Admiral Thompson's Visit

Admiral Thompson and his small fleet came, and every soldier in Port Royal stood to attention in their best uniforms. Against Doctor Jennings' urgent advise and despite Miss Swann's desperate appeals, Commodore Norrington had traded his sickbed for the fort to welcome his superior, although he couldn't deny that it took all his willpower to ignore his bursting headaches, overcome his nausea and keep his pose unfaltering.

The Admiral's face promised no good while he reviewed the troops, only Captain Filister's good humour wasn't to be conquered, and why should it. His new ship was anchoring in the harbour, and he was one of the few high-ranking officers around that had no reason to worry; he would soon set sails and return to Nassau Port and that was that.

The Governor had come too, of course, and was accompanied by his pretty daughter, who strongly disliked parades, but had more than one reason to attend this one. For a start, she was determined to watch over the Commodore's disquieting state of health, if this one himself was so utterly unreasonable, exposing himself to the dazzling heat and merciless sun. She was surprised (and scandalised!) that Henrietta had let him go, and she was once more appalled with her former friend's cold blood.

Above all, Elizabeth had come today to face the Admiral; she wasn't oblivious of his displeased opinion on everything that had happened in the prior months and his determination to see to some punishment. This wasn't to be suffered, at least concerning the Commodore, she would do everything in her power to prevent him from harm and had no doubt that she would succeed at last.

Fortunately neither the Governor, nor Commodore Norrington had any idea about the young lady's plans, for that would have increased their uneasiness rather than relieved them. Even a well-meaning father like Governor Swann had realised by now that he would have to bridle his child's temper some more, or it would get her into such severe troubles that even his influence couldn't save her. As for the Commodore – he was a man of the law, he had internalised the rules of the Navy and knew how useless any intervention from Miss Swann's side would be, as well as the dangers of her possible meddling. He cared only little about his impending degradation, as long as he would get a ship to revenge the one he had lost, and would never cease to put Elizabeth's benefit before his own. No, had he known her heart in this moment, his nerves would have been much more tense than they were now.

However, the formal welcome was over at last – the upbraid was to come, and the Admiral, his attending officers, the Commodore, the Captain, the two highest Lieutenants, Governor Swann and his daughter went over to the Head office. First, the Commodore made his report, his voice was steady, but Elizabeth could tell from his eyes how embarrassing all this was for him. He stuck to the facts only, leaving out every bit concerning her own unsuitable conduct, which gratified the Governor, but shamed his daughter and annoyed Lieutenant Chandler.

Next was Captain Filister, who had nothing special to say; his stay in Port Royal had brought no remarkable events, except for the night of the Commodore's return, and about this point, the Admiral had a question. His tone was brisk, "Have you set out to pursue said Captain Sparrow?"

"No," Filister sighed, gazing briefly at Lieutenant Chandler. "I meant to go in the next morning, but had to learn that Sparrow had been granted safe-conduct anyway."

"And who was it to grant safe-conduct to a wanted pirate, Captain?"

He sighed again and looked at Chandler, who stepped forth, saluted and said firmly, "I was, Sir!"

"You have granted a criminal safe-conduct…?" Admiral Thompson asked with some malice.

"My Commander being severely injured, I was his representative, Sir. It was necessary to bring Commodore Norrington back here by any means –"

The man in question turned his eyes to the ceiling and pressed his lips together; Chandler was getting himself into trouble there, but there was nothing his friend could do about it, nothing at all. The Admiral narrowed his eyes, literally piercing the young Lieutenant, "By all means, hm? – So what you say is that you gave guarantees to a pirate, opposing every possible law, just to come back here?"

"I did, Sir," Chandler said, his voice bordering on a challenge, but the Admiral did not go further into the matter just now, and continued his inquiries. Elizabeth had been on the verge of crying out with indignation – how could somebody blame Chandler for his excellent conduct?! What could have been more important than bringing James home?!

"This brings me back to the beginning of all the strange events in this town – Captain Sparrow. I've understood that it was he who commandeered the Interceptor?"

"That's right," James said quickly, before anyone else could have uttered a word.

Thompson sneered. "Astonishing. Don't you think? If it is possible to navigate a ship like the Interceptor on one's own – I wonder why the Navy pays entire crews of dozens, hundreds of men even, to sail them."

James merely beckoned, and when the Admiral starting asking about Sparrow's possible assistants, he gave a rather twisted report of the events of that day. According to him, Will Turner, fiancé of the Governor's daughter, who had been kidnapped in the night before, had gone to see said Jack Sparrow to ask about the probable destination of the Black Pearl. This one had claimed to know Miss Swann's whereabouts and persuaded the young man to assist him in exchange for his help to rescue the lady –

Lieutenant Gillette looked baffled with this very well-meaning interpretation of the events, which might have been liberal, but otherwise not exactly a lie. The Admiral's eyes were protruding, but the Commodore calmly went on, "Mr Turner is a civilian, Sir, and may therefore not be judged by Navy laws. He pleaded for a state of emergency and was granted clemency by the Governor whose subject it is to see to the civil laws."

