Chapter 2: Surprise Guests

Jim woke up to the light coming in from the old window. He squinted his eyes until they were used to the rays pouring into the room. As soon as he could see again, he looked down at the figure sleeping next to him. Alice was curled up beside him, her bed head worse than usual. She was still fast asleep, and he knew from experience that she wouldn't wake up for at least another hour. He remembered trying to wake her up on the first day of their honeymoon and she was grumpy the rest of the day. 'Definitely not a morning person,' he thought to himself.

He gently moved her black curls away from her face and kissed her forehead. "I love you," he whispered softly. He then got out of bed, put fresh clothes on, and went downstairs to help his mother with breakfast.

Sarah saw her son come downstairs with a smile on his face. "Sleep well?" she asked looking back down at the scrambled eggs still cooking.

"Yeah," he replied while he placed bacon on a pan. "And you?"

Sarah smiled and looked at her son. She had heard about his assignment and knew about him leaving so soon. "I had a dream about you last night."

Jim looked up at his mother. "What about me?" he asked nervously.

"It was about the first time you left with Delbert to go find Treasure Planet, except this time, you never came home." Sarah looked back down at the eggs, stirring as she remembered her dream.

Jim sighed as he flipped the bacon. "Mom, I'm coming back, don't worry. And besides, you and Alice can keep each other company while I'm gone."

Sarah turned the stove off, cooling the eggs down to an acceptable temperature. "Alright fine."

Jim grinned and went back to the bacon.

Alice woke up with Jim already on her mind. She looked around the room hoping to find him, but he wasn't there. 'He's probably cooking something for breakfast,' she thought as she got out of bed. All of the sudden, Alice felt extremely nauseous and she sprinted for the bathroom. After vomiting, she rinsed her mouth with water and cleaned up with her towel. 'What the heck was that?' she thought to herself. She thought about everything that she had eaten the past few days. 'It must have been the sea food from that restaurant Jim took me to the day before we came home,' she concluded. She then decided to get ready for the day.

After she put on her favorite outfit: her light green blouse, with a brown corset, and forest green skirt, she walked over to the mirror to make sure she looked decent. "Oh my…" she said out loud as she took a long look at her mangled black locks. She quickly grabbed her brush and combed through the mess. She then twisted it all into a long braid that went down to the small of her back.

Once she felt presentable, she traveled downstairs, where she smelled eggs and bacon. 'Yum' she thought as she walked into the kitchen to find Jim and his mother cooking. "Good morning," she said.

Jim jumped, not expecting her to be awake yet. "Well you're up earlier than usual," he said as he pulled her in for a hug.

"I smelled food," she joked and gave him a quick kiss.

"Can you set the table, Alice?" Sarah asked busily. "Breakfast is ready and I don't want it to get cold."

Alice smiled, "Of course." She walked over to the cabinet and grabbed four plates, then walked out of the kitchen door to set the table.

When she was out of earshot, Jim started to chuckle to himself.

"What's so funny, Jim?" his mother asked.

He turned to his mother and whispered with a laugh, "Her hair did not look like that this morning."

After breakfast, Jim left to retrieve his assignment papers at the I.S.U. He decided to wear his new captain's uniform to show his appreciation and commitment to his job. The head chairman of the I.S.U., Mr. James Norrington, called Jim into his office.

"Mr. James Hawkins, you have been assigned to a very important mission. A few days ago, the queen of Atlantica was captured by pirates. We need you and a well rounded crew to find the captors and the queen and bring them both here alive. Their fates will be decided for them."

Jim responded excitedly, "Yes sir."

The tall man fixed his wig. "Do you have any questions about your assignment, Mr. Hawkins?"

A question was in fact brewing in Jim's mind. "Why doesn't the king of Atlantica send someone to rescue her? Are we the only planet that can rescue people?"

Norrington shifted in his chair and said seriously, "Atlantica is the home of mer-people, Mr. Hawkins. Therefore the king can not emerge completely out of water or he will die. The same goes for any mermaid or merman. That is why King Triton contacted the I.S.U. to rescue the queen because we can not only survive on land, but we can chase after those pirates in space. Now the king has offered a reward for the rescuer-"

"I don't need a reward, sir," Jim interrupted. "As long as I am paid my usual."

"I see," Norrington said as he took a sip of tea. "So an entire palace full of riches doesn't appeal to you or your family?"

Jim shook his head. His family had everything they needed. Even if treasure would help them a lot, he knew that they were completely content with what they had. "I appreciate the offer, but I will have to decline."

Norrington shuffled through the papers on his desk. "Well then I will let the king know and you can start preparing for your departure immediately." The man handed Jim his paperwork and shook his hand.

"Thank you sir," Jim said as he headed out the door.

A few days had passed and Jim was only a couple more days away from his departure. He and Alice were trying to spend as much time together as possible, but he seemed to become more busy as the week progressed. He had to spend half of his days preparing his crew and ship for the trip. Today, he had been gone almost all day.

Alice was cleaning up the dining room after all of the guests went to their rooms. Sarah and Silver had gone to the market to buy more groceries for the week. B.E.N. had stayed behind to help clean up the house with Alice. Morph was floating around, chirping a sailor song to lighten the mood.

"How much longer do you think he'll be, B.E.N.? I need to tell him something important," Alice asked the robot.

"Not long. Don't worry Alice, Jimmy will be back in no time. Do you mind if I ask what this important information is?" B.E.N. asked.

Alice blushed. "I think I need to tell Jim first, but after I tell him, you'll be the first to know," she assured.

