"Well, Pekerth Flint. I'm pleased to see that you are well and haven't
forgotten me." The ferocious, murderous, knife-witted pirate admiral began
panting heavily in fright. "M...M ..Ma-Maleficent? My...Lady?" "Of Course,"
came the voice with more chill in it's oily tone. "I trust your brothers
are getting along splendidly?" "Aye...we are...gulp...Your Eminence.
'Cept...well, we be in quite a bit ov what ye may call a...a..." "Conflict?"
"That be about the size 'o it, Madam. We here were just—""Getting ready
for War, I imagine.", sneered the frightening apparition. "Then...You already
know?", asked Pekerth. "How did you—""I KNOW EVERYTHING, You wretched,
spineless worm. Nothing escapes my view...Or do I need to remind you of my
precious gift that I provided unto your family fifteen years ago..." "Gift,
gift, gift..." muttered the six-eyed alien under his breath, "Ohhhhh, yes,
now I remember: the girl."
Jim's heart nearly went into cardiac arrest. That, that...well, whoever "she" or "it" was, gave Bethany to the pirates!?!?!?
"Yes, The Girl. How is she at the moment?" Pekerth didn't answer immediately; he had witnessed his brother Gray Flint behead and disembowel 5 crewmates just to release his anger over the wench's disappearance. What would this...creature do once she knew the truth? "Well, Speak Up, "Ruler of the Etherium"," scoffed the villainess with contempt for the title the Brother's endowed upon themselves. "Where is she!?!?" "W...we-we...We don't...know?" "What??? Don't Know??? A simple, blood-red haired, pale- skinned little strumpet has eluded your sight???" Nothing was said for a few moments; it didn't matter for the silence was enough to confirm what Maleficent was realizing. "SHE'S ESCAPED!?!?!? YOU BREAD CRUMBS LET GO MY ONE PRIZE THAT I TRUSTED YOU WITH!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!" "No, she just disappeared one morning and We've been searching everywhere for her this whole day." "And You've haven't even so much as seen a scrap of clothing off her back???" "We're still looking for her as we speak. She will be found." "HOW DARE YOU, You whose forefather I've blessed with this land, this fortress!!!!! Or have you forgotten that?!?!?!?! Answer Me, HAVE YOU!?!?!?" "N-n-n-no-No-No, we haven't forgotten. I-I-I-I, excuse me, WE do remember that you gave us the girl as a baby as a token of your good grace and will to us." "Ahhhh, but did you also know what she's worth, Pirate scum???" Silence.
"Well then, Listen well and do not forget this: That young girl, you see, is of royal bloodlines. She's the second daughter of King Stephen and Queen Leah, rulers of a large country—Avalon, by name." "I've heard of it," muttered one pirate. "SILENCE", Maleficent and Pekerth both yelled. She then went on. "When their firstborn, Aurora, was brought forth, I attended the coronation uninvited and cursed the infant to die before her 16 birthday. Thus, they sent their daughter away to be hidden 'til then. But what nobody else in their kingdom knew was that 2 years after their daughter's birth, the Queen once again gave birth to another daughter—possibly to relieve her suffering of her now-hidden first. So, I slipped into their castle the night of the birthday and stole away with their joy and happiness—once and for all ! That's why I entrusted her to you, Pekerth, and your brothers—that she may never know her parents and that she may be of use to me, someday. That is why You Must Bring Her Back This Instant!!! If she escapes back to her father's and mother's kingdom, then all I've worked for and fought for will be lost. That girl is my last chance to destroy them and their kingdom; I was already defeated by Prince Philip, Aurora's husband who rescued her and gave back Their Majesties hope and happiness. And I will not let you fail me by allowing their second-born to run-off." "We shan't fail, My Lady. It'll be all of us 'n our skins or her. We'll find 'er." More silence for another minute. Then, "You shall bring her to me—Alive!!!" With that, there was another thunderclap and the sound of a mighty wind again. And then, no more sound.
"Well, you all heard her. Go round up yer crews 'n get yer ships underway!!!," ordered Pekerth Flint back in control again. "We'll scour the whole land from the sky 'n find her once and for all." There was a scampering noise as the pirates scrambled to obey. After a few more minutes of silence, Jim took a quick peek out the porthole; No one was around. He backed away and turned back to look at Beth. For a long while he just stared at her as his mind attempted to make sense of what was said. Beth was a King's daughter??? That would make her...Jim shook his head to get back to the present. What was more important was that she was in danger too. Whoever that woman was, she was a threat to his friend and obviously meant to more harm to her. And if Bethany was captured, she'd have no chance or hope once turned back over to her captor. He'd sooner preempt by ambushing and slaying whoever was looking for Beth.. But just as quickly, he remembered Admiral Creed's orders: do not engage unless discovered. Then again, he'd already gone against his orders when he attacked Kearsarge and took Beth right out from under their noses. He was already in danger—and he'd dragged Beth right into the middle of it. Now, he realized that there was no room to take chances with either himself or her. This meant that
He then thought about the Galmuthian Squadron; they were on their way by now but it would be some time before they reached the planet system. Then he remembered the portal he came through; while on one door opened somewhere out in the Barrens, the main portal/map area was two hundred yards away from the fortress. After passing through unseen, Jim had immediately landed and taken cover behind a boulder as a pirate galleon flew past and above to go through the portal. Before sneaking away, he managed to observe that there was a brass sphere like the Treasure Planet map right underneath the green holographic globe. While his mind recalled this memory, his hands quickly dug into his left cargo pocket and returned with the actual Treasure Planet map. Now if the map could work in the same spot, then he would give the squadron a shortcut and a chance to take the pirates by surprise. But he knew that he'd have to activate the portal within a certain time window: too soon and the pirates would see and get to him before the Interstellar forces did; too late and the fleet would miss the door altogether—and the pirates could use it to attack from the rear. Either way, he'd have to get back out there and send word to the ships—at the risk of being seen or captured. He made up his mind quickly, shouldered his packs, surfer and weapons and then woke Beth.
