Sorry this chapter took a bit longer than I would have liked, but I have a busy weekend and a flu to thank for that!

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em

Jack had been on ships when lightning had struck before, though it was certainly rare. He remembered the initial shock of the strike, and the way the air felt afterward, though even he, who never found himself at a lack of words, would have trouble describing it. Though he had witnessed it before, he had never been anywhere near this close, and he would have been perfectly happy to never be again.

The force of the lightning traveling down the mast caused Jack to be hurled backwards and land spread-eagled across the deck. When he came to shortly thereafter, his ears were ringing, his eyes stung form the brightness of the lightning, and his hair was standing on end.

"Who plates a damn bloody mast in metal? " Jack mumbled to himself, his voice sounding muffled and distant. "No wonder it's abandoned! No one in his right mind would sail this!"

He looked skyward to see the dark clouds starting to dissipate and top of the mast smoking slightly.

Jack groaned and slowly got up. No doubt his crew was terrified that their captain had perished in the spectacular incident. Surely no one could have survived such a thing. He finally stood and faced his ship, eagerly anticipating the looks on his crew's faces when they saw him alive, only to find empty ocean in their place.

"How long was I out for?" Jack struggled to get up to the helm of the ship for a better view, but the Pearl was nowhere in sight. He looked down at the compass that was next to him. Twenty degrees north by northwest. He then noticed something he missed when he examined the instrument earlier. There was a set of four numbers, each one on a wheel and able to move independently of each other. It looked like a sort of 18th century odometer. Jack glanced down at the numbers and furrowed his brow.

1745.

1745? What the hell was that supposed to mean? As the ship slowly shifted direction, he noticed the five slowly rotating forwards. He would have watched longer, but there were slightly more important matters to attend to, such as the location of his ship and crew.

He quickly came up with a few theories on their absence.

Theory one: They thought the lightning bolt had killed him, and had left him for dead.

Theory two: They were playing a joke on him.

Theory three: The lightning had scared the bejeezus out of them and they had made a run for it.

Regardless of what happened, all theories lead to the same outcome: Tortuga. The Pearl had been close to the island when they encountered the ship, and it was obvious that was where they would head.

As Jack finished running all the options through his head one more time, there seemed to be only

on logical course of action. Steer this blasted ship into Tortuga by himself and keelhaul every last one of his crew. He stared at the ship's wheel.

"Well, thank God I'm not in my right mind."

It took all of Jack's skills as a sailor to bring the ship into Tortuga's port by himself, despite the fact that the Pearl and the mystery ship were relatively close to it. When he told Will he couldn't bring the Interceptor into Tortuga by himself, he wasn't being completely dishonest. Fortunately, Jack knew more about what was on a ship then was in his own hair. After some initial struggling, he managed to finally reach the island.

He noticed as he sailed into the sheltered bay that the Pearl was no where to be found. Anger gave way to confusion as he scanned the bay for the familiar black sails. Were they out looking for him?

After he managed to anchor the vessel, Jack finally took a look up at the town. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times. Something seemed different. He couldn't put his finger on it at the moment, but he sensed something about it had changed.

After several minutes and more then a few choice curse words, Jack managed to get a small rowboat in the water and made his way into the town. As he climbed up the shore and entered the city, he was now certain that there was something different about the town. He swaggered through the quiet streets and then noticed it: quiet. Although there were the few obligatory drunks stumbling around and a few "ladies of the evening" leaning lazily against barrels and railings, the town seemed like a shadow of its former self.

He decided to head to the first place we usually headed when he visited Tortuga, The Faithful Bride. By now the thought that something may have happened when the lightning stuck the ship, was slowly creeping into his brain, and he desperately was in need of some familiar surroundings.

Unfortunately for Jack, familiar surroundings were not to be found. A stable was sitting where the Faithful Bride had always resided. Jack's eyes went wide. There was no way this could have happened in such a short amount of time. He had been here less then a month ago.

Thinking he must have made a wrong turn somewhere, Jack looked all around his to see if he could regain his bearings. It was then that he noticed it. Hanging above the stable entrance was a

sign, rocking gently in the breeze, its paint peeling and flaking.

Smith Sons Stables

EST:1735

Jack stared at the sign a few moments, trying to remember the year. He knew it had a two in it. Ah yes, 1725. He then looked back up at the sign, and then out to the silver ship resting in the harbor, then up at the sign again once more, for posterity.

While continuing to stare at the sign he stopped a drunk passing by and bluntly asked, "What year is it?"

The drunk, even in his advanced state of inebriation, gave him a strange look. " 'S uh . . . seventeen forty . . . five." He finished, looking slightly proud of himself for remembering before stumbling on.

Now, a lesser man (or a man who had been exposed to slightly fewer supernatural occurrences) may have panicked, or simply lost his mind. Jack, however, knew exactly how to handle the situation. After a few moments staring out at nothing in particular, he slowly sank down into the street, muttered, "Fan-bloody-tasic.", And waited in the middle of the road for a carriage to run him over.

While he lay spread out in the middle of the road for a team of horses to trample him, he suddenly made a connection in his brain that caused him to sit bolt upright so fast that his beads whacked him in the face after they had caught up with him. The ship's compass. The dials had read 1745 right after the lighting struck. Twenty degrees north by northwest. Twenty years in the future. Well then that was it, then. Find another storm, get near some lightning, and "steer" the ship into the future.

But first, it wouldn't hurt to have a little look and see what the future held in store. . .

I have no real idea what year the film took place in, but I've heard from a few places it was around the 1720's, so I went with that. As always, please review and tell me what you thought! Oh, and the next chapter should be a bit more exciting.

Next Chapter: Captain Jack's "Legacy"