Voyage of the Lanternfish

by C S Boyack

  McCormack stepped from behind one of the bronze cannons.

  "What are you doing there?" James asked.

  "Not much bookkeeping to do during a fight. Figured I could become a gunner too."

  "And he's doing a fine job of it," Johnny said.

  "Find Miss Fala and meet me topside. We need to take stock." James headed back up.

  Serang ruffled through the assassin's clothing.

  "What did you find?" James asked.

  "Nothing useful, but you might find this interesting." She thrust a paper toward him.

  James unfolded the poster. It read, "Men wanted. Two hundred in gold paid for signing on to capture or kill the notorious pirate Captain Bloodwater. An equal share of any treasure will be paid upon success. Report to the Harbor Master at Maldron.

  "Maldron is where the merchant ships dock," James said. "Makes a fair launching point for pirate hunters. Looks like the Earl won't be stripping all of the Hollish ships." He lowered the poster to his side. "What are you going to do with him?"

  "The animals must eat, my Captain."

  The brass dog pushed against her hard enough to make her step to the side. She wrapped an arm around his neck and kissed his dented ear.

  Fala and McCormack waited off to the side. James approached them as the dogs started eating their victim. "We need a munitions assessment. I don't know how much one broadside used, or how much Johnny loaded them with. We're headed for Tusconi, but we need a shopping list."

  "Do you think they'll have what we need?"

  "Luck is finally turning our way. We have a bit of loot, and Tusconi won't care if we're pirates, only that we can pay. Their foundries make everything from coastal guns to swivel guns, and all the ordinance we could ever want."

  Fala grabbed the poster. "Doesn't look much like you, almost fanciful."

  "Except for that eye," McCormack added. "They managed to get that right."

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The route to Tusconi involved tacking into the wind. It took weeks longer to go back than it did to go past it to Cheng Shi Hua. This was complicated by the need to take down the forward mainsail for repairs.

  Pirates carried the sail from below decks, like so many natives might carry a gigantic serpent. They placed it ahead of the forward mast then started attaching lines.

  Stuttering Lewis reported to James, who was behind the wheel. "Phhh. F-f-f-f." He stomped his foot to focus. "Fixed her, C-c-c." He finally just saluted.

  "Good man. Will the patch hold under strong winds?"

  "D-d-d, Doubled her b-b-b back. St-st-stitched her t-t-t-t." He paused and took a deep breath. "T-t-t." Finally he held up two fingers.

  "Double stitched, and double thick along the edges ought to work."

  Don Velasco's men hauled the sail aloft. When it unfurled, the patch over the hole, was a huge red eyeball.

  "What is that?" James asked.

  "P-p-p, paint mostly."

  "I meant the eyeball."

  "F-f-f-fer you, s-s-sir."

  Dan clumped upstairs to relieve James. "Well I like it. Scare the hell out of our enemies."

  "We won't be able to sneak up under a false flag anymore."

  "Don't need to with this battery. Let em come, or let em run."

  Serang climbed the rope to the very top of the main mast. She sat down, then leaned against the top spire. She blew the first notes on her flute. Soft at first, only one note which she warped back and forth searching for a pleasing tone.

  James and Dan looked up at her, silhouetted against the afternoon sun. "That's just god awful," James said.

  "Yup," Dan answered. "You gonna tell her?"

  "Not on your life."

  "Chicken?"

  "As a matter of fact, I am. You tell her."

  "Not me. Already donated a leg to this mission."

  James moved the chair closer to the wheel, then put the rope over the handles. "Calm seas today. Hold course, but you'll have to adjust on the tacks."

  "I think I can handle it. Not my first time behind the wheel."

  James made some rounds. Johnny's men pried the spike out of his wall, then got busy with repairs. The window would have to wait until they made port. They sawed around the hole over the quarter deck, and told James they would get it glazed too.

  The caravan down below was fully repaired, but the patch was obvious. He stopped for tea with Fala.

