CHAPTER 9
Author's Note: Well, it's been months, hasn't it? Still, we have a huge Amelia and Doppler filled update for you now. Chapter nine was actually so long we had to break it into two, so none of yer whining ;). Thanks to Vik for his inadvertent input, even though we currently can't remember what it was he input inadvertently. Surely he'll know.
Part I
Dr. Doppler peeled his head away from the kitchen table and raised his eyes wearily. The last thing he recalled was B.E.N. whole-heartedly sharing his life history with Captain Flint, jovially explaining that most missing persons were actually overboard or drunk in the galley. Finally, the Captain had dragged him into the next room and explained the situation to him properly - if a little bluntly. Now the kitchen was grey with morning light, and the lamp had gone out. He felt guilty for falling asleep the moment he realised that Sarah Hawkins, sitting still in the same spot she had been the night before, was still awake.
"What time is it?" Doppler asked her hoarsely.
"Tuesday," she replied, bloodshot eyes staring at the silent communicator which had been yanked into the kitchen so everyone could watch it impatiently.
"No news?" he tried, clearing his throat.
"No," Sarah answered quickly, ignoring Morph who changed briefly into a miniature version of Jim in his position at the nape of Sarah's neck.
"We'll hear from them soon, Sarah," Doppler reassured, patting her shoulder. "Uhm... Where is -"
"With B.E.N.."
"Oh. I see," Doppler paused, finally deciding to find Amelia and get her into the kitchen so they could all throw back some caffeine and start the slog all over again. "I won't be a moment," he promised Sarah as he sided around her chair and scuffed out of the kitchen in his oversized slippers.
"Really?" Amelia's voice sounded almost slurred, thought Doppler as he approached the sitting room door. It was ajar, and a yellow pool of light spilled out from the crack.
"Yes, he did!" B.E.N. cried, clearly in the middle of some ridiculous tale with no beginning or end, only relentless noise.
The garbled story seemed to be concerned with life on Treasure Planet, Doppler realised, as he pushed the door open.
He was almost tempted to find his camera, but fascination kept him from going to fetch it. B.E.N., looking most self-important, was perched in a large armchair by the fire. Amelia was asleep on the rug, although every time B.E.N. paused she seemed to stir, and reply with one of a variety of polite responses and hand gestures.
"Hey Doc!" B.E.N. cried, hopping down from the chair. "Cap'n Amelia's asleep there, but I'm NOT ONE TO TURN DOWN A CONVERSATION!!"
"Shh!" Doppler pressed his fingers to his lips, nodding silent praise towards B.E.N., who clamped his mouth shut with his fingers. He whispered to the robot, who listened intently. "Go into the kitchen, I think... er, Sarah wanted you. Don't wake the captain!"
"I am awake," Amelia murmured insistently, though she clearly wasn't, as B.E.N. crept out of the room.
"I see," Doppler leaned down, crouching as close to the floor as he could. Intercourse, eh? Revenge was a dish best served early, or so he thought. "Captain?" he whispered, staring down his nose at her.
"Hmm?"
He paused, for effect mostly, and then said simply, with his volume raised, "Intercourse?"
Her eyes fluttered open and she jumped at the unexpected sight of Doppler looming above her. "What...?"
For that moment, Doppler didn't care that she could see clearly up his nose. The look of confusion on her face was priceless, though it was quickly replaced with a sharper look of suspicion as her mind cleared.
"Well," Doppler began slowly, biting the insides of his mouth to keep from grinning. "I was just going to suggest..."
Amelia raised an eyebrow as the corners of Doppler's mouth pulled back into an innocent smile. "...breakfast," he finished, looking awfully proud of himself as he backed away.
"Tell me, Doctor, do you often make a habit of creeping up on your guests while they're asleep?" Amelia asked pointedly, as she stood up. She stretched stiffly and straightened her clothes as she followed a few paces behind Doppler to the door.
"Of course not," Doppler replied. "You insisted you were awake, Captain."
"I see," Amelia paused, realizing it still didn't add up, particularly.
"I must say," Doppler interjected quickly. "I didn't think you were a sleep-talker, Captain."
