Chapter Five

Sao Feng looked over the bow of the Empress, at the calm waters off the African Coast. Their placing was impeccable, hidden behind the steep walls miles north of the busy Port Elizabeth, with lookouts posted on the high cliffs, all shining mirrors back and forth to communicate the Opium cargo's position. The English were swarming further down the way, and Sao Feng could not risk an open sea battle with his majesty's navy. His only chance to overtake them was by following the plan, one that relied on the most unreliable sailor on the seven seas, Jack Sparrow.

A glint of light bounced back to his ship and Huang yelped out for his Captain, calling him over. "What is it?"

"They're approaching from the Northeast. The ships are dragging a bit, funnily."

"Funnily." Sao Feng said, under his breath. He leapt onto a rope and pulled himself high into the crow's nest, which barely peeked over the wall. The ships were steadily becoming visible out through the delicate morning fog. Masts were draped fumblingly about, half tied, with anchors swinging from the side. Sao Feng believed what he was seeing was the complete dismantling of ships and soon they would all have to make port. They were bobbing up and down, with men lurched over the edges, all vomiting and feverish. A stunned Captain strode the deck of the largest craft, looking from one man to another in disbelief, playing nursemaid to a crew that was completely defunct.

Sao Feng smiled and swung down on the rope, "Make ready the boarding parties!"

Jack Sparrow worked all night, and contaminating all three ships food stocks was not as easily as it looked. The boats were close enough together that he could move unseen, or barter passage with the Captain's almost endless supply of Scotch, sharing a few drinks with a night watchman while making his way into the holds, subtly poisoning each fruit, bread and water ration he came across. By ten in the morning, they were all incapacitated, vomiting left and right, too fast for even the swab to make a pass through the deck. It was all truly horrible and Jack found himself in the company of one of the only men that was not affected, Captain Harley.

Harley rigged tow lines to the back up ships and all three were being steered by Harley's sure hand.

"This is the most troublesome day of my life, Mr. Sparrow. I cannot crew these ships with this sort of widespread famine. We must make berth."

"I fear it is my fault, Captain."

"Yours?"

"Yes, I believe that I am a cursed man. How else do you explain two ships in such misfortune, in this small a span of time?"

"I, for one, do not believe in curses, Mr. Sparrow. I blame the company. They have outdone themselves in cheap bargaining and my men are made to suffer. Lucky for me, I prepare my own food, I could not live for long on the slop they expect these poor souls to subsist upon."

"And I thank you for letting me take part in your private rations, that I am not now bending over the edge of the rail, tossing my stomach as it were." The Captain nodded, and looked away despondent.

"It is my pleasure; we English must stick together, Jack." The Captain's eyes narrowed. "Do you think you could help me turn this ship?"

"I believe I can be of some assistance."

"Just ahead there is a lagoon. We should make for it, and find some fresh water and food for these men. That we might save them some terrible fate, will you help me?"

"Of course." Jack said, giving a wicked smile.

The Captain raised flags to the other ships and the men that were not completely wrecked were able to wave the flags back to him, and they all made their turns into the lagoon. Jack felt a surge of excitement, that the plan was coming together, that Sao Feng would get what he wanted, and Jack would be one step closer to achieving that which he wanted most, Captaining a treacherous crew all his own.

The high, green cliffs passed them on both sides and the Captain was yet to understand the full danger of the moment, he was about to get a lesson in pirating. The first and most important lesson being, never trust a man you dredge from the water, he almost always has an ulterior motive. Jack was a creature of many ulterior motives, since they came to him almost every minute of the day.

Harley was a heroic sort of man, tall and swarthy; he appeared very much like a man that could handle himself in a fight. Jack understood the kind of man Harley was, a bit lost on the way, but still good natured and an expert seafarer. Harley would surely die in the next few minutes, if he was to be boarded, he would hold off as many as he could before succumbing to a sword or a bullet.

Jack lashed the wheel steady and walked to the Captain. "What's that?"

Harley looked at Jack and his outstretched finger and followed the point to a spot at the top of the cliff, where a shining light beamed out, a mirror reflecting in the sun. Harley's eyes widened and he reached for his sword as if about to call out the alarm. Jack, who's pistol was already tight in his grip, drove the hilt across the back of the Captain's head and with a resounding crack, Harley went limp to the ground. None of the sick men were in very good shape to attack Jack, even the tall Indian Jayant looked up with glassy eyes and held his curved blade weakly.

"Sorry, mate. Looks like I got the better of you." Jack tied Harley's hands behind him and turned the keel of the ship sharply, slicing deeper into the waiting arms of Sao Feng and his Empress. The sick men all were dumbfounded as Sao Feng's flagship ship came into full view.

"What did you do to us?" The Indian called out.

"Just a little trick I learned in Singapore. Can't very well disable a whole crew by my sword, can I?" Jack piloted the boat and towed all three into the rabble of hollering Chinamen, all ready to board and take what they could. Jack pulled up along side Sao Feng and the diminutive Pirate Lord swung a line from the Empress to the Merrimack and boarded the ship.

"Good work, Mr. Sparrow." Sao Feng gleamed, taking a hold of the wheel. The rest of the men boarded and herded the Merrimack's crew together at the center of the deck. "We should have this ship good and looted and at the bottom of the lagoon in less than an hour."

"And the men, sir?" Jack said, patting Captain Harley's head.

"Turn them loose on the land. It's only a five days walk to Port Elizabeth. If the jungle creatures or natives don't get them, they should survive that journey." Sao Feng said, showing a sign of mercy Jack guessed was rarely afforded.

Jack went to work, grouping the men on the long boats and sending them towards the shore. He kept Captain Harley behind; the man awoke several hours later on the Empress, sitting in Sao Feng's cabin, nursing his head wound. Jack sat opposite from him cross-legged, reading a map upside down.

"What have you done, Jack?" Captain Harley groaned out.

"I've saved your honorable life, mate." Jack scribbled something on the map with a bit of chalk. "You're very welcome."

"My boat. You planned it all."

"I did. You see, I am a scallywag."

"That you are." Captain Harley righted himself and stood. "What ship is this?"

"Pride of China, a grand vessel known worldwide as The Empress. You are now the guest of Captain Sao Feng."

"Guest? I am a dead man, Jack. Once the company finds out what happened, they are going to send an agent after me, and before you know it, I will be toiling in Davy Jones Locker." Captain Harley rubbed his eyes.

"A terrible place to be, I'm sure." Jack said, looking foggy.

"What now?"

"You're more than welcome to join our little enterprise."

"Jack, I cannot become a pirate. I have already disgraced my family name by taking a position with the Company. You should have killed me."

"Now, now. You can still find thousands of ways to get yourself killed, or you can supply us with enough information to steal as much from your company as we are able. Thus, entirely destroying the buggers that would have you buggered, so to speak." Jack passed a bottle of his precious rum to Captain Harley. "It's a pirates life for me, bloke."

Harley took the bottle and thought hard for a moment. He did not have a home, no commission, no ship, and a death sentence that would surely come down on his head had he returned to England or India without the Opium spices in tow. There was no where for him, no place in the world, but the strange feeling that an air of destiny seemed to follow the Pirate named Jack Sparrow, who smiled through golden teeth and darkly tanned skin. Perhaps he had the time left in him to reclaim his family name and his Royal Navy Commision, by working from the inside and taking down the infamous Sao Feng. It would be his only chance to change the course of his life and this time, for the better.

Captain Harley swigged the bottle hard and spat out, "Yo ho."