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Allison; Taking Control Chapter 57
“Ah,” he said after his deep guffaw, “you must please excuse our gunners at the fort. They are still quite – how would you Englishmen say it? Ah, yes, they are still quite green and inexperienced. Fortunately, that means they are also still somewhat... inaccurate as well.” A tight-lipped smirk crossed his face after that statement.“Oh, I see,” Allison said, smiling ingenuously and not believing a word. Those shots were well-placed and meant to accomplish precisely what they had. “Patriotic fervor can test the restraint of anyone who seeks to protect their country’s interests, I suppose.”“Yes, quite true, Lieutenant Allison . Oh, and if I may ask, just what is this act of kindness you mentioned?” De Bruyne asked.Allison held out a hand to indicate where the Doctor had just led a still tired and hollow-eyed but sufficiently ambulatory Gespers up the ladder to the deck. De Bruyne’s glance at the man didn’t indicate any form of initial recognition.“This is Mr. Gespers, sir. A sailor
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 58
Allison had all but surmised that much on his own. If he didn’t know who Van der Voorde was dealing with on Martinique, questions about who might have pursued him – outside of assuming general retribution on the part of the French – were useless. For the same reason, he also decided against any mention or implication of involvement on the part of LaTour. He tried to press De Bruyne for other details.“Do you know what the Valk carried?”“I could never say precisely what was in her holds at the time without the benefit of a full manifest, but the types of goods she commonly carried between here and Curaçao are not things I can reveal.”Allison did his best to hide his disappointment. This was going nowhere.“What was her next port of call? Can you tell me that?”“Van der Voorde made infrequent stops here after doing business in the South; he usually made port in Sint Maarten upon his return from Curaçao. However, in this case I happen to know we weren’t expecting to see him for quite
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 59
Later, as Philadelphia made her way closer, he was even further gratified to learn that Suggs and the Mollusk had managed to travel the final leg of their journey without mishap. He could see the little cutter sitting at anchor amongst other ships in the harbor a few miles ahead with jack and ensign flying. After exchanging salutes with Fort James on the northern headland, Philadelphia carefully maneuvered past the nearby shallows and obstructions, once again thanks to the Admiralty’s charts, and found an anchorage of her own near her sister ship. It wasn’t long after that when Samuel Hardin began to excitedly announce that Mollusk was signaling.“It’s a signal from Mollusk, sir!” the boy shouted out. “Two pennants, red over black!”“Which means?” Allison asked him expectantly, already knowing the meaning himself but insisting upon a proper report from the young gentleman.The boy hurriedly grabbed for the list and quickly looked it up and down. It was a few seconds before he found w
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 60
Allison was taken off guard. “Well, that certainly is... strange... and rather generous,” he replied, not able to help the obvious strain in his voice. So, Suggs’ earlier observation about his command might not have been a passing joke after all. How could it have been? His laughing at his own implication, no matter how genuine it appeared, was probably just a courteous way of letting his fellow captain out of an awkward situation. He could have simply said nothing, of course, but in addition to things like Philadelphia’s plentiful complement of officers and her marine detail, how could he now ignore her captain’s seemingly random decision to make a trip to St. Martin against orders and now this mysterious correspondence from an Antiguan official?“Strange indeed,” was Suggs’ only reply.Suggs looked him in the eye for a few moments before he spoke again.“See here, Captain,” he began, “I don’t know what other obligations you might have or with what else you find yourself engaged, bu
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 61
Allison ’s first instinct was to snap at the old man, but as he fought the urge down, he realized that Alex was correct. He calmed himself down and held out a hand for the plate.“You’re correct, of course, Alex . My thanks.”The steward handed him the platter and utensils then hurried away, shouting back.“Be back presently, sah! I’ll find ye somethin’ teh sit yerself on!”True to his word, Alex was back in less than a minute with a small wooden stool for a seat and an empty cask to serve as a makeshift table. With another word of thanks, Allison sat himself down to eat near the taffrail while the steward, satisfied that he had done his duty, respectfully retired.Alternating between mouthfuls of beef and biscuit, Allison watched as the swing of Philadelphia at her anchor made a changing montage of the view. The waterfront of St. John’s slowly gave way to Fort James on its promontory, then the open sea was visible for a time through the mouth of the harbor before the western Alli
