DISCLAIMER: Oops... Sam let me use the Accelerator, but I accidentally
got lost in Time. So, right now, all I own is myself... Don't even have a
computer. At the moment, I'm writin' this up on a typewriter in Nick Allen's
New York office. If you're reading it, then I successfully sent it to my future
self via post office. Next item of business--figure out how to make Al Calavicci
my personal slave. ;-)
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, turns out the Quantum Leap expositional chapter happened sooner than I thought. But, hey, it gets it done and overwith, eh? The hardest part of this chapter/part was trying to write Jack's dialogue. I originally had a special plan for his style of speaking, but after doing a bit more careful research (AKA watching the movie again), I found that his speech was generally much more elegant compared to the other pirates in the film. My theory on the reason will be explained in the 1st of my "Black Pearl Quest" series (which is yet to be written); this story here, btw, is the third of the series.
Oh, and coming up will be the revamping of these pages.... The Prologue shall become Part One, etc. (so this part here will be Part Four) Then a NEW prologue will be written. That will hopefully be occurring sometime this weekend.
Ah. And the dates have been changed a teeny bit, as I have finally gotten my timeline written up. COMING SOON: Information on the new RPG that will be based on the "Black Pearl Quest" series!
Dusk
September 14, 1661
Rum Island
Sam breathed a deep sigh of relief. He felt like kissing the solid ground he now stood firmly upon. For nearly seven days he had been on that ship, and he longed to Leap back into the days of airplanes and commuter trains. As he slowly wobbled toward the line of palm trees, a man with gray muttonchops raced toward their small group.
"Thank the Lord in Heaven!" he exclaimed, going over to AnaMaria and nearly strangling all the air out of her lungs as he embraced her tightly. She pushed him away as he yelped, "Ye'll not believe what has happened!"
AnaMaria began to walk toward the small controlled fire at the middle of the island, speaking as she went. "What be yer meaning, Mr. Gibbs?"
Gibbs waved his arms about excitedly. "Jack nearly killed me!"
AnaMaria stopped and looked at Gibbs. "He did what?"
"He went crazy, I tell ye. He grabbed holda me and nearly choked the life outta me!"
"Where is he?"
"We've got 'im locked up in the rum cache. It seems if he's not in moonlight, his mind clears. Act'ally, he made us lock him up."
AnaMaria grabbed Sam and Elizabeth, one arm in each hand, and dragged them along toward the center of the isle. Nearby, the other crew members sat around the fire, singing a song that seemed vaguely familiar to Sam.
AnaMaria reached down and pulled open a large trap door. Sam could see a boot sticking out into the moonlight; it quickly withdrew into the darkness.
"Who be there?" questioned a deep voice with a strong cockney accent.
"'Tis your helmsman, Captain," replied AnaMaria. "I brought ye a surprise."
She nodded and Elizabeth and Sam to enter the underground cache. When they reached the bottom, a single flame of light flared, and Sam could now see the man of the tales Al had recalled for him.
"Wooow, hey! He looks like that guy from Edward Scissorhands," commented Al, who had, for the remainder of the trip, kept rather silent.
Sam smiled, his swiss-cheesed memory allowing him to agree with the resemblance. In that same line of thought, Sam noticed that the man slouching in the far corner of the small place wasn't exactly what he had thought a pirate might look like. The dreads, the charcoal 'round the eyes... the appearance in general just didn't really fit in with the pirate movie clichés with the eye patches and peg legs.
Jack saw Sam and Elizabeth and gave a grand smile. "Elizabeth! Wi--" His gaze rested on Sam, and recognition did not come to his eyes as it had with Elizabeth.
"Will," Sam finished for Jack, giving a slight nod. "Yes, it's me, Jack."
Perhaps beginning to catch on, Jack gave a toothy, lopsided grin, showing his gold caps. "Aye, 'tis indeed Will Turner. You 'ave changed since we last shared each other's company. That, or me insanity 'as gotten the best o' me."
