by C S Boyack
James looked across the table at Mal. "What's he mean?"
"Needs water."
"We'll just have one of the men haul up a bucket for them."
Boss spat. "Ca ca awa."
James pushed his bandana off his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "How are we fixed for fresh water, Fala?"
"McCormack says we have barrels of the stuff. We just left port. There's an old tin wash basin in the caravan. I can pour them some water, and they can take turns."
"Alright." James turned to Boss. "Everyone has a soak, but you have to make sure the crows nest is covered at all times. Can you do that?"
"I I I I." He left to issue the orders, while the others continued eating.
Mal turned to Johnny Jump Up and pointed to his necklace. "This?"
"Just a piece of coral," Dan said.
"Aye, mate. True enough, but it isn't any piece of coral." He untied the leather thong and handed it to Mal. "This came off the moving reef."
"That's an old sailor's story," Dan said.
"I suppose I qualify as an old sailor, but this story's true. I seen him, at the battle of Fort Lemuels. We shelled the fort for weeks, but them boys inside gave as good as they got for a few days. We had broken masts and burning ships all over the place.
"When the fort stopped firing, captain said to go rescue any sailors we could find. There was men bobbing around everywhere. So we dropped the longboats and made for the first burning ship. I was in the third boat, pullin me oar.
"Our officer stood a little higher to look at something, so we all turned. Corals was sticking above the waves, and we thought it was an unknown reef... until it moved.
"Them corals turned and lined up towards us. You could see a great swirl behind them, from the fish's tail."
"How big is this thing?" Fala asked.
"Bigger'n this ship," Johnny said. "He's mostly straight along the back, but he's got a huge belly that needs feedin. He's covered with corals and scallops atop his bony plates. Like whales'll grow barnacles on occasion. Got two long fins up front to help him steer. His mouth looks like a bulldog's, and that's the part what matters.
"Old Reefy lines up on our first longboat, and slurps them down like Mr. Philson here might drink up a fresh oyster. Twelve good men, one officer, three drowning sailors, all the oars, hats, muskets. Everything, boat and all. But it weren't over yet.
"Then Reefy comes about, toward the next longboat, and slurps them down too, before he adjusts course and comes for us.
"We decided to abandon ship and take our chances one by one, but our officer ordered us to stand fast. We were faced with feedin the moving reef, or hanging for desertion, so we parked our butts and waited for it. And those corals kept coming our way. Like great spines along the monster's back.
"Then old Reefy just moves past us. I looked right into his eye, and he looked right back. An eye the size of the ship's wheel, mind you. Then he went under.
"The wake shoved us aside, and we took water over the gunwale. Officer had us start bailin, with our boots. That's when the corals started grindin away at the belly of our longboat. It sounded like a dog gnawin meat off the bone of a dead thing.
"Last part I seen of him was the tail. It weren't up and down like a proper fish, but it weren't sideways like a whale neither. It was more primitive like. Reminded me of a giant polywog."
Mal gave the necklace back. "This?"
"I'm gettin to that part, mate. We didn't have time for no gazing after the beast, we was sinkin. So we kept bailing, but there was a hole in the bottom of our boat now.
"This posed a predicament, because if we started rowing, we'd all sink. If we kept bailing, we couldn't move. And the moving reef was still out there somewheres too. Finally, we settled on two of us bailing, and everyone else rowing to get back to the ship. When the water got ahead of us, everyone stopped rowing and helped us catch up, till we could get underway again.
"Back at the ship, the carpenter said he could fix the longboat if we could haul it in. I had to stay behind and bail so's the lads could pull it up. Those minutes by myself, in the sinking longboat, on the same sea my mates were just gobbled down in, we're the longest minutes of my life. I didn't know if the moving reef would come back, or not.
"When I finally got on deck, we flipped the longboat." Johnny held forward his necklace. "This piece of coral was lodged in the wood."
"Great story," Dan said. "But I don't believe a bit of it."