The Governor nodded; the Admiral could have nothing on him and his decisions, but he felt a little awkward nevertheless. Only Elizabeth did not dare raising her eyes. Although this was still a part of the whole story where she wasn't directly to blame, she felt James Norrington's kindness and generosity, shaming her to no end.

The Admiral cleared his voice and sneered. "So much for that. One of the best ships of the entire Royal Navy commandeered by a pirate and a civilian, directly under the eyes of our troops. Hm. I see. Go on!"

The Commodore then claimed that after finding Miss Swann and Captain Sparrow, he ordered to pursue the Black Pearl to capture the infamous Captain Barbossa, who had by then abducted Mr Turner to lift the curse –

Admiral Thompson lifted his hand and gestured at him to stop. "Oh yes, this curse," he drawled, "that every child in Nassau is talking about! Tell me, I'm dying to know, of what curse are we talking here?"

James told him in some plain words, and the disbelieving Admiral was confronted with five vigorously nodding adults, who couldn't all have run mad. He swallowed. "I see. Oh well. Go on, Commodore, it can't get much worse, can it?"

It could, as James Norrington knew just too well. He wished Elizabeth wasn't here, he would have liked to spare her the Admiral's indignation. He went on with his report, and when he declared Captain Barbossa's death, he was interrupted once more.

"So who else can bear witness that pirate's death, except Captain Sparrow, who is after all a pirate himself, and this civilian?"

"I have seen it," Elizabeth cried and her father groaned. "I may be only a 'civilian' –" She pronounced the word with glee. "But I recognise a dead man when I see one nevertheless!"

Admiral Thompson goggled at her for a moment, Commodore Norrington closed his eyes just as long, but Elizabeth glared back at the Admiral in proud defiance. He chose to ignore her and ordered the Commodore to commence. He had a chance to speak without further interruptions until he came to the very worst part of it all – the day of Captain Sparrow's execution, or the day that had supposed to be his last, anyway.

"I don't understand," the Admiral said maliciously. "How exactly did this pirate survive his hanging?"

"That was an accident, Sir," James lied bravely, avoiding everyone's face but the Admiral's. "Mr Turner, being a good Christian, had decided that the man who had helped to rescue his fiancée should not die such a miserable, slow death, and threw his sword to spear him instead. He missed him, but Captain Sparrow could get free like that. Mr Turner, overwhelmed by what he meant to be a sign of the Lord, tried to keep the troops from killing Captain Sparrow, but capitulated without further resistance and was willing to accept every consequence of his actions."

Luckily, Admiral Thompson was so stupefied by the Commodore's explanations that he looked at no one else but him, or he would have seen many confused faces. Elizabeth was on the verge of fainting, staring at her former fiancé as if she had never seen him before, and felt so likewise. What on earth was he saying there?! No doubt, Will was surely a good Christian, but that certainly hadn't prompted him on that particular day to act as he had, and James knew that very well! She had never suspected that he could be capable of a downright lie, and was excessively impressed how smoothly he lied now, for the sake of a man that he must hate like no other!

"In the general confusion, Captain Sparrow tried to flee and trapped over a ledge, falling down the cliff."

"And of course you've set after him and fished him out?"

Lieutenant Gillette winced back with the dripping sarcasm in the Admiral's voice, but the Commodore merely smirked. "No, he was rescued by his old crew. But we took up the persecution directly in the next morning."

"Now did you?" Admiral Thompson stared at him. "Why didn't you follow him straight away?"

"The Dauntless is much slower than the Black Pearl, Sir. We wouldn't have captured them anyway, and it takes some preparations for a longer journey, as you of course know."

When a man had a reputation for his righteousness and bravery like the good Commodore, he wasn't lightly accused of a lie or other failures, and not even the Admiral dared to question him now. His eyes were wide with bewilderment, and he murmured in exasperation, "What you've done then, I already know – now tell me once again what happened to the Dauntless!"

Glad to return to the pure truth, James had little difficulties in relating the events of that horrid night, the storm, the attack, the exploding powder magazine, and at this point, Chandler had to take over, but he hadn't done so much as said how he had found his Captain floating in the ocean, when the Admiral asked quietly, "What else could you see from the attackers?"

"Nothing, Sir, only what I've reported already."

Captain Filister, who had been silent up to now, raised his hand and asked with a frown, "Isn't it likely that the Black Pearl was one of those ships? Especially as it seemed to cruise in these waters anyway?"

