Before Doc Strobel could reply, Otto cut in. “Arnold, I sense you are perhaps also worried that we will be seen as more than simple sailors because of how we waged battle today? And that may expose us as that rogue vessel, which shot up the British warship perhaps?”
“Ja, of course, that is a valid concern,” answered Arnold. “I believe it is best to go about as merchant mariners and not swaggering warriors so as not to attract attention.”
“I understand. That should also be our concern. We do not want this incident to be reported,’ stated Otto. ‘but we know the Portuguese sailors will speak of this incident wherever they may end up and go even though they will most likely say we were the attackers. It will not stay a secret. Even our crew will be under orders not to speak of what happened today – but we all know how information leaks out. I cringe at the thought of our men saying something while drunk or not. We can only be wishful that they will not spill the story. I have no doubt it will get out sooner or later. Later is preferable.”
The men began to grumble with that thought.
Bruno stated the obvious. “We would be fools if we were to think that the story would not be leaked. Short of killing everyone, there isn’t any way to cover it up.”
Otto continued, “I suppose we can deny that such an incident occurred if authorities heard it from a crew member in a drunken state, but to have it told by the Portuguese would be a different matter altogether. They will have us be seen as the culprits.”
Conrad spoke. “This attack proved that even without us being targeted because of the British incident, the region we sail in is indeed a dangerous place. With the anticipated notice of British intentions toward us makes our plight more grievous. Not a very comfortable thought at all, gentlemen.”
“So, short of becoming full-fledged murderers, allowing the Portuguese to live instead will not prevent us being labeled outlaws by our British friends. Can we now then make the arrangements for taking them wherever and be done with this discussion?” stated Reiner.
Heinrich allowed the group to talk it out as these men were quite capable of deciding on a sound plan. He was coming to grips with the inevitable; that they would be marked and hunted down by the British. No amount of hope, no matter how sincere, would prevent the fact the news of their vessel and the British ship of becoming known throughout the region. And there was no magical method to evade the British navy. That’s why he had already decided that none of the Portuguese prisoners would make it to San Juan, at least not for a while. He thought that was the only way to safeguard his ship from coming under scrutiny immediately. His priority was to keep the British authorities blind to the See Wolf’s location. If the men did not come to this conclusion, he would override whatever plan they came up with. He preferred for his crew leaders to come to the same decision so there would be no contention.
Fritz spoke. “Is there a third option, such as leaving the wounded at another location before we get to San Juan? Diego, you know the Caribbean better than any of us. Any ideas?”
“There is one place. If we sail eastward past San Juan, St. John Island is not too far off. The Danes control the island. At Cruz Bay, there is a large settlement where we can drop off the wounded men.”
“I thought the British controlled all those islands,” stated Conrad.
Diego answered, “The British had control some years back, but St. John was given back to the Danes through a formal treaty. I am certain of that.”
“How far would that put us off course?” asked Bruno.
“Maybe a day at most,” Diego answered.
“That can be agreeable?” stated Heinrich, believing Diego’s plan was a prudent one.
“Surely, one more day out of port would be acceptable,” Siegfried quickly stated.
They all agreed. The profound consequences of their actions in the past month were beginning to be realized. As if reading their thoughts, Heinrich said, “Men, fighting tyranny has rendered us rebels to some, not to all. As much as I would like to turn back the clock and have a chance to relive the past, the results are what they are. We can control our fates to some extent, but we must act with diligence. We can either sit around and cry over our misfortune or we can take the initiative and make sound decisions that will shape our future.
“We all are committed to our business. Therefore, we shall stay the course and face the consequences. Let us not forget that the very reason we have readied ourselves for combat is due to the dangers lurking out there – which we have encountered today. I am extremely confident in our ability to deal with future threats.”
Reiner remarked, “The captain is right. We have trained well, and by repelling the Portuguese, we have shown that we can deal with perilous situations.”
Affirmations were rendered.