Meanwhile, the last warship, the RLS Parlay , had just cleared the Nobles Belt and now the 65-ship fleet resumed their 75 kilometer per hour run towards the darkness-shrouded planet. The 24 ships of the Galmuthian Squadron came first in a V-shape formation followed by 4 "Ship-of-the-line" class battleships flanked by 12 frigates, 5 corvettes and 5 sloops. In the rear were 6 gunboat brigantines, 2 merchantmen-turned-hospital ships, 2 supply barks and the RLS Legacy.
Onboard Captain Amelia's ship, her husband Delbert operated the ship's wheel while B.E.N. provided navigation and power status. Up in the crows nest, young Olivia sat looking ahead with her own telescope. Below her, Adam and Chloe stood on the mainmast beam holding on to the rigging. And on the prow, Andrea Doppler grasped a rope line while her mother held one hand on her shoulder. Behind the prow and leaning over the gunwales, were the leftover & officially-pardoned "ludicrous parcel of driveling galoots" that had last crewed the Legacy—Meltdown, the ship's lead gunner & mechanic; Birdbrain Mary, the irritable, walking female alien head; Oxy & Moron, the head-n-body duo who also served as gunners too, and Mr. Onus, the unbeknownst betrayer who'd given away news of Jim to Mr. Scroop. Except for the six-eyed slug, the others were fully intent upon working their way back into the captain's graces now that their hopes of "Flint's Trove" was gone forever. That and the fact that Silver was appointed First Mate by the Captain was enough to keep things under control.
Right now, everyone was craning their necks forward to see where the fleet was headed. Their nerves were on a knife's edge for they understood that a great battle was to be waged within the next hours. The scuttlebutt concerning the RLS Ulterior and her brief struggle had only heightened this knowledge and deepened the apprehension that settled on the crews. Yet every soldier, sailor and civilian had come by choice and were very willing to give their all. The battle orders were simple: Give no mercy and let none escape alive; listen to all senses and press the attack unless sounded to retreat. And so the fleet pressed on.
Jim's body strained mightily as his arms pressed harder and harder until "SNAP !!!"—the anchor chain weighting down the largest galleon gave way to his bolt cutters. Next, he grabbed the rope he'd attached to the prow and, groaning heavily, began to pull the floating ship towards the gate. As it got closer, Jim let go and sped to the stern where he grabbed another line, dug in his feet and pulled with all his might. The massive vessel stopped a with it's prow tip a few inches from the stone door. Jim released his hold and jogged to the end of the room. There, he lifted up on a specific lever and the two gates slowly began to swing open. Running back to the bow, Jim once again began to pull forward. Only this time he walked sideways so that he was turning the ship parallel to the opening. He was not pulling it out of the rock but positioning the craft so that it completely occupied the entrance. The next 15 minutes were spent doing the same to two other ships until there were three tied side-by-side in the gate opening. So far nobody had seen them which was even better. "Beth, are you ready?", Jim whispered loudly. "Yes I am," she called back. A few moments later, she appeared on the railing of the first ship. "The bombs are set Jim and here is the fuse." Jim smiled and motioned for her to come down. She hesitated for a minute as she balanced herself on the railing. "Just jump, I'll catch you," Jim urged. Finally, she did and Jim caught her perfectly. Setting her on her feet, he retrieved a lighter from his pocket , reached up and set fire to the fuse hanging over the side. One it caught and began to burn up, he took off his jacket and ran around the room brushing away their tracks in the sawdust and sand. That done, he gathered up his gear and weapons and Beth took hers as well. "Now where do we go?", she asked. "Far away from here as possible." Jim replied as he picked up his surfer. He led the way past and under the ships and out into the open. There, he picked up the pace and started running from one rock formation to the next. "Jim how much time is there until the explosion?", asked the huffing redhead following him. "We have about...two minutes left, so let's keep going. There's—"
All of a sudden, a giant black and red shape jumped down from above right on Jim, knocking him to the ground. Beth screamed in terror as a big red claw swung by her face. She lifted and aimed her rifle in a split second and fired. Her shot pierced the back of Scroop's humped back and the Mantavorian yelled in pain. She hesitated before taking aim again. Her second shot missed as Scroop turned to go after this troublesome wench. But his attention was diverted from Jim who shot out his arm and grabbed one of his legs thus tripping the arachnid. "Shoot him, Beth, go for the head!", he yelled as he withdrew his sword from the backpack sheath. Scroop knocked his claw into Jim's head sending the boy rolling a few feet. But this only gave Beth time to aim and launch three adrenaline-paced shots, then a fourth and finally a fifth right into Scroop's ribcage.
