We arrived at Delbert's home, a mansion. The living room was basically a huge library with the bookshelves full of different genres. There were even piles of books that looked like mountains and I could make out a large telescope attached to the roof. Delbert started a fire in the fireplace and soon, the room illuminated the dim orange glow of the flames. I stood next to a table with the golden sphere on it. My backpack was off and by my side. I picked up the sphere and held it as Delbert walked to Sarah, who sat in an arm chair by the fire. "I just spoke with the constabulary." He started. "Those blaggard pirates have fled without a trace. I'm sorry Sarah." He kneeled by her side, with his hands folded on top of another.
"I'm afraid the old Benbow Inn has burned to the ground." The dog alien said. Jim took a small blanket and placed it on his mom's shoulders. I couldn't help but feel a little guilty over this. I should've told them what was going to happen but I didn't. Questions would be raised about how I know that knowledge and I can't be tossed out in the streets of a world I was vaguely familiar with. Jim opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. He came and stood next to me as Delbert handed Sarah a teacup. The grown man cleared his throat. "Well, certainly a lot of trouble over that odd little sphere." He said.
I handed Jim the sphere and he began to fiddle with it. He tapped on the circular marks like buttons. "Those markings baffle me. Unlike anything I've ever encountered." Delbert started rambling. The circular markings sank into it and us two kids gasp. Jim smirked and spun the spinning parts like solving a rubix cube. It clicked into place and small green lights came floating out of the cube! "— Hey!" Delbert said, offended that a fifteen year old had figured it out. The lights spread across the room, taking over as the main light source. They flew up to the roof and spread out, creating a grid that took over the room. Some lights created little planets and galaxies. I smiled as I watched it all take shape and looked around at the ones around me. It was just so incredible.
"Why, it's a map!" He said, walking around to get a better look. Sarah gasped at his words and the sight in front of her. I looked around at the many different planets and galaxies around. "Wait. Wait, wait, wait!" The older man said when a certain planet caught his attention. He took off his glasses and cleaned a lense before putting them back on. He pointed at the planet. "This is us, the planet Montressor." He tapped it and the grid suddenly began moving, as if it was taking us through space.
"That's the Magellanic Cloud!" He said, pointing to it. "Whoo! The Coral Galaxy." Said galaxy collided with Jim's chest. The galaxy spread out the came back together. I pushed on the next galaxy I saw to see the same effect. "That's the Cygnus Cross, and that's the Kerian Abyss." The grid stopped moving to reveal a two ringed planet before vanishing with the planet still around. I smiled, knowing what it is. "Wait. What's this? What's this?" Delbert said when he saw it. "Why it's... it's..."
"Treasure Planet." Jim said.
"No!"
"That's Treasure Planet!"
"Flint's trove? The loot of a thousand worlds? You know what this means?"
"It means that all that treasure is only a boat ride away."
"Whoever brings it back would hold an eternal place atop the pantheon of explorers! He'd be able to experience— whoo!" Delbert jumped startled as the light from the map vanished and the fire became the room's light source. "What just happened?" He asked.
"Mom, this is it." Jim said, walking over to his mom and pocketing the map. "This is the answer to all our problems."
"Jim," Sarah said, pinching the bridge of her nose, "there is absolutely no way—"
"Don't you remember, all those stories?"
"That's all they were. Stories!"
"With that treasure, we could rebuild the Benbow a hundred times over!"
"Delbert, would you please explain how ridiculous this is?"
"It's totally preposterous, traversing the entire galaxy alone." Delbert said. Sarah place her hands on her hips with a smug smile. Jim sighed and rolled his eyes. I stared at the grown man, waiting for the one eighty.
"Now, at last, we hear some sense!" Sarah said, smugly.
"That's why I'm going with you." He added, grabbing a bag. There it is.
"Delbert!"
Said man began running around the room, packing things into his bag. He shoved some tools from a table into it, grabbed an extra coat, and even climbed a book pile to grab a toothbrush from a glass cup on top of it. I cringed a bit hearing the cup shatter on the floor. "I'll use my savings to finance the expedition. I'll commission a ship, hire a captain and a crew."
"You're not serious." Sarah said in disbelief.
Delbert slid down the book mountain. "All my life I've been waiting for an opportunity like this, and here it is screaming, 'Go Delbert! Go Delbert! Go—'"
"Okay. Okay! You're all grounded!" What did I do to warrant being grounded? Sarah sighed and rubbed the back of her neck in frustration.
"Mom look," Jim said. "I know that I keep messing everything up, and I know—" He sighed, as if knowing what he was going to say was going to be hard to swallow. "—that I let you down." I saw his mom's face soften at her son's words. "But this is my chance to make it up to you. I'm gonna set things right." He finished.
"Sarah?" Delbert said. "If I may?" He motioned for her to come and have a private conversation. Jim and I stood as they whispered to each other. We looked at each other and I shrugged at what they were saying. When they finished talking she came over to her son.
She heaved a sigh before speaking. "Jim, I don't lose you." She said, brushing some of his hair from his face.
"Mom, you won't." He said, grabbing her hand. "I'll make you proud." They smiled at each other.
"I'm going too." I said. Everyone else looked at me in surprise.
"Why? The trip could be a little dangerous for you." Sarah said.
"A handful of that treasure could set me up for life. I don't have anything in my name except for the clothes on my back and my backpack. Nothing else. I need some of that treasure."
"It won't hurt to have her alone. Like she said, she needs some money." Delbert said. "Alright, you can come."
I smiled at Delbert in gratitude. I saw Jim trying to figure out what just happened. He looked surprised and confused that a twelve year old is coming on the trip.
"Well, uh." Delbert said, clearing his throat. "There we are then. We'll begin preparations at once. Jim, Emma, my kids, soon we'll be off to the spaceport." He pointed to the crescent moon through the window.