Chapter 23: The Back Door
It was now night. Jim, Rose, Captain Amelia, Doctor Doppler, B.E.N., Morph and Artemis were all hunkered down in B.E.N.'s house. The captain's injuries were getting worse and began to say unexpected phrases.
Rose was sitting in the corner away from her companions. Only Artemis laid against her barefoot and looked up in concern.
"Gentlemen… Rose…" Captain Amelia spoke, "we must stay together and...and...ohh" she gripped her left arm in pain and groaned.
"And what? What?!" Delbert yelled anxiously and removed his glasses. "We must stay together and what?!"
"Doctor, you have wonderful eyes," the feline said, before falling back and closed her eyes into unconsciousness.
The canine turned to Jim and panicked. "She's lost her mind!"
"Well, you gotta help her," the boy pleaded.
"Dang it, Jim. I'm an astronomer, not a doctor. I mean, I am a doctor, but I'm not that kind of doctor. I have a doctorate. It's not the same thing. You can't help people with a doctorate. You just sit there, and you're useless," Delbert ranted angrily, wanting to get the frustration out of his system. He turned to Rose and yelled, "Rose! Can't you do anything to help?!"
The auburn-redhead sat there very still and was silent. "It's no use," she mumbled and sighed, hugging her legs tighter. Not getting an answer from the captain's daughter, Delbert clutched his temples and heaved a breath.
"It's okay, Doc. It's all right," Jim said, comforting the doctor by placing his hands on the canine's shoulders to calm him down.
"Yeah, Doc! Jimmy knows exactly how to get out of this," B.E.N. said as the boy walked away. "It's just Jimmy has this knowledge of things."
Rose looked up from her sullen state and spoke, "Wrong. There's nothing we can do."
Jim, Delbert, B.E.N., and Morph shot their heads up in shock and looked at the auburn-redhead.
"What are you talking about Rose?" the doctor asked.
The girl stood up on her feet and faced her companions. Her heart-shaped face was stained with tears, her eyes were red, and her usual timid expression turned into a glare.
"What? Who does the cyborg think we are? Weak, stupid, helpless cowards? After going on this voyage, I was hoping nothing bad would happen, but they did! Scroop attacked me, he killed Mr. Arrow, Silver betrayed us, and now we're stranded here with no hope of rescue and surviving! Everything is hopeless!" Rose yelled.
The men stared at the girl silently; they had never seen her so angry.
"And what do you want me to do? Go into the depths of this planet and find the pirates' treasure so that we can all come out as rich billionaires so then our home can cheer us on like we're rags-to-riches heroes?" She turned to Delbert and Amelia. "You already have each other, and it's not me!"
She panted fiercely through her nose, before her glare turned to sadness. She sighed and said softly, "Silver was right. Silver was right about everything and I'm tired of being something I'm not. Now, I don't know who I really am anymore."
The girl sat back down and again faced away from her friends and sobbed into her knees. Captain Amelia lost her consciousness and lies back down. Wanting to break the awkward silence, B.E.N. turns to the boy and asked, "Jim, any thoughts at all?"
Jim looked up at the sky where the Legacy was docked along the green ring. "Without the map, we're dead," he said. He glanced down at the bottom of the hill, where Silver and the pirates were camped with a light. "If we try to leave, we're dead. If we stay here…"
"We're dead!" Morph exclaimed. "We're dead! We're dead! We're dead!"
Jim sighed and turned back to the entrance, leaning his head forward. As long as they stay here and surrounded by the pirates, they won't be able to escape and find the treasure.
"Well, I think that Jimmy and Rose Budders could use a little quiet time," B.E.N. said. "Heh. So, I'll just slip out the back door."
The mention of back door caught the boy's attention. "Back door?
"What back door?" Rose asked. "I thought there was no way out."
"Oh, yeah," The robot said, pushing a sphere over to reveal a bright light from the hole. "I get this delightful breeze through here, which I think is important because ventilation among friends…"
The teenagers hurried over to the down and looked down into the hole.
"Holy stars!" the girl exclaimed.
The boy looked down and saw it full of pipes and catwalks leading to the center of the planet. "Whoa! What is all this stuff?" he asked.
"You mean the miles and miles of machinery that run through the entire course of the inside of this planet?" B.E.N. asked, leaning against the sphere. "Not a clue."
"Hey, Doc! Doc! I think l found a way out of here!" Jim said, climbing to the top.
"No, no. Jim, wait," Delbert said, holding out a hand. "The captain ordered us to stay…"
"I'll be back." The boy jumped down into the hole and disappeared.
"Cannonball!" B.E.N. yells, jumping down as well.
