***
The President’s Palace, Washington, D.C., November 6, 1792 (Infini Calendar), 9:08 a.m.
She knocked at the door. A voice called out, “Come in.”
She entered the Oval Office. “You called for me, Mr. President?”
The president of the United States stood up to greet his assistant and confidant. “Yes, Mary. I thank you for coming. The reason I’ve called you in here concerns an upcoming visit from the emperor of Austria.”
“Austria? I thought it was a French delegation that was coming.”
“That is true. However, an Austrian delegation will also be arriving here around the same time.”
She could guess as to why. “For the same reason, sir?”
He nodded. “Yes. They’ve seen our technological advances and they wish to partake. I’ve agreed to negotiate a treaty with them.”
The blonde woman fumbled with her glasses to keep them from slipping off her face. She thought she might never get used to the things. “Have you given the Austrians the same condition as the French?”
“That’s right,” he said. “And Emperor Leopold II has agreed to the terms. It seems both Austria and France have pieces they are willing to give us.”
Mary, however, had her doubts. “We still don’t know if the pieces will even do anything when assembled.”
He sighed and said, “You’re right; we don’t. But Ben believed it. And that is enough for me.”
“A pity Mr. Franklin is no longer with us. He was a true visionary.”
“You are correct in that regard. However, I fear we have gotten off topic. I would like you to make the proper preparations for the arrival of our guests. Perhaps you can give them a tour of the city.”
“I would be happy to.”
“And the Austrians in particular would likely enjoy one of your violin sonatas.”
“Rest assured, I will endeavor to make their visit a pleasurable one,” she agreed.
“Thank you, Mary. I can always count on your hospitality.” Despite the fact that his wooden dentures made it difficult for him to smile, she could hear the warmth in his voice. “That will be all, for now.”
She bowed and left the Oval Office. As soon as she closed the door behind her, though, she was struck with a thought she hadn’t been able to entertain while engaged in conversation with the President. This thought filled her with both excitement and unease. If Leopold II is coming to Washington, does that mean she is coming as well?
This could be trouble. The President may have conquered Great Britain, but he had never seen the likes of that unpredictable Austrian. Mary decided she would have to take steps to prepare for the possibility of her arrival.
Her glasses suddenly fell to the floor, and she sighed and bent down to pick them up.
Chapter IV: Ambush on the Istanbul Strait
The Istanbul Strait, November 11, 1792 (Infini Calendar), 12:00 p.m.
On the fifth day of their journey, the Hapsburg Pride entered the narrow strait, which connected the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, known as the Istanbul Strait.
Located east of Constantinople, the Istanbul Strait was a dangerous region to sail. With sharp turns that had to be executed to successfully navigate the strait, it was entirely possible to run straight into previously unseen ships coming from the opposite direction. Heavy currents also posed a hazard to vessels.
At that point, no one on board was more acutely aware of the currents than Farahilde. She was currently leaning over the portside railing trying to keep from emptying the entirety of her stomach, a battle she was losing.
“Farahilde? Are you all right?” said a voice from behind her which she recognized as that of Frederick.
With great effort, she managed to turn her seasick head around to yell at him. “What do you think, genius? Of course I’m not all right.”
“You look…green,” he said. “This is strange; you had your own airship. Shouldn’t you be used to this?”
She replied, “Airships are different. There aren’t any waves or ocean currents in the sky. God, I wish I still had—Ulp!” Her words were cut off as a fresh wave of nausea overcame her. She returned her head to its original position overlooking the water.
An errand boy arrived and told them Leopold wished to speak with them both in his cabin. Farahilde waved off the messenger, as she was too sick to speak. She managed to then divorce herself from the railing with the intention of lumbering over to Leopold’s cabin.
It was at that moment that a strong wave hit the ship. She fell forward, but instead of dropping to the deck, she fell into the arms of Frederick, who had rushed forward to catch her. She found herself staring into his eyes. “Are you unhurt?” he asked.
Since she had taken great efforts to avoid him throughout their time together, she wasn’t aware of the strong arms he possessed. She had thought him to be a weakling, but perhaps that was not entirely the case. “Fine. I didn’t need your help.”
“Nevertheless, I cannot allow any harm to come to my future wife.”
He let go of her, and she stood there for a moment to make sure she could actually remain on her feet. Once she was satisfied that this was the case, she proceeded to Leopold’s cabin.
“You are late, my sister,” Leopold said when they entered. He was sitting on his lavish bed smoking a pipe.
Still feeling queasy, she said, “I’m not in the mood, Leo. And if you keep smoking those pipes, you’re going to start feeling as bad as me.” She then planted herself and sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the bed. “What do you want?”
He motioned with his pipe towards the chest that sat between her and the bed. It was the same chest she had puzzled over earlier. “I think it’s about time I told you what’s inside this. In the event that anything befalls me, it will be up to you to deliver it to the President of the United States.”
“What’s so damned important about it?”
“Open it up and see.”
She did so, and was stunned by its contents. “You’re giving this to the Americans? Why would they want this thing?”
