Disclaimer: the same as Chapter 1.
Author's notes:
- Details about opium tincture come from a medical book.
- Wang Tao's proverb is from Wikipedia.
- The "Sesame" Bill refers to comes from the tale "Ali Baba and the forty thieves" which is part of the "One thousand and One Nights" book: woodcutter Ali Baba spots a group of forty thieves hiding their treasure in a cave, which mouth can only be opened by saying the magic formula "Open, Sesame". Later, this word became a synonym for "permit".
Chapter 8: The spy with velvet paws
Aboard the Flying Dutchman…
"Mister Wang Tao is coming back, Captain!" exclaimed Bill Turner, his keen eyes spotting something moving on the ink-like water. The full moon was still hidden behind the clouds and, with the Flying Dutchman under the strict order to keep all lanterns extinguished, it would have been impossible for a man to see what was happening in the area – but not to old sea dog Bootstrap Bill.
"At last!" whispered Will.
The Flying Dutchman was anchored again in the creek, hiding from prying eyes and the shipmates had been waiting all night for the spy to come back from his mission. Even though his features had never betrayed his inner conflict, Will had been genuinely concerned about the Chinaman's safety. Wang Tao had played an important part in rescuing him from Red Hand Pete's clutches, four years ago, and it wouldn't have suited Will very well if the spy had been thrown into the middle of danger as a reward. But thankfully, it seemed that the man had managed to sneak his way through Port Royal's streets without trouble. Two sailors had been waiting for their Captain's guest in a longboat, floating nearby the beach and they were rowing towards the Flying Dutchman at all speed. Wang Tao was calmly seated on one of the longboat's benches, looking unhurt and holding a carefully-wrapped package on his knees.
"Guess you'll want to have a conversation with our ally right away, son?" said Bill under his breath.
"You've guessed right, Papa," answered Will with the same tone. "If Wang Tao has failed to bring the items I have asked him to find, then my plan will be doomed and we won't have a chance to save Jack any more."
Bill let out a small chuckle: "Judging from the smug smile on his face, I daresay you have nothing to worry about!"
The longboat was quickly drawn alongside the Dutchman's hull, and the two sailors secured the oars before climbing at the rope ladders while Wang Tao remained seated with a somewhat regretful look on his face. No doubts he would have loved to step on the main deck of the ghost ship out of curiosity, to see how it felt to walk on the Soul Vessel's planks, but he already knew by reputation that only crewmembers and soul passengers were allowed aboard.
"Papa, we'll have to haul the longboat on its support again, meaning Mister Wang Tao will have to move. Would you please ask the men to bring his dinghy closer?"
"At once, son."
While Bootstrap barked the orders, Will closed his eye and "materialized" himself on a longboat's bench, right in front of the Chinaman who jumped in surprise. The Captain of the Flying Dutchman sure knew how to make dramatic entrances!
"I am glad to see you're safe and sound, Mister Wang Tao."
"A thousand thanks for your concern, Most Honorable Master of the Soul Vessel, but being a subject of worry is above my condition and…"
"I beg to differ," interrupted Will with a firm tone of voice. "And call me Captain Turner, will you?"
This time, the spy looked completely dumbfounded!
"My miserable person wouldn't even dream to dare addressing in such a familiar fashion the herald of the Peace Absolving, Central August Spirit Exalted, Ancient Buddha, Most Pious and Honorable, His Highness the Jade Emperor, Xuanling High Sovereign, monarch of all deities in heaven!"
"Please, Mister Wang Tao?"
Wang Tao looked absolutely puzzled by Will's request. He considered having pushed his luck far too much recently by begging for the ghost ship's help to rescue Lord Captain Sparrow! But a discreet cough from the elder Turner, who was watching the whole scene from the main deck, reminded the Chinese that time was running out and besides, it wasn't his place to argue over demands made by the Guide of the Ghosts.
"Ahem! Very well, Most Honor… I mean, Lord Captain Turner. Please accept my humble apologies and my most grateful thanks for allowing me to call you by a shorter, but still glorious, title. I came back in full velocity to make a report about my recent excursion in Port Royal and I have the effrontery to proudly announce that I have succeeded in finding the items you've asked for: you will find a complete outfit tucked inside this bundle," said the small man while bowing his head and presenting the parcel which had been resting on his knees.
A beautiful smile graced Will's lips as he accepted the package: he had his costume! The most important part of his plan, namely gaining a gentleman's appearance, was achieved! He would be able to step on the H.M.S. Justice's main deck looking like a member of nobility instead of a man who had been at sea for nine years in a row.
