Battle Fleet (2007) Read Online Free PDF

stern were carved to a sharp, almost vertical, point and the boat was painted a beautiful blue and red. ‘State your business,’ shouted Evison when we were in hailing distance. There was only a scattering of men aboard the prau – at least on the upper deck. I thought perhaps there might be more in the hull and scanned their flanks for evidence of guns pointing at us.
    Most of the crew wore only loincloths on their spindly bodies, but then a fellow wearing a fine silk robe emerged from a covered structure at the stern. He shouted over, ‘Cloves, pepper. We trade for goods or money.’
    Evison took his time replying. ‘We’ll come over.’ Then he despatched Hossack to oversee the launch of the
Orion
’s cutter. I was summoned down from the mast and told to join the crew of one of our starboard guns. ‘Bring him over here with a sample of his wares,’ I heard the Captain say to Hossack. He was still being careful.
    The merchant brought across two small barrels of goods. Evison and he greeted each other formally and I sensed a growing trust between them. Although a native, he spoke enough English to begin a lively conversation and goods were offered for sampling. I watched with fascination as Evison sank his arm into a barrel of spices, took out a handful near the bottom, and sniffed and tasted the wares. Maybe one day I would have the skill and experience he obviously possessed.
    The Captain nodded and the merchant smiled. They haggled awhile, then the fellow called over to his ship. A few minutes later she was nestling up to our starboard side. While some of us stood by our guns, the rest of the crew helped to haul a dozen barrels aboard. Evison inspected each one, and seemed well pleased with this unexpected opportunity. The business was completed by mid-afternoon and the prau headed back to the bay.
    I expected us to sail away, but Evison announced we would wait for the merchant to return with more of his goods. ‘Fine nutmeg and ginger he tells me, and at a very favourable price.’
    I supposed this was the way the Captain preferred to trade, away from harbour officials who might question his lack of licence.
    ‘I don’t want us getting careless though,’ he warned. ‘They can be a treacherous bunch these islanders, so we shall keep a full complement of men on the guns andtake all the usual precautions. We shall stay here until midnight and then sail on if he doesn’t return by then.’
    It was a tense afternoon, sitting there waiting. In these waters it felt safer to be forever moving forward. Over supper the men echoed what Garrick had told us about the pirates here. When they attacked, they rarely left a soul alive. There were exceptions. ‘I heard they sometimes just mutilate all that are still alive,’ said Thomas Bagley. ‘Cut their hamstrings or worse.’ I was sick of this conversation and wanted to hear no more. But I knew Richard and I had made a bad start with our crewmates so thought it best to say nothing.
    Bagley perked up. ‘Now here’s a juicy piece of tittletattle,’ he said. ‘I heard Hossack was captured by pirates in these waters a few years back. They stripped him naked and shaved his head.’ Everyone laughed out loud at that indignity. ‘Then they sold him as a slave. Lucky bugger was bought by a Chinaman who spoke English – he was a trader too. He set the Lieutenant free, worse luck for the rest of us.’
    Bagley’s story cheered everyone up. We went back to our duties feeling perkier. No wonder Hossack was feeling edgy.
    The breeze dropped a little as the sun sank into the horizon. Night fell and the sky grew dark once clouds obscured the moon. The heat seemed to settle over us like a wet cloth, and the darkness around the shiptook on a velvet, impenetrable quality. Another storm was brewing.
    The passengers retired to bed, certain that they had seen the last of the day’s excitement.
    As we waited for the merchant’s return, Hossack made his rounds far more frequently