Chapter 7: Captain Turner
Elizabeth looked out to the horizon in disbelief. "It's a sunrise!" she gasped. Everyone breathed a sign of relief to be back in the living world and safe. However, there was a lack of trust between everyone on the ship. Suddenly, Barbossa pointed his pistol between Jack's eyes. Guinevere fixed her pistol on Barbossa in response. Will did the same, so Jack pointed a pistol at Elizabeth, who glared at him. Gibbs fixed his gun on Will and a second on Elizabeth, who held a gun on Jack and Gibbs. Jack, the monkey, pointed a miniature pistol at Mr. Cotton's parrot.
"Awwk! Parley?" squawked the parrot.
Pintel struggled against the ropes that bound him and Ragetti to the mast. "We need our pistols! Get untied. Hurry!" he commanded.
With everyone at gunpoint, Barbossa chuckled. His laughter was echoed by everyone else as they dropped their pistols. A second later, everyone's pistols were aimed and ready.
"All right, then!" Barbossa said soberly, "The Brethren is a'gatherin. Jack, you and I are goin' and there'll be no arguing that point."
"I is arguing that," Jack countered, "If there's pirates gathering, I'm turning my ship the other way, mate."
Elizabeth pointed both guns on Jack. "The pirates are gathering and you're a pirate!" she told him.
"Fight or not, you're not running, Jack," Will added.
"If we don't stand together, Beckett will kill us all, one by one," Barbossa said wisely, "Til' there be none left but you, Jack."
"I kinda like the sound of that," Jack said brightly, "Captain Jack Sparrow, The Last Pirate of the Caribbean."
"Aye and you'll be left to fight Jones alone. How does that figure into your plan?" Barbossa asked.
"I'm still working on that part, mate. But I will not be going back to the Locker. Count on that," Jack replied.
Jack fired his pistol and instead of a bullet, water squirted Barbossa in the face! Everyone's pistol was jammed!
"Wet powder!" Gibbs groaned.
Pintel and Ragetti had just gotten untied when everyone gave up on shooting each other.
"We can still use them as clubs!" Pintel said brightly, knowing he missed the argument.
"If I may say, if we must stand together, then we better start now than later," Guinevere advised, "If we're going to go to the Brethren Court, we better start playing nicely."
"Fine," Will and Elizabeth agreed.
Jack and Barbossa nodded in concurrence.
"Good," Guinevere said, "Now for the first order of business, we need to replenish our water. Will, the charts."
Will sat down and unrolled the charts. "There's an island just south of here. We can find fresh water and go back to shooting each other later," he declared.
"Well, Sparrow can go ashore. I'll not be leaving my ship in his hands," Barbossa said.
"And I'll not have my ship in the hands of Barbossa," Jack protested.
"Why don't you both go ashore, and leave the ship in my command," Will suggested.
Barbossa and Jack gave Will a death stare.
"Temporarily," Will added.
"Aye," Barbossa agreed, "Drop anchor and prepare to go ashore!"
Barbossa, Pintel, Ragetti, Marty, Tai Huang, and Jack rowed ashore to the black sanded island. There, they found the most amazing site.
"Odd spodkins!" Ragetti exclaimed.
"Crimeny!" Pintel gasped.
Sprawled on the beach was the body of the legendary Kraken.
"Pintel and Ragetti, Kraken slayers!" Pintel cheered, "Stupid fish!"
"Actually, it's a cephalopod!" Ragetti corrected.
Jack and Barbossa approached the beast somberly.
"Hello, Beastie," Jack whispered lightheartedly.
"Still thinkin' about running, Jack? Think you can outrun the world?" Barbossa asked pointedly, "The problem with being the last of anything is that by and by, there be none left at all."
Jack gave a hopeful smile. "Sometimes things come back, mate. You and I are living proof of that," he said brightly.
"Aye, that's a gamble in the odds isn't it?" Barbossa said wisely, "There's never a guarantee of coming back, but passing on, that's dead certain."
"Summoning the Brethren Court then, is it?"
"It's our only hope."
Jack frowned. "That's a sad commentary in and of itself."
