Chapter 1: Buried Secrets

"This is ridiculous," Jannie was saying. "Everyday we capture that ship, everyday she blows it up, and half the time she gets killed in the process. Geez, can't we all just be friends?"

"You mean we should just skip the whole 'capture' part and invite them over for breakfast?" Wickeddoll said, laughing.

"Just once, I would like to wake up in Roberto's arms," Jannie sighed.

"First, you have to go to sleep in them," chided Josefina, struggling to braid her shiny black hair.

"Like you would know!" Wickeddoll retorted. "Tell me, has Rusty even tried to spend the night?"

Josefina had latched onto the strapping young mariner the minute he set foot on deck and hardly let him out of her sight. Now, she blushed, not wanting to admit her failure in seducing him.

Aphrodite, never far from Josefina's side, chimed in.

"And what's with Stone and Rosalita? All they do is fight all the time over Luis, and all he does is enjoy it!"

"Nine men, twenty-two women -- that spells trouble!" said Jannie.

"Twenty-three, if you count the nanny," noted Wickeddoll.

"The nanny!" Jannie said with disgust. "Where does she get off trying to steal my man!"

"You're man?" asked Wickeddoll. "Seems to me nearly everyone wants a piece of your man."

"Well, I don't want a piece of him," Jannie responded. "I want all of him." Everyone broke out laughing.

"Don't you think we should have some say about that?" Roberto asked, sneaking up behind them from the cover of the perpetual fog and smiling. The women were suddenly embarrassed.

"All I meant was...." Jannie began, blushing bright red.

"Go ahead, keep sticking your foot in your mouth. Maybe it'll stay there permanently," Wickeddoll scolded.

Jannie shut up.

"Personally, I like the breakfast idea," said Luis, coming up behind Roberto. They had obviously been listening to the conversation for sometime, and now they were both grinning.

"This isn't fair!" yelled Aphrodite. "You're supposed to be on your ship! We haven't captured you yet, today!"

"Yeah, well, it was getting old," said Luis. "I thought we'd try something different."

"Told ya," Jannie said, glancing around at her friends.

The two men sat down with them.

"So, where are the others?" Aphrodite asked.

"Well," Luis began, "Sean took off with some drop-dead gorgeous blonde, Dotti, I think."

"Oh, oh," moaned Jannie.

"What? Is that a problem?" asked Luis.

"You ever heard about queen bees and what they do to their mates?" asked Wickeddoll.

"Yeah, they mate with 'em and then they kill 'em. Why?"

The women just looked at him in silence.

"Oh," he said, getting the idea.

Roberto started to laugh. The edge of mania had still not left his voice.

"What's so funny?" Luis demanded to know.

"She must be really frustrated by now," Roberto answered. "I wonder how many times he's come back to life on her."

"It's a fantasy come true for her, I'm sure," said Wickeddoll.

"So, if she keeps killing him, why does he keep going back?" Aphrodite asked, innocently.

Jannie took a deep breath.

"Let's not go there," she said.

"And Mac, he's got this thing for the girl in the crow's nest," Luis continued.

"Rosetta?" Josefina asked. Luis nodded.

"And Miguel, he's gone to see your captain. I think he likes her," Luis said, grinning. "That leaves Ricardo, Juan and Gary. I don't know where they are, but I have a feeling they don't want to be found."

"And Oliver," Roberto finished, remembering his cabin boy. "He's helping Stone make breakfast."

The guys sat down and joined the circle, and they were soon joined by Rusty, Rosetta, Mac and Telamarine.

"You're captain is crazier than I am," Roberto began. "Why do we have to keep repeating yesterday's mistakes over and over again?"

"One of these days, the bubble is going to break," Luis noted. "When that happens, she's going to end up dead for real."

"Her -- or us," Roberto added.

"So, what are you saying?" asked Rosetta, snuggling up to Mac. He put an arm around her, smiled down and drew her closer.

"Well, at least somebody's getting some," Jannie remarked, then suddenly remembered the women weren't alone. "Oops...."

"Open mouth, insert foot," Wickeddoll hissed.

The men laughed.

"Actually, I wanted to discuss an idea we had," said Roberto. Everyone was listening. "You've told me, several times now, about a woman with
psychic abilities."

"Emerald," said Wickeddoll. "This place is driving her over the edge. She's hearing voices. She can't sleep. I have to keep her sedated most of the time."

"I know exactly how she feels," Roberto said, suddenly distracted. His stared into the fog, as if listening for something.

Maybe you shouldn't be doing that," Luis said, picking up where Roberto had left off.

"I'm listening," said Wickeddoll.

"It's like this," Luis explained, "her voices are like, well, like an echo. You know how you can tell how far an echo travels by counting the seconds until you hear it again? Well, maybe we can tell where we are in this.... place.... by how loud or quiet the voices are, or how far away they seem to her. Something like that. Got the idea?"

Wickeddoll was nodding.

"You think she could get us out of here?" asked Rosetta.

"Hey, I was just beginning to like this place," Mac parried, giving Rosetta a peck on the cheek..

