Malspire (27 page)

“Eel? Oh… Sorry, Sir.”

“Get the wounded back to the ship. Make the ship ready to sail. I’m not sure how long we’ll be, but we must be vigilant and ready to move at a moment’s notice.”

“Sir!” said Olvan by way of acknowledgement.

“Wait!” I had seen something out to sea.

On the northern side of the towers ramparts was a temporary open wooden structure with a sail for a roof. Under this was a simple chair, table and a long eye glass fixed to a tripod. I sat in the chair and using the eye glass focused on the object that had caught my eye.

“It’s a ship.”

“One of ours?” asked Olvan hopefully.

“Damn bugger in hells! It’s a rebel frigate. Heading east. Moving fast.”

“The enemy fleet, Sir?”

I scanned the glass westwards but saw no more ships nor smoke stacks on the distant horizon. “No. It’s a scout ship. They would have sent a few ahead.”

I thought for a moment. “Our fleet will not be far behind us. That frigate will see them soon enough and warn the enemy. He’ll see the Lady Ocean soon too. The enemy fleet can’t be too far off.”

“What can we do, Captain?”

“Buggered if I know. Think, man. Think!”

“The lectrocoder, Captain. Perhaps…”

“Of course! Well done Kristan!” I said using the officer’s first name, then grabbed a paper and pen from the table and began to write, speaking the words as I did so. “Enemy frigate sighted stop. Distant north stop. Advise investigation stop. Tars-hard watch tower stop.”

Handing the paper to Olvan, I asked, “What do you think?”

“We can only hope that they will investigate, sir.” Olvan took the paper.

“Get Mister Farnsind to send this at once using their code.” I knew it was obvious that it should be sent using rebel code but I did not know this man, Farnsind well, and for all I knew he might be a complete buffoon. Better safe than sorry. “Once that has been sent, send a message in our code to the fleet to move in with all haste.”

"Won't the enemy pick up our message too?"

"Probably but they will think it's the phantom frigate to the north."

Mister Olvan nodded and left. I went back to scanning the horizon to the west with the glass, and could only hope that the enemy frigate would be drawn north to investigate the phantom frigate leaving the Imperial fleet enough room to slip past unseen.

The first message would put the enemy on alert, but they would be looking north and east when, if all goes well, the Imperial fleet will be coming from the rear; from the west.

I winced at the pain in my side. There was blood on my coat and a hole right through it. I would have to get the surgeon to have a look, but it was not life threatening and it could wait. I shivered.

“What now?”

The Lady Lamient stood behind me. She had found some water to wash her face of the blood. Her hair was wet and pushed back. Her ears and cheeks were badly scratched from her entry into the tower.

“We wait for the fleet. We signal the enemy that all is well. Did you manage to get an answer?”

“Oh yes,” she said coquettishly. That was quick. “A boy told me all we need to know. He was very cooperative. I only had to remove one of his fingers for him to talk.”

I winced at the thought. “You have the routine for signalling, all is well?”

A tabby tom cat ran up the stairs and jumped up on the wall. The lady smiled and made a purring noise to put it at ease as she reached for it. At first the cat was nervous and unsure, but soon succumbed to her soothing charms. Most fortifications and even ships had cats to fight of rodent infestations. This cat looked to be a young adult and had probably killed its fair share of rats and mice. The lady stroked its wide face for a minute then said, “I told you. He cried like a baby and when I soothed him, he told me how it is done. We should probably get on with it. A message is expected at least once an hour.”

She then looked back at the cat and frowned. “I hate cats.”

Before I could mouth a complaint, she simply pushed the cat over the edge of the wall to fall to its death far below. The woman was a psychopath. She was deadly, unfeeling and ruthless. She was also pretty and so the perfect tool for the Secret Servants. I felt for the cat. It had probably been terrified by the gun fire and battle. It was itself a killer, but only by nature, driven by survival, not by madness. The lady was daring me to say something. Instead I turned to the eye glass again and watched the enemy frigate. It was turning north, and I smiled. “Then let’s get on with it.”

