Chapter 9: Pride of Power

The Doctor and I left the bridge and entered my stateroom, locking it simply to be sure, after agreeing to talk in more privacy. There, the Doctor pulled up a chair near my desk and sat, while I paced about my stateroom. He asked me to sit perhaps three times, and each time I assured him I would and never did. I felt frustrated and anxious, uncertain as to whether or not I should decide to distrust my own hands.

"Well, for pity's sake, Captain, if it bothers you that much," the Doctor quipped with light sarcasm, "then why don't you just go down to the galley and see what they're up to? Why don't you do that?"

I glanced at him, my brow furrowed. "Because, Doctor, that would be tactless and unwise. To go down unarmed when I have no idea as to what—"

"Unarmed?" he echoed incredulously. It was the first time he had ever interrupted me. "Captain, how seriously do you anticipate mutiny?"

"I don't know," I replied, massaging my eyes. "They never showed signs of it before… Any crew that plans to mutiny shows signs of it before…" I looked up at the Doctor. "Unless one of them is making sure they don't show signs."

"But which one?"

"Exactly. Which one? I can't think of a single one of them with brains enough to keep the others from being obvious in their behavior."

The Doctor shrugged, his palms open. "Then perhaps there is no mutiny in the making. Perhaps they're simply anxious to see Treasure Planet."

I nodded my head. "You're probably correct," I began to say, when suddenly the lookout's voice from overhead shouted down, "Planet Ho!"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows in composed excitement and grinned. "Your crew troubles are over."

We unlatched the lock and threw open the door in time to see the massive emerald planet break through a solar cloud. It was indescribably fantastic; huge triangular shards of rock hung from the sky round the planet, and in the dim morning light I could see the two eerie rings spinning about the emerald sphere, glimmering and untouched for a hundred years.

"When do we land?" I heard the Doctor breathe as his fingers touched my arm. I swallowed. "In another thirty minutes," I answered, turning my face towards his to, on impulse, whisper the answer back. Our faces were amazingly close, and for a moment our eyes met and I was stricken by the rich darkness of his irises. Then, collecting myself, I turned on my heel and directed myself back to my stateroom, leaving his touch still tingling on my forearm. "We're still too far away to make a landing."

I returned to my stateroom, the Doctor following behind, and headed for my desk to retrieve some charts for the land. The Doctor closed the door behind him and gripped the lever of the lock, but I lifted my eyes to him and said, "No, Doctor, that isn't necessary… don't lock it," and returned to my work.

We stayed like that for some time, I at my desk and the Doctor standing by the door. After a pause, the Doctor tapped his fingers casually together and looked up at me. "…Captain?" he croaked, clearing his throat afterwards. I raised my head and looked at him.

At that moment Jim Hawkins burst into the room and slammed the door shut, locking it quickly. He then turned round and first caught sight of the Doctor, then of me. At that moment, a sharp whistle was heard from outside on deck.

"Mr. Hawkins?" I inquired with mild confusion. Jim stared at me, and I was momentarily alarmed by the look of having been profoundly betrayed in his newly darkened eyes. Then he closed his eyes tightly, opened them again and strained hurriedly, "Captain, they're planning on killing us and taking over the ship and stealing the treasure—" the boy inhaled sharply, panicked, and I rose from my seat. "What?" I asked.

"He's a—they're all pirates. They're mutinying—right now!" Mr. Hawkins exclaimed breathlessly. The pink morph pet that belonged to Silver murmured grimly, and a crash was heard outside. I moved from my desk and hurried to the weapons cabinet where the map was held.

"Pirates on my ship!" I echoed furiously as I threw open the cabinet doors and loaded a flintlock. "I'll see they all hang!" I tossed the Doctor the weapon and he clumsily managed to catch it. "Doctor," I demanded from him, as I pulled out the map from the chest, "familiar with these?"

"Oh, I've seenuh…" he stammered in counterfeit nonchalance, pointing the gun unskillfully at the wall next to me. "…Well… I've read—" A shot rifled from the nozzle of the Doctor's flintlock, sending a deadly energy blast into the wall only about a foot away from where I stood, shattering a spherical decoration mounted upon the wall. I glared at him.

"Uh, no," he confessed quickly, "No, no, I'm not."

I rolled my eyes. An explosion of commotion and shouting was heard from outside my stateroom. The morph glided across the room and paused before the map, fascinated. I ignored it and addressed Mr. Hawkins.

