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Nature raged through the night, and then close to dawn the storm abated, and the silence that fell was haunted

The ship see in pain The sailors swarly quiet as they went about their post-storht Jack up on deck for the first ti Jack!" he called frowaysfor you to see"

Jack exited the galley, glancing back at Ghost’s closed stateroom door Is Sabine still in there? he wondered, but there was no way he could find out Not yet The reater disarray than he’d ever seen it, with plates scattered across the floor and remnants of the , tables, benches He’d have a busy ti brush later

On deck, he breathed in deeply, realizing how much he’dspray across the deck, but the sea wasBehind thery

The wolves were busy th of railing had been ripped away, and several lengths of rigging flapped in the breeze, rope ends frayed One of the s other ships, or going ashore, or hunting seals in northern cliht his breath One less chance to escape

Ghost stood at the bow, looking back over his shoulder as he waited for Jack to join him He was motionless amid this chaos An island in the stor what he would see

"Did you enjoy the storm?" Ghost asked

"No," Jack said

"I did"

"I’reater than your own, I thought your ego would take a battering"

"Ego?" Ghost said with obvious surprise "You truly believe I suffer from that affliction?"

"Perceptive as you are, I’m astonished you don’t see it," Jack said "Except that you’re not the one who suffers That’s left to everyone around you"

"Ego is comparative," Ghost said "I place myself in comparison to no one I exist for hts and considerations That does not give ic It’s only you, Jack, who apply the concerns of society and civility to me"

"Maybe," Jack said "But if you’re so da outside yourself, why do you care what I think of you?"

Ghost leaned on the bow railing and looked down at where the ship sliced through the waves He seeht that he had reached the captain sonored that would trouble thepitied

"What makes you think I care?" Ghost asked at last, and Jack felt a shiver pass through hi to do with the cool breeze, nor the fact that they had survived an incredible storm But the man before him was cold as ice At the heart of him must exist a void, the darkest of places, and these conversations were fireflies circling that void, mere distractions that would soon be sed by his dense, impenetrable heart

But could any man truly be so distant? Even a creature like Ghost, who existed balanced soht as a monster, and yet you crave the sort of conversation"--Jack waved a hand behind hiive you You’re a man of contradictions"

"I know my own mind"

"As well as you think?"

"Of course I haveof life is to live, not to exist Surely you’re a young ree with that"

"Yes, but not at the expense of others"

"Others!" Ghost snorted "I only live the life that most men crave I’m true to myself, because I know that I am most important Why live a lie? I’ll quote you Hawthorne, and you tell me if this is false: ‘No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to hi bewildered as to whichhow anythe philosophies of humanity and still remain so inhuman And even as he wondered, he knew the answer: Ghost worked hard at it The real question hy? Why did he want to rid himself of any shred of compassion or empathy? Was it only so that he could live with the horrors he had committed, or was there some deeper purpose?

"You see!" Ghost said "I’m at peace ho I am, and wear no false mask, however much your precious civilization says I should"

"And yet aren’t you the ulti Jack," Ghost said, "you’re assu the two faces are dissiain, looking forward rather than back His eyes glittered He see ahead

Ghost was trying to bend Jack to his philosophy of hu captive And if Sabine had been correct, he wanted Jack as so Jack was not But if Ghost wanted to draw out the beast in Jack, then Jack thought the opposite ht also be possible--some trace of human emotion remained in Ghost

"I can reach you," Jack said, and Ghost glanced back, perhaps thinking for a moment that his prisoner planned to topple hihtly startled expression--a quick blink, a falling of his sreatest victory yet

"You can continue to try," Ghost said, "but it will have to wait for another day" He took a s it to Jack "South-southwest"

Jack looked, sweeping the telescope slowly from the south toward the west He missed it the first tie of smoke on the horizon

"The Weyden," he said

"Indeed," Ghost said He stood back fro, took a deep breath, and then clapped his hands "Fresh sport A good day for it!" He turned and shouted down the length of the Larsen, and Jack had no doubt that every crewman heard his voice "Barely hours away, lads! Make haste"

Jack’s heart fell Barely hours