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Browncoats at Worlds End
Chapter 4: Answers
-
The middle of the Caribbean
With shaking hands James Norrington took his favorite quill and dipped it into the blotter. It had been days since he had written in his journal and that was when he recorded his meeting with Davy Jones and his crew. Two other ships from the royal navy, the Gallant and the Epic had joined them since then. Beckett had sent for more ships to join them. He had stated that one of his reasons was so he could leave James with the Intrepid and return to Port Royal.
James had questioned that motive. If Beckett left with the heart then what was going to prevent Jones from attacking the other ships. Beckett had told him had he received any word of Jones attacking any ship belonging to the royal navy or the East India company he would stab the heart then and there and he was going to make sure Jones new that as well.
James stared down that the once blank pages. He had started off with an entry but when his mind wandered he had begun to draw circles within circles. It was the same image from his dream and as he studied the markings down the center of the circles he saw they were not exactly the same as the one is dream.
A curse left his mouth as he dropped the quill and stood up. It had been a while since he had last had a drink and that could be the reason he was shaking. While on Tortuga he drowned himself in rum, becoming dependant on the hard and biting liquid that burned his throat. He drank at first to try to forget and ease the pain from the hurricane. There was plenty of rum on the Black Pearl, but none within the finer streets of Port Royal. The first few nights were a new form of hell. He couldn’t sleep, and when he managed to grab a few hours he woke in a cold sweat. He had trouble walking due to his body trembling so much. A few naval officers had brought him a few glasses of wine, ale, brandy and a mixture of gin, mineral water and lemon juice to help ease him from his ailment.
“Just one small glass,” he said as he made way to the cabinet where he stored a small bottle of sherry. Before Sparrow came into his life he would drink only once or twice a week at most, now it was at least once a day, even though he tried to prevent himself from becoming drunk.
“Sir,” one of the soldiers knocked on the door. “We are approaching a ship.”
“What flag does it sail under?” James asked as he poured just enough of the rich copper hued liquid to cover the bottom of the glass.
“Skull and crossbones sir.”
“I’ll meet with you on deck,” He drained his glass in a single swallow.
-
James had beaten Beckett and Mercer to the deck by a few seconds. His spyglass had sought out the mysterious ship and his soldier was correct. It was a pirate ship.
“What is he doing?” Beckett asked. Instead of staring out at the enemy ship he was studying the Dutchman through his spyglass.
James turned towards the direction of the decrepit ship. He saw several of the aquatic sailors as they were turning something, a large wheel, while the Bo ‘sun cracked his whip at them. “I have no idea.” He returned his attention back to the pirate ship. “It appears we will see our friends in action, now won’t we?”
“So it appears,” Beckett turned his spyglass onto the pirate ship. “There is our first target.”
“They do appear to be trying to speed up,” James commented. “They probably have seen us.”
“Jones doesn’t seem to be honoring his part of the bargain,” Mercer said.
James wasn’t sure. He saw something happen when Jones’s crew turned that wheel. “I think we need to be a bit more patient.” He didn’t remove his gaze from the pirate ship. Was it his imagination or did he see something extend from the water. No he wasn’t imagining anything. He did see long and fat tentacles reach up from the ocean surface.
“So this is the Kraken,” Beckett said. James noticed a slight tremble to his voice.
“It belongs to Jones and Jones belongs to you,” James assured him. 'As well as Governor Swann and I also belong to you'.
The arms of the giant squid wrapped around the hull of the ship, squeezing it with all its might and pulled down. Several parts of the ship came apart in the process; large pieces fell into the dark depths below.
James didn’t finish watching it and lowered the spyglass. “And it is done.”
“And another pirate ship is destroyed,” Beckett folded his spyglass and slipped it into his pocket. “You have done well, Commodore. You have given me the sea. You do not have to worry about your life or the lives of miss Swann and Mr. Turner.”
“Turner,” the voice of Davy Jones growled from behind them. The three men turned to see Jones was standing only inches away. His eyes were set into a glare and the small tentacles nearly his mouth were twitching rapidly. "I shall cut out his own heart and strike him upon the side of his head.”
James stared into the blue eyes of the beast man. “It would be best if you announced you were going to arrive.” He grabbed onto the hilt of his sword. Beckett had told him not to worry, but he wasn’t about to take any chances. “I see you haven’t brought your men this time.”
“There is no need fer them,” Jones said. The monstrous figure stared past him, straight at Beckett. “I am here t’ speak with Lord Beckett.”
“That you have,” Beckett grabbed onto the bag containing his heart. “You have no need to bring up William Turner.”
