Chapter 43: 43. Who are they??
Jack stepped up to the man in the center. The man had several inches on him but Jack still got right into the man's face. The prisoner's eyes focused on Jack and a subtle sneer appeared on his face.
"What's your name and rank, sailor?" Jack asked in a serious tone.
The man didn't answer. He kept wearing the same sneer as a deliberate attempt to challenge the commander. Jack continued to stare him down hoping to possibly break the man, yet he held his tongue.
"I know you're Occitanian," said Jack quietly. "Do you know it was me that blew up your cruiser? My crew and I had the perfect shot so we took it and blasted your asses to smithereens." Jack stepped up to the man on the left. "Was that your ship?"
The man continued to stare past Jack at the wall, but Jack could pick up some slight twitching in the muscles under the man's face. Whatever he was saying was affecting the prisoner.
Jack continued by walking up to the last one. "And finally we land with you, pudgy. Been eating too many of my sweets, hmm? Did you lose any friends in that explosion? I certainly hope you did. Painful death, I'm sure, getting roasted to death. Too bad it missed you. Roasting your ass would have provided enough meat to feed my entire ship."
The man flinched and opened his mouth but shut it quickly. Jack shook his head as his attempts to antagonize the enemy sailors wasn't bearing any fruit. He'd have to come up with something else. Thankfully, another method quickly rooted in his head.
"Luke, you know the easiest way to pick out Occitanian scum?"
Luke raised an eyebrow at Jack as he walked over to the mess kitchen. "What's that, Jack?"
Jack ducked in through the door and entered the kitchen, searching for something that would help him make his point. Spotting just the right tool, he grabbed a rolling pin and brought it back out into the dining cabin. "Their accent. That thick, Occitanian accent is one of the easiest ways to pick them out."
Luke gave him an odd lock. "And how are we supposed to do that when they won't talk?"
Jack centered himself right in front of the center prisoner and watched the man's sneering gaze look back down at him. "That's simple. They just need a little encouragement."
With that last line, he pulled back the rolling pin and struck the prisoner's knee as hard as he could.
The prisoner went doubling down and clutched his knee as the other two quickly separated from his side.
"AHHHHH! Yee son of eh 'ore! Zat fuckin' 'urt!" the prisoner roared, his Occitanian accent thick and heavy.
Jack turned around and glanced at his officers who were all beaming at him in return.
"Sounds like we just landed in Occitania," said Luke with a chuckle. Order was restored as Jack put down the pin and the nearby guard of sailors pushed the three men back into a lineup.
"That it does! I want these men locked up in the brig and I want them under guard until I figure out what to do with them. They are to be given minimal rations—enough to keep them alive. They've ate enough of our food as it is. Luke, do you have room in your brig to take them?"
The commander of the Valiant shook his head. "Negative on that, Jack. Our brig is currently full with the excess supplies from Quiller's Cove. I don't have enough room."
Vicky stepped forward. "I can take them, Jack. I have room in mine."
Jack nodded. "Excellent, let's get them moved over. Please make sure they are guarded at all times. I don't want them cooking anything up between them." He then turned to Abigail.
"When we get back to the Destiny, I want you to get a message over to Commodore Lucas. Let him know we found the men and that we'll figure out a way to get them back to base in due time. It's too late to turn this task force around."
"Aye, sir," said Abigail with a sultry smile.
The armed guards began to escort the three prisoners away at once. The one that he'd hit with the pin limped toward the door, but not before turning around to address Jack.
"You'll be sohrry. Mark my wurhds, Comman-derh!"
He was smacked by the cudgel of the guard for his outburst and soon enough the three men disappeared from sight to be escorted over to the Tiger.
As soon as they were out of sight, Luke stood and walked over to Jack. "I'm sorry, Jack. I had no idea they were on my ship."
Jack held up his hands to his old comrade. "Not your fault, Luke. I'm not sure how those bastards got onboard, but the big thing is that we found them. They'll be safe down in the brig."
Luke took a deep breath. "I should have had more security out. We could have caught them before we sailed. We could have—"
"We could have done a lot of things in hindsight," Jack interrupted. "But it's in the past. I don't blame you. You're one of the best men I have. Don't fault yourself for this. Let's just focus on the mission at hand."
Luke watched him for several moments before he gave a small nod. When he didn't speak up again, Jack turned to address the rest of the officers.
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