The Captain

The ocean stirred. The winds spoke. The swells moved with emotions. These raw natural instincts flowed through Captain Swellshot much like how mist absorbs into dry wood. The crew of the Sinister regarded their captain with heightened anticipation. Feelings of pride and courage swelled within each member when the captain came on deck to guide and be part of the crew. Very few, if any, could remember being on a ship where the captain was more part of the crew than Captain Swellshot.

Swellshot was a man that took chances when there was gain. However, there had never been a chance such as this one in the current memory of any of the Sinister's crew. This chance was a calculated risk that all aboard knew and understood. No crew member stepped off the ship when the captain called the crew together with his customary table of ledgers and ink quills before a voyage. No crew member stepped off the ship when the captain explained that every crew member would be rewarded more on this voyage than all others combined together. No crew member stepped off the ship when the captain explained that the voyage would take seventy fortnights to complete. No crew member stepped off the ship when the captain explained that some would not make it back alive.

Not one.

The voyage, now in it's thirty third fortnight, was nearing its final destination. The destination was a group of islands that needed to be explored, mapped, and sampled. The Society of World Explorations, at the Sinister's home port, had fully funded the expedition and heavily awaited the ship upon the return voyage.

Not to anyone's imagination would it have been thought of for the SWE to fund a non-member of the Brotherhood of the Explorers let alone Swellshot. Not that there was hard feelings toward the lone captain. What the society agonized over for months was choosing the right leader and explorer for the most important exploration the country had ever taken part in. In the end, the quiet captain was shown into the society's auditorium where he was surrounded by every member of the society - one hundred and twelve in all.

For a full week the society asked, prodded, and drilled the seaman to the extent of his knowledge about every inch of land he had ever been to, every ship he had been on, and every trade and barter that he had a hand in. However, the most important point the society needed to know about the stern captain was how he dealt with pirates. Pirates had all but ruined the society many times over the past decades, bankrupting them several times. On this monumental voyage pirates had to be dealt with and the society could risk no more failures - especially with this voyage as the voyage of all voyages!

What cemented their decision with Captain Swellshot was the simple fact that since being at sea as a captain, he had never lost a ship nor his reputation. The society was well aware that many captains were in league in pirates. Other captains had completed smaller expeditions for the society but with many losses and less with the satisfaction to the society. What the SWE needed was someone with integrity and boldness, who could face danger without flinching, and who could navigate to a patron's desire with honesty. After the seventh day of interrogation, the society anonymously voted that the very man they needed stood before them all alone.

When the captain spoke, all listened to his thoughts, comments, and answers. None doubted the captain's sincerity or reputation by the end of that final day. The only question remaining to be answered on the last hour of that final day was, of all things, the name of his ship - The Sinister!

The captain had talked around and avoided the question leaving it for the final discussion. When he answered the question as to the Sinister's origin there was not a sound to be heard in the giant auditorium but the low clear voice of a man deadly serious. The reason for the ship's dark name was that it was not his!