Jim Kelian had shown Joe to a small bunk in the crew quarters, very similar to those on the Wraith and left him with orders to rest until dawn. Joe, too, grateful for this chance at a decent sleep to waste it investigating, dropped into the world of sleep instantly.
Dawn lit the sky and showed the ocean calm and steady. The Lady of Shadows, in no apparent hurry to reach her destination, sailed under only a skeleton crew. The rest of the men we sitting on deck enjoying the sun, eating, or talking amongst themselves. Unsure of what to do, Joe made his bunk and headed towards the Captain's Quarters.
At the door of the cabin, a weather hardened man stopped him. "You must be the stowaway from the Wraith. Come, let me introduce you to the crew. Camaraderie is half of sailing, you know."
Joe recognized his voice as Jim's companion from last night. He nodded at his words and followed him to the main deck. "Crew!" he shouted, "this man is Ned Brenden. He's one of you. Mike, Allison, show him around and give him some duties." The crew, all looked at Joe, and he was surprised to see smiles and friendly faces. What kind of captivity is this?
Before his companion left, he told him his name, Greg Hands, first mate. A seasoned man and a younger woman, both sporting brown hair that reminded him painfully of Frank's, approached him. He was surprised to see that women made up about half the crew of this ship. Perhaps this was the reason for the change of styles.
The young woman, Allison according to the mate, smiled at him. "Where'd you drop in from, Ned?" When he didn't answer, she put her arm around his shoulder. "I know. It's hard. You don't have to talk about it now. I came from another ship to, Ice Maiden, except that my ship joined with the Lady, and sailed ahead, leaving me, the Captain, and a few others as insurance. If that was hard, I can't imagine what you went through."
Her voice calmed Joe down a bit, made it a little easier to think about Ned and the others no longer being alive. Don't think about that. Focus on what you need to do. The man, Mike stood a little bit off to the side, and when it appeared that the topic was completed, he began a tour of the ship. It was very similar to the Wraith, in structure, except that everything was smaller. When the tour was complete, Joe was given light duties.
"We'd like to be in port by the end of the week, but we're ahead of schedule and don't have to push it. Just take your turn on watch and keep an eye on things, help out when you see the need. There are a few men aboard here that have sailing in their bones. They'll take care of our Lady."
"Land ho!" Joe stirred from his bunk and swiftly dressed, wondering where their port would be. The crew, although nice and polite all, would tell him nothing of where they were going or what their purpose was. Also, deciding to build a bit of trust, Joe had avoided serious investigating. That would wait until he was on firmer ground.
It was early morning, just past sunrise, and off the port bow lay a large island. Joe had lost all sense of direction during the ship changes, and knew it was only somewhere in the Western Pacific. He squinted and saw a large building surrounded by tropical landscape: palms, sand, and other shrubs.
"It'll be good to get home again," someone said from his left elbow. Joe turned, surprised, to find Mike standing there, his eyes sparkling.
"Your home?" Joe wondered aloud.
Mike smiled and said, "Yes, I was born there on that little rock. It's a lovely place, and you'll enjoy it immensely. The sun, the sand...it'll be yours to enjoy in your free time if you wish."
Joe sighed, Yes, he was captive. "What is this place, though? Why is it here?"
"That, I'm afraid, is not mine to tell you, Ned. I'm sorry."
Allison joined them at the rail. "How does it sustain itself? Ships?"
"Yes," Mike answered. "There are many ships like this one that sail in and out. On the island is a nice freshwater source, and there is a place for helicopter to land, except it isn't used except in emergencies. There isn't even one on the island. In fact, no phones are permitted. The only communication to the outside world is by the old fashioned way: you go there yourself."
Joe asked, "Why is that?"
"Again an unanswerable," Mike said sadly. "But don't worry, you'll know everything in a few weeks."
"Why's that?" Allison asked.
Mike just laughed. "Just wait."
At the dock, Allison, Mike, and Joe were required to help unload the supplies. He saw no trace of weapons or anything of the sort among the cargo, and was disappointed. After they finished, all the old hands were ushered down a long stone path away from the beach and towards the gigantic house. Other outbuildings surrounded it, but by itself, the house must have covered a several acres and was seven or eight stories high. Allison, Joe, and nine others waited aboard the ship with Captain Jim Kelian. He chatted friendly with a pair of men his age and seemed to be in no hurry.
Allison, leaned against the rail and ran her fingers through her hair to calm her nerves. Joe decided that even in her rough sea garb, she was a very beautiful woman. Then he felt guilty when he thought of Vanessa. She hadn't wanted him to go on this journey, and they had parted in anger. But she's still my girlfriend, he chided himself. Angry or not, I must respect that. He quickly stopped thinking about Vanessa and Allison. He needed his head now, not his heart.
Three figures appeared on the path that the sailors had vanished down. One was a white, broad and muscular man that looked to be what an older version of Biff Hooper would be. He was about forty and his blond hair looked dyed. To his strode another man, this one Oriental with all the stereotypes: tiny, short, and dark. He had a nice friendly smile, and eyes that betrayed high intelligence. Between them was a tall, red headed woman with bright eyes and freckles. Like her companions, she wore a business suit and looked very professional, but something in the way she carried herself made her seem in charge.
They came aboard, the woman still in between them. She immediately went to the Jim and asked him something. Joe scooted closer to hear.
"Yes, I..." Jim began to say to some mysterious question, but was interrupted by one of the 'captives' violently throwing up.
