Wind Off Golden Sails

Under Fire

Jim, Leila, and Morph were a good distance away from the others. Leila turned around when she heard Jim's laser pistol power up. Jim was looking at Leila with a glare and aiming the pistol between her eyes. 

"What? You gonna shoot me Jim?" Leila asked unafraid.

"What are you?" Jim asked.

"I'm a human who lost her left eye to an ambush. My eye was replaced with the Dragon's Eye by a surgeon," Leila answered. Jim lowered the pistol. "Jim," Leila cupped his cheek gently then she pressed her soft lips against Jim's and wrapped her arms around his neck. Jim wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss.

He pulled back, "I'm sorry, it's just all the things I've heard about the Dragon's Eye..."

She pressed her fingertips against his lips, "Shhh, shh," She kissed him again and then pulled away. "It's ok, but we really should continue looking."

"Yeah," Jim agreed. He took Leila's hand.

###########

They had been walking for what seemed like hours. "Jim, hold it," Leila grabbed Jim's sleeve.

"What is it?" Jim asked.

"Shh, we're being watched," She whispered. They both froze when they heard a rustle behind them in the plants.

Morph started chattering and Jim and Leila shushed him quietly. Jim pulled out his laser pistol and let it power up. He peeped into one of the plants and suddenly he came face to face with a robot. "Aah!" They screamed. The green eyed and copper colored robot tackled Jim to the ground. "This is fantastic, a carbon-based life forms come to rescue me at last!" He said. "I just want to hug ya and squeeze ya, and hold ya close to me." The robot hugged Jim.

"All right," Jim pushed him away only for the robot to hug him again. "Okay. Will you just let go of me?"

"Oh, sorry, sorry," The robot let go. "It's just that," He wrapped and arm around Jim's shoulders, "I've been marooned for so long. Solitudes fun, don't get me wrong. For heaven's sakes after a hundred years, YOU GO A LITTLE NUTS. Ha, ha, ha," He chuckled. Jim gave him a look. "Sorry, am I..." The robot let go and backed away a little. "I am a..." He extended his hand, "My name is..." He struggled to remember.

Morph formed into the robot's likeness, "Cuckoo. Cuckoo." A cuckoo clock's bird kept jumping out of his head until Jim shut it.

"B.E.N., of course, I'm B.E.N. Bioelectronic Navigator. And you two are?"

"Leila," She answered.

"Jim," Jim reached for the gun.

B.E.N. took their hands and shook them enthusiastically, "What a pleasure to meet you Leila and Jimmy."

"It's Jim," Jim pushed his hand away as he and Leila spoke in unison.

"Anyway," B.E.N. leaned against Jim.

Jim removed B.E.N.'s arm, "Look, we're in a hurry ok? We got to find a place to hide and there's pirates chasing us."

"Oh pirates. Don't get me started about pirates. I don't like them." B.E.N. told them as Jim and Leila started to walk off. "I remember Captain Flint. This guy had such a temper," B.E.N. leaned against a tree.

Leila grabbed Jim's sleeve to stop him. "Wait, wait, you knew Captain Flint?" Leila asked him.

"I think he suffered from mood swings, personally, but I'm not a therapist, but anyway I... You let me know when I'm rambling,"

"But that means, you got to know about the treasure?" Jim asked.

"Treasure?"

"Yeah, Flint's Trove, the loot of a thousand worlds," Jim said. Morph morphed into a treasure chest filled with gold and jewels.