"There is no life here." "There is no joy here." " There is no love here." " What are you talking about?" "!" "What do you think I'm out there fighting for if not to make all those things possible here?" "The fort controls the bay, I control the fort." "So I will be your partner." "I'm afraid I'm simply enjoying myself way too much to consider leaving this place." "I know his crew hold an asset from their last prize that they deem of great value." " What asset?" " I don't know." "We'll procure a ship, we'll recruit men and we'll create from nothing a new crew." "You asked for better captains," "I give you Captain Jack Rackham." "In less than two days, I intend to be a captain again." "Fire!" "You orchestrated it all." "The deaths, the destruction." "Is it possible a man could do such a thing?" "Herein lies the problem we face if we are to secure Nassau's future." "It is a problem that has festered for more than a generation." "And it's a problem most insidious." "Illiteracy?" "Her husband." "Governor Robert Thompson, the one accepting bribes from pirate captains as fast as they can pay them in exchange for catering to their every need." "Meanwhile, he's sending word back to his pamphleteer friends in London about the scourge of the pirate menace, which garners him sympathy and support, which solidifies his position, and which only fuels the underlying problem." "That's true, but I don't see how we can do anything about it." "We can't get an honest man appointed governor in the Bahamas?" "We can get him appointed." "The problem seems to be keeping him honest thereafter." "Well, what stands in the way of it?" "Well, the Atlantic Ocean." "Put a man on an island, give him power over other men, and it won't be long before he realizes that the limits of that power are nowhere to be seen." "And no man given that kind of influence will remain honest for very long." "Yes?" "Came to make sure you two were still alive." "No one's heard from you in hours." "The lieutenant was just recounting to me his belief that the only thing that stands between us and a prosperous Nassau is an ocean, 100 years of history, and human nature." "Has he been like this all day?" "More or less, ma'am, yes." "A gift." "One of my favorites." "And you might find it helpful in dealing with my husband going forward." "Thank you, dear." "Well played." "Although that edition is in Spanish." "I don't think the lieutenant speaks it." "Perhaps he should learn." "In his profession, you never know when it might be useful." "Stop jacking off on the figurehead." "Joji!" "Last item." "The powers that be have chosen a spot for our anchorage." "One mile north-northeast from the western tip of the Hog well beyond the view of Nassau town." "Watches will continue on schedule while provisions are secured via longboat." "Well, why ain't there been a vote?" "I beg your pardon?" "Well, I want to go home." "Back in the bay." "Ain't no one ask what I think about it." "We vote that fuck of a captain back into his station and he's already skirting the fucking rules." "We're sailing a Spanish warship." "Captain Hornigold's fort protects the bay from Spanish warships." "I imagine the captain and quartermaster thought it self-evident that someone must go ahead and explain so as to avoid a reactionary attack from the fort." "We're flying the black." "Doesn't it identify us?" "You mean behind the giant red crosses on the sails?" "I want to vote." "Hey, don't worry." "We'll sort it out." "Land ho!" "Almost took my fucking head off." "I've made camp at Port Royal, Tortuga, Kingston." "No matter where I've been, one thing is true." "There's always one." "The one you don't cross." "It would seem readily apparent that in this place, that would be you." "Thank you for noticing." "What the fuck are you doing here?" "I think it's no secret that since my arrival" "I've been repeatedly provoked and harassed by the Guthrie woman." "And, as her aggression seems to be escalating," "I thought it wise to speak of this in the open." "Her aggression towards you?" "Conspiracy with my quartermaster to depose me." "And a provocation by her man-at-arms." "I think you and I have both seen enough of these things to know they never end well." "What are you telling me for?" "I saw you that day in the tavern." "I hear you and she have a connection." "And if things were to deteriorate even further between us," "I'd just like to know whether I'll have you to deal with, too." "I can't imagine what we'd have to gain by taking an interest in the affairs of the Guthrie woman." "Would you, Captain?" " Not