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 62
He knew the island’s climate was always quite dry, but the more humid air over the surrounding sea had produced an almost surreal ring of haze which framed the scene before him in a curtain of gray-white. As the master of the Phoebus stood beside the rail he peered through the wispy vapors toward the low sandy coastline. There he saw the last of the lighters being loaded with sacks for return to his vessel. The gangs of laborers would begin embarking soon after that. He had made this same journey for salt between Bermuda and Grand Turk Island several times in the past, each one seemingly more profitable than the last. However, it was certain that nothing he had done before would be able to compare with the success of the current voyage. It was almost too good to be true.With his new larger ship, built of sturdy durable Bermuda cedar, he was able to haul more of the precious crystalline commodity back to his home port. Obtaining enough of the ‘white gold’, as he loved to call it, to f
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 63
The strange words were barely out of his mouth, when he touched a small linstock to a nearby swivel gun mounted on the rail and fired. Isaac and the master had no chance to react before the grapeshot tore into their bodies, killing them both instantly.Three-pronged iron hooks attached to strong lines suddenly flew onto the deck, biting into planks and rails, grappling the two ships together. No one aboard the Phoebus even had a chance to resist the subsequent swarm of armed men which instantly rose up with a frightful yell from where they concealed themselves. They swept over the opposing deck in a hellish maelstrom of smoke and blood punctuated by the screams of the dying.The carriage may not have been quite as large or ostentatious as the one belonging to Governor Tinker, but its well-upholstered seats certainly made it comfortable. As the vehicle rolled along the dirt road, Allison noted that it had already left the outskirts of St. John’s behind and now drove amongst the sugar
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 64
“I’m fortunate enough to have a first lieutenant with extensive knowledge of encryption methods who completed the task quite admirably, yes.”“Well then, let me begin with our friend, the Frenchman Monsieur LaTour. I trust you’ve heard a great deal about him and his exploits?”“Perhaps more than I ever could have wanted to hear,” Allison answered. “To think, one man has managed to cow the citizens of New Providence so deeply when the war itself harbors the promise of so many more and greater dangers.”“Believe me, Captain,” Gambles said, looking more serious than he had up until now, “what you’ve just described goes perhaps two or threefold for the people of this island. As anyone knows, there are many, many more corsairs - as the damnable French governor of Martinique is fond of calling them - employed by France than just Gaston LaTour. However, he’s certainly the most popular by far, due in great part to what he’s done in these waters.”“I take it from your comment that LaTour was
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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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Chapter 105
It proved to be more than many of the knaves and blackguards in that establishment could ignore, and the majority quickly lost interest in the prospect of punishing the strangers so as to fight over their valuable coins. With a loud cacophony of shouts and yells that was horrible to hear, men were suddenly jostling, shoving, swinging and kicking to get at the treasure that had just been dropped before them. Others were rolling on the floor, wrestling and even biting for the chance to scoop up what they could.Brossard and Guiteau wasted no time in bolting for the door. After leaping over the bodies of several men who were wrangling with one another to get at the coins scattered about the wooden floor, they discovered that not quite everyone had been distracted by their desperate gamble. Brossard had to swing his pistol by the barrel and brain one onrushing assailant to get by him while Guiteau threw his shoulder into another, knocking him down to barge his way past. Then the wide door
Chapter 104
The old sailor paused again, looking back and forth from Brossard to Guiteau as though he expected one of them to ask the obvious question he’d left unanswered. When his audience didn’t offer this time, he continued.“Obviously something of importance is being stored up there. Wagons which are always covered, usually with armed men riding aboard, make their way up and down at times, winding along the wide path that switches back on the hillside. I’m told regular army troops are actually posted to keep the place under guard.”“Does it belong to LaTour himself?” Brossard asked.Rougebec shook his head. “People suggested that at first, but then another story started circulating. A friend of mine told me. He said whatever happens up there is overseen by some high-up government official, an aristocrat of some standing from the old country by all accounts.”“And no one knows who this man is?” Guiteau questioned.“Nope, but word is not even Baron de Beauville, the governor himself, interfere
