Stolen Treasure

Chapter 9

When the ship docked on Kinapis, Jim, Dr. Doppler, Captain Amelia, and the rest of the crew spread out within the large port city to post the flyers and find out as much as they could about Raphaelle and Captain Blackmore. Morph floated along beside Jim, fascinated by everything in the bustling crowd.

Jim finished posting the flyers fairly quickly, but he kept one so that he could ask people about Raphaelle. He asked the shop and booth vendors and even some of the shoppers if anyone had seen her. Sadly, none of them knew anything about her. He felt very depressed as he trudged towards the next booth. The vendor was selling earrings. He really didn't feel like getting another 'Nope, never seen her before,' but he had to try.

"Excuse me? Have you ever seen this girl before?" Jim asked, not even looking at the vendor as he held up the flyer of Raphaelle. Morph turned into a miniature version of her as he floated next to the flyer.

"Yeah, I think I have," the vendor replied. Jim looked up in surprise.

"You have? When?" Jim asked, getting excited.

"Yesterday. She was here looking at my earrings with a young fellow," the tiny, three-armed alien replied.

"Can you tell me anything else?" Jim probed.

"Why do you want to know?" the vendor asked suspiciously.

"She's my girlfriend and she was kidnapped a few days ago by a pirate. I'm just trying to find her," Jim explained.

"Oh, well in that case," he responded sympathetically, rubbing the back of his neck. "The young man that was with her walked off a few feet to talk to someone, then I saw her run away as fast as she could. I don't think I've ever seen anyone leg it as fast as she did. The young man and a couple of other gruff-looking men ran after her. That was the last I saw of her," he finished.

"Which direction did she run?" Jim asked.

"That way," the alien said, pointing with two of his arms towards a very busy street.

"Thank you," Jim said as he headed in that direction.

"You're welcome," the alien hollered after him.

Jim went down the street, asking people about her. They all pointed him in a different direction, and it seemed like they were following a pattern. Raphaelle seems to have gone up and down the streets and then taken alleyways to cross over to the next street. The last person Jim questioned pointed him to a dead end alley. He searched around for a clue or anything that could tell him where she might have gone, but he found nothing. Morph also looked around, though he just sifted through dirt and pieces of trash, thinking it was a game. Jim walked back out of the alley and looked around, wondering where he should go next. The wind blew one of the flyers across the ground in front of him. He picked it up and chose to hang it somewhere else, since its previous residence hadn't been very permanent. He saw a restaurant across the street and decided to go in and ask around.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I hang this flyer in here?" Jim asked the bartender, a large four-armed alien who was currently cleaning glasses.

"Sure thing. What's it for?" he asked.

"I'm looking for someone, she's really important to me. Have you seen her?" Jim asked, showing the bartender the flyer.

"Hmm...you know what, I think I might have. Yesterday, I believe. She was hangin' around a rough-looking group. They were headed towards the docks," he replied.

"Did any of those men come in here? Did they mention where they were headed?" Jim asked, getting hopeful. He pinned the flyer to a board where lots of other message bulletins and help ads were placed.

"I don't know if any of those particular men were in here. But last night there were a couple of drunken sailors talkin' about a girl, and their description of her was very similar to the girl on your flyer. At first I didn't pay them any attention, but then they started sayin' things like 'Captain Alex needs her for the mission.' I don't know what they were talkin' about, but I bet my britches they were talking about the infamous Captain Alex Blackmore. I didn't hear much else; one of the less drunkard ones got the others to quit shoutin'. But one of them was muttering something incoherent about The Coral Galaxy," he recounted.

"Thanks, that really helps me out," Jim said before he left the restaurant.

"No problem, son. I hope you find your girl!" the bartender called.

A large man had been sitting in the shadows in a corner of the room, listening intently to everything that had just transpired. He stood up and walked over to the news board at the front of the restaurant. He stared at the flyer for a second before quickly rushing out of the restaurant to his small boat and shooting off into space.

Meanwhile, Jim jogged back towards the ship and found that everyone had already returned.

"Ah, Mr. Hawkins. There you are. We were beginning to worry. Did you find anything?" Captain Amelia asked.

"Yeah, I did," Jim announced, smiling proudly.

Amelia's brow rose, piqued with curiosity. Delbert looked at Jim expectantly.

"She was here, but she's probably gone now. But I know where they're headed," Jim continued.

"And that would be...?" Dr. Doppler prompted.

"The Coral Galaxy," Jim finished.

"Very good, Mr. Hawkins. If we depart immediately, we might be able to catch them before they get there," Amelia said.

The ship set off straightaway and they flew as fast as they could towards The Coral Galaxy. Jim hung from the shrouds as he looked out into the stars. Now that they finally had an idea of where they were going, his confidence returned. He was now convinced that they would find Raphaelle and bring her home safely.

"Hold on. I'm almost there," he said.