The Commodore had no answer to this very unexpected question, but it was the Admiral who shook his head now, to everybody's surprise. "The Black Pearl may be the fastest ship in the whole Caribbean all right, but still it can't be in two places at once. On our way here, we've anchored in several harbours, and I've heard more than one story fitting to these Dutch vessels just too well. Three ships sailing under Dutch colours have attacked and destroyed a Spanish frigate before Cape San Antonio. This happened quite exactly fourteen weeks ago, when the Black Pearl was here to save their Captain – I've talked to the First Lieutenant of the ship myself, a grieved man who got rescued by some fishermen."

Captain Filister gaped at him. "But… But why should Dutch merchants attack a frigate, or one of our ships, just as well?"

"Don't be silly," gnarled the Admiral. "If these ships were Dutch merchant vessels, I'll be a French princess!"

Elizabeth suppressed a giggle with that comparison, and so did the Admiral's attending officers. Gillette and Captain Filister were a bit speechless, but in the Commodore's eyes, there was an eager sparkle. So there was a trace of those scoundrels who had sunken the Dauntless, at last!

Apparently, the First Lieutenant was the only survivor of the frigate's crew; he had been hurled overboard when the ship had been hit by a heavy impact, which had apparently saved his life. According to his report, he witnessed the entire crew being murdered by the attackers, in the most gruesome fashion. The Admiral spoke with a sombre expression of the survivor's report of dozens of corpses that had been found in the nets of the fishermen of San Antonio in the following days, with their throats slit.

Elizabeth clasped her mouth, the Governor whimpered, and with the same gloomy fashion, Admiral Thompson went on, "After I've spoken to the lad, I inquired in other harbours. Little could be found out, but nevertheless, I personally talked to another sailor who could confirm a very similar story, he, too, was the only survivor of such an attack. He was particularly fruitful. He was Dutch himself and told me how his ship was entered by said pirates. He swore that they weren't Dutch, but English, but their Dutch colours had made his own Captain let them come so near in the first place. They entered the ship and slaughtered everyone aboard who wouldn't join them, this sailor himself only survived because they assumed him to be dead already and threw him into the sea. Their Captain, or 'Commodore' even – one must not forget that this sailor was still horror-stricken, so he might have exaggerated – but he stated to have never seen a man more thirsty for blood than that pirate leader. If there wasn't a lady present, I could tell you stories –"

He cast Elizabeth a disapproving glance, but this time, she could not defy it; she was shuddering in fact, and not keen at all to hear more of that!

Captain Filister shook his head, "But that's the usual stories, Admiral – they get entered by pirates, and afterwards, they all claim that it must have been the devil himself!"

"Well, there are such and such, Captain! There are pirates who attack a ship, rob the shipment and leave back the survivors. Others, like this infamous Jack Sparrow, are more specialised on – I would call it fraud, perhaps – few casualties, if any. And every once in a while, there's a bloody slaughterer who takes pleasure in mutilating his victims before he kills them anyway – excuse me, Miss Swann – until the very last one of them! I thought you would know that!"

Gillette made a disgusted face and Captain Filister bit his lips, nodding. Elizabeth knew that he was thinking of his great battle against Captain Black, who had been infamous for his particular cruelty, too, and after which the unhappy Captain had learnt that his beloved fiancée had died during his absence. Poor man!

The Commodore asked the Admiral to tell him more about this fleet of pirates, that one consented and checking himself, said with a wry smirk, "Gentlemen, I think this is all for the moment. I dare say you take great interest in your new vessels, so I'd suggest taking a closer look at them." He looked at the Commodore and added softly, "Let us talk about those pirates later."

The officers saluted and were dismissed, heading for the harbour, and Elizabeth left her yet stunned father and hurried after Commodore Norrington, who had walked away without another look at her.

"Commodore," she murmured when catching up with him, "can I have a word with you?"

"Later, Miss Swann," he replied just as quietly, still avoiding to look at her and marching quickly. She understood and stayed behind, slowly turning around and trotting back to her father. She was torn between disbelief, relief, gratitude and utter horror. Had it been the same man, who had attacked these ships, who had also sunk the Dauntless? Good Lord! Had the storm after all saved the crew from a fate even more gruesome? Had James been lucky that things had come like that? And thinking of him – why had he lied? And was this all now, or would the Admiral just wait until he punished him? She had a thousand questions but no answers and was impatient to talk to him. Later – what did that mean? Later – he must return to the Van Dykes as soon as he could! It could impossibly do him good to stroll around longer than absolutely necessary, here in the boiling sun. It was noon by now, and there he stood in the harbour, inspecting some silly boat! Instead of a wig and a hat, he should have had a cold compress on his head, and nothing else!