"Likely both," came AnaMaria's distant quip from up-top. "Be quick in comin' up with a solution to our problem, kiddies. We've got to get back to searchin' for that monkey."
Sam turned to Elizabeth. "Is it possible for me to speak with Jack privately?"
Elizabeth shrugged. "I don't see why not. I've no ideas at the moment." She gave Sam a peck on the cheek, climbed to the top of the ladder, and looked back a moment. "It's good to see you again, Jack."
"Captain," corrected Jack, his voice snappy, but his smile wide.
Elizabeth chuckled and closed the trap door, leaving Sam and Jack with only the small light of the candle.
"All right, then, mate..." started Jack, standing up and approaching Sam. Shackles kept him from moving more than five feet from the wall. "Who are you?"
"My name is Dr. Samuel Beckett."
"Doctor? You're here to cure me, then?"
"Ah, no. I'm not that kinda of doctor... I think."
Jack lowered an eyebrow. "You don't think? What be the matter with you? Memory loss? Is that the reason for the 'Will' charade?"
"Not exactly," replied Sam, gesturing for Jack to sit. As the pirate complied, Sam began to explain his situation. "I'm a traveler from another time... from the future."
Jack smirked. "I can believe it. If there're such things as undead pirates and curséd gold, time travel must be possible as well."
"I'm glad you understand. Now, see, when I Leap--that is, when I travel through Time from one place to another--my body and soul occupy another person's physical aura... uh, that's a person's metaphysical outward appearance. That's why it's Sam Beckett's mind and body but Will Turner's physical appearance and voice."
"You don't look and sound like Will to me."
"That's because, well..." Sam looked about, seeing that Al was no longer in the vicinity. "Al!"
The holographic helper hopped into view, his image wading through empty kegs and broken crates. Jack showed no reaction with the exception of a quick upward lifting of the corner of his mouth.
"You rang?" quipped Al, stepping into the circle of the candle's light.
"Yes," answered Sam. "Does Ziggy have any idea why Jack can see us?"
Al looked at Jack, who gave a lazy two-fingered salute in greeting. "He can see us?"
"Yes, now ask Ziggy why."
Al punched a few buttons and he smiled. "Ziggy says it could be the dementia caused by the new curse. That or... well, you know." His finger flew to his ear and he absently yet precisely rubbed his finger round the ear in a circle.
"Got a pin loose, you mean?" Jack supplied, giving a chuckle. He leaned back lazily and examined his fingernails. "You don't 'afta beat 'round the bush. I know I seem a bit off-kilter. Gibbs says it's from too much sun."
"But what is your opinion?" Sam asked curiously.
"I 'ave none. An' if I did, I'd keep it to meself."
Sam smiled; he was really beginning to like this guy. He seemed quite competent and clear-minded despite his situation.
Jack tipped his head at Al. "Is he a ghost?"
Al rolled his eyes. "No, I'm a holographic projection... an image being sent to Sam from the future. I'm actually here in the year 2... ah, in the year Sam originally comes from."
"Who is Ziggy?"
"She's a computer. Uhm, machine. It's quite complicated to explain."
Grinning, Jack turned his attention back to Sam. "If you're not here to cure me, why are you here?"
"Actually, I suppose, in a way, that I'm here to cure you. I've come to help prevent... something from happening, and as a result, help to break the curse."
Interested, Jack leaned forward. "What're you here to prevent?"
Sam fidgeted under Jack's dark and mesmerizing gaze. "I'm not sure--"
"Sam--can I call you Sam?" A nod. "Sam. I 'ave been through trials and tribulations you could only imagine. Nothin' you tell me is goin' to phase me."
Sam sighed and nodded to Al, who recounted to Jack the original history. Sam kept a steady eye on Jack, measuring his reaction. At first, Jack kept his cool and collected demeanor, but when Al mentioned AnaMaria as being the last to fall at Jack's hand, the pirate captain's eyes showed a spark of... horror? Disgust? Fear?
Al finished with, "So, Sam's mission is to get the curse lifted and keep it that way."
