The faint sound of flutes and drums wafted on the breeze. The music was coming from the large fort that rested on a cliff above the sea. There was a dock near by with a small ship tied to it. It looked as if people had been loading cargo onto or off the ship and had taken the day off for whatever reason. There was only a handful of people around, and no soldiers in sight, most of them being up at the party at the fort.

Jack and I paused for a moment, looking at the ship. "If that ship weren't in the Navy, I thinkshe would make a decant pirate ship," I remarked. "Don't you think so?"

"Aye," the pirate agreed. "Let's go down for a closer look, shall we?" I nodded and Jack looked around to see if there was anyone watching him. Seeing no one, we made our way down to the dock.

"Quite the event happening up at the fort," I said as I kept pace with Jack. "That must be where all the soldiers went, otherwise they'd be here guarding this ship." I knew full well that Murtogg and Mullory would be at the end of the dock, but I wanted to set Jack up for a bit of a surprise when he got there. It didn't work though.

"Aye, but there's always some poor souls who don't get invited to these things," Jack muttered.

"True," I said. Then I remembered something extremely important that Jack must do in order to eventually get his ship back. "It may be worth it to mention the Pearl to anyone we meet down here then." Jack gave me a look. I gave him a shrug. "You never know who might have seen it somewhere." Jack gave this some thought and seemed to decide it was a good idea after all.

Jack staggered down a wooden ramp that lead to a part of the dock that was closer to the water and where the ship was docked. I trotted down behind him. We didn't get much further though, because we found our way suddenly blocked by two redcoats who raced in front of us. Jack and I stopped short.

"This dock if off limits to civilians," the man on our right, Murtogg, explained. He was trying to leave us with no argument. Jack wasn't that easily deterred though.

"I'm terribly sorry, I didn't know," he said. "If I see one, I shall inform you imminently." Jack and I tried to pass the two men, only to have them move to bar our way again. The pirate realized that it was gong to take a bit more then that to shake these two off.

"Apparently there's some sort of high-toned and fancy to-do up at the fort, eh?" He gestured to the stone building. "How could it be that two upstanding gentlemen such as yourselves did not merit an invitation?"

"Someone has to make sure this dock stays off limits to civilians," the redcoat said again, repeating what I'm sure were their exact orders.

"It's a fine goal, to be sure," Jack commented. "But is seems to me," he moved to his left, the two soldiers moving with him least he try to escape. Jack gestured towards a very large and impressive ship anchored a reasonable distance away. "A ship like that," he continued. "Makes this one here a bit superfluous, really." The pirate gestured to the smaller ship. The two Navy men looked behind them at the ships Jack was talking about.

"Well, the Dauntless is the power in these waters, true enough," Murtogg said as the two turned their heads to face us again. "But there's no ship that can match the Interceptor for speed."

I scoffed, thinking about the ship chase that was going to happen in a few days' time. Jack put a finger to his chin, pretending the think.

"I've heard of one. It's supposed to be very fast, neigh uncatchable," He paused for effect. "The Black Pearl." Jack's eyes darted from one man to the other, looking for a reaction. The one onthe left, Mullory, laughed.

"There's no real ship that can match the Interceptor," he said.

"The Black Pearl is a real ship," his friend argued.

"No, no it's not!" Mullory shook his head.

"Yes it is. I've seen it!"

"You've seen it?" There was disbelief in the redcoat's tone.

"Yes."

"You haven't seen it!"

"Yes, I have!" the man insisted. Jack gave me a bored look. I dramatically rolled my eyes, shook my head, and gestured with my thumb at the two arguing guards.

"You've seen a ship with black sails, that's crewed by the damned and captained by a man so evil that Hell itself spat him back out?" the disbelieving man asked his partner.

"No," was his reply.

"No," Mullory repeated, thinking he had won the argument. He turned back to Jack, whose face flashed a fake half-smile.

"But I have seen a ship with black sails," the other redcoat said.

"Oh, and no ship that's not crewed by the damned and captained by a man so evil..."

"Come on, this is getting us nowhere," I said, overlapping the stubborn and slightly stupid Nave guard. Jack and I silently and swiftly stepped away from the less then bright gentlemen and made our way onboard the Interceptor. The two of us made in all the way to the helm before the guards noticed we were missing.

"Hey!" one of them shouted. The two ran onboard the ship and pointed their muskets at us. "You! Get away from there!"

"You don't have permission to be aboard there, mate!" Jack had his hands on the wheel, looking very much at home, and now he was reluctant to take them off.

"I'm sorry, but it's such a pretty boat. Ship!" he corrected himself.

"What's your name?" Mullory asked.

"Smith! Or Smithy if you like," Jack said, using the less then creative name the harbormaster had chosen for him. The two guards weren't buying it.

"What's your purpose in Port Royal, 'Mr. Smith'?" Mullory inquired.

"Yeah, and no lies!" Murtogg added.

"All right then, I confess," Jack stepped away from the helm and grabbed a near by rope to lean on, causing the guards to back away a little. "It is my intention to commandeer on of these ships, pick up a crew in Tortuga, raid, pillage, and otherwise pilfer my weasely black guts out," Jack said quickly. I couldn't hide the grin that crossed my face.

"I don't think they wanted you to be that honest," I remarked.

Murtogg didn't believe the pirate. "I said no lies!"

"I think he's telling the truth," Mullory said quietly to his friend. Jack frowned in disbelief. How could these two be so thick!

"Pride of the King's Navy, they are," I whispered, stealing one of Jack's future lines.

"If he were telling the truth, he wouldn't have told us," the first guard said to his partner.

"Unless, of course, he knew you wouldn't believe the truth even if he told it to you," Jack said. The two men now looked really quite puzzled.

"Well done, Jack," I said to my assignment. "Now they're more confused than ever."