"This is the fastest ship in the whole Caribbean! I might say – the whole world," Captain Jack Sparrow said with some satisfaction, affectionately stroking over the rail. "Don't you think, love?"

"I say you've got more luck than you'd deserve, Jack!" Anamaria replied with a scowl.

"Captain, if you please, love!"

"Oh cut that, for goodness' sake! They might just as well have killed us!"

"But they haven't!"

"I hope you're satisfied now! Have you got what you wanted, or did we risk our bums for the fun of it?!"

They had just escaped three attacking vessels after Captain Sparrow had insisted to sail as close by them as they could. It had been Joshamee Gibbs who had sighted them, and to Anamaria's greatest distress, the Captain had been delighted with these news. He had claimed, and probably rightly so, that these three ships, although they sailed under Venetian colours, could be just those ships that had sunk the Dauntless a month ago.

Now he sniggered. "I'm very proud of you! You're a very good helmsman!"

"And? Will you finally tell me what it was that you were so keen for, or is this just another of Captain Jack Sparrow's famous secrets?!"

"I'll tell you, but for a start, head East. We're to visit the lovely town of Port Royal!"

"Are you insane? Oh please, what am I asking there! Of course you are! What the hell can you possibly want in Port Royal? Have another rendezvous with the hangman?!"

He shot her a broad grin, "I'd say it's time to visit some old acquaintance, love!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You'll see soon enough. Now set top sails and don't defy your Captain, will you?"

"You aren't my Captain, Jack Sparrow! And I demand you to tell me now what you want in Port Royal!"

Her face left no doubt that she was exasperated – he loved it when she looked like that, but by experience he knew that he was close to the edge, and one better wouldn't want go over the edge with Anamaria.

"Darling," he said archly, "I need to have some words with my ol' mate, the Commodore!"

She didn't know whether she should laugh or shout at him. "The Commodore?" she taunted, "Commodore 'I intend to see to it that every pirate gets what he deserves' Norrington?"

"And still you've nursed him, darling, haven't you? And I dare say after rescuing his life, he might have softened up a bit against me!"

"Like when you saved his fiancée's life and he wanted to hang you for it?"

"You see, love, in the end, we all just do what we ought to do. Every man's got his profession! I'm a pirate, he's the Commodore, his job is to hang people like me, and my job is to ridicule him when he tries it… However, this time, he might be rather pleased to see me!"

"And why should the Commodore be pleased to see you? For I can hardly stand the sight!"

"Now, now – relax, love," he giggled, "The good Commodore, the scourge of piracy – don't you think he'd love to hear some more about the scoundrels who've lost him his precious ship?"

"Now don't you keep me on tenterhooks! What have you seen there?"

His expression turned suddenly serious, "I've seen a dead man. What either means I'm mad – spare your breath for the soup, love – or what I've seen was a ghost, or… If it was up to me, I'd prefer it to have been a ghost, really!"

In the evening, the Captain informed the whole crew about his observation, who would listen with wide eyes and open mouths, and in the end, Anamaria moaned, "Oh damn it!"

"Damn him, once and for all I say!"

Even Mr. Cotton's parrot screeched hoarsely, "Blast 'em to hell! Blast 'em to hell!"

When the Black Pearl was close to Port Royal after a voyage of six days, Anamaria asked at last the question that had bothered her most in the past days, but which she had known useless anyway, unless they had actually reached their destination. But now, she sneered dryly, "So, Captain Sparrow, what will it be? Do we just sail into the harbour and wait for them to start the fire, or do you have a better plan?"

"Love, ya can't just sail with a pirate ship into the harbour like that. Would be quite dangerous, don't you know that?"

She struggled for patience. "I was more afraid that you might have forgotten about this tiny problem!"

"You wait here with the Pearl and the crew, while Mr. Gibbs and I will take the boat. Ready, Mr. Gibbs?"

That one twisted his mouth, "Sir, I'd be glad if you'd leave me here and take somebody else, candidly, I don't think the Commodore would be very pleased seeing me, and as for me –"

"But that's just the reason why I want you to accompany me, Mr. Gibbs! You know the Commodore of old, you know best how to talk to him!"

"If I knew that, I'd still be in the Navy, Captain!"

"There's no reason to be so coy about it, Mr. Gibbs, there may be some awkwardness in the beginning, but once they've heard what we've come for, they'll welcome us with open arms!"

Mr. Gibbs was very sceptical about that, but there was no use in arguing with the Captain anyway, he knew him too long to even consider it. He shrugged, exchanged a bewildered look with Anamaria, and followed his boss. He was also the one to row the boat; it was dark by now and they tied it a good deal away from the actual harbour, on some rocky and hidden part of the coast.

