“Lock the hatch!” she yelled to Gorbett and the two spacers, who were closer, but it was too late and would have been pointless in any case.
A section of the deck she’d just crossed flew up on hidden hinges and the six pirates poured out onto the quarterdeck. The marines, who’d drawn their pistols and taken aim at the far hatchway at her cry, were taken by surprise by the pirates appearing so much closer, and the only shots that rang out were from the pirates. The marines fell even as Alexis was spinning around to face the sound of the shots and drawing her own weapon.
In less than a second it was over, the two marines were dead and Alexis, her pistol drawn but still pointed at the deck, was facing three of the pirates who were pointing their own pistols at her. Two of the other pirates quickly retrieved the marines’ pistols.
“Seems we have a situation,” Horsfall, the pirate said, smiling. “I think you’ll just be dropping that. And you as well, old man.”
From the corner of her eye, Alexis could see that Gorbett’s pistol was still holstered, but his hand was on it, prepared to draw. Her grip tightened on her own. If she was quick, she might be able to get off one shot. Perhaps if she could take down Horsfall, who was clearly their leader, Gorbett might be able to draw and turn the tide. She licked her lips and prepared to move, praying that it would give the others a chance.
“Not today,” she heard from behind her as the cold edge of a knife blade pressed against the side of her neck. Alan reached around her and put his hand over the pistol, never taking the knife blade from her neck. He took the pistol from her hand and stood close behind her, pressing his body against hers and took aim at Horsfall.
Horsfall laughed. “And now it’s gone all interestingly!”
“Just want you and me to be clear,” Alan said. “Afore I come over to yer side.”
Horsfall narrowed his eyes. “And why would you be wanting to do that, then?”
Alexis clenched her teeth. “I should have let you hang, you bastard!”
“Careful there, ‘sir’. Wouldn’t want you to cut yer little throat.”
Alexis forced herself to be still, wanting nothing more but to spin around and launch herself at Alan to kill the man herself.
“Ah,” Horsfall said. “So that’s the way of it? Bit of blood between you two, is there?”
“Bitch had me flogged,” Alan said.
“Fair enough. You!” Horsfall said to Gorbett. “Slide that shooter over here, nice and easy, so me and Mister —” He raised eyebrows at Alan.
“Alan.”
“So me and Mister Alan can get to negotiationing in peace, so to speak.” Horsfall waited for a moment while Gorbett reluctantly complied, sliding his pistol across the navigation plot to the other side. “All right, lads.” He nodded to the other pirates and they lowered their own weapons. His own was still pointed at Alexis and through her, at Alan. “One of us has to trust first, lad, and it won’t be me, I promise.”
“I join yer company? Equal shares?”
Horsfall nodded. “Same as all the lads.”
“And I’ve some ideas of my own,” Alan said. “I’ll have half o’ those.”
Horsfall smiled. “Fair enough. Half of any job that comes from yer own head.” He paused. “After expenses, a’course.”
Alan hesitated for a moment, then lowered the pistol and stepped to the side, taking the knife from Alexis’ throat.
Horsfall watched him, but kept his pistol pointed at Alexis. “I’ll ask you to slide that gun over, as well. And to put up the knife. You’ll understand if I don’t trust you with one right off and all.”
Alan nodded in return. He slid the knife into his belt and bent to slide the pistol across the deck to the pirates.
“I’ll see you hang yet, Alan,” Alexis said.
“You and the bosun and no few others’ve said the same,” Alan said. “Ain’t happened as yet.”
“And I wouldn’t go counting yer future viewing pleasures, were I you, Miss Midshipman,” Horsfall said. He grinned widely, showing a mass of rotten teeth. “You’ll not be lasting much past me and the lads being done with you.”
Alexis paled at his words and the laughter from the pirates.
“Hold on,” Alan said, stepping between her and Horsfall. “There’ll be none of that.”
“Wait your turn and don’t worry none.”
“No, she’s worth more alive and whole. That’s my job and I’ll have a double share of the ransom.”
Horsfall narrowed his eyes. “The Fleet don’t ransom officers from the likes of us.”
Alan grinned broadly. “Not the Fleet, her family.”
