Treasure Planet Fan Fiction ❯ Ace of Spades ❯ Sidetracked ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

Ace of Spades
Chapter Two – Sidetracked

“Dr. Doppler?” Jim stood stiffly at the door to the ‘Medical Cabin’–as Silver has so simply put it–this couldn’t have been right! “Silver, he isn’t even a real Doctor!” the young officer turned around to stare annoyingly at the old captain who was holding the now unconscious Android in his arms.

“That maybe true!” Dr. Delbert Doppler said, sticking up his pointer finger in his as-a-matter-of-fact style. “But I do know my way around an injury or two! That and I really, really wanted to come.”

Jim sighed, running his hand over his face. “Just…just take her in.” he groaned. Yes, he was happy to see the Doctor–but knowing that the babbling, blustering man was to be in charge of their wellbeing…it made him slightly ill to his stomach; it was bad enough that they had went with the original plan and made Silver the cook again.

Silver moved in past Jim and set the girl down on the table that stood in the middle of the room. Doppler looked her over for a second and then turned to Jim. “What happened?” he asked. “I had no idea we had a young miss on board.”

“We didn’t.” Jim said as he walked up to the table, taking his hands out of his pockets. “We found her in a crate floating just off the ship. There was another, but he was dead when we brought him aboard.” Jim picked up the girl’s wounded hand and tilted it towards Doppler. “She’d an android.”

Doppler leaded in and took the girl’s wrist, his eyes staring at the wound over his glasses. “Well…well Jim I’d hate to be the bearer of bad news…but, ah…” he looked up at Jim and then at Silver, then back to Jim once again before he continued. “I-I-I know very little about the construction of-of androids. Now if it had been Silver here who was injured I could so something…but, but this!” he let the girl’s arm fall over her chest. “Androids are a complicated thing; I have no idea how to go about repairing this damage. We need someone who can work with this sort of wiring and-and power!”

Jim sighed again, his time he tried to hide the fact that he was annoyed. This was a drastic turn of events, if they were to help this girl they would have to go out of their way and find help on a planet that lay along the side of their path. But what had to be done had to be done. “Do all planets have at least one person who can fix her then?” he asked, his left hand rubbing the side of his head.

“Oh we have no worries about that!” Doppler cheered in excitement, feeling that he was finally able to be of some use in the situation. “There are doctors all over the place that helps people transfer themselves to robotic bodies. I’m sure there are hordes of them over entire planets!”

“Really?” Jim asked.

“Well I may be exaggerating a little.” Doppler corrected himself. “But there should be half a dozen doctors per-planet.”

“The next planet is…wow, a good three days away from where we are now.” Silver said, looking to Jim. “Y’sure you want to be keepin’ her untaken cared of for that long? Somethin’ might rupture the human organs that are keepin’ her body functional. She will die then for sure, Jimbo.”

“Montressor is only a day behind us.” Jim said, lowering his head sadly. He didn’t like the idea of heading back. “We could go back, head out again after we leave her with someone…”

“That won’t be possible, Jim.” Doppler spoke up, his ears lowing tight to his head.

“What do you mean?” Jim asked, his head rising quickly.

“Well, you see, some planets are against the transferring of human material onto a robotic form, thus they do not allow those types of doctors onto them…” Doppler laughed nervously. “Montressor is one of them.”

Jim’s eyebrow twitched, but he sighed and hung his shoulders in defeat–and a little in relief–before speaking. “Alright then, we’ll dock on the next planet, have he taken care of and then move on.” He turned. “Dr. Doppler, she’ll remain here with you until she comes too.” He smiled at him after, finally allowing his stress to let go for a moment. “Doppler…”

“Yes, Jim?”

Jim smiled. “I’m glad you came along, I really am. And I am sorry I never invited you along myself.”

Doppler smiled. “I’m glad to be here Jim.”

Silver grinned and began to follow Jim out before he turned to Doppler. “Eh, y’might want t’put some rubber seal over her hand an’ her leg. It’ll keep those sparks from flickerin’ about.” He tipped his hat before walking out of the cabin and closing the large wooden door behind him.

--

She was weak, and she soon found that she couldn’t move anymore, she had just allowed herself to float around into the crate; accepting the fact that she would probably never get out. But when she felt herself being dragged roughly in one direction–well, her heart skipped a couple beats as excitement welled inside her.

Gravity returned to the crate as she slowly sank to the bottom again, her head and shoulder leaning limping against one wall as she listened to the voices coming from outside. She wanted to speak to them, she wanted to let them know she was there, but no sound would leave her lips; her body wouldn’t move either, everything besides her eyes refused to budge.

She would have gasped, or even let out a small cry as she felt the wall of the crate being ripped away, but instead she fell out into the new light without a sound, her body hitting the deck of the ship like it were an old doll. She had been found…she was safe, right? Her eyes moved slowly upwards to look at her saviours. They were a rough looking crew, and suddenly a knot formed in her stomach, she was scared…maybe she wasn’t saved.