"Thank you very much, Mister Wang Tao. I wouldn't have been able to do anything for Jack without your help."
"At the risk of appearing insufferably pretentious, Lord Captain Turner, I have to admit your approbation is a priceless compliment. It also gives me a tiny shard of light in the hope of regaining my honor as a spy after my recent and spectacular failure, which has led to the capture of the Black Pearl II. The god of fortune has indeed deigned to grant me his favor tonight: while I was poking around in the tailoring shop, I had the incredible luck to overhear a conversation between Huang Ming, the creator of your costume, and Lord Captain Sparrow's foe."
"What? You… Do you mean to say you saw the gentleman who is Commander Chambers' boss?"
"Quite so, Lord Captain Turner, and I have even managed to see his face: he is about fifty, with a ridiculously preeminent chin and eyes as cold as ice. His lips are pressed so tightly against each other, it is a wonder he can talk – but somehow he has managed to find a way because, every time he opens his rotten mouth, it is to talk to people in a very clear and insulting manner. He's obviously in love with the pseudo-authority he has gained with money, instead of with personal qualities. He obviously thinks he has absolute control over his universe but the truth is, he behaves an old water buffalo: stupid and wicked. Alas, I haven't been able to learn his name, so I have nicknamed him "The Dragon-King" from the water-controlling creature which is unable, however, to prevent its own temple to be flooded at times."
"And what did that Dragon-King wanted from your compatriot?"
"This would-be gentleman, on top of being cruel and arrogant, is also extremely vain: he noisily came to the shop, without any regards for the night's peacefulness, all this to remind Huang Ming that a beautiful costume he has ordered a few days ago must be ready for Lord Captain Sparrow's hanging. However, in his fury the Dragon-King let out important information that may interfere with your plan: by his direct order, zhĭhuī guān(Commander) Chambers has arrested many persons in town, and these prisoners are now held inside the H.M.S. Jersey as well. Amongst the captured are men, women… and also children. All of them will be sent to the gallows under charges of piracy."
William Turner felt his blood boiling inside his veins. The Dragon-King had organized a mass hanging! The same atrocity had been perpetrated before in Port Royal during Beckett's reign and no one, not even Governor Swann, had been able to prevent it. Will had been unaware of this massacre since he was staying in Singapore with Elizabeth and Hector Barbossa at the same time, trying to steal Sao Feng's navigational charts. But after he had become Captain of the Flying Dutchman, Will had found the souls of Beckett's victims floating on the surface of the sea – their executioners hadn't bothered to dig graves: it had been more convenient to commit the corpses to the ocean – and he had learned their sad story after welcoming them aboard the ghost ship.
The soul of a twelve-year-old boy had told him about how he had been chained and hanged like a criminal, and him singing "Hoist the colors" so he would have the desperate courage to face the noose. Will had been revolted, horrified and he had bitterly regretted to not have been present during that mass hanging. How he had wished he had remained nearby Port Royal; he would have found a way to save those innocents from Beckett! His father had tried to console him, like in pointing out that Will had been on his own quest – namely finding Jack and saving Bill – and Beckett was the holder of Davy Jones' dirty heart, giving him the power to rule over the Seven Seas but Will had still felt terrible, even weeks after those wretched souls had been ferried safely to the Other Side.
Will sighed as he remembered his father's soft words of comfort, one day where the sadness had been too heavy for the young man to bear: "The sorrow you feel proves that you don't need a heart inside your chest to love, son. Your captaincy hasn't changed you: you are still a compassionate, caring, altruist young man who would risk life and limb to do what is right, and how many men on Earth can pretend the same? You are a hero, Will, that's why you can't stand injustice and Heaven knows how rare this kind of person is. Of course, there will always be some imbeciles around who would laugh out loud and say that heroes are just fools who should have minded their own business. Then why is their souvenir perpetuated for centuries, pray tell? Ordinary men are forgotten, heroes are remembered. And if you want to cry, Will, do it because there is no shame in your tears. Angels have wept on the day that little boy's neck was snapped in two by Beckett's evilness." And Will had cried until he had fallen asleep in his father's arms, overwhelmed by the unfairness of those deaths. His soul-ferry duty had been easier to endure afterwards, thanks to Bill's endless support.
History was repeating itself through Wang Tao's words: captured men, women and children would be sent to the gallows because of their more-or-less known association with pirates. But this time William Turner Junior was sailing in the Caribbean Sea so he had a chance to rescue those innocents. But how could it be done? Until recently, he had made a plan to save only Jack and his crew, which had meant a total of forty men or so. Adjustments had to be done to his paln: there was a huge difference between making forty pirates escape the H.M.S. Justice and fleeing with a crowd of scared men, women and children who didn't have a clue of what was going on!