But before the spider-psycho hit the ground forever, a barrel sized yet toothy rat-like creature jumped on Beth's back and began gnawing into her shoulder. Her screams of fright and agony got Jim's attention and made his blood churn into lava. He drew and aimed his 50-caliber revolver and fired one bullet that took of two-thirds of the creature's head. The velocity of the hit knocked Beth back on the ground with the dead rodent under her. Jim ran forward but stopped as he saw about 7 more pirates coming right for him and Beth. "Stay down Beth, I'll take them!" , he yelled lifting his gun again. He shot down four more with the remaining bullets, retrieved his sword and ran yelling right towards the remaining attackers. "Get the girl," yelled the first one to his compatriot on his right, "we'll take him!" His attention was diverted just long enough for Jim to dive down, roll to evade their pistol shots and come up just a foot from them. The leader lost his arms below the elbows in an split-second while his friend got impaled through the chest. Jim quickly withdrew his sword and saw the third fighting Beth who was on the ground trying to scurry away. The pirate was so engrossed with grabbing and trying to subdue this pretty strumpet that he never saw the blade that dissected his skull.
No sooner was the last one dead than Jim knelt down to examine Beth. Her left shoulder was bleeding steadily. "It..it...it hurts...Jim." "Shhhh, just stay still; don't move!" He lowered his pack while scanning the area for more assailants; there were none. He pulled out his canteen and medical supply box. He poured the water over the wound to wash away the blood, and gave Beth the canteen to drink from while he disinfected the severe bites. For a few moments, the pain was intense for the small, gentle girl but it gradually subsided as the medicine killed whatever germs where in the flesh. Jim finished dressing and bandaging the wound and put away the first- aid supplies. "It should be okay; you didn't lose a lot of blood so nothing worse should happen from it." He slowly helped her rise to her feet although she could only move her right arm. "Here, this may help also," said Jim as he first removed his jacket and then his shirt. Beth's skin went hot and her eyes widened; she'd never seen a man half-naked nor such a well-muscled chest. Jim was oblivious to her reaction as he used his shirt to gently bind Beth's arm to her body and then proceed to cover her with his jacket. "Does that feel better?", he asked. She looked him deep in the eyes and nodded smiling. Jim returned the smile and retrieved the packs, sword and guns. "I'm sorry this happened, Beth. I really screwed up by letting us get ambushed like this." and his Prussian-blue eyes began to tear up as he thought of what pain she was enduring. "But you saved my life...again.", she spoke with understanding. "Yeah, 'cause you saved me first. I probably would have been dead had you not done what you did. Thanks Beth." She nodded as he reached out and placed his hand gently on her cheeks. She so loved it when he did this and her brown eyes blinked back tears themselves. Placing her hand over Jim's on her cheek, she simply whispered, "Thank-you as well, Jim." He smiled at this.
Finally, his military side took over and he turned to continue on. "Let's get out of here before more come." Beth nodded in anxious approval to get as far away as possible. They both resumed walking as fast as their feet would allow. Jim remembered to reload the firearms as they headed away from the accursed lair. No sooner had Jim finished Beth's rifle and handed it back to her than there came a humongous BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!! that rocked the ground under them. They fell to their knees and held each other for support as the noise reverberated of the rocks, the mountains and the sky. Finally the sound died away as they looked back to see a mushrooming black, smoke cloud laced with orange, yellow and red flames growing up from the hidden cavern. Jim turned to Bethany. "We don't have much time before they find out it was us. Let's get out of here." And they both got up and began to jog for a long distance.
At last, they came upon a strange sight—a gigantic, four-foot high, 80-foot circular diameter rock "plateau". Jim first helped Beth up due to her one good arm and then climbed up himself. "This way," Jim said as he walked towards the center of the flat surface. She followed him until he stopped and knelt down. She too looked at the ground and saw a hemispherical depression in the rock. It had circles and lines carved into it's perfect shape. Her astonishment grew when she saw Jim pullout a hand-size, brass sphere with similar lines and circles on it. He placed it right into the hole—a perfect fit. Suddenly the ground beneath them turned green as if there were strange lights in the rock. A few moments later, out of the sphere rose a green holographic map that resembled a globe. Jim put his hand on Beth's arm. "Get ready, something's about to happen that you'll never forget." His words came true when a few seconds later, a giant green & yellow beam shot up to 100 feet out of the ground and slowly widened into a massive triangle.
