Seas of the Red Star

by Andrew Gates

  “Uh… nothing,” Ellen replied, acting like she had not said anything.

  “Excellent work reloading that cannon, Corporal Ellen Milsen, but if you’re done talking to yourself, you can fire!”

  “But sir, we don’t know what we’re firing at. We can’t see anything!” Ellen replied. She motioned to the smoky hole, as if he were oblivious.

  “I said no buts! There are sea scorgers out there. Whether we can see them or not-”

  Before he could even finish his sentence, a grappling hook latched onto the inside of the ship. Everyone still standing suddenly turned to face it. A hush fell over the crew in an instant.

  Then another hook latched. Then another.

  Ellen switched her vision back to normal. She was going to need to see for this.

  ***

  “It worked!” Russell smiled as he stared out at the battle before him. He jumped up in excitement, practically falling over the railing as the ship rocked.

  “Don’t get too excited yet, boy,” Aiden said as he gripped the lines. His new clothes looked pristine in the rainless air. “This be just the first step of the captain’s plan. There’s a lot more to be done.”

  The Scorger’s Fist, or what was left of it, had been filled with gunpowder and set on a course between the steel enemy ships. The Navy took the bait and blew the ship apart, casting the ocean in a cloud of smoke.

  Meanwhile in the distance, the Governor’s Bane had begun its onslaught of the enemy ships. It sailed to the rear of the Navy line, taking out their wooden boats one by one. The sight was beautiful to behold.

  Wind blew across the ship’s bow, reminding Russell of his own affairs aboard the Wave Rider. His new ship, the Wave Rider, was smaller than Russell was used to, but it was fast and easy to handle. Seeing as the Red God’s Gleam was no longer under Captain Azzorro’s possession, crew members were temporarily moved around. Russell was one of several members of the crew to be moved to this ship, captained by Captain Galbrix.

  Rowboats suddenly dropped from the side of the Wave Rider, filled with armed combatants. The sailors pulled out oars as the boat slapped against the water and began pushing their way through the ocean.

  “Where’s that new cabin boy?” a raspy voice shouted.

  Russell turned to face the speaker. He had not yet learned all these men’s voices. Captain Galbrix waved his arms from behind the wheel. The boy quickly made his way up to him.

  “Yes!” he said as he approached the captain.

  Galbrix took a few steps forward and stared into Russell’s eyes.

  “You have a weapon, boy?” he asked.

  “Y… yes.” Russell gulped. He nervously gripped the knife in his pocket.

  “This aint’ easy to say.” Captain Galbrix sighed. “We’re short manned. We need all hands we can get on those boarding vessels. I need you there with ‘em.”

  Russell felt his heart race. As nervous as he was to be in an ocean battle, it was nothing compared to hand to hand combat. He had never fought someone up close before.

  “M… me?” he asked through deep breaths.

  “Aye, you. I’m sorry it needs to be this way. We’ve lost too many to the cannons already,” the captain explained.

  Russell never thought it would come to this. He closed his eyes and wiped some sweat from his face. He thought about his fellow crewmen, about Captain Azzorro, Briggs, Ellis, Hector, Thomas and, of course, Aiden. He could not let them down. When he removed his hands, he nodded his head.

  “Aye, Captain,” he said.

  Russell promptly turned and made his way to the edge of the ship. He found the nearest dingy he could find, climbed over the Wave Rider’s edge, and dropped down into the water. Men held out their oars. Russell grabbed onto the closest oar and climbed aboard.

  “Thanks,” he said, catching his breath as he entered the boat. His clothes dripped with ocean water.

  “Joining us a bit late, are we?” a man asked. This man looked to be in good shape. He had several cuts across his body, as if he had seen a thousand battles.

  “Aye,” Russell replied, nodding. “Sorry for the tardiness.”

  “You’re here now. That’s all that matters,” the man replied. “My name be Ross.”

  “Nice to meet you,” he said.