“He managed to survive. I knew as much when I viewed the chest.” His rubbery brow ridge twitched. “I see his body to be dragged to my locker, but you hold the heart.”
“And you will only kill who I instruct you to kill,” Beckett said. “All who sail under a pirate flag, all who I signal out to you.”
“Hmmm,” Jones nodded. “And what of the survivors?”
“We will take care of them, won’t we Commodore Norrington?”
James picked up on the cue. “Prepare the long boats.” He shouted out to his crew. “Sail towards the wreckage. Load up ever survivor and bring them to the brig.”
“If you encounter any survivors you will send them to one of our ships,” Beckett said to Jones. “I will take the Gallant back to Port Royal. You will lay not a single threat upon any of my ships. Do I make myself clear?”
“Very,” Jones nodded before he disappeared.
“I better instruct the captain of the Epic to travel with Jones by themselves for a while.” James said
“There is no need to come back with me,” Beckett told him. “The Gallant will take the prisoners back to Port Royal.”
“We have the means to clean the seas of pirates, not the lands where the are hiding.”
Beckett raised his eyebrows and the corner of his mouth turned up into a smile. “I like the way you think, Norrington. Mr. Mercer will come with me. I trust that you will do the right thing?”
James nodded. “Tortuga will be the first place swept clean of pirates.”
-
“Where are we?” Jayne Cobb asked for the tenth time. His constant questions were eating away at Malcolm’s patience.
“For the last time I don’t know,” Mal shouted at him before he turned back to face the wheel. The gorram contraption had caused him more pain that what its worth. His hands and fingers had been embedded with splinters. It had become a daily ritual for Simon Tam to clean them out, and once when the wheel slipped one of its spoke like handles smacked Mal in the mouth, earning him another bit of treatment for the doc.
“We’ve been on this tub for three days,” Jayne complained. “And we haven’t seen a lick of land.”
“We have to rely on the wind,” Kaylee explained. “She doesn’t have a photon reaction drive and she is doing the best she can with what she has.”
“It can kiss the wind from my backside,” Jayne said before he ventured beneath deck.
“Don’t listen to him,” Kaylee gave the main mast a light pat. “He was just seasick the longest. He didn’t mean anything.”
Seasick, the whole crew went through a small period of seasickness, some like Mal only lasted for hours and in case of Jayne it lasted for days. The sickness wasn’t just rooted to the movement of the ship at sea. There was also the adjustment to the food; most of it was fruit, large cracker like biscuits and fish. The ship was a true ancient relic, no electricity, and no refrigeration of any kind. The comforts they had on Serenity was lacking on the Haven, and it made some of them irritable.
“At least he isn’t asking if we are there yet,” Zoë approached him. She became somewhat distant the past few days. She rarely spoke and mostly stared at the only other item that arrived with her along with her weapons. Her recordings of Wash.
“He can be worse than a kid at times,” Mal nodded. When Jayne wasn’t throwing up he was exploring the ship. He enjoyed the cannons and found several cannon balls along with what appeared to have been discarded pirate flag folded up in the corner.
“I think it might be better if we had a child on board instead,” She smiled briefly before her eyes misted over.
“You were the one who said our lifestyle wasn’t safe for a child and wanted to keep Hobby with relatives on Santo.”
“I know,” she closed her eyes. “I miss him.”
“After we are done on Persephone we will visit him.” He was going to have to break off the promise he had made to Inara, but he had a feeling she would understand.
“Sir,” the youth said. “Captain Reynolds. We are here.”
“We are?” Malcolm returned to the helm and stared into the direction the boy was pointing. He could see a sliver of land growing larger as we neared it. “This should be over soon enough.”
-
Malcolm stared at the fireflies as they rowed through the swamp. The bottoms of the insects glowed with a greenish yellow light. He asked for a Firefly and he got several.
The youth told them to take a long boat out from the ship. They all boarded up, save for Inara and River who were instructed to stay behind. Mal had an even harder time rowing than he did steering. At first he nearly caused them to go backwards and then one oar kept sticking up higher than the other. Jayne insisted on helping but he caused them to go into circles. Simon took over for him and things had been much smoother, save for the few times Simon accidentally splashed Mal.
“What are we looking for, son?” Malcolm asked. Despite the humidity the swamp caused the hairs on his body to rise. “Cause I’m not liking the looks of this place.”
“Her hut?” The youth said.
“What does her hut look like?” He needed something more to go on.
“Could that be it?” Kaylee pointed something past Malcolm’s head. “It is a hut.”
