Disclaimer: I do not own Treasure Planet or any of its characters. Tobi is mine.
Jim flopped down in a seat at the galley table, exhausted. They'd set off not long after noon, and while he had hoped he'd spend more time at the wheel it was not to be. He'd been given tasks that would normally be assigned to cabin boys like washing the deck and letting loose the sails. It brought about pangs of nostalgia and irritancy. When he thought he had a moment's rest, Tobi would some how instantly appear and find him another chore to do. He was tired and hungry and achy and it was only the first day. On top of all that he still hadn't been able to find Silver and Jim was pretty sure he'd covered the ship from stem to stern.
He sighed and closed his eyes at the mounting headache. It had started not long after they took off and had steadily gotten worse as the day dragged on. Thankfully, he wasn't the only one who was running crew on this ship. Tobi pulled more than her fair share of the weight, not only because it was her ship but also because she was the navigator. The Dopplers had not been spared either. He'd caught a glimpse of a coatless Amelia sorting through boxes in storage and Dilbert repeatedly shocked himself as he tried to repair a heating system.
The ship was on course for the planet Mersic, which was where Tobi said they'd find information that would take them to the next step. She'd shown them a small ball like a marble, that was cloudy on first glimpse but as one got closer, they could see that it was a small planet. This was their first step in the journey, but it was the only clue she'd been given. The Anglicans had made it so that only by following the signs and planets could one find Marias. Tobi hadn't even been given any clue by her parents or family so she'd had to find someone who did. Jim detected the slightest hint of disappointment in her voice when she told them this.
Smells began to tickle Jim's nose, making his stomach grumble. He didn't realize how hungry he was but now that he'd had a moment to relax he found himself starving. He was about to ask Tobi what they were having for dinner when something occurred to him. One was the fact that Tobi had never made any mention of making their meals. The second was that he'd just seen her on his way down headed towards the bow of the ship to check their position.
He looked over at the figure, which had its back turned to him. Quietly, he got up from his seat and walked over, trying to see who their cook was without alerting him. He'd gotten a little bit of profile before he heard footsteps coming down the stairs, Dilbert belting what he must've thought was a sailor's song. .
"Ah way a-waaaay!" Dilbert belted, belting a howl at the end. Amelia rolled her eyes as she followed her husband into the galley, but Jim could tell that she was more amused than anything.
"Ah Jim good to see that you haven't dropped dead from exhaustion," Amelia said, setting her box on the table. Dilbert dramatically sighed as he planted himself firmly in a seat.
"Good grief, this is not what I had imagined when I signed on to do this," Dilbert sighed as he wiped his glasses. Jim smiled at them both as he angled himself between the Dopplers and the chef. He had hoped that he might have a private word with their "chef." And he might've too, if it hadn't been for Dilbert's nose.
"My goodness that smells delightful! I say what are we having for supper?" he asked. Jim tried desperately to keep himself between them but Dilbert was curious by nature and of course surprised by the chef's prescence. "Oh we have another member of the crew? I say sir what's your name? My name is Dr. Dilbert Doppler, noted astrophysicist, and this is my wife, Captain Amelia Doppler."
"Me? Oh," he turned around, his cap pulled low so that it might hide his face but Jim could've smacked himself because his voice sounded about the same with a little more gravel to it. "My name…is, uh…Sam! Yeah my name be Samuel Jacobson and I'll be serving you fine people some of me specialty ifin y'all be having a seat." He gestured at the table, his arms laden with bowls of…something.
Dilbert was puzzled but it was Amelia that Jim was concerned about. Not much escaped her notice and he was sure it wasn't just the stranger's awkward behavior that had her senses on high alert. She bent over to peek under the sailor's hat but he swept away. "And where exactly do you hail from Samuel?" she asked. He chuckled but sounded more than a little nervous. He quickly set the bowls down on the table and moved to go back to the galley, but Amelia was too fast. She whipped off the hat and hissed. "You!" she cried as she reached for her pistol. Or where it might've been if she hadn't taken off her coat.
"Now now ma'am, there be no reason to go gettin' all upset, is there?" Silver tried. But there was no bargaining with Amelia when she'd made up her mind about something like this.
"You sir are a wanted criminal and it is my sworn duty to turn you in. Jim, as a fellow captain I expect you do give me assistance and see to it that he doesn't make a break for it. I'll radio someone from the Galactic Police Force to come pick him up," she told the young man. He looked at Silver's leg, which had healed well but there still seemed to be a pronounced limp in his gait. Even if Silver wanted to make a break for it, he wouldn't be able to without being in a lot of pain.
"Well, you know why I won't be going stealin' one of Miss Tobi's fine land crafts Jimbo. It's a shame though. I was hopin' to have one last big hurrah before finally retirin'. Ah well, I figured I'd be seein' the inside of Majar Prison sooner or later," he drawled.
"It's going to have to be later Mr. Silver, as you are still under contract with me," Tobi announced from the stairs. It took a moment but Amelia bristled when she realized what Tobi had said.
"Under contract? You willingly let him board the ship? You know he is an outlaw and as an alumni of the Interstellar Academy it is you duty to turn him in," she said.