that I can see." " You're certain?" "I only ask again in that I know myself, and I know when confronting threats like these," "I tend to be a bit of a blunt instrument." "Try as I may to be rational, there's an instinct towards the extreme that always gets the better of me." "So that we're clear, no matter how bloody this feud gets between she and I," "I can rest soundly knowing you'll take no part in it?" "None whatsoever." "However... commerce here relies upon her." "Should you move against her, you may find no shortage of new enemies on the street." "Perhaps." "Although, from what I understand, confidence in her new venture is tepid at best." "Who knows how much she'll be missed if at all?" "What's that?" "Tribute." "And the respect of my crew." "10% of our most recent haul." "Would have been a little heavier, only she taxed us over the state of the containers." "Are they still in there?" "Far as I know." "Door hasn't opened all morning." "When she finally emerges, tell her I've left." "I'll make contact with Captain Hornigold, inform him of our arrival, and arrange safe passage into harbor." "I'll then attempt to persuade him to assign the bulk of his crew and his ship to sail in consort with us." "With a little luck, we'll be on our way back to the Urca wreck within a matter of days." "And how do you plan to answer the question?" "What question is that?" "Why is this request coming from you, Captain Flint, and not from Mr. Gates?" "When in doubt, the truth is a good place to start." "Oh, matter of ship business." "I've noticed that the berths for the vanguard are less than ideal." "I'd like to have them set in here." "Give the men a little more space to breathe." "You want the vanguard to quarter in the captain's cabin?" "I'm not a tyrant, Mr. Dufresne." "The ship belongs to all of us." "This seems a way to ensure that we all benefit from it equally." "It also seems a way to ensure that the next time someone raises a pistol towards you, well, the vanguard has a rooting interest." "After my departure, please ensure that mine is the only longboat that ferries anyone" " to and from the island." " The men will resist." "Then you resist them right back." "They all know that we're headed back for the Urca's gold." "They all know where it is." "They all know that its defenses are weakened." "We simply cannot allow that information leaking out onto the beach." "Or let them go if you like." "To whatever extent you're comfortable competing with a dozen other crews to retrieve that gold." "Mr. Silver should be back aboard with provisions within a few hours." "That ought to keep tempers in check." "Are these the ones?" "Handpicked." "You understand what I'm asking you to do?" "Go back and watch the gold." "Keep watch on the Spanish soldiers who are watching the gold." "You'll depart as soon as a longboat can be made ready." "Return to Division Bay." "Approach from the south." "Stay inland and out of sight." "Keep constant watch on that beach until we arrive." "I should be no more than two days behind you." "At which point I'll need to know everything about their routines, schedule, watch strength." "Then we'll reconnoiter, plan our final assault, secure the gold." "Is that clear?" "Go." "You certain they're the men for this?" "They're the only ones who didn't ask for more than I offered." "So they had that in their favor." "Jesus." "I thought we needed to get back to the ship as quickly as possible." "You're bringing something to read?" "It isn't for me." "Strange." "You and I have never shared more than a few words, and yet I feel like we're old friends." "Do you?" "Of course." "James talks about you all the time." "Captain Flint." "He's told me what you've accomplished in this place." "With those men." "In spite of them." "It's no small feat." "And I admire it." "Do you know what he told me about you?" "What's that?" "Nothing." "When I ask him, all I get is a shrug or a laugh or an innocent suggestion that he has a longtime companion." "Her name is Barlow and nothing more." "Is that possible?" "Is it possible that you're so unremarkable as to resist any further description than that?" "Certainly possible." "You conspire with my father to sabotage our plans." "You betray our trust." "You cause almost irreparable damage as a result." "And when Flint, the most feared captain in all creation, comes to confront you about it, you destroy him." "Now I hear in the wind that in his absence you've begun to forge new alliances with his enemies." "With the farmers of the interior." "With Mr. Underhill, the