Battle Fleet (2007) Read Online Free PDF Page B

than every quarter hour. He and Evison were repeatedly found in deep discussion. Halfway through the evening Evison gave the command to raise the anchor. We would drift a little, to be sure, but he was preparing for a swift departure.
    ‘What’s keeping them?’ said Richard, who was on night watch with me. He was anxious too. ‘It’s a calm night. The sea’s as flat as a pancake. They should have returned by now.’ He yawned loudly. ‘I need my bed.’
    To the east the sky began to rumble. ‘Maybe they’re afraid of being caught in a storm?’ I said.
    My suggestion hung unanswered in the air.
    ‘Look, there’s a light,’ said Richard. ‘They’re coming back.’ Half a mile away, a single lantern could be seen swinging through the night, its reflection clear in the water beneath the bow of the vessel that carried it.
    ‘Good,’ said Garrick. ‘Let’s hope this business is over quickly so we can be on our way. We need to make the most of these night breezes. They’re often gone by daybreak and we’ll find ourselves becalmed.’
    As the light grew nearer, the storm did too. Thunder began to rumble ominously in the distance. I welcomedit. The rain would bring relief from the stifling heat. When the merchant ship was two hundred yards or so off, a flash of lightning away to the east fleetingly lit the sea around us. There behind the prau were two larger vessels. They were loaded to the gunnels with men, their scimitars and muskets outlined in an instant. ‘They’re pirates!’ I shouted. ‘There’s two other ships coming.’
    Evison turned at once and hushed me. ‘Are you sure, Witchall?’ he said.
    ‘I swear it.’ There was no mistaking the purpose of those dark silhouettes.
    The Captain seemed unperturbed by this sudden reversal of fortune. I admired his courage, for I was already feeling frightened. I knew these pirates would not obey the rules of war and we would be fighting for our lives.
    He stared into the emptiness. ‘I can’t see any other vessels, but if they’re not carrying lights then we can be fairly certain they mean to do us mischief. Call all hands on deck and man the guns. Load them with grapeshot, every last one. Put word out to the male passengers. Anyone who can handle a musket should report to me immediately. I want this done as quietly as possible. We must make them think we know nothing of their approach.’
    There followed a frantic five minutes of muffled activity. ‘As soon as we fire our broadside we must makesail,’ said Evison to us all. With only thirty men in the crew we would scarcely be able to reload before the pirates were upon us. Judging by the fleeting glimpse I had gained, we were terribly outnumbered. How I longed to be aboard a Navy vessel with topmen to attend to sails whilst the rest of us manned the guns.
    We crouched by our cannons, staring through gun ports into the blackness, not knowing where our targets might be. ‘They could be anywhere by now, those other ships,’ said Richard.
    Minutes passed. The light grew nearer – close enough for us to see the outline of the bow. Still we could not see the other ships. I began to doubt my own vision. Then the sky flashed again and there they were – two other vessels close behind the first. Plenty saw them that time.
    Evison quietly issued orders to his crew. ‘Lay your guns towards the light and wait for my command to fire.’ Then he called out across the water.
    ‘Vessel on the starboard bow. Declare yourself.’
    A voice replied, ‘Good captain. Is your cloves.’
    They hadn’t even bothered to get their story straight. We were expecting nutmeg and ginger.
    ‘Why are the two ships with you not carrying lights?’ shouted Evison.
    ‘No two ships,’ said the voice sharply. ‘We come with cloves.’ Then the light went out.
    That was all the proof he needed. Evison drew hiscutlass and held it up. ‘On my command, fire,’ he said in hushed tones, ‘then go at once to let down the