"On deck!!!," yelled down the lookout on the RLS Summit , the Admiral Beerson's flagship in the lead of the Galmuthian squadron. "Report!!", answered the admiral. "Giant light triangle, 5 degrees off the lee quarter!!!" Immediately, all hands were jamming the railings to get a look. Just as the lookout said, there was the greenish-yellow, three-sided portal not more than ten leagues from them. "Helmsman, come about 5 degrees to port!," ordered Admiral Beerson. "Mr. Stanley, pipe all hands to General Quarters. Mr. Shouf, signal the rest of the fleet to ready themselves. Mr. Karviskov, ready your men disembark on my command. Mr. Leers," he shouted to the lookout, "How big is the door?" "Just enough for us 't pass through one-by-one, Admiral Sir!" Beerson's face turned grim; it was not the best way to enter a battle area but there wasn't any other choice. "Mr. Pike, Mr. Cowell, signal the flanks to close to single-rank formation." "Aye, Sir," they both answered.
The other ships in the squadron had caught sight of the door at the same time and made final preparations as well. Admiral Creed had already passed his order to close into single rank as the word passed down the line. Hatches were tied open, cannons moved into firing line, flammable materials store away, weapons handed out and sails at full brace. The gunboats armed their last cannons, the hospital ships braced every bulkheads and the troops aboard the "Ships-of-the-Line" made ready to land upon their prearranged signal. The Summit was now less than 7 leagues from the portal.
"Jim, Look!!", Beth yelled as she pointed at a sight on the other side of the door. Jim had already seen them. "It's the fleet!! Hold on, I've got to go through and deliver them a message!!" "Wait, Jim.!!! Let me go with you!!!", she shrieked as she sensed he meant to go alone. "I'll be right back, Beth. I promise!!! I'm coming right back, I won't leave you!" They stared at each other for a long while, before Beth slowly nodded with tearful eyes. Jim squeezed her hand and smiled. Then he strapped on his board and took off through the portal.
Gray Flint finally finished his bloodbath and lowered his multi-colored blood-stained sword. Before him were the remains of eight of the guards whose charge had been the sector where the entire fleet was now burning like a smith's blast furnace. Their stupidity and ineptitude had now cost them their lives and at least three of His Best ships. But Gray was not satisfied! Oh No, he would not be satiated until He'd taken and mutilated alive the bloody sneek who'd done this to Him. First Kearsarge, then that screwy servant girl and now THIS!!! He had just begun to savagely batter every inanimate object in his room when Sherven his brother entered and blocked his next blow. "WHAT IS IT THIS TIME!?!?!??", screamed Gray into Sherven's unnerved visage. "There's more trouble, Brother! Someone's opened the portal!!" Gray was too dumbfounded and stunned by this news to reply for a minute. He shook his head. "No, NO, NO, It cannot BE!!! STOP THEM, Whoever it is!!! Don't Let them ESCAPE!!!" "It's not an escape, It's an Attack, Brother!!" Gray turned stiff at his brother's words and stumbled back. Sherven spoke for him. "I've already ordered two companies to capture the boy and the girl. They won't evade us this time!"
He shot straight for the lead ship which he knew had to be Admiral Beerson's command. Some of the crews saw him coming and began to yell as they didn't yet know who he was. "ADMIRAL BEERSON!!!", Jim yelled over the noise as he swerved around and came alongside. "It's ME , JIM HAWKINS!!!" And the Admiral saw and recognized him. "DON'T SHOOT, HOLD YOUR FIRE, Men!!!" The soldiers stood down as Jim flew down and landed at the poop deck stairs. "Here Sir," he said as he tossed his now-complete map up to the officer. "Your target is a castle, Heavily armed and fully-crewed. They've got 90-pounders in sand covered gun pits, 60 and 25-pounders in the rocks and debris before the walls and booby traps on the ground. I've knocked out three of their ships; the rest should be blocked in their hanger. They know you're coming!" "Well done, Hawkins. We'll take control form here; fall back to the rear." Jim shook his head in defiance. "I can't sir! I've got someone back on the planet I've got to help! I'll be okay!" "Cadet, that is—"But before the Admiral could finish, Jim reignited his surfer motor and blasted off the deck. Pivoting his board using his feet, he sped right past the fast moving ship and back through the portal.
Jim landed and removed a startled Beth from the path of the oncoming fleet. Neither of them spoke as, one-by-one, each frigate, corvette (similar to a frigate but with one deck less), sloop and Man o' War beamed right through and spread out into firing lines as their bombardment commenced. The smaller, highly maneuverable corvettes and sloops went after the hidden artillery while the larger, heavily gunned "Ships-of-the-line" rained down a torrent of murderous, rock-smashing projectiles. Within minutes, the black rock castle ruins and defense embankments began to smoke and burn. And yet, to Jim's surprise more and more ships came passing through the portal.
"I can't believe it!", Beth blurted her thoughts from an overwhelmed state of mind. "Neither can I," said Jim. "Nobody told me there'd be so many."