"Defend this," I told him hurriedly, gesturing with the map, "with your life." Jim raised his hands as I made to toss the map to him, but the morph intervened and caught it in its mouth. Mr. Hawkins fought the sphere out from between the creature's rubbery jaws, and I quickly grabbed up my own laser rifle.

There was suddenly a loud snap, and a piece of wood from my stateroom door burnt to ash as a laser beam sheared its way up through the rest of the doorframe. "They're coming in, Captain!" I heard the Doctor shout. "We have to get off the ship," I informed both of them coldly, loading the rifle. "But, Captain…" the Doctor stammered, pointing at the door. "We can't get out, there're pirates out there! We're trapped like—"

I threw my gun's nozzle toward the floor and pulled the trigger, and the report burst a small hole into the hardwood floor, opening into Mr. Arrow's room below.

"…Like rats…with guns!" the Doctor blubbered.

I shot at the floor again and made the hole somewhat bigger, and that was all the time we had. Mr. Hawkins slipped through first, and then the Doctor, and finally I dropped through to the sound of Silver's voice shouting, and the activation of a large gun.

The Doctor and I shot through the floor of Mr. Arrow's room and dropped to the Doctor's room below that, to shoot through his floor and drop to the mechanical room. We then ran as fast as we could to the longboat bay, which was downstairs from the mechanical room and a ways from the mechanical storage hold. By the time we reached the hold I knew we were being pursued by some of the crew, I supposed members small enough to fit through our escape holes. The Doctor fell behind as we all dashed for the stairwell leading to the longboat bay, and as I turned back to the door after entering the bay I caught sight of the Doctor as he fell flat on his face from his place atop the stairwell. In a blur he scrambled for his feet as fast as he could. It was not fast enough, however, and I pulled him by his coat to his feet and thrust him aside, throwing the door shut and welding it and the wall together with the energy beam of my rifle. "To the longboats," I shouted earnestly as I finished my task, "Quickly!"

There was the trouble of then confirming which longboat the Doctor and Mr. Hawkins were in to throw the lever to open the corresponding escape hatch below. The longboat chosen was the nearest at reach, and I pressed the whole of my weight upon the correct lever, throwing it after a bit of a struggle. As the hatch door below our longboat began to slide open, I rushed to the boat and somersaulted aboard, landing lightly beside the Doctor and reloading my rifle. I looked at the Doctor, wide-eyed and agape beside me, and I knelt beside him in the longboat, warning him, "Take your flintlock out, Doctor. We're not going to get out of here without a bit of gun-shooting."

"G-g-gun-shooting?" the Doctor repeated, panicked, as he revealed his gun and fumbled with it.

And then the door to the longboat bay was smashed to splinters by the tremendous force of a cannon, and the crew squeezed into the room passed Hands, who did his best to fit all his limbs through the doorway at once. I shot up from behind the bulwarks of our longboat and pulled the trigger several times, shouting to them that they could chew my laser pellets and that they were all pus-filled boils. They returned our fire in a volley, and I was forced to retreat to cover behind the mast of the longboat. With me out of the way, the Doctor picked himself up, took a weak aim, shut his eyes and plugged an ear, and shot upward over the crewmen's heads, hitting the bay's air conditioner. The machine swung violently back and forth, hanging from the ceiling by nothing but its wires, until finally the wires snapped and the heavy conditioner plummeted, crashing through the wooden screen some of the crewmen were standing on. They, along with the air conditioner, fell through the damaged screen to their deaths in an instant.

I regarded the Doctor quizzically. "Did you actually aim for that?"

The Doctor glanced at his gun and fingered his glasses. Astounded, he said loudly, "You know, actually, I did!" My smile grew larger as I set out to congratulate him, but a flash of light caught my attention and I looked to see that another pirate had fired his weapon. Quickly I planted a firm hand upon the Doctor's head and shoved him down onto the floor of the longboat, accompanying him as I answered the man's fire, and we both just barely missed a fatal shot. "Thank you," the Doctor said breathlessly, and I patted the top of his head still underneath my hand.

There was a whirr of engines at that moment and I peeked over the bulwarks of the ship to see Silver at the longboat hatch lever. He had pushed it up again, and, horrified, I checked the door below us. It was closing again. "Ah, blast it!" I shouted angrily. Looking about desperately, I saw the cables that were designed to break away as soon as the longboat bay door was completely open above our heads. If they were to be broken now, perhaps we might be able to fall through the closing hatch and still make an escape. I hurried back to my place beside the Doctor, addressing him as I did so. "Doctor— when I say 'now', shoot out the forward cable. I'll take this one." He nodded, and I felt confident enough in his shooting to feel secure with my new plan of escape. "All right, Doctor, ready yourself. N—"

"Wait, Captain, Jim!" I heard the Doctor shout.

