measure.
“Erm, I’m afraid,
technically speaking
, he can,” said Comet, his moustache drooping.
“It’s the pirate code,” Goldstar smirked. “Oncea captain has been in charge for three voyages anyone can challenge him to a vote. If the challenger gets all of the crew’s votes, then they become the new captain.”
“And how many voyages have you been the captain for?” Sam asked Comet, desperately.
“Ooh, let’s see; well, at a rough guess I’d say…” Comet started to count on his ringed fingers.
“Come on…” Goldstar said.
“Hmm, I’m not sure. Less than the stars in the Caslovian galaxy, but more than the warts on a snaffleflax’s nose…”
“Captain!” Sam interrupted.
“OK, two…” Comet started.
“Two? But that’s fantastic!” Sam yelled.
“…thousand three hundred and fifty-seven,” Comet finished sadly.
“Oh. That’s a bit more than three,” said Sam.
“Indeed,” Comet agreed, his moustache drooping miserably.
“Well then, Comet, we both know how this works,” said Goldstar.
Comet nodded and gave a signal. Two buckets were put on the table in front of him and Goldstar. Then Pegg and Legg went into Comet’s cabin and came out holding a small, dusty chest.
Barney leaned over to Sam. “Every ship comes with its own captain’s chest,” he explained.
With great ceremony, and not too much pushing and shoving, Pegg and Legg paraded the chest past the crew, placed it on the table between the buckets, and flicked it open, revealing lots of brass tokens, like old-fashioned coins.
“One coin, one vote,” Barney whispered.
Each coin had a skull and crossed laser blasters on one side, and on the other a picture of the
Jolly Apollo
. Pegg threw the coins into the crowd and they arced through the air and bounced off the wooden floorboards. The pirates scrambled to pick up one each, but Sam was leftempty-handed. He dived to snatch up the last one, then watched as it tumbled towards the edge of the deck and floated off into space.
“I didn’t get one!” Sam protested.
“What a shame, stowaway,” Goldstar hissed. “No coin, no vote.”
The crew lined up and shuffled past the two men, dropping their tokens into the bucket placed in front of the person they wanted to vote for. Sam watched in horror as token after token clattered into Goldstar’s bucket.
Comet sat with his head in his hands, unable to look at what was happening. Goldstar, however, perched on the edge of the table, beaming and nodding, and handing out funfair passes to everyone as they passed.
Sam couldn’t believe that the crew was being duped so easily by Goldstar. They seemed to have turned their backs on Captain Comet just for some sweets and fairground rides. Surely not everyone would fall for it? Then Barney walked up and dropped his token into Goldstar’s bucket.Sam was gobsmacked.
“Et tu, Barney?” said Comet sadly.
“No, I only ate one,” said Barney, looking confused and holding up his empty supernova floss stick.
Comet lapsed back into silence as the last pirate stepped forward and clattered his coin into Goldstar’s bucket.
“That’s it!” Goldstar shouted triumphantly. “The votes are cast – and the result is unanimous!”
There was a loud cheer from the crew.
“Wait!” Sam started. “I haven’t…”
“Move it, worm-breath!” Goldstar snarled, shoving Sam out of his path.
Comet sagged in his seat for a moment then, pulling together what was left of his dignity, sat up straight, took off his hat and handed it to Sam.
“Please pass this to Goldstar, Sam,” said Comet. “He’s captain now.”
Chapter Eight
CAPTAIN GOLDSTAR
S am looked at the captain’s hat in his hand then stared up at Goldstar, who was still perched on the edge of the table, smiling smugly.
“Come on then, lad, hand it over,” said Goldstar.
“You don’t deserve to wear this hat!” shouted Sam. “And you lot should be ashamed of yourselves.”
He flung the hat at
“Erm, I’m afraid,
technically speaking
, he can,” said Comet, his moustache drooping.
“It’s the pirate code,” Goldstar smirked. “Oncea captain has been in charge for three voyages anyone can challenge him to a vote. If the challenger gets all of the crew’s votes, then they become the new captain.”
“And how many voyages have you been the captain for?” Sam asked Comet, desperately.
“Ooh, let’s see; well, at a rough guess I’d say…” Comet started to count on his ringed fingers.
“Come on…” Goldstar said.
“Hmm, I’m not sure. Less than the stars in the Caslovian galaxy, but more than the warts on a snaffleflax’s nose…”
“Captain!” Sam interrupted.
“OK, two…” Comet started.
“Two? But that’s fantastic!” Sam yelled.
“…thousand three hundred and fifty-seven,” Comet finished sadly.
“Oh. That’s a bit more than three,” said Sam.
“Indeed,” Comet agreed, his moustache drooping miserably.
“Well then, Comet, we both know how this works,” said Goldstar.
Comet nodded and gave a signal. Two buckets were put on the table in front of him and Goldstar. Then Pegg and Legg went into Comet’s cabin and came out holding a small, dusty chest.
Barney leaned over to Sam. “Every ship comes with its own captain’s chest,” he explained.
With great ceremony, and not too much pushing and shoving, Pegg and Legg paraded the chest past the crew, placed it on the table between the buckets, and flicked it open, revealing lots of brass tokens, like old-fashioned coins.
“One coin, one vote,” Barney whispered.
Each coin had a skull and crossed laser blasters on one side, and on the other a picture of the
Jolly Apollo
. Pegg threw the coins into the crowd and they arced through the air and bounced off the wooden floorboards. The pirates scrambled to pick up one each, but Sam was leftempty-handed. He dived to snatch up the last one, then watched as it tumbled towards the edge of the deck and floated off into space.
“I didn’t get one!” Sam protested.
“What a shame, stowaway,” Goldstar hissed. “No coin, no vote.”
The crew lined up and shuffled past the two men, dropping their tokens into the bucket placed in front of the person they wanted to vote for. Sam watched in horror as token after token clattered into Goldstar’s bucket.
Comet sat with his head in his hands, unable to look at what was happening. Goldstar, however, perched on the edge of the table, beaming and nodding, and handing out funfair passes to everyone as they passed.
Sam couldn’t believe that the crew was being duped so easily by Goldstar. They seemed to have turned their backs on Captain Comet just for some sweets and fairground rides. Surely not everyone would fall for it? Then Barney walked up and dropped his token into Goldstar’s bucket.Sam was gobsmacked.
“Et tu, Barney?” said Comet sadly.
“No, I only ate one,” said Barney, looking confused and holding up his empty supernova floss stick.
Comet lapsed back into silence as the last pirate stepped forward and clattered his coin into Goldstar’s bucket.
“That’s it!” Goldstar shouted triumphantly. “The votes are cast – and the result is unanimous!”
There was a loud cheer from the crew.
“Wait!” Sam started. “I haven’t…”
“Move it, worm-breath!” Goldstar snarled, shoving Sam out of his path.
Comet sagged in his seat for a moment then, pulling together what was left of his dignity, sat up straight, took off his hat and handed it to Sam.
“Please pass this to Goldstar, Sam,” said Comet. “He’s captain now.”
Chapter Eight
CAPTAIN GOLDSTAR
S am looked at the captain’s hat in his hand then stared up at Goldstar, who was still perched on the edge of the table, smiling smugly.
“Come on then, lad, hand it over,” said Goldstar.
“You don’t deserve to wear this hat!” shouted Sam. “And you lot should be ashamed of yourselves.”
He flung the hat at
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