Barbossa nodded. "The world used to be a bigger place."
"The world's still the same. There's just less in it."
Jack and Barbossa gave one last glance at the fallen beast before moving on to find water. At the spring, they discovered a body. Barbossa tested the water and spat it out.
"Poisoned. Fouled by the body," he said shortly.
"I know him! He was in Singapore!" Pintel said brightly.
"Awwk, Singapore!" squawked Cotton's parrot.
"Oi, we've got company!" Pintel said anxiously.
Jack and Barbossa looked out in the horizon to see a junk and an East India Trading Company ship. When they turned back, Tai Huang and his men had their guns between their eyes.
"He's Captain," Jack said quickly, pointing at Barbossa.
Barbossa rolled his eyes as he and the others were taken back to the Black Pearl at gunpoint. Aboard the Pearl, Sao Feng had everyone in shackles. Elizabeth and Guinevere both panicked to find that Will was not with them.
"Where's Will?" Elizabeth asked anxiously.
"I don't know, but if Sao Feng or Tete de Seau have hurt him, they'll face the fury like Hell hath no from a woman scorned," Guinevere told her.
Elizabeth gave a slight smile. Guinevere had read her mind. "Agreed. Couldn't have said it better myself," she declared.
Sao Feng approached and smiled at Elizabeth and then fixed his gaze on Guinevere.
"And who might you be?" he asked of Guinevere.
"I'm Guinevere Parris," she said firmly.
"I am told that you were involved with Jack Sparrow and produced a child with him," Sao Feng told her.
"What's your point?" Guinevere spat.
"Jack Sparrow paid me great insult. Iss only fair dat I return the favor," Sao Feng said with a smirk.
Sao Feng signaled his men and they snatched a struggling Guinevere away. Immediately, they began to touch her all over her body as Guinevere punched and kicked them.
"Get off me, you dirty little vultures!" Guinevere screamed.
"Ah, a feisty one. This will be amusing!" Sao Feng said wickedly.
Sao Feng's men continued to violate Guinevere as she screamed and fought. Finally, Guinevere stomped on the foot of one of her captors and wriggled free. Before she could make a run for it, Sao Feng gripped her throat.
"I'm curious. After escaping my men, what did you plan on doing next?" he questioned.
"Wh-What do you think?" Guinevere said defiantly.
Sao Feng dropped Guinevere and pushed her back into the waiting arms of his men. Guinevere continued to fight them as Jack, Barbossa, and the others arrived.
"Sao Feng, the chances of you showin' up here tis a remarkable coincidence!" Barbossa said slyly.
Jack peeked out from behind Barbossa and hid after glancing Sao Feng.
"Jack Sparrow, you paid me great insult once," he growled.
"That doesn't sound like me at all," Jack said sheepishly.
Enraged, Sao Feng punched Jack in the nose. Jack staggered.
"Fortunately, I am returning the favor," Sao Feng said with a smirk.
He moved so that Jack could see his men harassing Guinevere.
Jack shuddered. "Shall we call it square, then?" he asked, hoping to save Guinevere.
Suddenly, Guinevere bit one of Sao Feng's men. In retaliation, one of Sao Feng's men immediately held a knife to her throat. Just before he could have his way with her, Will appeared.
"Release Elizabeth and Guinevere! Let them go now!" he commanded.
"You heard Captain Turner," Sao Feng told his laughing men, "Release them!"
"Captain?" Barbossa asked incredulously.
"Aye, the perfidious rotter led a mutiny against us," Gibbs replied.
"What?" Guinevere gasped.
"No, I need the Pearl to free my father. It's the only reason I came on this voyage," Will corrected.
Guinevere and Elizabeth could do nothing but gape.
"Why didn't you tell me you were planning this?" Elizabeth asked in surprise.
Will bowed his head. "It was my burden to bear," he said ruefully.
Guinevere and Elizabeth could say nothing. Both of them didn't understand why Will couldn't tell them and why he'd keep his plan a secret.
"Will, we were planning to help your father. This is our burden. You're as close to flesh and blood to me as Juliet is. Elizabeth is your true love. Why couldn't you tell us?" Guinevere asked, crestfallen.