"Later," the woman said, and hurried over to him. It appeared that something he had eaten hadn't agreed with him and was fine in a moment. Joe sat and tried to puzzle out their conversation
"Ladies and gentlemen," the woman said to the group, and those who weren't already staring at her turned to meet her penetrating gaze. "My name is Melanie, and I run this island. You are now my people, whether you like it or not. You are stowaways, hostages, and captives of the Lady of Shadows no longer. Congratulations."
A few of the assembled groups exchanges bewildered looks. Melanie smiled and then continued. "Yet being a citizen of this island comes with obligations as well as benefits, in which I will now explain you. There are different ranks of living here, much like an army organization. You will all be citizens, which is something akin to a private. You must agree to become a citizen, in the first, of your own free will. Second, you must agree to care about the island and all of its people, and never willfully hurt any other occupant unless it is in self defense. You must agree to follow the reasonable orders of any higher ranking citizen, who, trust me, do not take this power lightly. Breaking any of these rules will almost always lead to death.
Benefits of becoming a citizen include your freedom to follow your choice of a lengthy list of trades. You will always be in good shape, and have sufficient food. You will be protected from any outside enemy of yours, and internal, if properly handled.
I know that this is a big decision and you must want to know more about what you are in. Until then, you will be guests of mine. You must make your decision in a month. If you make the negative decision, to preserve us, we will have no choice but to kill you. I am sorry." She stopped talking and studied the faces surrounding her. They all stared back shocked.
From his spot by Allison, Joe was stunned. She offers us one choice: join her or die, just sugarcoated. To sail on a known enemy ship was one thing; to join what was probably a terrorist organization was quite another. Would I die for it? Joe wasn't sure. But if I don't, will I break a Joe Hardy vow? He shook his head confused. Maybe if I just join for the sake of continuing the investigation, it will be okay. Yes, that is what I'll do. Then I won't be breaking any vows or anything.
Of all the things Joe Hardy was, a liar wasn't one of them. Ever since he was a little kid, he hadn't told a flat out lie, or broken a promise. Worked around things? Sure. Avoid answers? Plenty. But to lie, flat out and intentionally? Not him. After all, what good would his word be after that?
The Oriental man spoke next. "Now, if you would all follow me, I will show you where you're new quarters will be. You are free to wonder around the house and island as you wish. Every night, however, you must be back by seven o'clock. This is a big decision, please, do everything necessary to help you make it. Oh...and my name is Ruan."
"And I am Shane," the white man added. "We will do everything in our power to help you. Now, as there are nine of you, I request that you divide into three groups of three so that Melanie, Ruan, and I will have less people to look after."
Nobody moved, until Melanie laughed and told them it was okay. Joe stood up and pulled Allison to her feet and looked around for a third so they wouldn't be separated. Two of the women had joined together and were looking around at the group of five, who were fiercely debating. Finally, Shane stepped in and in a moment, a black man joined the women, and another young man with red hair similar to Melanie's joined Joe and Allison. Joe thought he was called Robert, but wasn't sure.
Melanie smiled at them all again. "Excellent, now, Shane, if you will take the group with the two ladies, and Ruan...you take the one with the man it that remarkable hat, and I'll take the third one by the rail."
And with that, her two gentlemen companions led the others off the ship in the direction of the house. Melanie remained and watched them go. When they had vanished into the vegetation, she turned to her group.
"I know a lovely spot that is just perfect for talking. Follow me, if you please."
And if I don't please? Joe wondered as he followed the woman off the ship and along the sandy shore. Once away from the docks, it smoothed out and instead of the shore being rock lined, the sand gracefully fell to the water. About a quarter of a mile away from the ship, they came upon a remarkable little cove lined with palm trees and it was here that they stopped.
"I really shouldn't be doing this," Melanie said once they all sat down in the sand. "I have far too much on my plate, but this I consider this my pleasure. I'm going to be your mentor for this month and beyond, if you so choose, on everything you need to know. I like to know my people, you see, and some of the other work becomes so tedious..." she trailed off for a moment and stared out over the water. "Anyway, we'll be spending some time together, so I'd like to get to know you a little bit. Over the next weeks, I may seem to busy for you, and it may be true, but just wait an hour or two, and I will make time for you. You are important to me.
"My name is Melanie, and I run this little island. I was born in Canada, in the Northwest Territories in the bush you might say. But it implanted me with a strong sense of desire to see the world clean. And that is what I've been doing ever since I left home at a tender age." She looked at the three of them with a distant look in her eyes as if remembering another, better, time. Then she turned to Allison. "Ladies first."
Allison looked hesitant. "My name is Allison, and I was born in Los Angeles around ships. Ever since I was little I've been in the water, and I ended up here because my father loved the water more than me and just wanted to keep sailing."
The other man took up the thread, "I was born Robert, but please call me Rob. I came upon my voyage as a way to travel to South Korea to help my injured brother at the Army base there. The Captain thought I would serve as a good hostage since I have some money in my background. And so here I am."
Great. What am I to tell her? Joe thought, trying to remember every detail of the real Ned's story. "I am Ned, the bastard son of the first mate. The Wraith was making its rounds when the Lady caught up with it, and I was sick of being treated like dirt so I left before anyone could stop me."
"That's very enlightening," Melanie said. "I suppose you have questions. Will you ask them?"
To Joe's surprise, Rob asked the burning question first. "What is this place. What do you do?"
Melanie sighed. "That's the heart of it, I guess. It is my place to tell you. Simply, we improve the world as best as we can. Governments hate us because we're so predictable the over think us and we become unpredictable. We do our best to keep the right people in power with the right powers in their hands."
Joe felt a twinge of deja vo. He'd heard of this group. Who were they?
A/N: I'm sure you all know who the group is by now, but I couldn't resist stopping there. Thanks for the reviews! They made my day! Frank's up next! hears sighs of relief in the background