Johnny tied the necklace back around his neck. "There are things in this ocean a man's ever seen, Mister Philson. And there's at least one thing I never want to see again."
"Come on, Dan," Fala said. "You caught the lanternfish, and that's weird."
"Yeah. He was ugly, and bit me too, but he didn't eat no boats full of men."
"How big do they get?" James asked.
"Lanternfish? No idea."
"Exactly, mate. I've never seen anything the size of Johnny's moving reef, but I've seen whales nearly as long as a ship."
Johnny stood up. "Think I'll relieve Don Velasco so he can come eat."
Biscuit Bill knocked on the captain's cabin, then entered without a response.
James sat upright in his bed. "Any news?"
"Seems a quiet night, sir. Couple of them hens is layin, so I cooked you some eggs to go with your biscuits." He placed a simple plate on the table, along with a coffee pot, cup and fork.
"We need to figure out which hens and eat them last."
"Aye aye, Captain. Anything else?"
"No. Thank you." James climbed out of bed, dressed, and Bill excused himself. Halfway through his second biscuit, the sound of a man screaming came from next door. He wiped the biscuit through the remaining egg smear, dropped his hat on his head, then went to investigate.
A line of men stood outside Mal's quarters. He went to the head of the line then asked the first sailor what happened.
A pirate with the patchy beard of a teen said, "Well, sir, old Chappy woke up this morning with a horrible toothache. Tied a cloth around his head then reported for duty. Don Velasco sent him to the surgeon. Poor old Chappy don't got more'n six teeth to begin with. Well, the surgeon he pulls that tooth, then he gives Chappy a little flask of rum afore sending him off." He held his hands to indicate a bottle about six inches tall. "Chappy went back to his hammock, and showed everyone his rum. We got to figuring some of our teeth wasn't too good neither, and maybe we–"
The door to the surgery broke open, and a sailor stumbled outside. Blood drooled from his mouth, but he held tight to a tall narrow bottle of rum.
"Get back to your duties, all of you!" James commanded. The sailors disbursed in a hurry.
James stepped into the surgery, and Mal dropped a tooth into a bowl with six others. "What the hell are you doing?"
Mal gestured from the bowl to a cabinet on the wall. "Bad tooth. Medicine. White man's medicine."
James poked at the teeth in the bowl. "Only one of these looks bad to me. You've been played for a fool. No more bad teeth, understand?"
"Yes."
"All they want is the rum. You have to make sure they really have bad teeth."
James stormed out then worked his way below decks to the caravan. A cluster of root monsters soaked in the washbasin outside. He knocked on Fala's door. "We need to set up a daily rum ration. Give everyone some, but not enough to impede them. And in shifts to boot. Can you do it?"
Fala stuck her head out the window. "We can figure something out. Why so desperate?"
"I'll tell you later. I need to make the rounds and see what other shenanigans this lot's up to."
Flattop tugged on his pant leg. He saluted and said, "I I I I."
"What is it?"
"Modder. Up tree. See..." He placed a hand to his chin.
"What? What did he see?"
Flattop bent over and placed his hands on the deck. "This."
James shrugged then looked at Fala.
"A ship? She guessed.
/> "A ship. Alright, Flattop, you get a good soak, one of you lot back up to the crow's nest to spell him." He took off at a run.
As his head came above the main deck, the sound of a goat horn blasted from the crow's nest. He looked up and yelled, "Where?"
A monster leaned down and pointed. "I I I I."
Johnny Jump Up placed a hand on his shoulder and handed him a telescope. "She's off the port bow, some miles ahead. Haven't seen much more'n her topsails, but she appears to be a bigun."
James turned back to Dan at the wheel, then yelled. "Make for her." He sprinted to the forecastle to take a look. Johnny stayed on his heels.
"Take us all day to catch her, Captain. Plenty of time to make a good plan."
"What do you suggest?"
"First, let's see what we're up against. She's big enough to outgun us."
"So you think we should let her go?"
