"What did yeh do this time?" Jade whined, just in time to be heard before cannon-fire ruled the sound waves. A shot tore over their heads and blasted a man from the deck. Jack grimaced and scrabbled with the wheel, veering the Black Pearl out of the range of their pursuers.

"You know how I might've mentioned that I owe them all money?"

Miss Starfall turned her gaze from the fleet of furious pirate lords and gave the Captain a pained stare.

"Now I owe them more."

Jade didn't blink. "How much more?" Again the cannons blared. She ducked and ran for the main deck as pieces of the sails floated down in tatters. Men raced about tending the sails and hurling unnecessary cargo, hoping they wouldn't be the next to suffer. Jade bit her lip and looked up at Jack in his high but exposed position. "Can we outrun 'em?"

"As long as the wind holds out," he answered grimly. Then his brow furrowed as he looked ahead. Letting go of the helm he took out his spyglass, extended it and squinted at the horizon. At the same moment that a voice from the crow's nest shouted "Sail ho!" Jack lowered the spyglass and winced.

"Bugger."

Anxiously, Jade clambered halfway up the steps. "What is it? Woss wrong? Why are they after us, Jack?"

"I stole their diamond." Sparrow's eyes were still fixed to the ship in the distance that was heading straight for them.

"So? Isn't tha' expected of yeh?"

"It wasn't just a diamond. It was a key. A key to some'ing very old an' sacred to the Court."

"Well, can' yeh jus' give it back?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I sold it."

Another shot shattered one of the decorative beacons perched on the Pearl's aft. Jade whimpered, the shower of glass just missing her. She scrambled up to his side, keeping low.

"Why would yeh do some'at so stupid?" she growled.

Sparrow sucked his teeth and rounded on her, expression tainted with sarcasm. "Because I didn't bloody well know it wasn't just a diamond, all right?" A beat, and he added, "It got me the Pearl back, at least."

Jade stared at him sullenly. "Yeh set y' whole kind on yeh jes' t' get y' ship back?"

He made no reply.

She sighed. "So where's th' jewel now?"

Just as Jack was on the verge of some response, shouts came from below.

"All throw down your weapons! This ship is now the property of His Majesty the King!" Officers of the Royal Navy poured out of the hatch to the hold and swarmed across the deck, rifles aimed at every pirate. Several hurried up the steps to apprehend Jack who was bravely peering out from behind Jade. Once every member of the Pearl's crew was held hostage, the leader emerged, short statured enough to make even Jack seem tall and topped with his typical white wig.

"Hello Jack," said Beckett.

Forced forward by two armed guards, Jack pulled a face. "'Ow long 'ave you been down there?"

"Long enough," was the disgusted reply.

"I don't suppose you lot could all pop back down again for a few more hours and commandeer me ship later?" Sparrow suggested weakly.

"Unfortunately."

"Thing is, mate, there's an angry Brethren Court just be'ind me."

Lord Beckett smiled coolly. "And that is the Endeavour." He pointed to the rapidly approaching ship.

Jack matched the smile, trying to appear amiable. "You're going to face eight ships with two?"

"No, Mr Sparrow, I'm going to face eight ships with twenty." As he spoke, more ships came into view beyond the Endeavour.

"I'm getting a plaguing sense of déja vu," the pirate captain muttered. He turned and noticed that already the Brethren fleet was slowing its advance.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot to thank you, Jack."

"Thank me?"

"For giving me the diamond." Enjoying the pirate's surprise despite his refusal to show it, Beckett continued, "The merchant to whom you sold it has ties with the East India Trading Company. He handed it over personally. Now all I need to know is where this secret place of the Court's is so that I may open it, and for that I need your compass."

"What compass?"

Beckett rolled his eyes and pulled out a pistol. "The one we will undoubtedly find on your person should there be a need to search it once it is cold."

"Yeh have what yeh wanted, can' yeh jes' leave 'im alone now or are yeh still pledged t' bein' a bully like all them that clearly teased yeh at school?" Jade called snidely.

"Ah, Miss Starfall, isn't it? If I'm not mistaken, you also have an overdue appointment with the gallows for associating with Mr Sparrow." Jack gave a cough that sounded suspiciously like 'aptain'. Ignoring him, Beckett resumed, "He and I have a history. I will not bore you with the details but, needless to say, we have both earned our shared dislike of the other. The smaller the amount of time in which I am to tolerate him, the better."

Jack gave a feigned smile of pleasantry. "Supposing I do 'ave a compass with the capacity to which you refer, what makes you so certain it will work for you?"

"The compass is not a person, Jack, it does not need persuasion."

"No, but it won't work for someone deceiving 'imself, will it? The compass will not take you to wherever the diamond fits."

"And why is that?" Lord Beckett asked, becoming irritated.

Jack parted his coat and unclipped the black, octagonal box he had been concealing at his belt. He tossed it to Cutler. "See for y'self."

Greedily, Beckett flipped the lid and waited for the compass needle to stop spinning. It clunked to a halt, pointing directly at Sparrow. At first he swallowed back rage, believing the item to be playing tricks. "It is faulty."

"No, it works. Flattering though the result would seem," Jack explained, "it points to me because that is what you most desire." All around them, Beckett's guards turned their heads, their expressions aghast.

Beckett gritted his teeth. "That is not -."

"What you want most in this world," Jack interrupted, "is me…"

"Shut up!"

"…dead." Satisfied, yet unnerved by the ensuing silence, the pirate watched his enemy realise.

"Then if I achieve this goal, I can use the compass to find the diamond's resting place?" The pistol once again trained upon Sparrow.

"You need a member of the Court to open it," Jack said quickly. "'Ow many of those do you 'ave, ay?"

Beckett looked past him to the Brethren ships that had begun turning tail. "As many as I want, actually."

"Bird in the hand? 'S got to count for some'ing, 'as'n'it? Look, let me try to find the place for you, an' then you can shoot me after, savvy?"

"Fine," Beckett said, scowling. He threw the compass back to Jack.

"I'll need the diamond."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know enough about it. Don't know, can't find, no treasure."

Cutler turned away so as not to show where he had concealed the jewel and then passed it via his guards to the pirate. "Watch him at every moment. If he tries anything, shoot him."

Jack put his palms together in mock thanks and took the diamond. He held it in one hand and opened the compass in the other. The needle spun and spun. He frowned at it, trying to make sense. At last it stopped, wavering, pointing to his left, but when he turned, the needle moved again. He turned back and carefully drifted the compass in the air. The needle moved accordingly, indicating something close by. The answer struck him when he passed the compass around the diamond – the needle pointed to it no matter where it was held.

"It's inside…" he whispered. Jack focused on the jewel, becoming lost. Wisps of silvery light began to shoot around him like miniscule comets.

"What is he doing?" Beckett cried. "Stop him!" The vertically challenged lord marched forward, pistol raised.

"Jack!" Jade broke free from her captor, fearing for the pirate's imminent death. She did not get far before the butt of a rifle slammed into the back of her head. The flashes of silver were now orbiting Sparrow in blurs that were almost obscuring him. As her consciousness faded, Miss Starfall collapsed through the shimmering barrier. In seconds, both she and the pirate captain had vanished.