Mal turned around and saw a reedy hut built over several stilt like legs. A stair case lead from the door down to the water.
“This is Tia Dalma’s home.” The youth said. “Tie the boat near the ladder.”
“What about your boat?” Kaylee asked. “We tore it up to fix the Haven, not that we are ungrateful or anything. We are really glad you helped us out with the repairs-“
“Captain,” Jayne cut her off.
“She is just concerned,” Simon glared at the mercenary.
“It is okay,” the youth smiled. “I can always make a new one. I like to make boats.”
“See,” Jayne pointed to the boy. “No need for any worrying.”
“Bi zui,” Mal said. “Jayne, want you to stay here with the boat. The rest of y’all are coming with me.
“Why do I have to stay here?” Jayne asked.
“Because I don’t want anyone to piss off the person that is going to help us get our ship back.”
“And you think I might?” He blinked when everyone stared at him. “I see your point.”
Mal set down the oars as neared the bottom of the steps. “As soon as this is over the better.” He climbed up the ladder first and paused outside the door. Should he knock first or ring the doorbell, never mind that. He couldn’t see a bell, or an intercom button.
“I should announce you.” The boy said. He knocked on the door first. “Tia Dalma. I have returned with the crew.” He slipped inside the hut.
“I still can’t believe she knew where to find us, or knew were going to be here.” Zoë said.
“Maybe, she’s like River,” Kaylee suggested.
“River is not this powerful,” Simon told her. “And she wouldn’t have been as strong as she is now if she wasn’t experimented on.”
“You think this lady might have had even more done on her,” Kaylee’s eyebrows rose with worry.
“Don’t say that,” Malcolm pointed at her. “I’m already at the edge here.”
The youth poked his head from the door. “She wants you to come in.”
Mal breathed in deeply before entered the hut and paused when his head was about to collide with a hanging glass jar. He didn’t know what it was inside, just knew to avoid it. There were several more jars hanging from the beams, the glass reflected the light from the candles, set on various tables. Mal tried to ignore the musty odor of the place, probably from damp wood. There was also the scent of burned wax, strange spices and other things he could not quite identify.
“Kaylee be careful,” Simon cautioned after he also nearly hit his head on one of the hanging jars.
“It’s a jar,” Kaylee brushed back her bangs as she and Zoë followed the doctor. “I wonder if it has dried flowers or spices or,” she blinked when examined it’s contents. “Eyeballs.” She walked over to another one. “This one has bugs.” She made her way to a third. “And this has.” Her forehead furrowed when she studied its contents. “Frog’s feet?”
“Hello?” Malcolm called out. He tried to find the mystery tea llama or whatever she was called.
A movement from the back caught his eye. A woman dressed in a long and raggedy gown approached him “Malcolm Reynolds.” Her hair was kept in long dreads and she had tattooed her face with spots. Her mouth was smeared with a dark lipstick, or some kind of makeup. “You have journeyed from a great distance.” She smiled at him, exposing gray teeth. Malcolm cannot remember a time when he craved a toothbrush as much as he did now.
“That I did miss-“
“Tia Dalma,” Zoë finished for him.
“You are not here with your entire crew?” Tia asked, noting the absence of Jayne, Inara and River.
“One is guarding the row boat and the others are in the main boat,” Malcolm explained. He was glad he made Jayne stay with the smaller boat. Tia’s place would have made him uneasy and would have shot off his mouth, he couldn’t tell with River, but feared she may have gone through one of her episodes and with Inara he would have had to endure her smug knowledge of other cultures.
“You don’t need to explain,” Tia said as she approached Simon and Kaylee. The doctor stood in front of Kaylee. “You two have a great future together.”
“We do?” Kaylee smiled. “Will we have a big wedding and children and a place where Simon can have a medical practice and I have a mechanic shop right next to it?” She grew starry eyed for a second.
“I cannot expand on that thought, don’t want to have to much telling of the future, although you live in it.”
She was just as strange as River, except in the girl’s case he could understand her. “Yeah, we were told you know where my ship is.”
“The one that flies, the one you have named Serenity.” Tia said.
“That’s her,” Mal’s smile faded. “Where is she?”
“To find her you need to find Jack Sparrow.”
“I thought you were the one who knew where she was.”
Tia’s smile disappeared. “I know how you can find her, not where it is, and to find this ship you need to find Jack Sparrow.”
“Where is he?” Zoe asked.
“You can find him at World’s End.”
“And where is that?” Malcolm tried to hide how irritated he felt from his voice.
