A/N (5/27/04): I'm just a bit bored, so I decided to type up the next chapter o' this story. I sorta need to make it up as I go along, 'cause I just have an outline, not the whole chapter written out. Hopefully I'll get more people reviewin' soon.


The Red Sun was floating near the edge of the vortex, waiting for an unwitting ship to come into the danger zone. Soon enough one did: a private yacht drifted into the vortex. As soon as the engine cut off, it began to call for help. Not that that did it any good, because the radio it was trying to use didn't work either. So it began yelling at the top of its lungs. Not the people; the yacht itself. Crazy things happen in the vortex.

The fact that a ship was screaming gave the pirates pause for a moment, but Stormwind Sam, Captain of the Red Sun, was crazier even than Captain Jack Sparrow. "After 'em, ye feckless pack of ingrates!" he told his crew.

As the Red Sun pulled alongside the yacht, Norrington and his unspecified number of ships arrived. Perhaps one of them was even named the Norrington; I don't know. More likely, though, that ship was named the Governor Swann.

Somehow, either the radio worked for about two thirteenths of a moment, or someone in the Coast Guard heard the ship's screams, because shortly thereafter the Coast Guard arrived.

"We have everything under control," Norrington assured the Coast Guard, which was good, because the Coast Guard guns wouldn't work in the vortex. Or it would have been good if Norrington actually had everything under control.

"What the hell are British ships doing in American waters?" one of the Coast Guard marines demanded.

"This is British territory!" Norrington protested.

"Not for the past 200 years," said the marine, giving Norrington a look reserved for people who are incredibly thick—gurhurtmabobs, as Lyn's AP Government teacher would say. The look said, "What planet are you from?" And, since they were in the vortex, the look actually said that.

Norrington gave the marine an incredulous glance. "Did that look just talk to me?" he demanded. "Ugh! First cursed pirates, and now this!"

Samantha smiled. "It's the vortex. It makes things go crazy. My sort of place."

"Actually, it's Spanish territory," Murtogg asserted, and Norrington groaned.

"Should we blow it up?" Samantha asked rhetorically. "It's such a pretty boat."

"That it is, love," her son Toby replied. "That it is."

Somehow, the Coast Guard ships managed to get the Red Sun under guard, after being told by Norrington that it was a pirate ship.

"For your information, I'm from Earth," Norrington told the look, just a bit late.

The marine gave him another look that said, "What planet are you from?"

"I just told you," Norrington replied, "I'm from Earth."

"Put him under guard, too," the Captain of the Coast Guard ordered.

"Bit hard, that," Captain Tobias Carter replied. "After all, he has all these ships under his command. Not to mention the, er, what did you call them? Ah, yes, supermodels."

Said supermodels posed and preened in front of the men of the Coast Guard. Said men were so dumbstruck that Norrington and his unspecified number of ships were able to get away. The women of the Coast Guard sighed and rolled their eyes. "Men!"

While said women were busy rolling their eyes, Samantha jumped ship and gave one of said women a hard rap over the head with the non-business end of her pistol. Said woman fell to the deck of the ship, unconscious. Samantha dragged her into a cabin and stripped her of her uniform, then put on the uniform herself. She jumped ship again, just in case anyone on this ship recognized the uniform. Then she went to the control room—and almost gave up hope. She had utterly, completely no idea in the world how to operate those controls. "When in doubt, experiment," she said philosophically. Unlike Lyn, she was not technophobic. Of course, that could have been because she didn't know just what sort of disasters she might cause by pressing the wrong button.

So, Samantha began to experiment. She pressed buttons and pulled levers until the ship came to life. It began to move, rather quickly in fact, and toward the Red Sun, as Samantha saw when she ran onto deck. She ran back into the control room and pulled more levers until she felt the ship change direction.

Samantha dove off the ship and swam toward the Red Sun, which was already moving away. She pulled on the water as hard as she could. She managed to get to the Red Sun, then had to climb onto the deck all by herself.

"Oops," her son Sam said. "Didn't notice ye were missin', mum."

Samantha rolled her eyes. "It seems I have underestimated the intelligence of my allies," she remarked.


Oh, this is a short chapter. That's sad. But I suppose I did a pretty good job with it, turning half a page on notebook paper into two pages on Word. I suppose I'll just have to try to make the next chapter a good length, eh? It should be nice an' long. Next chapter is cool. It has the Ring in it. Hehe! I'm rereadin' what I wrote fer chapter 5 an' it's real funny. So review, the more reviews I get the sooner chapter 5 comes up. If I get 3 reviews, it'll prolly be up tomorrow. Two reviews, an' I might get it up the day after. One review, an' I think I'll get it up three days from now. Savvy?


Ooh, I've got another contest to get y'all into this story! See, I don' really like the title fer this chapter, so come up with a better title than "The Red Sun" an' I'll put ye into the story.