"If that be the case, we need to go to Tortuga and begin our search for the monkey. Ah, wait a moment. We need the monkey's blood and the coin... but we also need Will's blood."
"Why?" Sam asked quietly.
"The codex said that the last person to break the curse must also repay his blood along with that of the person--or thing--that reinstated it."
"Ah, Sam," Al commented. "That might prove to be a bit difficult to do."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same," Sam stated.
"Why would that be?" inquired Jack.
"Remember I said that only Will's physical aura is here? If I bleed, it's my blood, not Will's."
"Aye, that does present a problem."
The handlink squealed and Al consulted it. "Ziggy's telling me to remind you that you're related to Will, Sam."
Sam's eyes lit up. He didn't seem to notice how Jack's attention was fully caught at that small piece of information. "That's right... but... by my generation, my DNA's probably so diluted by other bloodlines, I have more Beckett than Turner in me. Ask Ziggy the probability of my blood working."
Al tapped a few buttons and frowned. "She's giving a projection of .03% chance of it working."
"That's not high enough. What next?"
Jack had watched the exchange with increasing eagerness and finally spoke up. "The only way, then, would be to bring Will back."
"We can't."
"What do you mean?"
"I can only Leap out once my mission is complete. I'm lost in Time, Captain Sparrow. God or Time or Fate or Whatever is bouncing me back and forth through Time, having me put right what once went wrong, and leaving me to only wish I could go home."
"Then we'll need Bootstrap's blood," amended Jack, keeping to the agenda.
Al sniggered. "Ah, you do remember that Bootstrap was sent to Davey Jones' Locker, right?"
"Aye, but 'e was as cursed as they who sent 'im there..."
Sam began to catch on. "If Bootstrap was cursed, he would still be alive down there and... he would have had ten years to get himself to land."
"You're deft, boy."
"But how do we find him?"
"We find Pintel and Ragetti."
"Who're they?" Al questioned.
"Two mutinous, yet harmless, pirates who were there when they sank Bootstrap. They would know where 'e was dropped. They're the last of Barbossa's crew--escaped not long after bein' captured. All the others met their appointments with the gallows."
"Where to, then?" Sam was already heading up the ladder.
Jack grinned and replied eagerly, "Tortuga."
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, turns out the Quantum Leap expositional chapter happened sooner than I thought. But, hey, it gets it done and overwith, eh? The hardest part of this chapter/part was trying to write Jack's dialogue. I originally had a special plan for his style of speaking, but after doing a bit more careful research (AKA watching the movie again), I found that his speech was generally much more elegant compared to the other pirates in the film. My theory on the reason will be explained in the 1st of my "Black Pearl Quest" series (which is yet to be written); this story here, btw, is the third of the series.
Oh, and coming up will be the revamping of these pages.... The Prologue shall become Part One, etc. (so this part here will be Part Four) Then a NEW prologue will be written. That will hopefully be occurring sometime this weekend.
Ah. And the dates have been changed a teeny bit, as I have finally gotten my timeline written up. COMING SOON: Information on the new RPG that will be based on the "Black Pearl Quest" series!
PART THREE
Meeting Jack Sparrow
September 14, 1661
Rum Island
Sam breathed a deep sigh of relief. He felt like kissing the solid ground he now stood firmly upon. For nearly seven days he had been on that ship, and he longed to Leap back into the days of airplanes and commuter trains. As he slowly wobbled toward the line of palm trees, a man with gray muttonchops raced toward their small group.
"Thank the Lord in Heaven!" he exclaimed, going over to AnaMaria and nearly strangling all the air out of her lungs as he embraced her tightly. She pushed him away as he yelped, "Ye'll not believe what has happened!"
AnaMaria began to walk toward the small controlled fire at the middle of the island, speaking as she went. "What be yer meaning, Mr. Gibbs?"
Gibbs waved his arms about excitedly. "Jack nearly killed me!"
AnaMaria stopped and looked at Gibbs. "He did what?"
"He went crazy, I tell ye. He grabbed holda me and nearly choked the life outta me!"
"Where is he?"
