Alexander Kent - Man of War

Catherine might or might not be aboard the little schooner. Jacob was apparently well known for his dealings with the navy and felons alike. But somehow he knew she was here at San Jose, because of Bethune, and the man who had always protected her. Sillitoe.

Adam forced himself to use the big signals telescope again, to take time with each thought and reaction, and all the while his body seemed to shake with anger, and with hatred.

Audacity had been hit yet again, and was drifting with the wind, smoke rising above her main course like a cloud.

He said, "I intend to engage the shore battery, Sir Graham. Commander Pointer will soon be in position." He did not look at Jago as he added, "Remember Algiers. Boat action! "

He heard the snap of commands, Jago calling out names abruptly. Like that last time when Lord Exmouth's fleet had broken all the rules by choosing to fight against sited and entrenched guns. When every ship was a target.

He waited, knowing his last reserve would snap if Bethune overruled him. But Bethune was standing by the compass box, for another moment unaware of the helmsmen, and the gun crews on either side of the quarterdeck. Boatswain's mates, midshipmen, and the remaining section of Royal Marines. He could have been completely alone.

When he spoke, his voice was barely audible. "Signal Hostile to close on Flag." Then he did look directly at his flag captain. "Lay a course to weather the headland. We will engage."

Adam heard the order run through the waiting seamen and marines with the speed of light. He saw Bethune peel off his coat and toss it to his servant. Most of all, he remembered Bethune's eyes, his expression. Like a stranger. An enemy.

The heavy coat lay on the deck where it had fallen. Tolan had hurried after Jago, while men snatched up weapons from the open arms chests.

Jago asked harshly, "You a volunteer?"

Tolan nodded, and said something he did not hear. But Jago looked past him and up to the rail by the poop ladder.

Adam saw him and lifted one hand in salute. Something only they had come to understand.

There was a dull explosion, the searing hiss of spark and flame in the bay. A ship had blown up. Twenty-eight years old, like her captain. Finished.

We will engage.

The leadsman called out from the chains, "No bottom, sir! "

Adam loosened his collar and touched the silk stocking she had given him, which he had wound around his neck.

Stirling shouted, "Ready, sir! " His eyes were on Athena's captain, not the vice-admiral.

Adam tightened his grip and heard her voice. Walk with me. The rest had been a dream.

"Steady she goes, sir! West sou' west! " The senior helmsman peered up as the canvas cracked when the wind fell away, and the land moved out to shield them.

Adam had climbed on to the nettings again, his eye smarting in the reflected glare. The water in the bay was like burnished metal, as if the seabed were on fire. There was smoke, too, from Audacity's burning hull or from the hidden guns ashore. He was conscious only of the ship's slow, unwavering advance; the people hurrying about her decks or working high aloft on the yards and rigging seemed merely incidental, as if Athena was her own mistress.

There was more activity amongst the moored ships. Patches of sail had appeared, but many of the slavers' seamen were probably ashore. Unless they had been expecting some form of action…

He tore his eyes away to watch Jago and two boats' crews running aft to haul their craft alongside.

He jumped down to the deck again and called, "Bring her up a point! "

He strode to the rail and stared along the full length of the ship. Every gun loaded, its crew grouped around it, some peering at the nearest land as it glided past above the starboard gangway. All the tackles were fully manned, with extra hands from the opposite side for the first, perhaps vital show of force. If Pointer was unable to get his men into position the slavers might still escape, and their attack would be futile. Far worse, it might cost the life of every man who fell into the enemy's hands.

Enemy… They were the enemy. Flags no longer counted for anything.

Then he saw Audacity, or what remained of her. Almost on her beam, and surrounded by burned flotsam and a spreading carpet of ash. One boat was nearby, the oars moving very slowly as it pulled past and among the wreckage. A few figures were clinging to broken spars and a half-burned hatch cover, others drifted beyond all aid or hope. The end of a ship. Something against which he should be hardened.

He was not.

There was silence on Athena's upper deck. Men stood by their guns and at the braces and halliards, and gazed at the burned-out ship. One of their own. There were no words for it.

"Boats, starboard bow, sir! "

Adam wiped his face and stared beyond the bow. The small schooner had either hove to, or her steering had gone. She was beam on, some half mile beyond Audacity's remains. The boats were almost hidden by Athena's beak head and jib, but there was no room for doubt. He saw the glint of steel, and the tiny flash of a pistol or musket.

Perhaps the trader named Jacob was trying to get away, detach himself from any blame or retaliation.

He saw Stirling by the massive trunk of the mainmast, arms folded as he watched the guns, and the spread of pale canvas towering overhead. Two midshipmen waited with him, ready to pass a message or carry an order without losing a second. One of them could have been David.

A sharp glance aft and he saw Bethune standing by some nettings, Troubridge beside him.

Adam watched the land again, a small, rounded hill with an isolated clump of trees straying down one side, like scattered fugitives.

He cupped one hand to his mouth. There was no point in reporting to Bethune what he must already know. He who will not risk. He shut his mind to it.

"Open the ports to starboard! " He made himself count the seconds as the port lids squeaked open from bow to stern along both gun decks.

Where he had walked with Jago, and had spoken with these same men, and the one who came from Helston, from "God's county'. And they had cheered him.

Only hours ago. This very day.

The ports on the lee side would remain closed until it was time to bring the other broadside to bear.

He looked up and into the bay. If they ever reached that far.

Midshipman Manners shouted, "Listen! Listen, sir! " His youthful face was filled with disbelief. He took off his hat and waved it with wild excitement. "Huzza! Huzza! "

Vincent snapped, "Silence on deck there! " But even he seemed at a loss.

Adam heard it. Faint at first, then carried on the offshore breeze it blended into a wave of cheering.

Dugald Fraser said, "Cheerin' MS! And I thought I'd seen all there was to see! "

Adam swallowed hard and saw some of the small figures in the water twisting round to watch Athena's slow approach. Maybe the first time any of them had found time to look for her.

He said, "Run out, Mr. Stirling! "

The decks quivered as every gun squeaked up to its open port, men throwing all their strength and weight on the tackles to haul their massive charges into the sunlight.

Adam leaned on the quarterdeck rail, although he did not recall having moved. He did not need a glass. Here was the headland, the white buildings he had seen through the signals telescope, drifting smoke in blotches against the sky, insects no longer. A brief glance at the tilting compass card, seeing the helmsman's fist opening and closing around a spoke, as if beating time to something.

He heard a shot, perhaps two, and looked up as a ball punched a hole through the main topgallant sail.

He saw Stirling 's arm shoot out, like a man controlling an excited horse. "Steady, lads! " His eyes must have moved along every gun, while down in the semi-darkness of the lower gun deck they would all be listening, waiting for the signal from aft.