Pirate's Tail

Chapter Four

The captain's quarters were a stark contrast to the prison cell Ace had spent the last few hours in. Except for the large window behind the captain's desk, the walls of the cabin were covered with maps and bookcases filled with volumes of books and trinkets from around the world. There was a rather large, colorful bird sleeping on a stand in one of the corners of the office. The room was well lit, and the large windows were cracked open and a gentle sea breeze penetrated the room.

"Thank you, gentlemen," the captain said to Ace's guards. "Please leave us. I'm sure you both have duties to attend to." They both acknowledged the captain and left the room quietly.

Now that they were alone, the Captain turned to Ace. He was a grizzled middle-aged man who looked like he'd been born from the sea. He was medium in height with a scraggly black beard, with dark brown eyes, and a lined face. He wore the blue naval uniform of a Menquin captain.

"Hello again, Mr. Lynx. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Captain Alphs of the Fighting Ship of Menquin Visp. You're the first stowaway I've had to deal with in all my years at sea and, to be honest, I'm not sure what to do with you. Perhaps you were sent here to sabotage our mission, or perhaps you just made a stupid mistake. I'd like to hear your side of the story, Mr. Lynx," The captain said, taking a seat behind his desk. "Please have a seat." Captain Alphs directed his hand toward the chair facing his desk.

Ace took the seat offered to him. "Captain Alphs, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard about the greatness of the F.S.M Visp during the Great War. I have no idea what your current mission is, and I have no intent to sabotage anything," Ace started. "I've had a tough day, sir. I was only looking for a place to get out of the hailstorm when I crawled under the lifeboat. I accidently fell asleep and woke up at sea on the Visp. "

Captain Alphs looked at Ace in silence for a moment. "Have you ever entered the country of Zhir?"

"No, sir. To be honest, I have no idea where Zhir is."

Captain Alphs shot Ace a quizzical look. The Captain slowly stood behind his desk and retrieved something from one of his shelves. The Captain returned and dropped a map onto the desk between them.

"You need to be educated, boy, especially with the world. Here is Zhir," Captain Alphs said pointing to the country. "That's who we fought against in the Great War. Strange folks, but they're a worthy opponent, and we couldn't have won if it weren't for the help of our allies, the Jayorians," the captain continued, pointing to the second country.

Ace stared at the map and shook his head. "It all just looks so big."

Captain Alphs chuckled and nodded. "Tell me about your tough day, Mr. Lynx."

"I was raised in an orphanage until a few months ago when I was adopted by Captain Harris and his wife in Haiglin. He owns a marine salvage company there, and we recover what we can off the shipwrecks from the Great War. We're quite good at what we do. Just yesterday we found a large Menquin carrack off Jenerin Point with twenty-eight guns. The guns appeared to be made of silver," Ace said.

"Silver, huh? Off Jenerin Point? Well, I'll be...." The captain said, leaning back in his chair. "Sounds like the Queen Nancy nearly made it. Let's hope Captain Harris retrieves her quickly."

"Queen Nancy? Is that the name of the ship we found?" Ace asked.

"Sounds like the only one it could be, if it truly had silver cannons." Captain Alphs paused and looked hard at Ace. "You have no idea what that is, do you?"

Ace shook his head.

The captain took a deep breath. "I think you're being honest with me, kid, so I'll be honest with you. Queen Nancy was a ship laden with treasure from the far corners of the world and beyond. It's worth more than you and I can fathom. On her way back to Menquin, Queen Nancy got separated from her fleet and disappeared. The ship and her crew were never seen again. Word was that she had enough gold on her to pay for the war two times over. Between you and me, our country could sure use that money now," Captain Alphs said.