Rise Of Empire (75 page)

Seward glanced around him desperately. “Mr. Bishop, lay the ship on the port tack.”

Wyatt shook his head defiantly. “We need to grab the wind.”

“Damn you!” Seward hesitated only a moment, then shouted, “So be it! Hard aport, helmsman. Bring her around, hard over!”

Wyatt spun the wheel, the chains cranking the rudder so that the ship started to turn. Mr. Temple barked orders to the crew. The
Emerald Storm
was sluggish, stalling in the futile wind. The ship slowed to a mere drift. Then the foresail fluttered, billowed, and started to draw, coming around slowly. The yards turned as the men ran aft with the lee braces. The mainsail caught the breeze and blew full. The ship creaked loudly as the masts took up the strain.

The
Storm
picked up speed and was halfway round and pointed toward the coast. Still, Wyatt held the wheel hard over. The wind pressed the sails and leaned the ship, dipping the beam dangerously low. Spray broke over the rail as men grabbed hold of whatever they could to remain standing as the deck tilted steadily upward. The captain glared at Wyatt as he grabbed hold of the mizzen shroud, yet he held his tongue.

Letting the wind take the ship full on with all sails set, Wyatt pressed the wheel, raising the ship on its edge. Bishop and Temple glanced from Wyatt to the captain and back again, but no one dared give an order in the captain’s presence.

Hadrian also grabbed hold of a rail to keep from slipping down the deck. Holding tight, he worried that Wyatt might capsize the ship. The hull groaned from the strain, the masts creaked with the pressure, but the ship picked up speed. At first it bucked through the waves, sending bursts of spray over the deck, then faster it went until the
Storm
skipped the waves, flying off the crests with the wind squarely on its aft quarter. The ship made its tight circle and at last Wyatt let up, leveling the deck. The ship fell in direct line with the wind and the bow rose as the
Storm
ran with it.

“Trim the sails,” the lieutenant ordered. The men set to work once more, periodically glancing astern to watch the approach of the ships.

“Mr. Bishop,” Seward called. “Disburse weapons to the men and issue an extra ration of grog.”

Royce was on his way aloft as the larboard crew came off duty. “How long do you think before they catch us?” he asked Hadrian, looking aft at the tiny armada of red sails chasing their wake.

“I don’t know. I’ve never done this before. What do you think?”

Royce shrugged. “A few hours maybe.”

“It’s not looking good, is it?”

“And you wanted to be a sailor.”

Hadrian went about the business of preparing for the evening meal, mindful that it might be the last the men would have. Poe, conspicuously absent, hastily entered the galley.

“Where you been?”

Poe looked sheepish. “Talking to Wyatt. Those Dacca ships are gaining fast. They’ll be on us tonight for sure.”

Hadrian nodded grimly.

Poe moved to help cut the salted pork, then added, “Wyatt has a plan. It won’t save everyone—only a handful, really—and it might not work at all, but it’s something. He wants to know if you’re in.”

“What about Royce?”

“Him too.”

“What’s the plan?”

“Sail!” they heard Mr. Wesley cry even from the galley. “Two more tartanes dead ahead!”

Poe and Hadrian, like everyone else aboard, scrambled to the deck to see Mr. Wesley pointing off the starboard bow. Two red sails were slipping out from hidden coves along the shore to block their retreat. Sailing nimbly against the wind, they moved to intercept the
Storm.

“Clear the deck for action!” Seward shouted from the quarterdeck, wiping the sweat from his head.

Men scrambled across the ship, once more hauling buckets of sand and water. Archers took their positions on the forecastle, stringing their bows. Oil and hot coals were placed at the ready.

“We need to steer clear,” the captain said. “Helm, bring her—”

“We need speed,
sir,”
Wyatt interrupted.

The captain winced at the interruption. “Be mindful, Deminthal, or I’ll skip the flogging I owe you and have you hanged!”

“With all due respect, you abdicated that privilege to the Dacca last night. All the sooner if I alter course now.”

“By Maribor! Mr. Temple, take—” The captain stopped as he spotted the tartanes beginning to turn.

“See! They expected us to break,” Wyatt told him.

Realizing their mistake, the Dacca fought to swing back, but it was too late. A hole had been created.

Seward grumbled and scowled at Wyatt.

“Sir?” Temple asked.

“Never mind. Steady as she goes, Mr. Bishop. Order the archers to take aim at the port-side ship! Perhaps we can slow them down if we can manage to set one afire.”

“Aye, aye, sir!”

Hadrian rushed to the forecastle. Having proved himself one of the best archers on the ship, he was stationed at the center of the port side. He picked a strong, solid bow and tested the string’s strength.

“The wind will set the arrows off a bit toward the bow,” Poe mentioned, readying a bucket of glowing hot coals. “Might want to lead the target a bit, eh?”

“You’re my squire now as well?”

Poe smiled and shook his head. “I’ve seen you in practice. I figure the safest place on this ship right now is here. I’ll hand you the oiled arrows. You just keep firing.”

The Dacca tartanes slipped through the waves, their red triangular sails billowing out sideways as they struggled on a tight tack to make the best use of the headwind. Dark figures
scurried like ants across the decks and rigging of the smaller ships.

“Ready arrows!” Lieutenant Bishop shouted.

