Treasures Deep: Part 2

Part 1 for Treasures Deep brought us to Cap'n Carl Jailbird, a pirate captain sailing the seas off of Freeport. They are near to Freeport when they spot a ship cruising at high speed towards the mainland. They soon figure out its headed straight for Freeport, with no hands on board and no apparent way of controlling the vessel. They search the ship, finding gold and explosives in the hull! What are they to do? Take the gold and let the ship explode as it crashes into Freeport, or try and rescue Freeport by destroying the ship ahead of time. Just as they reach this dilemma, another ship of exactly the same type is on an intercept course towards them. This time however this new ship isn't abandoned. Find out in Part 2 the rest of the story.

Cap'n Carl Jailbird, a Human pirate captain, sat in his quarters sharpening his Cutlass. Chip, his pet monkey, sat on a swinging lamp in the middle of the room, watching him with intense boredom. They had been sailing for over three months now in the deep beyond Freeport , watching and waiting for any enemy ships that might sail through. Things were bad but nothing as slow as this period had ever occurred in Carl's history as a "trader". If they didn't find another ship soon, it would be one of his men who would pay the price. It didn't matter if they found a ship or not, all that mattered was that they obey him. And right now their orders were to find him a ship, any ship worthy of being plundered.

The door to his quarters swung open, hitting the wall and causing the pitcher of water on his desk to spill over. Chip dropped to the ground and began licking up the water before it started to seep through the floorboards.

Carl swung his dagger in a wide arc, causing it to fly out of his hand and stick in the wall next to the door above the dresser.

"Haven't I ever told ye ta knock before entering! What's the matter with ye anyway. Ye ha' a memory o' a wombat, er a monkey!" Chip looked up from floor and flung his arms in the air in protest.

"Sorry sir! We 'twere told ta report ta ye immediately if we found a ship in the area."

Brody, a tall Barbarian, formally Brody the Black by those who cared any, was his trusted third in command. Sometimes he had a flare for ignoring protocol, even pirate protocol. His memory wasn't the greatest either, but he made a damn fine shipmate when it came down to business. Hearing about a new ship in the area was news he was happy to finally receive. He didn't feel like throwing anyone overboard today.

"Show me this here ship. I want ta see 'er fer meself. What kind o' sails does she have and do we know if she is an enemy ship, fit for plundering?" Carl waited for a response. "Well, what kind o' sails does she have, spit it out will ya!"

Brody hesitated, "Well, that's just it sir. She doesn't appear ta ha' no sails at all. 'er speed be also astounding. She just came out o' nowhar 'n' then sped starboard past us towards the mainland. 'twere havin' troubles keepin' up with her."

"Must be a bit o' magic in them missin' sails. Show me the ship!"

They headed up to the deck where the ship they were following was about a kilometer ahead of them. It was impressive indeed. The ship was every bit as amazing as the speed it was cruising at. From what they could see from this distance, it had a sleek glossy look to it, with the wood beams in fine condition. It was also huge, being nearly three times larger than there own ship was. A prize indeed!

"Have ye ever seen the likes o' a ship before. Oh boss, I can't wait ta see what treasure be over there! Whatever it be, Lucan be sure ta be pleased with this here one." Brody said.

Carl pulled out his Cutlass and slapped Brody on the side of the face, sharp edge turned sideways. "What ha' I told ye before about ships like these! Do ye think that if we raided every prize ship we come across, that Lucan would be every bit as happy about it then! We'll scout it out 'n' see who we're dealin' with." He turned towards the helmsman. "Increase speed! I don't care how ye needs be do it, but I want ta see that ship!"

It took them another three hours to catch up to it. They finally reached the ship and were able to sail along side of it. Carl climbed to up the mast and got a good look around. From all initial impressions, the ship was abandoned. The deck had various tools and barrels strewn about, but nothing that indicated anyone was below. He climbed back down.

"Well boss, what did ye see. I hope thar be piles 'n' piles o' treasure just lyin' about. What kind o' hands does she have?" Brody said.

"The ship be adrift by all appearances. ARR! We'll board 'er 'n' take a look around."

"Sir! How be we ta board 'er with no stable planks ta put across. The seas be rough sir 'n' we'll never get everyone aboard." Brody said.

"We'll take six other hands members, 'n' swin' over usin' the ropes we got. The mast should be o' sufficient height I would imagine." Carl wasn't one to give in lightly. They would get over there, by any means necessary. If it had to be the mast, then they would use it.

After everyone was aboard, they took a look around on the main deck. There were actually three levels to it. The main area, then a higher up deck where the controls appeared to be (none of which seemed functional, the wheel was locked in place), and finally another higher up area at the stern. The length was pretty incredible too. It would take someone their entire life to clean the deck, with a toothbrush anyway.

Two stairways led to the lower decks below, each on either side of the ship. They took the port side, the side their own ship was stationed on. Before walking down the stairs with the others, he looked over and down at his own ship. It was sailing along side, with crew watching him from below.

The inside of the ship was even more impressive. Corridors upon corridors almost made the entire thing a complete maze. They passed by a few empty rooms before coming to the one that made all of this worth it; the treasure room.

"Will ye take a look at all o' this! We're goin' ta be rich fer sure! Suddenly those three months don't seem so mangy." Nigel Straw, one of the crew who came aboard, dived into the chests and began to fill his pockets full of gold.

A sailor came running around the corner. "Sir, several o' the hands be callin' ye from our ship. They seem ta be in a hurry about something!" What could possibly be as important right now as this? Carl followed the sailor up to the main deck.

Walking over to the side of the ship, Carl looked down at his own. The crew were running all over the place, as if they were under attack. He looked up and around and spied no one in the area. As far as he was concerned, it was as calm out there as before they came across this ship.

"What do ye want! We came across a massive load o' gold 'n' yer already complaining. We're goin' ta need more hands over har ta take control o' the ship." He said.

It was hard to tell, but he thought he heard one of the crew members from his ship shouting something about crashing. Freeport was said in there somewhere as well. They shouted again after he told them to raise their voice.

"We're headed directly for Freeport sir, the docks more specifically! The quartermaster predicts if we cannot slow this ship down, it will crash into the docks within six hours!" One of the crew from below shouted.

They were going to crash into Freeport! Arr. What a time for something like this. He hadn't even realized they were that close to the mainland. Even in six hours, with the speed they were traveling, they would only be able to get a small portion of the gold onto his ship in time. How were they going to stop the ship when they had no idea how it was being controlled!

Brody came running from the lower decks, carrying several pieces of gold in the process. He tripped as he reached the main deck, spilling most of it. "In a cabin next ta the treasure room, was another group o' chests. We thought they 'twere filled with more gold, but when we opened them we only discovered this here inside." Brody held up his hands after he dug something out of his pockets. "Isn't this."

Carl nodded. Brody was carrying a powder, but not just any kind of powder. This was an extremely explosive kind. From what Brody described, there was enough of this in those chests below to blow this whole ship up, and anything around them, if it were set off.

"When we opened the first chest, the powder gave this here strange mist in the air. It twirled arround the chests fer several seconds 'n' then it dissipated. Shiver me timbers! I don't want ta rush ta conclusions, but I think we just set off some sort o' trap!"

Carl walked to the front of the ship and looked out. They couldn't see Freeport yet, but they must have been coming up close. When that ship hits the Freeport docks, the containers of the powder will probably ignite and explode, destroying the ship and all the gold along with it. He began to suspect this wasn't all just an accident.

As he watched, he noticed another ship coming across the seas towards them. He frowned. It looked exactly like the one they had found. This time however, he was fairly certain the other ship was not without a crew.