"Jack, if my eyes do not fool me, there is only one ship in the harbour – ya think it possible Norrington has already left?"

"Or they got only one flashy new ship, but then – this one is more like the Interceptor, and I don't think the good Commodore would do without a proper flagship!"

"But what do we do then? This Gillette lad is a terrible guy, he wouldn't listen to you anyway!"

"But I know somebody that he might listen to…"

They climbed up the rocks without being seen, and Gibbs already wanted to turn towards the fort when pulled back by his Captain. "Wrong way, Mr. Gibbs. Come here, we need to go up there!"

"To the Governor? Jack, I don't think that's a good idea, that man is –"

"Don't want to see the Governor, do we? No, I know something better!"

In the shadows, they approached the house, and with the help of a veranda and the balcony's balustrade, they soon came to the window that Jack Sparrow meant to be the right one. Mr. Gibbs' hands were all sweaty with nervousness. "They hang us straight away for this, Jack! Breaking and entering –"

"The end justifies the means, Mr. Gibbs! Come on!"

Elizabeth wasn't sleeping yet, she couldn't – too many things were on her mind, when she heard whispers on the balcony. Her curiosity drove her out of her bed, she tiptoed to the window and peeked out, shocked for a second to see two men manipulating the window of the room next to hers, but then, she recognised something about the movements of one of them. She opened her own window and whispered, "Hey! Hey! Wrong entrance!"

One of the two men nearly lost his balance with surprise, but the other caught him and pushed him over.

"Lovely evening, Miss Swann!" Captain Jack Sparrow grinned broadly, flashing the full amount of his gold teeth. She quickly pulled them in, "Are you crazy? When somebody finds you here! You had almost tried to break into my father's bedroom!"

"See, I thought you wouldn't possibly be snoring like that!"

"What on earth are you doing here!"

"Elizabeth, darling, I terribly missed you, you know that?"

She arched a brow, "Oh, sure. So what do you want?"

"Your friend, the Commodore – is he around?"

"Certainly, he wouldn't be here, and if he was, you'd be dead by now, but most regrettably, he isn't in Port Royal at all – what do you want from him anyway?"

"Need to talk to him about some urgent dealings, love! Who is his deputy?"

"Lieutenant Chandler – but – what sort of urgent dealing?!"

Jack smiled ingeniously, "Chandler! That's the bore we've brought home, isn't he? Now that's lucky!"

"What do you want from the Commodore, or his deputy?"

"Let me put it like that, love – I have some news for 'em that are certainly of interest!"

Elizabeth was speechless. Seeing Jack Sparrow and Mr. Gibbs in the middle of the night in her bedroom, asking for James because he wanted to pass him information – it couldn't get much more weird than that, could it?

"Send a note to Chandler to come up here at once, love!"

"I will do no such thing! Are you drunk or what?!"

They quarrelled around in whispering tones, but eventually, Jack persuaded her – she vaguely thought that he had an air about him that could sell a barrel of rum to a nun. She scribbled some lines and sneaked down to send one of the coachmen to the fort. Coming back, she saw that her two late visitors had made themselves feel at home, but she knew them to well to even be surprised.

Chandler arrived twenty minutes later, his wig lopsided and a bit out of breath. He couldn't believe that Little Miss Suit Yourself had the nerve to call for him in the middle of the night, and even more incredulous he was with the fact that he'd actually obeyed that insolent person. He glared at her and was ready to relate just how indignant he was with her behaviour, but she told him to be quiet and led him up to her room, answering to his puzzled inquiries, "I can't explain, see for yourself!"

He stopped dead when entering the room, and shortly, his hand flew to his sword. "You?!"

"Shh!" Elizabeth, Jack Sparrow and Mr. Gibbs made simultaneously. Captain Sparrow seemed highly satisfied with himself, while his mate clearly wished to be somewhere else and Miss Swann shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what it is they want here, but it seems somehow important."

Once more, Chandler opened his mouth for a snide retort, but he had no chance to speak up because Sparrow had got to his feet, and for the first time ever, he didn't appear either drunk nor unhinged. Somehow, that was enough to intrigue the young Lieutenant and make him listen to a man that he would otherwise have clapped in irons at once.

"Lieutenant Chandler, I'm glad to see that it's you we're dealing with. You're a sensible man." Sparrow's features darkened. "I hope you know how to handle this. Roughly a week ago, the Black Pearl encountered a small fleet matching the description you've given us about those ships who've attacked the Dauntless, though they sail under Venetian colours now. We approached as near as we could before they started the fire, and through the telescope, I had a pretty good view on all decks. Obviously, they were commanded in the attack by only one of their captains, which is the reason why we've ventured to come here and inform you. This man is said to be dead for two years now, killed by one of your officers. But to me, he seemed very much alive, we could escape by a hair's breadth –"

Despite himself, Chandler muttered, "Are you telling me you've risked to come here only to inform me about another pirate, Captain Sparrow? Before we go on – what's in it for you?"