"Me, too," Jannie sighed, her eyes on Roberto. He didn't notice. He was wrapped up in the voices in his head.

"The idea has merit," said Rusty, breaking his usual silence. Josefina smiled at him and batted her soft green eyes. He smiled shyly back.

"Even if we could get out of here, then what?" asked Telamarine, tossing her bright red hair over her shoulders and fingering her stiletto. "Where would we go? Everything would change. We'd have to capture you for real!"

"Or we'd have to capture you," Roberto countered, dragging his mind back to the present. "After all, you're the pirates."

"Actually, there is a place," said Rusty, "where no one would have to capture anyone. Where we could live the way we wanted, and forget the past."

"Forget Spain? I don't think I could do that," Roberto said, wistfully.

"Where?" asked Jannie, suddenly curious.

"There is an island, near the Bahamas...." Rusty started.

"Shut up, Russ!" Luis snapped, scowling. The sudden change in his mood got everyone's attention.

"Whoa. What's going on here?" Wickeddoll demanded to know, straightening up. "You guys are up to something, aren't you? There's a reason you were lost out here, isn't there? What is it you know that you're not telling us?"

Rusty glanced around with an apologetic look on his face.

"It just seems logical that we could find it, given this Emerald's psychic abilities. And it would be nice to be on dry land, again," Rusty said
to Roberto.

"Logical?" asked Josefina.

"Look, we're making the best of a bad situation," Luis argued. "But if we ever do get out of this 'bubble', I sure ain't takin' these pirates to our island!"

"And just why not?" Rosalita asked, coming up behind Luis, her sword drawn.

Luis' back stiffened and he swallowed as the blade traced his Adam's apple.

"Put that away," Roberto ordered. "The cat's out of the bag now. You might as well tell them the rest of the story," he said to Rusty.

"Bro! No!" Luis snapped.

"Put that away!" Roberto ordered, again. This time, Rosalita obeyed.

"Gee, and I thought you liked me!" Luis said, looking up at her.

"You always hurt the one you love," she countered, blowing him a kiss.

Rusty began his story....

>From the Chronicles of the Orb Nymph, by Mistress LaFitz:

It seemed the boys of La Beltranista had a dirty little secret. As it turned out, Luis was persona non gratis in the Spanish court -- something about a romantic liaison gone wrong. The powers-that-be decided he needed to be banished, and what better place to banish him to than an island in the Bahamas, where his exploits would go unnoticed.

Luis, being a clever man with connections and some means, had foreseen this day and had taken it upon himself to salt away a small fortune in Spanish gold. For several years he and his men had been transporting it to the island, and the last thing he wanted to do was share that
gold with a bunch of women pirates.

Roberto, displeased with his older brother's rogue behavior, had no interest in the gold. If it had all been stolen from under Luis' nose, Roberto figured it was karma. All Roberto wanted was an end to this endless day....
__________

"Wake up, sleepy head."

"What!" Ursula sat straight up in bed and stared at the dark and handsome seaman sitting next to her. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Where was I supposed to be? Waiting aboard La Beltranista for you to make a fool of yourself, again?" Miguel asked.

Ursula suddenly gripped her chest. A memory of pain still lingered there, even though the wound no longer existed.

"Get out!" she yelled.

"Not until we have a little heart-to-heart talk," he insisted, pinning her shoulders to the bed.

"About what?" Ursula asked, fear combining with an unexpected excitement.

"About why you want to spend the rest of your life being angry, about why you insist on acting out your revenge everyday, even though it
doesn't do you any good. Wake up and smell the sea salts! The two crews are merging. Relationships are forming. We may still wake up alone every morning, but we don't have to go to bed alone each night."

His steamy dark eyes bore into hers.

"I didn't invent the rules," Ursula argued, pulling her blankets up to her chin and sinking back into the warmth of the bed. He was right about one thing, she thought, facing that damn ship everyday was getting to be a pain.

"Yes, you did," he said, thoughtfully. "No one can change the past; we don't have that power. And we can't control the future, because we
can't predict what will happen. The only thing we can change is today. And today, you are not going to capture us, you are not going to blow up the ship, and you are not going to die in my arms, again. Got it?"

"What do you care?" she responded, scowling.

He sighed and leaned closer, his warm, sweet breath cascading down her neck.

"I care," he said slowly, nearly whispering. "I care because I was there when the Black Scoundrel sank. I care because...." His eyes grew darker. "I care because I feel responsible for your pain, and there is nothing I can do about it. I can't take it away. I can't bring your friends and family back. But, maybe, I can get you through today." He hesitated a moment before continuing. "And, besides, there are far better ways to spend a day at sea," he said.

"Like how?" she asked, as if she didn't already know.

He proceeded to show her.
__________

"Oops!" said Bobby.

"What? What is it?" Kate demanded to know.

"I don't think you're old enough for me to read that part," he said.

"Bobby!!!!"

"Besides, it's getting late. We'll have to finish it tomorrow."

"Can we take it home? Please?" asked Kate, carefully putting the log back in the metal box.

"Sure. Why not? We can finish reading it there!"

The two scampered off, their treasure under their arms.