But then, something caught his eye: a party of about two dozen scalawags was sneaking and crouching from rock to rock to avoid detection from the death vessels above. Jim realized in a few seconds that they were looking for him and Beth. He quickly grabbed his pack and board. "What are you doing Jim?", asked Beth for she hadn't seen the pirates yet. "There's more pirates coming this way. We've got to get away!" Beth looked in the direction Jim pointed. The moment she did, a leech-like scumbag with rotten teeth and warty appendages saw them as well. It let out a yell and charged forward as it's companions followed him. "Quick Beth, Get On!" Jim was already on the board with the sail deployed. So she stepped up and grabbed onto the bar tight with her right hand. Then Jim smashed down on the lever and they shot away. Faster and higher they flew until they were close below the cover of black clouds. Jim turned course to head back in the direction that led to the land beyond the Black Mountains.
Jim's heart nearly went into cardiac arrest. That, that...well, whoever "she" or "it" was, gave Bethany to the pirates!?!?!?
"Yes, The Girl. How is she at the moment?" Pekerth didn't answer immediately; he had witnessed his brother Gray Flint behead and disembowel 5 crewmates just to release his anger over the wench's disappearance. What would this...creature do once she knew the truth? "Well, Speak Up, "Ruler of the Etherium"," scoffed the villainess with contempt for the title the Brother's endowed upon themselves. "Where is she!?!?" "W...we-we...We don't...know?" "What??? Don't Know??? A simple, blood-red haired, pale- skinned little strumpet has eluded your sight???" Nothing was said for a few moments; it didn't matter for the silence was enough to confirm what Maleficent was realizing. "SHE'S ESCAPED!?!?!? YOU BREAD CRUMBS LET GO MY ONE PRIZE THAT I TRUSTED YOU WITH!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!" "No, she just disappeared one morning and We've been searching everywhere for her this whole day." "And You've haven't even so much as seen a scrap of clothing off her back???" "We're still looking for her as we speak. She will be found." "HOW DARE YOU, You whose forefather I've blessed with this land, this fortress!!!!! Or have you forgotten that?!?!?!?! Answer Me, HAVE YOU!?!?!?" "N-n-n-no-No-No, we haven't forgotten. I-I-I-I, excuse me, WE do remember that you gave us the girl as a baby as a token of your good grace and will to us." "Ahhhh, but did you also know what she's worth, Pirate scum???" Silence.
"Well then, Listen well and do not forget this: That young girl, you see, is of royal bloodlines. She's the second daughter of King Stephen and Queen Leah, rulers of a large country—Avalon, by name." "I've heard of it," muttered one pirate. "SILENCE", Maleficent and Pekerth both yelled. She then went on. "When their firstborn, Aurora, was brought forth, I attended the coronation uninvited and cursed the infant to die before her 16 birthday. Thus, they sent their daughter away to be hidden 'til then. But what nobody else in their kingdom knew was that 2 years after their daughter's birth, the Queen once again gave birth to another daughter—possibly to relieve her suffering of her now-hidden first. So, I slipped into their castle the night of the birthday and stole away with their joy and happiness—once and for all ! That's why I entrusted her to you, Pekerth, and your brothers—that she may never know her parents and that she may be of use to me, someday. That is why You Must Bring Her Back This Instant!!! If she escapes back to her father's and mother's kingdom, then all I've worked for and fought for will be lost. That girl is my last chance to destroy them and their kingdom; I was already defeated by Prince Philip, Aurora's husband who rescued her and gave back Their Majesties hope and happiness. And I will not let you fail me by allowing their second-born to run-off." "We shan't fail, My Lady. It'll be all of us 'n our skins or her. We'll find 'er." More silence for another minute. Then, "You shall bring her to me—Alive!!!" With that, there was another thunderclap and the sound of a mighty wind again. And then, no more sound.
"Well, you all heard her. Go round up yer crews 'n get yer ships underway!!!," ordered Pekerth Flint back in control again. "We'll scour the whole land from the sky 'n find her once and for all." There was a scampering noise as the pirates scrambled to obey. After a few more minutes of silence, Jim took a quick peek out the porthole; No one was around. He backed away and turned back to look at Beth. For a long while he just stared at her as his mind attempted to make sense of what was said. Beth was a King's daughter??? That would make her...Jim shook his head to get back to the present. What was more important was that she was in danger too. Whoever that woman was, she was a threat to his friend and obviously meant to more harm to her. And if Bethany was captured, she'd have no chance or hope once turned back over to her captor. He'd sooner preempt by ambushing and slaying whoever was looking for Beth.. But just as quickly, he remembered Admiral Creed's orders: do not engage unless discovered. Then again, he'd already gone against his orders when he attacked Kearsarge and took Beth right out from under their noses. He was already in danger—and he'd dragged Beth right into the middle of it. Now, he realized that there was no room to take chances with either himself or her. This meant that
He then thought about the Galmuthian Squadron; they were on their way by now but it would be some time before they reached the planet system. Then he remembered the portal he came through; while on one door opened somewhere out in the Barrens, the main portal/map area was two hundred yards away from the fortress. After passing through unseen, Jim had immediately landed and taken cover behind a boulder as a pirate galleon flew past and above to go through the portal. Before sneaking away, he managed to observe that there was a brass sphere like the Treasure Planet map right underneath the green holographic globe. While his mind recalled this memory, his hands quickly dug into his left cargo pocket and returned with the actual Treasure Planet map. Now if the map could work in the same spot, then he would give the squadron a shortcut and a chance to take the pirates by surprise. But he knew that he'd have to activate the portal within a certain time window: too soon and the pirates would see and get to him before the Interstellar forces did; too late and the fleet would miss the door altogether—and the pirates could use it to attack from the rear. Either way, he'd have to get back out there and send word to the ships—at the risk of being seen or captured. He made up his mind quickly, shouldered his packs, surfer and weapons and then woke Beth.
