Chapter 98: Roger's Decision
Sabaody Archipelago was quiet in the afternoon light. Sun filtered through the mangrove leaves, casting shifting patterns on the grass. Bubbles rose from the roots, drifting upward until they vanished.
Under the shade of a giant tree, Roger and Rayleigh sat with their backs against the trunk, empty bottles scattered around them. Roger drank with the same enthusiasm he always had, tilting the bottle until the last drop ran down his chin. Rayleigh drank slower, watching his captain with the fond exasperation of a man who had long since stopped trying to change him.
Roger set his empty bottle down, wiping his mouth. He looked around, squinting toward the small bar in the distance.
"Where's Shakky? Not around?"
Rayleigh stiffened. He shifted, blocking Roger's line of sight. "She's busy."
Roger stared at him, then burst out laughing. "I just asked about an old friend. You look like you're guarding treasure."
Rayleigh's cheeks colored. "She's not a treasure."
"She is to you." Roger's grin softened. "You don't have to worry. Rouge is the only one for me."
Rayleigh's expression relaxed. They sat in easy silence, the kind that came from decades of knowing each other.
Then both men looked up at the same time.
A white streak cut across the sky, splitting the clouds, heading straight for the island. At its front, a small fishing boat, riding a wave of compressed air that should have torn it apart. Instead, it held steady, wrapped in a vibration that kept it intact.
Rayleigh's eyebrows rose. "He's still showing off."
Roger's laugh echoed across the clearing. "Kuhahaha! That's him!"
The boat arced down. Just before it would have crashed into the grass, Kyle stepped lightly on the deck, and a ripple of force slowed its descent. The boat settled as gently as a leaf.
Kyle stepped ashore, brushing wind‑tangled hair from his face. He glanced at the boat's bow, frowning. "Still too slow."
Rayleigh's mouth twitched. Roger was already on his feet, waving.
"Kyle! If you'd been any slower, I'd have finished the rum!"
Kyle grinned. "You didn't save me any, did you?"
Roger slapped him on the back hard enough to stagger him. "You should have brought your own!"
Kyle rubbed his shoulder, dropped onto the grass between them, and grabbed a bottle. He bit off the cork and drank.
Rayleigh watched them, shaking his head. "You haven't changed."
"Neither have you," Kyle said. "Still pretending you don't notice when Roger steals your cup."
Roger laughed. "He notices. He just doesn't say anything."
They drank and talked, the hours slipping away. The sun began to set, the light turning gold, then orange, then the deep red of a closing day.
Roger's voice grew quiet. He poured himself a fresh glass, then refilled Rayleigh's and Kyle's. The easy mood shifted. Kyle set his bottle down. Rayleigh waited.
"I've decided," Roger said. "I'm turning myself in."
The words hung in the air. Rayleigh's hand tightened on his glass. Kyle did not move.
"You're going to the Marines," Rayleigh said. It was not a question.
"I am."
"We're pirates," Rayleigh said, his voice low. "If you're going to die, die at sea. Not in a cage."
Roger met his eyes. "This isn't surrender. It's a message."
He leaned back against the tree, looking up at the sky. "We saw what was at the end. That answer doesn't belong to this era. Maybe it never will. But someone will come after us. Someone who can use it."
He turned to them, his smile returning. "My time is almost gone. I won't fade away in some bed, coughing out the last of myself. I'm going to make sure the whole world hears me. Let them know that the sea has an end. That everything we found is out there waiting."
Kyle watched him. Roger's face was thin now, the sharp lines of illness hidden beneath the tan, but his eyes were the same. Bright, steady, looking at something no one else could see.
"You're starting an era," Kyle said.
Roger raised his glass. "I'm ending one. What comes next is up to them."
Rayleigh looked at the drink in his hands. When he spoke, his voice was steady. "When?"
"Soon." Roger's voice was calm. "There are a few things I want to do first. See Rouge one more time. Make sure the crew is settled."
He looked at both of them, his grin fierce. "And have one last drink with the two men who've been with me longest."
Kyle raised his bottle. Rayleigh lifted his glass.
"To the end," Kyle said.
Roger's laugh filled the clearing. "To the beginning."
They drank as the sun slipped below the horizon, the first stars appearing in the darkening sky.
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End of Chapter 98