"Not at all. We have time to do some thinking. Maybe it's best to have this conversation in private, sir."
"Biscuit Bill left me some coffee. Let's go have a cup in my quarters." He handed the telescope to a sailor. "Watch her, and let me know if there are any changes."
In the captain's quarters, Johnny blew the steam off his cup. "Our only advantage is being faster, and having an odd gun system they can't prepare for. Our disadvantage is having an odd gun system and figuring out how to make it work."
"She's likely to have a couple of guns out the aft," James said. "A broadside would sink us for sure. If we can quarter in, she might not be able to hit us with the rear guns, but we won't be far enough for a broadside. That leaves us exposed to her swivel guns, but it's better than nothing."
"Depends on how good her captain is. If he's smart, he won't let us approach that way. He'll veer off to keep a broadside option. They'll get onto us fast, because we ain't got no flag."
"Our small ship's pretty maneuverable. We'll have to watch for that."
"It's going to take a few shots to get the range. Best we can hope for with shells is to clean the decks of men. They aren't going to sink something that big. Need real cannon for that."
"Don't want to sink her. We want to loot her. She isn't in the shipping lanes, maybe she isn't that well armed. Besides, we don't even know if she's Hollish yet."
"Does that matter?"
"Does to me." He started to stand back up.
Johnny placed a hand on his wrist and stopped him. "When we come out, you need to start giving orders. You're a new captain to us, and the men will want to see you in action. Enjoy your coffee and think about some orders to give before you leave."
James sat back down and went quiet.
"They also expect you at the wheel during the fight. You'll want some mates to shout orders. We have all day to figure this out, so spend some time planning."
"Planning seems like all I've done lately. Get out of here and let me think. It will look better if I come out later then start issuing orders. Make them think I came up with some of this on my own."
Johnny clinked his cup against James' and downed the rest. "Aye aye, Captain." He left then went to work.
James burst from his cabin half an hour later. The crew crowded the rails to catch a glimpse of the distant ship. He found Mr. McCormack, and pulled him back. "Break out the grapnels, and line them up port-center. Keep them back far enough that men can move along the rails. And planks, we're going to need three, make it four. Take some time to nail treads on them. That's ship's going to be taller than we are, so we're going to have to climb to board her. Treads will help in case the deck is wet... or bloody."
McCormack took off at a run, yelling, "Aye aye," over his shoulder.
Fala came up to him. "Where do you want me?"
"Maybe stay below decks. Be ready with bandages."
"No! I'm in this just like everyone else. Now give me a real job."
"Fine. We have plenty of time. Make sure every man has his weapons on him. There won't be time to run below and grab more ball, or powder. You too. Might as well grab that blunderbuss, but be careful not to shoot any of us with it. The pattern spreads."
James continued along the port side of the ship. Don Velasco, now wearing a steel breastplate along with his helmet, grabbed men off the rails then sent them aloft to adjust the sails. He paused before climbing to the forecastle to let a man carrying a box with the powder charges go ahead.
Johnny moved the mortar then placed its pin. He spoke to his gunner's mate. "That's about thirty degrees to port. I'll start with three bags and about six inches of fuse. Once I find the range, I'll send a runner. Set your gun like this and load three bags to start with. Don't trim your fuse until the runner gives you the instructions. Savvy?"
"Aye aye."
"I'm going to use maximum elevation to start. Your runner will have those adjustments too. Set yours for maximum, then it will be easier to crank it down from there." He pulled a small brass tube from his hat. It had a short chisel blade at the closed end. "Got your priming pin on you?"
The gunner slid his own from his hat. "Aye, sir."
"Remember, puncture the bag, then prime the shot. Light the fuse, then fire."
"Aside from the fuse, it's just like a cannon."
"That's right, but in the heat of battle it's easy to forget a step. Don't do no good to fire a shell without lighting it first, and we damned sure don't want a lit fuse on an unprimed shot. Kill everyone on the poop deck if the gun explodes."
"Johnny, sorry to interrupt," James said.