Chapter Twelve

The War Tempest was at the head of a line of six battleships and surrounded by a score of frigates. It was not a large fleet but it had a sting, and if they jumped the enemy they would certainly be able to inflict a terrible hurt upon them. The surprise would hopefully enable them to deal out the damage without taking too much themselves. It was hope and payers and wishes, great risk. So much could go wrong. In the academy, I had read of so many well planned attacks that had gone wrong. Where were the enemy? Hopefully they were just making slow progress and not gathering up more ships along the way.

It had been over five hours since capturing the tower, time spent watching the waves, getting the wounded and prisoners down to the cells and signalling to the world that all was well. Mister Olvan was organising things down below while I kept an eye on the water. I was pleased with Olvan who was proving both competent and growing less timid as he grew in confidence. One day he might make a fine captain. Unlike me, Olvan would have to make the long and dangerous climb up the fleet rigging however. I was simply born the son of the Lord Admiral of the Imperial and Ardalrion Fleet. All I had to do was survive for a short time aboard the Sea Huntress to gain some experience and then I was made captain. It was ridiculous. Men with far more experience than me were still junior officers. There were boys with more sea in them than me, and yet there I was, captain of the Lady Ocean, fighting for the Empire with little or no clue of how to go about things. Still, we had taken the tower and that was something.

I shook my head in disgust. So far we had been lucky. I had been lucky with the lives of my crew and ship. Luck had to count for something though, and I would be lying if I did not admit to being proud of my captaincy, proud of my ship and proud of my men.

There was no sight of the enemy as yet, and the rebel frigate had disappeared to the north. It was now early afternoon. Jodlin was ambling about the place trying to make himself useful having taken me some bread and wine. There had been no signal from the fleet, but I had not expected any as further communication was forbidden.

When we finally saw the stacks of smoke to the east above the cliff tops, and half an hour later the first Imperial frigates appeared at full steam, we all felt a huge sense of relief. There was still no sign of the enemy and so I could now breathe more easily. “We’ve done our duty, Jodlin.”

“Are we joining the fleet, Captain?” asked Jodlin, ever keen for a fight.

“I am considering it. We could leave the lectrocode officer here with some marines I suppose. The ship’s not at full strength though,” I said, annoyed at the lack of men and guns. It would be risky. We would be calling on that luck again. Will it hold?

“Let me at them. I’ll make up for it.”

I looked up at the man and remembered my fight with the thug. He was good in a fight, but not after a barrel of ale of course. Who was?

“We need to better hide the Lady Ocean anyway. Let’s get back to the ship. We've done all we can here,” I said.

The lectrocode officer complained at being left behind but I told him to shut up and do his duty. I also left four marines and told them we would return for them all within a few days. When asked what to do if the enemy showed up, I told them to lock the door and tell them to go away. I did not have a better answer. If the enemy showed up, they were doomed, but such are the choices a captain has to make. The Lady Lamient had already returned to the ship as had most of the marines and Mister Olvan. Jodlin and I where the last to leave, and as we set off, Jodlin stopped. I heard it too.

Jodlin went to a patch of scrub and rocks and from them lifted up the tabby cat. To my amazement, the cat was alive. Its left eye was bleeding from a gash across its face, and its front right leg looked to be broken, but it was alive and cried in pain as Jodlin gently placed it in the cradle of his arms. It was too weak to fight and just lay there hurt and probably dying.

“Poor thing. Must have fallen off the tower,” said Jodlin.

“A resilient creature.”

Jodlin stroked it gently. “What should I do with it?”

“Put it out of its misery, man. A blow from your hammer will send it to whatever heavens cats go to.”

Jodlin looked shocked. “I can’t, sir. It’s just a cat. I can’t kill it.”

