A Pirate's Life: New Adventures

Chapter 9: Secrets Unveiled


"Why, why was this?" a deep, unimpressed voice echoed in an opulent room filled with gold and elegance.

"Sparrow, sir. He...was more of an obstacle than I..." a worried voice answered.

"You miscalculated, you mean?" Lord Nicholas frowned. "I do not condone failure, Mr Atkinson," he said standing from his chair from behind his resplendent desk. The Lord began to walk slowly over to a large window overlooking Port Royal. The 'clicks' of his shoes echoed in the dark silence.

"I know, my Lord, and I assure you that it will not happen again, if you allow me I will..." captain Atkinson began.

"Not only did you fail to retrieve the letters, but you allowed a wanted pirate to sail free and you allowed two highly desirable artefacts slip through your fingers!"

"Sir, I did not know about the sword of Cortés," Atkinson defended.

"But you knew of the trident! You knew of the letters! Those letters could compromise my..." the man shouted, he was going red in the face from anger. "And the French still have them! Mark my words, Atkinson, if the crown dismantles my empire, you will not be unscathed."

"Yes, sir," the captain nodded. "But, with your permission I will lead another mission to retrieve the..."

"No," Lord Nicholas said, "To leap into the lions' mouth never proves fruitful."

"My Lord?" Atkinson's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Sparrow could prove useful yet. He has shown that he has allies that no other mortal man can boast," the man reflected.

"Sir, if I might...Sparrow has proven that he is skilled in ruining your plans..."

"And to do that the man must have intelligence that he hides from others, we underestimated him, Atkinson. But it will not happen again." his Lordship saidwoth confidence.

"Yes, sir," the captain nodded.


In the darkness of his cabin Jack re-read the contents of the letters found on the French fleet. The candles had long since guttered and he was using the moonlight to illuminate the calligraphic words on the paper. But suffice to save was more than a little confused.

He remembered Atkinson mentioning a man called Lord Nicholas...and these reports and letters all pertained to him. The man's extensive finances and his small, but influential number of ships. All were captained by men who were more than likely loyal to him and he paid them a considerable amount.

Lord Nicholas was a key trader of the East India Trading Company and his ships imported sugar, tea and cotton. However they also brought slaves by the ship load into the 'civilised' world, which of course struck a cord with Jack.

He had been asked to transport slaves as a young man...And he had agreed to it with the promise of purchasing the 'Wicked Wench' for a mere shilling after the job was complete. But he had changed his mind, freed the slaves, had been branded a pirate and has his ship sunk by his employer...Cutler Beckett.

The reports showed that Nicholas has been stealing money from the Company and adding it to his own finances. Which he had used to purchase more and more ships and men to crew them with. These ships were hidden around the coast of Jamaica on the pretext of being mere cargo ships.

But if this were to get out to the crown he would be severely punished...but not enough to warrant him much concern. Rich men could afford to cover their tracks. So what else could he have to hide?

Jack had read the man was also dealing with the French in arms and ships...selling the secrets of the British navy to the French. And that was was warranted the royal seal...and the Lord's concern. He was a traitor to the British crown and he had been discovered.

But by whom, the letters didn't say. And now Captain Jack Sparrow knew the truth. The french had wanted more than his Lordship had given and they had been planning in exposing the man's treachery in the most humiliating and degrading manner possible.

So where had the mermaids come into things?

Maybe his Lordship thought that by controlling the seas he could deal with the French and rule the seas. It was an ambitious plan. But perhaps a foolish one. If it was indeed the case then the man must be desperate...and he would need the letters back posthaste.

He wouldn't know that Jack had them...so he'd probably go to France to attempt another deal with them...or would he?

Jack knew that he had a bargaining tool of great value. So he hid them in the same place as the oriental map he kept with a grin. Maybe some good would come of this yet. The French may have a price on Jack's head but if he played his cards right he could have the price in his hands rather than on his head.

He then opened the door of his cabin and looked out at his crew. They were sitting round the deck drinking and gambling again with young Will and Elizabeth laughing with...or at Gibbs.

The deck was cluttered but ordered and there were rum bottles and mugs littering his ship. It wasn't the navy ship it once was...but she was much better than that. The 'Pearl' had seen Jack through thick and thin and they belonged together.

Oh yes, it was a pirate's life for him.