She chuckled, shaking her head. "Got to get through those long Navy board meetings somehow, you know."
"Hello?" Sarah Hawkins had finally cracked. Her resolve to wait for the robo-constables to contact her had disintegrated the very moment B.E.N. had reappeared in the kitchen, asking if Jimmy had called. "My name is Sarah Hawkins. My son was reported missing yesterday, and I wondered if..."
"I'm sorry, ma'am," the harried voice on the other end replied. "There's been a break-out from the Montressor Jail. All available units have been dispatched to deal with it - and your case is no longer priority."
"No longer...!" Sarah choked, hardly aware of the words she was sobbing down the line. "My son is sixteen years old, and he's lost in the etherium by himself somewhere! He could already be... who knows what he's going through? How can you tell me that he's not your priority?" She stopped, gasping for breath to steady herself, to stop herself from collapsing into tears right then.
"Please hold, ma'am," the voice asked quietly, no indication that it had heard a word she had said. "We must field incoming calls about escapee sightings. Someone will be with you the moment they are available."
There was a click and crackling music began to play through the communicator. With a loud sigh, Sarah began to wring her hands. They weren't even looking for Jim now - even if they saw him, would he be priority then?
She found herself biting hard on her nails, a nervous action she had thought she had given up years ago. Quickly, she pulled her hands from her face and began to fidget with the edges of her dress, smoothing down the wrinkles and tugging at the loose ends of thread. She had been awake all night, but it seemed she had never before had so much useless energy. The thought that Jim was out there somewhere, alone, penniless, hungry, scared... Her stomach fluttered and rose in an aching crescendo of nervous excitement. Quickly, she forced the thought from her mind, convinced that she would soon worry herself sick if she carried on thinking that way. They would find him. They had to find him.
Sarah couldn't remember the last time she had felt so worried. She had been concerned, she remembered, when he had wanted to go to Treasure Planet, fretting and fussing and certain that something awful would happen to him along the way. She had lived her whole life on Montressor, and rarely visited the nearby planets of the Empire. It was familiar to her, comfortable and safe. The idea of her only son going off into the open etherium, to an uncharted planet... But knowing that Delbert, a man she would trust with her own life, was going with him had offered her solace. And knowing that a team of trained professionals (or so she had thought) would be there gave her assurance. After so many months of hearing nothing every day, it was the only thought that stopped her from taking a ship out and going after him herself. But now... knowing he had nothing... no one...
A noise woke her from her thoughts and she glanced up quickly, hopefully, as if she expected Jim himself to be standing at the door. Instead, only Doppler stood there.
"Sarah?" He moved into the room and slipped into a chair beside her as the captain took up a sentry position in the doorway where he had been standing.
"They... they aren't looking for Jim," Sarah sighed, trying to keep the overwhelming emotion out of her voice as she clicked the communicator off. "They have better things to do, it seems. They said some prisoners escaped."
"Oh... well, I'm sure they'll manage..." Doppler offered weakly.
"What if managing isn't good enough, Delbert?" Sarah growled sharply. "They might bring home his dead body!" She closed her eyes to keep the tears that image conjured from falling out. "I've had it, Delbert, I really have. I'm going out to look for him."
"What?" Amelia interrupted. "You're not seriously considering going off into space by yourself, are you?"
"I've made my mind up!" Sarah declared loudly, nodding as if trying to convince herself of the action. "I'm sure there are plenty of nice spacers on Crescentia who would take me..."
She began pacing across the kitchen floor to keep herself from shaking, her arms folded firmly across her chest. Fear and excitement were already gnawing at her insides, warning her that it would be a lot less simple than she was forcing herself to believe. Behind her, Doppler and Amelia shared a long look of semi-disdain. Clearly the idea of Sarah hitchhiking her way around the galaxy didn't appeal to either of them.
Before either could think of a convincing argument to put her off the trip, B.E.N. jumped into the conversation, crying happilly, "I'll navigate!"
"No!" both shouted at once, causing B.E.N. to fold his arms in offense, his eyes little more than blue slits. "I AM a navigator, after all!" he added, trying his best to pout.