  "You're going to need more cannon balls than we think. That big broadside used a lot of shot. We need everything from swivel gun size on up. They even poured a keg of nails in one," Fala said.

  "Kega nails," the anvil bird said.

  "Did you hear that?" She asked. "That's the first time he's learned something from me." She gave the bird a piece of banana.

  "Kega nails."

  "Told you he'd come around," James said. "We won't need the lesser ordinance. We're going to sell all the smaller guns, and the extra bronze ones too."

  "We could rig a few for the topside," She suggested. "Might make things easier for Johnny. He's got to run up and down between the mortars and the cannons."

  "We need a better system, no doubt. He's got the mortars topside, plus three gun decks, plus the four rear guns. Some kind of semaphore, or some bells, or something."

  "I'll bounce some ideas around with McCormack and Dan. Maybe we can talk at supper."

  James finished his tea, then went about his rounds.

  "Monchala! Bullshit!" the anvil bird said.

  Fala groaned as James walked away.

  Boss tugged on James' pants, he had the three-armed monster with him.

  "I I I I," Boss said.

  "What do you need today?"

  Boss pushed the other monster ahead of him. "This good modder. Help muchly with clink clink. Modder needs name."

  "So getting a name is like a badge of honor?"

  "I I I I."

  James squatted down. "Hmmm. Three, no. Tri, tre, no. Arms, three arms, army. I like it. Your name is Army."

  "Army?" The monster asked,

  Boss slapped him behind the head. "Say, I I I I, Army."

  "I I I I."

  "Thank you, boys. Glad I could help." James went topside.

  Don Velasco busied himself by trying to buff the scar out of his breastplate. Various men worked at truing up gun flints, or sharpening all the boarding axes. Others played dice or smoked. Chappy gnawed happily on a piece of dried beef.

  James returned to his cabin, dismissed the workmen, then spread out a chart. He removed the decorative covers from the dividers then plotted the coordinates. Using one number first, the location was in northern Prelonia. The other one was in the middle of empty sea, just north of the equator. It has to be the one at sea, but there's nothing on the chart. He used a quill to make an X where the island should be. It's between the continents. We could turn south and look before we get back to Hollish. If the old man knows of a northern route, we could approach it from there. James filled his pipe then stepped out back. It will take longer, but we could surprise the Earl by coming in the back way. Might even catch those pirate hunters in port.

  He leaned against the rail and watched the waves go past the skeletal pirate. The pirate was starting to age and weather. Bits of mold started to form between his teeth and in his eye sockets. "Probably should have oiled or painted you, but I kind of like it this way," he told the statue.

  Serang warbled between two notes now. James tapped out his pipe, walked inside, then closed the window. With no glass, the frame did not eliminate the music coming into his cabin.

  Music practice ended, and James looked out the hole through his wall. Serang gathered a group on deck with muskets. She made them strike various poses with them, but not to fire them. She went around and made corrections to whatever they were doing.

  Finally, she chose one to come forward. She faced him with only her flute. They were stick fighting, using the muskets. She bested him three times. "This is why you learn the stances. I've shown you three,
and used them all to beat him. More practice."

  I suppose it would be too much to hope that she breaks that flute, James thought.

  That evening, Serang approached James on the forecastle. She offered up one of the wooden practice swords, but kept the other for herself. "Defend yourself, Captain Bloodwater."

  "Not right now."

  "Yes, right now. I've not seen you practicing, and you must. We're sailing in calm seas, and the men are taking care of everything. It's not your job to salt our meat for us." She slapped him with her sword for emphasis.

  James took the sword from her. They battled for five minutes, with neither gaining an advantage. Serang stopped abruptly. "You need much more practice. A skilled swordsman would kill you."

  "I held my own just now."

  "Do you think so? I was just learning your weaknesses, and where to help you."

  "Prove it." He attacked her, and she she disarmed him. He attacked again. Serang grabbed his blade with her free hand, and touched the point of her sword to his heart.

  "I would have sliced your hand open."

  "Yes, but it is a fair trade. I am alive and you are dead."

