The Marine

Having gone through what papers he had, there just wasn’t much information on this pirate named Forker. It was frustrating but it wasn’t strange because the bounty came from robbed merchant ships and not from encounters with the Marines.

In situations where the pirates did not have direct contact with authorities, Marine Headquarters would give out bounties just high enough to spur local bases to apprehend the suspected criminals.

This was how most bounties were initially issued since pirates would rarely go after Marine vessels. Unless they were chiefly brave or particularly desperate.

These bounties could be collected regardless of the criminality of the so-called pirates. After all, pirate hunting was a critical source of income for most isolated Marine branches.

When Bill had read about this method many years ago, he thought it was a more or less good system.

It was good because it kept isolated Bases up and running, it was bad because how easily it brought tension between Marines and the pirate hunters.

Pirate hunters were a thorny subject. They may perform a needed service, but their actions directly threatened the financial resources of whichever Base they operated nearby.

So, despite that it wasn’t strange, Bill had to grimace as he thought how his first interrogation hadn’t gone to plan.

He had gone with a tough technique, looking side to side, he had practically dared any of the robbers to try anything as he went and grabbed the Captain of the pirate crew. Dragging Forker out of the holding cell and up the steps.

Urging the unshackled pirate forward, Bill held him by the back of the neck with one of his massive hands and sat him down in a make-shift interrogation room.

After that he proceeded to grill the pirate on his wrong doings, but instead of a confession all he got was a complete denial.

The pirate denied all forms of wrongdoing. He denied that they had captured any person, he denied that the cloth was stolen or that it had ever even existed on his craft, he even denied that his crew had fired on Bill’s ship or that he ordered his men to fight instead of surrender.

According to this pirate, he was completely innocent, and it was instead Bill and his crew who were the criminals by seizing an innocent fishing ship.

Of course, there was no fishing gear on Forkers ship, but the man claimed that it must had been thrown overboard in order to frame them.

The final straw was that whenever the pirate opened his mouth to deny some obvious crime, he would also confess under his breath.

Bill had remembered when the clown Caesar had done something similar to this on his way to meet Dr. Vegapunk. It irritated him then and irritated him now.

After about an hour of this, Bill couldn’t take any more without resorting to violence, and so had roughly released the pirate captain back into the holding cell.

Now he was reflecting on his mistakes and thanking heaven that no one had seen his miserable performance.

‘I let him control the conversation.’

This was Bill’s biggest take away that afternoon as he considered what happened over and over again.

Bill had read plenty of novels during his time on Earth, and a portion of those books had detailed interrogation tactics ranging from brutal ancient tortures to tricking suspects to betray their own cause.

He didn’t think he was wrong for not slapping the pirate around, because Bill believed torture was not effective.

No, he thought his problem had been that he had underestimated the pirate and had overestimated his own ability to do something he had never been trained to do. It didn’t matter how many television shows he remembered or how many books he had read, hypothetical knowledge could not substitute actual experience.

Deciding to remedy this over the next few days he brought one pirate in after another and questioned them about their activities.

He tried several different tactics; he took the lead in some and just listened in others. He was particularly interested in the situation with Miyagi but none of the pirates claimed to know where they planned to sell the Mink off to, and all of their stories were roughly the same.

The more he questioned them the more he felt that these people were just opportunistic and there was no grand plan. If there was a grand plan, it would only be known to Forker and Forki, so Bill had to think about his next move carefully.

Thinking this, Bill landed on the captured pirate ship and went to look at the repairs Ranse had been working on for the last few days.

Everything on the pirate ship had been thoroughly inspected and much had been repaired. Sure enough, there hadn’t been any great treasure in the pirates’ pawn but there had been enough beer, biscuits, and salted fish for there not to be anything to worry about in terms of food.

All of the foodstuffs and extra sailing gear had been moved to Frontier Run, leaving the pirate ship with only it’s cannon, rough bedding, and stolen loot on board.

Even though the materials weren’t worth much money, they were happily received to fill the ships haul with a suitable store.

So now despite still being a small crew, at least the ship was fully outfitted.

After Bill spoke to Ranse about restoring various parts of the pirate ship, he went to Ricky and explained his plan to get Forki to talk. They worked together on the idea and made up one of the empty cabins for a better interrogation room.

After this was done, Bill went to the holding cell once again, dragging Forki out in much the same way he had Forker. He tried to make it look rough as he pulled the man up the steps and out of the pirate’s sight.

When he reached the place that they had turned into a makeshift interrogation room, he found Ricky standing off to the side holding papers, exactly where he was supposed to be.

The room only had one wooden table, one lantern, and two chairs; it was currently lit by a small window that allowed dim sunlight through.

