Two: Captain Hunter and the Unsinkable Ship
A pair of amber eyes met Jacks. A flicker of a smile appeared on a set of rosebud-shaped lips, and the lithe, shapely frame dipped in a bow to the captain.
"Ah, Captain Aubrey, so good to see you well." The voice was silky and oozed confidence. Ebony-black hair ran, shining, down in a thick braid, and a cleft in the chin and high cheekbones covered in freckles finished off the appearance of Captain C. Hunter of the Hercules. Stephen stood beside Jack, mouthing speechlessly. For the captain was a woman. Charlotte Hunter, or better known as Charlie, or even the Siren, was one of the most famous pirate captains in the tropics. It was said her ship was unsinkable, uncatchable, and she herself utterly seductive. And Stephen could believe it. She struck an awesome pose, in breeches and tunic, black belt about her waist holding pistol and sword, and hat tilted jauntily on her head. Her skin was tanned from the sun, and her hands were callused from the ropes, but she was still beautiful.
"Charlie Hunter." Jack breathed.
"At your service."
"What do you want with us?" He demanded suddenly, feeling very trapped. He glanced about the deck. My God, nearly a third of the crew were women! Charlie laughed.
"Now, now, captain. I want nothing that you offer. Simply the company of your esteemed self." She spread her hand to indicate the ship. "You see, you are of such… legendary status, that it is simply an honour to have you on board. Of course, we couldn't leave you stranded in the middle of the ocean, could we?" Jack had to concede – between floating in a jolly boat for another week, or staying on board the Hercules, he knew which he would choose. He opened his mouth to speak. "Before you ask, we found the other boats, and have already been informed of the situation. We also intend to assist you in some way. If you would join me in my cabin, gentlemen." They couldn't refuse, and followed mutely to an even grander cabin than the one they had been given.
Charlie spread maps and equipment on the table and indicated that they should gather around. They obliged, Jack next to Charlie, and Stephen having to sit in a chair – his legs seemed to have given up on him. She pointed a bitten-down fingernail at a point on one of the maps.
"We picked you up here, nor'-nor' west of our current position." She moved her finger further west. "We found your other boats and crew here." She tapped the paper. "One Mr Bonden explained that your ship had been taken here."
"Yes. The French frigate came up on us at dusk and crippled our main-mast."
"I've been told everything, Captain." Charlie said abruptly and turned to him, eyes blazing. "Mr Bonden explained that the frigate, the Liberté, came across your 'larboard side and gave a full broadside, taking down your mast. They then proceeded to board. He continued to say that with over half your men dead, Captain, you decided – rather than surrender – you'd abandon ship." Her tone was derisively satirical. Jack glared at her.
"It was to save the crew."
"No! It was your damned stubborn nature I've heard so much about! And so now, one of the navy's finest is in the hands of the French, completely undisputed."
"I was not stubborn! I made any decision given to a captain to save my men!" Jack roared. Charlie's knuckles were white as they rested on the table, and she straightened herself to her full (rather short) height, positively shaking with anger.
"It was a foolhardy decision, Captain! And your rash and very ill judgement meant that majority of your men are dead and my ship is now burdened with sixty souls I do not need, eating rations I cannot give away! You were nearly dead because of your stupidity!" She yelled. Blakeney looked totally surprised at the forcefulness of a lady, and Tom went nearly puce with suppressed rage at the insult to his captain. Stephen rubbed his temples and sighed heavily.
"I take offence to that, Captain!" Jack bellowed.
"And well you should, because I mean it with the –"
"If I may intervene…" Stephen added calmly.
"WHAT?" Cried the captain's in unison, fixing their gazes on him.
"Shouldn't we keep to the matter in hand?" He nodded his head to the maps. "This arguing is doing no good." Charlie sighed, and rubbed her eyes tiredly with forefinger and thumb.
"Of course. My apologies, sir." She looked down at the map, gathering her thoughts. Her fury seemed quickly snuffed out, but Jack's simmered as he watched the pirate captain. "The Liberté was last seen here." She pointed to a point east of where the Surprise was taken. "If my calculations are correct, she'll make berth off the islands here, which are under Spanish occupation. She'll make restorations to the Surprise and herself – reports tell me she had taken some heavy fire." Tom smirked at that – it had been his gun crew to first return fire and create the most damage. "She'll then head home, I assume."
"Then what do you propose to do?" Jack asked sharply. Charlie took a deep breath.
"Set you down on the nearest island to starve, Captain, if you will not let me continue." She replied, and glanced angrily at him. She looked back at the map and traced a route with her finger. "I've plotted this course to intercept the Liberté here, before she reaches the Spanish isles. I'll take my ship round and you can board the Surprise whilst I take the Liberté. Once successful, you can take whatever supplies you need to repair your ship from the prize, and be on your way." There was momentary silence as they digested the plan.
