All Is Found

Chapter 23: Silver's Choice

     Silver grabbed onto the edge of the railing while Jim and I bounced onto a ledge, slanted downwards. We both screamed as we fell. We started sliding off the ledge. I did what I could to stop sliding but it was no use. When we approached the edge we did a bit of a jump. We hit the wall and started sliding down until we grabbed a small ledge in the wall. I gripped on it tightly, feelings my arms shaking. This ledge wouldn't hold on for long. I felt the metal moving back as it was retreating into the wall.

    I looked at Jim and saw that he was trying to climb up. I would've tried that too but I had nowhere I could put my foot on close by. I just dangled there, as if I accepted my fate. "Morph!" Jim said. From the corner of my eye I saw the blob zooming away. I briefly looked back towards Silver.

    "Silver! Please help!" I yelled. He is the only one who can save us. He looked back, either from Morph getting his attention or me yelling. He changed the grip on the ship and stuck his flesh hand out to us.

     "Reach for me now!" He yelled. "Reach!" Jim and I tried to reach out for his hand but we couldn't. There wasn't enough distance for us to grab it.

     "I-I can't!" Jim said.

    "Me either!" I said.

    My ledge had completely disappeared into the wall. I screamed as I started falling. A hand quickly clasped onto mine, and I looked up to see Jim holding my hand with one of his own while the other held an smaller ledge. That one too was slowly retreating into the wall.

    "I got ya Emma! Just hold on!"

    I simply nodded. We don't have much time left to wait. I glanced up and saw Silver looking between us and the gold. He has a choice to make, either give up the gold or the kids. "Silver!" I shouted. "Please Silver please!" I felt tears brewing in my eyes as I clenched Jim's hand tight. I know he'll make the right choice but a voice in my head was saying otherwise.

     He betrayed me, and knows something about my past. Not much but a little. I can forgive him for it, but I need to get out of here. It's possible that my family is here and I need to find out the truth. A tear slipped down my face as I thought that I would die without knowing if Jim's right. "Oh, blast me for a fool!" Silver shouted. He let go of the ship and came sliding down the ramp.

    The other ledge had sunken into the wall. Jim reached out and grabbed his hand before we plummeted to our deaths. The cyborg used his metal hand for a more secure grip. Silver helped Jim onto the ramp, letting him push himself up on it. He pulled me up, and I felt a hand on my feet to help me up. I was panting from fear and nerves. I looked at Silver in awe as he pulled himself up.

     I knew he would make the right choice but knowing that someone chose my life made an impression on me. We all heard the sound on engine and looked up. We saw that Flint's ship had sailed directly into the laser, exploding into pieces after a few seconds of being in it. We all covered our heads as bits of wood and hot metal rained down. Once it was over, I just stared at where the ship was. "This ain't the time for gawking." Silver said. Jim and I helped him stand up and the three of us started running for the exit.

We dodged explosions and narrowly missed more areas where the ground gave out. We never stopped running, knowing that if we did then we'd have a repeat of what had happened not long ago. My heart rate picked up when we got closer to the exit. We're almost there! When we got close enough, we all jumped through the portal. Jim and I looked at Silver.

"Silver, you gave up—" Jim started to say.

"Will you—" I started to asked.

"Just a lifelong obsession kids, I'll get over it." The cyborg said. Morph snuggled against his cheek, relieved that he was okay. I had doubts that he could let go of something like that so quickly. I didn't voice those thoughts outloud. "Aloha, Jimmy and Emmie!" A new voice said.

We all looked up to see the Legacy, pulling up towards us. I wish I could've been present to see Delbert insult the pirate. The teeny tiny head on a big fat body comment has always stuck with me. I saw the robot waving frantically at us, the compass on his chest jutting out acting like a little computer. "Hurry people!" He said. He held the other end of the compass out at us. "We got exactly two minutes and thirty four seconds till planet's destruction!" The three of us glanced at each other.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. Not enough time for a proper escape. The ship crashed a little near us, taking a bit of the metal underground with it. I heard screams from the remaining crew from inside the ship. "We were better off on exploding planet!" Someone said. When the driver is as bad as Delbert, you gotta agree on that. Jim and I hopped onto the ship, helping Silver on board as well. Once we were on board we started leaving. The three of us started heading for the helm.

     Silver leaned against the stair rail, feeling out of breath. He took his hat off and looked at Amelia. "Captain, you dropped from the heavens in the nick of—"

    "Save your claptrap for the judge Silver!" Amelia said. She walked off to help Delbert steer the ship. I looked at the cyborg to see him chuckling nervously while holding his neck with his mechanical hand. Something tells me Amelia would make good on her promise to see the pirates hang. Jim and I quickly went and stood near the captain and doctor. I looked up just in time to see a piece of planet debris cut off the top of the tallest mast. The pieces of the mast and the sail fell onto the deck of the ship, taking down a cannon.

     We started to slow down. B.E.N was now typing away, calculating the odds that we had for survival. "Mizzen sail demobilized, Captain! Thrusters at only 30% capacity."

     "30%?" Delbert repeated. "That means we're..." He looked at us with a grim expression. "We'll never clear the planet's explosion in time."