Meanwhile, the last warship, the RLS Parlay , had just cleared the Nobles Belt and now the 65-ship fleet resumed their 75 kilometer per hour run towards the darkness-shrouded planet. The 24 ships of the Galmuthian Squadron came first in a V-shape formation followed by 4 "Ship-of-the-line" class battleships flanked by 12 frigates, 5 corvettes and 5 sloops. In the rear were 6 gunboat brigantines, 2 merchantmen-turned-hospital ships, 2 supply barks and the RLS Legacy.
Onboard Captain Amelia's ship, her husband Delbert operated the ship's wheel while B.E.N. provided navigation and power status. Up in the crows nest, young Olivia sat looking ahead with her own telescope. Below her, Adam and Chloe stood on the mainmast beam holding on to the rigging. And on the prow, Andrea Doppler grasped a rope line while her mother held one hand on her shoulder. Behind the prow and leaning over the gunwales, were the leftover & officially-pardoned "ludicrous parcel of driveling galoots" that had last crewed the Legacy—Meltdown, the ship's lead gunner & mechanic; Birdbrain Mary, the irritable, walking female alien head; Oxy & Moron, the head-n-body duo who also served as gunners too, and Mr. Onus, the unbeknownst betrayer who'd given away news of Jim to Mr. Scroop. Except for the six-eyed slug, the others were fully intent upon working their way back into the captain's graces now that their hopes of "Flint's Trove" was gone forever. That and the fact that Silver was appointed First Mate by the Captain was enough to keep things under control.
Right now, everyone was craning their necks forward to see where the fleet was headed. Their nerves were on a knife's edge for they understood that a great battle was to be waged within the next hours. The scuttlebutt concerning the RLS Ulterior and her brief struggle had only heightened this knowledge and deepened the apprehension that settled on the crews. Yet every soldier, sailor and civilian had come by choice and were very willing to give their all. The battle orders were simple: Give no mercy and let none escape alive; listen to all senses and press the attack unless sounded to retreat. And so the fleet pressed on.
Jim's body strained mightily as his arms pressed harder and harder until "SNAP !!!"—the anchor chain weighting down the largest galleon gave way to his bolt cutters. Next, he grabbed the rope he'd attached to the prow and, groaning heavily, began to pull the floating ship towards the gate. As it got closer, Jim let go and sped to the stern where he grabbed another line, dug in his feet and pulled with all his might. The massive vessel stopped a with it's prow tip a few inches from the stone door. Jim released his hold and jogged to the end of the room. There, he lifted up on a specific lever and the two gates slowly began to swing open. Running back to the bow, Jim once again began to pull forward. Only this time he walked sideways so that he was turning the ship parallel to the opening. He was not pulling it out of the rock but positioning the craft so that it completely occupied the entrance. The next 15 minutes were spent doing the same to two other ships until there were three tied side-by-side in the gate opening. So far nobody had seen them which was even better. "Beth, are you ready?", Jim whispered loudly. "Yes I am," she called back. A few moments later, she appeared on the railing of the first ship. "The bombs are set Jim and here is the fuse." Jim smiled and motioned for her to come down. She hesitated for a minute as she balanced herself on the railing. "Just jump, I'll catch you," Jim urged. Finally, she did and Jim caught her perfectly. Setting her on her feet, he retrieved a lighter from his pocket , reached up and set fire to the fuse hanging over the side. One it caught and began to burn up, he took off his jacket and ran around the room brushing away their tracks in the sawdust and sand. That done, he gathered up his gear and weapons and Beth took hers as well. "Now where do we go?", she asked. "Far away from here as possible." Jim replied as he picked up his surfer. He led the way past and under the ships and out into the open. There, he picked up the pace and started running from one rock formation to the next. "Jim how much time is there until the explosion?", asked the huffing redhead following him. "We have about...two minutes left, so let's keep going. There's—"
All of a sudden, a giant black and red shape jumped down from above right on Jim, knocking him to the ground. Beth screamed in terror as a big red claw swung by her face. She lifted and aimed her rifle in a split second and fired. Her shot pierced the back of Scroop's humped back and the Mantavorian yelled in pain. She hesitated before taking aim again. Her second shot missed as Scroop turned to go after this troublesome wench. But his attention was diverted from Jim who shot out his arm and grabbed one of his legs thus tripping the arachnid. "Shoot him, Beth, go for the head!", he yelled as he withdrew his sword from the backpack sheath. Scroop knocked his claw into Jim's head sending the boy rolling a few feet. But this only gave Beth time to aim and launch three adrenaline-paced shots, then a fourth and finally a fifth right into Scroop's ribcage.
