Carter crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. "I don't know. I don't like it. We already have too many of these pirates on board. Giving her back her free will kinda tips the numbers in their favor..."

The girl smiled innocently. "Aw, is the big bad captain scared of the itty bitty pirates?"

Carter had to strain to resist the urge to roll his eyes. "Let's just say I have a healthy respect for the amount of trouble they could cause. In a stand-up fight, I'm confident I could take any of them on, and Vanessa could take all three without breaking a sweat, and that's not just due to her alien physiology! But people don't become pirates because they want a clean and honorable fight."

Of course, John couldn't resist the urge to pop into existence at that moment. "Any pirate worth their salt does!"

Carter shook his head again, though this time, it was more out of bemusement as he turned to the pirate ghost. "I don't know if you've noticed, but the honorable swashbuckling pirates you like to imitate are few and far between if they ever really existed at all. Every pirate we've faced up till now would stab their grandmother in the back for a night of women and cheap booze!"

The girl shook her head. "After looking inside her head, I think I can safely say Luise prefers men. Though I'd say limiting yourself to half the population like that is very short-sighted..."

Carter glared at the girl. "Not what I meant, and you know it!"

The girl nodded, acknowledging his point. "Listen, I'm just saying she deserves a chance, is all. That place she's been stuck in for the last few days is a real hell, the likes of which even we never inflicted on our...guests. And even if her gratitude isn't enough to secure her loyalty, the knowledge that if she crosses the wrong line, I can lock her back in there and throw away the key should do it."

Carter sighed and nodded. "Fine. I still don't like it, but if you're willing to keep her in line, too, we can give her a chance. Go ahead and wake her up."

The girl nodded her head, then...nothing happened. Carter narrowed his eyes. "What are you waiting..."

Suddenly, the pirate captain, Luise, sat up and started hacking, coughing, and gasping for air. She was rocking back and forth from the sheer violence of the coughing that she began to fall out of the chair, causing Carter to reach out and stabilize her. Eventually, the coughing subsided enough that Carter asked, "Uh, is there anything you need?"

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The pirate woman reached out and grabbed his arm as though she was holding on for dear life, then looked up at him with a tear-stained face as she whispered with a voice raspy with dryness and neglect. "Water... I need a drink..."

For all his mistrust, Carter couldn't bring himself to refuse and left the room to get her a glass of water. When he came back, she was sitting back in the chair, her eyes closed as she just gasped for air as if she'd been drowning a moment ago. She must not have heard him come back, so Carter cleared his throat, making the pirate jump as if he'd just shouted in her ear. Then, seeing the water, she reached out for it with an urgency that made Carter give her the water and then step back as she guzzled down the water. He was pretty sure she got almost as much on herself as down her throat, but the pirate didn't seem to care. Once the glass was drained, the pirate fell back into the chair and dropped the glass, which clanked and then rolled across the floor.

Carter watched the glass for a moment before turning back to the pirate. "Well, that was kind of...intense."

Luise cracked open an eye and looked over at him as she smiled wanly. "Sorry about that... It's been a long... Say, how long was I stuck like that anyway?"

Carter shrugged. "Well, if your first mate is meant to be believed, it's been about a week, give or take?"

The pirate sat back and shook her head in disbelief. "A week? That's all? It felt... It felt like I was stuck in there for an eternity..."

That surprised Carter. Wasn't she awake and aware the whole time? Didn't she know how long it had been? However, the girl only nodded. "That makes sense. Time flows strangly in the mind. Just think of how sometimes in dream time seems to pass in an eyeblink, and others it drags on for what seems like weeks."

The pirate seemed to jump again, apparently noticing the girl for the first time. "You... You're real!"

The girl merely looked amused. "Well, yeah. Who do you think pulled you out of there? This guy?"

The pirate's eyes remained fixated on the girl despite the AI's attempt to acknowledge Cater. Then, after a moment, she hopped out of the chair and started to kneel awkwardly while talking incoherently about some "great one," making Carter glare at the girl. "Just what did you do to her in there?"

The girl shrugged. "I didn't do much! Just asked her some questions and then broke her out of there! That's all! I swear!"

Carter pointed at the pirate woman. "Didn't do anything? Then what's with the cult worship?"

The girl shook her head. "I don't know! Maybe she was already too broken in there?"

Realizing the girl wasn't about to fix anything, Carter reached down to the pirate, lighting, taking her shoulder, and trying to lift her to her feet. "Hey, stop that! You might owe us a favor or two, but you don't have to worship anyone!"

At this point, the pirate, Luise, looked up with confusion. "But this is the great Sybil! She's..."

Carter cut her off. "Yeah, yeah. She's great. I know. Now, how about we get you to bed and see if a good night's sleep doesn't bring back some semblance of your sanity, huh?"

As he led her out of the room, the pirate kept trying to look over her shoulder at the girl, who just stood in the room, awkwardly waving at them as Carter walked her toward an unused room to let her sleep off...whatever this was.

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