Chapter 27: Two Captains
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It seemed two days had passed to James Norrington since he had set out in one of the Intrepid’s longboats, along with River, in the search of Serenity. He still wasn’t sure why he had agreed to River’s request. There were several factors that contributed to his decision. The first reason was the fact that he initially wanted to help Reynolds’s crew find their missing ship. Helping that particular crew was the main reason why he helped free them from Fort Charles. There was also the fact the compass didn’t work for the captain. Norrington saw the way the needle kept toggling back and forth. He did take notice that one of the directions the needle pointed at was towards one of the serving girls, and he was certain it was Inara Serra. There was also the factor that with Beckett traveling with them was a threat, and then the last reason and in a way the most important was because River asked him.
James wondered why he cared so much about her. She was one of the few friends he had in the world, one of the few true friends anyway. He saw her as an innocent young woman who had so many horrors done to her, so early in her life. He wanted to protect her. It was his noble duty to protect a defenseless maiden, although she isn’t exactly defenseless.
It was also your duty to follow Beckett’s orders. The voice in the back of his head had a nagging tone. You did not agree to work for Jack Sparrow, steal the heart and give it to Beckett just because you want to be a knight in shining armor.
‘And you must be the bad voice,’ James thought. It was probably a conglomeration of greed and pride, and possibly even envy.
I am the sense of nobility that is true. I am all your years of navy training. Serving under the crown. “I serve others,” were your very words.
‘I follow a deeper and stronger sense of nobility and honor. The part that will always do the right thing.’
This will strip away your title and respected life. You will end up as a rumpot back in Tortuga, end up as part of another pirate crew, or even sent to the gallows.
‘I believe Mr. Turner had said it best when he freed Jack Sparrow from the gallows. I may die, but at least I will hang with a clear conscious.’
“James?” River was staring at him with a worried look on her face. There was little doubt she had overheard the discussion he was having in his head.
“I am fine, Miss Tam,” he smiled weakly at her. “I was just telling the bad voice to shut up.”
She smiled back. “I knew you would.”
“How are you holding up?” He made sure there were plenty of provisions in the longboat before they set out, clean water and food. They took turns resting, one would watch while the other slept. “Are you well, not too tired?”
“I am fine, but your arms have lost motivation.”
“They are starting to get a bit weary,” that was a bit of a lie. His arms were tired from working the oars.
“You rest.” She slid herself closer to the oars. “My turn.”
“I could go for a bit of a nap.” He removed his hat and wig and placed them in his lap. “You can still navigate?”
“Same direction.” She said as she begun to work the oars.
“It didn’t work for your captain. Tell me something, Miss Tam, unless I am being too bold, but is the captain courting Miss Serra?”
River laughed. “Not their mouths or bodies, but their minds and souls.”
“That is how it is. They haven’t told each other.”
“Both have heads like mules when it comes to their hearts.”
James smiled again before he leaned back, making sure he had enough room and didn’t come in too close of a physical contact with River. “I hope it won’t be long.’
“It will be faster when we get back.”
“I am not sure what you mean. I just don’t want Beckett to find out about your crew being on the Intrepid.
“He’s a liar.” River frowned. “He wants the sea, he wants it all.”
“His ambition will be the death of him.”
“Wants your king to be like Governor Swann.”
“What?” James sat up. He wasn’t sure what she meant. “You read this off him?”
She nodded. “Use Company, use navy, fight your country. King will still be the king with the crown but all desires will be Beckett’s.”
“The navy wouldn’t fight against the crown.”
“He is winning them over in the fight against pirates.”
“And I helped.” James buried his face in his hands. He may have been pressed into the service of the navy, but he had felt it was more honest than his piracy filled years as a teen. He believed in the navy, believed in what they and he had fought for. He could not believe what he had fought for was aiding Beckett. He had told the man he served the king first.
“Do not worry,” she paused in her rowing. “You rest, have a nap. Serenity will help us.”
