Chapter 20
The Sea Dancer
Puerto Rico
6.50 a.m.
Captain Rob was worried. Mr Bones had just visited him in his cabin, and broken the bad news. Three more of the crew had come down with the mystery illness that was beginning to affect those sailing on the Sea Dancer. That brought the total to six. Mr Bones had also explained that the condition of two of those already suffering from the sickness had deteriorated significantly. Mr Bones feared that they would expire before the next sunrise.
Captain Rob had ordered that everyone who was affected by the illness should be moved to the cabins at the rear of the ship, and that the other crew members should not socialize with them in any way at all.
Whatever this sickness was, Captain Rob needed to stop it spreading. He ordered two of the crew to go below decks and swab the cabins and stairwells, and check for any dead rats. Any that they found should be thrown overboard immediately.
Illness was common amongst seafarers, particularly after visiting a new port in a new country. Captain Rob had often wondered about the connection between visiting new places and the number of crew who would get ill within a week or two after leaving a new port.
It was not uncommon for some sailors to spend months at sea or crossing the Atlantic Ocean, only to die from an unexplained illness within weeks of arriving in the Caribbean. Captain Rob did not know where illnesses came from, or how they spread, but he did know that sometimes going ashore in a landing party held unseen risks that you could not predict. In hindsight, it was often better to remain aboard rather than visit new places and come into contact with new people.
He had once heard tell of a fully laden ship being found drifting in the mid-Atlantic. When the ship was boarded, they found that everyone on board had died from a mysterious disease: the ship had recently visited an island off the coast of Africa, and two weeks later there was no one left alive.
Although he could not tell anyone else of his fears, Captain Rob was beginning to worry that the treasure was not the only thing they had taken with them from Puerto Bello Del la Cruz.
Just then, Captain Rob was ripped from his thoughts by a voice coming from the sea below.
"Captain Rob, sir. Permission to come aboard?"
Looking over the side, Captain Rob saw that it was Paddy O'Brian, returned with the last boat to go ashore.
"Aye, lad. Come up and make yer report. Join me in my cabin!"
"So, Mr O'Brian. You say this is a palace belonging to a Spanish King? And that you have found all the food and water we will need for a year? Well, that's sounds wonderful, just wonderful. Congratulations!...But tell me more of the musket shots that we heard. What resistance have you encountered?"
Captain Rob smiled when he heard that the resistance so far had been almost non-existent, but he frowned when he heard of the hostages that Silver had taken and marshaled into the banqueting hall.
"So, in summary, Mr Silver wants me to send ashore as many men as I can afford, along with all the remaining empty barrels and containers that we can find. I have already sent two score of barrels ashore to be filled with fresh water, but I fancy we can find a few more. As for men, well, let me see, we have almost fifty able bodied men left on board, and could spare about forty. But I will lead them myself. If this palace is as great and strange as you say, I have to see it with my own eyes - particularly the fires that burn from the ceilings of the palace banqueting hall and have Mr Silver burrowing holes in the ground to hide like a rabbit! I will leave you in charge Mr O'Brian. Mr Simons is below deck, made ill by the fever, and I fear that he will not be leaving his bed for a while. You are the next able bodied man who I would trust to manage the ship in the absence of Silver, and myself. Mr Tanner will answer to you in my absence. I will see to it. I will leave immediately. For now, please check all the cannons on the port side. I have trained them on the shore. The tide is changing now, so ensure that they are kept ready and targeted on the shore and the buildings beyond. Borrow the spyglass from Mr Tanner and keep checking for any signals from myself from the beach ...And it goes without saying, but keep a guard on the booty. Repel any boarders who you do not recognise and do not give the codeword. And unless I am with them, no one is to be given access to the hold. Do you understand?"
"Aye aye, Captain. That I do."
The sun was making good progress above the horizon as Captain McGregor strode ashore, jumping into the water from the prow of the boat, and helping to drag it up onto the sand.
He helped unload the first ten barrels, and hoisted one on his shoulders and started carrying it towards the center of the palace, as previously described and directed by Mr O'Brian. The other men followed him.
With an inkling of trouble to come, McGregor had loaded another two pistols and stuffed them both into his belt, giving him a total of three, as well as his cutlass and his dirk. Strung across his shoulder was also the large Spanish musket that O'Brian had at first abandoned after using it to accidentally kill two of his men en route back to the boat, O'Brian had seen it being carried by another of the pirates, and had taken it off him. He had given it to the Captain with a word of warning and caution.
