Chapter 12- Jack- Good to Know Someone Cares

I stayed at the helm, guiding the ship through the water, until well after the sun had set that night. Once I was sure we were on the right track, I handed my job off to one of the night watchmen and sat down on the edge of the railing at the front of the ship. I loved sitting there, watching the water pass underneath me while everyone else slept. The Sunset Ambrosia had been with me for so long, she felt like another part of my body. She was home. I owned a house in Northern California, currently inhabited by my best friend Ellie and her fiancé, also known as my long lost brother, yet I never felt right on land. No matter how much I'd tried, I never quite fit in unless I was out on the water. Even before I found my ship, I would go out on my dad's fishing boat when I was a child. I'd spend whole summers with him and his crew and that meant more than one whole year on land with my mother and school and society. Then she found out he was running illegal cargo and that stopped.

I knew he was standing behind me, watching me and probably wondering if I was drunk enough to fall off the edge of the ship. He stood for probably five minutes before I said something. "Are you going to talk to me or just be creepy?"

"How did you know I was here?" The Doctor asked.

I looked behind me. He was leaning against the forward mast, one leg across the other. He'd changed back into a blue pinstripe suit. The other had been left aboard Sir William's ship in a bloody mess in the room with one light bulb. "This is my ship, I know everything that happens on it."

He gave a little laugh and then pushed off the mast. He heaved himself up next to me letting his feet dangle next to mind, his in his red sneakers while mine were bare. "How long until we get there?"

I looked up at the sky for a minute. "Probably in the afternoon unless I turn the engines all the way up. We're looking for a small island near Jamaica." I told him. He was the second person I'd told this information to. In fact, most of the crew didn't know exactly where we were going other than racing Sir William to some undisclosed location. I wasn't sure how to tell them we were looking for something that existed in ancient Greece.

"Any way I can talk you out of this?" He asked.

"Nope," I said easily. "I'd like to think the Oracle wouldn't work with him, but Sir William is very persuasive and if he could see into the future, he would destroy the earth."

The Doctor nodded his head and he was quiet for a while. "Do you have a plan once you get there?"

"The book says there will be a gate keeper. Pass his test and I get to move onto the Oracle herself," I explained.

"What test?" He turned to me. I could tell he still thought my book was alien, like it couldn't possibly have been crafted by humans.

"Doesn't really say," I told him. "The only thing it says is that if you fail, you die."

"Hmm," he was still looking at me. "Doesn't really sound like a fair test."

"It's actually quite genius," I smiled because I knew more about the book than he did. Every page I turned seemed like it was made for me. I never went in the order the book was written in but instead flipping page to page, yet the book had helpful hints. In one, it told me to avoid coming into the Bermuda triangle from the west. In another it told me to avoid a trip to Siberia at the end of fall because winter sometimes came early. Had I tried that page in the middle of October like I'd planned, we would have run right into an ice jam. On the matter of the Oracle, the book said I would pass the test when the time was right. "If you can't pass the test, the gate keeper gets to kill you and keep the Oracle a secret."

"Yes, genius, and barbaric."

"That's what we are though, us humans," I said poetically. "We kill each other just to make a few bucks and improve our own lives. I should know," I laughed and thought about all the men who had fallen to my own guns or cannons or baseball bat. I'd justified them as kill or be killed but they were still dead none the less.

"That's why I have to stop him," I shook my head and forced a smile onto my face hoping it would chase away the bad thoughts, the ones that reminded me why I drank so much. "I've done a lot of bad in my life, but I can at least help with this."

"That's very noble of you," he said with a slightly sarcastic tone in his voice.

"It's not, but thanks," I spun around and let my feet hit the wooden planks. He slowly turned around the watch me. "I should be getting some sleep." I said but stayed in front of him. "Any luck with getting your box off my ship?"

"None," he looked troubled by that thought and I got the feeling that he wasn't used to being confused by things. He was out of his element on my ship with my human worries. "I'm going to try reversing the thrusters in the morning."

"Okay, have a good night," I turned to leave but stopped suddenly. I don't know what came over me but I walked back over to him and kissed him on the lips. He seemed stunned at first but closed his eyes and kissed me back. For a brief second, I could feel how lonely and broken hearted he was but then I worried that he could feel the same within me and backed off.

"Sorry," I muttered to him. "Just figured I should kiss someone in case tomorrow is my last day in this world and well, you've met my crew. They aren't the cleanest group of people."

The next day, I woke up at the crack of dawn and helped the crew clean and make a few repairs. I didn't see the Doctor anywhere, but his blue box was still parked in the middle of my deck. I let him be and went about gathering my things up the closer we got to the island.

The island itself was easy enough to find, something that surprised most of us. It wasn't on any map, protected by something a little higher than human authority. The book had given me specific directions turning against the wind and going the opposite direction of the island, then a sharp turn and we were there somehow. By now, everyone on the ship knew what I was doing and I got pitiful glances everywhere I went. They got me close enough to the rocks to throw a rope at them and climb into the opening on the side. I slung my backpack over my shoulders again and looked up the rocks with the rope in my hands.

"Wish me luck?" I asked Joey.

"I wish you would listen to us and get the hell away from here," he said instead. "Since you won't listen to anyone, please be safe." He wanted to hug me but didn't. Not here in front of most of my crew. I felt it though.

"I will," I smiled at him and turned back to the rocks. I started to climb when I felt something tug at the rope below. I looked down to find the Doctor following me up. "What are you doing?" I yelled back at him.

"Couldn't let you make history on your own now could I?" He grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes and continued my climb. "Just don't blame me if you get killed."

I was sweating by the time we got to the opening in the middle of the rocks. Land just isn't my thing. "So now what?" The Doctor asked me.

I was about to tell him I didn't know. We were looking at each other so I don't know if the man just appeared or if he stepped out of the rocks but he was there before I got the chance to say anything. The Doctor didn't flinch, I'll give him that much. "Have you come to take my test?" The man asked. He was dressed in a long maroon robe with a shaved head that accentuated the wrinkles that made his face look like a Mastiff. His skin was almost gray in tone.

"I don't think I have much choice now do I?" I asked.

The man smiled and waved his hand over to the three large rocks surrounding a fire pit. With his hand out, the fire instantly roared to life filling the cave with light. The walls were covered with tally marks in dark black. I wondered if those were how long the man had been here guarding the Oracle or if that was how many people had failed his test. I wasn't sure I wanted to know. "Please, sit."

The Doctor and I both sat down before the man moved, slowly he lowed himself down and looked across the flames to the two of us. "You," he said and pointed to me. "You're the one who must take the test first."

"Yes," I agreed, "but if I fail, this man won't be taking your test."

"He has no choice either," the man said and I caught the hint of an accent I couldn't quite place. He leaned forward and stared straight into my eyes. I wanted to turn away, but couldn't. His eyes were dark gray like the rock surrounding us. My head started to hurt as he leaned in closer like the fire wasn't touching him at all. The Doctor reached out and touched my hand, holding it tightly in his and the pain in my skull eased a little. My life flashed before my eyes involuntarily. I didn't even have the capacity to make a joke about how clichéd watching your own life like that was.

Then it was over and I was aware of the cave again. The pain had gone and all I could feel was the Doctor holding my hand tightly. I looked over at him. His eyes were wide like he knew what had just happened. "Are you okay?" He mouthed. I smiled and nodded even though I was a little dizzy. My ribs still hurting were worse than the dizziness.

"Jack," the man said to us, "we've been waiting for you."