Captain Jansen and the Phoenix

Chapter 7

On board the Night Temptation, there was complete chaos. Now both captains were out of commission. Marco had stepped up to fill Floor's place, with Charlotte as co-captain, and everyone except for Sharon was able to do at least some light work, but the whole crew felt down and hopeless. Moods grew sour and fights broke out over trivial things. Marco had to work hard to keep order.

"How did Floor and Sharon manage?" he muttered to himself that night as he sat at his desk with the ship's log, writing down the day's events and their location. Charlotte was feeling exhausted as well. She and Merel were sitting on the upper deck, watching the stars. They had their arms around each other, each glad for the other's company. Neither one of them had been able to fall asleep, so they had decided to come up here for a while. After a while, Merel said,

"I miss Captain Jansen." Charlotte looked at her in surprise. Merel had always acted rather scared of the captain.

"Well, so do I," she answered. "It doesn't seem like the same ship without her and Captain den Adel." Charlotte had always been a little scared of Floor too, but at the same time, she was glad to have her as a captain. Floor always made her feel like they could do anything, beat any pirate captain, find any treasure, outrun any storm.

"I remember when she found me," Merel said softly.

"Found you?" Charlotte asked.

"When I was little. Before you joined the crew. Emppu and I were orphans. All we had were each other. We had to steal in order to survive, and I stole some money right out of her vest pocket one day while she was in the town where we lived. She caught me, and I thought for sure I was in trouble, but then she realized that I wasn't a thief, just a little girl who had no home and no family. She offered to take me back to the ship, but I said I couldn't leave Emppu. She made me take her to him, and then she asked us both if we wanted to come with her and sail on the ocean and fight pirates. We figured that was better than stealing and scrounging, so we said yes, and she took us back and gave us food to eat and clothes to wear. She was like a mother to me." Merel's voice was sad, and Charlotte thought she heard the other girl sniffle, like she was trying not to cry. She wrapped her arms around Merel and held her close.

"It's gonna be okay," she whispered. "Captain Jansen is strong. She'll be okay, you'll see." She hoped to goodness that she was right.

The next morning, Sharon awoke from a very realistic dream with an overwhelming desire to see Floor.

"Floor?" she murmured, glancing around the room. Troy turned from where he was tidying up some things, saw Sharon looking at him, and practically ran over to her.

"Captain den Adel?" he said, unable to believe his eyes.

"Where's Floor?" she croaked. Her throat was dry. He poured her a mug of beer and handed it to her.

"She's not here," he answered.

"What? Where is she?" Sharon asked, nearly spitting out a mouthful of beer. "Please tell me she's not..." He shook his head.

"She was captured during a fight. Not the one where you were hurt. This happened later."

"What happened?" Sharon asked. "Tell me everything. Ow." She grimaced and pressed a hand to her stomach. Troy quickly grabbed her hand.

"Don't touch it," he warned. "You're still healing. How are you even alive?"

"I don't know," Sharon said. "I didn't want to die. So I decided I wouldn't."

"But...you got stabbed. Right through the stomach. That should have killed you. I'm surprised you even lasted this long. But now you're actually awake and talking to me." The medic seemed very confused. "Anyway, the pirates captured some of our crew members. We went after them, and there was another fight, but they got a hold of Merel and threatened to kill her if Floor didn't surrender herself." Sharon pressed a hand to her mouth.

"She gave herself up for Merel," she whispered. "Oh, Floor..." She sat up. "I'm going after her." Troy shook his head.

"You're in no shape to do anything. Lie still."

"No, I have to find Floor!" Sharon cried.

"You're not going to be any use to her if you're dead," Troy replied. "Lie down and rest a little while. I'll bring you some food." With a sigh, Sharon lay down again. She raised her left hand up to her face and looked at her ring. Then she kissed it.

"I'm coming for you, Floor," she whispered. All her anger at Floor for cheating on her had washed away, replaced only by worry. She knew Floor had never intended to do what she had done with Tarja. Her dream had convinced her of that. Now all Sharon cared about was getting her lover home safely. She didn't even care about getting revenge on Tarja. All she wanted was Floor.