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A Seafaring SagaChapter 21: Battling Slavers
“There she be.” stated Broadside.
It was three days later.
“What?” asked Viktor. He had not the aid of a spyglass and therefore didn’t see what Broadside saw.
“Anka Dolour, of course.” replied Broadside, “We’ll reach ‘er ‘fore midday.”
“Then what?” Viktor asked, looking back at the Crusader ship behind them.
Broadside shrugged.
“Hopefully the slavers will chase the Aterops off.”
“And if not?”
“Then we’re in trouble.”
“Great.”
Onboard the Aterops, Captain Johnson said, “So, our prey is fleeing to it’s slaver allies. I expected as much.”
Johnson eyed the distant isle. He knew that if the slavers saw the Aterops and decided to attack in full force, he could not win the battle.
“MacDougal!” he called out suddenly, “Drop anchor, spill wind! Stop the Aterops as quick as you can!”
“Aye sir!” responded the seaman with only a slight hesitation.
“What are you doing?” demanded Rosa.
Johnson ignored her.
“Well?” Rosa growled.
“We are holding back until darkness.”
“Why?”
“You shall see.”
Night came quickly -- almost too quickly for Johnson. The Aterops had two longboats and slowly these were lowered into the water, filled with twenty men each, nearly half of the ship’s remaining crew.
Johnson was in the lead boat. The past few days had only sharpened his resolve and perhaps anger. Unlike many of his peers, his confidence in his country had never waned -- shaken perhaps during Richard’s last few disastrous years, but still firm. He wanted justice to be done.
Oddly enough in Anka Dolour, a similar operation was being carried out. Korgan Rondokin was one of the first to learn of two large vessels anchored some two miles from the pirate stronghold. Even there was a de facto ‘king’ in place, there had been no organized resistance or concern for that matter, even though it was known that one of the ships was a Crusader vessel. Korgan had a healthy respect for the Crusaders though. He still remembered the one confrontation he had some eight years ago. Then he had attempted to lead a massive raid into the Crusader Sea with five of his own ships. Before he had even sighted land, two Crusader ships had sighted him -- a sloop and a lightly armed frigate. In the space of six hours his flotilla had been all but destroyed.
Of course, it was unlikely that whatever was out there would try to attack. A more likely scenario would be a blockade, an equally unpleasant alternative. Whatever the reason, Korgan was determined to get rid of both ships. A decent breeze was blowing. Stepping his pegged leg on the deck he gave the order to cast off into the darkened sea.
So far all had gone well. The oars had been muffled and Johnson was sure he had the initiative. In the cloudy sky there was a faint sliver of the moon. His men were ready for action, carrying mostly battle-axes and long daggers. The outline of the Bombardier was in front of him, barely one hundred yards away.
Even the best-laid plans can go wrong, though. Just at that decisive moment one of the sailors -- seaman Rokes -- adjusted his grip on the five-foot long axe he carried. Simultaneously he felt a sneeze coming. Rokes had been brought up in a well mannered home and he instinctively covered his nose, muffling it but dropping his axe in the process. It dropped into the water with a loud splash -- certainly loud enough to be heard for several hundred yards.
Johnson swore. He had lost the element of surprise -- already he could hear men shouting and a split second later a light appeared in the stern gallery. Thinking fast, he shouted out.
“Double time men! Prepare for battle!”
Quickly turning he faced one of the ten bowmen that he had assigned to the mission. “Seaman -- signal the ship. We’ll need backup.”
On board the Bombardier, the watchman had woken Broadside.
“Cap’n!” he said, “There’s noises on the water.”
Broadside hurried to the deck, turning his ear to the wind. Then he caught sight of Johnson's boat signaling the Aterops with flashes of light.
“What does it say?” asked Viktor, coming up behind him.
“A stroke o’ luck for us, that’s what!” said Broadside, “That navy man and a pile o’ his crew are on the boats headin’ terwards the city, an’ they’ve been engaged by some o’ the slavers. He’s sendin’ to the ship fer help. Here’s our chance, Bill! While their cap’ns away with some o’ his men, and with others left on Storm-Rider’s ship, the navy vessel won’ have half it’s crew aboard. An’ in the dark, they won’ have time to think about their ballista until it’s too late, an’ we’re in hand-ter-hand combat. Tell the men to make sail. I want to be alongside that ship afore an hour’s out!”
As the men rushed to fill the captain's orders, Viktor turned to Broadside in bafflement.
“I thought you said that you didn’t want to fight a Crusader vessel?” he said.
“So I did, but I changed me mind,” said Broadside with a laugh, drawing his cutlass in anticipation, “I can’ let them hurt me reputation, now can I? Besides, the worst thing a man c’n do for himself is do the same ol’ thing. Always best to be unpredictable, then no one c’n predict what ye’ll do.”
That seemed rather sensible -- and nonsensical -- to Viktor, but he put the thought out of his head, and drew his own sword. He was ready for a fight. He didn’t like the sea at all, and he had been on it, useless, for too long. And it was the Crusaders’ fault in the first place, anyway.
The Bombardier soon drew alongside the unsuspecting Aterops, whose crew was consumed with going to the aid of their captain. By the time that the lights of the Bombardier were seen to be moving, the man-o’-war was coming directly towards them, and out of their ballista’s range. Before they could turn and fire, the Bombardier was alongside, grappling hooks flying, and pirates swinging over. There was little likelihood that the Aterops would be going to help its captain anytime soon.
Even if he had lost the advantage of surprise, Johnson was sure he could best the Bombardier. The two longboats had surged forward to their targets when something totally unexpected happened. First, a massive cloudbank rolled over the moon, blocking out whatever light there was. Secondly, the Bombardier began to move away, towards the Aterops, of all things. And thirdly, another ship had swiftly moved between Johnson and his target. By the looks (and smell) of it, it was a pirate vessel. Johnson did not like his situation. Not one bit. Suddenly though, a spark of an idea flashed through his head. He called out to the other longboat, some twenty feet away.
“Board that ship! Forget the Bombardier -- we’ll get her later!”
The men looked up at their captain, surprised. Still, they rowed on, trusting that his judgment was for the better.
Korgan was a smarter pirate then most, but he did have one shortcoming -- faulty memory. He had seen the two frigates that evening, but now he had convinced himself that the closer one was the Crusader ship – not the Bombardier which was now making its way to the Aterops. Whatever his shortcomings, he had noticed the alarm, and thought he had been sighted. This also completely left him shocked and unprepared when forty determined Crusaders armed to the teeth boarded his ship.
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