I twisted in my seat to look behind me; Jim Hawkins was not in sight. "Where is he, blast it?" I shouted at the Doctor, and he pointed to his right to one of the catwalks of the longboat bay near where we sat in wait. "He's there! The morph has the map; he must be trying to get it back!"

"We don't have time! The door will be closed soon!"

"You've got to give him some time! His mother will kill me if anything happens to him—"

"I haven't that much time to give him! One minute—then we, at least, must go! We can retrieve him later!"

"One minute," the Doctor repeated, and we both grew silent as we watched Mr. Hawkins battle for the map.

Ever aware of the time that passed, I watched as both Jim and Silver found their quarry, for the morph still had the map within its mouth, and both began to call the morph sweetly to come to them. The morph swayed one way and the other, and finally paused in its quandary to think of a compromise. Wheeling about, it took to a coiled line underneath it that had been left on the catwalk, and disappeared in its center. We all watched this in appall, and then both Silver and Jim took off for the coiled rope, racing each other now for whoever could get there first.

Mr. Hawkins was running out of time. I glanced fleetingly at the closing escape hatch and noted how far along it was, and then looked back to see that Silver's cyborg leg was now hindering his speed, almost seeming to hurt him. Then he fell altogether, and I watched in astounded perplexity when this did not stop him. The galley cook crawled on towards the coiled line, toiling, and a feeling of great desire, almost to the point of obsession, slowly projected from him. When he reached out to grasp the center of the coiled line when he'd made it there, a sickening smile slithered across his face, and I at once felt that this was it; he had the map. But Jim Hawkins reached the line in the next instant, reached down and extracted the map from the rope.

He paused only an instant to stare at the old cook, lying prone and defeated, and then pivoted and ran. At that moment Silver took his mechanical arm, activated its inner workings, and brought forth a flintlock. He aimed it at the retreating boy.

"Jim!" the Doctor called when he saw Silver pull the gun. I grabbed at my rifle. Silver hesitated, and then lowered his gun. He hadn't shot him. Jim came running.

"Now!"

The gun recoiled as the laser pellet shot forth, impacting the back cable and shattering it. Behind me, the Doctor took out the forward.

Instantaneously afterward, the longboat dropped, covering the entire eight feet between itself and the closing hatch in a matter of seconds. The stern crashed heavily upon the sliding door, so that I feared the hull would break apart. It proved durable, however, and remained intact, and within all this excitement I perceived Mr. Hawkins catch hold of the larboard bulwarks of the longboat and hang there as we took our dive out of the escape hatch. He clung to the hull as the boat fell fast toward the surface of Treasure Planet, until at last the Doctor could hurry to his aid.

I myself was hurrying to save the rest of our hides, grabbing frantically for the emergency line and pulling it with all my strength. It seemed ten years before the longboat's solar sail unfurled and caught us, slowing our descent with a heavy jolt. I scrambled then for the controls and took my place at the steer. "Parameters met…" I calculated aloud as I hit the correct buttons, "hydraulics engaged…."

The engine of the longboat activated, rocketing us out of the dive and into a rapid advancement toward the emerald planet and certain escape.

There was a moment during which all of us felt at last in a fair amount of safety. My mind was still whirring, but as I attempted to catch my breath, the Doctor started to shout in a flustered panic. "Captain!" he cried, pointing over my shoulder. "Laser ball at twelve o'clock!"

The cannon! In all the confusion I had forgotten that Meltdown had access to the ship's cannon and therefore our potential destruction. Hurriedly I whirled round to see the Doctor's observation careening towards us faster than we were making our getaway. Instinctively I pulled back the tiller with the hope that we had enough time to swerve out of the laser ball's path. I could feel the longboat rear to starboard. The bow swiveled away, carrying the Doctor and Mr. Hawkins away from the oncoming danger. For a moment's time, I was sure we had avoided collision.

I felt the scalding heat of the laser ball before I felt the impact. I remember thinking that perhaps it had just grazed passed; that we had already succeeded from its path and it was just far away enough from the stern to come into contact. Then I felt a sudden burning, crushing sensation overtake the left side of my body upon its impaction. The scalding feeling gnawed my side into a raw numbness that invaded fully to my left underarm, and I fell forward, stifling a cry of pain, as the laser ball collided with the tip of the stern, tearing off and destroying the engine and the sail.