Will couldn't look at Guinevere. He remembered her promise to him on the Pearl and was ashamed. "My father is my responsibility. I chose to save him from Jones, and so I will. You can't help me, Guin. Neither can you, Elizabeth. It is my burden to bear," Will said shamefully.
Guinevere and Elizabeth looked at Will with shock. Both women were deeply discouraged that Will hadn't sought to trust them with his plan. No one spoke until Jack piped up.
"He needs the Pearl!" he said, taken aback, "Captain Turner needs the Black Pearl. And you felt guilty. And you with your Brethren Court. And what about you and our child? Is there anybody here who came to save me just because they missed me?"
Guinevere's hand flew up in the air, followed by Pintel, Ragetti, Gibbs, Marty, and Jack the Monkey.
Jack grinned. "I'll just go and stand with them," he declared.
Sao Feng grabbed him by the neck. "Sorry, Jack, but it seems there's an old friend waiting for you," he said in sarcasm.
"I don't think I can stand anymore visits from old friends," Jack replied with a grimace.
Instantly, he was snatched and taken to the Endeavor.
Sao Feng then approached Guinevere. "And Guinevere, it seems you have a visitor here, too," he declared.
It was then that Lucia appeared. She strutted forward and punched Guinevere in the face. "Glad to see you, Guin," she said sarcastically.
"Feelings mutual," Guinevere groaned as she recovered from the blow.
Lucia laughed maniacally. "Glad to see you still have your wits about you," she chortled, "Makes it better so you can die with dignity."
Lucia unsheathed a knife and pressed it against Guinevere's throat. "Since we're friends turned foes, I'll do you a favor and kill you nice and slow," she said darkly.
"No!" Will and Elizabeth gasped.
Lucia swatted them and fixed on Guinevere. Guinevere did not flinch.
"Lucia, you don't want to be doing this, mate," she warned.
"No, I believe I do," Lucia corrected her.
"Suit yourself, but the truth dies with me," Guinevere replied.
Lucia didn't want to stop now, but her curiosity overwhelmed her. "Why don't I want to kill you?" she asked reluctantly.
It was then that Barbossa stepped forward to face Lucia. Lucia froze and gazed into his eyes. She knew they were the same as hers.
"Father?" Lucia gasped.
"Lucia. It's been to long," Barbossa told her.
"But…Isla de Muerta. Jack shot you and Turner Jr. broke the curse."
"Aye, but now I'm back and what's done is done."
Slowly, Lucia removed the knife from Guinevere's throat. Meanwhile, Jack was taken to Beckett's quarters.
Beckett's sneer greeted him. "I'm curious, Jack. Your friends seem quite desperate. Perhaps they no longer believe that a gathering of squabbling pirates is enough to take down the Flying Dutchman. And so despair leads to betrayal," Beckett declared, "And you and I are no strangers to betrayal, am I correct?"
Jack snooped every crook and nanny in Beckett's office.
"It's not here, Jack," Beckett told him.
"What's not here?" Jack replied.
"The heart of Davy Jones. It's safe aboard the Flying Dutchman so that you may not satisfy your debt with the good captain."
"That debt was already settled."
"By your death? And here you are."
"Just close your eyes and pretend it's all a bad dream. That's how I get by."
"And if Jones were to learn of your survival?"
On the Black Pearl, Sao Feng spoke with Mr. Copper.
"My men are crew enough," he declared.
"Company ship, company crew," Copper corrected him.
Will was outraged as he faced Sao Feng. "You agreed that the Black Pearl was to be mine!" he protested.
"And so it was," Sao Feng countered.
With a signal to his men, Will was walloped in the belly and he was chained along with Elizabeth, Guin, and the others except for Lucia and Barbossa. It wasn't long after that Sao Feng was double-crossed by Copper, who intended to take the Pearl for the Company.
Barbossa stepped forward. "Shame they're not bound to the honor of the Brethren, isn't it?" he commented.
"There's no honor in the losing side. Leaving it for the winning side, that's just good business," Sao Feng said gruffly.
"The losing side, you say?"
