AUTHOR'S NOTES: I gotta apologize for all the exposition-through-dialogue in this chapter. I want my Leaper friends to be able to read the story even if they haven't seen the movie. For you Piraters out there, there'll be an exposition chapter about Quantum Leap later, though I think you can pretty much pick up on what's happening concerning Sam and Al by now.
Oh, and about the compass... It's my own theory. I know most people don't subscribe to this particular theory, so just bear with me.
PART TWO
The Curse and the Compass
Afternoon
September 14, 1661
Middle of the Caribbean
Sam sat at the porthole, his hands resting on his stomach, his
head resting on the window pane. His eyes were closed, and he was whispering
words of comfort to himself.
"What'sa matter, Sam?"
Without one movement of muscle except his mouth, Sam replied,
"I wish my swiss-cheesing would let me forget I get sea sick easily."
Al chuckled. "Yeah, that would be nice for this
Leap, huh?"
"Why're you here, Al?" If his Observer was going to be here to
taunt him, he'd better have a good reason.
Al seemingly took a seat next to Sam, adjusting his image to look
as though he were really seated on the edge of the low table beside
the Leaper. "We're nearly to Rum Island. I thought I'd come and see
what's up. I'm really intrigued with this Jack guy."
"I was wondering about that. You call this island we're going
to Rum Island, but AnaMaria called it Jack's Island. Why the change
of name?"
Al punched a few buttons on the handlink. "That's another reason
I came. Ziggy's found a bunch of real good stuff for us and I thought
I'd bring you up to date and give you a little background to what's going
on." He sat back and began his recounting. "Originally, so far, archaeologists
found the island, and on it was an old rum cache. In it they found hundreds
of pages of writings by a Captain Jack Sparrow, which would apparently
be this guy we're helping. He wrote up all of his purported adventures
on these pages.
"According to the writings, he's been on that island three different
times. The first time he was the victim of a mutiny and was marooned
there. Three days later, rum runners discovered him and he hitched a ride
with them to Tortuga.
"Then, ten years after that, he and Elizabeth were marooned there
for a day and night by the same guy that had marooned Jack--which, by
the way, would be his mutinous first mate, Barbossa. Jack showed the cache
to Elizabeth. She ended up pumping him so full of rum that he passed out,
and then burned everything that was left, making a smoke signal that led
the British Navy to rescue her.
"And the third time was a couple weeks following that second time.
He went back to gather his writings and finish his tale of the curse,
but--"
"He wrote about the curse? What'd he say?"
Al shifted slightly, tapped a few more buttons on the handlink,
and continued. "Well, let's start at the beginning, shall we? Cortez,
after slaughtering thousands of Aztecs, was given a large stone chest
filled with 882 pieces of gold Aztec coins. The Aztec high priest offered
this to Cortez hoping it would stop the slaughter. Of course, it didn't.
So, apparently, the Aztec gods put a curse on the treasure. If a person
takes just one piece directly from the chest, they become cursed, and
the only way to stop it is to return the coin along with the blood of
the person who stole it."
"What exactly does the curse do?"
"According to Jack's tales, food turns to ash in your mouth, you
have no feeling--that is, you can still have the sense of touch, but it's
detached... like the sensation is dull and not connected to the emotional
part of the brain... Anyway, any part of your body that is touched by
moonlight turns to a decayed skeletal form."
Sam rolled his eyes. "Please just tell me you don't believe all
this, Al. It's preposterous!"
"Actually, I do believe it, and if you could talk
to Will like I have, you would, too."
"What do you mean?"
"Will added his side of the story to Jack's tales of the curse.
Will's father, William Turner, Sr.--or Bootstrap Bill as most people
called him--was one of the pirates who became cursed. He was sent to
the bottom of the ocean after protesting to the mutiny against Jack. It
wasn't 'til after that that the other cursed pirates knew he had taken a
coin and sent it to his only child. His blood and that coin were the last
to be put back in the treasure. Since they thought Bootstrap was dead, they
sought out his child... who turned out to be Will--though at first they
kidnapped Elizabeth because she had stolen the coin from Will and in turn
told Barbossa her last name was Turner. In the end, Will returned the coin
and blood to the chest, but not before Jack had stolen a coin."
"Why'd he do that?"
"He knew he'd be immortal when cursed, so he stole the coin before
initiating a sword fight between he and Barbossa. Jack eventually got
the coin and his own blood on it to Will, who dropped both bloody coins
in the chest just after Jack shot Barbossa. The curse lifted and Barbossa
died."
"So, that's why Jack is being affected by the new curse?"
"Yup."
Sam began to shake his head in disbelief, but thought against
it as stars flashed in front of his eyes. "This is just a little bit
too complicated for someone suffering from a sea sickness-induced headache."
Al shrugged. "I guess this all doesn't really matter, 'cept that
we need to make sure this curse is lifted and find a way to keep it from
ever being released again."
Sam slid in his seat, practically laying on it. "The things a
Leaper must do," he muttered.
~*~*~*~
Elizabeth stood beside AnaMaria, watching as the pirate carefully steered
the ship in the correct direction. Elizabeth watched the compass, finding
that it seemed a bit odd; as AnaMaria's hand moved slightly, showing
the lid, Elizabeth knew why. "Why are you using Jack's compass? It doesn't
point north."
AnaMaria smiled as though the question had been asked a thousand
times. "We're not trying to find north, are we?"
"No, but we're not trying to find Isla de Muerta either."
AnaMaria gave a quick glance to the side. "Will told you 'bout
the compass, didn't 'e?"
Elizabeth nodded.
"Well, I'm sorry to squash his beliefs, but the compass does not
point to Isla de Muerta."
"Then how did Jack find it when looking for me?"
"He had promised Will he'd take 'im to the Black Pearl, not to
Isla de Muerta. So he did."
"You mean, the compass leads to the Black Pearl?"
"Keen you are, lady. The compass was found by Jack on the Black
Pearl. He used it those ten years to lead him ever closer to the Pearl."
Elizabeth turned her gaze to the waters before them. "How does
it work when it's on the Pearl?"
"Its readings are as precise as the detail on any of Will's swords."
Elizabeth smiled. "Turns out to be the best compass in the world,
then? Rather amusing in retrospect."
"Indeed."
At the sound of a sailor's call overrunning her remark, AnaMaria snapped
her attention to the crow's nest; the sailor indicated land ahead. Elizabeth
excused herself and left to find Will, who she found in his quarters,
his face green, and his body rocking back and forth. Will? Sea sick?
Will looked at her and tried to veil his sickly appearance; he
was unsuccessful.
"Will Turner, how on earth could you possibly be suffering from
sea sickness? You go out to sea nearly every morning."
"Maybe it isn't sea sickness? It could be something I ate."
Elizabeth bit the inside of her lip, not believing Will's story
one bit. "Whatever may be the case, we've arrived at the island."
He blinked, and for a short moment, she thought his brandy brown
eyes looked to be a greenish-hazel. Odd, to be sure.
"I'll be up in a minute," said Will, still rocking a bit.
"All right." Elizabeth took on last confused glance back, then
headed back onto deck.