Having garnered assent, Heinrich decided to be humanitarians and agree to the plan.
This pacified Doc Strobel to some degree. Siegfried thought, “The captain is showing more compassion than before. His leadership skills are improving. He hears out others before coming to a decision. Hopefully, he will not be such a hothead at the next encounter.”
The next topic was the disposition of the non-wounded Portuguese crewmen. The collective decision was unanimous except for the good doctor’s dissent, who abhorred any inhumane treatment, but the group silenced him as they were adamant in their decision. The Portuguese would be provided a few of their own ship’s rowboats and four day’s rations. They could paddle to Santa Domingo, the Hispaniola Territory from where the See Wolf had just left. The eastern tip of the island was less than thirty miles away.
Conrad addressed Siegfried, “That is more mercy than I would have given the pirate scum, doc. This is a gift they do not deserve,” he spat out.
Siegfried looked at Conrad but did not speak.
Even old Günter commented with wrath, “I agree with Conrad. They don’t deserve a second chance.”
“Now the fate of their captain,” Fritz pointed out. “I believe his punishment has already been decided. With all due respect, doc, we do not want to hear what you have to offer.”
Bruno added, “He is responsible for what took place today. He has to pay.”
“Herren, you have already played judge. Your bloodthirst is repulsive,” Siegfried spat out in disgust. “Who here if not me, would give heed to the morality of what we do?”
Several of the men in the room glared at him with open hostility. Immediate grumbling broke out as the men felt wronged by Siegfried’s words.
“You rate yourself too highly, doctor,” spat out Bruno in disgust. “I believe all of us here have a sense of what is moral or not. Because we believe these men deserve punishment, you cast us all to be inhumane. That is insane!”
“Ja, who do you think you are Strobel? Your attitude is disgusting!’ cried out Wolfgang. ‘You think you’re the only one among us with a heart and moral conviction?”
“Nein, nien, you misunderstand me. I have a desire to be fair when it comes to dealing with human life and –”
“And you do not think any one of us have this quality, do you?” exclaimed Conrad angrily.
“You think we are nothing but bloodthirsty men as those we just fought?’ added Fritz. ‘Did you forget their intentions? We fought to save lives, including yours!”
Siegfried’s immediate urge was to scream at the top of his lungs in utter frustration as he faced off with his comrades by himself, but feeling so he also felt as small as a mouse and wanted to scurry out of this den of denigration to alleviate the agony he was experiencing. He did neither. He was not used to such a brutal environment, and he felt none of the camaraderie he had been accustomed to in the medical profession back home. He felt alone and helpless. He understood he had decided to be part of this fraternity and must learn to accept their values, but doing so was not easy.
Heinrich stayed quiet letting the group talk this out. He did not believe he held a monopoly of the world’s knowledge and wisdom. He believed there wa
s a wealth of wisdom in these men given their life’s experiences and desired their opinions. Thus, he strongly encouraged peer dynamics as an essential factor to formulate keen insights among his leaders to advise him. All this time Reiner and Diego also kept quiet, while intently following the exchange.
Taken aback by his peers’ harsh rebuke, Siegfried exclaimed, “Please, please, Herren. I did not mean to insult any of you. I know you well enough to know you are decent men. I just feel you are too unforgiving and not fair enough in the severity of the punishment.”
Manfred Rhine took the floor. “Siegfried, are you judging us? What would you do? Release him? As captain of the ship, he and he alone decided to attack us. What would you tell the wives and children of our dead crewmen as to why you let their murderer free?”
Before Siegfried could respond, Reiner said, “We are not judging blindly. We did not provoke him. Faria judged himself fairly by his order to attack us. I say with conviction that Captain Faria is guilty beyond any doubt. His punishment must be of serious regard.”
Siegfried replied, “I like to think we are civilized enough to allow the man the legal courtesy of defending himself when faced with a crime.”
“Ja, a most personal crime against no one else, but us,” chimed in Fritz.
