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This latest crisis, if you could even call it that, came four days out of Tortagua. The Commodore's vessel had once again
caught up with them. Which made that twice in one trip. It had to be said that the Commodore was getting better at this game.
However, the time for congratulating the enemy on his endeavors was later. Right now, Captain Jack had to concentrate on escaping
with his ship and crew more-or-less intact.
That might prove to be something of a hard task, as they were approaching over-hanging cliffs of Traore. To get past the
narrow gaps between them, a ship would have to take in all its sails. Of course, in doing so, the ship would slow down along
a pursuing ship to catch up, board, turn around and avoid the cliffs, if its crew were good enough.
Luckily, that only held true if one did this maneuver in the correct rulebook fashion. If your crew could move the sail
quickly enough, you could leave taking the sail in late until the other ship start taking in theirs, being as they were more
likely to do this rulebook fashion, them being the Navy and all. Using this plan, you could outrun all but the fastest ship
in the waters and since the Black Pearl was that ship, Captain Jack saw no reason to worry.
Not everyone else felt quite the same way, Gibbs in particular was muttering away under his breath, something about women
being bad luck, even brown ones.
Jack could see his point; a woman was one of the main problems in his life seeing as how she was in fact the major reason
for the Commodore's continuing intense pursuit of the Pearl. Commodore Norrington had sworn to bring Jack to justice and the
hangman’s noose, the main reason for this, other than a disinclination to see pirates as the free traders they were,
was that he held Jack responsible for Elizabeth’s desertion. Which seemed somewhat unfair to Jack, seeing as how he
hadn’t been the one she deserted him for. According to the Commodore however, Jack was responsible for the events that
made Will a hero in Elizabeth’s eyes. And hence he was ultimately responsible for her desertion. Jack couldn’t
quite see the logic in this, but few people saw logic in what he said, so who was he to judge. And, really, the wherefores
were unimportant as the end result was still that Norrington was determined to affect his capture.
Captain Jack had no intention of being captured. It was a public service really, keeping the chase going; if Norrington
was busy chasing after him, then he’d have no time to brood over Elizabeth, which would make the Commodore far happier
in the long run. Jack was escaping him for his own good.
Plus he had no intention of ending his life at the end of a hangman's noose. Oh no, he fully planned for the pox, the rum
or the deep blue sea to get him first. Against Jack's headlong rush to those forces, Norrington really didn't stand a chance.
"Be prepared to man the sails at my order."
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