“Before I tell you I must inform you of something. Where do you think you are and what year is it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Answer the question,” she frowned.
“We think we are on some backwater border planet with a nice ocean and decides to get off on naming itself after Earth that was and the year is 2519.”
She shook her head. “This is Earth that is and the year is 1760.”
Malcolm blinked. “What?”
“That’s impossible,” Simon stated.
“1760,” Kaylee repeated. “That’s the exact same number.”
“Same number as what?” Malcolm turned to her.
“The same number as the one on Jonas’s machine.”
“Jayne was playing with it,” Zoe said. “Tried to hide it from me.”
“No,” Mal shook his head. “No, no, this can’t be happening.”
“Jonas built a time machine,” Simon stared into Mal’s eyes. “That’s impossible.”
“Years ago we would have thought people who could read thoughts and a drug that created barbaric space zombies would have been impossible,” Zoe told him.
“How the hell am I going to find this World’s End?” Mal raised up his hands in despair. “And where is World’s End?”
“Have you been to the far east?” Tia Dalma asked.
“I live it,” Mal snapped and didn’t care that he did. “How can we be sure you are telling us the truth?”
“Captain?” Kaylee asked in a cautious tone.
“Jonas had barely tested the gorram thing. Stuff only got a few weeks in the past and future.”
“Do you know where you are?” Tia Dalma placed her hands on her hips. “You clearly know where you are not.”
“Sir,” Zoe grabbed onto his arm. “Try to calm yourself,” she turned to Tia Dalma. “We need to know how to get to the Far East, considering where and when we are.”
“You could sail with the ship that I provided for you.”
“You made sure that ship was waiting for us?”
Tia nodded. “And the items you rely on most.”
“We also rely on my ship,” Mal approached her, glaring straight into her eyes. “Why couldn’t you have Serenity waiting for us?”
The strange woman grabbed his shoulders. “It is best you don’t get on my bad side, Malcolm Reynolds. I provided you with what I can.”
“With what you gave us wont help us much,” Malcolm stepped back and slid her hands off him. “We don’t know a thing about sailing.”
“You managed to make it here in one piece.” Tia pointed out.
“I had a guide and what sea are we in?”
“The Caribbean.”
“We are here in the Caribbean, a group of people who are cushy with our technology and time. We were lucky. We can’t make it all the way over there.” He paused to catch his breath. He hated sounding whiny and his crew was surprising calm about it, unless they were in shock. Simon did appear to have been in such a state. He stood stiff, didn’t even seem to be moving. Kaylee continued to smile but her eyes were wide with a fear Mal had never seen. Zoe kept on shaking her head, as if she was still trying to understand it all.
“You can find a crew that knows how.”
“Hire some locals,” Zoe finally stopped shaking her head. “Where would we find such people?”
“Here,” Tia unrolled the scroll in her hand. “The place is called Tortuga and marked with a circle. Were we are is an X.”
Malcolm took the map from her and studied it. Tortuga didn’t seem that far away, or course if they were Serenity it would only take a few hours or minutes. “It will take a couple of days.”
“I feel the weather will be clear until you make it,” Tia told him.
Malcolm swallowed. “We have ourselves new mission now folk. We make our way to this little island, find a crew that knows what the hell they are doing, go to Asia, and find this Jack Sparrow. Ask him where my ship is, find Serenity and get back to where we started.” He rolled up the map. “First I’m going to cause some damage to Jayne’s jaw.”
“Sir go easy on him,” Zoe told him. “Leave some place on his face for me.”
“Do not be too angry with him, Malcolm,” Tia said. “It is not entirely his fault you are here.”
“I’ll try, but I can’t make any promise. Well I can, but my fists can’t.” He turned to leave.
“Shouldn’t we pay her?” Simon asked.
“With what?” Mal asked.
“You don’t need to worry about any payment,” Tia told him. “Just remember you can’t change the past, but must contribute to history.”
“Thanks for the advice,” Mal said as he pushed the door open. “Thanks for all the advice.” He didn’t see if the others followed after and quickly made his descent down the steps.
“So what do we do now?” Jayne asked as soon as Mall had arrived on the bottom step.
Mal fought every urge he hand to strike Jayne right there. “You are going to keep your mouth shut until we get back to the Haven and pray that Zoe and I will be in better mood when we return.”
“Why?” Jayne was about to press on until he noticed the way Malcolm was glaring at him and just closed his mouth and sat at the opposite end of the boat.