Horsfall narrowed his eyes and looked Alexis up and down. “Rich family?”
“They’re not …”
“Shut your mouth!” Alan yelled at her. “I’m the one what’s talking now.” He turned back to Horsfall. “Family’s first holders out here, got all the land and some great stone house.”
Alexis stared at him open-mouthed. Had the man gone mad? Had he confused her grandfather’s clapboarded farmhouse with one of the other holdings?
“Captain bought some stores from ‘em,” Alan continued. “Saw the insides myself — they’ve a load of coin.”
“That’s a lie!” Alexis stepped forward. “We’ve barely …”
Alan spun around and his fist caught Alexis in the jaw, knocking her to the deck. The impact jarred her injured shoulder and she cried out. Gorbett and Peters started toward her but stopped as Horsfall raised his pistol and shook his head slowly.
“Enough out of you, you stupid bint!” Alan yelled. He stepped toward her, towering over her as she lay on the deck, one hand to her aching jaw. The taste of blood filled her mouth and she looked up at him in shock.
“But …” Alexis began, but Alan swung his leg, the toe of his boot catching her in the midriff and knocking the breath out of her.
“I seen what I seen! Now shut yer bloody mouth!”
“Whole, was it?” Horsfall asked.
Alan turned to him, breathing hard and his fists clenched. “Aye, whole, but maybe not unbruised. Weeks I’ve been putting up with her, ordering us about and lording over ever’body.” He turned back to Alexis. “And now you’ll keep yer damned mouth shut if you know what’s good for you!”
Twenty
“Well now, my little Miss Midshipman, it’s time we had a bit of talking.”
“I’ve nothing to say to you, Horsfall.”
“Oh, I think you will. I truly do.”
He sank down in a crouch in front of where Alexis was sitting on the deck, back against the starboard bulkhead. Her ankles were bound with thick, plastic bands, as were her wrists behind her. Gorbett and Peters were to either side. As for the pirates, there was only Horsfall and one other on the quarterdeck, manning the helm, while the others and Alan were working on the sales, repairing damage from the storm.
As he crouched, legs spread wide, Alexis took a chance and lashed out with both heels, but Horsfall calmly caught her ankles with one hand and causally pinned them to the floor.
“Takes a cleverer lass than you to catch me in the delicates.”
Alexis threw her head forward and spit into his face.
Horsfall grinned widely, not bothering to wipe his face and showing stained, uneven teeth. He waited, letting the spittle slowly slide down his face, then leaned in closer to her. He dropped one knee to the floor, trapping her bound ankles and slid one hand up the inside of her leg while he cupped her bruised cheek with the other.
“And been spat on by prettier,” he said, then his grin faded and his face grew cold. “But don’t push me, else I forget about the coin, girl.” He leaned back, resuming his former crouch, elbows resting on his knees. “Which is what we’ve to talk about, then. Now, as we’re standing this moment, I need you for the coin, and I need your friend Alan, for the name and place of where to get it.” He nodded to Gorbett and Peters. “These two, I’ll not be needing so much, save to keep you in your proper behaviorals.
/> “So think on this, then. There’s the path we’re on, down which your Alan finally shares with me, and why he’s such a suspectful lad where I’m concerned, I cannot fathom. But tell me he will, and then it’s home for you and coin for me — which giving your Alan a half of, is making me mislike that particular path a might.
“Another path for us is one where I get the who and the where from your two friends here, for I’m sure they know enough — and if they don’t, well, you might tell to keep ‘em … whole, as it were. But down that path lies the screaming and the crying and the bloody bits flung everywheres.” He shook his head sadly. “Now I will admit I like that path more than a little … and that keeps me awake some nights, it does. Not bothered by it, you understand, just … thinking on it.
“The third path, though, that’s the easiest. That’s the one where you tell me yerself, I keep all the coin, and you and your two friends sleep safe at home within a month. Oh, and fer a bonus, yer friend Alan’ll take a stroll on the hull without his necessaries.”
He leaned close again, grin wide and his breath rank against her face.
“Which do you think?”
“Have you ever in life brushed your teeth, Mister Horsfall? Your mouth really is extraordinary.”