"Look," Amelia began carefully, choosing to ignore B.E.N., "you've never really left Montressor before, have you?"
"Well, no," Sarah admitted, glancing between them defiantly. "But I have to start somewhere!"
"Er... but... but what about the Benbow Inn?" Doppler asked quickly, hardly noticing the glare of annoyance Amelia shot him. "You can't leave - construction there is, is critical!"
"It's far too dangerous," Amelia cut in smoothly, holding up her hand to silence B.E.N.. "Considering the last spacers that... we hired from Crescentia, I should think that doing so again would be foolish."
Sarah drew a breath to argue back, but before she could get out the words, Doppler's voice cut in loudly: "We'll go!"
The argument ground to a halt and a long silence filled the room as everyone froze, trying to absorb the strength of Doppler's words. Sarah stopped, turning to smile at him with wide childish eyes; Amelia twisted around to glare at him, her own eyes burning with anger. She was the first to break the silence, hissing quietly in a tone of disbelief, giving a slow emphasis to each word, "Excuse me?"
"I'll hire another ship - er, a smaller one, perhaps," he began, desperate to find a logical way to make it work. "I have good credit, after all... I could miss one or two mortgage payments, and..." He was aware that he was rambling, speaking every thought as it came to him as he tried desperately to rework his financial position. While he earned enough to live in a large house, he had blown most of his savings trying to get to Treasure Planet.
"Don't be daft," Amelia groaned. "We're both on probation, Doctor. Going beyond the spaceport is expressly forbidden. You're being utterly ridiculous - and what crew would take a job sailing around aimlessly for an undetermined amount of time? We can hardly afford another voyage so soon, anyway."
"Well, perhaps if you weren't so expensive things would be different!" Doppler spluttered, jumping up from the table.
"It's hardly my fault that you didn't think to barter, Doctor," Amelia replied smugly.
"You feline-"
"Stop it, both of you!" Sarah cried, the tears she had held back finally falling down her cheeks like scars. "We have to do something!"
The three of them shared a long look; even Morph seemed to be holding his breath.
"We might find Long John Silver, if we did go, Captain," Doppler said at last, trying not to sound hopeful. "And it's been so long since you've been on a ship..."
"And I could navigate!" B.E.N. offered again. "Oh, please!"
At once, they all turned to look imploringly at the captain, as if resting the entire decision upon her. With a tut, she glanced away, turning her own gaze to the floor. Just what she needed right then. The whole idea was ludicrous, she knew, and shouldn't even be considered, but saying so with tact enough so not to hurt Sarah's somewhat frazzled emotions... Amelia sighed heavily, seeming to contemplate their options.
"I don't see how we can do it," she said finally, giving each word the weight which comes with consideration. "The Legacy is still impounded, and hiring a crew would draw attention to the fact that we're blatantly breaking probation."
"But... you would, if you could?" Sarah asked, sinking her teeth into her lower lip. Her eyes were cloudy behind a veil of fresh tears as she spoke, her voice quivering beneath her emotion.
Amelia winced. "Well, yes," she replied, in what was almost a tone of sympathy. "But we can't."
"Wait!" Doppler cried, slamming his fist down hard on to the table. "Ow! Er, I think I just might have an idea!"
"Really?" Sarah smiled hopefully.
"Really?" Amelia sounded more skeptical.
Doppler cleared his throat as he tried to put his thoughts into order, wondering how to begin. Before he could take a breath to voice his idea, B.E.N. bounded over to him excitedly, crying, "Do I get to navigate, Doc? Do I?"
Doppler sighed. "B.E.N.! Could you..." he paused, trying to think of a believable excuse to get him out of the room. His impatience at the rowdy robot was hardly contained within his tone as he asked sharply, "Feed Delilah for me? Take Morph. But, er, don't let Delilah eat him!"
"Roger that, Doc!" B.E.N. agreed, saluting, and clanked noisily out of the kitchen. Morph followed with trepidation, keeping a safe distance from the robot and glaring daggers at the doctor as he went. Doppler settled himself back into the chair, taking a long moment to get comfortable before making sure he had the undivided attention of both the captain and Sarah before he began.