But before the spider-psycho hit the ground forever, a barrel sized yet toothy rat-like creature jumped on Beth's back and began gnawing into her shoulder. Her screams of fright and agony got Jim's attention and made his blood churn into lava. He drew and aimed his 50-caliber revolver and fired one bullet that took of two-thirds of the creature's head. The velocity of the hit knocked Beth back on the ground with the dead rodent under her. Jim ran forward but stopped as he saw about 7 more pirates coming right for him and Beth. "Stay down Beth, I'll take them!" , he yelled lifting his gun again. He shot down four more with the remaining bullets, retrieved his sword and ran yelling right towards the remaining attackers. "Get the girl," yelled the first one to his compatriot on his right, "we'll take him!" His attention was diverted just long enough for Jim to dive down, roll to evade their pistol shots and come up just a foot from them. The leader lost his arms below the elbows in an split-second while his friend got impaled through the chest. Jim quickly withdrew his sword and saw the third fighting Beth who was on the ground trying to scurry away. The pirate was so engrossed with grabbing and trying to subdue this pretty strumpet that he never saw the blade that dissected his skull.
No sooner was the last one dead than Jim knelt down to examine Beth. Her left shoulder was bleeding steadily. "It..it...it hurts...Jim." "Shhhh, just stay still; don't move!" He lowered his pack while scanning the area for more assailants; there were none. He pulled out his canteen and medical supply box. He poured the water over the wound to wash away the blood, and gave Beth the canteen to drink from while he disinfected the severe bites. For a few moments, the pain was intense for the small, gentle girl but it gradually subsided as the medicine killed whatever germs where in the flesh. Jim finished dressing and bandaging the wound and put away the first- aid supplies. "It should be okay; you didn't lose a lot of blood so nothing worse should happen from it." He slowly helped her rise to her feet although she could only move her right arm. "Here, this may help also," said Jim as he first removed his jacket and then his shirt. Beth's skin went hot and her eyes widened; she'd never seen a man half-naked nor such a well-muscled chest. Jim was oblivious to her reaction as he used his shirt to gently bind Beth's arm to her body and then proceed to cover her with his jacket. "Does that feel better?", he asked. She looked him deep in the eyes and nodded smiling. Jim returned the smile and retrieved the packs, sword and guns. "I'm sorry this happened, Beth. I really screwed up by letting us get ambushed like this." and his Prussian-blue eyes began to tear up as he thought of what pain she was enduring. "But you saved my life...again.", she spoke with understanding. "Yeah, 'cause you saved me first. I probably would have been dead had you not done what you did. Thanks Beth." She nodded as he reached out and placed his hand gently on her cheeks. She so loved it when he did this and her brown eyes blinked back tears themselves. Placing her hand over Jim's on her cheek, she simply whispered, "Thank-you as well, Jim." He smiled at this.
Finally, his military side took over and he turned to continue on. "Let's get out of here before more come." Beth nodded in anxious approval to get as far away as possible. They both resumed walking as fast as their feet would allow. Jim remembered to reload the firearms as they headed away from the accursed lair. No sooner had Jim finished Beth's rifle and handed it back to her than there came a humongous BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!! that rocked the ground under them. They fell to their knees and held each other for support as the noise reverberated of the rocks, the mountains and the sky. Finally the sound died away as they looked back to see a mushrooming black, smoke cloud laced with orange, yellow and red flames growing up from the hidden cavern. Jim turned to Bethany. "We don't have much time before they find out it was us. Let's get out of here." And they both got up and began to jog for a long distance.
At last, they came upon a strange sight—a gigantic, four-foot high, 80-foot circular diameter rock "plateau". Jim first helped Beth up due to her one good arm and then climbed up himself. "This way," Jim said as he walked towards the center of the flat surface. She followed him until he stopped and knelt down. She too looked at the ground and saw a hemispherical depression in the rock. It had circles and lines carved into it's perfect shape. Her astonishment grew when she saw Jim pullout a hand-size, brass sphere with similar lines and circles on it. He placed it right into the hole—a perfect fit. Suddenly the ground beneath them turned green as if there were strange lights in the rock. A few moments later, out of the sphere rose a green holographic map that resembled a globe. Jim put his hand on Beth's arm. "Get ready, something's about to happen that you'll never forget." His words came true when a few seconds later, a giant green & yellow beam shot up to 100 feet out of the ground and slowly widened into a massive triangle.
"On deck!!!," yelled down the lookout on the RLS Summit , the Admiral Beerson's flagship in the lead of the Galmuthian squadron. "Report!!", answered the admiral. "Giant light triangle, 5 degrees off the lee quarter!!!" Immediately, all hands were jamming the railings to get a look. Just as the lookout said, there was the greenish-yellow, three-sided portal not more than ten leagues from them. "Helmsman, come about 5 degrees to port!," ordered Admiral Beerson. "Mr. Stanley, pipe all hands to General Quarters. Mr. Shouf, signal the rest of the fleet to ready themselves. Mr. Karviskov, ready your men disembark on my command. Mr. Leers," he shouted to the lookout, "How big is the door?" "Just enough for us 't pass through one-by-one, Admiral Sir!" Beerson's face turned grim; it was not the best way to enter a battle area but there wasn't any other choice. "Mr. Pike, Mr. Cowell, signal the flanks to close to single-rank formation." "Aye, Sir," they both answered.