"If you press the lever underneath its belly it will destroy anyone in its path, but it kicks like a donkey, and will likely kill you too, if you are not careful. Fear it, as I do, but I believe that once mastered, it will be more useful than a cannon!"
After spending a few minutes marveling at the spring of water that flowed through the pipe whenever they so desired it, he was within two feet of the tree line when a tremendous roar rose from out of nowhere. Dropping the barrel onto the sand, he drew his cutlass and prepared to be attacked, searching frantically for any aggressors. Suddenly an enormous bird, bigger even than their ship's pinnace, flew out from above the trees. It stopped abruptly above the boats and the men loading barrels of water, and it hovered stationary like a kestrel in the air.
The men looked up, dropped their barrels and ran in all different directions. Some dived into the water and started swimming frantically towards the ship. Others ran past McGregor into the trees.
A tremendous wind blew down from the bird, knocking his tri-cornered hat off and blowing it back into the scrub underneath the coconut palms.
Looking up at the bird, McGregor was stunned to see the almost humanoid form of two creatures sitting inside the bird, looking down at him. Human in shape in all but one consideration: their heads were enormous- big round balls of black that sat upon their shoulders, their form reminding him of ants' heads in all but magnitude. One of the creatures raised something onto his shoulders and pointed it at the boats below. As he did so, a hand went up to the big black ball on his shoulders and it pushed the front of the ball upwards. Immediately McGregor could see that there was a human face within. The big black ball was some form of hat! As he stared in disbelief, the man turned towards him, and it seemed as if their eyes met. The man moved the weapon on his shoulders and pointed it towards the Captain.
Instinctively, the Captain pulled one of the pistols from his belt and let lose a shot at the man sitting in the bird.
He saw the man visibly recoil, and knew that his ball had flown straight and true: the man had been hit!
A second later, the monster bird turned on its side and flew swiftly away from him towards the Sea Dancer. It circled the ship once, hovered momentarily above it, and then flew further out to sea, turning right beyond the entrance to the bay, and flying back along the coast until it was lost from sight.
A cheer went up from the men behind him, who now slowly emerged from the trees and ran to the Captain, praising him and congratulating him on his marksmanship.
"Captain. You wounded the bird with one shot of your pistol!"
"Three cheers for the Cap'n! Slayer of monsters!"
"Gratitude men, but make ye haste back to your duties. There is a lot to do, and the sooner we leave this devil's lair behind, the happier I will be! The rest of ye, follow
me quickly."
With each man carrying a barrel or empty wooden box on their shoulders, they hurried around the blue lagoons, past the body of Mr Wright, and soon made contact with some of the other pirates who were busy rousing locals from their slumber and accompanying them as hostages to the banqueting hall.
"More hostages?", the Captain cried aloud in frustration and anger. "Are we to eat people? We need FOOD and WATER, not Spaniards!"
As Captain McGregor entered the hall with another forty pirates - after first marveling with all the others at the doors that swept open in advance of their coming - he dropped his barrel loudly at the entrance to the large hall, staring in disbelief at the sight before him.
Whilst hundreds of people lay on the floor and watched on, Silver was engaged in a shouting battle with the most beautiful woman that Captain McGregor had ever seen!
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The Blue Emerald Bay Resort
Main Restaurant
Puerto Rico
As Sally had hurried towards the main restaurant of the Blue Emerald, two men brandishing cutlasses and guns, had stopped her in her tracks and forced her to the ground. Handling her roughly, they had bent her arms behind her back, lifted her to her feet and then frog-marched her into the main hall.
She was aghast by what she discovered there: at least a hundred and fifty guests sitting on the floor, surrounded by a horde of dirty, disheveled and disgustingly smelly bandits. The guests were obviously petrified. They sat quietly, many white with fear. Some had vomited, and the smell combined with the rank smell of the bandits to form a concoction of aromas she would never forget for the rest of her life.
How could anyone smell so bad, and not be disgusted with themselves? Why did they not wash?
Some of the regular guests and the staff who were being held hostage immediately recognised her. She smiled at them, and then made a face which conveyed her wish to remain anonymous for now: she wanted to appraise the situation before she tried to take any action.
Her anonymity did not last long. A few minutes after she arrived, some more bandits came into the hall, leading in a couple of the hotel's security guards. One looked as if he had been mortally wounded.
The bandits marched their captives up to a bald man with a silver beard, who wore a red bandanna across his head. From the way the others deferred to him and responded to his commands, he was obviously the leader of the bandits. Or were they terrorists?