Horsfall stood, his grin gone and his eyes glittering dangerously.
“I’ll leave you to yourself for your decideifying.”
“You should consider it, Mister Carew,” Gorbett whispered. “It’s no worse than Alan deserves and much as I hate to admit it, Horsfall is right — it’ll be easy enough to find out you’re from Dalthus and …”
“Hush now, Mister Gorbett,” Alexis whispered back. “There’s no telling who’s listening.”
“I’m only saying …”
“I understand your meaning, Mister Gorbett, I do.”
Alexis’ mind was churning over the options. If she did nothing, then Alan would eventually tell Horsfall about Dalthus and her grandfather — whether there’d be any profit for them, she didn’t know, for she’d never heard of any single holder on Dalthus bringing more than a thousand pounds of hard coin to bear. Most of their wealth was their land and the machines they worked it with. Perhaps her grandfather could sell off enough of the holding’s equipment to others to make up whatever payment Horsfall demanded, or perhaps not. Regardless, the pirate had made it clear that Gorbett and Peters were of no use to him then, and she dreaded what would be done to them.
On the other hand, she couldn’t bear the thought of helping him, even if it meant her own death. It would likely take everything her grandfather had built up for his entire life and leave him with nothing if he had to pay a ransom. Her bile rose at the very thought of cooperating in such a thing. But, she knew, if the pirate did choose his “second path”, she wouldn’t be able to sit by and watch while he tortured Peters or Gorbett.
What she’d like to do is retake the ship and kill the bastard herself.
Shoot him just for his vocabulary, I would.
But that was unlikely — the three of them were well-trussed up. And even if they could, somehow, retake the ship, three was not enough to sail her.
“I’ll not cooperate with him, Mister Gorbett,” she whispered, deciding. “So long as he lacks the information, any number of things could happen.”
“Mister Carew, we’ve a chance to save our lives.”
“A chance which will not be lessened by waiting a bit more. Alan, bastard though he is, seems cagey enough to delay until he’s sure of his own safety. And even then, I suspect he’ll hold something back — something we can use to bargain with Horsfall, then. Likely a better bargain, as I think he’s less and less enamored of Alan with every delay.”
From her other side, Peters spoke up. “Something about this isn’t right, Mister Carew.”
Alexis turned and grinned wryly. “Our ship is taken and we’re trussed up by pirates, Peters. What on earth could be not right about all that?”
“Meant about Alan, sir.”
Alexis’ face hardened. “Yes, there is something very not right about Alan, and I very much hope I’ll one day have the opportunity to rectify that.”
Peters looked troubled, but said no more.
Alexis awoke suddenly to a heavy weight on her chest and a hand across her mouth. Her eyes snapped open and she saw the Alan’s face near hers. She tried to struggle but found her hands were still tied behind her, and his weight atop her kept her immobile.
“Shh, now,” Alan whispered. He lowered his face to her ear and spoke quietly. His breath on the side of her face and the scent of rum on it reminded her of when he’d attacked her in the hold. Her heart hammered as she thrashed under him.
“Quiet now, Mister Carew, or you’ll wake them pirates and spoil it.” Alexis struggled frantically, trying to tug her hands free. She kicked her legs, trying to get a knee to the man’s back.
“Shh,” Alan whispered. “I learned to watch those feet once, now, didn’t I?”
Alexis opened her mouth wide and then snapped it shut, catching the side of one of Alan’s fingers between her teeth. She bore down forcefully, hearing him gasp in pain.
“That hurts a right bastard, it does, sir,” Alan continued through gritted teeth. “But you’ll listen, please sir, before you wake ‘em. Half of ‘em are dead drunk and the guard’s dozed off. I’ve the one gun they gave me and we’ve a chance to retake the ship.”
Alan’s words penetrated Alexis’ panic and she froze. Was he truly saying what she thought she’d heard?
“I know you’ve no cause to trust me, sir, but please nod if you understand. We’ve got to wake the others silent-like to have a chance.”
Slowly, Alexis released her grip on his hand.
