Band of highly Intellectual Pirates
Chapter 3: The Commodore
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"Well? Are you absolutely sure Tortuga is 053 degrees south of here?" Craig asked the blacksmith as he nervously took the string in his hands and shakingly placed it on the map that had been laid out on the table. It was an hour after the crew had their tea and the tea set that was once on the dining table had been replaced by navigational tools.
"Yes, will you stop asking me that? It must be your seventh time asking me the same question!" Will Turner exclaimed as he watched another pirate draw a line by the side of the string and then took another look at it with a compass. With a nod, he turned to Craig and assured him that they had drawn the bearings correctly.
"I... apologize if I seem to be... such..a worrywhort." Craig stammered, wiping a drop of sweat off his brow. "Being a pirate... isn't easy when you're on the same ship as Abraham Sparrow. He makes you use your brain and quite honestly, even though I did pretty well in my geographical studies in school... the practical makes me extremely nervous. The last time I was a whole grid off and Abraham nearly threw me off the ship. I could have... I could have killed us all."
William shook his head. "But being a pirate is always about almost getting killed! Why is he being so strict?" He asked, almost as if he were in defence of Craig.
"Because, William." Abraham said as he entered the room. "Pirate or not, if you could afford to save your skin, would you?"
Will was about to answer but Abraham cut him off with the raise off his hand.
"Don't bother answering me, I'm quite sure I know what it is you are going to say..something about humans and making mistakes...quite frankly, I really don't care. Right now, I need for all of you to get ready for a code number 12." Abraham said as he started to leave the room again.
"Yes sir." The two pirates chorused as they sarted to gather the maps and place them neatly into a box and then pushing it beneath the table, hidden carefully behind a table cloth.
"What's a code 12?" William asked, feeling a bit lost because everyone seemed to know what to do apart from him.
"It's...well....it's a..." Craig started but looked unsure, he turned to his mate and the latter just shrugged. They had no idea what to do with Will. Craig thought for a moment and then spoke, "Well, just act like one of us... you'll catch on pretty quick."
Will nodded with uncertainty still present on his face. He was very puzzled but soon he realised what code 12 was about when he followed the others to the deck. It probabaly meant that Abraham had some unwanted guests onboard and the crew had to act like they were ordinary civilians. There stood commodore Norrington and a few of his trusted men, having a lovely chat with Abraham Sparrow and from what Will could hear, it was a seemingly good conversation and the commodore did not suspect any piracy of the sort on Abraham's ship.
The commodore caught sight of Will from the corner of his eye and even though curious to why he was travelling with the Explorer, he decided to brush his questions aside.
"Well, Commodore, everything's in order here on the Explorer... the crew are having an... insquisitive journey... discovering new lands, we hope. Are you lost? If you are, our lad here, Craig will be of good service to you. He has a major in geography." Abraham told the Commodore, a plastic smile glued to his face, one that Will almost believed to be real himself. It was so rare to see Abraham smile so widely though many thought he should since he was much better looking when his lips curved upwards.
"No, we are not lost... just making sure you aren't." The commodore chuckled. "We have never seen your ship here before... you don't come to port Royale often I presume?"
"No... I am afraid it has been too long since I've..or rather, we've stepped on Port Royale. We mostly travel along along New York and San Franciso. That's where I found my best mate here, Liam. Liam is Irish you see, all the way from Ireland but found him in New York City. Tis' quite strange the way we met, in a country that isn't our own." Abraham explained, folding his arms across his chest.
"Yes, very interesting indeed. What exactly do you do... when you go to these places?" The older man asked.
"I have been looking hard for Orion... you know... stars and things like that... but it seems I always arrive too late at whichever hemisphere I need to be at... I did manage a glimpse at Hercules... but a shame I still didn't get to see what I wanted to see... Orion that is. I am afraid I might be boring you, commodore... I.."
"No, no, not at all. Its not everyday I meet an explorer...if would you call yourself that?" The commodore said, trying not to sound rude at interrupting Abraham's babbling.
"No, merely dreamers, Sir. Only dreamers, off to see the world," Abraham informed.
He kept a smile on his face but for all the wrong reasons. Although the commodore may have interpreted it as an ordinary smile, it was one that was actually amused by how gulible the older man actually was and how much horseshit he could take. To Abraham, this conversation was just another game of roleplay. He was sure those literature and drama classes he took would not go to waste.
"Very well. We were quite worried that you might get into trouble with pirates and such. Rumor's broken out that a team of pirates have been very effectively plundered many cargo ships and cleverly covered up their trail. But I am impressed, it seems they used very intelligent ways to get what they want."