“What are you talking about?” Frederick asked. He refrained from looking in the chest, possibly in the event its contents weren’t for his eyes.
Leopold replied, “Take a look.”
Frederick peered inside, and when he did so, he saw the thing that had shocked Farahilde: a slender three-foot-long piece of orange metal covered in strange symbols he had never seen before. “This is a queer artifact,” he observed.
“It has been in the Hapsburg family for hundreds of years,” Leopold explained. “Legend says it arrived here from another world. Up until now, though, it has only held archeological value.”
“So why are we giving it to the Americans?” Farahilde asked, still incredulous.
“Because when I wrote them asking what they might want in exchange for negotiating a treaty, they inquired if we had any objects matching its description. I said yes, and they indicated their president George Washington would be willing to give us technology in exchange for this strange chunk of metal.”
“If they want it so badly, they must know something about it. Are you sure we can afford to give it to them?” Farahilde asked. She was beginning to think the object was more important than it appeared.
“It’s been in our family all these years, and we haven’t been able to learn a thing about it,” Leopold said. “If it can bring us new technology, that is probably the most use we’ll ever get out of it.”
“I don’t like it,” she said.
“You don’t have to like it. You simply have to obey my orders.” He turned his attention to Frederick. “Young Frederick, I want you to observe the negotiation process. That will give you valuable experience for the day when you are king.”
“Understood.”
Leopold took a final smoke on his pipe and coughed. “That’s all I wanted to talk to you two about. You may leave—”
The ship suddenly shook violently wit
h a roar. Leopold managed to hang onto his bed post, but Frederick fell forward onto Farahilde who was still on the floor.
“What was that?” Leopold shouted.
“Perhaps the something happened to the engine,” Frederick said.
“Get off me, you idiot! We could be under attack.”
“Oh! Please pardon me, Farahilde.”
Frederick let her up, and she bounded out onto the deck. Despite everything, her seasickness had let up, so she was ready to fight anyone foolish enough to pick a fight with a ship she was on.
However, there were no other ships around. So, then, at least they weren’t under attack. Maybe they had hit a rock which was hiding under the water. She asked the Hapsburg’s Pride’s captain if this was the case, but he replied: negative.
There was a loud commotion behind her as a company of guards hauled a man out onto the deck. They forced him to his knees. “Who is this?” she demanded to know.
The captain of the royal guards explained, “He was a seaman working down in the engine room. He was right there when the explosion happened. He sabotaged the engine.”
“What makes you think he sabotaged it?” Frederick asked.
The prisoner started shouting, “Viva la France! Viva la France!”
“That’s why,” the captain of the guard said.
“A French spy!” Farahilde exclaimed. “I will execute this worm right here and now.”
“You’d better move quickly, then,” the prisoner said in a French accent. “My people know you are trying to forge an alliance with the Americans. That technology will be ours! You’re dead in the water, and my superiors will soon arrive here to finish you off.”
Any other person would probably have been scared by that threat. Farahilde, however, was excited. “Let them come! I will relish the chance to butcher more French worms. Who are these fools who dare challenge Farahilde Johanna?”
The saboteur gave a boastful laugh. “Who, you ask? Why, none other than the Ordre de la Tradition!”
“Who are they?” Frederick asked.
Farahilde responded by laughing heartily. “The Ordre de la Tradition? I remember them. They aren’t marauding vultures like you describe.”
He smiled defiantly. “They aren’t as nice as you remember, Austrian bitch.”
She calmly smiled. “That’s what you French people used to call my sister. The one you murdered.” She proceeded to rain punches down on his face, basking in his cries of pain. After breaking his nose and knocking out several teeth, she pulled him to his feet and dragged him over to the portside railing with the intention of throwing him overboard.
“Wait!” She turned around to see Leopold emerging from below deck. “I have not given any orders for an execution.”
“But, brother,” she protested. “This man has admitted to being a French spy. He has threatened members of Austrian royalty. He must die!”
Leopold shook his head. “I heard what he called you. He reminded you of Antonia’s death and that has angered you. That’s the real reason you want to kill him. Don’t pretend otherwise.”
“But—”
“No buts! The prisoner has committed a grave offense, it’s true. But he can still prove useful to us in the event that he is telling the truth and a French military unit is truly coming to ambush us.”
“Hmph. Fine.” She let go of the spy.
However, he suddenly launched himself over the side of the ship. She was too surprised to do anything but watch as he fell into the water below.
“You fool!” Leopold cried out. “He purposely provoked you into trying to throw him overboard to avoid becoming our prisoner. We’ve got to pull him out of the water before he drowns or swims away.”
Farahilde grit her teeth. She had been tricked by a French worm. This was only her second loss to the wretches of that nation. To them alone she could not bear to lose.
She savagely kicked the railing. Sharp pain shot through her foot, but she didn’t care about that in the slightest. She was completely occupied with her hurt pride.
Leopold was shouting orders to the deck hands to fish the French spy out of the water, but an announcement from the captain caused that to cease being a priority. “Pirates! Dead ahead!”