She felt herself begin to panic as her consciousness began to slip away. Her eyes moved to one side, and before darkness claimed her, a pair of strong arms picked her up off the deck. The last thing she saw was the golden glint of a cyborg eye.

--

Jim stood at the bow of the Sleeda, his elbows resting on the railing and his face cupped by his hands. His eyes wandered the endless regions of space that lay ahead of them, and a small smile crept across his face. Maybe having an extra stop on the way wouldn’t be so bad, of course they would get behind a day or so–but that didn’t matter, right? Eldorado would still be there waiting for them when they were finished in port.

“So will d’young lass be accompanying us to Eldorado?” Silver asked as he walked up behind Jim, his pipe hanging loosely between his lips. “Or are we going to leave her where we drop her off?” he leaned on the railing next to Jim, his eyes turning to look at the young man he fancied as his son.

Jim shrugged. “I haven’t really been thinking about it.” He said, moving his eyes to look at Silver. “It will be a bother if we have to wait for her to be fixed…”

Silver shook his head, smiling slightly. “If you don’t feel right about leaving her, we can take her along Jim. Waiting a day or two in port won’t hurt.”

“But just going to port will be taking a day or two off of our trip.” Jim argued in a low voice. “And we don’t know how long it will take to fix those wounds she has. It could be nearly a week before we head out again if we wait for her.”

“Well, I guess we will have to see what happens then.” Silver said, casually emptying his pipe over the side. “Your mind might change if you get too used to having her around…she will be on the ship for at least three days, y’know.” He turned to leave but stopped when he saw that Doppler was standing behind them. “Ah, Doctor.”

Jim turned, his eyes landing on Doppler’s calm face. “Has she awakened?” he asked, straightening his back.

Doppler nodded. “I had a small conversation with her before I allowed her to come out as well.” He said as he stood to one side. “Gentlemen, I’m pleased to introduce you to Spade.”

Spade stood on the top step, her body still wrapped up in the white sheet she was found in, but her shackles were missing. Grey, rubber seals were clinging to her hand and the wound on her left leg, and she was supporting herself by a crutch that was neatly tucked under her left arm. A small smile appeared on her face as she saw the two men before her. “You are the one’s Dr. Doppler told me about…you both saved me, right?” she spoke softly. “Thank you…very much.”

Before Jim could answer her, Silver intruded, being his loud, jolly, complementing self. “There be no need for that, young lass!” he boomed, taking off his hat and bowing to her graciously. “We only do what is needed in times of trouble! Ain’t that right, Jimbo!” he looked over his shoulder at Jim.

Jim blinked, and then nodded to Spade. “That’s right. There is really no need to thank us.” He said, allowing himself to smile. “How are you feeling though? Are you sure it is alright for you to be up and around yet?”

Spade nodded. “I feel alright, my leg really hurts though. Dr. Doppler believes that when the lazar struck me it might have it a primary moving circuit. Other than that I think I can get around good as long as I have this.” She looked to the crutch.

Doppler nodded. “Spade, my dear, do you think you can get back to the cabin on your own?” Spade nodded. “Good, then how about you go back, I need to talk with Captain Hawkins and Mr. Silver about what we spoke about.”

Spade nodded again. “I understand.” She smiled slightly as she turned and made her way carefully down the stairs.

After she was out of ear shot, Jim turned to Doppler. “Did she tell you what happened to her?”

“Yes. She said she and others were on a ship…” Doppler went on to tell Jim and Silver about the voyage Spade had been on, and how the ship she was on was attacked. “Apparently they exterminated those in the crates and dumped them off into space. That is why the young man you found first was dead.”

“Why would they do that if they are just androids?” Jim asked.

“It is like I told you, lad.” Silver said, “Slavery.”

Doppler shook his head. “No, there is something other than that I am afraid.” He watched as the two slowly turned their heads to look at him. “Spade does not remember anything from her life before she was put into that body…she remembers waking up on the table after the procedure was completed…that is as far back as she can recall. And another thing…on the back of her neck, there is a barcode. They do not do that to androids…a barcode means she is a product.”

“A barcode,” Jim frowned, “how can she be a product? Maybe Silver is right, maybe it is slavery.”

Doppler shook his head. “I cannot say for sure Jim. But what I do know is that…her memory shouldn’t be gone. The procedures taken to create androids are concrete…no loss of memory has ever been recorded.

“Well what is wrong with her then?” Silver asked.

“There is something going on here that we just aren’t seeing.” Doppler said thoughtfully.

“Yeah,” Jim agreed, turning to look back out at the stars. “But I hope we do not have to dwell too deep into it.”

--

Note: For those of you who have not read my profile on ff.net or my journal on DA, this story will now only be updated on Mondays and Fridays. Thank you!