"All right, Sarah - did you say there had been a... er, a break-out recently?" he asked, choosing to ignore Amelia's questioning gaze.
"Yes, I did," she sighed indignantly. They said Jim wasn't a priority until they'd caught the prisoners who escaped!"
Doppler allowed himself a smile as he continued, stroking his chin as he was stroking his ego. "Well, perhaps if all non-urgent cases are currently on the back-burner, so to speak, then they'll have, er, stopped work on the Legacy." He turned to direct these words specifically at the captain. Both knew that the police had been stripping the ship to search for illegal transportation devices, mistakenly convinced that they had used some kind of black-market alien technology to reappear at Crescentia spaceport. But if a case big enough to postpone the search of a missing child had cropped up, then it would hopefully be big enough to postpone a search for illegal technology, too.
Though, since the ship had been in custody for weeks now, there was a good chance she had been stripped down to the essentials - she might not even fly now. Still, it was the only idea he had, and Sarah was already perking up at the mention of it. The captain, however, would be more difficult to convince.
"What exactly are you getting at, Doctor?" Amelia asked acridly, one eyebrow fixed high above the other.
"Well," Doppler bit his lip. "I'm merely suggesting that our ship problems could, er, be overcome. That's all. They may not even notice that it's gone..."
"Are you saying we ought to steal a ship?" Amelia shook her head, feeling no need to hide her look of obvious disgust. "You've gone completely mad, Doctor!"
"It's not stealing!" Doppler argued. "It's your ship, Captain, and the probation officer won't be back for weeks!"
"Hawkins is probably playing some ludicrous initiation prank," she hissed defensively, her ears flattening against her head. She clearly wasn't going for this idea as well as he would have hoped. Doppler moved to counter this with another argument he hadn't yet thought out, but Sarah cut in quickly before he could get himself into another fight with the captain. "But what if he isn't?" Sarah's voice was wavering. "You said yourself that he and this Silver character seemed to get along, and - have you seen the news?"
"And now," Doppler added solemnly, "a break-out from the very jail where his crew were being held!" He looked pointedly to the captain, who gave only a stubborn sniff.
"Perhaps we ought to go to the police with this information."
"Captain," Doppler tried softly, "do you really want to be associated with Long John Silver while you're on probation?" He gulped once the words were out, resisting the urge to cross his fingers. In order to go through with this plan, he really would need the captain to go along with it. He had never planned to play the hero and go after Jim, although the idea was becoming exciting, but from the look of relief that had come suddenly across Sarah's face when he had made the wild offer, he knew it was the right thing to do. Jim had put Sarah through more than her share of troubles; she was scarcely thirty, but her face had been made old with years of worry and her hair was turning grey at the roots. He knew that anything he could do to make things easier on her would be worth the bother it put him through. Also, although Doppler refused to admit it to himself, a part of him was seeking to impress Captain Amelia by playing the vigilante.
Breaking the long pause, Amelia asked finally with a sigh, "And if we get caught?"
"I'll say I kidnapped you... and... and... Or perhaps I have an evil twin!" Doppler smiled weakly, unsuccessfully trying to lighten the conversation.
"Right. So what you're telling me, Doctor, is that I'm going to jail?" Amelia smirked. "At least one of us could plead insanity."
"Delbert?" Sarah broke in politely, dropping her hand on to his arm. "Perhaps you could leave us alone for a moment... I'd like to talk to the captain myself."
"All right," Doppler agreed, although his tone lent itself to the idea that Sarah was off her trolley. "I'll be outside, with B.E.N. and, er," he smiled, "hopefully Morph."
Eyes fixed on Delbert, Sarah waited until he had walked through the door and far down the hallway before turning to face Amelia. Her eyes were wide and pleading, still trembling with tears which threatened to spill once more down her cheeks. "Captain, I know it's a lot to ask - I mean, we've known one another for what, five weeks?" She forced a hollow laugh which the captain did not return. She stopped, blushing, and cleared her throat. "I wouldn't ask you to go after Jim," Sarah continued, knowing full well that it was only a half-truth, "but Delbert will go even if you don't! I know, I told him not to go chasing silly legends months ago, and, well, you know the rest."