Farahilde forgot her anger and ran over to the telescope mounted on the ship’s bow. Coming directly at them was a trio of unfamiliar vessels. They weren’t flying any flags, but each one had obviously been patched to together from different materials. That meant they were obviously privateers or slavers. They dare advance on us?
In response to this development, she did something few others in such a situation would do: She exploded into laughter. “Let them come! I’m in the mood for bloodshed!”
She didn’t even notice Frederick standing behind her. “You’re enjoying this?” he asked, incredulous.
“Of course!” she said. “After having been made a fool of by that French worm, I need to vent.”
“But shouldn’t we focus on getting to safety?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “And how, exactly, are we supposed to do that? We’re surrounded by water, and based on the smoke coming from those ships up ahead, they’re clearly equipped with engines. We’d never outrun them. I can happily say our only option is to fight.”
He made some monosyllabic attempts to protest, but finally sighed and went below deck for something. That boy had better not be thinking of hiding. If he tries it, I’ll gut him myself before the enemy even gets here.
***
“It looks like our man got the job done, Commander. The acceleration of the Austrian’s ship has slowed dramatically.”
“What about the pirates?”
“They’re moving into position now. They should be upon the Austrians within minutes.”
“Good. With any luck, they’ll wipe out the Austrian filth and we won’t have to do anything more.”
“It was a brilliant maneuver telling the pirates where a valuable ship could be found, Commander.”
“The pirates are also filth. We’re doing all of Europe a favor.”
“But what if the pirates are defeated?”
“We have been given our orders straight from the Emperor himself. And we will carry them out. No more, no less. If the Austrians win, we’ll have no choice but to move in.”
“I just wish we didn’t have to tiptoe around our enemies like this.”
“I share your sentiment, Vice Commander. If it were up to me…well, the real me…we would have blown them out of the water already. Irodium hull or not, they couldn’t possibly stand up to an attack from us.”
“I agree, Commander. However, you may encounter Farahilde Johanna down there. How do you plan on handling your ‘old friend’?”
“Please. That chienne is of no consequence. As long as Leopold II keeps her restrained, we won’t have a problem. She may not even survive the pirate attack.”
“Let us hope she doesn’t.”
***
Farahilde emerged from below the deck of the Hapsburg Pride wearing a dark gauntlet with two lethal blades protruding from the knuckle area. She had gone down to her cabin to retrieve it in preparation for the fight.
And fight she would. She yearned for a physical confrontation. After months of inactivity and being yelled at by Leopold (whom she couldn’t very well strike without fear of reprisal), she was about to explode. Leopold was right about one thing: she was most comfortable in the midst of conflict.
Frederick joined her, saber in hand. So, he hadn’t run off to hide under his bed. Perhaps there was hope for him yet. “I stand ready to defend you,” he said.
That chivalry nonsense was wearing thin. “I told you, I don’t need your help. If anything, you need my help.”
However, he remained firm. “A man must come to the defense of women wherever he finds himself. That is what my father taught me.”
“Fine. Do whatever you want. Just don’t get in my way.”
“As you wish.”
Two
of the pirate vessels had maneuvered to outflank them on either side. The third one remained about fifty yards off the Hapsburg Pride’s bow.
Cannons appeared out of the hulls of the vessels flanking them. Leopold shouted orders to hurry up and open fire. The pirates then proceeded to unload their shells into the hull of the Hapsburg Pride. Farahilde and Frederick dropped to the deck as the ship was rocked by cannon fire.
The ship’s irodium hull withstood the barrage, however, and responded in kind. Jagged holes were savagely ripped open in both pirate vessels.
Farahilde and Frederick stood up and looked at the pirate ship that was hanging off the port side. One of its masts had been hit, causing it to splinter and come crashing down to the deck. “Our situation is looking considerably more favorable now,” he said.
“Don’t get cocky,” she warned him. “You know what they say about wounded animals. The pirates will either retreat, or attack us with everything they have. Personally, I’m hoping for the former.”
“What can they do against us? Their cannons are useless against our armored hull.”
“That’s not their only weapon.”
Suddenly, the pirate in the crow’s nest on the portside ship began waving brightly colored flags in their direction. “Are they signaling us?” Frederick asked.
Farahilde looked across the starboard side of the Hapsburg Pride. The pirate ship on that side was also waving flags. “He’s signaling his comrades! They’re coordinating tactics.”
“What kind of tactics?”
In response, the pirates on both sides grabbed long ropes with metal hooks and threw them onto the railing of the Hapsburg Pride. Farahilde and Frederick, along with the crew members assigned to the ship’s defense, rushed to remove the ropes.
Nevertheless, they had mostly forgotten about the pirate vessel sitting off the bow. It quickly reminded them of its presence by firing a cannon volley off its bow.
Farahilde and Frederick once again dropped to the deck. One shell smashed a soldier into the deck, splattering his midsection. Farahilde swore loudly. “They have cannons mounted on their bow! They can keep us pinned down while the others board us.”
Secrets of the New World (Infini Calendar) (Volume 2) Page 3
