In the Phoenix’s infirmary, Frank Ward collapsed next to the Captain’s cot. Albert Reeves and Henry Cook moved him to a nearby cot. Along with the second captain’s collapse, Captain Baxtor started gasping for breath.

“Ward wasn’t able to help the captain through the experience,” said Radiance. “He’s slipping further back in time. He needs someone to help him step outside himself and make a different choice. By himself, he’s doomed to repeat the pivotal moments of his life that he regrets. That dagger is torturing him and then it will kill him once he reaches the beginning of his life. I can sort this out.” He took Captain Baxtor’s hand.

“Belay that,” said Albert Reeves. “I’m helping him.” He took the captain’s hand from Radiance and suddenly found himself back in an earlier time.

* * *

Albert Reeves found himself in a pub on Main Street near the harbor in Mytertown. A younger Joseph Baxtor without a beard sat at a table, with a pint of beer, reviewing reports and paper. A dirty man with a disheveled young boy approached him.

“Begging your pardon, sir, but I was told you might be hiring deckhands,” said the dirty man.

“I am, but we’ve had quite a bit of interest. What’s your background? What ships have you served on?” asked the young Joseph Baxtor.

“I’ve done just about everything you can think of, sir, on land or on sea. I can do it all,” said the man.

“We really need experienced men,” said Joseph Baxtor.

“I promise you, give me a chance and I’ll be the best man serving under you,” said the dirty man. “I really need this, I have a wife and family at home. If you hire me, you can have my son here as a cabin boy for free.”

“We wouldn’t make anyone work for free, especially a fine young man like this,” said Baxtor, smiling down at the boy. “I like your attitude. What’s your name?”

“Samuel Cook, sir,” said the man.

The scene shifted around him and Albert Reeves looked across the main deck on the Drake and saw the younger, clean-shaven Joseph Baxtor talking to a deckhand.

“Samuel,” said Baxtor, “we can’t keep going over this. You made a mess out of the rigging you replaced, I had to redo it myself.”

“Sorry, sir,” said Samuel.

“Sorries are all well and fine, but you make a mess of every task I give you if I’m not standing over you watching,” said Joseph.

“I’ll sort it out, sir,” said Samuel. “There’s just so much to remember and I have trouble getting it all right. I’ll try harder, sir, just you wait and see.”

Sighing, Joseph asked, “How’s your boy Henry like life on the high seas?”

“I imagine he likes it just fine,” said Samuel Cook, confused by the question. “Has he been doing his work ok? You tell me if he isn’t and I’ll give him a good thrashing.”

“No, no, nothing like that,” said Joseph Baxtor. “He’s a fine lad and he’s doing a good job as a cabin boy.”

The scene shifted again, and Albert Reeves saw a young Joseph Baxtor, now sporting a one-inch beard. The captain was giving him a dressing down over a snapped line on a sail.

“I’m sorry captain, it’s my fault and I’ll make sure it never happens again,” promised Joseph Baxtor.

“It never should have happened this time, Mr. Baxtor,” said the Captain. “You do good work, you wouldn’t be the boatswain on the Drake if you didn’t. The only explanation I can come up with is that you’re getting lazy and careless and I won’t stand for that.”

“No, sir, you shouldn’t. I promise you’ll never think this about me again, sir,” said Joseph Baxtor.

The scene shifted, and Joseph was talking to Samuel Cook over dinner. “I got chewed out because of your sloppy work on the sail, Samuel,” said Joseph.

“I’m sorry, sir, I’m sure that I did my work properly,” said Samuel.

“This guy needs to go,” said Albert Reeves. Joseph Baxtor paused and glanced around the mess. A seven-year-old Henry Cook came to their table and dropped off some bread. “Leftovers from the officers,” he said with a grin. Samuel cuffed the boy and said, “Don’t be stealing from those officers. You’ll get us put off of the Drake and where will your mother and sisters be without my pay.”

Tears in his eyes, the boy said, “I didn’t steal it, the cook gave it to me as leftovers and I brought it for you and Mr. Baxtor.”

“Well, you probably had a smack coming for something else,” said his father dismissively.

Joseph Baxtor ruffled the boy’s hair and, smiling down at him, said, “Thanks for the bread. You’re a good lad.”

Albert Reeves found the scene shifted again. Joseph Baxtor’s beard was bushier, approaching its current length. The future captain knelt in front of a young Henry Cook.

“We all feel so terribly for you and your family, Henry,” said Baxtor. “The cargo shifted onto your father. It’s a terrible thing to happen.”

“Why was he in with the cargo, Mr. Baxtor?” asked Henry.

“He had trouble with the rigging, so I moved him to manage the cargo,” said Joseph Baxtor.

“But, why did it fall on him?” asked young Cook.

“It wasn’t stowed evenly,” said the future captain.

“Whose fault was that, sir?” asked Henry.

“It’s my fault,” said Baxtor. “I showed your father what to do multiple times, but he kept struggling with it. I should have removed him from his position months ago. He wasn’t able to do the job we had him doing. I’ll never forgive myself.”

“If you’d removed him from his job, my mother and sisters would have starved,” said Henry. “He should have learned his tasks properly.”

Rubbing the tears off of the boy’s face, Joseph Baxtor said, “Don’t be angry at your father, Henry. Anger at the dead doesn’t accomplish anything.”

“I’m always going to be good at my job, whatever I do,” promised Henry Cook, looking up at his future Captain. “I’m going to grow up to be like you, not my father.”

* * *

In the Phoenix’s infirmary, Captain Baxtor let out a moan. Albert Reeves fell to the ground, passed out beside him.

“That doesn’t seem to have helped him,” said Sinclair Foran.

“No, it didn’t,” said Radiance, picking up the third captain and placing him unconscious on another cot. He turned to the three men who remained awake and said, “We’re getting through to him. It’s just a matter of keeping it up on our end. He hasn’t been able to avert the traumatic incidents of his past, but I’m going to get him through this one.”

Taking the captain’s hand, Radiance suddenly found himself in the past.