Did I in turn have any more right than Abraham Lincoln to turn away from the suffering of his fellow mankind, whether they be of my color or of a different color?
No, I did not.
I brought the Celestia's Prize up alongside the dock, as I made the promise to myself to be a holy agent of change to affect the freedom of people under bondage.
"Shut her off Ortega. You and Flynn are staying on board. Don't let anybody else on board!" I said briefly into the ship's COM system.
I let go of the wheel and stepped free of the wheelhouse followed by Matt.
"It's not too late Matt." I said in an aside, as I fell back to walk beside him, as each of us was the subject of several hundred stares by master and slave alike.
Matt shook his head wryly and said, "This reminds me of the black hat brigades who fought for the North. If they were captured by the South they were shot on the spot instead of being taken prisoner, because of their Negro heritage. I knew this was a one-way ticket when I signed on Eli."
I nodded in affirmation. Matt was showing me a special kind of courage that I would never have guessed was to be found in the quiet academia professor that always had his nose stuck in a book.
Big Jim stood with feet shoulder width apart as the shotgun in one hand trailed down to point at the deck. Christina stood slightly off to the left and behind him looking scared, but resolute at the same time. She'd back up Jim's play should he have need of it.
Above all else, no matter what happened to the rest of us, I wanted to see those two free and clear to go on living.
I stepped up onto the dock as the silent crowd moved back from us. Matt stepped up beside me and together we waited.
An older black man stepped out from the crowd. His eyes flickered from Matt to me before he addressed me, "You are from up there?" He asked pointing upward with a finger.
"We are." I said.
"How did you manage such a thing? It is an impossible journey to get to this place!" He exclaimed.
"And yet you yourselves arrived here at one point in time." I responded succinctly.
He nodded, "This is true. Tell me why have you come?" He asked subtly.
The truth was always the best answer, but in this case I just wasn't going to tell him all of it.
"I'm a treasure hunter. No offense meant, but I was hoping to find a sunken Southern fleet with quite a few boxes of gold lying around for the grabbing."