Forever and Always

Chapter 17

Jim ran out on deck and searched for his friends. He spotted them running on foot across the abandoned farm back towards their own ship. He was surprised that Blackmore hadn't set sail from the barren planet; he could see no advantage in remaining there. Jim passed by pirates passed out on the floor, including Roxanne and Jaegar. He caught up to his friends back on the Glacier.

"Where's Raphaelle?" Iris asked, a confused look on her face.

"Blackmore got her," Jim answered, panting from his run.

"And you just left her there?" Jennifer said, her tone accusing.

"He had a knife against her throat! What could I do?" Jim argued.

"It doesn't matter what happened. What does matter is how are we going to get her back?" Nerita asked, interrupting before Jennifer could argue with him more. Despite her girly and carefree personality, Nerita had a good head on her shoulders and could focus on what was important in a crisis.

"I don't know," Jim admitted.

"We're going to have to fight," Amelia said.

"But he might kill her if we try and fight," Jim protested. "And we're outnumbered."

Just then, an Intergalactic Navy ship came flying out of the clouds and landed next to theirs.

"Not anymore," Amelia said, smiling triumphantly. "Those are the reinforcements I was able to send an SOS to just before the pirates captured us."

"Took 'em long enough to get here," Nerita scoffed, putting her hands on her hips defiantly and glaring at the ship, attempting to shame them.

The reinforcements boarded the Glacier and Captain Amelia explained the situation to them. A plan was formulated and preparations were quickly made to carry it out.

Everyone was given a sword and a gun, and they gathered around one more time to make sure everything was clear.

"Let's go," Jim said, tucking his gun into his pocket.

Both crews made their way back towards Blackmore's ship.

When they boarded, the first thing everyone noticed was that there were no longer pirates passed out on the floor. In fact, there were no pirates in sight at all. Jim immediately realized what was going to happen and opened his mouth to shout a warning. But he was too late, because not a moment later the pirates appeared out of nowhere. They all had weapons and immediately headed for the crew.

Jim and his friends joined in the fight, using what they had learned at the Interstellar Academy and keeping the pirates occupied.

"Jim, go! Find Raphaelle so we can get out of here!" Gabriel yelled, locking blades with a pirate.

Jim sliced the leg of the pirate he was currently fighting. The burly alien cried out in pain and fell to his knees, clutching his wounded calf. Jim immediately took off running towards Blackmore's room.

Most of the pirates were on deck, but a few popped out in the hallways and tried to stop him. He just cut them down and continued on his way, not letting anyone or anything stop him from reaching Raphaelle.

He reached Blackmore's room and kicked the door open.