Diego finally spoke, “Not to add insult to injury to our well-meaning doctor, but I also beg to differ with him. The question is not was there a crime committed, for all of us experienced the crime. As Fritz said, the grievous incident was brought upon us not of our choosing, but by perpetrators who had every intention of taking this ship using whatever force necessary and render us impotent no matter how much blood they were willing to spill. We were on the defensive, it was either fight to defend ourselves or offer ourselves up as lambs led to slaughter, and believe me, it could easily have been our blood flowing instead of theirs.
“We must ask ourselves who is responsible for the crime and what punishment fits the crime, no matter how fiercely we hate violence. We are in a part of the world where crimes run rampant. Law and order are not prevalent enough to discourage men who seek to plunder. For that reason, it makes sense to dispense justice by the very people who have been wronged. And to do so immediately so that others who hear of it may know this affront is not acceptable and will be dealt with according to the crime’s severity and swiftly. What we decide here, señors, no matter how repulsive it may seem to some, will set the standard we live by for the future; so choose wisely.”
Everyone was momentarily quiet. Heinrich broke the silence.
“Thank you all for your discernment in this matter. Did any of us plan to go to sea from Bremerhaven to become killers? Of course not; we are mariners. Our souls do not hide some monstrous desire to take lives. Instead, we are about sustaining life; in particular, our lives so that we can make something better out of it than what we have. And we are in this endeavor for each other. We stand in judgment only because we cannot turn our backs on crimes so heinous. We stand in judgment here today because no one else but we are responsible for casting that decision. It is ours to do.”
He continued, “We will take the cabin boys to St. John Island to see if the mission there will take them in. I will provide funds to help those young boys. It is not guaranteed that they will stay there, they may be inclined to seek passage aboard another ship, but it’s worth a try. An option is for us to retain one or two and put them under the charge of Herr Schmitt in the galley. I will have a talk with him later.
“Now for the Portuguese ship,” he began. But before he went on, he said, “Siegfried, I apologize for not bringing it up earlier in the meeting. I know I can speak for the entire crew when I say thank you for the excellent job of treating the wounded. Some would have succumbed to their injuries if you hadn’t stopped the bleeding. We are in your debt. You are truly a gifted physician. The other matter I want to be clear on is as much as it seems our thinking to be at odds with yours in the course of the discussion here, I do not, however, believe any of us feels contrary to life being the preferable choice. We merely have different ways to remedy certain problems. Now, since this last matter of discussion deals with the disposition of the Portuguese ship, it would simply bore you, so there is no need for you to stay. We know you have many tasks that require attention,” Heinrich offered Siegfried a way out of the room.
Without another word, Siegfried got up sullenly and bid the group goodnight. The others mumbled their thanks as Siegfried made for the door. As much as they differed in many opinions, they all respected his medical skills and for all things living and were glad to have him onboard. The meeting went on.
“Otto, when will the Portuguese stores be brought on board our ship and in our cargo holds?”
“The men are still busy transferring the product, captain. It should all be finished sometime by the end of day tomorrow. Their weapons are stored in the armory already.” Otto answered.
“Excellent. I want to sell the ship and disburse the money to the crew. I will not take any of it. I am so damn considerate I want you all to profit from the sale,” Heinrich said with a smug expression and a wave of a hand.
The room erupted in light laughter. They all needed some levity on this day filled with dread and violence. After a moment of happy banter, he spoke again.
“But before we sell it, we must investigate the ship’s past so we will know to whom we can sell the vessel. So, Diego, Reiner, and Manfred, talk with the Portuguese sailors and find out all you can; what ports they have sailed to, what they have been doing for the last few years, and so on. We will compare their information to the ship’s logs,” he picked up the worn-out book. “If you have to use force to get information from them, so be it. In fact, you can threaten them with their lives. It has to be done tonight for tomorrow we put them afloat. Otto, I need you to put together a crew to sail the … how do you say the ship’s name, the NS, what?”