"And what, pray tell, is your interest with the French frigate?" Jack asked carefully. Charlie flashed a grin, glimpsing a single silver incisor.
"I'm a pirate, Captain… prize. Booty – and there'll be plenty on that ship. Whaling oil, food, prime wood… And it'll be mine for the taking." Jack laughed shortly.
"I am under orders to take the Liberté, as a prize, or sink or burn her if I so choose. What gives you the right to claim her?"
"I would not recommend either of the latter, and I think the former should fall to me – seeing as I fished you out of that sea and saved your life."
"Saved my life!" He spluttered. "You did no such thing! We were well capable of surviving on our own –"
"Which is why we found you floating, practically comatose, several leagues from the rest of your crew!" Charlie interrupted. "Oh, but excuse me, sir, I'm in the presence of Lucky Jack – the man who relies on no one save fate!" Stephen groaned and hid his face in his hands. These two were far too alike for their own good.
"I'll have you know that I was perfectly capable of –"
"Of what? Of dying stupidly in the middle of the tropics? Because that, sir, is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard of!"
"Damn you woman and your impertinence!"
"Impertinence!"
"Yes, bloody impertinence!" Charlie growled loudly and angrily, blazing with fury and offence. "You cannot keep a civil tongue in your head. You're a bloody woman pirate running a ship of brigands and renegades who can't tell their arse from their elbow!" Blakeney blushed at the crude language, especially in front of a lady, but was even more horrified to hear it come from Charlie. Stephen just tucked his face further into his hands, groaning.
"Arses from elbows! You're a bastard coward who abandoned ship at the thought of surrendering! And I'll have you know that my crew are the best in all the seas and are a damn-sight more capable than your rabble!"
"That is ENOUGH!" Roared Tom, quite suddenly and quite out of character, making everyone jump. He pointed a shaking finger at Charlie. "You," he hissed, "need to learn some manners. Captain Jack is the best in the navy under Nelson, and you'd do best to remember that. No interruptions, no arguments, nothing, I want calm and civility." He took a deep breath, and muttered aside to Jack: "Sorry, sir, I couldn't stand any more of her." Charlie sucked the air between her teeth as she heard the last comment, but was prevented from any seething remark by Stephen, who stood.
"Well, I believe we've come to a bit of a stalemate. Captain, if you would be so kind so as to show us to our quarters where we can cool our heels and discuss this proposition."
"Of course doctor. But this is no offer, it is an order." She added coldly, opening the door and instructing a nearby midshipman to show the "guests back to their cabin, if you would, Mr Greene."
The four men sat in silence in their cabin long after the door had been closed and they had been left to their own devices. If Jack listened carefully, he could hear Charlie bellowing orders on the quarterdeck above their heads.
"Well, I suppose we are prisoners, then." Tom sighed.
"Quite the contrary, my dear lieutenant." Stephen smiled. "It may have escaped your notice, but there is no guard on the door, and that young Mr Greene failed to lock it. We are as free as we could hope to be, aboard a ship run by pirates."
"That's just the thing though…" Everyone turned to look at Blakeney. "Captain Hunter runs this ship like one of the navy. It doesn't look very pirate-like to me."
"Captain Charlie Hunter is the daughter of the late David Hunter, a captain of the British navy." Jack provided. "He had no sons, and Charlie wanted to keep the family tradition of naval officers. Of course, no woman would ever be allowed to work on a ship." He snorted with derision at the very idea. "After she was refused, she took her father's ship and created herself a little pirate crew."
"The Hercules belonged to the navy?" Blakeney asked, awed.
"No." Tom shook his head. "Hunter's ship was a frigate called the Lotus-flower. She took it to the tropics and patrolled these waters – only hunting the enemies of England. She claimed that she was doing her duty to her country. A few years ago, the French launched what was named the Puissance from an island somewhere in the tropics. All of England was hunting it – a bigger, faster ship that was said to be completely unsinkable. Charlie here found it, caught it, and offered to give it to the navy if they would let her join." Jack shrugged, as if to disregard the pig-headedness of women.
"Being the stubborn men they are," Stephen continued, lighting a cigar, "they refused her offer, and even went after the Lotus-flower, trying to sink her or take her back. When they boarded it, they found it abandoned and saw the Puissance sailing away, with Charlie and her crew aboard."
"Since then, she renamed it the Hercules, and has resumed her prowling of the tropics. Still claiming to be doing it for her country."
"So is that why she runs it like a naval ship? In case the admiralty will have her back?" Blakeney enquired.
"I suppose so." Jack muttered thoughtfully, having never really dwelled on it before, it did strike him as rather strange that a pirate ran her ship like the navy, and still did her duty 'to King and country'. Charlie Hunter was a bit of a enigma…