Chapter Fifteen—Gone Forever

Staring at the ground, head hanging. Unmoving. Only occasionally blinking, breaths slow and controlled. Jack Sparrow awaited the sunset, which would precede the dawn, which would precede the day of his execution.

The concept was still ringing in his mind, beating itself against his skull in an effort to make itself understood, but it was completely beyond his capacity to receive it. He had been calm when Tetra informed him of their situation, simply because he had no other way to be. Being sentenced to death for piracy was one thing; he had more or less come to accept the inevitability of it as the only alternative to dying in battle. But being sentenced to death in a foreign nation, by people he had never heard of, when someone he had thought was an ally stood on the panel of judges, was simply incomprehensible.

And there was also the fact, he supposed, that he had reason to worry for his soul. After all, he had never worshipped the goddesses which he now was inclined to think had to exist; he had no idea what to expect in the afterlife.

Thoughts like this, abstract theological musings that would normally fall well outside the range of topics that concerned him, were drifting across his mind only now because his consciousness was more completely vacant than he could recall it having previously been in his life.

They're executing us

He could still hear Tetra's disbelieving terror as she spoke those words to him. He could still see Link's white-faced shock as the man stood before the court in disgrace and dishonour. But all that was really before him now was the dark, unforgiving cold of the prison, and the only sound was Tetra's deep, harsh sobs.

She lay on her back in her cell, her body convulsing with a grief so strong it seemed to be ripping her soul away from her flesh. She shed no tears; her gasping cries were beyond such simplistic expressions of unhappiness. Jack had never seen anyone in such pain.

He looked at her, and opened his mouth, but had no idea what to say. She knew anything he could say, and she would find no reassurance in it. What would be the purpose of saying that everything would all be all right? It wouldn't.

"Tetra?"

She didn't acknowledge him in any way, but he knew she had heard, and so he continued.

"You know…I'm glad I know you. I don't know if I've said it to you before, or if you believed me when I did, but I'm glad I met you."

When she still didn't answer, he sighed, and slumped down further where he sat, stretching his legs out before him.

"Even though we're going through all this," he added, "I think the adventure was worth it."

He realized that she had gone quiet. Even her harsh breathing had slowed to something more normal.

"Really?" she asked hoarsely.

Grinning, though she couldn't see it, he asked, "Can you think of any adventure like this I could find in the Caribbean?"

She tilted her head back, so that she was looking at him upside down. "No," she admitted, "not that I know of."

'Then there's your answer.'

She didn't immediately notice why this phrase sounded strange to her ears. When she did, she rolled over onto her stomach to see him better.

'You've been practicing the language,' she observed.

Jack nodded. 'On the ship, in court…I've been surrounded by it, love.'

She grinned; he still called her "love" in English. She had become so used to the name that she had forgotten how thoroughly it used to bother her. 'Fluent yet?' she asked him.

'What?'

Realizing the rather uncommon word she had used, she repeated, 'Fluent. Do you speak the whole language?'

'Sorry. Not by a long shot.'

She was silent, looking thoughtfully at a point on the floor near him. When she spoke again, her control was slipping from her words.

"You know, I think you could've kept me sane while I was fighting Ganon with Link… You just come out with the weirdest things sometimes, and it helps me keep myself focused."

"How's that?" he inquired.

She shrugged. "Well, with you, if I don't pay attention, then I have no idea what's going on. It's good practice."

Jack chuckled. "True enough. And the reverse is true as well."

She gave a small, quiet, hiccupping laugh as well. "Yeah, I bet it is." She sighed. "You're a good guy, Jack. You really are."

"Well, thanks, love. You're a good woman."

Rather than answering, she continued to look at him thoughtfully. Her gaze bothered him, but he found it difficult to look away.

"I love you."

Though he hadn't been moving, he nevertheless froze. "What?"

She shorted with laughter at his panicked expression. "Oh, calm down," she brushed him off, rolling back over onto her back. "You call me 'love' all the time, don't you? I just mean that you're really important to me. Remember how I said I was glad to be trapped with you?"

"Aye."

"That's why."

When he didn't answer, she lifted her chin again to look at him as she had done before, and saw that he was still bewildered. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Haven't you ever loved anyone?"

Jack considered this. "Well," he concluded at last, "if the Pearl counts as anyone…"

"She doesn't."

"…then no."

Tetra snorted. "I don't believe you," she said mildly. She shifted into a more comfortable position lying there on the stone; Jack shifted as well, but not too far, since his body heat had warmed the spot where he was sitting.