"Woof," Delbert said, with a blank expression.
Rose watched as Jim and B.E.N. landed on the railing and began to travel through the centroid. She stepped back and sighed, debating whether or not to follow and help them.
"Rose, are you okay?"
The girl snapped her head up like a puppet's head on a string and turned around. Delbert was looking down at her with a concerned expression.
"I'm fine," she said, glancing away and clasping her hands.
But Delbert could clearly tell from Rose's body language and uncomfortable facial expression that she was lying.
"Rose, I know that you're hiding something."
"Okay, the reason why I was upset was because I saw you and Mother kissing each other. I got… jealous," she admitted.
"Jealous?" the canine man raised his eyebrows in confusion.
"Ever since she adopted me, she's always paid attention to me. All because she wanted to help me cope and heal from the death of my parents. Seeing you kiss my Mother just got me worried."
"Worried about what?"
"I thought that if we were ever to get out of this alive, Mother would run off with you and leave me behind. And go away to someplace I can't find her. Being abandoned and alone is another one of my fears. It made me think about all the close people I've known my whole life until they died. You don't have any intentions of running off with the captain, do you?"
The canine doctor gasped and came over to Rose, placing his hands on her shoulders, giving them a reassuring squeeze.
"What? No, no, never. I would never do that, and neither would the captain," he said, pulling her into a hug. "After seeing how you two cope and handle each other, I have no doubt that she would ever abandon you. Neither would I, Jim, or even B.E.N."
Rose accepted the hug, closed her tear-filled eyes, and smiled. She was filled with relief that she had friends to be on her side.
She looked over outside of the window, seeing the glowing light where the pirates slept, and thought about the consequences if they didn't escape. If she stayed here with Captain Amelia and Delbert, she would find herself useless and not go out to face her fears. If she did go with Jim, B.E.N., and Morph, she would have to take precautions around Silver and the pirates to avoid getting killed.
Understanding the consequences and making her decision, Rose picked up Artemis and placed her on her shoulder and hurried to the back door whispering to herself, "I must be out of my mind."
The girl climbed up to the top of the dome and jumped down the hole. Managing to land on the metal catwalk safely, she perked up her ears to listen for any sounds nearby. She started to walk and began to hear footsteps. Knowing that it was her friends, she picked up the pace to a jog.
"Jim! B.E.N! Wait up!" she called.
The boy, robot, and shape-shifter stopped and turned around.
"Rose, what are you doing here?" Jim asked.
The auburn-redhead halted when she reached them and said, breathlessly, "I'm coming with you."
"Well, I'm glad you're here Rose Budders," B.E.N. said, pulling the girl into a hug.
However, Jim frowned at Rose. "Rose, this is very dangerous," he said. "This is something B.E.N. and I should do ourselves."
"I know," she said. "I was having my moment of doubts of making it out alive. But, then I had some sense knocked into me. I can't just sit here and not help. And I'm not doing it for myself, I'm doing it for Mother and Delbert."
Jim thought for a moment. Deep down in his heart, he knew that Rose wanted to be helpful and prove that she can do more than sit by the captain's side. But at the same time, he worried about her safety and didn't want anyone or anything to hurt her. After much careful thinking, he took her hands into his own.
"I understand, Rose. I just want you to promise me that you'll be very careful," he said.
Rose nodded. "I promise."
Jim lifted up the hatch and peered out from the pipe. Rose cautiously stuck her head up to next to him and looked over in his direction.
In a clearing, Silver and his crew were surrounding a campfire, and snoring in their sleep. Rose was about to scream at the sight of the campfire, but she covered her mouth to prevent a sound from emerging.
Rose, this is no time to let your fears get in the way, ignore the fire and help your friends, her conscience said to her.
She took a deep breath and allowed it to soothe her well-being. Focusing on her quiet breathing made her think about the plan and not the fire.
Morph and Artemis appeared between the teenagers and looked out.
"So, what's the plan?" B.E.N. yelled, popping out and slamming the door open, causing Morph to splatter.
This made the girl jump up in fright. But she managed to muffle a gasp by clapping her hands over her mouth.
"Shh! B.E.N., quiet!" Jim warned, using his hands to clamp the robot's mouth. They looked back at the camp. Silver turned over in his sleep and continued to snore. Jim whispered, "Okay, here it is. We sneak back to the Legacy, disable the laser cannons, and bring back the map."
"That's a good plan." B.E.N. muffled through Jim's hands. "I like that plan. The only thing is, I'm wondering, how do we get there?"
Jim looked out, and noticed the pirates' longboat sitting near the camp. "On that," he pointed.
