Ahoy Maties! Weclome back to the Empress! Big choices lay head for our captian and crew. What will happen? Unfortunatley, you might have to wait a wee bit for the answers. Finals are coming up for me and I really should study... will I? Probably not! Anyway, an update may be a week or two coming. That'll give pleabty of time for you all to give feedback ::tee-hee::

A huge thank you for all of the support I've been getting! If this is turning out good, it has a lot to do with that!

I'll shut up now. Enjoying it? Let me know!


Chapter 9- The Lady and the Sparrow

"Now, needless to say that when Beckett heard about this, he was not pleased at all." Kate took a moment's pause to sip some water to refresh her throat. The cook had brought them all food and drink a little while ago, as the dinner hour had come. She had been too busy talking to touch her salmagundi, but she noticed that hers was not the only plate still full. Elizabeth hadn't eaten a bite either, nor had she looked at Kate the entire time. Interesting, thought Kate. She continued the story, "Jack, on the other hand was not pleased with Beckett either, and let it be known to anyone who would listen that Beckett was a liar, a thief of children and basically the devil himself. In reflection on it, he probably should have been a little more subtle, but then again, subtle is not a Jack strong suit. Beckett had to do something to discredit Jack, or his own reputation would be gone….

The Wicked Wench sat like a black swan in the lapis waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Along side her was another ship; a pirate ship that had come up short on supplies and, knowing Jack's reputation, had stopped to petition him for help.

"Oh Bugga." Jack's dark eyes flashed over the horizon quickly, obviously calculating and measuring up the situation.

"What is it, Captain Sparrow? Is something amiss?" The pirate looked out and saw only another India Company vessel. "Oh, I see… you're worried for me? Don't be. My ship is lightening compared to those soggy buffoons! We can outrun 'em before they even come close to catching us…"

Jack turned his gaze from the ocean, the corners of his mouth turning up into an ironic, but none the less charming smile. "First of all mate, I don't think they're here for you," this drew a confused look from his companion. "Secondly, a ship with that kind of fire power doesn't need to catch you to blow you clear out of the water, savy?" The pirate nodded a little embarrassed at the apparent stupidity of their statement. Jack screwed up his mouth as he thought for a second, then with a nod of his head he continued, "But, come to think of it, he's the kind of real twit who would love to take a pirate down just for kicks, so get out of here, and fast." The pirate stood open mouthed and defiant, protesting leaving him alone to face whatever threat it was apparent he saw, but Jack just turned away, walking with heavy boot falls and steady strides to the wheel. He called over his shoulder, "Get out of here, and don't look back. I'll head 'em off and buy you escape time…."

"And that was it." Kate said this with a look of mixed anger and sadness. "As soon as The Wicked Wench was in range Beckett opened fire on her. Jack went aboard to offer himself in exchange for the life of his crew and his boat, but that shark hearted fungus just ordered another volley, scuttling his beautiful girl to the depths along with I don't know how many of his men." She shivered a little at the thought. "Beckett branded him a Pirate, and Jack probably just figured he would do exactly what his momma said. He became the best pirate there ever was. Now, add you're part of the story and it seems that, along with embracing pirate ways, he decided to try his sweet talk on Davey Jones to get the Wench back."

Will and Gibbs both widened their eyes as they simultaneously said, "The Black Pearl!"

Kate nodded. "That's my guess." She sighed and leaned forward on her desk. "Now, to your request: you want the Empress because you want to get Jack back from where ever he is, yes?" Nods. "Why do you think he's alive at all? You saw the Pearl, with him on it, getting eaten by the Kraken. What makes ya believe there is any chance in all of this?"

She could see wheels turning in their heads, searching for the perfect words to prove their point and win their passage. Only Tia seemed prepared to answer: "'Dere is more ta bein' alive den livin'…'dere is more to livin' den bein' alive." Her eyes seemed almost black in this light, and they smoldered like two live coals taken from the fire.

