Amazing cover by dhazellouise
Ch. 1. Darkness
The Intrepid entered the port of Tiburón under the soothing cover of the darkness. A thick, hot Caribbean night seemed unusually heavy tonight, the electric charge was hanging low in the air, a hurricane waiting to happen.
The ship's crew docked along the empty pier seamlessly. Without making almost any sound, its members crossed the ship plank, disappearing quickly in the dark alleys, careful not to draw too much of attention of their respective Captains.
After a couple of difficult days of sailing towards the shore, the last thing anyone would wish for is to provoke an outburst of one of them. But to be honest, everyone was pretty much sure that facing one of these men's anger was inevitable. Every single member of this patchwork crew wanted to stay out of Edward's and Oliver's sight, hoping for some comfort to deal with their own shock and sadness.
After a long while, the door to one of the captains' cabin opened, and a dark figure came out to the railing. Soon enough, the other, equally shadowed figure joined along.
"After you, Lieutenant." These were the only words that sounded in the stillness of the night, while both of them descended from the ship. Like dark ghosts, they moved along the dock, heading towards the tavern.
The news had already reached the shores, and while they both entered, the noisy sound of drunken sailors suddenly stopped, only to return seconds later, dropping half of their volume and turning into whispers. Edward approached the bar and said, his voice low, "a bottle of rum, full. And two glasses. And your most private table now, Tilly".
Without any question, Tilly grabbed a bottle and two glasses and led them through the crowded tavern main hall to a secluded table in the corner. Seeing the sullen air around them, the current patrons of the table held to their drinks and left immediately.
Tilly filled in both glasses and put the open bottle on the table.
"If you need anything, Edward, just—"
"I will, thank you, Tilly," Edward cut in her sentence with a menacing tone.
Tilly just raised her brows, but silently left, leaving both men only to themselves.
Oliver grabbed his glass, raised it, and was about to make a toast, while Edward cut in again:
"We don't have time for pleasantries, Lieutenant." He downed his rum and poured himself another shot.
Oliver slowly nodded, taking a long drink. For a while, both men eyed each other, trying to figure out the sense of it all, at the same time, trying to judge their own, complicated relationship with each other.
"So. About your father. I guess it's not that easy," Edward finally broke the silence.
"Well, it's not like you send your father flying across the void of time every day, after finding he is evil, and that he disowned you." Oliver let out a bitter half-laugh.
"You know, my father died when I was young, so for a bliss there, the Admiral was kind of half-father figure to me, along with my first captain. And then..." Edward weighted his words, but saying that out loud, to another man who could have understood him, felt quite right. However, he was not ready to thoroughly revisit his painful past, after getting somewhat of closure just recently. "Not easy like I said."
The silence fell between them again. Edward downed another drink.
"I guess we don't have to talk about Sam, for now," Oliver said after a long silence, grabbed the bottle of rum, and topped Edward's glass first, and then his own, just to empty half of it right ahead.
"Lieutenant." Edward barked out something remotely reminding a burst of laughter, "I am not discussing my love affairs with the British Navy. The question is to find out what happened, get Sam back, and then try to make sense of what we all want and solve it. All three of us".
"I find that acceptable." Oliver decided to cut this discussion short. He was still feeling intimidated by Edward, and he couldn't understand why. Years of his highly expensive, exclusive education in the Greenwich Naval College, social position, and high society cockiness suddenly got overshadowed by this sea-tanned, rough-around-the-edges pirate captain.
"Now, let's see our options here." He resolved to take the lead of the conversation."We should go and seize the Admiral's ship; there are probably many documents and hints still on his ship that could result handy and get us some leads."
Edward's finished his rum and stood up abruptly.
"Good plan, I will talk to Charlie and gather the crew, get your men ready, Lieutenant." He made three steps towards the main hall of the tavern, then stopped suddenly, and half turned back towards Oliver. "I assume you will not be returning to your old Navy job for a while, better handle that right." He paused. "We set sails at dawn."
Oliver gritted his teeth, and his eyes followed Edward toward the door. That was not going to be a painless alliance, but the pirate captain was right. He should find out convincing excuse and notify the Navy as soon as possible. He finished his drink, considering his options. Finally, after carefully deciding what his steps should be, he approached his officers sitting at another table.
"Doyle, get one man on the road, I need to send a message back to London, to the king," he said, looking at his faithful officers with concern and trust, "Get ready. We set sails at dawn".