“I’ll take my hand away now, sir, and get you loose. Please not a sound.” Alexis nodded understanding, and Alan took his hand from her mouth. He rolled off her tugged at her wrists. The sharp edge of a knife brushed against her skin and then her hands were free. Silently, Alan moved to her feet and cut those bonds as well. He handed her his pistol, butt first.
Alexis took it, staring at him in astonishment, ashamed that she’d so misjudged him. “Alan …”
“Sshh!” he hissed with a warning glance at the sleeping pirates.
Together, they edged quietly over to where Gorbett and Peters lay. They woke the two men silently and with gestures and low voices made plans. They knew they’d need to take at least some of the pirates alive if they were to have any hope of sailing the ship — and needed Horsfall, as well, to navigate with the encrypted equipment. And how they’d manage to convince him to do so, Alexis hadn’t a clue. She moved to the port side of the quarterdeck with the pistol, her small stature and injured shoulder making her less useful if the pirates awoke before being disarmed.
Gorbett took the knife from Alan and crept to the sleeping guard while Alan and Peters took positions near the other three pirates. Alexis tried to find a clear angle to fire if needed, but couldn’t. Gorbett held the knife near the guard’s throat and gently slid the man’s pistol from his waistband. The guard woke suddenly, eyes widening as he saw Gorbett’s face close to his with a warning look and felt the knife blade press against his skin.
“Not a sound, you,” Gorbett warned softly. “Back against the wall and hands atop your head, now.”
The man complied, eyes wide and fearful. With a warning look, Gorbett stepped back from the guard, shifting the pistol and knife in his hands, but as soon as he was out of reach, the pirate guard yelled out: “Boarders!”
“Damn you!” Gorbett yelled, kneeing the man in the crotch to put him out of action. The three other pirates reacted unexpectedly quickly for as much drink as they’d put away, eyes opening and hands scrabbling for weapons. Peters and Alan fell on them immediately, Gorbett a step behind.
Peters put one man down quickly, stripping his knife from him and sending it clattering across the deck toward Alexis’ feet before spinning the pirate around and slamming him face-first into the
bulkhead. Alan disarmed his first target and shoved the man toward Peters before turning his attention to Horsfall.
Gorbett had gotten to Horsfall first, though, and the pirate captain had reacted more quickly than his crew. He sidestepped Gorbett, whose momentum sent him crashing into the bulkhead behind Horsfall. The pirate spun with him, drawing his pistol. For a moment, Alexis had a clear shot at his back, but hesitated and then Alan was on him, striking Horsfall a vicious punch to the kidney and stepping in to grapple with the man as he turned.
For a moment they struggled, then there was the sound of two gunshots close together and Alan lurched away, wrenching the pistol from Horsfall’s grasp as he went.
“Enough!” Alexis barked, now with a clear shot and her pistol trained on Horsfall’s head. The pirate captain froze and slowly raised his hands in surrender, breathing heavily. At the sight of this, the remaining pirate stopped struggling with Peters and the two stepped slightly apart. “Peters, slide all the weapons forward, then drag Mister Gorbett and Alan forward as well,” Alexis ordered. She gestured at Horsfall with the pistol. “Face the bulkhead and place your hands flat against it.”
She waited until all of the weapons were secure and Peters had dragged Gorbett and Alan well clear of the four pirates, grimacing at the wide trail of blood left on the deck behind Alan, but he was moaning and moving feebly, so at least he was alive. “How are they?”
“The master’s hit his head, no telling,” Peters informed her, retrieving one of the liberated pistols for himself and pointing it aft at the pirates. “Alan’s done for, I think.”
“What?” She edged her way carefully to the other men. “Get the medical kit!”
Alan groaned. “No use, sir,” he said harshly, gritting his teeth. “With no surgeon …” He shook his head. Alexis knelt beside him, appalled at the growing pool of blood on the deck. She grasped the spacer’s hand.
“You hang on, Alan, we’ll find the medkit and …”
“The man’s dead already,” Horsfall said, turning from the bulkhead and taking a step toward the navigation console and lowering his hands slightly. “Gutshot takes time and he just don’t know to stop his breathing and carrying on yet. Now, let’s you and I get to talking, girl, for surely we’ve some negotiations to be about.”
Alexis Carew: Books 1, 2, and 3 Page 24