"Alrighty then, he'd better get home soon!" B.E.N. replied excitedly. Morph chirped in agreement and continued his song.

Jim ran to the flower shop, hoping they were still open this late. He was on his way home when he got the idea to surprise Alice with flowers. He was also hoping that they would make up for being late, due to the hover-bus that arrived an hour late.

He reached the shop and to his luck, they were still open. He walked in and looked around, trying to find the right bouquet. He decided to buy a dozen white roses, which were her favorite, then continued his trip home.

Alice and B.E.N. were putting the brooms away and were about to retire to their rooms when they heard a knock on the door. Alice's first thought was that Jim was home, but why would he knock on the door? She hesitated, but eventually, she opened the door. They were in trouble. Pirates were surrounding the porch of the inn, waiting to come in. "Can…can I help you?" she quivered.

A man with a scruffy beard and a beer belly stood at the front of the group. He spoke in a seductive manner, "Hello, beautiful. We hideous chaps are looking for a Mr. James Hawkins. Is he around?"

Alice tried to keep calm. These men were after Jim, but why? What did he do? Why would they be barging into his home like this? What did they want from him? She then realized that she still hadn't answered the pirate's question. "Uh, no, um, he won't be back for a while," she stammered.

The man's face transformed into a grin. "That's a shame. Do you mind if we come in and wait for him?"

Alice knew he didn't believe her. He probably thought that Jim was inside the inn right now, and he wanted to come inside. Even though Jim wasn't there, she was not going to let these pirates into her home. She started to close the door, "Sorry, but the inn is full."

The man stuck his foot in the door before she closed it. "Then we'll just have to make room." At that moment, the band of pirates kicked down the door as Alice jumped out of the way. The first thing that she saw was a chair, so she picked it up to defend herself. A fat alien grabbed her chair and broke it in half, ruining her defensive strategy. She swiftly ran into the kitchen and grabbed two large knives. Unfortunately, she was dealing with pirates, and they all carried swords. She tried to put up a fight, but she didn't last long and ended up weaponless, pinned in a corner.

The crew inched toward her and she felt that she only had one choice to come out of the situation alive. "Parlay!" she screamed.

The entire crew groaned. "I swear that I will kill the next person who says parlay," the eight eyed alien proclaimed in annoyance.

The beer belly man walked up to Alice and smiled. "I hope you understand the meaning of parlay, my dear."

Alice nodded. "You are to take me to your captain and he will decide what to do with me."

"Correct," the man said. "Well, first, I need to know what your name is."

"First, I need to know what you want with Jim," Alice countered.

"I guess I don't need to hide that from you, since you'll either be coming with us, or you'll be dead within the next thirty seconds. Mr. Hawkins is the only person in the galaxy who can open this map, here, so we came to ask for his help."

"You came to kidnap him."

The man glared at the girl. "Well depending on who you are, the captain will reconsider his options."

Alice thought for a moment. She had dealt with pirates before, with her parents, even though she was only a child. She could handle these pirates as long as she knew that Jim was safe. She made up her mind. "I will only answer to the captain."

"Very well then. Gents, tie her up and bring her to the Pearl! We have a trap to set."

Barbossa was growing impatient. "How long does it take to grab the boy and bring him back?" he grumbled to himself. Just then, the crew had returned holding a prisoner. Barbossa walked onto the deck to greet the crew, and their new guest. "Who is this?" he asked as he spotted the girl coming on deck.

"She won't say, but she was guarding the place and when we tried to look around, she fought us and claimed parlay so we had to bring her here to you," Mr. Gibbs replied.

Barbossa walked up to the girl and looked her up and down. She had black hair and lightly tinted skin. Her angry eyes were the color of the sea and her pink lips frowned. Her chin was high signifying that she was unafraid of the pirates, for the time being.

"What's your name miss?" Barbossa asked. Alice could smell his rotten breath and she backed away disgusted.

"My name is Alice Hawkins," she replied proudly. Barbossa scratched his scruffy beard.

"Hawkins," he said thoughtfully. "You know we are searching for a Mr. James Hawkins. You must be part of the family."

Alice stiffened. "You could say that," she replied.

Barbossa turned to the crew. "Well lads, it seems that we have a Hawkins on board the Black Pearl. Maybe the map opening runs in the family," he let out a big chuckle then turned to Mr. Gibbs. "Take her to the brig," he ordered.

"But I-"

"I beg your pardon Miss, but I don't have time to sit around and wait for James. Maybe taking you with us will bring him here instead," Barbossa answered. At that moment, Mr. Gibbs took hold of Alice's arms from behind her back and pushed her along the deck, and down a flight of stairs to a corridor with what looked like jail cells. Gibbs fumbled with his keys but eventually unlocked a cell door and threw the girl inside.

Alice rubbed her wrists and hands, which took the blow of her fall. Not until she was completely alone did she realize how completely frightened she actually was. These pirates kidnapped her to get to Jim. It was a trap. How could she have been so stupid? She wasn't going to face these pirates alone because Jim always came after her, even when she didn't want him to. She should never have opened her mouth and said parlay. But if she hadn't, she might be dead on the floor of the Ben bow Inn right now. At least she was still alive. But that didn't guarantee that these pirates would keep it that way for her or Jim. The minute he would come on deck they probably wouldn't have any use for her anymore and kill her right then and there. Then after they find whatever treasure they're after, they'll finish off her husband as well. Tears were staining her cheeks as she thought of these pirates taking Jim's life. She hugged her knees to her chest and prayed that Jim would be safe no matter what he was up against.