"I won't let that gentleman do an Encore of Beckett's devilish actions, Mister Wang Tao," said Will. "I admit the presence of these new prisoners aboard the pontoon complicates the matter, and yet I refuse to abandon them."
"That is just what I thought the herald of the Pure August Jade Emperor would do," replied the Chinese gravely. "The Dragon-King's arrogance must be punished and there would be no better way to humiliate him in front of the citizens of Port Royal than snatching all his prisoners right under his snout – and to the last child. He wants a mass hanging, but he'll get a mass prison break instead!"
"I still plan to invade the H.M.S. Justice and use the Flying Dutchman as backup," said Will. "But how are we going to get out of the pontoon's brig and pass through the guards with a crowd of prisoners, without engaging battle? We don't know how many men, women and children Commander Chambers have arrested, so let's imagine their number to be about two hundred: adding Jack and his crewmembers, that makes a total of almost two hundred and fifty persons to free in a single move. They will certainly make some noise once they will be freed from the holds – a baby can start wailing, for example, and it could alert the Royal Marines guarding the pontoon. I don't think the soldiers would accept to let us go, simply in the name of humanity!"
"There is a high possibility that they won't listen to such a reasonable request, and in their stupidity they could even try to stop you regardless of painful consequences upon their insignificant existences. This is why I would like to seize the occasion to present you with another item I had the chance to find on a shelf, inside Huang Ming's shop…"
Wang Tao slipped his hand inside his black silk tunic and took out a small jar made of white porcelain, adorned with blue patterns representing birds flying over a mountain. He presented it to Will and the surprised young man took the little vase, inwardly thinking the Chinese must be as sure-footed as a cat to steal all those things from his compatriot without making a sound. He took out the jar's lid to see it contained a dark-colored liquid, smelling of saffron, clove and alcohol.
"What is this?"
"This is opium tincture, Lord Captain Turner. It is made from the poppy flower and it is used in China as a painkiller – usually for toothaches – and a narcotic. It seems that Huang Ming also uses this drug to gain dreamless sleep. I personally never touch this stuff, since overuse can bring a person into a stupor and being caught unaware means immediate death in the spying business. But I figured this opium tincture could become useful, in the lines of pouring it in the soldiers' chow to make them fall into an appropriate slumber, providing us with the needed silence required in our rescue of Lord Captain Sparrow."
The young Turner thought about Wang Tao's proposition long and hard. Although his chivalrous nature didn't agree with using a drug to overpower enemies, he had to admit that removing a few obstacles from Jack's road to freedom was a tempting idea. Making guards sleep instead of attacking them with swords and knives was a more peaceful and discreet way as the sounds of a struggle aboard the H.M.S. Justice would inevitably raise the alarm in Port Royal's harbor. And there was also the matter of the added prisoners, especially the children who would be too frightened to keep silent. He sighed, and then he said:
"Very well, Mister Wang Tao. Once we'll step on the Justice's main deck, we will find a way to make the Marines drink this opium tincture. But please be cautious with the dosage, as I really don't want them to become poisoned by this drug."
"I shall make myself worthy of your confidence, Lord Captain Turner, and be assured that your generosity towards enemies will be praised across China as long as there will be an ocean. I am honored that you find my suggestion to be a valuable one."
"You'll have to go back aboard your dinghy before the longboat is hauled back to its support. We will leave this creek at dawn to sail off the coast of Port Royal once again, but tomorrow night we will take action and rescue Jack, his men and the victims of the hateful and hated old gentleman," said Will. "If everything goes as planned, by next dawn we will be sailing aboard the Black Pearl II, heading for the high seas while our enemies will still be wondering about the mysterious disappearance of the prisoners held aboard the pontoon."
"And the Dragon-King will loose face forever! His money will never be enough to regain his mockery of authority, and his minions will torch down his house before scampering away in all directions, like a flock of spooked birds. "Shù dǎo hú sūn sàn": when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. May Guan Yu, god of brotherhood and martial power, grant you his help in your plan and your actions!"
Will had a small smile at the Chinaman's declaration: "Thanks, Mister Wang Tao. In the meantime, you'd better get some rest as the next night will be busy, very busy. And thank you again for finding this costume."
With those parting words, Will vanished from the longboat to appear on the Dutchman's main deck, holding the large package in his arms. He opened his eyes to see his father smiling gently at him.
"So, Wang Tao has been successful in his "shopping", Captain?" asked the burly-shaped man with an ironic voice.
"He certainly has, Mister Turner," answered Will. "But he has also brought some fresh news that is going to change our plans."