The other ships in the squadron had caught sight of the door at the same time and made final preparations as well. Admiral Creed had already passed his order to close into single rank as the word passed down the line. Hatches were tied open, cannons moved into firing line, flammable materials store away, weapons handed out and sails at full brace. The gunboats armed their last cannons, the hospital ships braced every bulkheads and the troops aboard the "Ships-of-the-Line" made ready to land upon their prearranged signal. The Summit was now less than 7 leagues from the portal.
"Jim, Look!!", Beth yelled as she pointed at a sight on the other side of the door. Jim had already seen them. "It's the fleet!! Hold on, I've got to go through and deliver them a message!!" "Wait, Jim.!!! Let me go with you!!!", she shrieked as she sensed he meant to go alone. "I'll be right back, Beth. I promise!!! I'm coming right back, I won't leave you!" They stared at each other for a long while, before Beth slowly nodded with tearful eyes. Jim squeezed her hand and smiled. Then he strapped on his board and took off through the portal.
Gray Flint finally finished his bloodbath and lowered his multi-colored blood-stained sword. Before him were the remains of eight of the guards whose charge had been the sector where the entire fleet was now burning like a smith's blast furnace. Their stupidity and ineptitude had now cost them their lives and at least three of His Best ships. But Gray was not satisfied! Oh No, he would not be satiated until He'd taken and mutilated alive the bloody sneek who'd done this to Him. First Kearsarge, then that screwy servant girl and now THIS!!! He had just begun to savagely batter every inanimate object in his room when Sherven his brother entered and blocked his next blow. "WHAT IS IT THIS TIME!?!?!??", screamed Gray into Sherven's unnerved visage. "There's more trouble, Brother! Someone's opened the portal!!" Gray was too dumbfounded and stunned by this news to reply for a minute. He shook his head. "No, NO, NO, It cannot BE!!! STOP THEM, Whoever it is!!! Don't Let them ESCAPE!!!" "It's not an escape, It's an Attack, Brother!!" Gray turned stiff at his brother's words and stumbled back. Sherven spoke for him. "I've already ordered two companies to capture the boy and the girl. They won't evade us this time!"
He shot straight for the lead ship which he knew had to be Admiral Beerson's command. Some of the crews saw him coming and began to yell as they didn't yet know who he was. "ADMIRAL BEERSON!!!", Jim yelled over the noise as he swerved around and came alongside. "It's ME , JIM HAWKINS!!!" And the Admiral saw and recognized him. "DON'T SHOOT, HOLD YOUR FIRE, Men!!!" The soldiers stood down as Jim flew down and landed at the poop deck stairs. "Here Sir," he said as he tossed his now-complete map up to the officer. "Your target is a castle, Heavily armed and fully-crewed. They've got 90-pounders in sand covered gun pits, 60 and 25-pounders in the rocks and debris before the walls and booby traps on the ground. I've knocked out three of their ships; the rest should be blocked in their hanger. They know you're coming!" "Well done, Hawkins. We'll take control form here; fall back to the rear." Jim shook his head in defiance. "I can't sir! I've got someone back on the planet I've got to help! I'll be okay!" "Cadet, that is—"But before the Admiral could finish, Jim reignited his surfer motor and blasted off the deck. Pivoting his board using his feet, he sped right past the fast moving ship and back through the portal.
Jim landed and removed a startled Beth from the path of the oncoming fleet. Neither of them spoke as, one-by-one, each frigate, corvette (similar to a frigate but with one deck less), sloop and Man o' War beamed right through and spread out into firing lines as their bombardment commenced. The smaller, highly maneuverable corvettes and sloops went after the hidden artillery while the larger, heavily gunned "Ships-of-the-line" rained down a torrent of murderous, rock-smashing projectiles. Within minutes, the black rock castle ruins and defense embankments began to smoke and burn. And yet, to Jim's surprise more and more ships came passing through the portal.
"I can't believe it!", Beth blurted her thoughts from an overwhelmed state of mind. "Neither can I," said Jim. "Nobody told me there'd be so many."
But then, something caught his eye: a party of about two dozen scalawags was sneaking and crouching from rock to rock to avoid detection from the death vessels above. Jim realized in a few seconds that they were looking for him and Beth. He quickly grabbed his pack and board. "What are you doing Jim?", asked Beth for she hadn't seen the pirates yet. "There's more pirates coming this way. We've got to get away!" Beth looked in the direction Jim pointed. The moment she did, a leech-like scumbag with rotten teeth and warty appendages saw them as well. It let out a yell and charged forward as it's companions followed him. "Quick Beth, Get On!" Jim was already on the board with the sail deployed. So she stepped up and grabbed onto the bar tight with her right hand. Then Jim smashed down on the lever and they shot away. Faster and higher they flew until they were close below the cover of black clouds. Jim turned course to head back in the direction that led to the land beyond the Black Mountains.