Chapter 4: Answers
-
The middle of the Caribbean
With shaking hands James Norrington took his favorite quill and dipped it into the blotter. It had been days since he had written in his journal and that was when he recorded his meeting with Davy Jones and his crew. Two other ships from the royal navy, the Gallant and the Epic had joined them since then. Beckett had sent for more ships to join them. He had stated that one of his reasons was so he could leave James with the Intrepid and return to Port Royal.
James had questioned that motive. If Beckett left with the heart then what was going to prevent Jones from attacking the other ships. Beckett had told him had he received any word of Jones attacking any ship belonging to the royal navy or the East India company he would stab the heart then and there and he was going to make sure Jones new that as well.
James stared down that the once blank pages. He had started off with an entry but when his mind wandered he had begun to draw circles within circles. It was the same image from his dream and as he studied the markings down the center of the circles he saw they were not exactly the same as the one is dream.
A curse left his mouth as he dropped the quill and stood up. It had been a while since he had last had a drink and that could be the reason he was shaking. While on Tortuga he drowned himself in rum, becoming dependant on the hard and biting liquid that burned his throat. He drank at first to try to forget and ease the pain from the hurricane. There was plenty of rum on the Black Pearl, but none within the finer streets of Port Royal. The first few nights were a new form of hell. He couldn’t sleep, and when he managed to grab a few hours he woke in a cold sweat. He had trouble walking due to his body trembling so much. A few naval officers had brought him a few glasses of wine, ale, brandy and a mixture of gin, mineral water and lemon juice to help ease him from his ailment.
“Just one small glass,” he said as he made way to the cabinet where he stored a small bottle of sherry. Before Sparrow came into his life he would drink only once or twice a week at most, now it was at least once a day, even though he tried to prevent himself from becoming drunk.
“Sir,” one of the soldiers knocked on the door. “We are approaching a ship.”
“What flag does it sail under?” James asked as he poured just enough of the rich copper hued liquid to cover the bottom of the glass.
“Skull and crossbones sir.”
“I’ll meet with you on deck,” He drained his glass in a single swallow.
-
James had beaten Beckett and Mercer to the deck by a few seconds. His spyglass had sought out the mysterious ship and his soldier was correct. It was a pirate ship.
“What is he doing?” Beckett asked. Instead of staring out at the enemy ship he was studying the Dutchman through his spyglass.
James turned towards the direction of the decrepit ship. He saw several of the aquatic sailors as they were turning something, a large wheel, while the Bo ‘sun cracked his whip at them. “I have no idea.” He returned his attention back to the pirate ship. “It appears we will see our friends in action, now won’t we?”
“So it appears,” Beckett turned his spyglass onto the pirate ship. “There is our first target.”
“They do appear to be trying to speed up,” James commented. “They probably have seen us.”
“Jones doesn’t seem to be honoring his part of the bargain,” Mercer said.
James wasn’t sure. He saw something happen when Jones’s crew turned that wheel. “I think we need to be a bit more patient.” He didn’t remove his gaze from the pirate ship. Was it his imagination or did he see something extend from the water. No he wasn’t imagining anything. He did see long and fat tentacles reach up from the ocean surface.
“So this is the Kraken,” Beckett said. James noticed a slight tremble to his voice.
“It belongs to Jones and Jones belongs to you,” James assured him. 'As well as Governor Swann and I also belong to you'.
The arms of the giant squid wrapped around the hull of the ship, squeezing it with all its might and pulled down. Several parts of the ship came apart in the process; large pieces fell into the dark depths below.
James didn’t finish watching it and lowered the spyglass. “And it is done.”
“And another pirate ship is destroyed,” Beckett folded his spyglass and slipped it into his pocket. “You have done well, Commodore. You have given me the sea. You do not have to worry about your life or the lives of miss Swann and Mr. Turner.”
“Turner,” the voice of Davy Jones growled from behind them. The three men turned to see Jones was standing only inches away. His eyes were set into a glare and the small tentacles nearly his mouth were twitching rapidly. "I shall cut out his own heart and strike him upon the side of his head.”
James stared into the blue eyes of the beast man. “It would be best if you announced you were going to arrive.” He grabbed onto the hilt of his sword. Beckett had told him not to worry, but he wasn’t about to take any chances. “I see you haven’t brought your men this time.”
“There is no need fer them,” Jones said. The monstrous figure stared past him, straight at Beckett. “I am here t’ speak with Lord Beckett.”
“That you have,” Beckett grabbed onto the bag containing his heart. “You have no need to bring up William Turner.”
“He managed to survive. I knew as much when I viewed the chest.” His rubbery brow ridge twitched. “I see his body to be dragged to my locker, but you hold the heart.”