  “Ssh,” another sailor said to them both. He held his finger before his mouth. “Would you two stow it? Captain wants us quiet, remember?”

  They all shut up after that.

  Russell grabbed an oar and began rowing. He enjoyed rowing. The job was tedious and managed to distract him for a few moments.

  As he rowed, the boy took a deep breath and turned around, facing Coral Cove. The island looked just as it always had, but something about it seemed different. This place was supposed to be safe, a bastion for the sea scorgers. Now it was just as dangerous as anywhere else. He could not believe the Navy had come here. He never thought it was possible.

  Russell put these thoughts out of mind and faced forward again. Before long, they entered a thick cloud of pure black smoke. The air stabbed at his lungs. He tried his best not to cough.

  “Aye, hold your breath if ye’ can,” someone whispered aboard the boat.

  Russell took the man’s advice and held his breath. He felt himself tremble.

  The man named Ross moved his hand to Russell’s.

  “I can tell you’re scared,” he said in a hushed voice. “I was the same way when I did this.”

  “You did this already?” he whispered back.

  “Aye, part of the first boarding crew that captured the Governor’s Bane,” he explained. “I trembled too. But we’ll make it through.”

  Russell was surprised to learn that this man was once scared. He seemed so confident now. He wondered if being in a battle had changed him.

  “How was it?” he asked.

  “We took the ship. We won,” Ross explained. “But we started from the top of the ship and worked our way down. This time we’ll be starting from the bottom. That way we’ll take out the cannons first.”

  Russell nodded back to the man. That seemed to make sense.

  Within a few seconds of coasting through the black expanse, the boat stopped as it collided against a tall metal wall. Ross held his hands out to steady the boat against the steel ship’s hull.

  Some of the crewman pulled out hooks now. Each hook was attached to thick ropes, perfect for climbing.

  Without wasting another second, the crew tossed the hooks into the narrow slits on the side of the metal boat. Russell could hear the hooks as they met the metal edges of the ship’s open windows.

  “Aye lads, this is it!” another man called out. Keeping quiet was apparently no longer a priority.

  The boarders immediately began climbing the ropes. Russell was unable to turn away from the sight. His heart beat rapidly. Within a matter of seconds, some of the climbers had reached the top. They slid their firearms inside and opened fire.

  “Go, go, go!” Ross said, waving more on.

  The climbers crawled through the narrow openings now. Some were tossed out right away, others made it inside. One man was immediately blasted to pieces by a cannonball.

  After several mores seconds, it was finally Russell’s turn to climb. Ross held a rope out for him with his arm outstretched. The man nodded confidently to Russell.

  This was it. It was time for battle.

  Without wasting another second, the boy started to climb. Hand over hand, he made his way up and up. He made his way to the top in no time.

  Now at the top, Russell stuck his head inside the slit. He came face to face with a cannon’s muzzle.

  “Blast that pirate bastard!” shouted a Navy man, pointing right at Russell.

  Boom! The cannon fired. The boy let go of the rope and dropped down a few meters, accidently colliding with the climber below. He had only narrowly missed the cannon’s blast.

  Russell’s ears rang. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath for a few moments, trying to r
ecompose himself.

  After a few seconds, his hearing slowly returned.

  “Go, boy, go!”

  Russell looked down. To his surprise, the man below him was Ross. Russell gulped and felt the knife in his pocket again. It was still there. “I can do it,” he said to himself in a hushed breath. “I can do it.”

  He started climbing again. When he reached the top, he slowly peered in, hoping not to come face to face with another muzzle. This time the cannon was far from ready and so was the crew. Russell saw a battle ensuing inside the dimly lit room. Everyone was distracted. This was his chance.

  Russell promptly pulled himself into the boat and swung his feet over the edge. He dropped down onto the floor and removed the knife from his pocket.

  There was so much going on, he hardly knew where to start. But before he could even assess the room, a Navy sailor spotted him almost immediately. Russell gulped. The man had the look of hatred in his eyes. He grasped a long sword in his hand.