Making absolutely sure not to leave any marks, he shoved the man down into the chair and took up the other seat.

When he sat down, Ricky walked behind him, handled him a folder, then in one swift motion struck a match that lit the lantern before stepping back to the side wall.

Even with the lantern burning, the room was still dimly lit, but now a shadow being cast highlighted Bill’s massive frame.

Looking at the pirate for a second without speaking, Bill looked down, opened the file, and stared.

“Forki Forkinson, aged 29, Bounty 2m Beli Wanted Dead or Alive.

These documents show your first pirate action was a mere two years ago. It says here that your crew robbed a Marine depot on an island not long after that.”

Setting the papers down, Bill leaned forward slightly and continued: “Tell me, Forkinson. Do you know the sentence crimes like yours carry?”

To Bill’s pressure, the pirate seemed scared, but said anyways: “I… I’m innocent. I don’t know why I’m here, attacking Marines? I’m not brave!” and then shaking his head he continued “An..and I can’t fight! Mr. this has all got to be some mistake!”

Hearing this, Bill knew that these pirates had coordinated their stories. This was to be expected from criminals, and while it could indicate they had something to hide, it was probably just their very last chance at freedom.

Expecting this kind of answer, Bill leaned back and said defeatedly: “Yeah? Well, I knew I wasn’t going to get anything out of you. I even beat up the others, I’m sure you saw, but they didn’t talk either.”

This was a lie, but under these circumstances Bill figured Forki wasn’t in his best frame of mind to remember whether or not his crew had more wounds besides their broken arms and legs.

“But look” Bill continued “I have to interview you for a period of time, so I’ll tell you a little about myself.”

Just like that, over the next two hours Bill spun a story about his childhood and at some point Forki had started to loosen up a bit.

Bill even had Ricky fetch some of the nicer beer that they hadn’t finished off from Vallipo, and over laughs the pirate and Marine talked about all kinds of things.

Although this was a tactic, Bill was really interested in the pirate’s life. He wanted to know what had cause a 27-year-old man to take to a life of crime. Of course, he never directly asked this question, instead he just brought up various times in the man’s life but did so in a non-linear way.

Near the end of the discussion, unless everything the pirate had said was a lie, Bill had to conclude that this man had no great reason to become a pirate.

Yes, he was poor, but he was not penniless.

Yes, he grew up hard, but did not seem to grow up without love as the man spoke about his mother fondly.

Speaking around the point, Bill figured this man had become a pirate for no other reason than the option was in front of him to take.

‘Forker got a ship and Forki followed him for plunder.’

This was Bill’s final estimation on the man, but it was not the purpose for the interrogation.

So, as they stood up, Bill gave the pirate a playful slap on the shoulder and made an offhand comment with a slight laugh: “Now, make sure you have a good story for when you get back.”

Hearing this, Forki looked confused but still smiling asked: “What?”

Nodding his head like he was shocked, Bill looked down at the man in feigned surprise: “The story on why you didn’t get roughed up like the others!

I’ve had such a good time talking to you that there hasn't been any need to get physical, but they won’t know that unless you explain it to him.”

Then as Forki was about to talk, Bill cut him off and said: “Plus, you’ll want to get your excuse ready for why you smell like beer… well, maybe they won’t be able to smell it on you… but be ready just in case!”

After he said this, he put his large hand on Forki’s back to direct him out of the room, but with each step the man resisted more and more, until Bill stopped and asked: “What’s wrong, Forki?”

The pirate looked nervous and said looking up: “Bil… uh no... Captain Ox, you need to rough me up a little bit too. I can spin the story about the beer, but I can’t go down there without a mark on me.”

When the pirate said this, Bill knew he had him.

Pretending surprise again, Bill spoke alarmed: “Forki! I couldn’t hit you for nothing!” Then he pointed a thumb in Ricky’s direction: “I’m being watched by a subordinate, and if I break rules how can I enforce them later? Now please, this way.”

This time, Forki didn’t even wait for Bill’s hand to guide him as he started backpedaling into the room.

“Captain, please, I’m not asking you hurt me bad!” Forki then looked at Ricky and said earnestly: “You understand I’m asking him to do this right?! He’s not breaking any rules!”

Seeing this, Bill looked to Ricky and back at Forki, raised his hands and said: “Alright, alright.

I can do you a favor, but I need something from you in return.”

Bill could see the gears turning in Forki’s head and so he spoke quickly: “I’m not asking you to betray your friends, never that.

I only want to know.”

He said, walking in Forki’s direction: “Where were you planning to sell the goat?”

To this question, the pirate looked to the ground, and Bill knew.

He had succeeded.