dark blue sky illuminated by splendid lights, right in front of her, there was an congregation of reddish stars forming a cloud. A huge cloud which was the Large Cloud of Beladur… Looking at it, the young woman was feeling overwhelmed by the immensity of the universe; after all, this huge cloud was only a little part of the Procyon Empire…
Suddenly, she felt someone brushing her hand. She turned and saw Jim, leaning against the rail and taking away his hand from hers… She felt her heart stiffen a little bit when she realised that if he put away his hand, it was because their relationship was supposed to be secret from the rest of the crew…
"Don't worry," he said, looking at the huge Cloud.
But even without looking him in the eyes, she could feel his worry about the supposedly coming war… She suddenly wanted to walk into his arms and stay like that for hours but she couldn't even take his hand or stay too close to him because they were on decks and in front of everyone…
"Jim, what are we going to do ?" She asked, looking at the floor without really seeing it.
"We're about to catch up theTala and-"
"That's not what I meant," she cut him off.
He turned to her, not understanding what she meant but when she raised her head, he understood. He swallowed and looked away, uncomfortable :
"I-" He started, but he never finished his sentence because, suddenly, someone else was there.
They both turned towards Caliban, who just stared at the two young people, raising an eyebrow with a hard gaze for Jim :
"What are you talking about ?" He asked.
He didn't let them answer as he continued, staring hard at Jim :
"Hawkins, don't you have duties to do ?" He said, being quite clear about his intention, which was getting Jim away from his sister.
Jim sighed and glared back at Caliban, but he didn't even blink. Finally, Jim stood up and moved away, trying not to punch Caliban because of his stubbornly pride. Hope stared at her brother, annoyed, and frowned :
"You don't have to treat him like that, you know ?" she said.
"Why ? Because you have a little crush on him ? He still is just a student of the Interstellar Academy. Why would I care of what he thinks ?" Caliban said, rolling his eyes in his all supremacy of being a Captain, a Commodore and a noble.
"Because I care for him" Hope wanted to tell him but she just turned towards the cloud, staring at it once again.
Caliban saw the light of sadness and worry in her eyes and felt guilty. He sighed and stepped next to her :
"You can't see it from here but the Tala is right in front of us. I sent ships of the Queen Armada to stop it to get any closer of the Large Cloud of Beladur. They'll stop him and we will arrest Alexander Carter."
"How do you know the Tala is in front of us ?" She asked, frowning.
"Well… That's the presumed trajectory. The last time we knew their positions, they were well, right where we are right now… But they kept moving and we haven't had a sign since."
"And you don't think it's weird that you suddenly lost sign of them ?" She asked suspiciously.
A glimpse of suspicion passed through Caliban's blue eyes but when he opened the mouth to answer, two bursts of fire exploded right in front of them. Caliban caught Hope's shoulders and pushed her behind him when the blast passed by them and sent them on the floor, along with most of the crewmen. The ship tipped drunkenly for few seconds, pushed by the blast before righting itself, but the motors had been stopped in emergency.
The entire crew stayed frozen for a moment, too shocked to react or move. The sound of the explosion still resonating in their ears. They finally got up and got closer to the rail, staring with astonished eyes what had happened…
The sky and the laws of space had kept prisoner the moment of the explosion and they could see from there two pictures of exploding fire, frozen in time… Little by little, the fire and the explosion were spreading and fading but the shock was still real…
"What.. what happened ?" Hope whispered, breaking the terrible silence that had reigned.
Not hearing any answer from her brother who was still holding her near him, she lifted up her head and saw him with eyes full of stunning distress… She never saw him so shocked since he found her, months ago for the first time after she had disappeared… His eyes were on the two pictures of explosion and sensing a gaze on him, he finally reacted and lowered his eyes, looking into Hope's eyes. They were dark blue, like the universe surrounding them but lights of red and gold were shining like a reflection of the explosions :
"The ships of the Queen Armada…" He whispered. "I think they just exploded…" He breathed, astonished.
Andrew stepped towards him, looking completely stunned by what just happened :
"Caliban !" He whispered, forgetting the respect he should show to the Commodore in front of the crew. "If those were the ships, that means.."