There was a sound at the door. Jack and Tetra both lifted their heads towards the click of a key turning in a lock, staring in keen anticipation and ready to be intimidating and aggressive.

But when the door opened, both relaxed. Neither was terribly surprised to see Link; they were, however, surprised at how different he looked.

Jack had never seen him in such a state of shock. Even in the dim lighting of the tower, his face looked pale and drawn. His tailored clothes hung on him as though he had lost weight, and his limbs were clearly shaking.

Tetra rose in concern, moving toward the bars that separated her from him. 'Link, what's wrong?' she asked quietly.

'I'm not going to just let them kill you.'

His voice trembled even more violently that his body, which somehow carried him to her cell; he ignored her when she reached for him, but there was something in his hand. She didn't recognize it for a split second, until she saw that it was a key he was fitting into the lock.

'Link—you can't just let us out, can you?' she asked sharply.

'No.' There was still something powerful buried in his words, something akin to rage, which came through even as he switched languages without a thought. "I can't let you escape, anyway. But I told the guards that the emperor is letting me have a last visit with you."

"Which he isn't," Jack guessed calmly.

"Of course not," Link spat, his ferocity more pronounced than ever. Reverting to the common tongue, he added, 'But if I get caught, what the hell are they going to do? Kill me?'

'Yes.'

As the door swung open, Link's eyes snapped from the lock to Tetra's face.

'They said they would,' she reminded him, though she knew he hadn't forgotten.

"Yeah," he muttered carelessly, turning from her to Jack's cell. 'Let them try.'

Tetra stood perfectly still, within her open cell, and Link freed her captain; he swore under his breath when his unsteady fingers made the key difficult to work with, but in the end, he succeeded.

'Thanks, mate,' Jack said, stepping out of his confines.

Link looked at him in surprise. 'That was our language.'

Jack shrugged in explanation, then said to Tetra, "Don't you want to get out of that little box?"

She didn't answer, and nor did she move immediately. But momentarily, she stepped out into the space where the two men stood. To her surprise and alarm, Link swooped forward and caught her bone-crushingly in his arms.

'I'm not going to let them kill you,' he insisted again. "I'm not."

He spoke through gritted teeth, clinging to her as if doing so could keep her alive, as if someone was trying to physically pry her out of his grip. He switched languages repeatedly as if he didn't know where he was. Yet the strangest thing was that it took her less than half a second to return the painfully desperate embrace.

'Don't worry,' she murmured. 'The goddesses love us. They won't… They won't let anything happen to us…'

In unison, they parted slightly, just enough for both of their hands to move as if by reflex to her heart. She pressed his hand against her chest, though she felt him try to move away when he didn't find what he sought.

'Your necklace is gone,' he said hollowly.

'They took it at the trial.'

'They didn't give it back?'

She shook her head.

'Goddesses-damn thieves.'

He spoke with such venom that it motivated her, inexplicably, to say quickly, 'It's fine.'

"Noe, it's not. Jack beteci have his hat, drey can't you have your kubiget?"

His words, half English and half the common of the Great Sea, were strange even for her to understand. Managing to pull her mind together, she gathered that he was objecting to the fact that the emperor had taken away her most beloved possession and not her captain's.

"Because it's dangerous," Jack answered, making the other two look at him; apparently he had guessed the meaning of Link's statement as well. "They don't understand it, they don't trust it. They'll claim it's just swag, but they know it's more."

Link frowned thoughtfully. "Do you believe in the Triforce?"

"I didn't before," Jack admitted, "but I believe I have to now. What more proof could I ask for than you two?"

As Link glanced back at her, Tetra smiled shakily. 'Still helping people,' she said. 'Still making a difference together.'

She saw in his eyes that he wanted to return the smile, but couldn't bring himself to.

Instead, he vowed, "I'm not going let you die. I cru let marolisi tibi, ever!"

Once again, he blurred the languages in his attempts to find some way to express himself. 'Link…'

She pulled him back into the hug, though she couldn't accept his words.

'I promise, Tetra,' he reiterated, 'you won't die tomorrow.'

The name sounded so foreign. 'Don't call me that.'

'Don't call you what?'

'Call me Zelda.'

'I didn't—'

'I know. I'm telling you. Call me Zelda.'

Although she couldn't see his face, she could picture his expression based on the way she felt his breath move through his body.

'I promise, Zelda,' he said, slowly and clearly, 'you won't die tomorrow.'

She found she could almost believe it, and a genuine smile crossed onto her face.

