Chapter 17: Reunited
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James Norrington glanced at the serving women as they finished setting the table for breakfast once again. The days had become quite routine since James had been given his old life back, back then he had been more used to it, but after the hurricane, after drinking his life away in Tortuga, after being a pirate and returning to the life he once knew, it seemed a bit dull. As monotonous as it may seem it was still better than being a member of Sparrow’s crew.
The door to the bedchamber opened as the last serving maid entered with a pot of coffee, cups, saucer, and sugar. River stuck her head out of the room. Her eyes were watching the last maid very carefully.
“Morning,” James greeted. “I hope you had slept better than I had.” After visiting Reynolds and his crew at Fort Charles, James had tried to get some sleep on his sofa while he gave her the bed once again. He had to wake up at two bells that morning so the Intrepid can leave port at the time Beckett had ordered.
River didn’t notice him. She was still staring at the serving maid. A look of recognition was on her face.
James turned to face the maid. “As usual we will be finished within the hour.”
“Oui, Commodore,” the maid nodded her head while trying not to show too much of her face.
“She isn’t French,” River smiled.
“River,” the maid stood up, dropping the accent. Her lips pulled into a wide smile.
“Captain Reynolds has apparently prevailed,” James rose from his desk and approached the woman. “I do not have any of the fancy papers on you Miss.”
“Inara,” River answered before she flung her arms around her friend.
“Your brother is extremely worried about you,” Inara said. On closer inspection James could see she was the exotic looking woman. She was the one with dark wavy hair, beautiful eyes and was the best-dressed person in the cell. So this was the courtesan who performed rituals and may or may not take a man to bed.
“He is here. They all are except Zoe and Jayne.”
“They didn’t get left behind,” Inara nearly chuckled. “Of course you know that.”
“I did not peek into your mind. I’m trying to work on that.”
“Would it be incredibly forward if I inquire what this mission may be?” James asked. The look he received from Inara was one of uncertainty. She didn’t trust him.
“He’s my friend. He is listening to the good voice,” River said.
Friend. It had been a while since James had heard someone refer to him as such. The last time was when Governor Swann asked him to look out for his daughter before he met with Jones. He had several friends in the past. Elizabeth was one and he hoped she would at least still see him as friend, if not a lover. He lost many of them in the hurricane. Murtogg and Mullroy were friendly enough, but he didn’t seem them as friends, nor any of the other soldiers. Mr. Gibbs tried to become friends with him on the Black Pearl.
“We can trust him?” Inara asked.
“I trust him.”
“He had you arrested. He’s the reason why we had to come to Port Royal in the first place. He’s the reason why we are like this.” She pointed to her state of dress.
“He was threatened,” River said. “Many to one. His many hadn’t arrived. I had to help.”
“And one of them pulled a pistol on you,” James stared at her. He did like making a new friend. “I was following my line of duty Miss Inara.”
“We need to find the man James had been searching. A man who ruined his life a man he thinks is dead, but he cannot. She wouldn’t send us to him if he were dead.”
James raised an eyebrow. River was being cryptic once more, but he knew whom she was talking about. “What do you know of Jack Sparrow?”
“Just that we were told to find him and he would help us find Serenity,” Inara said. “We were also given a brief description. He has long dark hair and gold teeth.”
James laughed. “Whoever gave you this information is a bit mistaken. Jack Sparrow will not help anyone unless it benefits himself. That man is blight upon the sea. Correction that man was a blight.”
“You know for certain he is dead?” Inara glared.
“It has been confirmed by the man who killed him,” he smiled briefly. “I am sorry if you were counting on him, but he is not much use to you. You may find his corpse and there is dark wooden box upon his belt. It contains his compass.”
“That will help us find Serenity?” Inara asked.
“Yes indeed.” James stared at the breakfast table, listening to the rumble in his stomach. “You best run along now and keep up on the disguise. When you find Mr. Reynolds or Dr. Tam inform them I wish to speak with them.”
“They are probably using a different name,” Inara said. “Outside this door I am Nandi.”
“Try to find them and tell me their alias’s within the hour when you return to clean up.”
Inara narrowed her eyes at him once more before she left.
“I lied,” River said as James pulled out the chair for her. “Jack Sparrow is not the man who ruined your life, nor is it William Turner.”
“Then who is it?” James asked.
