Against All Flags Page #4

let him sail on the

Scorpion as my navigator.

I have need of one

and at once.

When he comes back

with blood on his hands,

then he can hoist his own

black flag, but not before.

Your pardon, sir.

I didn't hear you come in.

That's all right,

master gunsmith.

For a moment there, I thought

I was getting a warm reception.

I'm in need of a good blade

and a brace of pistols

to be charged to

I'm only Williams

the foreman here, sir.

I can show you the arms,

but Mistress Stevens will have

to give her word about the charge.

Mistress Stevens?

Is she a gunsmith?

In a manner of speaking,

sir, she is.

And a good one, too.

But her father

was the smith.

When he passed away,

the business came to her,

along with his ship and his

rating as a Captain of the Coast.

That's very interesting. How'd

they come here in the first place?

Try this one

for balance, sir.

Thank you.

Her father was sentenced for

transportation to the Virginias

as a bonded laborer, sir.

Seems hard to think of a man and

his child being sold to slavery

for no more than the poaching

of a rabbit in Windsor Park.

It doesn't quite

come to hand for me.

Maybe the blade's

a little long.

Try this Toledo, sir.

When Captain Roberts

took their prison ship

and gave all as wanted

the chance to come here,

it was the best day's work

he ever did.

Yes, this is much better.

It's a beauty.

I'll take it. Why do

you say that, Williams?

It was Master Stevens

who fortified this port.

I didn't see any

fortifications when I came in.

Naturally not, sir.

Master Stevens did a

right clever job, he did.

Masked batteries, sir.

Every pair of them

set to cross fire.

I see.

That must be why the Portuguese

lost three ships of the line

when they tried to come in.

You heard

about that, sir?

What sailor hasn't?

This place is said to be

a veritable deathtrap.

That it is, sir.

That it is.

That's why Master Stevens was

made a Captain of the Coast.

If you've

a liking for these, sir,

we'll try them

in the clamps.

I don't think the clamps

will be necessary.

Got himself a ship, too.

Said a captain

ought to have one.

Of course,

he never went to sea.

Only had his share

in her ventures,

same as

Mistress Spitfire does now.

So that's how it was, huh?

They're all right.

I'll take them.

You've a hand, sir,

and an eye.

Thanks, Williams.

I've also an eye to inspect

those batteries one time,

having once been

an engineer myself.

You'll need permission from

the Captains of the Coast, sir,

seeing as how they're

guarded at all times.

If you could only see

the map of the port

in Mistress Stevens'

bedchamber,

you'd get an idea

of the master's cleverness.

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