man sheltering my shit of a father as we speak." "It's true I've joined Pastor Lambrick's congregation and that Mr. Underhill is a member." "Yet here you sit, brewing tea as if none of it ever happened." "And I'm forced to wonder exactly what it is you hold over Flint that makes everything I've seen possible." "You don't know what you've seen." "You didn't betray him?" "I don't believe I did, no." "And if he's being honest, neither does he." "I'm sorry." "I saw the look on his face the last night he left this place and I beg to differ." "Every man has his torments." "Demons born of past wrongs that hound and harass him." "You perceive the effects of Captain Flint's demons." "Echoes of their voices." "But I know their names." "I was there when they were born." "I know the things they whisper to him at night." "So you can believe me when I tell you that within his chorus of torments... none of them look or sound like me." "I don't know what it is that you owe Flint or that he owes you." "But after the damage you've caused," "I know what you owe me and I've come here to collect." "I need to speak with Underhill." "As a result of your actions, my business interests are now vulnerable." "Acquiring the partnership of a plantation the size of Mr. Underhill's could help bolster commerce on my side of the island." "My attempts to reach him by letter have gone unanswered." "And considering your new friendship," "I would like for you to help arrange a meeting." "I thought he was an enemy of yours." "Perhaps I'm willing to see things in a different light." "Will you do it?" "I'll try." "This isn't enough." "It's all there are funds for." "Then less flour and more rum." "Mr. Dufresne was right." "The men will expect some time in town before we depart." "I want them as contented as possible when I inform them otherwise." "The Spanish soldiers guarding the Hulk are four days removed by longboat from St. Augustine." "By my reckoning, we got a week, two at the most, before King Philip takes his gold back." "There's no time for delay." "Get those supplies as quickly as you can and meet me back here." "I'll engage Captain Hornigold and make way for the ship to enter the bay." "At least you won't have a hard time finding him." "Isn't that Hornigold's flag?" "Why isn't he in his fort?" "What the fuck happened here?" "I hear this is once again a place where men come with coins in their pockets and secrets in their heads and leave with less of both." "And I hear you're the one doing the collecting." "You can relax." "I'm not here to stop it." "Your place, do as you like." "But there is a secret you wish my help in obtaining?" "New crew on the island, captained by a man named Low." "They're hiding something." "A piece from their last prize." "Something unique." "Something of great value." "Seeing as his crew makes frequent use of your girls," "I'd like you to find out what it is." "The other day I had a moment with Eleanor." "Told her all the things I wanted to say to her for so long." "That I was unbroken by her." "And I saw that it shook her." "And I felt happy." "And the moment she turned to walk away from me, do you know what I felt?" "The urge to go after her and hold her again." "It's amazing, isn't it, the spell she casts on us." "What are you talking about?" "You're right." "Captain Low's men are familiar faces here." "Just today I heard all the captain was talking about were the awful things he'd like to visit upon Eleanor Guthrie." "Given the timing of your request," "I assume you've heard the same thing." "Jack and Anne have no idea what they're up against with you, do they?" "The only question that remains is what difference does it make what his cargo is worth?" "Though I suppose if the value is great enough, it would give you pretense to move against him and call it business instead of calling it what it actually is." "I'm going to assume we have an agreement." "It's not enough." "The money is generous, but I'd rather have something else from you." "Such as?" "Your former shipmates, they wish to sail again under their own banner." "But so long as they bear the black mark you put upon them, their prospects will remain dim." "I'd like you to remove it." "I found a way to stop caring about her." "Would you like to know how?" "No." "You understand the job I'm looking to fill?" "Yes, ma'am." "And you understand what happened to the last man who held that job?" " Yes, ma'am." " What happened to him?" "He said the captain put a sword in his mouth." "You should know that captain is still a threat to me." "You're not