“And you will only kill who I instruct you to kill,” Beckett said. “All who sail under a pirate flag, all who I signal out to you.”
“Hmmm,” Jones nodded. “And what of the survivors?”
“We will take care of them, won’t we Commodore Norrington?”
James picked up on the cue. “Prepare the long boats.” He shouted out to his crew. “Sail towards the wreckage. Load up ever survivor and bring them to the brig.”
“If you encounter any survivors you will send them to one of our ships,” Beckett said to Jones. “I will take the Gallant back to Port Royal. You will lay not a single threat upon any of my ships. Do I make myself clear?”
“Very,” Jones nodded before he disappeared.
“I better instruct the captain of the Epic to travel with Jones by themselves for a while.” James said
“There is no need to come back with me,” Beckett told him. “The Gallant will take the prisoners back to Port Royal.”
“We have the means to clean the seas of pirates, not the lands where the are hiding.”
Beckett raised his eyebrows and the corner of his mouth turned up into a smile. “I like the way you think, Norrington. Mr. Mercer will come with me. I trust that you will do the right thing?”
James nodded. “Tortuga will be the first place swept clean of pirates.”
-
“Where are we?” Jayne Cobb asked for the tenth time. His constant questions were eating away at Malcolm’s patience.
“For the last time I don’t know,” Mal shouted at him before he turned back to face the wheel. The gorram contraption had caused him more pain that what its worth. His hands and fingers had been embedded with splinters. It had become a daily ritual for Simon Tam to clean them out, and once when the wheel slipped one of its spoke like handles smacked Mal in the mouth, earning him another bit of treatment for the doc.
“We’ve been on this tub for three days,” Jayne complained. “And we haven’t seen a lick of land.”
“We have to rely on the wind,” Kaylee explained. “She doesn’t have a photon reaction drive and she is doing the best she can with what she has.”
“It can kiss the wind from my backside,” Jayne said before he ventured beneath deck.
“Don’t listen to him,” Kaylee gave the main mast a light pat. “He was just seasick the longest. He didn’t mean anything.”
Seasick, the whole crew went through a small period of seasickness, some like Mal only lasted for hours and in case of Jayne it lasted for days. The sickness wasn’t just rooted to the movement of the ship at sea. There was also the adjustment to the food; most of it was fruit, large cracker like biscuits and fish. The ship was a true ancient relic, no electricity, and no refrigeration of any kind. The comforts they had on Serenity was lacking on the Haven, and it made some of them irritable.
“At least he isn’t asking if we are there yet,” Zoë approached him. She became somewhat distant the past few days. She rarely spoke and mostly stared at the only other item that arrived with her along with her weapons. Her recordings of Wash.
“He can be worse than a kid at times,” Mal nodded. When Jayne wasn’t throwing up he was exploring the ship. He enjoyed the cannons and found several cannon balls along with what appeared to have been discarded pirate flag folded up in the corner.
“I think it might be better if we had a child on board instead,” She smiled briefly before her eyes misted over.
“You were the one who said our lifestyle wasn’t safe for a child and wanted to keep Hobby with relatives on Santo.”
“I know,” she closed her eyes. “I miss him.”
“After we are done on Persephone we will visit him.” He was going to have to break off the promise he had made to Inara, but he had a feeling she would understand.
“Sir,” the youth said. “Captain Reynolds. We are here.”
“We are?” Malcolm returned to the helm and stared into the direction the boy was pointing. He could see a sliver of land growing larger as we neared it. “This should be over soon enough.”
-
Malcolm stared at the fireflies as they rowed through the swamp. The bottoms of the insects glowed with a greenish yellow light. He asked for a Firefly and he got several.
The youth told them to take a long boat out from the ship. They all boarded up, save for Inara and River who were instructed to stay behind. Mal had an even harder time rowing than he did steering. At first he nearly caused them to go backwards and then one oar kept sticking up higher than the other. Jayne insisted on helping but he caused them to go into circles. Simon took over for him and things had been much smoother, save for the few times Simon accidentally splashed Mal.
“What are we looking for, son?” Malcolm asked. Despite the humidity the swamp caused the hairs on his body to rise. “Cause I’m not liking the looks of this place.”
“Her hut?” The youth said.
“What does her hut look like?” He needed something more to go on.
“Could that be it?” Kaylee pointed something past Malcolm’s head. “It is a hut.”
Mal turned around and saw a reedy hut built over several stilt like legs. A stair case lead from the door down to the water.