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“This isn’t going to help us,” Zoe Washburne said when she found the engaged couple deep in another make out session. “You kids can kiss each other all you want after we won this battle.” She had come down stairs to the dining area to see if Hooky needed any help and instead found William and Elizabeth, her back against the wall and their faces glued to each other.
Will pulled away first. “I am sorry. Mrs. Washburne.” He had a sheepish smile on his face.
Elizabeth wasn’t the least bit sorry. “There is the possibility we will loose. These may be the last moments Will and I will have together.” She grabbed onto the hands of her fiancé and tilted her head back for another kiss.
“Stop that right now,” Zoe snapped at them with more force than she had intended. “You both need to think more positive. Do not think about what if. Think about the fact we are going to win. You two plan on getting wed after this?”
“That is the plan,” Will said. He did look at Zoe while continuing to stroke the back of Elizabeth’s head. “That is if we don’t get arrested afterward for engaging in piracy and attacking the navy.”
“I thought one of your fathers was a governor.”
“My father is,” Elizabeth said sadly. She stared at her hands. “But Beckett has more sway.”
“Won’t have any say if he is taking a dirt nap,” Zoe said and knew she should have chose her words a bit more carefully when they stared at her in confusion. “That means dead.”
“What if someone else is sent after him?” Elizabeth asked.
“You are an optimistic couple. I can see I’m going to have to separate you two.” She pointed up. “Elizabeth you will take your place on the mid sail of the foremast. Will, you are with me. We are going over some battle strategies. Write it out, draw some sketches, and find some way to send it to Captain Sparrow.”
“He’s not on his ship,” Elizabeth said with a bit of distain in her voice. “He disguised himself as a naval officer and went to the Intrepid.”
The information set Zoe back.“Why did he do a crazy thing like that?”
“He has heard some rumors about Beckett being on a naval ship.”
“He went to get the heart?” Will asked.
Elizabeth nodded. “That was his plan.”
“That was foolhardy,” Zoe said. “Only risking his neck based on gossip.” That was something her own captain would do and she knew it. “We still need to get back to work. You can have one last kiss, but make it short.”
The young couple did not resist the offer. They pulled each other close until their chests press into each other and their lips met. The kiss didn’t last long, but Zoe could still sense the warmth, the electricity, and the love.
“You will be careful up there,” Will told her after their lips parted.
“She will be fine,” Zoe assured him. “She will be like a leaf on the wind.”
“Watch as I soar,” Will rolled his eyes.
Zoe fought every urge to slap him; instead she grabbed his shoulder, hard. “You may roll your eyes and everything else I say while on this boat, but you will not make a mockery of that.”
“It’s what all the crew have been saying,” Elizabeth said. “Every time they are about to do another chore on this ship they say that. What does it mean?”
“I do not know what it means myself,” Zoe said. Wash never explained it. “I believe it means that no matter how hard the task is ahead of you, you will fly through it. You will soar through the hard ships and come out on top.” She had a feeling Wash had meant something to do with flying, but that was what they need right now.
“We are leaves on the wind,” Elizabeth said proudly.
“Go to your post.” Zoe turned to grab Turner by the shoulder and pull him after her. She knew she was being harsh with those two and she had wondered if it was because they were making time for one last kiss. The same one last kiss she and Wash never had a chance to get.
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Hourly checks were what Malcolm Reynolds called it when either him or one of his crew would step into Norrington’s cabin and peer out the window to see if the commodore and River returned. Malcolm had a pretty good idea River would be flying Serenity right to them, but there was also the chance that the ship might be trapped where it was impossible to fly.
The first time Malcolm entered the bedchamber was not long after Simon had told him what happened to Norrington and the girl. Mal made sure to cover up the evidence by pulling the makeshift ladder back up and closing the windows. He had hoped no one else had had seen it in the other ships. Most importantly, he had hoped Beckett hadn’t seen it.
