Day 65: I can’t face Murphy. I’ve been avoiding him since I witnessed the murder in Daltry's office. I just know my eyes would give me away. I have never been good at bluffing. If Murphy was willing to kill to possess the Lady Jean…what would he do to someone who saw the murder?

What am I going to do? I have to get home. From what I discovered yesterday, I am no longer surprised not to recognize anything, but I am even more at a loss as to how to get home. If we aren't even in the same dimension as my friends and family, how will I ever get back to them? I don't have a pair of ruby slippers, I haven’t seen any blue box around, and there is certainly no Star-Gate that can get me back to the dimension where I belong.

There's only one way that I can see. I have to steal one of those Portal devices from Murphy. This is a terrible idea; I just know it. I've never been good at thievery. Of course, all I know about thievery, I learned in “A Prudent Thief”—you remember that song, don't you? It didn't end well for him.

I wonder if there is some way to enlist some help. If I can find Gus, I might be able to persuade him to help me. I know he is tired of being under Murphy's thumb, and he's a really good pirate. I bet he would be able to get a Jupiter’s Fancy for me. But would he give it to me once he got it?

Maybe Jenny would be a better bet…but she's so enamored of the idea of being on Murphy's crew would she be willing to jump ship? Of course, she could have the ship after I got home…so that might be good incentive.

Oh wait. A ship. We don't have one of those either.

Do we have to steal the Lady Jean from Murphy too?

—

I’ve managed to sneak a bit of pencil stub from the ship’s doctor, and a few scraps of paper from the cook. I’m recording my thoughts with them so I can reveal Black Jack Murphy’s infamy when I finally return to civilization.

There’s a universal truth about pirates. They hunt treasure, and they don’t care who they have to rob to get it.

There’s a universal truth about dragons. They hoard treasure, and they really don’t like for people to try and take it.

I was kidnapped by the infamous air pirate Black Jack Murphy and his crew of the airship The Lady Jean. They wanted me to chronicle their dragon hunts. Little did Murphy know where my sympathies lie! So, this journal — and the resulting CD, coming soon from Mage Records “Pirates vs. Dragons” — tell the true stories of Pirates vs. Dragons. The CD combines rousing sea shanties about pirates being pirates with songs about the majesty of dragons, and the journal details the privations I suffered. There’s a little something for both sides here–and I bet you find a new favorite or two.

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