Angela's mind chugged awake before she had opened her eyes, the raucous pattering of feet from above her jarring her out of sleep. She curled back up in search of more sleep, unaware of the time where she was and planning to feign ignorance were she questioned. She still felt groggy, despite her deep sleep, and as she ventured back toward that same state amidst the rapid stomping from above her, a sound suddenly caught her attention.
-clangggg- -clanggggg-
Her eyes shot open in a split second, kicking her blankets off before jumping to her feet, making a hurried dash toward the entryway and up toward deck, her eyes immediately repelled by the bright sun as she jumped through the doorway out into the open air. With a hand raised to cover her eyes, Angela gasped in breathless surprise; just along the shoreline she could see ports and builds built up along giant hills, constructing in a crescent shape around what appeared to be San Francisco Bay. She stepped forward slowly, in sheer awe, this being the first time in her life that she'd seen a city that wasn't the one she'd grown up in.
"'ey! Newbie!" came Junkrat's voice from behind her, catching her attention and breaking her from her spell, "We just got tha okay! Help we wrangle this 'ere mast; we're headed inta port!"
Angela quickly took a spray gait toward him, clutching onto the same rope that Junkrat had a firm hold on, the two yanking the massive pole that made up the boom until it swiveled opposite the bay, causing the wind to push the mighty masts in its direction, right toward the small separation of hills that allowed ship's entrance. The cannoneer grunted as he tied down the boom, standing by to winch the large pole along as their course corrected itself.
"Now there's a good course, eh?!" he asked excitedly, turning his attention up toward the crow's nest, where Lena's arm was outstretched, giving a thumbs-up, "Ah ha! Junk Time success!"
Angela had to hop backward as she just noticed Lucio dashing across the deck, carrying armfuls of equipment and unable to see her, though he was quick to turn his head and apologize before rushing toward the port side of the deck where a handful of cargo rested atop pallets of wood, tied down to a collection of knotted iron spokes. As she watched Lucio drop the tools from his arms, Jack appeared from around the pallets, scratching his chin in thought as he went over how to handle offloading them in a timely manner in his head.
"Hey!" Angela shouted, sprinting toward the pallets herself, "I wanna help!"
Jack turned a glance toward her as he shrugged, "We won't know what to do until Hana gets a reply. We're just getting general prep work done; she's talking to the dock master, getting-"
Hana's appearance interrupted him as she stuck her head out from inside the ship, "He's got fifteen able-bodied men, two wagons, and enough horsepower to take it all to his stores."
"Excellent," Jack nodded, turning toward Angela while Lucio began carefully undoing the ropes of the pallet, "That just makes our job easier. We're going to offload this at the dock, go receive any payments, bring my second mate aboard, and then shove off westward."
As the Captain stooped down to help Lucio, Angela's eyes lit up at the mention of, "Jesse?!"
"Yes, the very same," Jack chuckled.
Jesse McCree has solidified himself in the span of Angela's inner mythology for years now, lending more to his position as her father's longest-serving crewman. Having never met him personally, from what she knew and seen, in whatever few pictures of him existed, she knew him to be a scraggly beast of a man whose abilities far exceeded anything Angela had known mere men capable of. He was loyal beyond measure, a man whom Jack had relentlessly insisted would travel to the earth's end for him, and while the idealism was mutual, Jack could tell the master seafarer was pining, more and more, for his life at home.
Excelling as a second mate, Jesse had every opportunity to become a captain himself, capable, perhaps, of outperforming Jack himself. That loyalty, however, compelled him to remain aboard the Splitstream, his service upon which led to his betrothal and marriage to his Leslie only a handful of years ago. Long lost were the days of Jesse's daring pursuits- he now had a family to keep him from fending of pirates on a whim or hunting small whales from the prow of the ship with little more than a spear.
Still, before every voyage, Jack would ask his dear old friend whether or not he wished to leave. With every route, the answer remained the same, though this time, as Jack peered up toward the rising landscape of the Californian headlands, he had never doubted Jesse's inclusion more. Not only did he have a family, there was the fact of the albatross around his neck, an ominous situation that Jack already knew proved far too real for one such as Jesse.
"That should do it, Cap!" Lucio proclaimed happily.
Jack nodded, turning to his daughter while pointing back toward the stern end of the ship, "Don't even worry about it, Angela. Go enjoy the sight while you can still be enchanted by such things. This is still your preliminary voyage, after all."
Unsure whether or not to obey, Angela figured she might as well take a glimpse, making her way up the stairway up to the stern side, passing the helm as her swift steps took her to the taffrail at its edge, her eyes widening at the astounding landscape before her, carefully watching the green hills grow closer as the ship sauntered ever closer to its destination.