'Thank you,' she told him; she was grateful for his confidence more than for his promise. It wasn't that she wanted to stand there and hold onto him so much as that she didn't want to face whatever would happen to her when she let him go.

'What are you going to do?' she asked him, the question occurring to her for the first time. 'They're sending you back to Outset.'

Link stood up straight, to assume a businesslike tone and posture and address both prisoners. 'I still have family on Outset,' he explained. "Aryll's there. Although she's engaged now, and I don't want to turn up on her doorstep with all my problems when she's getting ready to get married…"

'Who's Aryll?' spoke up Jack, testing out the other language again.

'My sister,' Link said; Tetra fought down a grin at the proud smile that never failed to appear on his face when he spoke about the girl. In a way, she herself felt as though Aryll was her own sister.

'She's engaged?' Tetra asked.

Link nodded, "I got the letter just before that last mission on the Red Lion. I didn't think I was going to be able to make it the wedding, but now it looks like I will."

"Well…that's good news, isn't it?" Tetra suggested.

'Yeah, sure it is,' he agreed without enthusiasm. 'Small price to pay, though…'

"If I may be so bold," Jack spoke up, "could we please stick to a single language? I'm having a bit of trouble even understanding English, the way you two speak it."

Tetra and Link looked at each other, and she knew he was thinking the same thing she was; they liked to randomly switch tongues, because each knew that no one else could really understand them both.

"Right," the former general conceded nevertheless. "As I was saying… It will be nice to see Aryll's wedding day, but I would rather see you two live."

In the silence that followed, all three of them stared at nothing.

"Who's the lucky groom?" Jack spoke up at last.

"Some guy named Taerv, from one of the colonies a bit of a way out of the Great Sea. I don't know anything about him."

"Except that he's not good enough for your sister, right?" Tetra guessed shrewdly.

"Exactly," Link confirmed, grinning. "But how would I know? I guess I'll find out on the big day."

"If we get out of here alive, I'm sure we'd love to come and find out, too," Jack said.

Tetra raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't know Aryll," she pointed out.

"No," Jack conceded, "but I always love a good party, and a wedding is an excellent excuse for one." He noticed that Link was frowning at him, and inquired, "Something wrong, mate? Your sister not planning a party for her wedding?"

"No," Link answered vaguely, "nothing…I just can't believe this is all really happening. When I think of where my life was before I set out on that last voyage…" He shook his head sadly. "I guess I should have known it would all fall apart sooner or later. I should have known Yentiko would be the reason why. But it's still going to be tough."

Jack glanced at Tetra, who shrugged in response to his inquisitive expression.

"I should go," Link sighed, apparently not having noticed this exchange. "Someone will figure out that I shouldn't be here."

He turned around and reached for the doorknob before Tetra called, "Link."

"Qui—I mean, what is it?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

He stared. "What?"

"We're prisoners, mate," Jack reminded him, "and you've got the key."

"Oh," Link sighed heavily, dropping his arm to his side. "I did forget. All right."

The two pirates returned to their cells. Link and Tetra hugged once more before he closed the door on her firmly, and them moved on to shake Jack's hand.

"Good to know you," he said truthfully.

"You, too, mate," Jack replied, slapping him on the shoulder. "Thanks for a good adventure to go out on."

Link smirked ironically. "I think you could have done without my part, don't you?"

"Not really," Jack countered, "because if it weren't for you, Tetra over there would be just like every other female pirate. She would have stayed in her own waters, and I never would have met either one of you. I'm not fond of dying, but I do think the adventure may have been worth it." Lowering his voice, he added, "Never travelled with a princess before, but I've always wondered why people made such a fuss about them."

"Do you understand now?" Link asked, grinning.

"I can hear you," spoke up Tetra casually.

In answer to Link's question, Jack only winked; they both laughed, making Tetra scowl.

"Men," she muttered, folding her arms.

"Well," Link sighed, hooking his keys back on his belt and making his way to the door, "I'll see you tomorrow, I guess…"

His lifted his eyes to Tetra, and they lingered on her face.

'This can't be the last time I'll ever see you.'

'It won't be,' Tetra vowed; it was an empty promise, and this knowledge brought tears to her eyes. 'It won't.'

'No. You're right. It won't.'

'It'll never be the last time.'

Link nodded mutely, and left her.

She stared at the doorway long after it had closed behind him.

When she finally managed to tear her eyes from it to stare downward, Jack turned away to let her be alone. He sighed, settling himself as comfortably as he could on the cold stone floor.

Sleep would not come easily to any of them that night.


