Dewey Lambdin - The French Admiral

"You went out with flags flying, sir," Alan said, only half pissing down Treghues's back, half expressing his own outrage at the unfairness of any recriminations against Desperate and her people. "That's more than any of these scoundrels attempted. Had they stirred their arses up properly, there'd still be a base on the York, and we'd have been covered in glory."

Damme, you've let the wine speak! Alan thought. He's going to have me flogged raw. And he's got his memory back. I'm fucked.

"Bless you, that was bravely said, sir!" Treghues barked with a smile that was most disconcerting to see. "And never a truer word spoken."

"She's my ship, too, sir. Too many good men died making her what she is, too many died ashore doing everything they could for the army."

"Aye, you love her, too," Treghues responded as he lit his pipe with a taper dipped into an overhead lantern. It was hard to tell if the smoke, or the emotion, misted his eyes. "I had not expected this from you, Mister Lewrie. I was under the impression you hated the Sea Service."

"I've done some growing up, sir. And there's no law says I can't change my mind about some things," Alan replied, feeling the wine pricking at the back of his eyes. Damme, he thought, is it the wine speaking, or do I really feel… comfortable in the Navy now? Must be the wine. Bastards like me have no noble emotions.

"By Heaven above, I love this ship," Treghues said, the smoke wreathing about his head, and Alan thought it possibly the oddest-smelling tobacco had ever come across, almost herbal and acrid, not like Virginia leaf or Turkey. "We're shorthanded once more, short four guns aft, but we'll make something brave of her yet. Have you really had a sea change, Mister Lewrie? Are you prepared to do your utmost to restore her honor and reputation?"

"Aye, sir." What other answer was there to a question like that?

"We may receive some older brass nines from the army ashore, short nines, but better than nothing," Treghues continued. "And I must make up the lack of leadership and competence. With Admiral Hood's commendation and his conjurement to do something for you as suitable reward, I am appointing you an acting master's mate, effective immediately. See Mister Railsford to change your watch and quarter bills, and then apprise the sailing master of your promotion There is a salary with it, and though there is the chance you may not be confirmed once back in the Indies and shall be liable for stoppages, I doubt that should occur, if you make a good showing during a probationary phase."

"I… I don't know how to thank you, sir," Alan said, overcome at the honor paid him. Approval from the flag was a mere formality in such cases, and the Admiralty in faraway London paid no attention to such mundane matters, not like making someone a commissioned officer or giving a young boy command of a ship. If he did not do something completely stupid during the trial period, he would be made a full master's mate within two months or so. And from that very instant, he was a junior watch stander, a deck officer in a shorthanded ship, with better quarters than a hammock, the right to wear a sword instead of a boy's dirk, and two ponds, two shillings a month of real pay (or certificates attesting to it in lieu of coin) instead of being allowed money from his annuity. His rations would be the same, the air below decks would be the same, and the dangers of the sea would be the same for all, but everyone below David in rank would now have to call him "sir" or Mister Lewrie.

"Miscreant or not, you have earned it," Treghues said, turning prim once more, as though he had said too much and had let down that rigid guard a captain must keep over his emotions, or had failed to maintain the separation from the ship's people that made his authority absolute. "That will be all, sir."

"Aye, aye, sir," Alan replied crisply. Damme, maybe I can make a commission out of this after all, he told himself once he was on deck and sniffing at the coolness of the air.

"Seen the captain, have you?" Railsford asked, as though he knew what the news was already.

"Aye, sir. He has appointed me master's mate, acting for a time," Alan related proudly. "Who would have thought it?"

"Well, if you do not wish to accept the promotion…"

"No, sir, I'll accept gladly," Alan hastened to assure him.

"Congratulations, then. Now get you below and sort yourself out into your new quarters. Take one of the mates' dog-boxes," Railsford said kindly. "But if you fuck off or let this go to your head, I'll kick your arse for you, see if I don't."

"I'll not let you down, sir," Alan replied.

"Or the captain," Railsford whispered, stepping close to him. "He needs us badly now. No matter how he slurred you in the past, the poor man needs our help. Captains cannot ask, and they cannot be seen to be in need of anything. Were you my younger brother, and you let him down, I'd break you and send you forrard in pusser's slops. It's not just obedience you owe him or the loyalty which is his due, but true loyalty. May I count on you for that, Mister Lewrie? Have you that devotion?"

"Aye, sir," Alan said. "I believe I do."

"No more of your moonshines, no more boyish pranks and japes," Railsford went on. "You're in an important job now, and too many people depend on you. I know you fairly well, and I trust you with the well-being of this ship when you have charge of the deck, as you will, shorthanded as we are. The captain has put his utmost trust in you as well. That's something new for you, being trusted, I know."

"Aye, it is, sir," Alan had to admit, feeling a surge of pride that people were beginning to put power in his hands and delegate authority to his judgment, something that would never have happened in his former life as a rake-hell back in London. "Very sobering."

"Odd choice of words with the reek of the wine-table on your breath." Railsford grinned suddenly. "Enough said for now, then. Get."

Alan went below to the lower deck, then aft to the midshipmen's mess and took hold of his chest to drag it into a vacant dog-box cabin, to Avery's consternation. He had Freeling make up his narrow berth and hung up some spare clothes from the pegs. Like the tiny quarters aboard the schooner Parrot that had been meant for privateer prize masters, the dog-box was made up of thin deal partitions and a canvas door that enclosed a space just large enough for the bed, his chest, a tiny book rack, a mirror and wash stand, and the line of pegs that would be his wardrobe; but it was his, all his, and he could shut the door like a commissioned officer and turn off the sounds of the ship when he was off watch, could even have a lie-down instead of waiting for the evening pipe to call the hands to reclaim their hammocks. There was a small pewter lamp gimbaled on a swinging mount over the headboard of the bed, which he could burn later than others to read in bed, if he felt like it, until nine at night.

He doubted, though, if he would be using that berth much, not if he wished to shine at his new duties and not let Railsford down after the serious nature of the warning he had given him. He did not know if he really felt that devotion to Treghues that Railsford had asked for; Treghues was too alien to his sybaritic nature, too cold and puritanical, too swept up in morality (which was damned rare in these times), but the gunner, Mister Gwynn, had said once before that Treghues would take a great affection for someone for the oddest reasons and dote on them before turning on them again for reasons unknown. The wheel had come half circle, and he was no longer a Godless sinner in the captain's eyes. He was now in favor, and he did not intend to let anything put a blot on that new reputation, not if he could help it.

He could, however, show true devotion to Railsford, and to Monk and the other senior warrants who had held a good opinion of him even in the worst days of Treghues's displeasure. He could feel a warm stirring in his soul when he thought of Desperate tarred with a dirty brush, and that could sustain him. By devoting himself to earning his advancement he could fulfill everyone's expectations, and backhandedly give Treghues his share in the process.