"Ah, it is. But he's also an excellent pirate and his knowledge might come in handy should we have to face… 'unscrupulous' characters, so I'm keeping him around." This just seemed to make the captain all the angrier.
"Fine. Then I will just have to turn him in myself," she said and started for the stairs.
"I think you'll find, Captain Amelia, that the communications system is not in proper working order at the moment." That made the woman stop and slowly turn around. "You see, we passed the limits of the Federation's law only a little while ago, but I timed it so you would find our last crew member after the fact. That being said, I still figured you might try to call someone. So I dismantled the system," Tobi said as she pulled some mechanical parts from behind her back. Amelia looked as if she might combust right on the spot.
"What do you think you are doing? That is also our emergency signal!" she cried.
"This is all part of the plan, Captain. We will not be turning around to turn Mr. Silver in and I will not be putting the communicator back together until we are far enough away from Federation space or we have an emergency. And before you go questioning if I know what I am doing with the communicator, I have fixed it many times in the past. I have lived and breathed this ship my entire life, it is safe to assume that I know what I am doing," Tobi said. Jim didn't know whether to be impressed or worried. Few ever talked back to Captain Amelia Doppler and didn't at least come away with a cutlass scar. Said captain was astonished at the sheer audacity of the young Halfling, but she must've realized the depth of the situation because she finally collapsed into a seat and groaned.
"Um, excuse me, Cap 'in? No, the lady captain," he said when both Jim and Amelia turned. "This might not be the best time to be saying this, but I think there's something else you should know." He reached around a corner and tugged at something. It resisted, but there was very little that could stand against Silver's bulk. What came around the corner shocked them all.
"Madeline! What on earth?" her mother cried. She and Dilbert inspected their youngest daughter, who looked rather guilty.
"Found her a few hours ago, hiding in one of the barrels. Unfortunately, we'd already shipped off and I couldn't come out of hiding to present her, so it looks like we'll be taking her with us," Silver said.
"Absolutely not! Tabitha, we must turn around at once, or at the very least re-assemble the communicator so that I might have one of my associate's come and pick her up," Amelia said. Tobi looked skeptical for a moment but nodded before heading back up the stairs.
"No!" Madeline cried, taking them all by surprise. "I don't want to go back. Besides, I came here for another reason," she said and cast her eyes over her shoulder. For a moment nothing happened but then a small amorphous blob began buzzing around everyone's heads.
"Morph!" Jim said. He'd left the little shape shifter back on Montressor to help watch over the girls and to keep Ben out of trouble. He chirped and clicked, happy to see everyone before nesting in Madeline's hair.
"He wanted to come so badly and well, I was the only one who could help," she said. Her eyes were very large and watery but Jim had to give the little girl credit for keeping it together under pressure.
Dilbert sighed and kneeled to look at his daughter. "Sweetheart that is no reason to come on a dangerous journey. You know better. For now, we'll sit down and have dinner, and if and when we hear back from the Federation, we'll decide on your punishment." The little girl looked so dejected it almost made Jim reach out and hug her. It was not in Madeline's nature to seek out adventure and he could see it was taking all of her courage to stand her ground. But the Dopplers had a point. This was too dangerous for a someone her age and it would be best if she went home.
Morph was up again bouncing back and forth between chirping at Jim and cuddling Silver. The pirate, while not obviously eavesdropping, had a very sullen look on his face. "Some how I doubt that that little girl will be going home," he said.
"What makes you say that?" Jim asked a little taken aback. There was something very…finite in what Silver had said.
"It could just be 'cause I'm gettin' old, but there's an ache in my bones that only comes about when theirs trouble a'comin'. It wouldn't surprise me if we had trouble with communicatin' to the Federation," he told Jim just as Tobi trod back down the stairs with a grim look on her face.
"I put the communicator back together, but all I can get is static. There must be an electric storm between here and the nearest check point. And if there is an electric storm, I am not flying my ship through that. The old girl is strong and steady but a powerful enough lightening strike would rip her and us to pieces," Tobi said. Amelia and Dilbert looked at each other, but it was out of their hands. Madeline, while not exactly happy with what had happened, did wear a small smile after hearing the news.
At least, until Tobi burst her bubble.
"I remembered something. There's a place not too far from here where we might run into some Federation officers. Mind you, it will be a while before we get there, but still it is an option," she said. Neither Dilbert or Amelia were happy with the situation but nodded. Tobi looked quite pleased with herself as she sat down to her own bowl. Digging in, she sighed. "This is delicious. What is it?"
Silver smiled. "Why that would be Bonza Beast stew," he said, just as a nose bobbed up in her bowl. She stared at it a minute, unsure what to do. There were strangled noises from the Dopplers as the young woman shrugged and ate more of the stew, careful to pick out the nose. Silver looked both surprised and impressed.
"Don't let that one get away," he whispered to Jim.
AN: Oh hell, I'm so far behind and I hate plot chapters! Damn them and their inability to slip from my mind to the page as easily as others. To hell I say! And I'm sorry to say what a crappy chapter this is. It's another one of those damn plot chapters that does not want to be written. I'll probably fix it later on but right now I am just happy that I could make B to connect A and C.
Thanks for reading! And please review!