“I cannot answer. You should already know it by now.”
-
“What have you done to my bloody ship?” Jack Sparrow demanded. He could see they were approaching the docks where Barbossa had told him the Black Pearl had been docked and he immediately grabbed the spyglass to see his beloved ship. Instead he only saw her ghostly outline become thicker and fuller. “Why is she like that?”
“We tried t’ explain it to ye, Jack.” Barbossa approached him from behind. “You were told she was incomplete. After we brought her back she was like this.”
“And you abandoned her?” Jack turned around to face the crew. “You saw she was like this and you didn’t try to repair her.” He pointed to Barbossa. “Instead you cut off a piece of her.”
“We needed to get a piece of the Pearl to rescue you,” Elizabeth explained. She wasn’t looking at him, but rather at the ground.
“We couldn’t fix her,” Gibbs said. “We needed to find you. You’re her heart. She needs you to be complete.”
“What was the process that was necessary in bring her back up,” Jack asked. “I would like to hear it from you again.”
“We were given a strange drink and
told to lie down,” Gibbs said. “While our minds were in different states of fog
we remembered being on The Black Pearl.”
“I believe I remembered you mentioning that part. You clearly did not remember her well or you didn’t think of the good times, the best times, the most wonderful times you had on my ship which would have been most of the time.” He stared at the approaching pier. “Or else she would be healthy.” He rubbed his chin. He shouldn’t be that mad at them. It was most likely their memories were solid enough. “What was in that brew?”
“I try not to think about it,” Barbossa shuddered. “You don’t want to know.”
“It was that bad?” Jack raised his eyebrows before he shrugged. “It usually is. They never taste good. You have to wonder if it did taste good would it have worked at all. Never mind. I want to speak with this shaman.” He pulled out the spyglass and stared through it once more. He hadn’t taken much notice of the other two ships docked near it before, nor the large amount of people on the pier. He saw one man in particular who was dressed in robes and had his head shaven. “Is that him?” He handed the spyglass over to Barbossa.
“That is the shaman who helped us,” Barbossa said after he had gotten a good look at him through the spyglass. “I wonder what this is all about.”
Jack wasn’t going to wait for any formalities. As soon as the plank touched down onto the dock he climbed down and marches straight up to the man, Barbossa had singled out minutes before.
“You,” Jack pointed at him and ignored the looks from everyone else. “Could you please explain to my dear crew why you took their money they earned from pilfering from others and when they asked to raise my dear ship ye brought her back incomplete?”
The shaman did not respond. A shorter man near the old man placed himself between the two of them. His hands had a firm grasp on a pair of sharp and menacing looking daggers.
“Jack,” Elizabeth called after him. He was half expecting it to be Barbossa or Gibbs, or Anamaria to show up first. “You don’t have to threaten the man.”
“Who said I was threatening. I was asking.” He pointed a thumb towards the shaman. “Asking him why it didn’t work.”
“Because you were not with us.” Elizabeth said. The others had caught up to her. “How many times do we have to tell you.”
“Well who told you that you needed me? “Jack asked. “Besides the fact that you all know that you should need me, or at least want me.”
Barbossa sighed and stared past Jack, straight to the Shaman. Gibbs and the others were also staring into the same direction.
“Aha!” Jack spun around and had to jump back, less he wanted to get too close to the point of the daggers. “It is hard to speak when you are being stabbed.” Jack pointed at the man. “Easy son, I’m not going to hurt yer master.”
The shaman nodded and spoke a few words to the short man. The servant sheathed his daggers and stepped back.
“That’s better,” Jack smile was brief. “Now about my ship?”
“Are you the heart?”
“I happen to be the captain of The Black Pearl,” Jack answered. “I have been told by my dear crew that I am the heart and they repeated what you said, but forgive me if I don’t quite believe you.”
“She was solid when I was on her,” Barbossa said. “Started to fade as soon as I jumped down from her.”
Jack blinked before turning around to face his former first mate. “Why haven’t you told me that before?”
“Because you wouldn’t listen.”
“We are going nowhere with this,” Turner interrupted. “Get Jack onto the Black Pearl right now.”
“Well now,” Jack felt impressed by Turner’s commanding outburst. “I had no idea they could grow back.”
“Will that be enough?” Anamaria asked. “He would just have to get on just once and the Pearl will stop fading, even after he steps off.”