“This is Tia Dalma’s home.” The youth said. “Tie the boat near the ladder.”
“What about your boat?” Kaylee asked. “We tore it up to fix the Haven, not that we are ungrateful or anything. We are really glad you helped us out with the repairs-“
“Captain,” Jayne cut her off.
“She is just concerned,” Simon glared at the mercenary.
“It is okay,” the youth smiled. “I can always make a new one. I like to make boats.”
“See,” Jayne pointed to the boy. “No need for any worrying.”
“Bi zui,” Mal said. “Jayne, want you to stay here with the boat. The rest of y’all are coming with me.
“Why do I have to stay here?” Jayne asked.
“Because I don’t want anyone to piss off the person that is going to help us get our ship back.”
“And you think I might?” He blinked when everyone stared at him. “I see your point.”
Mal set down the oars as neared the bottom of the steps. “As soon as this is over the better.” He climbed up the ladder first and paused outside the door. Should he knock first or ring the doorbell, never mind that. He couldn’t see a bell, or an intercom button.
“I should announce you.” The boy said. He knocked on the door first. “Tia Dalma. I have returned with the crew.” He slipped inside the hut.
“I still can’t believe she knew where to find us, or knew were going to be here.” Zoë said.
“Maybe, she’s like River,” Kaylee suggested.
“River is not this powerful,” Simon told her. “And she wouldn’t have been as strong as she is now if she wasn’t experimented on.”
“You think this lady might have had even more done on her,” Kaylee’s eyebrows rose with worry.
“Don’t say that,” Malcolm pointed at her. “I’m already at the edge here.”
The youth poked his head from the door. “She wants you to come in.”
Mal breathed in deeply before entered the hut and paused when his head was about to collide with a hanging glass jar. He didn’t know what it was inside, just knew to avoid it. There were several more jars hanging from the beams, the glass reflected the light from the candles, set on various tables. Mal tried to ignore the musty odor of the place, probably from damp wood. There was also the scent of burned wax, strange spices and other things he could not quite identify.
“Kaylee be careful,” Simon cautioned after he also nearly hit his head on one of the hanging jars.
“It’s a jar,” Kaylee brushed back her bangs as she and Zoë followed the doctor. “I wonder if it has dried flowers or spices or,” she blinked when examined it’s contents. “Eyeballs.” She walked over to another one. “This one has bugs.” She made her way to a third. “And this has.” Her forehead furrowed when she studied its contents. “Frog’s feet?”
“Hello?” Malcolm called out. He tried to find the mystery tea llama or whatever she was called.
A movement from the back caught his eye. A woman dressed in a long and raggedy gown approached him “Malcolm Reynolds.” Her hair was kept in long dreads and she had tattooed her face with spots. Her mouth was smeared with a dark lipstick, or some kind of makeup. “You have journeyed from a great distance.” She smiled at him, exposing gray teeth. Malcolm cannot remember a time when he craved a toothbrush as much as he did now.
“That I did miss-“
“Tia Dalma,” Zoë finished for him.
“You are not here with your entire crew?” Tia asked, noting the absence of Jayne, Inara and River.
“One is guarding the row boat and the others are in the main boat,” Malcolm explained. He was glad he made Jayne stay with the smaller boat. Tia’s place would have made him uneasy and would have shot off his mouth, he couldn’t tell with River, but feared she may have gone through one of her episodes and with Inara he would have had to endure her smug knowledge of other cultures.
“You don’t need to explain,” Tia said as she approached Simon and Kaylee. The doctor stood in front of Kaylee. “You two have a great future together.”
“We do?” Kaylee smiled. “Will we have a big wedding and children and a place where Simon can have a medical practice and I have a mechanic shop right next to it?” She grew starry eyed for a second.
“I cannot expand on that thought, don’t want to have to much telling of the future, although you live in it.”
She was just as strange as River, except in the girl’s case he could understand her. “Yeah, we were told you know where my ship is.”
“The one that flies, the one you have named Serenity.” Tia said.
“That’s her,” Mal’s smile faded. “Where is she?”
“To find her you need to find Jack Sparrow.”
“I thought you were the one who knew where she was.”
Tia’s smile disappeared. “I know how you can find her, not where it is, and to find this ship you need to find Jack Sparrow.”
“Where is he?” Zoe asked.
“You can find him at World’s End.”
“And where is that?” Malcolm tried to hide how irritated he felt from his voice.
“Before I tell you I must inform you of something. Where do you think you are and what year is it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Answer the question,” she frowned.
