Chapter 7

The Pirates take command

When the night had finally fallen, I was decidedly delirious. "Gentlemen," I began woozily. "We must…stay together, and…and…oh."

I'm afraid after that point, everything rather became a blur. I shudder to think of what I may of said in my delirium.

When next I achieved consciousness, I found the Doctor gazing down at me in worry. His expression changed to one of happiness as he noticed I was now awake. He laid a gentle hand upon my forehead, checking my temperature.

"You've had a fever, Captain," he informed me. "But it appears to of past. You're still a bit warm, but you seem to be well on your way to recovery."

I smiled, glad to be lucid once again, but I was weak. "Where are Ben and our good Mr. Hawkins?" I asked.

"Ben and Jim found this back way out of here, and are even now trying to lay their hands on the map," Doppler told me. "Never fear, Captain…Jim is a most resourceful lad, he'll find a way."

The Doctor found something for me to eat, and after a few minutes I began to feel a bit stronger. I sighed, beginning to relax, when I heard a strange sound across the room.

"Doctor," I said quietly. "Do you---"

Then, from out of nowhere, a band of pirates appeared. They swiftly set upon the Doctor and I, and regretably, neither of us could fight back. That wretch Silver must of loved this ironic twist of fate.

"Ah, now…where is Jimbo," the cyborg pirate asked nicely enough.

"That is none of your buisness, sir!" the Doctor replied indignantly.

"Look, Doc," Silver explained patiently. "You can tell me what I wants to know, and you'll be my guests, and no one will harms yeh. Or I can ties you both up and simply waits for Jimbo to return…"

Silver read the situation exactly right. We were in no position to resist…other than not giving the rogue the information he so dearly wanted. So…before we knew it, both the Doctor and myself found ourselves bound and gagged, and sitting on the floor.

Predictably, our Mr. Hawkins and Ben returned with the map in hand. I felt badly for the young man as he saw that Silver had outfoxed him.

"You're just like me, Jimbo," Silver said. "You hates to lose." The map was quickly taken from him. Silver gloated up until he tried to open the map. After four failed attempts, he handed it back to Mr. Hawkins and told him to open it.

Our Jim was foolish…brave, but foolish. He just glared at Silver. The cyborg worked his cybernetic arm until a laser pistol appeared. He cocked it for effect, and said, "I'd get busy."

Mr. Hawkins was in a quandry and looked to me and the Doctor for help. I shook my head to tell him no, to not open it at any cost. But, quite unexplicably, the boy opened it anyway. I watched in fascination as a green light issued from the sphere, and displayed a glowing path for the pirates.

Silver laughed in triumph, and said to his fellow pirates, "Tie 'im up and put 'im with the others."

But just as he said that, the light abruptly swept back into the sphere and it closed and dimmed. Mr. Hawkins---bless his soul!---said, "If you want the map, you're taking me too."

Silver chuckled to himself, and then declared, "We take 'em all!"

The trip began. We all were put into the last remaining longboat, and proceeded to follow the strange glowing green path across the width and breadth of the planet it seemed.

Finally, we encountered an impenetrable wall of vegetation, and Silver halted the longboat.

"From here, lads, we go afoot!" he declared to all.

Silver instructed the biggest and fattest pirate, one Meltdown by name, to remain behind to guard the Doctor and myself. We watched with a bit of trepidation as the large party left, hacking their way through the jungle foliage. After a few minutes, they disappeard from sight.

And there we sat, just the three of us in the longboat. The Doctor, myself, and the obese, slovenly pirate with had a laser pistol. We were at a loss of what to do, I'm quite afraid. The Doctor and I were had our hands tied behind our backs, although we were no longer thankfully gagged. Escape seemed impossible for we two, I told myself.

We sat there for quite a while, the solitude only interrupted when we felt a little rumbling rattle the longboat.

Surprisingly, the fat pirate moved to the boat's prow, busily eating something. It was then, for first time since we'd been taken from Ben's place, that the Doctor began to talk.

"All my life I've dreamed of an adventure like this," he said mournfully. I turned my head to listen, feeling sorry for the gentle Doctor. "I´m just sorry I couldn't have been more helpful."

What was this man talking about? He'd prevented us from being crushed by a black hole; cut down four murderous pirates with a single shot; nursed me back to some semblence of health…and yet he's blathering on about being useless?

"Don´t be daft," I told him truthfully.
You´ve been very helpful. Truly."

The Doctor appeared to not of heard me, and continued on, "I feel like such a useless weakling…" he groaned. Then, he went quiet, which surprised me greatly. Before I could inquire to if he was all right, he added on last curious thing, "…with abnormally thin wrists."

I worked hard to not grin triumphantly as I felt the Doctor's hands work next to mine. The good Doctor had himself a plan. To this day, I feel enormous sense of pride for Delbert Doppler in what he was about to do.

"Excuse me, brutish pirate," he began, his now free hands still hidden behind his back. "Yes, you," he added when the slovenly pirate deigned to look at us.

"I have a question," Doctor Doppler began. "Is it that your body is too massive for your teeny–tiny head…or is it that your head is too teeny–tiny for your big fat body?"

Good show, Doctor, I said to myself…surprised but proud of him.

The pirate---on the other hand---was simply furious! He lifted the gangly Doctor by his jacket lapels into the air. "I will pummel you good," he threatened, his ham-sized hand balling into a fist.

"I´m sure you will!" Doppler said hurriedly, but confidently. "But, before you do, I have another question?"

The Doctor had someone managed to gain custody of the pirate's laser pistol, and pushed it's barrel quite deliberately deep into the rolls of fat in the pirate's burgeoning stomach.

"Is this yours?" Doppler asked most politely. The pirate looked down, and was at a loss for words…