Orson Card - Pastwatch - The Redemption Of Christopher Columbus

The officers were first through the stockade gate. Other men had gathered there, too. The men who had been involved in the rape -- whether doing it or merely watching -- were the last. And as they reached the gate and it closed behind them, Colўn turned to Arana, the constable of the fleet, and said, "Arrest those men, sir. I charge Moger and Clavijo with rape and murder. I charge Triana, Vallejos, and Franco with disobedience to orders."

Perhaps if Arana had not hesitated, the sheer force of Colўn's voice would have carried the day. But he did hesitate, and then spent a few moments looking to see which of the men would be likely to obey his orders.

That gave Rodrigo de Triana time enough to collect himself. "Don't do it!" he shouted. "Don't obey him! Pinzўn already told us to go back to work. Are we going to let this Genovese flog us because of a little accident?"

"Arrest them," said Colўn.

"You, you, and you," said Arana. "Put Moger and Clavijo under--"

"Don't do it!" shouted Rodrigo de Triana.

"If Rodrigo de Triana advocates mutiny again," said Colўn, "I order you to shoot him dead."

"Wouldn't you like that, Colўn! Then there'd be nobody to argue over who saw land that night!"

"Captain-General," said Pinzўn quietly. "There's no need to talk of shooting people."

"I have given an order to arrest five seamen," said Colўn. "I am waiting for obedience."

"Then you'll have a hell of a long wait!" cried Rodrigo.

Pinzўn put out a hand and touched Arana's arm, urging him to delay. "Captain-General," said Pinzўn. "Let's just wait until tempers cool down."

Pedro gasped. He could see that Segovia and Gutierrez were just as shocked as he was. Pinzўn had just mutinied, whether he meant it that way or not. He had come between the Captain-General and the Constable, and had restrained Arana from obeying Colўn's order. Now he stood there, face to face with Colўn, as if daring him to do anything about it.

Colўn simply ignored him, and spoke to Arana. "I'm waiting."

Arana turned to the three men he had called upon before. "Do as I ordered you, men," he said.

But they did not move. They looked at Pinzўn, waiting.

Pedro could see that Pinzўn did not know what to do. Probably didn't know what he wanted. It was obvious now, if it had not been obvious before, that as far as the men were concerned, Pinzўn was the commander of the expedition. Yet Pinzўn was a good commander, and knew that discipline was vital to survival. He also knew that if he ever intended to return to Spain, he couldn't do it with a mutiny on his record.

At the same time, if he obeyed Colўn now, he would lose the support of the men. They would feel betrayed. It would diminish him in their minds.

So ... what was the most important to him? The devotion of the men of Palos, or the law of the sea?

There was no way of knowing what Pinzўn would have chosen. For Colўn did not wait until he finally made up his mind. Instead he spoke to Arana. "Apparently Pinzўn thinks that it is for him to decide whether the orders of the Captain-General will be obeyed or not. Arana, you will arrest Martin Pinzўn for insubordination and mutiny."

While Pinzўn dithered about whether to cross the line, Colўn had recognized the simple fact that he had already crossed it. Colўn had law and justice on his side. Pinzўn, however, had the sympathy of almost all the men. No sooner had Colўn given the order than the men roared their rejection of his decision, and almost at once they became a mob, seizing Colўn and the other officers and dragging them to the middle of the stockade.

For a moment, Pedro and Chipa were forgotten -- the men had apparently been thinking of mutiny for long enough to have figured out who it was that they needed to subdue. Colўn himself, of course, and the royal officers. Also Jacome el Rico, the financial agent; Juan de la Cosa, because he was a Basque, not a man of Palos, and therefore couldn't be trusted; and Alonso the physician, Lequeitio the gunner, and Domingo the cooper.

Pedro moved as unobtrusively as possible toward the gate of the stockade. He was about thirty yards from where the officers and loyal men were being restrained, but someone would be bound to notice when he opened the gate. He took Chipa by the hand, and said to her, in halting Taino, "We will run. When gate open."

She squeezed his hand to show that she understood.

Pinzўn had apparently realized that it looked very bad for him, that he and his brothers had not been restrained with the other officers. Unless they killed all the royal officials, someone would testify against him in Spain. "I oppose this," he said loudly. "You must let them go at once."

"Come on, Martin," shouted Rodrigo. "He was charging you with mutiny."

"But Rodrigo, I am not guilty of mutiny," said Pinzўn, speaking very clearly, so that everyone could hear. "I oppose this action. I won't allow you to continue. You will have to restrain me, too."

After a moment, Rodrigo finally got it. "You men," he said, giving orders as naturally as if he had been born to it. "You'd better seize Captain Pinzўn and his brothers." From where he was standing, Pedro couldn't see whether Rodrigo winked as he said this. But he hardly needed to. Everyone knew that the Pinzўns were only being restrained because Martin had asked for it. To protect him from a charge of mutiny.

"Harm no one," said Pinzўn. "If you have any hope of seeing Spain again, harm no one."

"He was going to flog me, the lying bastard!" cried Rodrigo. "So let's see how he likes the lash!"

If they dared to lay the lash to Colўn, Pedro realized, then there was no hope for Chipa. She would end up like Parrot Feather, unless he got her out of the stockade and safely into the forest.

"Sees-in-the-Dark will know what to do," Chipa said quietly in Taino.

"Quiet," said Pedro. Then he gave up on Taino and continued in Spanish. "As soon as I get the gate open, ran through it and head for the nearest trees."

He dashed for the gate, lifted the heavy crossbar, and let it drop out of the way. At once an outcry arose among the mutineers. "The gate! Pedro! Stop him! Get the girl! Don't let her get to the village!"

The gate was heavy and hard to move. It felt like it was taking a long time, though it was only moments. Pedro heard the discharge of a musket, but didn't hear any bullet striking nearby -- at that range, muskets weren't very accurate. As soon as Chipa could squeeze through, she did, and a moment later Pedro was behind her. But there were men in pursuit of them, and Pedro was too frightened to dare to stop and look to see how close they were.

Chipa ran light as a deer across the clearing and dodged into the undergrowth at the forest's edge without so much as disturbing the leaves. By comparison, Pedro felt like an ox, clumping along, his boots pounding, sweat flowing under his heavy clothing. His sword smacked against his thigh and calf as he ran. He thought he could hear footsteps behind him, closer and closer. Finally, with a killing burst of speed he broke into the underbrush, vines tangling around his face, gripping his neck, trying to force him back out into the open.

"Quiet," said Chipa. "Hold still and they won't be able to see you."

Her voice calmed him. He stopped thrashing at the leaves, and then discovered that by moving slowly it was easy to duck through the vines and thin branches that had been holding him. Then he followed Chipa to a tree with a low-forking branch. She lifted herself easily up onto the branch. "They're going back into the stockade," she said.

"Nobody's following us?" Pedro was a little disappointed. "They must not think we matter."

"We have to get Sees-in-the-Dark," said Chipa.

"No need," said a woman's voice.