He and his crew were not the only ones to come in and peer out the window. Simon’s two marine buddies, Murtogg and Mullroy, also took their turns. Simon had said Norrington might come around the bend in a pirate disguise and the other soldiers might not recognize him. Mal didn’t object to the extra help. It made things seem less suspicious for him when he didn’t have to enter the room that often.
Mal couldn’t quite believe his luck when he came upon the window and saw a long boat coming around the corner. It was either luck or a mere coincidence that it happened when it was his turn.
“Hey,” Mal shouted down at the commodore when he was rowing past the cabin. There was something not quite right. The uniform belonged to a regular navy officer and River wasn’t with him. “Norrington. Where is the girl?” There was a possibility Norrington donned a different uniform and he left River with Serenity.
“Norrington?” The man in the boat clearly wasn’t him. He stared up at Reynolds in confusion. His brown eyes were wide with confusion and he had a noticeable tan. “You think I look like him. I’m not quite sure if I sit right with that insult.”
“Who are you?” Reynolds was getting worried. What if this was a naval officer from the same ship Beckett was on.
“I’m just a naval officer who went out on a mission,” the naval officer said. “Trying to find out where there be pirates.” He smiled. The light reflected off his gold teeth. Gold teeth? He had heard the description of a man with gold teeth and he put that fact together with what Simon had said in his and Kaylee’s encounter with Elizabeth.
“Wait right there,” Mal held up a finger and ran back toe the bed. He had tried to dress the bed without undoing the rope as best as possible and only had to secure a few more knots. “Don’t know why you are here and I don’t care.” He tossed the ladder over the side.
“That is a nice reception,” the man said before he started to climb up. He didn’t say another word until he was in the cabin. “I was expecting I may have to be a bit more cunning when I had to figure out to get aboard.” He gave Mal a tap on the shoulder. “Then I forgot you were aboard. You wouldn’t be by any chance Malcolm Reynolds?”
Mal nodded. “That would be me. By the gold teeth and the way you talk I have to figure you to be Jack Sparrow.”
The man nodded and held up a finger. “That would be Captain Jack Sparrow.”
“I’ll call you captain when you call me captain.” Mal watched as the guy walked around the room, his legs wobbled with every step. This is the guy that gave Norrington a hard time. This was the great pirate he had to find? “Don’t tell me you came back for that little knick knack of yours because I don’t got it.”
“Lets save the trouble of me tryin to understand ye and instead discuss about why I am here.”
“I thought that was what we were talking about.”
“Clearly not,” Jack shook his head. “You are not making much sense.”
Mal sighed. They were not going to get anywhere. “Okay, you tell me. Why did you come here?”
“I have heard a bit of a rumor that you may help identify,” Jack headed to the door. Mal noticed the swagger in his hips. “I have heard that a certain lord Cutler Beckett may be aboard one of these esteemed vessels.”
“You heard correctly.” Mal nodded. This guy may have some beef with the fop and it had raised himself in Mal’s eyes.
“There is a highly good chance he is carrying around the heart of Davy Jones on him.”
“You want that heart. I have seen that squid monster. Please tell me you are not going to use him as your personal pet.”
Jack made a face. “I plan to hand it over to a certain whelp so he can free his dearly beloved father, as long as Jones still thinks I’m dead and doesn’t sic his beastie back on me.” He stared at the palm of his hand and smiled. “No black spot. We can still stay the course.”
“Huh?”
Jack gave him an annoyed glance. “Try to keep up, mate. I believe ole Davy might notice there are few precious items missing from his locker, including myself and if I know what is to be true about him he would want his treasure returned.” Jack pointed at himself. “Which also includes me. He sends his beastie after myself and I get the black spot.” He held out his palm in front of Malcolm. “As you can see we have nothing to worry about.”
What the hell was this guy talking about? “I can’t understand a gorram thing that falls out of that head of yours.”
Jack’s eyes widened at Mal’s swear. “The man with a girls name used that word. He used that word a lot.”
“Maybe Jayne could understand ya,” Mal rubbed his temples. “Don’t know, nor care about your business with that mutation, although he did say you escaped from his locker.”