I was baffled by the man’s ability to kill men with a ruthless efficiency and yet was unable to put a wounded cat to sleep. “I’ll do it,” I said eventually, reaching for my gutting knife. Jodlin turned to protect the cat. I looked up at the man and shrugged my shoulders. “Do what you want with him. He’ll be dead soon enough anyway.”

Jodlin took the cat back to the ship and begged the surgeon to have a look at it. Doctor Eebel was reluctant to waste time on an animal but Jodlin’s pleading eventually convinced the doctor to have a look, but only after the men were seen to. I hoped that the cat would live. Somehow it was suddenly important. As soon as the cat was aboard the Lady Ocean, it was part of the crew, and I told Jodlin to look after it.

We set a westerly course, chasing the fleet. I had all the guns inspected, with shot and powder made ready. We flew the flag of the Empire above the Ardalrion flag again as did the rest of the fleet but even then we were interrogated by a frigate who acted as the fleet’s rear guard.

A couple of hours after leaving the tower, the entire fleet entered a large cove. I watched the great ships from the castle. Some were old, like the Battleship Frost Fang, some new, like the Frigate Seahorse. There was the War Breed, a sleek battleship behind the Wind Reaper, a tall battleship famous for surviving a blockade run early in the war. The Iron Hammer, the Brave Mission, the Widow Song. So many famous ships with long, bloody histories. I had seen them all before but now I would fight alongside them.

The fleet was not hidden entirely but the boilers where left to run on a low flame and the smoke and steam dwindled. A few stragglers caught up, the last of whom was the Sea Huntress. Crosp had probably run her hard to catch up with the fleet. I had to give him credit for making it, bastard that he was. Crosp was at least loyal to the Empire and his duties.

It was growing late in the day now and a lookout had climbed the cliffs to watch for the enemy. As it turned out, we had made it just in time for the lookout signalled that the rebel fleet was to the west. There was still a lectrocoder silence in force and so the flagship used the old fashioned, but reliable system of hoisting flags to relay its messages.

This is it! A sense of relief at finding the enemy mixed with apprehension swept the ship. I guessed that it would be dark before the enemy passed us. I looked to the grey skies and was worried by the amount of steam and smoke still rising from the fleet, but hopefully it would be hard to discern from this distance, with a murky backdrop. Soon it would be dark, and then we would be properly hidden. All lights and flames were forbidden until the first shots were fired. All flags were to be lowered until the enemy was engaged.

***

It was dark and eerie in the tightly packed cove. The men were silent even though their voices would never carry as far as the enemy. Harl stood at the wheel together with the surgeon, Olvan, Sergeant Lamtak, Sudlas and myself. We all listened to the distant sound of steam engines and thrashing paddle wheels as the enemy fleet passed a mile or two to the north. They too were blacked out, and in the darkness men could only imagine the size of the enemy fleet and the hundreds of guns on multiple decks that awaited us, ready to belch fire, iron and death. Were they expecting a possible ambush? Would the Imperial and Ardalrion Navy, or that depleted part of it that now hid in the shadows, be up to the challenge?

Somewhere out there was an enemy we would now hunt, but nobody was sure of the kill for in the darkness and confusion of battle, the hunter could quickly become the hunted. The trap was fragile, tenuous. The silence continued and the enemy lumbered on. It was near pitch black. I could not see the other ships of the fleet, but before darkness fell the fleet had lined the cove in ready order. The signal to move came as a distant call over the cove’s waters. “For Ardalrion. For Emperor and Empire. Follow the flag!” It was an eerie sound like a lost soul that echoed from bluff to bluff. A lonely sound.