"What ways pray tell? I should like to know in case I do meet up with such bandits." Abraham asked with a mix of shock and innocence in his voice.
"Well... I can't say." The commodore answered disappointedly, taken in by every lie the other man could throw at him. "I haven't actually seen it myself... I can only warn you when I am absolutely certain."
"I'm not sure these pirates will be interested in our ship. We are not filled with gold...only enough to make a few rounds from island to island. Unfortunately, my family can't afford to sponsor my quest for the rest of the world."
"I suppose, that is true... but you'll never know... pirates are quiteout of the ordinaryt hese days and when I mean out of the ordinary, I mean in comparison to the other pirates.Especially that Jack Sparrow, awfully strange that one is. I say, do be careful."
"You mentioned a Jack Sparrow. I heard he hadarrived at Port Royale not long ago, I am afraid I might have missed a lot of the action." Abraham said, putting on a face of someone who just had his plans thwarted.
"No, I highly doubt you would have enjoyed his presence. He is a..." Commodore started but then stopped when he caught sight of Elizabeth peeking through a window on the deck's cabin. She quickly ducked when she caught sight of him staring at her.
"I'd imagine you won't have the right adjectives to describe him so I'd rather you skip the details, commodore Norrington." Abraham said, not realising that the commodore had stopped because he had spotted the girl.
"Elizabeth?" He called suddenly.
"Excuse me?" Abraham asked, raising an eyebrow. He then turned to look in the direction of where Commodor Norrington was faicing.
"There's a lady on your ship! Did you know this?" The commodore exclaimed, walking towards the the window.
"Oh, you mean her? The nuisance? The plank in my sight? Splinter in my flesh and in-grown nail in my toe? " Abraham asked, sounding annoyed.
"I beg your pardon!" Elizabeth shrieked as she came out from where she was hiding. She was about to give Abraham a hard punch when he grabbed her wrist tightly before it hit his chest.
"See what I mean?" Abraham said with a sigh.
"She's the governor's daughter! Elizabeth! Good heavens! What are you doing here?" The commodore asked in great surprise as Abraham released her.
"Well, um. I...I..." Elizabeth stammered, not knowing how to explain.
Abraham shook his head and decided that if he didn't come in to save her, she would surely give them away.
"See? I told you your ridiculous pre-marriage honeymoon was such a silly idea! But no, you just wouldn't let your old cousin get away from you when he still had the chance!" He said in a as-a-matter-of-fact way.
"Pre-marriage honeymoon?" The commodore sputtered, almost disbelieving.
"Um. Of course... you know me and trying to be modern." Elzabeth answered, turning red. How could Abraham say that of her! Nonetheless, she decided to play along.
"Yes, but it just so happens that you only behave this way whenever I'm around. Why is that Elizabeth? Do you have this force in your body that makes you behave this way?"
"Well, I don't know Abraham. Ever since we were children I remember you bullying me into doing things I refuse to do, isn't it time for a little payback?" Elizabeth shot back, quite pleased with herself.
"Shame on you Elizabeth, blood is thicker than payback." Abraham tsked.
"Wait? So Elizabeth is your cousin?" The commodore cut in finally before things got out of hand.
"Distant cousin, one of those strange connections really. However, we did meet up a few times while I was in England because of university." Abraham explained.
The commodore looked uncertain but decided not to inquire further. The two of them looked like they had known each other for aeons so he thought nothing of it.
"I see. Well then, take care of her Abraham. If you need anything..."
"I'll be sure to let you know, sir. Are you sure you don't want to take her with you? I mean, William can stay, he's a fine man but Elizabeth is so..." Abraham trailed off when he caught sight of Elizabeth glaring at him.
"Do not even go there, Abraham." She snapped.
"Bram, let the commodore leave. He's got a job to do." Liam said, finally speaking up after having been silent for most of the time that the commodore was on board.
"Yes, right. Commodore, I do believe we're quite in order here. We can take care of this little lady here as long as she promises to hit me no longer."
Commodore gave a nod and was about to leave when he turned around suddenly and said.
"Very well. Oh and Abraham?"
"Yes?" Abraham answered, raising a brow. What could he want now?
"Its strange. I can't seem to recall what your lastname was."
"That's because," Abraham said with a wry smile appearing on his handsome face. "I never told you."
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End of chapter 3
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Plasmolysed Cell Membrane: Yay! Finally done with chapter 3! Whaha! Sorry for the ULTRA long wait! Hoho, but the Os are finally over! Please review!