Kate was a little wary of her, but she held her ground, demanding a better explanation than this. "That was both wonderfully poetic and completely meaningless at the same time. I wonder, could you be a little less vague?"

Tia cocked her head at the Lady with an almost comical air. She obviously was not used to people wanting her to explain herself more clearly. Honestly, she thought it made perfect sense, and couldn't see why the captain hadn't understood. She thought for a moment and tried again. "Sometimes, people seem to be lost, but dey aren't. Death happens often, but a soul gettin' lost happens more often still. It weren't Jack's time to die. His life was taken, stolen from him. He should have died on his own terms. Dat is what I hear." Elizabeth was beginning to grow paler, and Kate noticed that Will saw this too. He looked away quickly from her, his eyes the picture of one concentrating very hard on something else so as not to think about the growing anxiety crowding their guts.

Kate addressed Tia, "What do you mean? Captain Sparrow is, I think we can all agree, no longer with us, so who are you hearing this from?"

Tia sighed as though she were trying to explain something to a very small child and was becoming tired of all the 'why's. "'Dere was a man who was dead. He kept his soul from going too far by strength of will. Da will o' wisps come to me by my river and dey tell me he wans help. As long as dere is at least one person still in dis world who would die for de lost soul, dey can be found." Gibbs wondered who would want Barbossa back so badly… probably someone he owed money to…or rum. Tia continued, "Da wisps, dey tell me Jack need help. Dat he is lost an' hurt an' wai'tin for someting to happen. Him body and soul are wai'tin where death cannot find him, and where life can only go if one will risk losin' dere own." She looked out the window and seemed to fade a little, as though the effort of explaining so much had worn her thin.

Kate knew she would get no more from the woman. She asked herself if she would risk her own life for saving Jack, the only hope of a future of freedom for any who live for the sea. She knew that she would, but she also knew what she could not risk. Kate addressed them all very slowly and seriously. "You are asking me to risk the lives of my crew, my family, for little more than the word of a river witch, all respect to her." Kate shook her head slowly, "I think ya will all understand if I say that I need some time to think on the matter." Here she nodded to Sergeant, who rose and opened the door. He told them in a light voice not to worry and at least they would have a comfortable night with a warm place to sleep and before that music and rum.

As the door closed, Kate realized that her eyes were closed and that someone was still in the room. She had a fair guess who it was. "Yes, miss Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth stood opposite Kate's desk looking down at the papers and maps on top of it. She licked her lips and spoke as though she had chosen her words carefully before hand, no matter what Kate's answer would be. "You were the pirate Jack saved, weren't you? It was the Empress that survived where the Wench did not."

Kate smiled at the girl. She couldn't help thinking that she'd make a fairly good pirate herself, if she could rid herself of whatever squeamishness kept her from admitting whatever it was she was trying so hard not to. "'Aye, luvie."

Elizabeth slammed her hands down on the desk, eyes blazing up into Kate's own almost as Tia's had, sending papers and a quill pen flying to the floor. "THEN WHY WON'T YOU HELP HIM?!! ISN'T THERE SUPPOSED TO BE SOME HONOR AMONG PIRATES!"

Kate looked back at Elizabeth unflinchingly. She shook her head sadly. "It isn't as easy as all that. Would I give my own life for the chance to bring Jack back, to repay him? In a minute. But, I have my men to think about. Sacrificing your own life for something is one thing, but sacrificing another's life in pursuit of something you yourself want is another thing altogether. Something I am not prepared to do. Certainly not without giving them a choice."

She expected Elizabeth to cry. She expected her to scream and rant or maybe throw something. Instead, she turned white as a sheet and promptly fell to the wooden planks, like a marionette suddenly cut from its strings.


Salmagundi – a pirate favorite! A dish made with any combination of chopped up meat, eggs, anchovies, onions, cabbage, grapes and herring all seasoned with salt, pepper, vinegar, garlic and oil.