Chapter 1: Hook

England, August 1588 – The Court of Queen Elizabeth I

Christopher Newport was a privateer, a good one at that. That is why it was of no surprise that he currently stood in the presence chamber of the greatest monarch England had ever seen. The Virgin Queen had summoned him in the wake of the greatest conquest of gold and spices the seven seas had ever seen; but more importantly, also in the wake of the destruction of the Spanish Armada.

It had come about at a fairly high personal cost to Mr. Newport: his right hand. A rogue Spanish mariner had caught him off-guard as they boarded one of Spain's main trading vessels and sliced straight through his wrist. Christopher prided himself on disposing of the rebel before even binding the wound. Fortunately, the limb had been severed in such a clean manner that no infection had formed and Newport was able to hide his affliction by pinning his sleeve and forever carrying it behind his back. As he did now.

The minstrels heralded the entrance of Her Majesty, the Queen and the entire room bowed and curtseyed as she took her seat on the gilded throne before them. Newport waited his turn with his commander, Sir Francis Drake, beside him. He didn't have long to wait as one of the courtiers motioned them forward. They repeated their genuflection and waited to be addressed.

"It is good to see you safe once again, Sir Francis. And I have heard tales of the spirited man who accompanies you today," Elizabeth Regina elocuted.

"My dear Queen, this is Christopher Newport. I do not boast to say that he is one of the principle reasons I stand before you today victorious." Drake motioned to the young man in his bright blue regimentals.

"I also recall overhearing that Mr. Newport did not escape so…whole." The Queen managed to make everything seem a little scandalous. "The loss of a hand—especially the right—must be a difficult inconvenience."

"I assure you, Your Majesty, that I am still capable of everything a man with two hands manages. Some things even more capable." Christopher Newport bowed again. He was being rather forward, but since he was not a rival heir to the throne, he reasoned that he would most likely not be beheaded.

"As bawdy as you are courageous; an intriguing combination," the Queen observed and paused before continuing, "nonetheless, worthy of a reward." Without motioning, a courtier with an intricately-carved box appeared between the gentlemen and the Queen. Her Majesty opened it to reveal an item so shiny it took a few moments for the glare to leave their eyes. "My own physicians and blacksmiths have collaborated to design what you see before you. They attest that it will not only add to your—capabilities—but also intimidate any foes you face hence."

The Queen then suggested Newport examine the item and reaching into the chest with his remaining hand, he removed the cool metal shaped into what looked like an enormous fishing implement. Queen Elizabeth's physician-in-chief Rodrigo Lopez appeared and helped Newport unpin his sleeve to attach his gift. Newport professed his gratitude as the court admired his new treasure.


South Dakota, October 2011

"I don't know, he sounded pretty serious. You should probably come down." Myka was standing in H.G.'s doorway, watching the woman hang up recently-cleaned clothes. The woman seemed to own at least twenty vests in varying shades of dark. Not that Myka should be judging…

"Pete? Serious? Are we talking about the same Agent Lattimer?" Helena secured another garment on a hangar and into the closet in one smooth motion before peeking from behind the closet and narrowing her eyes at Myka and asking, "is this your way of telling me he's been infected by another artifact?"

"Funny." Myka huffed and crossed her arms across her chest. "Come on, you're the one that's always saying you don't feel included in team activities. I'm officially declaring this a team activity."

"On one condition then: you assist me in finishing these petty housechores when we are done." H.G. kicked the half-full laundry basket to emphasize her request.

"You're almost done! Why would you need—" Helena pulled another laundry basket, heaped with various garments, that had been obscured behind the bed and heaved it atop her duvet. "My God, woman! Do you have a different outfit for each day of the year?"

"I'll take that as affirmation. Let's jot off then." H.G. smirked at the shocked expression still on Myka's face as she passed her to head out and down the stairs.

Myka and H.G. took a seat on the couch, the last to arrive. Pete was standing in the corner of the living room and seemed to be practicing a speech. Claudia was successfully stealing cookies from the plate still steaming on the coffee table while Leena pretended not to notice. And Artie was as far away as humanly possible.

Agent Wells made a production of clearing her throat, hopefully encouraging this show to get on the proverbial road already. Pete turned around and smiled at his gathered compatriots, clapping his hands together to draw their attention. Unnecessarily.

"I call this meeting to order." Pete looked around furtively before whispering to Claudia, "where's my gavel?" Claudia shrugged her shoulders and made the Law & Order doink doink sound. "Fair enough. First item of business is muy importante."

"New case? Did we get a hit on a new artifact?" Myka sounded almost desperate as she posed the questions. It'd been all of thirty-six hours since they got back from Boston on a rather involved case involving Mexican jumping beans. Thirty-five and a half hours too long for the workaholic.

"No, even bigger." Pete sighed, "guys, we have reached the under two week mark for Halloween and we haven't even started planning. I'm not going to lie, I don't think we'll be able to pull off any sort of epic extravaganza given the short timeline but we might be able to—"

"Halloween?" H.G. asked.

"All Hallows' Eve—" Myka confirmed before becoming cut off.

"I know what Halloween is, I'm questioning the importance of a 'team activity' being called to discuss its celebration." H.G. almost managed to keep the snarky-ness out of her response.

"I don't know how they did it in 1776, but here we take October 31st very seriously." That earned an eye roll from the two brunettes on the couch. "Am I right Claudia, or am I right?"

"Preaching to the choir, agent man." Claudia wiped a crumb from her lip.

"Amen, sister!" He walked over and high-fived the youngest teammate. "Anyway, like I was saying, we need to get on board stat with what this year's Halloween theme will be. I don't know if you all know this but Oriental Trading rush shipping gets more expensive by the minute. Exponentially, which is why I think we should have a bake sale fundraiser this weekend to offset costs."

"No. No bake sale, Pete." Myka widened her eyes and pointed her finger at her male partner, making sure he knew she was serious.

"Car wash? Because that was my first idea but I didn't think suggesting you four in bikinis would get me very far." By the looks on the female faces, he was right. "Come on, ladies, we have to have a Halloween event to end all events. We've gotsta build us some serious Univille cred." He walked briskly to the kitchen and came back rolling a massive whiteboard on wheels. "Let the brainstorming begin."


12 days...