She heard Junkrat mused dreamily, "Look at it! So regal 'n mighty…"
It wasn't the words Angela would have used, though she heard Lucio countering innocently, "C'mon man, get your eyes on the real prize! San Francisco, man!"
"Oh I got my eyes on tha prize, lad!" Junkrat happily confirmed, his head turned apart from the others, "The Presidi'a, the biggest milit'ry inst'llation on the Western seabo'rd! The Spaniards left tha biggest array of artillery; I'd very much love ta meet 'em someday!"
Jack smiled, "Maybe next time. and yes, I'm aware I say that every time."
Junkrat giggled, "Nah, Cap'n; I'm all in fifteen ways ta Sunday!"
"Good to hear," the Captain answered with a smile, turning toward his daughter, "The winds favor our arrival! We're coming in fast; Angela, come on and help Lucio and me get this other pallet freed."
The three managed to get nearly completed before Jack had to make his way up to the helm, maneuvering the Splitstream into port, offering a sigh of relief at another tour completed, working his way down onto the deck as Lucio and Junkrat pulled a ramp across to lower down onto the harbor, a hungry-looking group of dockhands ready to unload the cargo, though only after Jack reached for some coins from his pocket, gratefully offering payment to the expectant men.
Hana emerged from inside the ship's hull, her arms crossed and head bowed in the presence of strangers, though she still made her way toward her Captain, her voice low as she muttered, "Jesse got in touch with the operator. He'll be here within the next hour or two."
"Perfect," Jack nodded, stuffing his coin purse back into his coat pocket, "That gives us time to settle our affairs. Lena, you have the deck. You and Junkrat make sure these men are able to do their job. Lucio, make sure they have a meal before leaving. Hana, Angela, we're heading out."
While Angela's face beamed at the idea of visiting a foreign city, Hana's expression shot from one of abject horror to one of disillusionment, obviously offended by the Captain calling her off the ship, her voice quietly spouting as much, yet retaining some politeness, "Captain, What in Davy Jones are you talking about? I've never been of this ship outside of my home port!"
Jack shrugged with a reassuring smile, "I'm sure it will prove worth your while. We must attend to the matter of your payment for this journey, of course, if that at all interests you, that is."
Hana bit back the retort she'd been preparing, suddenly intrigued by her Captain's insinuation, "…I wasn't promised that until Vancouver."
"Judging from the invoicing, as I set a course last night, I realized it might be best for us to forego Vancouver and simple hurtle across the sea. Just in the event we all decide on this course, I want to be sure you're compensated in any case," he explained.
Her mind rolling through this scenario, Hana's head slowly began to nod, though she quickly recoiled, aiming a finger toward Angela, "Is her taffy found here?!"
Angela's face went blank at suddenly being called out, but Jack gave a reassuring smile as he nodded himself in reply, "It might be; San Francisco is the crux of American, Spanish, and Canadian trade, so it's home to plenty of commerce. We should have time for you to explore, and for Angela to see the city somewhat."
He turned to his daughter, "Sound good?"
"Sound good?!" She repeated in inflected tone, "Yeah! C'mon Hana, it'll be worth it!"
Still perturbed by the prospect of being in such a dense conglomeration of human beings, Hana nevertheless sighed, stepping toward the two as her lips twisted in dissatisfaction, "I'm holding you to that…"
The three of them worked their way down the ramp, Hana making sure to remain as close to her Captain as possible without running their feet together, almost as though trying to hide behind his wide shouldered frame, even as Angela darted left and right, flabbergasted at even being upon a foreign harbor from the one at home, She ran up to examine everything that she found to be different, under the watchful eye of her father, her eyes widening as she noticed a massive collection of crates beneath an awning, with a massive amount of sailors surrounding them, a lanky-looking man standing atop one of the more prominent boxes, holding an impatient hand into the air.
"Father, what's going on over there?!" Angela asked heatedly, hopping up and down beside Jack as she attempted to get a better view.
"It's an auction," he explained, unfolding a sheet of paper he'd pulled from his coat pocket, "We'll check it out after meeting with the dock manager and get everything sorted. Hana, I'll also need some coordinates to calculate the miles we've traveled to account for reimbursement due to speed- that stunt with the anchor nearly lost us a good chunk of coin."
Hana grumbled, not wanting to lower her crossed arms to reach into her pocket, preferring to stay concealed behind her own arms, "O-Okay…"
"Davisson is expecting one fourth of what we're lowering, and along with another fourth for Gerry & Co, apportioning that remaining half three ways, we'll need to allocate enough of that first shipment of order to…"
His voice trailed off as he and Hana moved on toward the manager's dock house, not noticing Angela having stayed behind to watch the excitable patrons hooting and hollering, waving wads of cash with clutched fists as high as they could, the auctioneer drawing his own exuberance from the crowd's reaction as he pointed out toward a large container that sat between all the others.