concerned about stepping into the way of that?" "No, ma'am." "I know him, ma'am." "I knew his sister before they put us on the ship." "You asked me to bring one I would trust with my life." "This is him." "I didn't get it." "I led myself to believe that I would either never see you again or that all our problems would be solved." "I never made space in my mind for something in between." "But I'm so very glad you're alive." "You were missed." "What do we do now?" "Now?" "Bloody go back and retrieve the gold." "Refit, hire a consort, finish the job." "Is that possible?" "Well, it might have been possible when I had someplace to bring it all back home to." "Before the bay fell into the hands of a madman." "Fucking Hornigold." "He told me Vane killed 30 of his men." "That he was prepared to take back the fort, but that you sabotaged his efforts." "I told him he must be mistaken." "Eleanor Guthrie would never be so wantonly reckless with the security of this place." " I understand your concern, but..." " Do you?" "Because what I find most troubling about all of this is the sense that you don't share it." "He came through the interior." "There was no warning." "Before I or Hornigold or anyone knew what was going on, he and his men were firmly positioned up there and threatening to sink every ship in the bay the moment we made any move against him." " So you did nothing?" " What would you have had me do?" "Something!" "Anything!" "Surprise him at night." "Use the tunnels." "He'd have sunk every ship in the bay." "He'd have sunk a few ships in the bay and it would have been a price worth paying." "You weren't here." "And he isn't the problem you think he is." "He has no interest in disrupting the flow of trade." "You look me in the eye and tell me that you're certain that if I brought the Urca gold back here past those guns, he wouldn't use his position to rob me of every last ounce of it." "I had to make a quick judgment." "And in the moment it was clear that the sacrifice it would have taken to get him out of that fort was simply too great." "A Spanish warship fell upon us before we'd found our way to the Urca." "At that point, Mr. Gates' faith in our mission... his faith in me was lost." "I had to use my judgment whether to let him abort our entire endeavor and see my plans, your plans, evaporate or to stop him." "I stopped him." "What did you do?" "What was necessary." "Because I knew that the future of this place is everything." "And that there is no sacrifice too great to secure that future." "I thought you and I were in agreement about that." "I'm sorry you were put to that choice." "I know what he meant to you." "So we are in agreement, then?" "He must be removed from that fort." "You've been through hell." "There's nothing about any of this that can't wait till tomorrow." "Get some rest and we can discuss this further in the morning." "I saw her today." "Mrs. Barlow." "She seemed concerned for your welfare." "I know you and her didn't part on pleasant terms." "And perhaps if you went to see her today..." "Lady Hamilton." "I asked the carriage driver for your address." "Lieutenant, it's rather cold out here." "I beg your pardon." "Please, come in." "It's... tidy." "Lady Hamilton, it's very generous of you to come visit me, but perhaps I could now escort you back to your carriage." "Are you familiar with Jonathan and Margaret Grey, Lieutenant?" "The Duke and Duchess of Surrey?" "As you may or may not be aware, they hold one of the largest collections of Egyptian artifacts in all of Europe." "I thought perhaps today you'd join me in viewing them as my guest." "You mean yours and your husband's?" "Thomas is otherwise engaged." "It would just be you and I." "I don't think that's a very good idea." "Why wouldn't it be a good idea?" "Would you not enjoy my company?" "That would seem to be beside the point." " The point is..." " How it would look." "Yes, ma'am." "Exactly." "Are you happy, Lieutenant?" "Happy?" "In what regard?" "In my experience, there is an inverse relationship between the degree of one's happiness and the concern one suffers for what the neighbors think." "This isn't an abstraction, ma'am." " Were your husband to hear..." " I love my husband." "I know what's said about me behind my back." "Whispers of infidelities." "My husband's heard them." "And I suspect, given the look on your face, you've heard them, too." "Thomas and I are not bothered by them." "The only question that remains is... are you?" "It doesn't concern you?" "Pardon?" "When you set sail, my friend had his ear and you were