Why they were here or what they wanted was not yet clear.
As she watched, the silver bearded man pointed behind him, and the bandits dragged the bleeding guard into one of the private rooms at the back of the hall.
Beside the silver bearded man, one of the guests was standing...the only guest in the hall who was. Occasionally, the bandit leader turned to him and they talked together. Sally recognised him. Sandy Weiss. He was a regular. A wealthy young man from a wealthy family.
Although she would have preferred to have more time to observe the dynamics of the drama unfolding around her, she couldn't wait any longer.
This was her hotel. These people were on her turf, and they were invading her space! Furthermore, all these people in the hall...and everyone else outside and still at liberty within the resort...they were all her responsibility. And one of them was wounded. She had to go to him, and make sure he got help urgently.
And then she had to find a way to call for help: she had to alert the police and most probably, the army.
Looking around at some of the famous people and diplomats in the room, all cowering on the floor and being terrorized by the bandits, she knew this was already an international incident.
Sally was petrified. Her legs and hands were shaking. She felt sick and nauseous.
But without further thought for her own well being, she pushed a mental button in her mind, and stood up.
As she rose to her feet, she changed from being Sally-Anne Davis, and became Manager of the Blue Emerald Resort Puerto Rico, on whose shoulders rested the responsibility of all the lives in the complex.
Having risen to her feet, the manager of the Blue Emerald brushed herself down, shook her head clear, and walked purposely over to the bandit with the silver beard, all before anyone could stop her.
She stood in front of him and declared, "I am the manager of this resort, and I demand to know what you are doing here? And I insist that we give medical help to the security guard that you have injured!"
The points of five separate cutlasses immediately prodded her in her ribs and back, and a rough hand on her shoulder urged her to step backwards away from the man and sit back down on the floor. She resisted.
The man with the silver beard turned around, saw the beautiful woman in front of him, and waved the other bandits away. He spoke in a language which although Sally at first did not recognise, she quickly realised was in fact English. But English spoken with a curious accent that she had not heard before.
"Manager? Resort? I do not understand what it is that you wish to say to me, woman. You seek medical help for your palace guard? You value his life?"
"Of course I do. Let me send for our doctor. Immediately!"
"And he can save his life? I think not, I saw the wound. The man will die. If not today, by tomorrow night when the fever takes him. No one can survive such a wound!"
"Let me prove you wrong."
"Perhaps we can barter. I will let your doctor attend your man, if you will fetch the King, and bring him to me now."
"Which King?"
"The King to whom this Palace belongs."
Sally fell silent for a moment, thinking. She looked around at the other bandits. If it were not for the wounded and dying guard she might have suspected that this was all one giant prank that had gone sadly wrong.
"There is no King. There is only a Queen."
"Then fetch her, woman. Now!"
"There is no need. She is already here. I am that Queen."
Silver stepped back from her, looking her up and down. He smiled, and then whistled.
"You are the Queen?"
"Yes. I am. And I demand to know why have invaded my 'Palace' and what the hell you think you are all doing!"
Silver's smile slipped from his mouth, and he stepped closer to Sally, his face only inches from hers. His breath stunk to high heaven, and she pulled back in uncontrollable disgust. The leader of the bandits immediately reached out behind Sally and grabbed her by the hair. Although he was slightly smaller than she was, he was very strong. He pulled her down slightly, pulling her head to the side, and beneath his.
"You will demand nothing. Your kingdom is forfeit. It now belongs to us. We will take what we wish, and then we will leave. Cooperate and we will be gone before you know it. Protest and resist, and you will wish you had never been born. Do you understand me, my Queen?"
A large hand landed on Silver's shoulder, and he felt the warmth of a human's breath on his cheek.
"Mr Silver, I would suggest that you immediately release the Queen." Captain Rob whispered in his ear. "Allow the woman to find her quack. Let her go."
Silver was stunned. He had not seen the Captain arrive. But even before the Captain had finished his sentence, Silver had started to smile and had released the woman, whose silken hair now slipped through his fingers.
"On the other hand, dear Queen, perhaps, as a symbol of our good faith, I will allow you to fetch your quack. I will send three of my men with you, to help assist. Be back within ten minutes of the clock, or I will personally see that your injured guard will have no further need of a doctor. Now go!"
The woman ran her fingers through her hair, flicked it out and shook her head. She smiled at Silver, half-turned to look at Captain Rob, and left. Silver clicked his fingers, pointed at three men, and they immediately followed her out.