There was a blinding instant during which I must have blacked out from my shock, for when I lifted my head from my feeble position we had succeeded a good way into Treasure Planet's atmosphere. I quickly took hold of the steer again, fighting my disorientation, and guided the longboat as best I could onto the mossy floor of Treasure Planet.

Our landing consisted of green blurs and strange canopies as we hurtled toward the ground. There was a point close to the earth where we plunged into the head of a gas-filled plant, tearing into the waxy surface and then tearing out the other side. It was unfortunate that the odd plant had been in our path, for it managed to throw us into a nose-dive, and as we slammed into the moss and undergrowth of the ground, the bow dug deep into the earth as the stern ascended into the air, pulling us into a steepening slant. We skidded along in that hazardous position for a good five to eight seconds before the stern ascended over and passed the bow, flipping the longboat and crashing her belly-up onto the ground, rifling Jim, the Doctor, and me face-first into the undergrowth.

There was a silence as each of us gradually regained our bearings underneath the damaged hull. I concentrated my attention upon my left side; it was tingling and numbing, which concerned me, but not as much as the growing realization that I was having difficulty breathing.

Then Jim lifted the hull, the daylight came back to us all, and I heard Mr. Hawkins mumble detachedly. The Doctor fixed his glasses, which were miraculously unbroken, rose to his feet slowly, and dusted himself off. "Oh, my goodness…" he murmured. "That was more fun than I ever want to have again."

I was determined that nothing was wrong. Forcing a chuckle, I pushed off my hands and rose to my full height. "…Not one of my…" I managed, pulling at my uniform, "…gossamer landings…" As soon as I'd finished my statement, a sharp, streaking pain shot through my left side, stopping me short. I clutched my side involuntarily and fell back to my knees. I was gasping; breathing grew more difficult, and then slowly became easier, and I felt the Doctor's hand upon my shoulder.

I shoved off my knees once more, the pain again shooting bluntly through me, and voiced what I was so determined to believe. "Oh don't fuss," I reassured them. The pain shot up my side as I spoke, and I stumbled because of it, in spite of myself. The Doctor caught me, but I stubbornly regained my own, removing a few stray locks of hair from my face by running my fingers through my hair. "A slight bruising, that's all… cup of tea and I'll be right as rain."

My left side was screaming. However, I refused to collapse again, and, composedly as possible, I placed my left hand behind me, making a point to keep it well off my side, and called for the attention of Mr. Hawkins.

At a closer look I realized that I was speaking to the Doctor. My side radiated a terrible burning sensation, and as I blinked I found my vision was somewhat blurred. Stiffly I turned to Mr. Hawkins and, struggling more than I would have liked, said, "…The map…if you please."

Jim was quick to react, pulling the map from his pocket and presenting it to me with a sigh of relief.

The map was its golden self, and glinted triumphantly in Mr. Hawkins's hand as he presented to me. But as he stared victoriously at it, the map slowly took on a pinkish hue, and lost its shimmering surface. The indentions on its face lost their distinction, and then without warning it lifted into the air and turned into a deep pink color, imploded upon itself and revealed its true form to be Silver's pet morph.

The little creature began to laugh hysterically, and Mr. Hawkins was instantly seething.

"Morph!" he shouted. "Morph, where's the map?"

The gooey animal took the form of a coiled line, and dropped a piece of itself formed separately into the map within the middle of the rope.

Mr. Hawkins roared exasperatedly, "Are you serious? It's back on the ship?"

The pink creature giggled sheepishly. I couldn't bear to comprehend how we'd managed to maintain our unlucky streak and lose the map to the pirates, but it was at least evident that we no longer possessed the map. The morph must have turned itself into a reproduction of the map we truly required, and in his mad rush, Mr. Hawkins hadn't noticed. This was horrendous news, considering that we had no provisions, no shot, and now, we didn't even have the map. The crew had everything.

The pain in my side had subsided again to a steady numbness. Hair fell over my eyes once more as I lowered my head, the discomfort in my left side stealing away most of my concentration. Then I heard the distant roar of an engine, and, tossing my face skyward, I saw another one of the Legacy's longboats in hot pursuit of a rising stack of smoke just to the east of where we were. The morph was gurgling loudly, and I cautioned, "Stifle that blob and get low."

The pain shot through me again and I flinched, restraining a larger reaction. Breathing deliberately, I motioned to the sky and the longboat.

"We've got company."

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