“The NS da Guia, Diego said. “The NS stands for Nossa Senhora, which means Our Lady in Portuguese.”
“The NS da Guia. Herr Dietz, I need you to locate a safe haven; an isolated cove, preferably somewhere close by, to hide her in.
“Jawohl, captain,” Günter replied.
“All right, men, let’s get to it. By the way, Otto, is the cleanup finished on the other ship?” Heinrich asked.
“Ja, it is. It took a while to scrub the decks down, but it’s done. The dead Portuguese have been thrown overboard, and I’m sure the sharks had themselves a feast.”
“Gut, let’s go see Captain Faria then,” Heinrich said.
* * *
Heinrich and Otto went to the brig and had one of the armed guards open the door. Inside, sitting on the floor in separate corners were Faria and his second officer, Hilario Santos. Faria was much calmer than he had been earlier, but Santos was fearful, cringing and staring wide-eyed. Otto ordered both men to stand. He then told one of the guards to confine the frightened officer with the other Portuguese prisoners. The guard grabbed him by the arm and Santos allowed himself to be escorted as tame as a puppy.
“It’s time for us to have a frank talk, Faria,” Heinrich said to the man not addressing him as captain. Heinrich could see that it bothered Faria, but Drope didn’t care. He had lost respect for the man after finding the scoundrel hidden under one of his rowboats, while his men fought and were dying. Faria, the dirty coward, hadn’t even lifted his sword in defense. Let’s see how brave he would be once he was told his punishment. “He will probably wet his trousers,” Heinrich thought.
“You have the best-armed merchant ship I have ever seen, captain,” Faria remarked.
“We’re not here to exchange pleasantries,” Heinrich said gruffly. “We came to wish you farewell.”
“Ah, you have decided to maroon us somewhere, captain? I understand your anger, and I cannot blame you for that. I know we made trouble for you. I would feel the same way if the situations were reversed. I would even -”
“Shut your damn mouth, Faria, enough of
your drivel!” Heinrich barked out. The man stepped back and cowered into the corner. “How you became a ship’s captain is beyond me. Not only are you a coward, but you have no regard for your men’s lives. I am here to tell you what will happen to you.” ‘Stinking pathetic weasel!’ thought Heinrich.
Otto told Faria that his wounded men would be taken to a port for medical attention and the cabin boys would be entrusted to people that would take care of them. Upon hearing this Faria’s continued to act as if he was thankful for the treatment of his men. Otto continued, “Your other men along with your second officer will be given food and water and boats to find landfall.”
“So where does that leave me? You are planning to hand me over to the authorities?”
“No Faria,” Heinrich interjected. “You won’t be going to any authorities to stand trial. I am the only authority you will be facing.”
Rivulets of sweat suddenly poured down Faria’s face. “What … plan have you for me, captain? Mercy has been shown to my crewmen. Must there be a … a double standard applied in my case?”
“Justice will be served on the basis of responsibility and accountability. You are the captain in charge of your ship. The blame rests on you alone,” Otto said to the man with utter disdain.
They saw within Faria the transformation from hopefulness to grim despair. His face paled, and his body trembled with fear.
Otto spoke the dreaded words, “At first light tomorrow morning, you will be hanged from the yardarm until you are dead.”
The words hit Faria like a hammer; he dropped to his knees, grabbed his head with both hands, and sobbed incessantly, while his entire body trembled.
Then suddenly, he looked up at Heinrich and said in an even voice, “How could you in good conscience carry out such a damnable sentence? You are an outlaw! You are also guilty of murder?”
“What on earth are you talking about?” Heinrich asked. “You attacked us. And who says we are outlaws?”
Faria answered, “The British authorities have issued a proclamation about the band of cutthroats that attacked one of their naval ships. You have been branded as brigands, and a bounty has been issued for your capture.”
Winds of Fury Page 48
