Chapter 3: Plans
Ivan walked out of the building, and out into the dark streets of Port Royal. His mission was clear: Find Reynard, and terminate him if possible. He knew he was ready for what he was about to undertake, but first he had to catch up with Captain Henson.
“Ah there you are,” Henson said, leaning against the side of another building. “So, how’d your talk go?” He asked.
“It went fine,” Ivan answered. “The Commodore has assigned me to take down a pirate by the likes of Marcus Reynard.” “And you’re coming with me.” He said, lighting the fire in the Captain’s eyes.
“Oh really?” Henson said, very interested. “Finally getting some action.”
Ivan was a bit confused at what the Captain said. Finally getting action? He was either in the Navy or EITC, so action wasn’t usually something asked for. “That’s strange,” Ivan said, prompting Capt. Henson to look over in confusion. “Are you in the navy? Or EITC?” He asked.
Henson smiled and looked around himself as if he was embarrassed at something. “Technically both.” He said, causing Ivan’s question to remain unanswered.
“Both? What do you mean by both?”
“Well I was commissioned as an officer in the navy, but later chosen specifically by the EITC to undergo covert operations.” Henson said. “Oh, and another thing. You can call me Jack if you’d like.” He said, finally resolving the problem of only knowing his last name. “And what about you? How’d you get here?”
Ivan was almost taken aback by those words. He didn’t want to go in detail about how he got recognized by the Commodore, yet he still didn’t want to let him hanging. So in the end, Ivan finally mustered up his best response. “No, I’d rather not say.” He said, his head hanging low.
“Oh, I understand,” Jack said, leading Ivan closer towards the dock where he’d first met Ivan. “I… know what it’s like to lose ones close to you.” He said, causing Ivan to look at him strangely. In truth Ivan didn’t really have any “close ones” that had passed away other than his father. His mother still lived in the English mainland, his only uncle was of course with him, and the other close relatives he knew of had either moved on, or he just didn’t care about them. But alas, he didn’t want to prove Jack wrong after what he said. After all, Ivan did lose his father, so as long as he kept it at that, he’d have a clear conscience.
“So where do we go first?” Jack asked.
“We’ll be going to Tortuga to get some answers on where this Reynard fellow is.” Ivan answered.
“Tortuga? But we’ll need to wait till tomorrow morn before we set out for Tortuga.”
“ I know,” Ivan said, coming to a stop on the cool beach sands. “Which is why we’ll meet here early tomorrow morning, and catch a ride with some lads to Tortuga.” He said, obviously knowing nothing about Tortuga.
Jack took a moment for it all to sink in, but when he finally comprehended Ivan’s words, he laughed as if he’d been tickled by professional feather wavers. “You seriously think you can just walk into Tortuga like nobody’s business?” He said still laughing.
“Well, yes actually.”
Jack could contain his most immature laughter no longer, as he chuckled as hard as someone does when a practical joke goes perfect. “Oh my…. Well you really need to know more about the Caribbean if you don’t know about Tortuga.”
Puzzled, Ivan responded in an innocent manner. “What’s there to know?”
“What’s there to know? What’s there to know?” Jack repeated. “Firstly you need to know that Tortuga’s basically a pirate island.” He said. “It’s not a common sight to see navy there, however when they are everyone seems to act normal.” He said, answering Ivan’s question.
“How do you know about this?” Ivan asked. “How would you know about how they act towards the navy?”
“Well, you mustn’t forget that I do covert missions, knowing these traits one of the things that comes with the job.” He said. “Now then, tomorrow I’ll meet you right in this spot, whoever arrives first will await for the other while maintaining this spot. Now go get some sleep, I bet you’re tired.”
Ivan loved hearing those words, he was extremely tired since he was greatly anticipating his arrival back on dry land. “Very well, I’ll go get some sleep.” Ivan said with a heavy head. “See you tomorrow I guess.” He said as he trudged off into the night engulfed town.
“Now let’s see, what was the name of that place I was to reside in?” He wondered as he continued his way through Port Royal. Eventually he came to an intersection connecting different paths. “I think this is it.” He said as he walked towards the door.
He gave the door a solid knock, only to have it open seconds later by a woman in her nightdress.
“Um… hello?” She said, apparently surprised by Ivan’s abrupt entrance.
“Hello, is this by any chance the Cornel house?” Ivan asked.
“Oh, now I remember!” The woman said as she opened the door further to invite Ivan in. “You must be Ivan, correct?” She said.
“Yes, that’d be me.” Ivan said, relieved that he found the right house on his first try.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, my name’s Cassandra, and I’m pretty sure your father’s upstairs trying to get some shut-eye.” She said as Ivan closed the door behind him.
“My… father?” Ivan said disheartened. “You must mean my uncle.” He said, as Cassandra walked over towards a door positioned at the corner of the room.
“Really? I could’ve… nevermind, your room’s the second one on the left.” She said. “I’m sorry for the sudden introduction, but it’s awfully late.” She said, trying not to be impolite.
“No, that’s fine,” Ivan said. “Actually I was hoping you’d compensate for it by making a grand breakfast, but… oh well.” He said walking up the steps.
“Oh you don’t have to worry about that.” Cassandra said. “For the time being, I’ll be taking care of you and your uncle.” She said, making Ivan hide his facewide grin. “Chances are, you’ll wake up to the largest meal you’ve had in ages.”
“Ok then,” Ivan said. “Thank you.” He said, his mind hi-fiving itself.
“Goodnight.” Cassandra said, closing the door behind her.
‘Can’t wait for a good morning.’ Ivan thought as he entered his room.
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