"I'm not sure I see what you're getting at," Amelia admitted, staring at the claw she was tapping against the wooden table next to her.
"You can't tell me he didn't fall over his own feet at least three times on that ship!" Sarah cried. "He has no sailing experience, and I don't think he could even hang a solar sail. And, tell me right now, Captain, if you can see Delbert breaking into an impound lot by himself and escaping with an entire ship unnoticed!"
Amelia chuckled, shaking her head at the thought. "Perhaps not unnoticed, no."
"I don't want to lose him and Jim both," Sarah sighed, resting her chin on her fist. "At least if you go, I'll get one back for sure."
Amelia seemed to consider this, her ears flicking to and fro as her eyes furiously studied the kitchen table.
"Besides," Sarah added, before she could give an answer, "he'll be gone for months. Er, in your ship! If it's not ruined by now, it will be by then! Please, Captain?"
Amelia let out a long sigh and shook her head, more in disbelief of herself than at the request. "Oh, all right."
Hawkins was going to be scrubbing decks for months.
"Doctor, is this really necessary?" Amelia asked, watching with disbelief as he grabbed a tub of boot polish and smeared it across his face.
"It's important to remain incognito, Captain!" he said, grinning. There was a glint in his eye Amelia was sure she had seen before, on Treasure Planet somewhere.
"I know exactly who you are," Amelia countered, "and you look like a twit."
He chuckled softly. "Oh, I only look like a twit? I'll take that as a compliment, Captain."
Amelia rolled her eyes. How anyone could be in such a good mood in this, the dead of night, in what must be the smelliest bullyadous stable in all of the etherium, knowing full well the concequences of what they were about to do was far beyond her.
Bemused, she watched the astrophysisist and PhD struggle to master the finer details of Delilah's saddle straps, eyeing him with a wary smile. They were each dressed in black outfits which covered every inch of their flesh, aside from the head, hands and feet. Amelia was positive that it had been no accident that hers was at least one size too small while Doppler's fit him like a tent. "It was all they had," he had said, without, she had noticed, an apologetic note in his voice. Twit.
Eventually, Doppler managed to strap the disused, dusty saddle over Delilah's back. While simultaneously trying to calm the bouncing, shouting, and to Amelia's dismay, drooling beast, it was no easy task. It took some perseverance, but they finally managed get both riders aboard the delighted bullyadous as she hopped and pranced around her tiny stable, happily honking at the top of her lungs to celebrate her midnight ride. Amelia was suddenly very glad that they didn't have any neighbours - this secret expedition was turning out to be hardly secret at all.
"This had better not be a long trip," Amelia warned, her claws resting lightly on Doppler's shoulders.
With another loud honk, Delilah shot off out of the stable, the sudden speed nearly knocking them both off her back again. Amelia couldn't help but think there was something prophetic about the way, all at once, it started to rain.
It took half an hour and several tearful orders of "go home" to send Delilah on her way. It had been deemed impractical to bounce up to the front door of the impound lot on bullyadous back - somewhat conspicuous, even - but the animal had refused to leave her master behind.
"She thinks I don't want her!" Doppler insisted, clearly distraught. "Perhaps we can go tomorrow, instead?"
"Doctor," Amelia growled, spinning on her heel to give him the full power of her glare. "It took an hour and a half in the rain - in THIS outfit - to get here. We're not stopping now."
Bedraggled hair hung in her face with huge drops of water running from each strand, and her eyes were mere slits against the rain. Somehow, Doppler didn't think she was kidding.
"All right," he sighed, turning once more to watch his pet disappear behind the heavy falling rain. "I think there's a smaller door than the one at the front, somewhere around to the right."
Amelia nodded, blinking as Doppler pulled an expensive looking pair of goggles from the bag he carried. He fixed them over his eyes, scrutinizing the building ahead.
"Ah," he said knowingly.
"What is it, Doctor?" Amelia peered over his shoulder but could see nothing.
"These goggles don't work," Doppler groaned. "Can't see a thing through them!"