  James attacked again, and she parried his thrust before slapping his neck with the stick.

  "Dead," she said.

  James scowled. Serang lowered her weapon. "You get better by fighting superior opponents. Losses will force you to improve. We are done today. Here is your lesson: You are fighting the sword, and not me. I am your opponent, the sword is merely a tool." She made a soft bow, collected the weapons, then left.

  Supper that night involved discussion about how to relay messages below decks. Some thought runners would work, others suggested drums were used by some navies.

  Johnny said, "I think a system of bells makes the most sense. We drill holes and run cords to each deck. Then I can give orders from topside to each deck. Mal even has a bunch of bells."

  "No," Mal said. "Those are to frighten evil spirits away."

  "Well, maybe we need them frightened away from the gun decks too," Johnny said.

  "How you gonna hear em, over the cannon's roar?" Dan asked.

  "We can see them too. Hell, I'll assign a man to stand beside them and relay what they say. He'll be some kind of bell code man."

  "See em, until the smoke gets too thick," Dan said.

  "I like Johnny's idea," James said. "We can buy some more bells in Tusconi. They cast everything at the foundry," He sipped his rum. "But what do I know? I'm dead."

  Serang sat down her chopsticks then dabbed her mouth. "My master would shun me every time he killed me. For the rest of the day, no matter what I said or did, he completely ignored me. I was a ghost to him. I was allowed to be reborn with the rising sun."

  "Bet that pissed you off," Fala said.

  "What did you do?" Dan asked.

  Serang looked directly at James. "I learned not to die. Improvement was not in questions and answers, it was in practice and learning from my own mistakes. As I improved, he made adjustments to my stances and showed me how to develop power and serenity about the whole process. Until I made corrections, I was not ready for those lessons."

  "Well, I can't wait for my lesson," Fala said. "I know I don't stand a chance against any of you, but I want to."

  "Perhaps we can try tomorrow," Serang said.

  The next few days involved ongoing repairs, tacking into the wind, and weapons practice.

  James found Mal in the surgery. He squatted atop the surgical table, and tied coins from Cheng Shi Hua into a wind chime. "Sounds keep spirits away."

  James looked at a plant on the shelf. Mal planted it in a discarded huangjiu jar. It formed a cluster of fat pot bellies with lids, and the lids bore sharp thorn-like teeth. "And that?"

  "Chu said bird is happy spirit. Mal knows ugly face scares evil spirits. Plant is opposite of bird." Mal tossed a cockroach toward the plant, and it snapped it out of the air. "Eats bugs."

  "I see. I came to talk to you about that old fighting knife. Serang is our new weapons master. Perhaps she can help you practice with it."

  "If you wish this." Mal shook his wind chime and seemed pleased.

  "I do. I don't see you as one of our attackers, but I'd feel better knowing you can defend yourself."

  Mal stood up then tied his chime to the beam above the table. He hopped down and produced the knife from a drawer before exiting past James.

  Mal assumed his figure four stance off to the side of Fala and Serang. Fala learned some basic footwork, and blocking moves with the cutlass. She stepped back from her lesson then nodded towards Mal. "That usually means he wants something."

  "Have you brought me your weapon?" Serang asked.

  "Yes. Captain say practice," Mal answered.

  "We were just finishing up today," Fala said. She left them to it.

  Serang pulled two unused billeting pins from the forward mast. "These will serve as our practice knives. You must learn to fight with all parts of the weapon. Your enemy won't expect that." She struck the forward mast with an open palm that held the pin. When the pin impacted the mast it shook all the way to the top. She spun in a circle and hammer punched the mast again with the part that represented a knife's pommel. "You can kill your opponent without even using the blade."

  "Mal understand."

  James watched from the quarter deck, then went back to his charts. He studied the Hollish coastline, and the city of Grandelor.

  Hours passed as he worried about Bonnie's health, and whether or not LeForge had her killed when she was of no more use. Finally, he went on deck to clear his head.

