Pirates and captives alike squeezed into the longboat and followed the path of beaming light created by the map. The captives were either bound tight or held at gunpoint so they couldn't try anything. The farther they traveled, the faster the light pulsed.
As the light pulsed faster the longboat was docked and the pirates continued on foot. A huge ugly alien stayed behind with the doctor and the captain. Bryan kept close to his sister. They'd have a better chance in a fight if they stuck together.
"Why didn't you fight them when they first snuck in last night?" Bryan took the opportunity to whisper. "Why aren't we going in guns blazing now? They're so keen on being so close to the treasure we could attack while they're distracted."
"I didn't take care of the pirates last night because of the doctor and the captain." Rachel whispered back. "I knew I wouldn't have been able to fight them all off and still keep them safe. Even when you got there the pirates would have had their pistols out and ready to hurt them at the first sign of us retaliating."
Sometimes he really hated it when she made sense.
They stuck close to Jim and B.E.N too. Morph made worried little chitters from his hiding place in Jim's pocket.
"Guys, I-i don't know about you b-but I'm starting to see my life pass in front of my eyes. At least, I think it's my life. WAS I EVER DANCING WITH AN ANDROID NAMED LUPE!?"
"Ben!" Rachel scolded as Jim shooshed him.
"This isn't over yet." Jim promised.
Silver led the way through a thick cluster of the strange bamboo like plants. The light beam pulsed faster and faster like a terrified heartbeat. The rouges were getting more and more excited.
"We're getting close, lads! I smell treasure a-waitin'!" Silver cried.
The pirates cheered, hardly able to contain themselves. Silver grabbed Jim by his shirt front and pulled him along. Other crewmembers pushed Bryan and Rachel pushed them forward. Silver rotated his mechanical arm into a sword and cut through the wall of plants. The mood died instantly.
They were on the edge of a cliff. It was the highest point of the planet Bryan had yet seen. The beam of light stopped in mid-air. It just stopped.
"Where is it!" One of the aliens growled.
"I see nu-ting! One great stinking hunk of nu'ting!" A slug-like creature with six eyes shouted angrily.
The light disappeared back into the map and the sphere closed itself.
"What's goin' on Jimbo!" Silver demanded.
Right, like he's gonna have all the answers. Bryan thought.
Jim tried pushing the 'buttons' and twisting like he had before but the map wouldn't give itself up. "I don't know. I can't get it open!"
The pirates were growing more and more angry. Heartless were beginning to appear again around them, drawn by the emotions.
"We should'a never have followed this boy!" A strange creature with a head, arms and no body declared as she jumped and pushed Jim to the ground.
"I suggest you get that gizmo goin' again and fast!" Silver growled.
Bryan's fingers twitched, ready to summon his Keyblade. It seemed like any second the crew would turn into a lynch mob, shouting things like "Let's rip 'is gizza'd righ' out of 'im!" and "Throw him over cliff!" And they weren't talking about just Jim either. The Pirate Heartless were doing some kind of antsy dance and swung their swords about, excited by the rage.
Bryan saw Jim brush away some lichen on the ground. What had he seen? It looked like he put the map on the ground and suddenly the cliff edge glowed green and pulsed away from the center point like a ripple! The light faded then a glowing green orb appeared from where Jim had placed the map. Several points of light rushed in from across the shallow valley before them to the cliff. They converged and shot straight up in the air then opened at the bottom to create a big triangle. The green and yellow light within it faded to reveal some kind of blue and white smoky-lookin' thing.
"Ah have mercy…" Silver said with breathless awe. The pirates were now staring at the new sight and the Heartless had calmed down.
"The Lagoon Nebula?" Jim said bewildered.
Bryan decided he'd have to take his word for it.
"But…tha's half way across the galaxy." Silver said.
Interesting.
"A big door…" Jim said thoughtfully. He touched the green orb. It was covered with all kinds of bizarre symbols. Every time he did the triangle became clouded with green and yellow light then the image cleared to reveal something new. "…opening and closing."
Nagged by a child-like desire Bryan reached out and touched it too. The door opened to yet another spectacular place. Cool.
"Let's see…Kynapis," Jim said, pointing to a symbol he recognized. "Montressor space port!" His eyes lit up a little as he touched the symbol of a crescent moon. The door opened and closed again to a place that looked like a crescent moon made of machinery. "So that's how Flint did it!" Jim declared. He kept touching symbols on the orb. "He used this…portal to roam the universe stealing treasure!"
Bryan could tell he was thrilled to learn the truth about a childhood fairy tale.
"But where'd 'e stash it all!" Silver griped and pushed Jim and Bryan out of the way. He pressed symbol after symbol but none of the opened doors led to where he wanted. "Where's! Dat! Blasted! Treasure!" His frustration aggravated the Heartless.
"Treasure!" B.E.N cried. He clawed at his head, struggling to remember why talk of treasure sounded so familiar. "Treasure…it's buried in the-!"
"-buried in the centroid of the mechanism." Jim finished thoughtfully.
Centroid of the mechanism? Bingo. That's where we need to be. Bryan thought.
"What if the whole planet is the mechanism? And the treasure is buried in the center of this planet?" Jim said, his tone of delighted realization growing with every word.
The crew behind them grabbed their shovels and pick axes and tried to chip through the ground with all their might. Only problem was the ground was made primarily of metal.
"An' how in blue blazes are we supposed to get there!" Silver napped, pressing more and more symbols and still finding nothing.
"Just, open the right door."
Jim reached his hand inside the orb and touched the image of the planet the map had conjured when it was first opened. The door closed then opened again. The image within the portal had strange copper stalactites hanging from a very high ceiling. Bryan and Jim stepped forward, tentatively reaching out their hands. It was like touching a sheet. It gave under their touch and the light distorted around it. As they continued to push their hands went right through it. Rachel, B.E.N, Silver and the other pirates followed. The Heartless remained gathered just outside the door. What held them back Bryan didn't know. All the same, it couldn't be good.
Before them was by far the most outstanding sight Bryan had yet seen. The center of the planet was a rotating orb that glowed in its own radiance of what had to be tons upon tons of gold and jewels. The pirates cheered and rushed by, diving into the gilded field.
"The loot of a thousand worlds!" Silver said in awe as his crew ran passed like an insane mob.
The rapscallions gathered up as much loot as their arms could carry. Some rolled in it and others tossed it in the air, letting it rain down on them.
"We are going to need a bigger boat!" The slug cheered.
Rachel grabbed Bryan's upper arm fiercely. The suddenness startled him. She hadn't exactly tried to keep her nails from digging into him like claws. When their eyes met she jerked her head off to her left. He tried to follow where she was looking.
The copper stalactites were actually huge pipes of some kind that shot beams of energy into the gilded ball, keeping it in stasis. Between them on the ceiling lots and lots of glyphs were etched into the metal. They resembled the ones on the map. But in a large gap between the pipes (Bryan was unsure how exactly Rachel had seen it so quickly) the symbols were heavily concentrated. And within the negative space of the images was the shape…
…of a keyhole.
