Swamped

Nothing comes to mind right away, so you decide to let things keep moving. You'll probably get a chance soon enough.

"Well, we ain't been attacked by pirates this far out before," says the guard who isn't looking at you. "They're worried about boarders."

"Boarders! What, you think boarders are going to be dressed like us and know the names of our officers, and somehow get all the way up here without anyone sending a general warning?"

"I dunno," the guard replies. "But that's what they told us."

The other guard is still looking at you, but he seems pretty annoyed. Probably at that sorry excuse. But you think this is a good chance. If you can offer a defense for that really stupid excuse, that might just send the other one over the edge.

"Could be they know more than they're letting on about that ship," you muse. "Maybe they do think that's plausible, because of info we don't have."

"Why in the hells would they know anything about a goddamned pirate ship?" the sailor shrieks at you. "This doesn't make any damn sense!"

Perfect. Not quite ready to start throwing blows, but could cross over at any moment. Both guards are watching the sailor now. Now you just need to get yourself away from the center of attention for a little bit, without the sailor calming down. If you can manage that, you can probably slip past.

Of course, you're going to need a plan for doing that.