Treasure Planet (A Jim and Jamie Love Story)

Chapter 6: The Black Hole

"What the devil?" Silver said when he got up there.

Jim and I followed as Dr. Doppler looked through his telescope and said, "Good heavens! The star Pelusa! It's gone supernova!"

"Evasive action, Mr. Turnbuckle!" Amelia ordered.

"Aye Captain!" Mr. Turnbuckle responded as he turned the wheel.

"All hands, fasten your lifelines!" Mr. Arrow commanded.

Everyone grabbed a rope, tied it around their waists, and made sure the other end was tightened to the mast. Then chunks of meteor went through the sails.

"Mr. Arrow! Secure those sails!" the captain said.

"Secure all sails!" Mr. Arrow commanded.

Almost all the crew members went up to tie the sails up, including Jim and Silver. That got me worried, but I went to my post, which was firing the cannon at the meteor shower along with Grewnge. When we hit some, we cheered and high-fived, despite him not liking me. But one chunk hit the mast, causing Silver to fall off. I gasped in horror.

"Silver!" Jim yelled, grabbed his lifeline, and pulled him back up.

I felt like I could breathe again.

"Thanks, lad," he smiled.

He helped him up and when he looked at me, I mouthed "Thank you" and he mouthed "No problem". But when I looked back, a huge meteor was coming towards us. Grewnge and I fired more shots at it, but it didn't do anything. We shielded ourselves from the heat, but the impact we thought would happen didn't come. It was sent back towards a tiny black dot. But it wasn't tiny or a dot.

"Captain! The star!" Mr. Onus shouted.

"It can't be!" I exclaimed.

"It's devolving into a..." Doppler gasped then yelled, "A BLACK HOLE!"

"We're being pulled in!" Turnbuckle hollered, trying to turn the ship away from it, but was thrown back.

"Oh no you don't!" Amelia replied, grabbing the wheel and trying to jerk it in the same direction.

As we got closer, a huge wave came out and knocked everyone back a few feet. I ended up hitting my head on the deck as I was knocked off my seat. Jim and Silver made it back down by then.

"Jamie! Are you okay?" Jim asked.

"Yeah, just...a slight...headache," I answered.

"Are you sure?" Jim said.

"Yeah. I promise," I assured.

"All sails secured, Captain!" Mr. Arrow yelled.

"Good man. Now release them immediately!" Amelia commanded.

We looked at her like she was crazy, but Mr. Arrow said, "Aye, Captain! You heard her, men! Unfurl those sails!"

The crew started complaining and headed back up the rope ladders. Jim headed that way too and I was gonna help him.

"Mr. Hawkins! Ms. Cyborg! Make sure all lifelines are secure good and tight!" the captain yelled.

"Aye Captain!" Jim responded.

"You got it!" I added.

We ran over to the mast and we started on one end and made it to the other end.

"Lifelines secure, Captain!" Jim assured while I gave a thumbs up.

"Very good!" she answered.

That's when another wave came up and knocked us over once again. When I got up, I couldn't see if Jim and Silver were okay. But what I noticed was a lifeline, still secured but was cut off on the other end. How did that happen?

"Captain! The last wave! Here it comes!" Dr. Doppler warned.

"Hold onto your lifelines, gents! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" Amelia shouted.

I hugged the mast then felt someone hug me. I looked to see Jim and I gripped his arm in reassurance. Then Silver held onto us and the mast. Morph and Petunia turned into ropes and tied themselves to a larger rope. Once I thought we were dead, we shot out of the black hole. We opened our eyes to the sound of cheering. I hugged Jim as he spun me around then Silver and I hugged. Morph and Petunia turned back to themselves, sighed in relief, and melted into puddles.

"Captain! That--oh my goodness. That was-- that was absolutely-- that was the most--," Doppler exclaimed to the captain, not finishing any of his sentences.

"Oh tish tosh," she interrupted, looking through a sexton, then added, "Actually Doctor, your astronomical advice was most helpful."

Dr. Doppler was taken back for a minute then said, "Well, uh, uh--thank you. Thank you very much. Well I have a lot of help to offer anatomically-- amanamically-- astronomically."

At that, he slapped his forehead.

"Well, I must congratulate you, Mr. Silver. It seems your cabin boy and daughter did a bang up job with those lifelines," Amelia said, Jim and Silver shoved each other teasingly and I gave Jim a side hug, then the captain asked, "All hands accounted for, Mr. Arrow?"

There wasn't a response. We all looked around, getting a little worried.

"Mr. Arrow?" the captain called.

We heard a hiss and saw Scroop approaching the captain with a sad look on his face and holding a hat: Mr. Arrow's hat!

"I'm afraid Mr. Arrow has been lost," he replied sadly, handing the captain his hat, then added, "His lifeline was not secured."

Everyone looked at Jim and I as our hearts stopped for a minute. The captain glared at us.

"No. I checked them all," Jim assured.

"Same here," I added.

We ran to the mast and one of the lifelines was missing. But that was the same one that was cut off at one end.

"We did. We checked them all. They were secure. I swear," Jim promised.

I was too shocked to confirm it. The captain continued to give us a hard glare.

"Mr. Arrow was a..." she started, cleared her throat, and continued, "fine spacer. Finer than most us would ever hope to be. But he knew the risks, as do we all. Resume your posts. We carry on."

She walked back to her quarters as I looked at Jim. After he looked in my direction, he ran off.

"Jim," I said, trying to stop him but stopped to tell Silver, "I'm gonna talk to the captain."

He didn't stop me, so I made my way to the captain's quarters.

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A/N Only one person has died during the black hole, but how did he die? And will Jamie turn things around?