The sun has almost cleared the horizon.
The daughter stands at the foot of the gangplank.
Her father’s ship waits before her.
His crew waits on deck.
Behind her, Maria is alive.
Warm.
Breathing.
Human.
The old woman waits further down the quay.
DAUGHTER:
“If I say no?”
OLD WOMAN:
“Then he keeps the sea.”
She looks at Maria.
OLD WOMAN:
“And she does not keep the morning.”
Maria steps forward.
MARIA:
“Then say no.”
DAUGHTER:
“You just came back.”
MARIA:
“Yes.”
DAUGHTER:
“I just got you back.”
MARIA:
“And that is not the same thing as owning you.”
The sun moves.
OLD WOMAN:
“Not much time.”
The daughter looks towards the ship.
The crew are silent.
They are not waiting for an order.
They are waiting for a captain.
DAUGHTER:
“If I do this, you stay?”
MARIA:
“Yes.”
DAUGHTER:
“And if I don’t?”
Maria does not lie.
MARIA:
“No.”
The daughter closes her eyes.
MARIA:
“I’ve missed enough of your life already.”
She touches her daughter’s cheek.
MARIA:
“I won’t spend my first morning back deciding the rest of it for you.”
The captain steps forward.
CAPTAIN:
“And neither will I.”
DAUGHTER:
“You’re my father.”
CAPTAIN:
“That is not a debt.”
On deck, one sailor removes his hat.
Then another.
DAUGHTER:
“They don’t even know if they want me.”
CAPTAIN:
“They didn’t know if they wanted me.”
A sailor calls from the deck.
SAILOR:
“We didn’t.”
CAPTAIN:
“Traitor.”
SAILOR:
“You grew on us.”
ANOTHER SAILOR:
“Like mould.”
Then:
SAILOR:
“Captain.”
The old captain looks up.
The sailor shakes his head.
SAILOR:
“Not you.”
Everyone looks at the daughter.
She turns towards Mara and Chibi.
DAUGHTER:
“What would you do?”
MARA:
“I don’t know.”
Then Chibi:
CHIBI:
“I’d take the ship.”
MARA:
“You didn’t even think.”
CHIBI:
“I did.”
MARA:
“For two seconds.”
CHIBI:
“That is a long time for me.”
DAUGHTER:
“Why?”
Chibi points at Maria.
CHIBI:
“She gets to live.”
Then at the captain.
CHIBI:
“He gets to stop pretending he doesn’t want to stay.”
Then at the ship.
CHIBI:
“And you get a ship.”
MARA:
“That is not the important part.”
CHIBI:
“It is a very good ship.”
The daughter laughs.
DAUGHTER:
“You make it sound easy.”
CHIBI:
“No.”
For once, he is completely serious.
CHIBI:
“I think it sounds horrible.”
A pause.
CHIBI:
“But horrible isn’t the same as wrong.”
The sun touches the horizon.
OLD WOMAN:
“Choose.”
The daughter looks at her mother.
Her father.
The ship.
DAUGHTER:
“If I take his place, is it mine?”
OLD WOMAN:
“Yes.”
DAUGHTER:
“The ship?”
OLD WOMAN:
“Yes.”
DAUGHTER:
“The crew?”
The old woman smiles.
OLD WOMAN:
“That part you should ask them.”
The daughter looks up.
DAUGHTER:
“Well?”
SAILOR:
“Can you navigate?”
DAUGHTER:
“Yes.”
SAILOR:
“Can you fight?”
DAUGHTER:
“Yes.”
SECOND SAILOR:
“Can you lie?”
DAUGHTER:
“Yes.”
THIRD SAILOR:
“Can you drink?”
DAUGHTER:
“Yes.”
SAILOR:
“Promising.”
The daughter steps onto the gangplank.
Her father removes his old, weathered captain’s hat.
He holds it out.
CAPTAIN:
“She’ll test you.”
DAUGHTER:
“The ship?”
CAPTAIN:
“The crew.”
SAILOR:
“The ship already likes her better.”
CAPTAIN:
“I heard that.”
The daughter takes the hat.
CAPTAIN:
“And if you don’t come back…”
He looks towards the horizon.
CAPTAIN:
“Then I’ll know why I spent all those years watching for sails.”
She embraces him.
Then her mother.
MARIA:
“You don’t have to do this.”
DAUGHTER:
“I know.”
She walks up the gangplank.
The sun clears the horizon.
Maria gasps.
Nothing glows.
No miracle announces itself.
She simply breathes.
One deep human breath.
Then another.
STACY:
“She’s staying.”
OLD WOMAN:
“Yes.”
On deck, the daughter puts on her father’s hat.
Too large.
Slightly crooked.
She leaves it that way.
DAUGHTER:
“Untie us.”
Nobody moves.
DAUGHTER:
“That was an order.”
SAILOR:
“Just checking.”
The crew erupts into motion.
The ship leaves the harbour.
The old captain takes one step towards it.
Then stops.
Maria takes his hand.
He stays.
Far out, the new captain stands at the stern.
Her father’s hat on her head.
Her crew behind her.
The horizon ahead.
Then something enormous moves beneath the ship.
Too deep to see.
Too large to be a whale.
A shadow follows the hull for three heartbeats.
Then disappears.
The new captain sees it.
She grips the rail.
And smiles.
Not because she isn’t afraid.
Because she has made her choice.
Back on shore, Maria rests her head against her husband’s shoulder.
MARIA:
“Do you regret it?”
CAPTAIN:
“Ask me tomorrow.”
Maria squeezes his hand.
MARIA:
“We have one.”
He looks at her.
CAPTAIN:
“Yes.”
One life returned.
One captain left the sea.
Another sailed towards it.
And somewhere beneath the waves, something noticed.
A mother can live.
A father can finally come home.
But to give them that future, you must take the ship, the crew and everything waiting beyond the horizon.
What would you do?
Enter a Pirate Borg world where every choice has a price: