chunk: When Percival is a young teenager, Captain Delmar reappears and offers him a position aboard his new navy ship, the H.M. Calliope. While preparing to enter service, Percival overhears gossip of his illegitimate birth, introducing the idea that Captain Delmar may be his father. He confronts his mother about his parentage, which she at first harshly denies but later tearfully explains the truth of her affair. Early in his service in the navy, Percival is captured during a pirate raid along with others. The pirate crew is entirely black, and the captain explains that they are primarily escaped slaves from the Americas. Percival is taken in as a cabin boy, and later dyes his skin tan in the appearance of a mulatto to please the captain who doesn't approve of white skin. The pirates often seek to take over slave trading vessels, killing every white person on board. During the taking of one such vessel, Percival is able is convince the captain to spare the lives of a wealthy Dutch merchant