When darkness had fallen, every ship in the fleet had stoked up their boilers again, and so the fleet was ready to move. The familiar sound of release valves venting was replaced by the strained hiss then puff. Then the cove filled with the sound of paddle wheels gently turning. A distant light flashed which was the War Tempest's signal to the next battleship in line to follow her. Each ship had a small shielded light to the rear, hidden from the front and sides so that the fleet could follow the flagship in a long line of battle. The intention was to get as far into the enemy formation as possible before the rebels realised what was happening. If possible the fleet was to stay as a line and follow the flagship until told to break off and enter the melee, and that line was something I feared. The line of battle is written about in any number of volumes but none tell the story the old sea dogs tell, those men that have actually been in the line and endured the relentless crashing and thundering of iron and fire, the pounding of guns that rip holes through ships and crew alike. Those books never tell of the horror of a one ton heavy gun being thrown aside by shot only to crush the mere fleshy bodies of those men manning it. How shot can turn a man’s torso to a red mist and the splinters of wood fly like harpoons. I have heard of the bleeding ears from the noise, and the choking smoke of the powder, and the horror of a shot that runs the length of the deck, decapitating man after man. It is something I fear, for those that have endured it and survived have told me to fear it.

I gave the command and the Lady Ocean came to life as a gear clanked into place followed by a heaving hiss and then a relieving chug. Her wheel turned and so we went to face the line of battle.

“I beg forgiveness,” said Harl.

I nodded, recognising the first line of a well-known prayer to the gods.

“I beg mercy,” responded Doctor Eebel.

“I beg that we shall see the dawn of a new day.” Seargeant Lamtak finished the first verse of the prayer, then kissed his fist and touched it to his forehead as the pious often did.

It is funny how pious men would become before a battle. Of course it could not hurt to show a little respect, especially before a fight. I too had a sudden urge to call on the greater powers of the Creators but resisted, not wanting show any sign of weakness or doubt, but I did doubt. I knew very well that this may be my last night on this cold world.

“Follow that light, Mister Harl,” I said, indicating a weak illumination that swung as it moved away from us. We were the last of the line of ships to move out. We were certainly the weakest ship and it is traditionally the way of a battle line of ships. The strongest would be the head of a long snaking line of ships. The Lady Ocean was now the tip of the tail. Any smaller ships had been left behind in Umuron as a last line of defence should the main fleet fail. Gunboats did not have the calibre for fleet battles, but they could at least be used to harry the enemy and cover the evacuation of the town if it came to that.

The fleet moved at a good pace in a north-north easterly direction. This made sense as the enemy would be breaking north-eastwards after the last watch tower in order to enter the larger expanse of water so as to avoid Imperial lookouts and scouts as they neared Umuron.

Before the Lady Ocean, the light of the frigate in front blinked and bobbed. Before that was another faint light in the distance and then another even fainter. They would go on, all the way up to the mighty War Tempest at the head. I decided that if I did pray to any god now, I would pray to that mighty god machine to deliver us.

“How long would you say Mister Olvan?”

“I should think we will catch up with the stragglers in a couple of hours if we head straight after them, sir. I would have thought the War Tempest would try to manoeuvre around them, to come in from the west of their formation.”

“That’s very possible. The Admiral didn’t have a clear plan yet when I left him.”

“He would have to time it right, sir, or we lose 'em in the dark, but the High Admiral has sea water in his blood,” said Harl. I was pleased to note how Harl would offer opinion without being asked any longer. It was what I wanted and needed, and Harl probably knew this. There was still so much to learn and I cursed the wasted years at the academy, and decided there and then that as soon as Ajator was duke, I would have my brother change the Ardalrion academy to be more practical. We would not be able to affect the Imperial academy in Norlan, but at home we would breed a more hands on officer who perhaps might be sneered at in certain circles, but certainly be more respected by our enemies. The respect of an enemy is worth more than any accolade or praise of any friend when war is made.

Men stood on deck. We watched the distant light and looked out at the dark seas. We were all quiet, and the anticipation of battle was showing on those men who fidgeted and clenched fists. There was also a sense of excitement at the prospect of bloodying the rebels "good and proper" as one man put it. I was anxious too, but tried to hide it from the others. I tried to show an air of confidence, but the truth was that I did not know what was going to happen, or how we were even going to defend ourselves with only a handful of guns and not enough crew to defend against a full boarding. The very best I could hope to achieve would be to distract an enemy.