He lowered his voice and got closer to Caliban while crewmen were trying to go back to their jobs and repairing the little damages that had been caused by the blast. Silver and Jim approached as well, Silver to know what had happened and Jim to take Hope's hand in his, squeezing it and forgetting completely that they should keep it a secrecy. But no one noticed their entwined hands…
"That means that Carter didn't get caught, and worst ! He's probably the one behind this explosion. We can't act right now. We need to wait for help from the Queen Armada !"
"Help ? What help do you expect ? We would have to wait days to see any ship of the Royal Armada coming to us. We're not exactly in the right part of the universe to expect any help from anyone !" Caliban hissed angrily.
"We can't try to catch him with only one ship ! Not when he just blew out two entire ones !" Andrew breathed, trying to keep it as low as possible to prevent crewmen from hearing and panicking.
"I know !" Caliban exclaimed in a low voice.
Silver got closer, speaking for the first time :
"I thin' we should get the hell outta here, C'ptain," he said in a serious tone. "Alone, Carter couldn' have blown up those ships, but with an extern help…" He added with a little voice.
"The Procyons ..!" Caliban swore under his breathe, frowning.
The five of them stayed silent, staring at the now disappearing picture of explosions… Hope shared a worried gaze with Jim and he squeezed her hand more while Caliban was deliberating in his mind :
"We can't take any risk and go any further towards the Cloud of Beladur," he finally said. "We turn back to the closest Armada's spaceport !" He announced.
He turned to give orders to his men but at the same time, he saw in the corner of his eye a little reflection. He first thought it was from the fire of the explosion but he turned towards it and realised it wasn't a reflection.
He gasped in surprise, drawing attention to what was going on. They suddenly saw, in the middle of space, a breeze of slight lights running in waves, the same way the solar crystals do when they were taking energy from the solar light. And suddenly, the illusion was torn apart and a huge ship, blue and silver, appeared majestically in the middle of space…
"A.. an invisible shield with the solar crystals' technology ? I.. I thought they were still working on it…" Andrew spluttered with wide eyes.
"This is what Procyons had pretended…" Caliban answered, not more confident than his friend.
The ship was still far but it was just a matter of minutes before they could accost theRLS Glory…
Hope swallowed and turned to her big brother :
"C.. Cal…" She whispered, distress in her shaking voice.
Her voice full of fear seemed to slap Caliban and wake him up. He suddenly reacted and turned towards his crewmen who were all stunned and frozen of terror and shock :
"Everyone in the lifeboats ! We abandon the ship !" He shouted with a broken voice he was trying to master.
Everyone stared in horror at him before hurrying in the stairs to get to the lifeboats. Hope seemed horrified while Jim was trying to remain calm, the girl was pale while the young man was trying to help her. Andrew turned to the Commodore, shocked and put a hand on his shoulder :
"Caliban, are you sure ?" He whispered.
"We have no choice, we can't fight ..!" Caliban hissed, his pride hurt.
He turned without waiting towards Hope :
"Hope, I want you to get in a lifeboat as soon as possible !"
"Wh.. what ? But.. what about you ?!" She exclaimed, her voice thrilling.
"I'm coming right behind you !" He said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "I have to get some papers in my office but I'm coming right after you ! I promise !"
"But.. you always break your promises…" She whispered, pain in her eyes.
Caliban tried not to look too shocked but after few seconds of silence, he heard the sounds of the lifeboats being released in space and right after, the sounds of blasting cannons after them. The Commodore swallowed and turned towards Silver :
"Mr Silver, I count on you to get those two hot-heads on the first lifeboat possible !"
"Aye C'ptain !" Silver answered, pushing Jim and Hope but she tried to grab her brother.
"No ! Caliban !" She exclaimed.
Silver caught her in his arms, lifting her in the air like a feather and he caught Jim's arm, almost pulling him on the floor and dragged them below decks.
"Andrew, with me ! Hurry !" Caliban ordered.
"Yes, Captain !"
They ran to his office and hurried to take the papers necessary, they took weapons and started running to the decks. When they arrived on decks, pirates were accosting the RLS Glory, jumping from a ship to the other…
The two men stared at the pirates a moment before hurrying to the stairs, slashing the throats of the ones in their way. When they arrived below decks, Andrew closed the door and took a gun and fired on the handle to make it melt and slow the pirates down. Then he jumped towards Caliban who was staring blankly at Silver, Jim and Hope who were waiting for them with the two last lifeboats.