"Darling," the Governor groaned and touched his forehead with his handkerchief. "I think we should go home for lunch, don't you think?"

"I'm not hungry, father, but you should go home at any rate! I guess I will take a look at these new ships as well."

"But it's much too hot, my dear! One can easily get a sunstroke now!"

Exactly, she thought grimly and went back the same way that she had come. The sun was reflected by the surface of the water, hurting the eyes, and making it nearly impossible to distinguish much. There were three ships, one resembling the Interceptor; it was called Falcon and Elizabeth nearly ran into Lieutenant Gillette, having not seen him. He stared at the ship in awe, and she thought that she had rarely seen him so happy.

Next to the Falcon was a medium-sized vessel, likely to be Captain Filister's substitute for the Fortuna – wittily labelled 'Fortuna II', and a great six-mast ship, the Challenger. She couldn't but admit that she was very majestic and beautiful, made of dark wood and with golden trimmings. She looked just as solid as the Dauntless had, though a little more elegant, slenderer, lighter, but these were no qualities that Elizabeth estimated highly. This would be James' new ship, if everything turned out lucky, and all Elizabeth Swann cared for was how safe his ship was. According to her experience, a ship was the more vulnerable the more elegant it was, which rendered her to be very suspicious about the Challenger now.

"Elizabeth!"

She turned around, surprised to see Will who had come for the ships as well, obviously admiring them. He quietly asked her how it had been with the Admiral, and looking over her shoulder to make sure nobody could overhear them, she whispered, "Excellent, I hope! So far, Admiral Thompson hasn't done or said anything, and you should have seen the Commodore!"

He smiled. "I suppose that means that I'm not hanged within the next fortnight?"

"Oh no, you are safe anyway, for being such a good Christian." She chuckled lowly, receiving an nonplussed glance.

"Excuse me?"

"The Commodore –" She spoke even more quietly, so he had to bow over to hear her. "If there's ever been a sailor spinning his yarn, it must be him! He saved your neck, mine, my father's, and even his own, I hope – it was incredible, incredible, I tell you!"

"But the others –"

"That's the most amazing thing! He did not exactly lie, so nobody... I'll tell you later."

She saw Captain Filister approaching them and gave him a brilliant smile. Will saw it well and seized the newcomer with a mistrustful look, but this one didn't seem to take notice. Instead he cried, "Miss Swann, Mr Turner! I'm glad to see that it's not only old sailors who take interest in good ships – makes me hope for my sanity, you know? How do you like them?"

Will mustered a civil bow. "They're very impressive, Sir. I suppose the Fortuna II will be yours then?"

"Oh yes, and I already love her very well! I'm not like your Commodore mourning for his Dauntless – I'll sail on any ship!"

"The Commodore is very loyal," Elizabeth said earnestly, and he grinned.

"Yes, I got the same impression today, Miss!"

Elizabeth understood what he was playing at and cried deliberately lightly, "But the Dauntless was his first ship, and a very fine one. It isn't replaced easily!"

"A ship is a ship, Miss Swann, it's planks and sails and rigging. One is as good as the other, for all I care – a vessel to reach one's destination. One shouldn't be sentimental about it, as I keep telling the Commodore!"

She couldn't say why, but she was vexed with his answer and said, "No, sentimentality isn't in your nature, Captain, is it?"

"Hardly so, I prefer to look forwards! What about you, Mr Turner – when will you join our merry ranks?"

Will hesitated, and Elizabeth said quickly, "Hopefully not at all, Sir! All I've heard today makes it even less desirable to be a sailor's wife!"

"You sound like your good friend Miss Van Dyke. But let me assure you – no woman can resist a flashy uniform on the long run!"

"According to my experience, most men look far better without one!"

"What experience would that be, Miss Swann?" He sniggered. "No, no, I must defend my mates and me. Mr Turner, if your fiancée should ever make up her mind – you're very welcome! I've heard you were as good a sailor as a sword fighter, there's always need for men like that. But excuse me now, I have to return to my lot – all in uniforms!"

He went away, still chuckling, and Will murmured, "Elizabeth, think about it, please!"

"Oh, stop it!" she cried, unsure why she felt so angry, and remembering why she had come in the first place. She looked around, shielding her eyes against the sun, but the Commodore was nowhere to be seen. Had he finally listened to reason and returned to the shadows?

Will had witnessed the conversation in uneasiness; the Captain was charming, he had to admit that. His confession of a jocular temper wouldn't harm him with Elizabeth either, who often mocked Will himself for being too earnest. Not at all had he perceived the dissonance; he had been far too busy to admire the Captain's indeed flashy uniform, but now that she was apparently annoyed with him, he blamed it all on the Captain's appearance. This one was good-humoured, rich, successful and dashing in his uniforms – how should Elizabeth not be impressed by him?