The sun hung from the unblemished sky at its zenith, splashing infinite diamonds over the waves that curled over distances beyond the realm of sight, silhouetting the fortress of Felicitovente's capital against a curtain of sapphire. Life and the world were as beautiful as they had ever been.

No one, however, was concerned at that moment with life.

'Are they sure they want to be present for this?' Yentiko asked of his guests concernedly.

It was not General Reyga who translated; part of his punishment was dismissal from such a role. The reckless soldier merely sulked in his seat in the balcony, high above the crowd, while one of the men who were now under his control only nominally spoke to the Turners. They were also seated in the balcony, between the emperor and the general.

William answered in a low voice, slipping an arm around his wife's waist.

To Yentiko, the translator explained, 'He says they've been in this scene before, but it's better now that they're together.'

'Oh,' said Yentiko, rather confused, but unwilling to show it. 'Well…let them know that if they feel at all uncomfortable, they are free to leave at any time.'

The translator spoke to this effect, and William and Elizabeth thanked him politely.

The town clerk far below them began to read the charges, and everyone in the box fell silent to watch the execution of Captain Jack Sparrow and Tetra, Queen of Pirates.

'I can't watch this.'

Yentiko frowned. Reyga, sitting on the other side of the Turners and their translator, had spoken.

'What did you say?' the emperor asked coldly.

'I can't watch this,' Reyga repeated, standing up. 'I'm leaving.'

'You'll do no such thing.'

The general blinked, his mouth a thin line. 'Excuse me?'

'I'm not letting you leave,' Yentiko told him. 'You brought these criminals here, now you'll deal with the consequences of your actions. Sit down.'

Reyga balled his fists. 'You expect me to watch quietly as you murder my best friend?' he asked in an unsteady voice.

'Drop the act,' Yentiko ordered him. 'You tried the love excuse in court, and it didn't work. I refuse to believe that there is anything between you and this woman that is more than physical.'

He almost flinched despite himself as Reyga took a step towards him, saying sharply, 'Your Majesty, you may disregard my years of loyal service to you, you may punish me for actions you deem to be illegal, but even you do not have the authority under law to require me to witness this—or to reduce the most important relationship I have ever known in my life to one of simple lust.'

Before Yentiko could devise a suitable answer, Elizabeth lay a hand on Reyga's arm; he looked down, and she asked him a question. They spoke briefly in English, and William was just about to contribute when a trumpet sounded.

Anyone and everyone who had been looking away from the gallows immediately let their eyes snap there now; the crowd fell still and silent. Yentiko heard Reyga catch his breath.

'I'm leaving,' he said again, breaking from Elizabeth's grip and starting towards the stairs at the back of the box which would lead him away.

Yentiko was on his feet, making after him. 'Reyga!'

'You've been waiting a long time for this,' the man to whom to he called said cuttingly. 'The death of the last real threat to your throne. I would hate for you to miss it.'

A trumpet sounded again, once more calling all attention to it.

Standing at the gallows, Tetra was shaking. It was not out of fear, nor anything so simple as cold. She was literally shaking with rage, because every muscle in her body was flexed with her desire to lash out and kill something. At the very least, she wanted to rip her necklace from the hands of whoever had it; she had never thought she would die without her mother's pendant around her neck.

"Not going to do you any good to pop a vein fuming, love," Jack observed dully beside her.

In response, Tetra managed only to relax her tense jaw. He was right. Even if they could escape now…what would be the point?

At least she would die knowing that Link still believed in her. Even if she didn't have the love of the goddesses next to her heart.

An excited murmur rose in the crowd. The hooded executioner stepped forward dutifully; he pulled Jack to the trapdoor first, slipped the noose over his head, and took his place by the lever which would drop the ground from beneath the pirate's feet.

"Thanks for the adventure, love," Jack told her; the gold-toothed smile he flashed her, though she saw the effort behind it, was nevertheless genuine.

Tetra couldn't answer. She nodded, and blinked several times to clear her vision. Her throat was seized with the pain of the sob she was holding back. But she would not look away like a coward; she was determined to watch this, no matter how much she didn't want her last memory of Jack to be that of his death.

"I'm sorry," she whispered hoarsely. "I'm so sorry, Jack…"

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the executioner reach for the lever, and felt everyone in the square holding their breath.

"I'm sorry. Really, I'm sorry."