  Serang and Mal had Stuttering Lewis cornered on the main deck. Lewis had his carving tools and a section of one of the fake cannons. James moved closer to listen.

  Mal gave Lewis instructions. "Serang say, she has seen masks to drive spirits away. Mal is familiar with masks. Need mask to help pirates."

  "Wh-wh-what's it l-l-look like?"

  "Daikijin is hideous. He has horns and fangs, and evil yellow eyes," Serang said.

  "Mask from Malatook also has angry eyes."

  "Sometimes he has a mane around the edges, like one of my dogs."

  "This Malatook too. Hair moves. More fear."

  "T-t-take me a f-f-few days."

  "That will be sufficient," Serang said. "Then we can paint it together."

  James went up to the poop deck and relieved Don Velasco.

  "Smooth waters, Capitan. We are tacking less frequently now. I shall leave a crew to sleep on deck so you can tack during the night."

  "That would be wonderful. Get some rest, and would you light the lanterns before you go?"

  "Of course, Capitan."

  Biscuit Bill delivered his supper on-deck, while the other officers ate in his quarters. James enjoyed the quiet of night and the soft glow of the lanterns underneath a blanket of a billion stars.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The coast of Tusconi consisted mostly of basalt cliffs. These eroded away in places, leaving pillars, standing tall, hundreds of feet out to sea. Occasional white sand beaches broke up the cliffs, but they were small and rare.

  Cultivated hills rolled out of sight beyond the cliffs, the crops being mostly grapes, dotted with the random olive orchard.

  Towers and keeps that would have been new on James' continent were crumbled ruins here. The first farm houses were covered with a pale nearly rust colored stucco. Roofs consisted of tile half-pipes like those on Lagarto.

  The water underneath was brilliant blue and clear. Reefs and sponge beds were visible hundreds of feet below the ship. Schools of colorful fishes darted en mass as the shadow of Lanternfish passed over them.

  James ordered them to run up the colors.

  "Are you sure about that, Captain?" Johnny asked.

  "Tusconi remains secure because they don't seek to expand their borders. They've dedicated all they have to defending their country. Their rules are that everyone is welcome, and everyone behaves. They don't t
olerate deceit or belligerence of any kind. We'll go in showing our true spirit."

  "As you wish, Captain." Johnny raised the colors himself.

  "Besides, it isn't like that forward mainsail gives us much anonymity."

  "Reckon that's true. Do you have a course?"

  "Follow the coast to the west until we come to the city. Likely take another day." James passed the wheel to Johnny then headed for his quarters.

  He found Dan in a chair alongside the quarterdeck rail. He'd removed his peg leg, and was rubbing salve on the stump.

  "What're you doing there?" James asked.

  "Gets to hurting something awful. Mal gave me this salve, and it helps. I use less and less every day, but still need it sometimes."

  Serang climbed the rigging with her flute over her shoulder.

  "Here we go again," James said.

  "Oh, I don't know. She's been practicing for weeks, and she's getting better."

  "She's an odd bird. Never does anything half way, fighting, training, learning the flute."

  "Don't forget drinking."

  "Yeah. She does that under full sail too."

  "Her music is almost serene like. Kind of peaceful. Nothing like her at all."

  "She's what my father used to call multi-faceted, I guess. Time for me to grab a biscuit and some sleep."

  The anvil bird flew onto the railing beside Dan. It made a mournful whistle that mimicked the flute.

  James raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as he went in his quarters. Bill placed out some scrambled eggs and ham to go with James' tea and biscuits. Before he sat down, James pinned the recruiting poster over the hole in his wall in a failed attempt to block the music.

  He awoke in the mid-afternoon to the sounds of weapons drill on deck. He unpinned the poster, and looked through the hole.

  Serang had some kind of pistol drill going on, but had the men training to use them as clubs. She attacked them one by one with a wooden sword, and they used what they learned to block then attack her.

  The temperatures rose, and James opened the windows that weren't broken. He dressed in his pirate finest, including the eye patch, before stepping outside.