Chronicles of Gilderam: Book One: Sunset Read Online Free PDF

answer, an out-of-breath midshipman came running around the corner. It was Gantas, and his unexpected appearance gave everyone a start.
    “Sir!” he wheezed, panting furiously. “Sir, there… there are… two ships… closing… from behind….” He paused to breath. “Tricorns, sir….”
    “What did you say?” Owein demanded.
    Gantas swallowed painfully. “Tricorn ships, sir… two of them… closing from behind.”
    Pawl and the crewmen exchanged horrified looks.
    “Where’s our mlec escort?!” Aroda spat.
    “Man the deckguns,” Owein ordered. The crewmen and Gantas bustled down the corridor.
    “Excuse me – eh, Master Maeriod, – um, I mean Commander,” Pawl bumbled. “ Gilderam should be able to outrun them, but we need to get in the bridge to restart the engines.”
    “I know…” said Owein, staring at the locked door. “I’ve got an idea for that.”
    “There’s no hope for us if we’re boarded. I don’t think I need to remind you,” Pawl went on more seriously, “of the caliber of guests we have on board tonight.” His voice wobbled a bit as emotion peaked through. Owein gave him an annoyed look.
    “No,” he said. “You don’t.” Then to Aroda, “Bring some more armed men here.” Owein turned to go down the hall. “When you hear a gunshot from the other side of that door, kick it down and come in with guns blazing.” He nodded to them and trotted away.
    “You can’t be serious,” Aroda said. “…From the other side?” But the commander had already disappeared around a corner.
    “I’m sorry,” said Pawl shakily, “but did he say, ‘guns blazing? ’”
     
     
    Midshipman Gantas and the crewmen burst out the aft hatch onto the deck. They stopped short at the sight of the two Tricorn ships closing distance behind Gilderam .
    “Quick!” Gantas said as he leapt for the deckgun. “You load, I’ll shoot.” He hopped into the gunner’s seat and buckled himself in. Then he heard swearing from behind.
    “It can’t be…!”
    “Can’t be what?” asked Gantas.
    “The ammo…. There’s no ammo!”
    “ What?! ”
    “It’s empty! Someone’s unloaded it!”
    “Check inside – hurry! They’re almost on top of us!”
    The crewman ran back into the ship. A moment later, he returned with empty hands.
    “It’s gone. It’s all gone! ”
    Gantas’ eyes turned to saucers. “We’ve been sabotaged…!”
     
     
    On the deck of the lead Tricorn ship, Captain Perimos smugly stroked his goatee. Watching Gilderam sputter to a halt brought a twisted smile to his face. The thought of the ransom he could demand for any one of her passengers sent an electric thrill of excitement through his body. Counts, dukes and lords of every kind… landowners. An Imperial Councilor even – senior military officials – and some of Gresadia’s wealthiest businessmen. Not in his wildest dreams could he have imagined a more bounteous prize. And here it was, neatly bundled aboard this little ship, ripe and waiting for him.
    “Captain,” said the boatswain. “Our men have disabled her engines. We’re nearly upon them.”
    “Ready a boarding party,” he growled in reply. “I want as many of them alive as possible… they fetch a higher price that way.” Perimos chuckled dumbly at his own bad joke.
    “And what of Ranaloc?”
    “He is to be taken alive. Under absolutely no circumstances may he be harmed. If we can deliver the old man, the rest is ours to keep. That was the deal. See that it gets done.”
    “Aye sir,” and the boatswain scurried away.
    Perimos’ men ran about the deck preparing the invasion while the captain lazily reclined against a bulkhead.
    “I’m not sure what you did to piss him off,” Perimos said to his prey aboard Gilderam , “but I thank you from the bottom of my heart for it. The Lamarioths never forgive, and they never forget.”
     
     
    Galif kicked open a grate in the engine room wall near the floor and climbed out. First he saw the