"What are you doing here ?! I told you to go away !" He exploded.
"The lass didn' listen to me and wanted to wait for ya," Silver explained but with his serious eyes Caliban understood Silver wanted to wait as well for the Captain and the First Mate.
Caliban breathed and calmed down, realising that Hope was staring at him with hard eyes, clenched fists and angry at him for abandoning her.
"Silver, Hawkins ! Prepare the lifeboats to the departure !" Caliban ordered.
"Aye Captain !" Jim answered, hurrying to the lifeboat on the left while Silver was going to the one on the right.
Caliban stared at his sister and clenched his fists as well :
"You shouldn't have stayed here," he said.
"You too…" She said, looking at him with dark eyes.
He sighed but suddenly, hits against the door forced them to get closer to the two lifeboats, followed by Andrew who was ready to fire to any entrance.
"Are the lifeboats ready ?" Caliban asked in a hurry.
"Yes, Captain ! We just need to open the doors !" Jim answered, running to one of the two handgrips to open the door and free the lifeboats.
Silver hurried to the other one on the right but suddenly, the door broke open and pirates entered. Andrew fired and hit two pirates who fell against the wall with screams of pain but the other pirates who were entering didn't wait to fire back. If most of the shoots got lost around them, one of them hit Andrew in the shoulder, who fell on his back, shouting in pain.
"Andrew !" Caliban exclaimed.
Silver caught Andrew and threw him in the lifeboat before he could be hit again. A shoot almost hit Jim but he jumped out of the way, behind a pillar and stayed there until Silver was able to help him without thinking.
Caliban pushed Hope away and looked quickly at Silver :
"We go now !" He ordered.
Silver nodded silently and caught Jim, pulling him into one lifeboat while Caliban was pushing his sister to another one.
Jim and Hope shared a gaze and realised with horror that they weren't going on the same lifeboat :
"No ! JIM !" Hope shouted.
She tried to go to him but Caliban stopped her, pushing her behind but she was forcing too much, he couldn't pull her to the boat :
"Silver ! Let me go !" Jim yelled, trying to run as well towards Hope.
"Cal ! LET ME GO !" Hope screamed, her voice cracking while tears got into her eyes.
Jim pushed towards her and almost got shot but he didn't care. Silver barely caught him in time by the torso. Hope offered her arm to Jim and he tried to reach out for her, their fingers brushed but a shot was fired between them. Silver, furious, pulled Jim away and lifted him up with a cry of rage and threw him in the lifeboat, jumping after him before the boy could get up.
"JIM !" Hope shouted, tears running down her cheeks.
Caliban clenched his teeth and used all his strength to push her in the lifeboat where Andrew tried to calm her down while Caliban jumped in and started the lifeboat.
The two boats were dropped in space and after floating few seconds, they started, fired in all ways by the Tala.
They were both descending towards a close huge planet when suddenly, Hope, Andrew and Caliban saw with horror a shot hitting Jim and Silver's lifeboat. The boat was projected away, fire at its bow and it went down to the planet, but on its other side.
Hope shouted and would have jumped if Andrew wouldn't have caught her in time and kept her against him, despite his wounded shoulder. They lost the view of the lifeboat and were too far to be hit by the Tala but Hope's sobs and tears were more ripping than any hit and any fire…
Caliban looked up at the deep blue sky and saw the Tala, taking over the RLS Glory but most of all, he saw the beginning of the war against the Procyons… He looked at his sister and stared at her with sad eyes but didn't find any words to tell her.
"He's not dead, Celeste," Andrew said. "They crashed somewhere else on the planet, but the shot couldn't have killed them," he said, trying to be as reassuring as possible…
She closed her eyes and sobbed even more while Caliban's heart was getting heavier and heavier as he was getting closer of the ground…
The war had started.
So, kind of a cliffhanger, isn't it ? :P
I wait for your reviews ! :D
Next chapter will arrive next sunday "COMING WAR" ! :3
Truly yours,
May