Dewey Lambdin - THE GUN KETCH

"Sir, we…" Lewrie attempted.

"Both of you! Going off at half-cock quick as a brace of two-shilling muskets! Wasn't one band of pirates enough for you, eh, Lewrie? Did you get a taste for acclaim and glory? Had to go out to win more, hey? And you, Rodgers. You were sure to be made post your next commission. What need had you to gild your laurels with this… this act of complete lunacy? Envy Lewrie his crowd of backslappers? Feel left out or ignored, did you, you vaunting coxcomb? Ha? Did you?"

"Sir, I did my duty as best I saw it," Rodgers growled deep in his chest, with his chin tucked back hard against his neck-stock. "I saved a Spanish merchantman and gave chase to the pirates who had taken her. I tracked them down to Walker's Cay and I engaged them. I saw no pirates fleeing Guineaman, and I was fired upon by her, so I opened fire into her, aye, sir. I discovered evidence which led me to believe that the goods on the island were booty, and this Finney neck-deep in the support of criminals, sir. I…"

"What pirates, Rodgers?" Garvey roared. "You let 'em escape! You did not arrest one person who should have been in the dock! You had no captives to interrogate to determine whether it was booty or not! And out of spite, out of frustration that you'd been bested, you saw what you wanted to see, learned only what you wished to hear, abused the master, mates and crew of Guineaman, brought scandal upon their good names, invented a circumstantial fairy tale, then laid a case against one of Nassau's most illustrious merchants, just so you had something to show for your swaggering antics!"

"Sir, I take deep, grievous exception to your characterization of my actions, sir," Rodgers said, almost strangling.

"You failed, sir! Hear me? You failed! Failed to capture a single pirate. Failed!" Garvey almost howled. "You could have left a guard over the goods, brought Guineaman back here, and discovered the truth quietly. Finney and the other merchants would be cheering you for saving his ship and his goods, but no! You demean honest men in a court of law, and…"

"Honest men," Lewrie muttered with scorn.

"What? Did you speak, sir?" Garvey ranted, turning on him. "A court says he's honest. A court just said he's completely innocent! He was shrewd enough to import extra and cache it until the price was high enough. Know who's cheering Finney, Lewrie? The same people he will skin when they buy his off-season imports. They call him knacky to be the only one with their fancy goods they cannot do without, and will pay his prices gladly. If he undercuts the other Bay Streeters, yet cheats them, that's just the nuts to them, the fools!"

"Being shrewd doesn't mean he isn't guilty, sir," Lewrie said. "The book, sir. How did he come by that, if…"

"Be quiet, you silly clown! 'Twas you and your first officer who brewed this case out of thin air, then laid it at this fool's feet and convinced him he was onto something. And all for jealousy, sir! Because you were jealous, I ask you!"

"Sir!" Lewrie goggled."The whole town knows Finney was spooning 'round your little 'batter-pudding,' Lewrie," Garvey scoffed. "And you didn't like it, did you?" Garvey accused, dropping into a nursery-room singsong. "You didn't have the nutmegs to warn him off as a man should, so you plotted a way to confound a rival in your wife's affections by naming him a confederate of pirates. Was he simply too handsome for your peace of mind, sir? Too fearsome an opponent to confront man to man, hey? Too fierce a foe to call out? Or would his hanging on false charges make you feel more sanguine about your wife while you were at sea, sir?"

"Damme, sir, that is patently unfair!" Alan exploded. "And you cast foul aspersions upon my wife's good name and morals for no good reason, sir! If you do have any allegations about her, I demand you say them straight out now, or never, sir! You may be my superior officer, but that doesn't give you the right to demean her, sir!"

"Oh, Christ," Alan heard Rodgers grunt under his breath. "I am your commanding officer, you insubordinate dog!" Garvey howled, jowls flapping. "You do not shout at me, sir, nor will you use foul language in any address to me! And I'll cast any aspersion I please! An officer junior as you has no business marrying in the first instance, nor in fetching his mort out to a foreign station for his comfort and pleasure in the second. She has affected your skills as a Sea Officer, prejudiced your administering of King's Justice, so unwitted you that you laid false charges against a man for revenge for some slight. Perhaps it might be best if you resign your command and commission, and take both her and you home. Failing that, put her on a ship, leaving you to concentrate on the salvation of what is left of your career."

"Sir, that goes beyond what a commanding officer may order any subordinate to do," Rodgers protested at once. "An officer's personal life does not fall under your regulation, sir. And I cannot believe that I have heard a superior officer use his office to slander a fine and blameless young lady in such a callous fashion."

Alan could not speak, and thanked God for Rodgers' courage. There was a humming in his ears, a red mist before his eyes, and the room swam about him. He had never been so angry, nor so impotent to act. Should he speak for himself, he would explode,' and damn every consequence. Should he even move, his first action would be to draw his hanger and run Garvey through!

"Believe what you will, Rodgers," Garvey barked. "What, Lewrie? No fine words? Cat got your tongue at last, hey?"

"I have no doubts at all concerning my wife, sir, and I bitterly resent your words about her, sir," Alan managed to drag out between clenched jaws. "Finney traffics in stolen goods, sir. We had a case. Not the tightest case, it turns out. But the truth was told, sir. 1 stand by my allegations. I stand by my wife, and I resent…"

"Truth! My God…" Garvey hooted, checking himself as he almost blasphemed himself. "You make me want to spew, the two of you! There'll be a Court of Inquiry into your actions, sirs. There'll be civil charges laid by Finney to recoup lost goods and incomes. Your truth is a pack of fabulist slanders, and he'll most likely sue you both for that, too! Until any or all of those courts convene, you're to make yourselves scarce as hen's teeth. Out of my sight so I am not tempted to relieve you of your commands and break you!"

"And will you schedule the Court of Inquiry preceding the civil suits, sir?" Rodgers demanded. "Would that not be prejudicial should I be found… ?"

"Should have considered the consequences before you acted, sir," Garvey almost snickered. "You serve, and you will now wait, pending my pleasure and convenience. Commander Rodgers, 'tis coming up on whale season, did you know that?"

"Sir?"

"And salt-raking will soon commence, with hotter sunshine down south. You will sail this evening, sir, making the best of your way, and relieve Aemilia as station-ship in the Turks."

"Sir, I draw two fathoms," Rodgers protested. "I couldn't sail a tenth of my patrol area down yonder!"

"Purchase a lugger or two from the fishermen, then, to act as tenders to Whippet" Garvey shrugged, sitting down at last in a fine leather desk chair. "Perhaps Lieutenant Coltrop has one already."

"Out of Admiralty funds, sir?" Rodgers asked, suspiciously.

"Your stupidity leaves me with no Admiralty funds, Rodgers. I leave it to you to deal with out of your own purse if you wish to perform your duties… 'as best you see it' "

"Aye, aye, sir."

"And you, Lewrie," Garvey simpered. "You're going south, too. Long Island, Cat, Rum Cay, Conception and Watling's will be your area. Should I even hear a rumour of your tops'Is being seen north of Flamingo Point on Cat Island until I send for you, I'll have you cashiered for mutiny and desertion, sir."