"And now, Mr Silver, whilst your requested reinforcements start to pack the food and take it down to the beach and the boats, I think that you and I should talk," the Captain an
nounced, draping his arm around the quartermaster's shoulder and guiding him gently but forcibly back out of the hall and into the courtyard in front of the building. As they walked out, the newly arrived pirates went to work. With minutes the edible contents of the kitchen were being carried, box by box, and barrel by barrel, down to the beach.
"So now, Mr Silver," the Captain summarized the situation after his quartermaster had given his report. "...instead of a lightning raid on a sleeping village, moving swiftly in and out, taking only food, water and grog,... we are now entrenched in the Palace with hundreds of hostages, with dead and wounded littering the grounds all around? And still you do not know the size of the army which will no doubt counter attack at any moment?" It was a rhetorical question. No answer was needed.
Captain Rob turned his back and walked away from Silver, thinking. As a rule, he did not argue with his second-in-command in front of his men, especially during any form of engagement with an enemy. Everyone knew Captain Rob ruled with an iron fist, when necessary, but discipline and order was better shown and encouraged, than enforced. Captain Rob led by example, and others always followed.
At that moment, Richard Tyler came around the corner of the nearest building, saw the Captain, and hurried over.
"Aha, Mr Tyler. You have finished reconnoitering the Palace? Good, then make your report. But sharpish. I fear the sky is about to fall on our heads."
Richard Tyler spoke quickly, not wasting words, imparting only the necessary facts.
The Palace was large, covering many acres of land, but most of it was contained within tall, thick walls which should be easily defensible. Where they stood now was the center of the Palace, the arrangements of the living quarters and other buildings being symmetrically distributed on either side. A guard had been captured and forcibly questioned, and he had provided valuable intelligence: the Palace had three hundred guests, and one hundred and fifty servants. The Palace Guard was made up of twenty men, each of whom were armed with pistols and repeating muskets, the like of which Richard had never seen before, but an example of which he then held out and presented to the Captain. It was identical to the one that the Captain already carried over his shoulder. Captain Rob acknowledged the gesture but pushed it gently back. "Keep it and learn to use it. And find whatever others you can. I fear we may need them, sooner rather than later. And now, Mr Tyler, tell me the name of the Spanish King? Or is it really a Queen, as Mr Silver has already found out, to his cost?"
"In truth, Captain, I do not know. I asked such questions, the like of which you have asked me now, but I never comprehended the answers. The man used words that are of no meaning to me. Even when we tried to persuade him further. It is all a nonsense to me." Mr Tyler paused, then continued. "There is much about this place that I find unholy. Strange. Unnatural. I have seen things I do not understand, and cannot fathom. The quicker we are apart from here, the better."
The Captain nodded.
"Thank you Mr Tyler. And what of your men?"
"I have placed them strategically around the walls. If an attack comes, they are not strong enough in number to repel it, but they will be able to delay it. However, I would suggest, that if we can spare any more, the men are better placed on the walls in defense, than in the hall."
"I agree. And so does Silver. I shall send twenty men back with you Mr Tyler. If an attack is coming, I wish you to send word to me immediately."
"And if an attack comes from the beach?" Silver asked.
"Then it will be covered by Paddy O'Brian and the cannon on the Sea Dancer." Captain McGregor replied, almost in annoyance.
Captain McGregor fell silent. Planning. He needed only a minute.
"Okay, what's done is done. The situation is not the best, but we shall make it work for us until we are ready to leave. Hopefully within thirty minutes. An hour at the most. Mr Silver, I wish you to follow Mr Tyler back to the main gate, and ascertain the range from there to the beach. Pace it out if you must. Consider how best to arrange a spread of cannon fire across the extremes of the Palace. We need to know if the balls from our cannon can fly so far, and if we can defend the Palace with our cannon from the ship. If we can, and they are in range, I wish you to pass instructions back to the ship on the elevation and the range, but you yourself must not leave the shore. I wish you back in the hall at the earliest possible moment. But before you return, make a round of inspection of Mr Tyler's defenses. He is, no insult intended, a man of little experience in battle. That is your domain, Mr Silver. Make improvements where you see fit. You have half of the men at your disposal. We shall split our resources between defense and preparing for departure. As soon as we have all the food, I will fire a single cannon, and everyone must return to the beach. Is that understood?"
They both nodded.
"Then go!"
At that moment, the Queen rushed past them back into the Banqueting Hall, her quack and her guard in tow.
Captain Rob followed.
Time Ship (Book One): A Time Travel Romantic Adventure Page 23