"We've got 'im locked up in the rum cache. It seems if he's not in moonlight, his mind clears. Act'ally, he made us lock him up."
AnaMaria grabbed Sam and Elizabeth, one arm in each hand, and dragged them along toward the center of the isle. Nearby, the other crew members sat around the fire, singing a song that seemed vaguely familiar to Sam.
AnaMaria reached down and pulled open a large trap door. Sam could see a boot sticking out into the moonlight; it quickly withdrew into the darkness.
"Who be there?" questioned a deep voice with a strong cockney accent.
"'Tis your helmsman, Captain," replied AnaMaria. "I brought ye a surprise."
She nodded and Elizabeth and Sam to enter the underground cache. When they reached the bottom, a single flame of light flared, and Sam could now see the man of the tales Al had recalled for him.
"Wooow, hey! He looks like that guy from Edward Scissorhands," commented Al, who had, for the remainder of the trip, kept rather silent.
Sam smiled, his swiss-cheesed memory allowing him to agree with the resemblance. In that same line of thought, Sam noticed that the man slouching in the far corner of the small place wasn't exactly what he had thought a pirate might look like. The dreads, the charcoal 'round the eyes... the appearance in general just didn't really fit in with the pirate movie clichés with the eye patches and peg legs.
Jack saw Sam and Elizabeth and gave a grand smile. "Elizabeth! Wi--" His gaze rested on Sam, and recognition did not come to his eyes as it had with Elizabeth.
"Will," Sam finished for Jack, giving a slight nod. "Yes, it's me, Jack."
Perhaps beginning to catch on, Jack gave a toothy, lopsided grin, showing his gold caps. "Aye, 'tis indeed Will Turner. You 'ave changed since we last shared each other's company. That, or me insanity 'as gotten the best o' me."
"Likely both," came AnaMaria's distant quip from up-top. "Be quick in comin' up with a solution to our problem, kiddies. We've got to get back to searchin' for that monkey."
Sam turned to Elizabeth. "Is it possible for me to speak with Jack privately?"
Elizabeth shrugged. "I don't see why not. I've no ideas at the moment." She gave Sam a peck on the cheek, climbed to the top of the ladder, and looked back a moment. "It's good to see you again, Jack."
"Captain," corrected Jack, his voice snappy, but his smile wide.
Elizabeth chuckled and closed the trap door, leaving Sam and Jack with only the small light of the candle.
"All right, then, mate..." started Jack, standing up and approaching Sam. Shackles kept him from moving more than five feet from the wall. "Who are you?"
"My name is Dr. Samuel Beckett."
"Doctor? You're here to cure me, then?"
"Ah, no. I'm not that kinda of doctor... I think."
Jack lowered an eyebrow. "You don't think? What be the matter with you? Memory loss? Is that the reason for the 'Will' charade?"
"Not exactly," replied Sam, gesturing for Jack to sit. As the pirate complied, Sam began to explain his situation. "I'm a traveler from another time... from the future."
Jack smirked. "I can believe it. If there're such things as undead pirates and curséd gold, time travel must be possible as well."
"I'm glad you understand. Now, see, when I Leap--that is, when I travel through Time from one place to another--my body and soul occupy another person's physical aura... uh, that's a person's metaphysical outward appearance. That's why it's Sam Beckett's mind and body but Will Turner's physical appearance and voice."
"You don't look and sound like Will to me."
"That's because, well..." Sam looked about, seeing that Al was no longer in the vicinity. "Al!"
The holographic helper hopped into view, his image wading through empty kegs and broken crates. Jack showed no reaction with the exception of a quick upward lifting of the corner of his mouth.
"You rang?" quipped Al, stepping into the circle of the candle's light.
"Yes," answered Sam. "Does Ziggy have any idea why Jack can see us?"
Al looked at Jack, who gave a lazy two-fingered salute in greeting. "He can see us?"
"Yes, now ask Ziggy why."
Al punched a few buttons and he smiled. "Ziggy says it could be the dementia caused by the new curse. That or... well, you know." His finger flew to his ear and he absently yet precisely rubbed his finger round the ear in a circle.
