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Allison; Taking Control Chapter 106
“We made use of the man’s almost messianic view of LaTour to draw more useful information from him,” Weyland said. “Incidentally, he told us that LaTour does in fact hold a regular commission in the French Navy. His letter of marque is held only for the benefit of his men, who are employed in an auxiliary fashion.”Allison shook his head. “I need only have you recall the damage those ‘auxiliaries’ caused with a single broadside when we met them at sea off Antigua to reiterate my previous warning. Even so, the facts you give stand to reason and confirm something we’ve all but suspected up to this point. What else?”Caldwell picked up the narrative. “LaTour is a figure who, by all accounts, places great importance upon putting himself in the public eye for reasons he himself might refer to as esprit de corps – morale of the whole. However, much as he purposefully strode along Saint-Pierre’s streets in the past, gifting shopkeepers and citizens with the odd item of value, these activiti
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 107
“You’ve both performed superbly, as evidenced by the information with which you’ve returned. However, the problem we now face with the two of you being more recognizable to local inhabitants requires a form of mitigation. After some deliberation, I’ve decided that you are in fact quite right about the language difficulty inherent in sending other men. For that reason one of you – that is you Henry – will have to return. I am not unmindful of the dangers this entails, so it would be advisable for you to vary your attire and outward appearance as much as you can manage.”The two officers listened obediently, but their discomfiture with the new arrangement was palpable. Allison expected nothing less, and he went on to address the concerns that he knew troubled them.“William, you are by a wide margin the most experienced and practiced in these matters, but given the additional precautions I have decided to enact, your talents will be needed in a different capacity.”Allison now turned
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 108
“Well, this is rather tedious – and distressing, I might add,” Caldwell told him. “Given the time we noted seeing the soldiers outside Le Carbet, which is just ahead, I’m all but certain they should have reached this particular point on the road at least a half hour ago if they were on the same schedule.”“A varied timetable?” James suggested.“I suppose something like that would only make sense,” Caldwell conceded, “unless they were delayed for some unknown reason.”James held his palms up. “Well, then what should we...”“SHHHH! Quiet! Lower yourself down and stay still! Something is coming!” Caldwell rasped, cutting him short.The second lieutenant quickly complied and did his best to listen to the approaching sounds which were just now becoming audible to him.As if in answer to their question, voices were heard echoing in the distance off to their right. Though they were still too far away to make out anything being said, it sounded like a series of shouts or calls being relayed
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 109
Caldwell shook his head. “We can’t have more than three hours of darkness left to us at this point... but I’ll be buggered if I simply turn about and run off with our task undone. I couldn’t so much as face the Captain if we did that.” He then lifted his head and looked intently off into the darkness to the East.James grasped his thinking almost immediately and he didn’t like it one bit. “Oh... oh no! Not again! Henry, are you daft? I’d swear our last trip through the rills and ridges out there made me bleed far more than that splinter in the arm ever did!” He held out the still bandaged forearm to which he referred.“There’s no help for it, I’m afraid,” Caldwell told him. “Anyway, I do believe there’s another rise just east of here that will more than suit our purpose. It should be an easier ascent than the first ridge we scaled, at least at initially, and we should be able to move up onto higher ground by concealing ourselves on its southern slope and moving under the trees.” He r
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 110
“Well, what now?” James asked as he and Caldwell ducked back behind the pile of logs. “We can congratulate ourselves after a fashion for making it here under such horrid conditions, but that alone will serve no purpose. I’m forced to repeat my previous question: how do we determine just who or what is in there?”Caldwell looked as if he was about to reply with something less than definite when providence managed to intervene on their behalf yet again, though it was not at first clear exactly what was happening. Shouts and calls echoing up from further down the narrow road preempted Caldwell’s response. Both men ducked down and silently moved further to their right so as to observe the unfolding scene from the screen of heavy brush.A torch-bearing advance guard of marching soldiers, conceivably a detachment of the large unit which had come toward Saint-Pierre earlier, tramped up the slope. Following behind were even more men, with muskets at the ready, escorting what was clearly a gr
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 111
“Arrêtez!” came the shouted command in French to stop. Before the two disguised British officers could even react, five of the vigilant fellow’s nearby brethren had moved in to surround them. Taken unawares, Caldwell and James instinctively raised their hands. The discovered men were then promptly urged out into the clearing by the soldiers’ bayoneted muskets. The man who had originally discovered them made no effort to interrogate them or to find out who they were. He immediately began to call out to another a short distance away whom Caldwell could tell from the soldier’s address was a sergeant. The men who captured them then began to walk them in that general direction.This was dire. Everything the Philadelphia men had accomplished was about to be brought to nothing by a wretched barking dog. Almost as if to taunt the men it discovered, the vile scrawny creature was still milling about nearby yapping and growling toothily at them while wagging its tail. Both British officers knew
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 112
“Qui êtes-vous? Parlez, maintenant!” growled the sergeant threateningly, insisting they speak.Caldwell was just about to feign a weak answer when a volley of musketry crackled from a nearby alleyway. Five of the French soldiers immediately crumpled to the ground, while the sergeant and the one remaining foot soldier wheeled around to face whatever it was that just surprised them. All at once a group of yelling, shadowy forms charged through the floating cloud of smoke left by the musket discharge. Seen in the guttering light of the lanterns which had been dropped to the ground, the last standing soldier uttered a disgusting gurgle as the blood-soaked point of a bayonet protruded through the back of his neck. At the same time, two attackers grabbed the reins of the sergeant’s horse while a third pinned the man’s sword arm and pulled him down bodily from the saddle. The third assailant then brandished his own sword and slammed the point into the sergeant’s chest several times before dr
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 1
Leaning against the thick, oaken bulkhead, the naval officer in blue uniform crossed his arms in a quiet manner. His mind stubbornly refused to stop thinking about the singular circumstance in which he found himself, despite every effort to the contrary.Despite the fact that one of my greatest goals in life has been accomplished, all I can do is remain here in fear. I swear before Almighty God that I feel as though I know even less right now than I did before this all started, despite everything I've been given—attention, praise, trust, and responsibility—as well as the miles I've traveled and every letter bearing my name.Why me? And why does it appear that I will always be puzzled?Despite everything he had learned or predicted up until that point, Lieutenant Rane Allison still couldn't believe he had been chosen for this position despite the Royal Navy's abundance of skilled, experienced, and senior officers. Even though he didn't know exactly what his primary mission was, the stra
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