ballast." "Then he calls my friend a mutineer and puts him in the sea." "Now he's giving you his ear." "How can you stand so close to him knowing what he's capable of and that sooner or later you'll be next?" "Five million pieces of eight." "Why?" "How do you do it?" "You were right." "I don't know where her loyalties lie." "Told you as much." "Either we act now to remove him or no one will." "We don't have time for this." "Every day wasted dealing with this is a day closer to losing that gold." "Then I suggest we act quickly." "...and as many prizes as I can capture." "And as for captain, well, you're looking at him." "Who were they?" "Men wise enough to know that on this island three things are known to be true." "Number two is Jack Rackham is a crew killer." "It'll turn." "I admire your optimism." "Why didn't you wait for me?" "You were preoccupied." "If you're angry about the whore and me, just fucking say so." "You have an itch that needs scratching." "Go with God." "My trouble isn't that she knows how to play the thing between your legs better than I, but the one between your ears." "Do you honestly not see it?" "That your judgment with her is clouded at best." "That she knows it and intends to use it to drive a wedge between us, because it is painfully obvious to me." "And there's nothing I can do to counter it when I'm on the wrong side of that door." "Of course I can see it." "Then why don't you stop it?" "I can't." "Join me." "Won't you?" "Sit down." "What's happening exactly?" "I'm repairing your reputations." "Public display of reconciliation." "So just sit there, smile... and let it happen." "To Mr. Hamund." "We hardly knew ye." "Look at the two of you." "Every reason to run screaming from each other." "And yet you're still as thick as the moment" "I first found you fucking behind the galley." "You'll either be the death of each other or we'll all end up working for you someday." "Doubt there's any third outcome." "Why?" "Why now?" "I know what Low's cargo is." "No shit?" "Stand up." "Will that do?" "I believe so." "Congratulations, Jack." "Now you know what it's like to rise from the grave." "Well, it's not exactly a feast, but the food I've procured should be waiting by the jetty." "Get rid of it." "Dump it." "Sell it." "I don't care." " What about the crew?" " Tell them the truth." "It was stolen from them by Charles Vane and the horde of barbarians he now commands." "They've run amok on the island and no one's been spared." "Didn't you notice?" "I want them boiling over by the time I return." "Where are you going?" "I see." "Where are we going?" "I'm quite certain this isn't the way to the Greys' residence." "I quietly instructed the driver to take you home." "Propriety." "Lady Hamilton, do you know what would happen in my world if people just did as they please with no regard for convention?" "Columbus would still be sailing in circles off the coast of Spain." "I imagine there are two kinds of men who make their life at sea." "Those whose sense of duty forces them to leave any sense of permanence or identity behind them and those for whom that is the attraction." "Which do you think I am?" "I think you're someone who's very good at managing how you're perceived." "And perhaps getting what you want without anyone ever knowing how you did it or perhaps if it ever happened at all." "Perhaps..." "Don't tell me propriety has worked its evils on you, too, now." "I was going to say... that perhaps you're more concerned with whether or not people talk about what you and I do may be doing behind closed doors... than with what we actually are doing." "All right, start again at the beginning of the measure." "State your name!" "What's going on?" "May I?" "I admire you for coming to see me earlier." "Showed you were a man who knows his place." "That quality alone puts you ahead of practically every other captain on this island." "So I'd like to make you an offer." "An offer?" "Partnership between your crew and mine." "I'm not interested." "But you haven't heard the deal yet." "I took the fort to control the bay, but I have no desire to waste away in it." "My place is at sea." "But as I'm certain you've heard," "I was recently deprived of my ship." "Which means I need a new one." "Were she to come with a strong crew, all the better." "Let me stop you there." "Before I came to see you this morning," "I will admit I was concerned." "It's painfully clear you've got feelings for the Guthrie woman." "If you could bring all your men to bear to protect her, to retaliate against anyone who would move