Something is bothering Stede. He can tell. They've spent more than enough time together and had more than enough heart-to-hearts that he has a eye for this, Ed thinks. Friendship, maybe. He'd kind of like to pull Stede from this funk, but then they're talking again.

Her looming over you in the morning is a frightening thought, and Ed has had Izzy looming over him in the morning. "Oh, you were looking for recruits. No, yeah, don't want her. Besides, doesn't she already serve this ship? Not sure looking for someone to jump ship is gonna work with this crew."

What they need is some free thinkers, some creative and daring people, someone willing to kick some serious ass. "It'd probably be best to draw from people like us--people who don't want to be here." Stede doesn't want to be here, right? Ed...isn't entirely sure, what with this place and its literate doctors who read fiction and have nice mustaches. "Pirates are usually people who want to escape something else."