Chapter Five
We finally came to an exit that led right to the spot that Silver and all the other pirates had camped out. Jim slowly crept out, but was interrupted by B.E.N.
"So what's the plan?!?" B.E.N. screamed.
"Shh!" I hissed, deadly afraid that Silver might wake up.
"We're going to sneak back to the ship, get the map, and disable the laser cannons," Jim whispered.
"How are we gonna do that?" I asked.
"On that," Jim answered as he pointed to the longboat that the pirates used to get down to the planet.
We made it to the ship unnoticed, which made the plan work…so far. We climbed over the side of the ship, but B.E.N. crashed to the floor.
"Quiet!" whispered Jim.
"Sorry, sorry," B.E.N. apologized.
We walked down the stairs and made sure that no one was looking.
"Okay," Jim began, but was interrupted again by B.E.N.
"I'll disable laser cannons, Jimmy sir!" B.E.N. chimed as he headed for the control room humming. Jim sighed and turned to me.
"You wait here and keep guard while I go get the map," Jim ordered.
"Okay," I said as Jim walked down the hall to where the longboats were stored. I looked behind me to make sure no one was coming. I didn't see anyone. I then looked back down both hallways to find nobody.
"Good," I thought. Feeling much more relaxed and at ease I leaned back against the wall. Unexpectedly, an alarm went off. It must have been B.E.N. messing with all the wires. I was about to run and find Jim when suddenly something grabbed me. I tugged against it as it pulled my arms behind my back. I turned around to come face to face with Scroop. He chuckled and pulled out a gun just as Jim ran up. Jim looked shocked when suddenly the lights went out. Scroop let go of me and I fell to the floor, knocking over Jim. Everything was pitch black so I had no idea what the heck I was doing. We managed to get back up, just as the lights came back on, but we couldn't see Scroop anywhere. I looked behind me but there was nothing there. Thinking he left, we slowly began to walk back. Then out of nowhere, Scroop hit both of us, knocking us down to the ground. Jim's gun flew out of his hand and skidded along the floor. He reached for it, but it was too far away. Scroop pointed his gun at Jim, but was thrown off by something strange. B.E.N. must have turned off the artificial gravity. We began to float up, so I kicked Scroop so hard that he flew through the little gated thing and further away from us. I managed to grab the gun as we floated out off the ship. I held onto a sail as Jim floated past me.
"Jim!" I yelled, reaching my hand out to him, but it was too late. He swept past me, but managed to grab the flag, which was only held to the ship by a single rope. Scroop crawled up and started to tear the rope.
"Do say hello to Mr. Arrow," he laughed. Jim pulled himself to the pole so that he wouldn't fly away. Frustrated, Scroop crawled higher up onto the flag so that he could push Jim off himself. Panicked and scared, I fired the gun at Scroop, but I just missed him. I hit the rope holding the flag on instead. Screaming, Scroop flew off into space, the flag wrapped around him. The gravity turned back on and I fell back to the ground. Jim looked relieved as he pulled reached for his pocket to make sure that the map has still there. B.E.N. popped out of the control room, completely covered in wires.
"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" he asked.
We made it back to B.E.N.'s house safely, though it was dark and really late. Jim jumped out of the hole and reached a hand down to pull me up. Jim ran over to who he thought was the doctor.
"Doc! Doc, wake up!" he exclaimed "I got the map!" The figure Jim thought was Dr. Doppler stood up, but as it he came into the light, we realized it wasn't Doppler.
"Fine work, Jimbo, fine work indeed," said Silver as he took the map from Jim's hand. Out of the darkness came a group of pirates. Jim tried to make a run for it, but he was too late. They grabbed all of us; the doctor and the captain were already tied up. Jim pulled and tugged against the pirates' grip, but he was no match for their strength.
"You're just like me, Jimbo. You hates te' loose," Silver chuckled. He looked at the map and tried to open it. He pulled it and squeezed it trying to force it open. He had no luck. Jim smiled and shook his head. He must have known how.