  Not knowing what else to do, the boy lifted his knife. He felt his hands shake. The Navy man chuckled as he neared Russell, as if he were amused by the boy’s inexperience.

  Then, the moment Russell had been dreading finally came. The sailor jolted forward with his rapier. Russell instinctively blocked the man’s strike with his own small blade. They clanged together with great force.

  Russell almost fell backward. He was not used to blocking a hit like that.

  The man lowered the rapier and prepared for another strike. Russell watched his movements carefully. When the man finally attacked again, he was ready. Russell blocked this strike just as well as the last. He even kept better footing this time around.

  When the Navy man lowered his sword this time, Russell seized the opportunity. He jolted forward with the pointy end of his knife angled outward. But the man was faster. He darted out of the way just at the right moment. Carried by momentum, Russell continued forward, unable to slow himself as the Navy man spun around and slashed the boy in the back of the left leg.

  “Aah!” shouted Russell. The wound stung.

  Blood dripped onto the metal floor of the ship. He knew instantly that it was his.

  Russell did his best to ignore the pain. He stood straight up and quickly turned to face the man, not wanting to lower his guard for even a second.

  “You’re young,” the Navy man observed. “A boy like you should not be in a battle like this.”

  “My friends are here,” Russell replied. “I’m right where I want to be.”

  “So be it,” the man said.

  He lunged with his rapier again. This time, Russell tried something new. Using his small size to his advantage, he ducked down beneath the man and slid through his legs. Now on the other side of him, he jumped up and brought the knife down into the man’s shoulder.

  “Aah!” he screamed.

  The Navy man dropped his sword and flailed about. Russell quickly ran over to the weapon and picked it up from the floor. The sword was well balanced. He played around with it in the air.

  “You little cock!” the Navy man spat. He pulled the knife from his shoulder and gripped it tightly.

  “This is for the Red God’s Gleam!” Reinvigorated with a sense of pride, Russell shot forward with all his might and brought the pointy end of the sword through the man’s chest. The Navy man was too slow to react. The blade entered through one side of his body and out the other. The man’s face went white.

  Russell pulled the sword back out, making way for a pool of blood to follow.

  “That was for my family,” he said as the Navy man’s lifeless body dropped to the floor.

  ***

  Ellen pushed an incoming boarder out of the slit and into the smoky air outside. She lifted the grappling hook from the ledge and tossed it back into the water. A series of loud splashes followed as the bodies of incoming sea scorgers fell into the ocean.

  The smoke outside was still thick, though it was slowly beginning to thin out. She was now able to see the red ball of light above, poking through the blackness.

  Suddenly a hand grabbed her on the shoulder, pulling her from the view outside. Ellen spun around, now facing the inside of the boat. A sea scorger with a horrid grin and an even worse breath stood before her with an axe raised. He brought it down vigorously. Ellen instantly pulled away from the man’s grip and jumped to the side, missing the strike entirely.

  “You little bitch,” he said in frustration.

  The man lifted the axe again and took a few steps closer. He stood right before the slit now. Ellen grinned. He was right where she wanted him to be.

  Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Ellen roundhouse kicked him from the side, knocking him right out the window. A splash followed shortly thereafter.

  “I might be a bitch, but I’m not an idiot,” she said to herself, mockingly.

  Did you really need to say that? Yuri asked.

  Probably not.

  Ellen recomposed herself and studied the battle ensuing inside the cabin. Navy men and sea scorgers dueled with one another in pairs. In a strange way, the sight was almost beautiful. It was like watching a choreographed dance.

  Dave seemed to be holding his own well enough. He was fighting with two men at once. Ellen watched as Dave punched a sea scorger in the face hard enough to knock him out in one hit. The second man raised his sword, ready to strike, but Dave jumped out of the way at the last second and kicked him hard enough in the left knee to shatter it. The sea scorger dropped his sword and fell to the floor, grasping his knee in pain.

  It hurt just to watch.