“Yes and no,” the shaman answered. “He must captain it.”
“Right. There shouldn’t be a problem.” Jack was about to head straight for his ship when the short servant stepped in front of him. Jack gave the Shaman a weak look and pointed at the servant.
“There is still more for me to tell you,” the shaman said. “These other ships will go with you. They will help you.”
“How will they help me?”
“A mouse cannot fight a demon alone. He will need the other animals to help him, even the help from the cat.”
Jack had no idea what the man was talking about. “They are coming with us, why?”
“We are going to need some help dealing with Jones,” Barbossa said. “And we may need their help with Sao Feng.”
“Fine,” Jack didn’t care any more. He just wanted to be aboard his ship. “Everyone lets get aboard and go. Barbossa you are with Ana’s crew. My crew is with me.”
“You will need to make some stops” The shaman handed out a long piece of paper. “There are others who will join you.”
“Right all the animals verse a demon.” Jack breathed deep as he approached his ship. The Black Pearl was only partly ghost like when he had stepped onto the pier and as he stepped closer it had solidified. “What are ye just standing around? Get me a plank.”
“Aye Captain,” Pintel said as he and Ragetti rushed up with the plank and placed it against the deck.
“Time to board,” Jack placed one foot on the plank and took a few steps in a dramatic pace. He stopped for a few seconds before he ran all the way up and didn’t stop until he reached the helm and the wheel. “I’m back.” He grabbed onto her handles and gave them an affectionate pat.
-
A part of Malcolm felt at home in the Intrepid. It was the part that he thought had died when he had to surrender at Serenity Valley, the part of him that was a soldier. Of course he didn’t feel like he was wearing several levels of frills and lace back then. The uniform of an independent wasn’t pretty, but it was comfortable and it got the job done. It also didn’t have frosty pile of wool that rested on his head and made his scalp itchy.
“Attention,” the man known as Lieutenant Hall entered the room where Malcolm and several other officers stood.
Malcolm stood rigged and held his bayonet the same way as the others.
“Several of you are to report onto the upper deck with myself and Commander Barclay.” Hall walked down the middle of the room. “The others will remain here until further notices.” He stared into the eyes of his fellow officers. “Finn, Pryce, Gunn, Summers, Core, Harris, You are to report on the deck immediately.”
“Yes sir,” Malcolm said along with the others before he followed them out of the room and up the stairs.
The stairs were wide enough for both the soldiers and the serving maids. Malcolm studied their faces until he could find Inara and tried to maintain the pace as he walked beside her.
“Norrington wants to speak with you,” Inara whispered to him.
“And that would be about?” Malcolm whispered back, it felt good to drop the accent for a few seconds.
“Sparrow,” Inara answered. “I need your name.”
He was about to tell her she knew his name, but then he understood what she meant. “Martin Core, the doc is Roger Eavesdown and Kaylee is Kevin Winnit.”
“I’ll inform him when I clear away the table,” Inara said before she skipped ahead to catch up with the others.
“Core,” one of the other soldiers ahead of him called to him. “You can fraternize with the serving women later.”
Malcolm nodded. “Sorry about that.” He picked up the accent he adopted. “Don’t know when will be the next time we receive shore leave.”
“I know the feeling but we can’t be late.”
-
“Honey, please put that down,” Zoë’s voice came from the recording. The screen was still black
“Come on Lamby toes it’s just us,” Wash’s voice followed. “I always wanted to do this.
“You only have the audio on,” Zoe laughed weakly as she stared at the recording in her hand. She was in the captain’s cabin, seated at the table. She was thankful she didn’t have it with her when she was arrested and had left it in the Haven. “When did you figure this out?”
“We are not going to make that kind of recording,” her voice said.
“Are you afraid the captain is going to find out?” Wash asked.
“No I’m afraid someone else might see this.”
“You have a point. Don’t want to mess with River’s mind even further.”
“I was thinking more of the lines of Jayne.”
“Ugh,” Wash made a choking sound. “He would insist on making some films himself.”
Zoe laughed again despite the feeling of tears gathering near the corners of her eyes.
“Oh Niu Shi,’ Wash said. “I don’t have the visual on.” The image of her shaking her head in the middle of their cabin entered the screen. “That’s better. Look it’s the mostly beautiful woman in the ‘verse. Smile honey.”