"Open it!" Silver demanded. Jim took the map, but didn't attempt to do anything with it.
"I'd get busy," said Silver sneakily as he pointed his gun at the captain and Dr. Doppler. Captain Amelia shook her head, telling him not to do anything while the doctor nodded, encouraging him to open it right away. When the doctor caught sight of the captain shaking her head, Doppler began to do the same. While still looking at Silver, Jim pressed a few buttons and twisted the small sphere and opened the map. Out came a bright green line that shot past us and out the door.
"The beam of light," I gasped.
"Tie him up and leave him with the others," said Silver, still amazed in what he saw. Suddenly, the green line disappeared and returned to the map.
"If you want the map," Jim began "you're taking me too." Silver grunted, but then smiled.
"We'll take 'em all!" Silver announced.
We rode in the small longboat, following the green trail that lit up every now and then. As we got closer, it lit up more often. When we finally came to a dead end, Silver, Jim, B.E.N., a few of the pirates and I got out, leaving the captain, Doppler, and one pirate behind. The green line flashed faster and faster as we walked the way that it led.
"Jim," I began, short on words. I had the distinct feeling that something bad was going to happen, and this feeling was never wrong. I felt the same way the day that I walked home from school on that stormy night that my parents died. Jim turned around. He must have been able to tell that I was scared when looked at me.
"It's okay. It's not over yet," he assured. Silver changed his hand into a sword.
"I smell treasure awaitin'!" he announced as he cut down the plants that stood in our way. The green line stopped right over a cliff. There was nothing there. The pirates began to complain as the green lien vanished back into the map.
"What's going on?" I asked Jim.
"I don't know. I can't get it open," he answered, playing with the map and trying to get it to work again.
"We should have never trusted this boy," said a pirate as it pushed him to the ground. I had no idea what was going to happen.
"What do we do?!" I asked B.E.N. who was standing right next to me. Before B.E.N. could answer, Jim placed the map in a small hole that sat right in front of him. A globe popped out and a huge door appeared.
"A door," I said, recalling B.E.N.'s words from before.
"Oh, have mercy," gasped Silver in amazement. Inside the door was a whole nebula.
"The Lagoon Nebula?" stammered Jim.
"But that's," Silver said with amazement still in his voice "halfway across the galaxy." Jim looked closer at the globe and touched a few of the miniature planets. The door opened and closed to show each of the places that had been touched in the globe.
"Lets see," Jim said quietly to himself listing the names of other planets "Kinapis, Montressor Spaceport." Jim touched the crescent-moon shaped port and the door closed, and then opened to show it. We all watched in amazement. It was the strangest thing I'd ever seen in my life.
"So that's how Flint did it," observed Jim "he used this portal to roam around the universe stealing treasure."
"But where did he stash it all!?" yelled Silver, pushing Jim aside and pressing all kinds of buttons on the globe.
"Treasure, treasure, is buried in the," B.E.N. said, pulling at the loose wires on the back of his head trying to remember.
"Buried in the centroid of the mechanism," I finished B.E.N.'s sentence "Hold on, what if the whole planet is the mechanism? Then the treasure would be buried on the center of this planet! Just like that writing said!" I exclaimed, pleased with myself that I had solved it. Jim heard me and turned around, running everything through his head to make sure it made sense. He smiled slightly. The pirates next to me stupidly tried to dig through the metal ground, but only ended up breaking their tools.
"So how in blue blazes are we supposed to get there?!" Silver demanded.
"Just open the right door," Jim replied as he touched the planet right in the center. The door opened once again. You couldn't really tell what it was from the outside though. Just before anyone moved, I remembered the last thing I read off of that building before we left.
"Wait! Don't go in there! There's a trap!" I screamed. Jim turned around again, just now remembering it too. He looked panicked. The pirate who was next to me got irritated.
"Oh, shut up already," it said, pushing me toward the portal. Silver walked through, followed by everyone else.
We all walked in, and were completely amazed with what we saw. It was marvelous enough to make me completely forget about the warning and any other concern I could possibly have.