Repeating the words like a mantra which would allow her to hold onto the last of her sanity, she saw the scene in slow motion. The executioner curled his fingers around the grip, flexed the muscles in his arm to pull back…

There was the sound of something cutting air—He withdrew sharply—The crowd let out a gasp—Tetra herself recoiled in surprise—Something whistled past her, but she didn't look to see what it was—It took her a few seconds to see what had happened—An arrow was protruding from the executioner's shoulder, which he was clutching tightly with his other hand, cursing as blood oozed between his fingers.

Tetra's eyes widened as her mouth fell open; Jack's eyes darted back and forth as he tried to see what was going on without making any sudden moves that might trigger the trapdoor beneath him to fall or the many guards all around to fire the bows they had drawn tight. He wasn't the only one looking around for the source of the disturbance, nor was he the only one who didn't know where to find it.

'Let them go, or next time I won't miss!'

Hundreds of faces swivelled toward one of the ramparts, from which the loud voice had come. Tetra's face broke into a wide grin.

A young man stood there, dressed entirely in black, including a cape that fluttered in the breeze and a mask that covered all of his face. He was armed with a bow.

"Very dramatic," commented Jack, trying to laugh without moving.

Tetra laughed as well, as hard as she could. The sheer stress of the situation had pushed her far behind the breaking point. She was the only one who saw the humour, however, and even she stopped laughing when the archer once more nocked his weapon. He said nothing, but his meaning was clear.

Nevertheless, Tetra had a feeling the emperor wasn't going to respond to threats. Glancing at him, she saw that his eyes were frozen on the black-clad man as he gave a signal to his troops, who all turned their own bows from the pirates to the stranger.

Stranger—Tetra doubted it. But she still thought she was going to have to get out of this one on her own; the distraction was about all the help he could offer. The only question now was how to escape…

Tetra's eyes, slowly wandering the scene, tried to find a solution. She remembered the mysterious object that had darted past her only when her eyes fell to where it stood just before her; it was an arrow with a small scroll tied to its shaft.

'Go ahead and shoot,' proclaimed the man at whom every bow in the Felicitovente was now aimed. 'You won't hit me.'

The soldiers didn't take him up on his threat; they didn't want to be the ones to blink first, or risk proving him right.

Moving very slowly, hoping that no one was paying her any attention, Tetra slid her foot toward the arrow and gently dislodged it from the wooden planks with the toe of her boot. Then, very carefully, she managed to flick it up into the air, catch it awkwardly in one of her bound hands, and quickly tear it open.

Only one four words were written on it, in a familiar hand. Tetra read them in less than a moment.

"Jack," she said urgently, clutching it in her fist, "there's something…I've tried not to do it before, but now I have to."

As she spoke, his brow creased in confusion. "What d'you—"

'Fire!'

"There's no time!"

The first cry was the emperor's, the second, Tetra's. Jack barely had time to see a barrage of shafts unleashed—

Will stood up in his seat, as Elizabeth did the same with a shout of horror—

There was a flash of light that blinded the crowd, and when it faded, all three of them were gone—Jack, Tetra and the man in black.

Yentiko whipped around—so was Reyga.


"What just happened?"

"There's no time."

"Yes, you've already said that."

"Well, then, if you already now the answer, why did you ask?"

"You know, you're starting to sound like me."

Tetra looked up from the ropes on her hands that she was struggling with, and gave Jack a shaky smile. "Thanks."

"Is that a compliment?" Jack inquired curiously.

Tetra laughed shortly and turned her attention back to the ropes. "Dunno."

After watching her work for a few more moments, Jack asked, "Was that masked stranger who I thought he was?"

"You mean Link?"

"Aye."

"Of course. Got it!" she exclaimed happily; when she quickly pulled her arms apart, the ropes fell from her wrists. Beginning her work on Jack's, she said, "You know, you could do this yourself, like I did."

"I come from a civilization that's mastered metalwork, love," he reminded her. "I can pick a lock, but I'm terrible with knots."

Tetra grunted, gave one last tug, and whipped the ropes from Jack's hands. "There. Now come on, we're gonna have to get away."

"I need my effects before I go anywhere," Jack reminded her.

Tetra gave a frustrated growl. "Jack, please—"

"Love, you think I'm going to run around enemy territory without a weapon?" he interrupted flatly. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. I make it a point not to do anything stupid. Of course," he added, looking around in the darkness. "I'm operating off of the assumption that we are still in enemy territory?"

"We are," she assured him darkly.

"I see. More specifically?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Tetra looked around as well, lips pursed. They were in a dark space, a hallway with stone walls. Unlit torch brackets hung cold and empty along the walls at intervals.