“That I did,” Jack leaned against Mal. “May have been a bit of a lie. I was more like rescued since I was amongst the deceased at the time.”
Norrington did mention Jack was dead. “Was that true you died?”
“Don’t remember much about it,” Jack shrugged. “But they said it was true then I guess I was, not often one gets eaten by a leviathan and comes back to life.”
“I can relate a bit,” Mal tapped his abdomen, right where Adeli Niska’s henchman had thrust that torture device. “A sadistic bastard used a machine to kill me for a few seconds. He then brought me back with a good jolt. Like using lightening to bring me back.”
Jack blinked. “If he wanted ye dead why did he bring you back?”
“Wanted to torture me for a little longer.”
The disguised pirate gave him a pat on the back. “Sorry about that. Guess we have a bit in common.” He walked across the main part of the cabin. “Time to find out which ship our friend is on.”
“Hold it.” Mal grabbed onto his arm and pulled him back, just as soon as Jack grabbed the knob. “Just a few things before you leave that door.” He picked up the fake accent he had been using the past few weeks. “You are dressed like a naval officer and you will act like one. Sauntering around like your self will jeopardize this mission and we can not have that.’
“No we can’t.” Jack’s eyes widened.
“Now we will walk with our chins up, back straight. We are pretending to be soldiers of the Royal Navy we will pretend to have the pride of Royal Navy. Do I make myself clear?”
“I thought I had understood you.”
“All part of the disguise.”
“You do that all too well.”
Mal shrugged. “Just follow my lead, Mr. Sparrow and come up with an alias.”
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Jayne Cobb grumbled as he tried to make himself comfortable on the little crow’s nest of The Empress. He could sorta understand why Captain Sparrow wanted everybody to switch teams. He wasn’t exactly sure why Zoe told him to go with Sao Feng or Sao ordered him to get up to the small sitting area when it would have been easier for a smaller nap. Sao mentioned something about him bumbling about.
“Forget the nap,” Jayne grumbled as he sat back with his knees to his chest. His hand was on the spyglass they gave him. His other hand was holding onto a bright green apple.
Barbossa had brought several more of the fruit aboard when he was ordered also to join up with Sao’s crew. The older pirate was reluctant to board since it was Sao’s gang who injured him.
“That Barbossa is all right,” Jayne said before he took another bite of his apple. He bit it slowly, allowing his mouth to fill with the sweet and sour juice before his teeth tore of a chunk and chewed it.
He was about to take another bite when he heard shouting coming from one of the sails. Someone wanted to know if he saw some thing.
“Back to work,” Jayne placed the fruit into a pocket before he slowly stood up and stared out through the spyglass.
He saw something that brought him some alarm. He saw the faintest image of a ship in the distance. He couldn’t tell if it was a navy ship or not. They all looked the same to him, but what he saw of the ship was only it’s sails as it kept sinking at an a rapid rate, almost as if it were diving.
“That’s peculiar.” He lowered the spyglass.
Another sailor shouted up to him, asking him what he had seen.
“I saw a ship over yonder, can’t tell what kind, but it looked like it was diving.” He repeated the message in Chinese and pulled the apple from his pocket.
“Man in the nest.” It was that damn parrot that kept flying around the ships. It belonged to that one guy who never talked. Nobody really explained that, or Jayne didn’t pay attention if they did.
“I am in the nest,” Jayne mumbled with his mouth full. “So?”
“Man in the nest,” the bird repeated.
Jayne swallowed. “Why don’t they send you out to see what’s coming?”
“Sinking ship has no heart.” The parrot squawked.
“What does that mean?”
“Leaf on the wind.”
Jayne knew what that meant. “Got that from our ship. You squawk those words with pride.”
“Leaf on the wind.” The bird repeated before it flew down to the upper deck.
Jayne glanced down at the spyglass, and then the rest of the apple. He will see what is out there after he had finished his snack.
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