“I’ll smile when you put that away.” The recording of Zoe said.
“This is not the nudity thing. I just want to get a recording of us while we are still young and cute.”
The knock on the door prompted Zoe to turn off the recording. “Mrs. Washburne?” It was Terrance.
“I’m coming.”
“Mrs. Washburne we have some information from Gusty.” Terrance said as Zoe left the cabin.
“She is in crows nest?” Zoe asked.
“She was able to spy the ship first.” Terrance told her as he handed her the spyglass and pointed to direction of the other ship.
Zoe held the spyglass to her eye. She could see the other ship in the distance. The flag on top was black with the unmistakable marking of skull and crossbones. “It seems to be moving away from us.”
“You are certain it is no threat to us?”
“Affirmative,” Zoe continued to watch as it soared across the waves. Her eyes widened when she saw something poke through the surface, several snake extensions climb up the sides of the ship. “What in the world?”
“What is it?” Terrance asked.
“I’m not sure.” She watched as the tentacles, not snakes, wrap around the hull of the ship. “What is that?” She handed him the spyglass.
“A great squid,” Terrance answered. “And it’s taking the ship down with it.”
Zoe squinted at the ship in the distance. She could only barely make out the tentacles. She watched as the ship sank. It was over in the matter of seconds. “We have to get out of here.”
-
Simon Tam had a feeling why he was summoned to meet with Commodore Norrington. It was about River. The Commodore had received their aliases and called for him first.
“Mr. Eavesdown,” Norrington greeted when they met. Simon had nearly forgotten how tall the commodore was. The fringed hat he wore added a bit to the height.
Simon nodded. “Sir, yes sir.” He greeted, using what little knowledge he had of the military customs from Zoe, Mal, books and what he had seen on the Cortex. Apparently it was the wrong thing to say, at least for the time period, because Norrington raised an eyebrow at his response.
“We need to discuss this in my cabin.” Norrington lead him to the cabin.
“I have to admit this is a fine looking ship,” Simon said. He wasn’t lying, for its time, a ship like the Intrepid was beautiful. The Haven was a nice ship but the naval vessel floored him.
“Your sister speaks well of your own ship,” Norrington held the door for him.
“She may not look like much,” Simon nodded thinking of Serenity. “But she will surprise you.” He stared into the cabin. “Where is she?”
“She is in there.”
“Mei mei?” Simon called out and dropped the faux accent. “It’s me.”
The door to another part of the room opened. “Simon?” River slipped through. “It doesn’t look like you. You are my brother but then you are not.”
“Just a disguise for now,” Simon said as he entered. He slipped off the wig and hat. “See it’s me.”
“The white weighs down,” River smiled. “Makes you not you but everyone else.”
“Where should I?” He handed his head gear over to Norrington who took it from him and turned back to his sister. “How have you been?”
“I eat and sleep,” River said as she reached out to touch his face. “You are real. I can feel you. My biological functions are right, nothing comes up.”
“I don’t have the medicine for you.” He pulled her into an embrace. “Why did you get off the ship in Tortuga?”
Her smile faded. “I was blind and needed to see.”
“Of course you did.” He rubbed her back as he looked up at Norrington. “Thank you for taking care of her. Many wouldn’t have exactly had the patience for her.”
“Who did this?” Norrington demanded. “Who cut into her head and put her through such torture?”
Simon stared at him before turning to River. “How does he know?”
“I told him,” River said. “He wanted to play at fourteen, just like me and they took him away, took away all that made him laugh and be a child.”
“A long story,” Norrington said.
Simon did not look at him. “You understand what she can do?”
“Perfectly. I can’t understand why anyone would do this. She is an intelligent woman, an amazing prodigy. Why couldn’t they left well enough alone? It’s like taking a paint brush to a freshly open rose. It wouldn’t make the rose more beautiful, just ruin it.”
“I ask that question every day,” he knew they wanted to make River into a weapon. He couldn’t understand why her. If they hadn’t done what they did she would be a scientist, helping the Alliance develop better space craft, weapons, improve the way of living and he would be treating patients.
“He dreamed of Reavers and Serenity’s name.” River said.
“We can discuss that later,” Norrington said. “Mr. Eavesdown needs to be at his post.”
“I’ll visit you again,” Simon said before he gave River one last hug.
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