"I don't know," she concluded, "but we're somewhere below the gallows. That's where I sent us, anyway. I can't go much more than fifty feet, less if I'm taking someone with me."

"And how did you know you could…send us here?" Jack asked slowly.

"The note," she replied simply as she took two torches down from their brackets on the walls.

Picking up the paper which lay on the ground at his feet, Jack saw four words in Link and Tetra's language: Reremoat pardo. Dobelat ma.

"What does it—?"

He stopped himself in mid-sentence at the sight before him; Tetra was looking at one torch with narrowed eyes, and an instant later, it burst into flame. He started, but she calmly used it to light the other, which she handed to him.

"Basically, it says, 'Send yourself down. Trust me,'" she answered his unfinished question.

Jack looked at the note once more, trying to match the words to her translation. "Your language has a word for whatever it is you just did?" he asked.

"Yes." She offered no further explanation.

Although Jack stared at her, she still didn't speak. "Something you want to tell me, love?" he asked finally. "Perhaps something about how you got us away from the hangman's noose, or how you lit these lovely torches?"

"Something I want to tell you? No, not really," she said honestly. "Something I really should tell you…" She took a deep breath, and explained, "Part of who I am—an ancient Hylian, and particularly a princess of ancient Hyrule—is that. Magic. I have magical powers."

Jack didn't move. "Then those accusations of witchcraft…"

Tetra nodded. "From what Faudry told me, the people of Felicitovente think magic is evil, the work of the heathen gods they no longer believe in, and so someone like me… Well, I'm not only the Queen of Pirates, or the Queen of Hyrule. I'm also the Queen of Witches." She gave a wry smile that looked rather ghostly in the pale torchlight. "I think they always knew that, but they never knew before now that their beloved General Reyga was—"

"The Knight of Wizards?"

Tetra grinned, knowing whom she would see when she turned around. "Link," she began in a mock threatening voice, "you should know better than to sneak up on me by now, or—"

She stopped abruptly; the eyes peering at her, set within the black mask, were most definitely not Link's.

"Who…?" she began feebly.

"I'm sorry, Miss Tetra. Did I scare you?"

This time, it was all she could do not to faint with relief when she recognized the voice by its own merits rather than what she expected to hear.

"Michael!" exclaimed Jack. "What in the name of all things holy are you doing here?"

They saw the young man smile uneasily beneath his black mask. "The Pearl wasn't about to leave behind her two commanding officers."

"But how did you find us?" Tetra asked, mystified.

Michael shook his head. "Wasn't easy. You know that island where we lost you? Well, we were searching all over, and we eventually heard talk in a pub of an imperial vessel of some kind that had taken a couple of pirates. That wouldn't have made news around the island, except that a lot of these other scoundrels and villains had been on ships like mine, commissioned to catch their fellow pirates. So they knew it was important that one of the ones captured was a woman. So we figured those two must have been you, and a few people who were more familiar with that lying cheat who turned in so many of his so-called allies, they managed to give us bearing toward this place as being where he was from."

"And where's the Pearl now?" Jack asked.

"Safely docked at a little island not far from here. Not much more than a rock, really."

"I told you my men would find us," Jack told Tetra proudly; she, however, was still staring at Michael with an open expression of bewilderment.

"I can't believe that was you at the execution," Tetra spoke up numbly. "You've always seemed so shy."

As if to prove her point, Michael dropped his gaze and shifted his feet uneasily. "Oh," he laughed nervously, "that wasn't me. That was your friend, Link. I'm just his body double, he's handling all the bravery stuff."

"You mean…you two have a plan?" Tetra asked in amazement.

"Yeah. Well, he does. I think he kind of made up most of it this morning. I'm just following orders. I confronted him in his room a couple days ago to demand that he set you free, and then I found out that he's actually on our side. Which was a relief," he admitted. "Working up the nerve to talk to him when I thought he was an enemy… God in heaven, I was so nervous, I don't know how I didn't just faint dead."

Tetra grinned; that sounded more like Michael.

"All right, then," Jack said, "if there's a plan at work here, what do we do now?"

"Well, Link told me to meet you down here, and I'm supposed to lead you to his quarters, and he's going to hide you until the heat dies down."

"That's all well and good," Jack nodded, "but it does beg one question."

"What's that?"

"How's he supposed to hide us when he's already under suspicion of being sympathetic to our cause?"

Now that he had mentioned it, this thought made Tetra nervous, too.

"I'm sure he's got an idea," she said, impressed at how confident she managed to make her own voice sound. Nevertheless, she did add, "At least…he better."