"Let me see." Amelia rolled her eyes, pulling them off his face before he could do it himself. She glanced at them, slowly extending her claw towards the front. She rolled her eyes again. "Lens-caps, Doctor."
"Oh." Even beneath the thick layers of boot polish which, in the rain, had melted to become a black mask across his entire face, Amelia could tell he was blushing. "I... er... well, I only bought them earlier this afternoon..." he murmured sheepishly, grabbing the goggles back. Avoiding eye-contact, he took the caps off the lenses and tried again. "Ah! I see it now, down there. It has an electronic lock on it. Not to worry, we have the equipment to take care of that!"
Amelia didn't want to ask what else the doctor had bought in preparation for their "mission" that day. She hoped, momentarily, that they wouldn't need to use any of it either. Stealthily, they crept forwards - doing their utmost not to slip down the mud-slide of a hill.
It seemed the guard detail truly had been scaled back. No one was patrolling around the building, which was perhaps a good thing, considering what they would have seen if they were. Clinging to the wall, Amelia and Doppler squelched noisily around the perimeter, searching for the door. Doppler's loose suit flapped every time he took a step. Flap, squish, squelch, flap. It sounded like Mr. Snuff in a swimming pool.
When they finally did reach the door, Doppler yanked out an automatic lock-picking device, although it looked more like an electronic whisk with several small points extending from it. Amelia decided against pointing out exactly how illegal such devices were.
"Now... how do I turn this on?" Doppler pondered aloud, rubbing his chin. Boot-polish, soft from the rain, smeared across his lower face in the darkness. He fumbled with the device, eventually managing to switch it on and aimed it at the lock as the point tapped the control pad lightly. It didn't take very long to disable the lock.
Familiar voices floated up from the lower floor of the impound lot, bickering over this, that and the next thing, although the word "ridiculous" in conjunction with "equipment" seemed to appear the most often. Rhonda Frost, settled comfortably against the underside of the light-fixture, had never felt more triumphant. She raised her camera from her neck, snapping a lens specifically for dark shots over the front as she started clicking, taking a whole reel of flashless evidence.
"Reagle," she hissed into a communicator in her coat pocket. "This night just got ten times better."
"Did you find it?" Lars replied from the other end, his voice equally hushed.
"No," Rhonda grinned, "but I will. That captain woman and Doppler just broke in. They're obviously here for the device!"
"Great," Reagle didn't sound thrilled. "Can I go catch some shut-eye now, or what?"
"Stay on the line," Rhonda snapped, her eyes bulging out with anger. That woman had just dropped straight past her through the very window Rhonda had let herself in by. It was going to be the first thing asked at a hearing, she knew - "who left the skylight open", that was - and Rhonda was desperately trying to think of a way to place Amelia and Doppler at the scene without incriminating herself. It seemed impossible, but then a little blackmail could go a long way. Having the evidence certainly couldn't hurt.
"The ship is outside," Amelia noted quietly. She was looking out of a small window just opposite the door Doppler had come in through. "The rigging looks all right, but there are no sails."
"Oh," Doppler exhaled. Nervously, he began chewing on his lower lip. Solar sails were enormous and very delicate. They were kept in insulated black tubes when they were down, and six people - minimum - usually had to hang them so that they wouldn't fold over one another and power up. It was the fastest route to owning a pile of solar ashes, and nursing a set of burned fingers, if they did.
"Before dawn," Amelia muttered, frowning at the pink horizon.
Doppler blinked. "Sorry, you what?"
"We need to get the sails up before dawn, Doctor," she repeated irritably, as though he was supposed to guess her whole intention from two words alone. Mr. Arrow, she knew, would have.
"Oh, I see!" Doppler peered around the dim room, trying to spot a good place to store solar sails through the darkness. Eventually, his gaze fell upon a small corner of the room lined with shelves, which had been caged off from the rest of the room. He adjusted his glasses. "They might be over there."
Amelia waved dismissively in the direction of the caged area, hardly bothering to look. "You go and check. I'll have a look at the engines."
Doppler watched indignantly as the captain spun on her heel and strode confidently towards the door. This was going to be more difficult than he thought.