  Suddenly Ellen spotted someone she did not expect to see. She gasped. Her heart raced.

  Russell, the cabin boy, was locked in a duel only three meters away.

  No, not Russell. Not him, Ellen stated to Yuri. She could hardly think of the words to say.

  I didn’t think they’d send him in with the boarders, Yuri replied. He sounded just as surprised.

  I can’t fight him. He’s just a kid.

  I understand. What do we do?

  I… I don’t know.

  Ellen stared at the boy who reminded her so much of her own son, Blake. She felt transfixed, like an insect drawn to a flashlight.

  Russell lunged forward at the Navy man he was dueling, but the sailor was quicker. He jumped out of the way and cut the boy right in the back of the left leg.

  “No!” Ellen instinctively said aloud. She did not even mean to say it.

  Another sea scorger approached her with a sword drawn, distracting her from the duel. Ellen casually ducked under his swing and grabbed onto the man by the shoulders. She lifted him up and tossed him out the window with the others. She did not have time to play these games.

  She turned to face Russell again. The boy was back at it, apparently undeterred by the cut on the back of his leg. Ellen watched as he ducked through the Navy man’s legs and popped up on the other side. She had never seen anything like that before. Without wasting a second, Russell promptly brought a knife down into the man’s shoulder.

  “Get him!” Ellen caught herself say.

  The blow to the shoulder prompted the man to drop his weapon to the floor. Russell quickly reached for it and played around with it in the air for a few seconds.

  “Get him, Russell. You can do it!”

  Finally, the moment Ellen had been waiting for had come. Russell ran forward and brought the sword through the man’s chest. The blade made its way all the way through. The boy pulled the sword back out as the Navy man fell to the floor.

  “That was for my family,” Russell said to the corpse.

  Then Russell looked up. His eyes met Ellen’s.

  She froze. He froze. They stared at each other, motionless.

  “You,” he said. He pointed right to her. A look of pure rage suddenly filled his face.

  “No,” Ellen replied, “Russell, you don’t understand.” She held both her hands out before her.

  “Traitor!” Russell shout
ed. His words pierced her heart like a blade. He ran over to her, sword drawn, but stopped right before her. “Thomas was right. Aiden was right. You were not to be trusted! I should have listened to them. I was a fool!”

  “It’s not like that!” Ellen replied. She stared him in the eyes and slowly backed up. With each step, she grew nearer and nearer to the staircase leading to the middle level. “Look, I don’t have time to explain, but it was never like that.”

  “I don’t believe you! You’re fighting for them! For the Governor!”

  More sea scorgers joined by Russell’s side. Their weapons were drawn, but they kept their distance. It seemed they all understood that, for Russell, this was personal.

  “I know it looks that way,” Ellen pleaded, “but you have to understand, I had no choice.”

  “I don’t want to hear it. I told you what the Governor does to us. What he will do to us. After all that, you chose his side!” Tears raced down his eyes. “I trusted you!”

  The last few Navy men on this deck fell to the floor. It seemed the sea scorgers had successfully taken the lower level. Ellen and Dave were all that remained of the Navy forces.

  Dave quickly joined by Ellen’s side. His face was white with fear. He held both hands in the air.

  “Do you know these two, boy?” asked a well-built man covered in scars.

  “I did. They were once my friends,” Russell said back to him. “Now they are traitors.”

  Everyone on the deck was practically motionless for a time. It was surreal. The sea scorgers lined up in a wall before the two pilots.

  “Russell, I need you to know that I never gave up on you. The Governor is forcing us to help in his battle. I never would betray you. Please understand that!” Ellen said. She hoped her words were getting through to him.

  I don’t think it’s working, Yuri said.

  Are we going to die? Dave asked.

  I… I don’t know, Ellen replied.

  “Russell, allow me to prove it to you. Allow me a chance to show that-”

  “You’ve already proven enough,” the boy interrupted. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Goodbye.”

  The boy turned away. The other sea scorgers around him immediately understood. Russell had just given the order to kill.