It was a mutiny on the pirate ship, but it was a very pleasant and polite one. Of my four permanent crew members, the two men demanded their share of the net worth, wished me well, and departed when we made port. The two women who stayed with me hurled expletives at their shadows and threatened to tell other pirates a much different tale of what happened here.
I and my remaining two crew still had a job to do. Fortunately, the ship was mostly automated so we could sail to the target site. We were only half a day out of port when I sat on the bowsprit to watch the waters go by on a beautifully scenic day.
“Hey Cap’n! Where’s the Key?”
I did not hear the capitalization of the word as she had to yell for me to hear her. There was only one thing locked on the boat. The food locker. Now that the person responsible for eating two weeks worth of food as a midnight snack was gone, there was no good reason to keep it locked up.
“It’s in the Bible!”
Even as pirates go, I’m an odd one. While most pirates make some sort of lip service to the dominant religion either in worship or blasphemy, my indifference has nearly gotten me burned at the stake several times both in imperial harbours and “free” ports. So I keep a holy book to pacify inspectors and thieves.
Wait… she wasn’t asking about the food… My suspicion is confirmed with the sound of a chainsaw. Before I can get my footing and grab the sail, she has cut through the bowsprit. I see her accomplice releasing the attached sail making my attempt to secure safety a completely futile one. The cloth falls on top of me, trapping me against the falling beam, and into the patient sea I go.
The combined weight plummets me deep and saves me from being dragged against the hull of the quickly moving ship.
The ocean received its offering and laughs. I feel myself being pushed up to the surface and the cloth peeled away from me just in time for me to reach the surface and gasp.
I’m not angry. At them. I was furious at myself. The men had left because they feared the two women were being dishonest about their loyalties. “There is no honor among thieves, but only the desperate will burn the future for today. And we are not desperate.”
I’m not desperate, either. Not yet. I have a floating beam of wood, and some scraps of cloth. Perhaps I can fashion a current rider and get me near port. The ocean and the wind suddenly still, frustrating me further.
“There! She’s alive! Those fucking bitches threw her overboard!” That’s a familiar voice. An oiled inflated cloth tube lands beside me, attached to a rope. “Captain! Grab hold!”
The two men who had departed my crew haul me up onto their ship. It’s smaller than mine, but leaner than mine, and significantly quieter than mine. Good for stalking.
“You were following me.”
“Aye, Captain.”
“I ain’t your captain, no more, remember. You got paid and took your leave.”
The bigger of the two men, often the quieter, spoke up. “We got paid and took our leave of those betrayers. We knew they were up to something, but didn’t know what it was. And we weren’t sure if you were part of it or not.”
“I’m not desperate.”
“But you are strange. Even for a pirate. Captain.”
“Yea, fuck you, too. Welp. I’m alive, and in your debt. You have my hands until you make port, and then I’m off to rebuild again.”
The two men looked at each other and nodded. “Nay, Captain. We were coming to port for supplies and a job when we saw [the ship’s] bowsprit fall. You always kept her in perfect shape so we knew it had to be something wrong. When we saw you in the water, we figured out what happened. We’re not leaders, Captain. We were headed to port to find our next captain. But why find a new one, when you’re back with us again. That is… unless…”
“I can’t buy a ship! I can’t pay you! All I have is sailing to the edge of the world without me, and they won’t make it back. [The vault] will let them in. It will let anyone in. But to get out, that you need the Key. Which they do not have. That ship is as good as lost.”
The bigger man spoke up again. “Then pay us with your trust. And forgive us not trusting you after all you have done for us.”
“Talk is cheaper than shit.”
The smaller man sighed. “Here. Let me give you a secret then.” He removed his face. What I saw surprised and did not surprise me. “Aye, I have a reason to be in your company, but it is not to betray you further.”
“Well that explains your food choices. Let’s get to port, gentlemen. If it can be done, a different port than the one I just left. If those ladies get half of a clue, they are going to return for my body. Failing that, they are going to head back to port to see if I survived.”
“[Ship!]” A whistle was heard acknowledging the name. “Set sail for [distant port]! Be quick and silent about it!” A second whistle acknowledged the command and the ship leaned as it turned to its new heading.
The men led me to the captain’s quarters, which I noted had not been claimed. “Captain. Your quarters.”
“Aye, then. Captain, I am.”
The door changed and my name was revealed on it. I am a pirate captain, and this is my ship.