"What do you mean, Captain?"
"Mister Wang Tao has overheard our mysterious foe talking about a massive arrest he had asked Commander Chambers to conduct: apparently, numerous men, women and children have been captured and locked up in the H.M.S. Justice, waiting to be hanged alongside Jack and his men."
"That's awful!" exclaimed Bootstrap Bill, his face palling at the recollection of the sad crowd they had ferried to the Other Side, years ago, and how deeply it had affected his son. "This rascal wants to mimic Beckett's parody of the law!"
"Exactly, Mister Turner, but we won't let this happen. My goal to rescue Jack and his crew now also includes the people this unknown gentleman wants to execute. I swear that he will never enjoy the sight of his prisoners singing "Hoist the colors" while walking to the gallows, unlike Beckett did."
Bill Turner looked at his Captain's resolute face, and he knew Will wouldn't back down from the enormity of the task. No matter if there was one, or fifty, or a thousand persons held aboard the H.M.S. Justice, his son would unconditionally rescue them. Will had succeeded in freeing all the Dutchman's crewmembers from Davy Jones' tyranny in the past, so why wouldn't he try to save all the pontoon's prisoners?
"Do you still wish to climb aboard the Justice, son?" whispered the elder Turner.
"Aye. I'll have to try this outfit to make sure that it will deceive the men guarding the pontoon long enough, so I will reach its holds without mishap. Of course, according to society's rules soldiers are not supposed to question a gentleman. I remember when Beckett arrested Elizabeth and me just before our wedding: he granted me permission to visit Elizabeth in jail and Governor Swann came with me. A guard named Carruthers tried to stop us, but a few chosen words from my father-in-law stopped him short. Time will be a factor during my stay aboard the H.M.S. Justice and I don't want to be delayed by a curious Marine, so I hope this new costume will be impressive enough to let me pass. On my way back from the hold, the guards' presence won't matter because Mister Wang Tao has found a way to make them sleep: he will pour a narcotic in their stew, allowing us to exit the pontoon without raising the alarm."
A strange light danced in Bootstrap Bill's blue eyes, and he quietly said:
"It could work, my Little One, but I'm thinking about something that would be failure-proof in allowing you to step aboard the Justice without raising questions. I'm not concerned about soldiers; they are usually a bunch of blind-obedient idiots who don't give a damn about what is going on, as long as they have enough money to drink and hire flesh. But what if there is an officer aboard the pontoon, like a Lieutenant or a Lieutenant-Commander, the night you go there to rescue Jack? That is a possibility to consider seriously. Officers are educated men and therefore, they are not easily fooled; wearing a gentleman-like costume wouldn't be enough to act as "Sesame" and let you in."
"What do you suggest then, Papa?"
"Carrying a letter of authorization with you would do the trick, son. That's a signed and sealed document from Port Royal's Harbormaster and no Navy officers would try to contest it since the docks are, strictly speaking, under his jurisdiction. As the King's representative, only he has the right to allow ships to tie up at the docks, how many boxes of merchandise can be unloaded and, in case of pontoons, only he can authorize a civilian person to visit those floating prisons."
"But how are we going to convince Port Royal's Harbormaster to sign this letter?"
"With a substantial bribe."
Will's chocolate-colored eyes shone like stars as he understood what his father was referring to: the diamonds he had acquired over the years! Bill was keeping them in a box which was hidden inside his own cabin, since he had planned to give them to Will once he would be freed from his captaincy. But the gems were so numerous that Bootstrap could spare a couple to "buy" a letter of authorization from the Harbormaster, thus earning some extra protection for his son during the rescue mission.
"Papa, you're a genius!" exclaimed Will.
"Actually, I'm not," said Bill, blushing from the praise. "Jack had this idea when he was the Captain of the Black Pearl: a French ship full of gold, heavily guarded, was anchored in Saint Vincent's port and of course, that cunning rascal wanted to get his greedy hands on it. But instead of opening fire on the city as any normal pirate would do, Jack just paid the local Harbormaster – very generously – to get a letter of authorization and then, he climbed on the ship and told the soldiers a wild story about how he was sent by the French government. And then, he sent them all back to their barracks under the pretext that he needed some peace and quiet to count the gold bars! Needless to say, we had all the time of the world to load the treasure aboard the Black Pearl and to leave Saint Vincent without firing a single shot."
Will laughed out loud at his father's tale, almost dropping Wang Tao's package on the Dutchman's main deck.
"We're going to use one of Jack's tricks to get him out of jail!"
"It seems so, son," said Bootstrap Bill with a wink. "It seems so!"
TBC…