"They have the Flying Dutchman and now the Pearl!"
"We have Calypso."
"Humph. Calypso an old legend."
"No, bound in human form we have her. To do so I'll need the members of the Brethren. All of the Brethren."
Sao Feng smiled. "What are you proposing, Captain?"
"What be accepted, Captain?"
"The girl."
Elizabeth was taken aback. "What?" she gasped.
"No, Elizabeth is with us," Guinevere protested.
"Elizabeth is not part of any bargain!" Will added.
"Out of the question," Barbossa declared.
"It was not a question," Sao Feng said firmly.
Elizabeth had no choice. "Done," she said immediately.
"Elizabeth, no!" Guinevere gasped.
"Not done!" Will protested.
"You got us into this. If this is what frees us, then done!" Elizabeth declared.
"Elizabeth, they're pirates," Will said, trying to persuade her.
"I've had more than enough experience dealing with pirates!" Elizabeth countered.
"Elizabeth, you can't!" Guinevere protested futilely.
"Then we have a deal?" Barbossa inquired.
With one last glance at Will, Elizabeth boarded Sao Feng's junk, The Empress.
Meanwhile, Jack and Beckett negotiated in his office.
"Perhaps you would consider an alternate arrangement, one that requires absolutely nothing from you but information," Beckett suggested, offering Jack some wine.
"Regarding the Brethren
Court, no doubt?" Jack inquired, "In exchange for fair
compensation, square my debt with Jones, guarantee my freedom?"
"Of course. It's just good business."
"Were I in a
divulgatory mood, what then might I divulge?"
"Everything.
Where are they meeting? Who are the pirate lords? What is the purpose
of the nine pieces of eight?"
Jack then began to use his
persuasive side. "You can keep Barbossa, the belligerent homunculus
and his friend with the wooden eye both, and Turner...especially
Turner. The rest go with me aboard the Pearl, and I will lead you to
Shipwreck Cove, where I will hand you the pirates and you will NOT
hand me to Jones. Bloody fair deal, don't you think?"
"And what becomes of Miss Swann?"
"What interest is she to you?"
Beckett gave no reply.
"Yeah, she goes with me, too," Jack replied.
"Jack! I've just recalled, I have this wonderful compass which points to whatever I want. So for what do I need you?" Beckett demanded.
"It points to what you want most, and that's not the Brethren Court, is it?"
"Then what is?"
"Me…dead."
Beckett pulled out a hidden pistol. "Although if I kill you, then I can use the compass to find...Shipwreck Cove, was it? Cut out the middleman, as it were."
Jack continued to persuade Beckett. "With me killed, you'd arrive at Shipwreck Cove, find its stronghold nigh impregnable, able to withstand blockade for years, and then you'd wish, "Oh, if only there were someone I had not killed inside to assure that the pirates then come outside...""
"And you can accomplish all this, can you?"
Jack grinned triumphantly. "You may kill me, but you may never insult me. Who am I?"
Beckett gave no reply.
"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."
Suddenly, the Endeavor was blasted by cannonade!
Jack shook Beckett's hand and scurried up to the deck. There, Beckett watched as Jack prepared to launch himself to the Pearl by a gun.
""You're mad!" he commented.
"Thank goodness for that! If I weren't this would probably never work!" Jack replied.
The gun exploded and Jack was sent flying to the Black Pearl. The crew scanned the water to see if he landed, and there they found Jack perched atop the statue at the helm.
"And that was without a single drop of rum," Jack commented.
Will and Lucia were grabbed by Pintel and Ragetti. Jack stepped toe to toe with Will and Lucia. "Send this pestilent traitorous cow hearted yeasty codpiece to the brig. And the charming assassin, too," Jack commanded.
Without a word, Lucia and Will were taken to the brig. Meanwhile, Beckett gave orders for the Dutchman to follow Sao Feng, and he was to follow the Pearl.
"How soon can we be ready to pursue?" Beckett asked one of his men.
Suddenly, the mast came crashing down.
Beckett's lieutenant was in awe. "Do you think he plans it all out, or just makes it up as he goes along?" he wondered aloud.
