Alexander Kent - Man of War

Pointer and his men would be on their own once Audacity was forced to withdraw. Renegades, pirates, or slavers, it made little difference when the iron began to fly.

Munro tried to empty his mind of everything but the picture of the final approach, and how it would look to San Jose 's defenders. How it must look. Audacity was fast and agile. But she was no ship of the line like Athena. He thought of the rendezvous, and his own responsibility. The big prize was strangely transformed, with the huge insignia of a crucifix which Athena's sail maker and crew had managed to make stitched to her great foresail. Even a good lookout saw only what he expected to see. It might help convince the eyes ashore that the ship being chased by a naval patrol was indeed one of their brotherhood.

But if not…

He half turned as a light exploded high in the air before drifting down like a falling star. A rocket or flare of some kind.

He wanted to clear his throat but stopped himself with effort. The light was gone just as suddenly. He saw the chart again in his mind, hidden behind that headland where the first invaders had thrown up their defenses.

"Sou' west by west, sir! "

One of the helmsmen reached up for a spoke, and Munro realized for the first time that he could see him.

"Very well. Loose t' gallants and have the guns loaded when you are ready, Philip."

The first lieutenant looked at him, his face still in deep shadow.

"Double-shot ted sir?"

Munro saw the new midshipman, Napier, hurry past, another ensign draped over his shoulder.

He had already been in a major attack, at Algiers. Some were saying it would be the last fleet battle for all time.

Munro looked across the larboard bow and saw the prize. How could any ship so large have remained invisible until now?

He called, "Watch your step, Mr. Napier. It will be warm work today! "

Napier paused, his dirk slapping against his thigh.

Two more shots crashed across the dark water, the flashes like orange tongues. The Villa de Bilbao was playing her part, firing back at her attacker.

He heard himself murmur, "And you do the same, Captain."

Some one was shouting his name and he turned to go.

Like hearing a voice, or feeling a hand on his shoulder. It made no sense. But he was not afraid.

But… He shook himself and hurried to the call, the new flag dragging at his shoulder.

In the first light, its red cross looked like blood.

Adam Bolitho climbed on to the tightly packed hammock nettings and waited for Midshipman Vincent to hand the big signals telescope up to him. Only two hours or so since they had gathered in the chart room and tried to seek out any possible flaws in today's attack. Now it was as if a vast curtain had been rolled aside, with only a dark purple line to divide sea from sky.

He half listened to the faint shouts of command, the clatter of blocks as men threw their weight on the braces to swing the yards still further and contain the wind.

With great care he held the telescope steady, his forearm resting on hammocks stowed with particular attention, creating a barrier to withstand a musket ball or deadly splinter. If you were lucky.

He waited for the ship to lean over on the new tack and saw the land spreading away on either bow, some still lost in haze or shadow, other areas keen and bright in the first sunlight. The sea, too, was shark-blue again, the depths varying in shade like fresh paint on a canvas.

He held his breath as he saw the two other ships, the barque with every sail set, changing colour even as he watched as the morning light found her and opened up her side. Almost in line and close astern, small and graceful by comparison, the frigate appeared to be touching her.

There were more flashes, the report almost lost in shipboard sounds and the hiss of spray along the weather side.

The glass moved again and he saw the low, craggy headland, and some tiny islets directly ahead, caught in Athena's mesh of rigging. There were soundings on the chart, although any experienced sailor would give that part of the bay a wide berth. But somebody had discovered this place, had taken all the risks. He blinked to clear his eye. And some had paid dearly for it, he thought.

He tried to contain his impatience while the hull plunged heavily in an offshore swell. Then he found it again: the old fortifications, and a lower stretch of land where a slipway and some storehouses were said to be located. People, too, some of whom would be waiting and watching from the headland, and the other end of the bay where the deep moorings lay.

He saw Audacity's low hull lengthening as she changed tack yet again, her gun ports a checkered line beneath her flapping canvas. He could almost hear the yards turning to refill the sails, see men scampering up the shrouds in response to more commands. All in his mind; he had heard those sounds so often that they were part of himself, his very life.

Something made him twist round to look behind him. He saw Bethune with Troubridge at his side, pointing at the land, stabbing the air with one finger to emphasize something. Perhaps his purpose was faltering, considering the aftermath if the slave ships were already gone, and the whole operation wasted. There would be enemies who would use it against him quickly enough.

He gripped the glass again. Bethune had changed since the discussion in the chart room, and was wearing a long, dark coat with a caped collar, as if he might have worn for riding in poor weather. He remembered that Tolan had been carrying it over his arm while they were examining the chart and comparing notes with the sailing master.

Beneath his own coat his body felt hot and clammy. He glanced down at his gold lace. A ready target for any marksman, they said. Was that what Bethune thought?

Somebody said, "Wind's easin' off, sir."

He heard Stirling 's blunt response. "It's the land. Look at the pendant, man! "

Adam trained the glass once more. The others were turning now across Athena's jib boom, sails rippling in confusion as they headed toward the final approach.

There was more gunfire, a different bearing this time. The masthead lookouts would be reporting any change of play as soon as they saw anything.

He turned his head slightly and heard more shots, heavier this time. If any fell near the Villa de Bilbao they would know that the ruse had failed. He felt his jaw tighten as what seemed tiny feathers of spray floated past Audacity's stern. Close to, they would be bursting columns as tall as the frigate's counter.

He touched his coat again and saw the shop in his mind, and the boy's surprise, his pleasure.

He shifted the glass very slightly on the hammocks, and could almost feel Vincent's irritation.

He forced himself to remain quite still, moving the glass only slightly when the hull dipped over toward the brightening water.

He remembered it suddenly, as if some one had spoken of it to remind him. When he had been a child, so young he could not put a date or time to it.

He had been lying in some long grass, and his mother had been with him. There had been a line of tall trees along the edge of a nearby farm where he had sometimes done little jobs to earn some money, or be allowed to ride in one of the wagons with their huge horses.

He had seen some small clouds rising and twisting above those same trees. Up and down, never getting any closer. Somebody had laughed at his anxious questions, and then his mother had said, "It's the time of year, Adam they are only insects. Thousands of them. You mustn't worry so much! "

He spoke over his shoulder. "Fetch the first lieutenant, Mr. Vincent."

He wanted to control the rasp in his voice. "Jump to it! "

Not insects this time. He lowered the telescope and dabbed his eye with his wrist. They were tiny balls of smoke. He could imagine the urgency, the crude bellows, the fuel in the ovens changing from red to white around the shot for those hidden guns.