"Plenty of time for everything, sir. What can I do for you?"
"Swivel guns. I want them port side, from the forward mast to the front. Clearing your mortar, of course."
"Of course. I'll get some men on it."
Men ran from place to place handing out shot, carrying shells to the rear, even Fala handed out boarding axes to those without hand weapons.
James organized any boarders, if they should be so lucky. Those with pistols would go first followed by everyone with a bladed weapon. Muskets and rifles would cover the boarders from midship, reload, then join the party.
Biscuit Bill placed a hand on James' shoulder. He wore a brace of single shot pistols in his belt, and a rusty old cutlass at his side. He placed a biscuit in James' hand. "Ain't much more'n some bacon and beef. It's afternoon and you should eat something. Nothin hot until we clear that ship."
"Got another one on you?"
"I do." Bill slapped a second sandwich into James' hand.
James went to relieve Dan at the wheel.
Chapter Thirteen
James offered Dan the second sandwich. "Need to eat something. Are you ready for this?"
Dan stepped back, and accepted the food. "Anything that leads to freeing my sister."
"Check all your weapons but stay topside. This ship or that one, your saber will be a hindrance below decks. Don't be afraid to grab weapons from the dead. Sometimes they haven't fired their pistol, or you can use a cutlass in your off hand. When it starts, don't stop until they surrender or die."
"Alright. Where will you be?"
"At the wheel, like a proper captain."
"You are a proper captain. The men respect you too. If we pull this off, you'll be their hero. It's a good start too. I can make out the Hollish flag from here."
"Really? I can't make it out. Something's been lost with this red eye. It works, but not like it used to. Pay them back for that today too."
Within the hour, Dan could make out merchant sailors running around on the big ship's deck. They moved swivel guns into place along the rear of the ship.
A root monster tugged at James' pants. "I I I I."
"What is it?"
"Man say wave." The creature took his own hat off a waved it about. "Make boom boom."
"Ah. Thank you. Better stand by. I might need a runner myself."
"Really?" Dan asked. "They can't even talk, and you have them running orders?"
"It's a work in progress. Bring me a better plan and we'll tr
y it next time."
The big ship turned to starboard in attempt to bring James under its guns. James veered to port, choosing to face the rear guns over a full broadside.
Gunners adjusted the pins on their weapons.
James waved his hat toward Johnny Jump Up.
The mortar exploded into action. Vibrations shook the entire ship. Smoke belched upward into the sky.
Seconds later, the shell exploded beyond the target.
Johnny's crew worked to adjust the gun, then fired again. The shell exploded high above the big ship, removing its top mast and raining destruction across its deck.
A pirate came running, falling on his face as he came up to the deck.
"What is it?" James asked.
The pirate ran past him and spoke to the rear gunner before turning to the captain. "Johnny says you have to tack back then hold course. He's got the range, but you have to keep the range as long as you can. He also says this here gun can't fire until it can clear our own masts."
Johnny's gun belched once more, and was answered by the swivel guns on the big ship. One of the boarding planks blew into a thousand pieces as the smaller weapons found their target.
James tacked back and risked the broadside. The runner fell to the deck. James grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him to his feet. "Tell him to give them all he has." The man took off running.
The mortar behind him fired once the masts cleared it's path. The deck under his feet shook from the recoil.
James grabbed Dan. "Get up there and get those swivel guns into the fight. Tell them to aim for the enemy gunners. Maybe we can take out a cannon or two."
Dan vaulted over the rail, skipping the stairs entirely. James lost sight of him in the cloud of black powder smoke.
The bigger ship fired a three gun volley, but missed ahead of the pirate ship.
Trying to get our range, James thought. "Pour it on them, mates."
James held course as long as he could. The mortars fired half their shells, and the upper decks of the merchantman grew quiet. He turned to port then brought his ship into touching range.
It was a bluff, but neither ship could miss, and a broadside now would sink both of them. They didn't know the sloop had no cannons.