"And heeeeere we have cargo headed for the West Indies! Our hiiighest bidder will be aiming for a pay day of a thousand doubloons if it arrives by May! Any takers?!"
The crowd roared with loud shouts of coin amounts, the immense collection of sailors bidding on which one of them would bargain for a pay day that was not yet guaranteed. For that amount, however, Angela knew, a thousand doubloons could change a man's life; or a woman's, she thought with a coy stare. Suddenly, the abundant mass of bodies grew more forceful, only a matter of time before money was not satisfactory enough to decide who would take the cargo. Fists quickly replaced the coins as a brawl broke out, leading to loud whistling from officers quick to rush in and break up the mob, much to the auctioneers continued exuberance.
"Now now, boys, there won't be any pay day at this rate! This cargo's sponsor is Gabrielle Adawe herself; it wouldn't do to have a brawl break out! Such a detestable thing to her!"
Between the man's insistence that the entire cargo was in jeopardy and the officers whipping out their batons, the crowd quickly scurried up like a pack of wild animals, once again prepared to shove their money-grubbed paws into the air for one final attempt at fortune. Angela frowned at the abhorrent ferocity of it all, deciding instead to explore the tent that housed the cargo before it was to be wheeled out for auction, baffled by the sheer difference in sizes between crates. Some were large enough for an elephant, while others were so miniscule that a puppy might not have fit. Then again, Angela wondered, the smaller the shipment, perhaps the more valuable it was…"
She came across one peculiar crate that had a tag dissimilar to all the others. It merely read 'SHIPPING TO: Far Away - PAYMENT: To Be Determined'. That type of ambiguity troubled Angela as she reached out to touch the medium-sized box, a steady hand flying out to grasp her wrist before she could make contact, turning up in a daze to see her father, Jack wearing a slightly worried face as Angela's glare softened.
"Father!" she spoke up, her heart racing.
"Please don't touch the merchandise," he instructed with a light smile, "Some of the suppliers get very antsy about people poking around over here."
As he pulled her away only slightly before releasing her wrist, she quickly rushed up to his side with a hurriedly curious voice, "Well, what's going on over there then?"
"Somebody figured out they could offer enough money to sailors who might not make their quota in time, ultimately saving more money on shipping the stuff in the end," Jack explained, "You'd have to be a fool to try some of the deals that go around; probably why they troll the younger, more inexperienced seafarers who are desperate to make names for themselves."
Angela kept up with her father's rushed strides, obviously having left Hana somebody to retrieve his daughter, "So a thousand doubloons if you get something to the West Indies by May?"
Her father stopped in his tracks, turning to his daughter with a face that found difficulty in holding back his immense laughter, "Who proposed that?! You've got to travel around the whole of South America! It's preposterous, really."
"I believe they said it was Gabrielle Adawe?" Angela wondered aloud.
Jack nodded, beginning to walk again, "Well, she didn't become a millionaire by handing out money left and right. Like I've always said, if somebody's stupid enough to accept such ridiculous terms, there's no helping them. That's why you're traveling with me instead of some randy from Prussia who could take from you all you're worth."
"Are you saying you don't trust me?" Angela asked, more in teasing, hoping her father wouldn't take it seriously.
He eyed her with a grin, "I'm sorry, who was an inch away from physically laying claim to some ridiculous shipping venture?"
Angela shrugged, "I was just curious is all. and what, was your first venture with a Prussian guy?"
She heard a groan escaping her father as he led her back toward a small shack of a building, the two of them stopping outside what must have been the manager's shack, Captain Morrison turning his head back and forth curiously, perhaps in search of his officer, though it was Angela who noticed a box sitting near the doorway, its lid lifted only barely in an unnatural state, as if having been held up from inside.
"Hana..?"
The lid instantly fell for a moment before sliding off the crate's top, Hana emerging with a detestable look on her face, eyeing her Captain with a vicious face as she quietly spouted, "Thanks for leaving me here, Captain! You know I hate being left alone in crowds!"
Jack nodded apologetically, "I apologize; my daughter was about to claim some of the cargo being auctioned off."
The officer whipped her head toward Angela with a sharp stare, "What, are you crazy?"
Angela groaned with a hand over her face, her eyes closed so that she missed her father's inaudible chuckling, "Come on you two, that's all the paperwork turned it. We'll go out and about, on our way back get our payments, and be off. hopefully with a second mate in tow."