Planet Montressor – 3043 A.D. (15 years later)

When the cops burst through the door of the Benbow Inn, it startled the customers. The owner, Sarah Hawkins, gasped and dropped the stack of dirty dishes she had just cleared off the table. They smashed to the floor. Still, Meg didn’t even flinch. She continued to set the plates on the mesa for a family who was now gawking at the door.

Jim had been arrested. Again. Big shock.

He wouldn’t go to jail, though he was eighteen now. Professor Archimedes Porter was a Hawkins family friend as well as a very generous benefactor for the Montressor P.D. and he always used his pull to keep Jim out of jail. So, there were never any real consequences to Jim causing trouble. Except, of course, for a stern scolding from Sarah.

“James Pleiades Hawkins!” Sarah snapped.

Meg tuned out the all too familiar monotonous sound of the robot cops’ voices. She picked up a bus tray of dirty dishes and just as Sarah was assuring the cops that this wouldn’t happen again, Meg slipped through the swinging door into the kitchen. The cook had snuck to the dining area to watch the commotion. Meg set the tray susunod to the sink.

“Jim got arrested again?”

Meg turned to see Professor Porter’s daughter, Jane, sitting on a counter. A tall garbage can was placed between her legs and she was bent over it, peeling potatoes. Jane’s father had been an explorer back when they lived on Earth and, like Meg’s father, he had promised to take her with him when she was older. Then Earth was destroyed and she’s been stuck at the Inn since then. She was always optimistic, but anyone who took one look at her could tell she was restless.

“Yeah, he did,” Meg replied. “But, they’ll drop the charges. Like always.”

“Is it just me or do I hear annoyance in your voice?” Jane looked up at her. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were unhappy about our friend not going to jail.”

“He’s not my friend,” Meg corrected, unloading the dirty dishes into the sink. “He’s a pain in the ass. Always has been.”

“Go easy on him, Meg. His dad left him when he was just a boy and he’s never had the proper structure he needs to guide him.”

Meg wiped her hands on her tapis and faced her friend. “My dad left me when I was little, too, Jane; but I still ipakita up for work when I have to and stay out of trouble. Don’t make excuses for him.”

Meg shoved her way through the swinging door, back out to the dining area. The cops were gone now and the customers had gone back to minding their own business. The cook was just heading back into the kitchen. Meg glared at him.

“Do you think you could get my order for mesa 3, please?” she demanded.

He rolled his eyes. “Calm down, toots.”

“Just do it.” Meg grabbed the coffee pot off the burner behind the counter and made her rounds to refill the customers’ coffee. sa pamamagitan ng the time she had finished, her order was sitting in the window. “Now, was that so hard?” Meg asked the cook.

On her way to her table, Meg stopped at a mesa Jim was clearing. “Where were you?” she demanded.

Jim didn’t look up. “Relax, Meg; I already got the third degree from my mom.”

“When you’re not here when you’re supposed to be, I have to pick up your duties. And I don’t have time to take care of all my orders and clean tables. I’m sick of you slacking off,” Meg explained. “Now. Where were you?”

“You don’t wanna know.”

Meg groaned. “You were out looking for that damn map, weren’t you? Give it a rest, Jim; you’re never going to find Treasure Planet.”

Now Jim looked at her. He lowered his voice. “I know you believe in the story of Captain Flint, too, Meg.”

Meg stared hard at him for a moment before sighing. “Of course I believe in it. But the universe is endless; it could be anywhere, just like the map. What makes you think the map is here?”

“I just know it is.”

“Well, do your hunting in your own time. Your mom needs us to help keep the Inn running. You need to keep your priorities in check.”

XXXXXXXXXX

That night, Professor Porter came to the Inn after it closed so Sarah could thank him- again- for keeping Jim out of trouble. The Professor and Sarah were down in the dining area with Jane and Jim, but Meg wasn’t in the mood to listen to the Professor talk about how much potential Jim has and how he’s such a good kid and blah, blah, blah.

The segundo she was done, she went up to her room, showered and changed out of her uniform. As she was getting dressed, she heard a loud crash outside of the Inn. She yanked her hair into a ponytail and ran downstairs.

“What was that?” Meg asked.

Sarah and the Professor were sitting at a mesa sa pamamagitan ng the window. They looked up from their conversation. “What was what?” Sarah asked.

“That crash.”

“I didn’t hear anything,” Jane sinabi from a nearby table, not looking up from her sketchbook.

Meg gaped at them. “How could-“

Meg was cut off sa pamamagitan ng the door slamming open. Jim walked in from the rain with an old taong gustong init alien draped over his shoulder.

Sarah sprung to her feet. “James Pleiades Hawkins!”

“Mom, he’s hurt. Bad,” Jim said, lying the man down on the floor.

The alien held a small chest in his hands. He punched in a code and the chest opened. He pulled out what looked like a small package and handed it to Jim. He whispered something into Jim’s ear, then his head sank heavily back down to the floor.

Sarah slowly got up from her upuan and walked over to them. “Did he just…?”

“Is he dead?” Meg finished for her.

Before anyone could respond, a large apoy ball shot through the door.

“We need to get out of here!” Jim hissed.

He grabbed his mom’s hand and the five of them ran through the kusina to the back exit where the Professor had parked his carriage. They got inside and he sped off. Sarah glanced back to see the Inn, their home, was on apoy and being invaded.