Hadrian fitted his first shaft in the string.

As the Dacca closed in on the
Storm
, they began to turn. Their yards swept round and their tillers cranked, pivoting much as Wyatt had, the action all the more impressive as both ships moved in perfect unison, like dancers performing simultaneous pirouettes.

“Light arrows!”

Hadrian touched the oil-soaked wad at the tip of the shaft to the pot of coals and it burst into flame. A row of men on the port side stood ready, a trail of soot-black smoke wafting aft.

“Take aim!” Bishop ordered as the Dacca ships came into range. On the deck of the tartanes, a line of flaming arrows mirrored their own. “Fire!”

Into the blue sky flew a staggered arc of fire trailing black smoke. At the same time, the Dacca launched their volley, and the arrows passed each other in midair. All around him, Hadrian heard pattering as they struck. The bucket brigade was running to douse the flames, and above them Royce dropped along a line to kick free one lodged in the masthead before it could ignite the mainsail.

Poe had another arrow ready. Hadrian fitted it, lit it with the pot, took aim, and sent it into the lower yard of their mainsail. To his right, he heard the loud
thwack
of the massive ballista, which sent forth a huge flaming missile. It struck the side of the tartane, splintering the hull and lodging there.

Hadrian heard a hissing fly past his ear. Behind him, the oil bucket splashed and the liquid ignited. Poe jumped backward as his trousers flamed. Grabbing a nearby bucket, Hadrian smothered the fire with sand.

Another volley rained, peppering the deck. Boatswain
Bristol, in the process of cranking the ballista for a second shot, fell dead with an arrow in his throat, his hair catching fire. Basil, the officers’ cook, took one in the chest, and Seaman Bliden screamed as two arrows hit him, one in the thigh, and the other through his hand. Looking up, Hadrian saw this second volley came from the other ship.

Shaken but not seriously harmed, Poe found another oil bucket and brought it to Hadrian. As the two ships came closer, Hadrian found what he was looking for—a bucket at the feet of the archers. Leading his target, he held his breath, took aim, and released. The tartane’s bucket exploded. Hadrian spotted a young Dacca attempt to douse the flames with water. Instantly the fire washed the deck. At that moment, the
Storm’s
ballista crew, having loaded the weapon with multiple bolts this time, released a cruel hail on the passing Dacca. Screams bridged the gap between the ships as the
Storm
sailed on, leaving the burning ships in its wake.

Once more the crew cheered their victory, but it was hollow. Amid the blackened scorch marks left by scores of arrows, a dozen men lay dead on the deck. They had not slipped through the trap unscathed, and the red sails behind them were closer now.

When night fell, the captain ordered the off-crew, including Hadrian and Royce, below deck to rest. On the way they grabbed their old gear from the galley, and the two took the opportunity to change into their cloaks and tunics. Hadrian strapped on his swords. It brought a few curious looks, but no one said a word.

Not a single man slept, and few even sat. Most paced with their heads bowed to avoid the short ceiling, but perhaps this
time they were also praying. Many of the crew had appeared superstitious, but none religious—until now.

“Why don’t we put inland?” Seaman Davis asked his fellow sailors. “The coast’s only a few miles off. We could put in and escape into the jungle.”

“Coral shoals ring the shores of Calis,” Banner said, scraping the surface of the table with a knife. “We’d rip the bottom of the
Storm
a mile out, and the Dacca would have it. Besides, the captain ain’t gonna abandon his ship and run.”

“Captain Seward is an arse!”

“Watch yer mouth, lad!”

“Why? What’s he gonna do that can be worse than the Dacca?”

To that, Banner had no answer. No one did. Fear spread through the crew—fear of certain death and the poison that comes from waiting idly for it. Hadrian knew from countless battles the folly of leaving men to stagnate with nothing else to occupy their thoughts.

The hatch opened and everyone looked up to see Wyatt and Poe.

“What’s the word?” Davis asked.

“It won’t be long now, men. Make ready what you need to. The captain will call general quarters soon, I expect.”

Wyatt paused at the bottom of the ladder and spoke quietly with Grady and Derning. They nodded, then went aft. Wyatt motioned with his eyes for Hadrian and Royce to follow him forward. Only empty hammocks filled the cramped space, leaving them enough privacy to speak.

“So, what’s this plan?” Royce whispered.

“We can’t win a fight,” Wyatt told them. “All we can hope to do is run.”

“You said the
Storm
can’t outrun them,” Hadrian reminded him.

“I wasn’t planning on outrunning them in the
Storm.”

Hadrian and Royce exchanged glances.

“The Dacca will want her and the cargo. That’s why we made it through the blockade so easily. They were trying to slow us, not stop us. If I had followed Seward’s orders, we’d all be dead now. As it is, I only bought us a few hours, but they were needed.”

“Needed for what, exactly?” Royce asked.

“For darkness. The Dacca can’t see any better at night than we can, and while they take the
Storm
, we’ll escape. They’ll bring as many of their ships alongside as they can to overwhelm our decks by sheer numbers. When they board us, a party of men I’ve handpicked will take one of the tartanes. We’ll cut the ship free and, with luck, get clear of the
Storm
before they see us. In the darkness and the confusion of battle, it might work.”