against her, that might be reason enough to let this whole matter go." "But do you know what I think now?" "I think your men couldn't care less about Eleanor Guthrie." "I think they find your feelings for her to be pathetic." "I think you're powerless to do anything about this." "And for all these reasons, I think my feelings about Eleanor scare you to death." "And I must say, coming out here alone like this, it only serves to confirm my suspicions." "Do your men even know you're here?" "I recommend you get up and get off my ship." "Don't you want to hear the rest of my terms first?" "By all means." "I get your ship." "I get your cargo." "I get your weapons." "I get it all." "And what exactly would I get in exchange for all that?" "A head start." "Mr. Holmes." "Mr. Holmes doesn't work here anymore." "I'll fucking kill you." "Found the prize they was hiding." "Just where the whore said she'd be." "Tobacco?" "Tobacco, sir?" "Tobacco?" "Sir?" "No, thank you." "Mr. Scott." "I apologize." "Didn't imagine your new crewmates would appreciate you and I speaking directly." "No, I don't imagine they would." "How have they taken to you?" "Any better?" "Hmm, small moves." "Flint came to see me today." " I know he and Hornigold spoke." " Eleanor." "And I have to believe that he went to see him after he left my office." " Were you there when..." " Eleanor." "I would ask you not to put me in this position." "I swore an oath." "I have an obligation to Captain Hornigold's crew." "You don't have to respond." "Just listen." "I know Flint wants Vane out of the fort." "I know Hornigold wants it, too." "Ordinarily, it would be bad enough having them spinning each other up about it." "But something was different today." "When I saw Flint, something was different about him." "You know what happened out there, don't you?" "What happened to Mr. Gates." "I've never been under any illusions of what he's capable of," " but this is just too..." " Eleanor." "Where are you?" "What?" "For as long as I can remember, you have told me how important Captain Flint is to the future of this place, to your future." "You have put money behind him." "You have put your credibility behind him." "And now you would resist him?" "Join with Captain Vane against him?" "This isn't about taking sides." "It's about protecting the fort, protecting Nassau." "Eleanor, you need to ask yourself what you want, where your loyalties are... and whom do you trust?" "I didn't do it for you." "Six men." "Maybe seven." "That should be achievable now." "And with just this week's till, we can most likely acquire a piragua." "It'll be a small start." "We're gonna sail again." "What the fuck are you waiting for?" "Did he see you come up?" "What is it?" "There's something I need to show you." "That is the crown jewel taken from the Good Fortune prize." "Her father is Lord Peter Ashe, governor of the Carolina colony." "Low recorded in his log the ransom amount he intended to demand." "£250,000." "They sedated her." "Soon as she wakes, I'll get her particulars and go ransom her myself." "Lord Ashe won't be trifled with." "I have no intentions of trifling with him." "He's hanged men for merely suspecting them of piracy." "He's fanatical about exterminating men like you." "Eleanor, I wasn't asking permission." "I know what I'm doing." "I told the men what you asked." "They're not pleased." "Good." "Is it?" "Once you go down this road, what if there's no turning back?" "I know how you all must feel." "How desperate you must be to go home and be embraced by Nassau again." "But I'm here to tell you... that place no longer exists." "It has been taken from us by a madman." "Held hostage by threat of force that no one on the island seems able to resist." "Now I would like to say that the Urca beckons us." "That we should look the other way." "That the affairs of the beach should never take precedence over those of the purse." "But in this case, these issues would seem to be one and the same." "Even if we could make it ashore safely, even if we could refit amidst the chaos that has been sown, even if we could ignore all of this and go on to win the Urca's gold, what then?" "We return home only to have Vane extort from us the very prize that we have sacrificed so much to win?" "Nassau was unable to resist him." "But we have yet to have our say." "So at sunrise tomorrow, we make our terms clear with no room for bargain or compromise." "Charles Vane and the animals he commands have until sunrise tomorrow to vacate that fort or so help me God..." "I will rain holy hell down upon him."