“We think we are on some backwater border planet with a nice ocean and decides to get off on naming itself after Earth that was and the year is 2519.”
She shook her head. “This is Earth that is and the year is 1760.”
Malcolm blinked. “What?”
“That’s impossible,” Simon stated.
“1760,” Kaylee repeated. “That’s the exact same number.”
“Same number as what?” Malcolm turned to her.
“The same number as the one on Jonas’s machine.”
“Jayne was playing with it,” Zoe said. “Tried to hide it from me.”
“No,” Mal shook his head. “No, no, this can’t be happening.”
“Jonas built a time machine,” Simon stared into Mal’s eyes. “That’s impossible.”
“Years ago we would have thought people who could read thoughts and a drug that created barbaric space zombies would have been impossible,” Zoe told him.
“How the hell am I going to find this World’s End?” Mal raised up his hands in despair. “And where is World’s End?”
“Have you been to the far east?” Tia Dalma asked.
“I live it,” Mal snapped and didn’t care that he did. “How can we be sure you are telling us the truth?”
“Captain?” Kaylee asked in a cautious tone.
“Jonas had barely tested the gorram thing. Stuff only got a few weeks in the past and future.”
“Do you know where you are?” Tia Dalma placed her hands on her hips. “You clearly know where you are not.”
“Sir,” Zoe grabbed onto his arm. “Try to calm yourself,” she turned to Tia Dalma. “We need to know how to get to the Far East, considering where and when we are.”
“You could sail with the ship that I provided for you.”
“You made sure that ship was waiting for us?”
Tia nodded. “And the items you rely on most.”
“We also rely on my ship,” Mal approached her, glaring straight into her eyes. “Why couldn’t you have Serenity waiting for us?”
The strange woman grabbed his shoulders. “It is best you don’t get on my bad side, Malcolm Reynolds. I provided you with what I can.”
“With what you gave us wont help us much,” Malcolm stepped back and slid her hands off him. “We don’t know a thing about sailing.”
“You managed to make it here in one piece.” Tia pointed out.
“I had a guide and what sea are we in?”
“The Caribbean.”
“We are here in the Caribbean, a group of people who are cushy with our technology and time. We were lucky. We can’t make it all the way over there.” He paused to catch his breath. He hated sounding whiny and his crew was surprising calm about it, unless they were in shock. Simon did appear to have been in such a state. He stood stiff, didn’t even seem to be moving. Kaylee continued to smile but her eyes were wide with a fear Mal had never seen. Zoe kept on shaking her head, as if she was still trying to understand it all.
“You can find a crew that knows how.”
“Hire some locals,” Zoe finally stopped shaking her head. “Where would we find such people?”
“Here,” Tia unrolled the scroll in her hand. “The place is called Tortuga and marked with a circle. Were we are is an X.”
Malcolm took the map from her and studied it. Tortuga didn’t seem that far away, or course if they were Serenity it would only take a few hours or minutes. “It will take a couple of days.”
“I feel the weather will be clear until you make it,” Tia told him.
Malcolm swallowed. “We have ourselves new mission now folk. We make our way to this little island, find a crew that knows what the hell they are doing, go to Asia, and find this Jack Sparrow. Ask him where my ship is, find Serenity and get back to where we started.” He rolled up the map. “First I’m going to cause some damage to Jayne’s jaw.”
“Sir go easy on him,” Zoe told him. “Leave some place on his face for me.”
“Do not be too angry with him, Malcolm,” Tia said. “It is not entirely his fault you are here.”
“I’ll try, but I can’t make any promise. Well I can, but my fists can’t.” He turned to leave.
“Shouldn’t we pay her?” Simon asked.
“With what?” Mal asked.
“You don’t need to worry about any payment,” Tia told him. “Just remember you can’t change the past, but must contribute to history.”
“Thanks for the advice,” Mal said as he pushed the door open. “Thanks for all the advice.” He didn’t see if the others followed after and quickly made his descent down the steps.
“So what do we do now?” Jayne asked as soon as Mall had arrived on the bottom step.
Mal fought every urge he hand to strike Jayne right there. “You are going to keep your mouth shut until we get back to the Haven and pray that Zoe and I will be in better mood when we return.”
“Why?” Jayne was about to press on until he noticed the way Malcolm was glaring at him and just closed his mouth and sat at the opposite end of the boat.
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Date: 2006-09-10 06:20 am (UTC)From:I noticed a few spelling and grammatical errors, but other than that it read pretty smoothly. You managed to blend the two universes and have a plot that's original and full of potential. I look forward to the next part!