Jack Sparrow had abandoned all his usual nuttiness and spoke very earnestly, "Nothing really. But the man we're talking about is a slaughterer, and though he should be some sort of natural companion in my eyes, I must say I rejoiced in his end back then. This isn't one of the usual pirate threats that you Navy guys manage so nicely on your own. He is an utmost dangerous, a particularly cruel man who doesn't know the meaning of mercy, compassion or magnanimity –"

"That means you know Commodore Nero?"

"Who? Never heard of him!"

"But according to our information it is a man called Commodore Nero commanding these pirates!"

"Given that we're talking about the same ships here, he is not, I assure you. I've had a clash with him once…" He pulled his collar open and presented two scarves that must have been effected by a pair of bullets, "And I have recognised him on one of these ships."

Chandler remembered Miss Van Dyke's contemplations relating to Gillette's last statements before he passed away and asked anxiously, "Who is it that man?"

"You remember Captain Horatio Black?"

Chandler gave a muffled groan, while Elizabeth took a second longer to know why this name rang a bell with her. She gaped at Jack and croaked, "No!"

He nodded softly, maintaining his gaze at the Lieutenant, "I guess you understand what this means?"

"I do," Chandler murmured almost soundlessly, his whole pose petrified, but then he seemed to regain composure. "There can't be any mistake about it? It can't have been a man looking very similar?"

"I truly wish I wasn't sure or had been mistaken, Chandler. Believing Black had forever gone to hell was sort of – a relief."

Mr. Gibbs, who had been silent all the time, muttered quietly, "Black is the son of the devil himself! He didn't become a pirate for the treasures, he only does it for the freedom to have the victims entirely to his will. He doesn't simply kill them, no. He stakes them, he mutilates them bit by bit, keeping them just so much alive that they can feel the pain to the utmost extent. He has them tied by their feet and hung head over as living targets for his men, to practise for shooting and throwing knives, he –"

Chandler lifted his hand and showed him to stop, "Mr. Gibbs! With Miss Swann present –"

"I know about him," she whispered, "I read about him… But he's dead! He must be dead!"

"He should be dead, yes. But he must have escaped somehow… Captain Filister has been deceived, he only thought him to be dead –"

"Is that what you believe, Lieutenant?" Jack Sparrow asked gravely. "Do you really believe your good Captain was merely deceived? I rather think it's been him doing the deceiving!"

"No!" This was Elizabeth, she was pale and trembling. "You don't know him, Jack, he's – he's a good man, very agreeable –"

"Captain Filister is a highly decorated officer, Captain Sparrow!"

"He's been highly decorated for his defeat of Black in the first place," Jack sneered. "His fame derives from presenting Black's sword, but the corpse was never seen –"

"But the crew! They have seen him kill Black!" Elizabeth defended the man that she had intended her friend Henrietta to marry.

Chandler shook his head, "Only about twenty soldiers survived that battle, Miss Swann, and Filister was the only one of rank… Perhaps they weren't as much lucky as we meant, but simply ruthless enough – by conspiring with Black and the Captain, they saved their skin and – but no, it doesn't make sense… After returning to Nassau, they could have –"

"They could have informed somebody, Lieutenant, but why should they? Mr. Gibbs was right, Black didn't do it for the riches, and he was generous in sharing his prey… "

"But why should Black conspire with them in the first place then? He could have killed them, too, would save him pretending to be dead, for an instance!" Elizabeth cried eagerly.

Jack chuckled, "Because it comes in handy to have allies in important places, darling. It's good when somebody watches your back and Filister knows a lot of things that must be of interest for Black –"

"The routes of gold frigates – which ships sail without protection, and roughly even where other Navy ships patrol and how they're armed… A source like Captain Filister would be invaluable for Black." Chandler shook his head in disdain.

Jack Sparrow nodded. "Exactly. Thanks to the impressive net of communication you guys have established, you always seem to know where your comrades cruise, roughly at least. I bet you even know where the good Commodore is presently?"

Elizabeth suddenly had a lump in her throat. "The Commodore! So what you say is that Black could know where the Challenger is right now, and how it is armed?!"

Chandler looked sick. "Yes, I know their routes, and I've sent dispatches to Nassau immediately after the Challenger's departure – But nevertheless! How should Filister keep in touch with Black! Black can't just sail to Nassau Port every now and then!"

"That's the only thing I haven't figured out yet," Jack admitted with a shrug.

"Wake up your father, Miss Swann. I have to talk to him. Wake him up now!"