"Got a pin loose, you mean?" Jack supplied, giving a chuckle. He leaned back lazily and examined his fingernails. "You don't 'afta beat 'round the bush. I know I seem a bit off-kilter. Gibbs says it's from too much sun."
"But what is your opinion?" Sam asked curiously.
"I 'ave none. An' if I did, I'd keep it to meself."
Sam smiled; he was really beginning to like this guy. He seemed quite competent and clear-minded despite his situation.
Jack tipped his head at Al. "Is he a ghost?"
Al rolled his eyes. "No, I'm a holographic projection... an image being sent to Sam from the future. I'm actually here in the year 2... ah, in the year Sam originally comes from."
"Who is Ziggy?"
"She's a computer. Uhm, machine. It's quite complicated to explain."
Grinning, Jack turned his attention back to Sam. "If you're not here to cure me, why are you here?"
"Actually, I suppose, in a way, that I'm here to cure you. I've come to help prevent... something from happening, and as a result, help to break the curse."
Interested, Jack leaned forward. "What're you here to prevent?"
Sam fidgeted under Jack's dark and mesmerizing gaze. "I'm not sure--"
"Sam--can I call you Sam?" A nod. "Sam. I 'ave been through trials and tribulations you could only imagine. Nothin' you tell me is goin' to phase me."
Sam sighed and nodded to Al, who recounted to Jack the original history. Sam kept a steady eye on Jack, measuring his reaction. At first, Jack kept his cool and collected demeanor, but when Al mentioned AnaMaria as being the last to fall at Jack's hand, the pirate captain's eyes showed a spark of... horror? Disgust? Fear?
Al finished with, "So, Sam's mission is to get the curse lifted and keep it that way."
"If that be the case, we need to go to Tortuga and begin our search for the monkey. Ah, wait a moment. We need the monkey's blood and the coin... but we also need Will's blood."
"Why?" Sam asked quietly.
"The codex said that the last person to break the curse must also repay his blood along with that of the person--or thing--that reinstated it."
"Ah, Sam," Al commented. "That might prove to be a bit difficult to do."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same," Sam stated.
"Why would that be?" inquired Jack.
"Remember I said that only Will's physical aura is here? If I bleed, it's my blood, not Will's."
"Aye, that does present a problem."
The handlink squealed and Al consulted it. "Ziggy's telling me to remind you that you're related to Will, Sam."
Sam's eyes lit up. He didn't seem to notice how Jack's attention was fully caught at that small piece of information. "That's right... but... by my generation, my DNA's probably so diluted by other bloodlines, I have more Beckett than Turner in me. Ask Ziggy the probability of my blood working."
Al tapped a few buttons and frowned. "She's giving a projection of .03% chance of it working."
"That's not high enough. What next?"
Jack had watched the exchange with increasing eagerness and finally spoke up. "The only way, then, would be to bring Will back."
"We can't."
"What do you mean?"
"I can only Leap out once my mission is complete. I'm lost in Time, Captain Sparrow. God or Time or Fate or Whatever is bouncing me back and forth through Time, having me put right what once went wrong, and leaving me to only wish I could go home."
"Then we'll need Bootstrap's blood," amended Jack, keeping to the agenda.
Al sniggered. "Ah, you do remember that Bootstrap was sent to Davey Jones' Locker, right?"
"Aye, but 'e was as cursed as they who sent 'im there..."
Sam began to catch on. "If Bootstrap was cursed, he would still be alive down there and... he would have had ten years to get himself to land."
"You're deft, boy."
"But how do we find him?"
"We find Pintel and Ragetti."
"Who're they?" Al questioned.
"Two mutinous, yet harmless, pirates who were there when they sank Bootstrap. They would know where 'e was dropped. They're the last of Barbossa's crew--escaped not long after bein' captured. All the others met their appointments with the gallows."
"Where to, then?" Sam was already heading up the ladder.
Jack grinned and replied eagerly, "Tortuga."