Mutineer

by Sutherland, J. A.

  “I am, sir,” Lonsdale said, standing. He picked up his tablet and came out from behind his table. Alexis looked to Humphry, hoping for some sign of encouragement, or even acknowledgment that he was paying attention. “If it please you, sirs, I should like to resume the prosecution’s case with evidence, rather than testimony.”

  “Sirs!” Humphry said, rising, the first reaction Alexis had seen from him in the entire trial. “I renew my objection to this … this evidence! Its providence is suspect, to say the least!”

  Renews? Alexis looked at him in shock. He’d barely spoken the entire trial, much less objected to anything that Lonsdale or the witnesses had said. Something must have happened while she was in her cell.

  “Your objection has been heard, Mister Humphry,” Crandall said. “It is denied. Mister Lonsdale, you may proceed.”

  “Sirs, for the presentation of this evidence, I should like Captain Neals returned to the stand for corroboration.” Neals rose in the gallery, a puzzled look on his face, but made his way to the witness stand. “I remind you, Captain Neals, that you remain bound by your earlier oath.”

  “I understand, lieutenant.”

  “Very well, Lieutenant Lonsdale,” Crandall said, “for the record, please tell the Court the nature of your evidence.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Lonsdale said. “The prosecution shall now enter into evidence the ship’s log of H.M.S. Hermione.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  If anything, the outcry from the gallery at Lonsdale’s announcement was louder and more prolonged than at any point in the trial. All of the watchers knew that Hermione’s log had been lost, turned over the Hanoverese by the mutineers, along with the ship itself. Alexis looked to Humphry, but he stared straight ahead, face fixed and unhappy.

  “Wherever did he get the ship’s log?” Alexis whispered to Humphry.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Humphry whispered back. “I tried to keep it out, but failed.” He shook his head. “Only Lonsdale’s actually seen it, but you can’t even clamor for mercy now, Carew, they’ll see everything you did shortly.”

  What did I do? Alexis wanted to scream it. What on earth would Hermione’s log show she’d done that was so horrible? She thought back over the months aboard ship.

  “Captain Neals,” Lonsdale said, “I wish you to cast your memory back to April third, some three days after Midshipman Carew came aboard Hermione.”

  Alexis looked up, startled. It was the first time since she’d returned to New London and Neals had demanded her arrest that anyone had referred to her as a midshipman. She could tell from the look on Neals’ face that he’d taken note of it as well and didn’t like it.

  Neals nodded, and Lonsdale continued. “I will now show a portion of your ship’s log from Captain’s Mast on that date.” He ran a finger over his tablet and a screen to the side of the courtroom illuminated with a view of Hermione’s mess deck. Alexis gave a startled gasp and covered her mouth with her hand. She hadn’t expected to react so, but the image, with the faces of so many men she’d never see again, shocked her. The scene played out and she averted her eyes, remembering the day and her first taste of life aboard Hermione under the hand of Captain Neals. The grating was rigged and the cat brought out, she remembered. A harsh sentence for a stupid, meaningless offense.

  “Would you tell us the man’s name, Captain Neals,” Lonsdale was asking, “and the offense for which he was flogged on this date?”

  Alexis clenched her ears shut against the sharp crack of the bosun’s cat coming from the room’s speakers.

  “I do not recall exactly, lieutenant,” Neals said. “I am certain it was recorded in the log.”

  Alexis bit her lip. Batterton, topman on the mizzen. Made the mistake of whistling in the hold where Neals could hear him.

  “I see, Captain Neals, no matter,” Lonsdale said.

  No, no matter, you bastards all. Alexis wanted to scream at the court. Just a man beaten bloody for whistling, damn you all.

  “And this scene, captain?” Lonsdale asked. “Some four days later, April seventh? The name and offense, if you recall?”

  “I do not. I’m sorry, lieutenant.”

  Alexis opened her eyes and looked at the screen. Sartin. Twelve lashes. Last down from the mast.

  “I see, captain,” Lonsdale said. “And this? April twentieth?”

  The scene changed again. The same location, Hermione’s mess deck. The same participants, the crew crowded around the rigged grating while the officers stood by. Alexis stared at her own image, wanting desperately to leap back in time and shake herself out of the stunned inaction she remembered feeling. Stop it! Do something! Standage, his bloody bunk wasn’t closed up early enough, and this was reason to beat him?

  “I fail to see the point of this, lieutenant,” Neals said.

  “I must say,” Captain Barks said from the bench. “I fail to see the point as well.”

  “If you’ll indulge me, sirs,” Lonsdale said. “I believe my point will become clear with just a bit of leeway.”

  “Carry on, Mister Lonsdale,” Crandall said, “but please, do get to this point you speak of.”

  “Thank you … Captain Neals?” There was silence broken only by the crack of the cat from the compartment’s speakers. “Captain?”

  “Was there a question, lieutenant?” Neals asked.

  “The man’s name and offense, sir.”

  “I’ve told you, lieutenant,” Neals said, clearly irritated. “I do not recall every instance of punishment. The details are in the log!”

  “Thank you, Captain Neals,” Lonsdale said. “I beg you to bear with me.”

  Alexis buried her face in her hands, not wanting to face any more of it. She heard the change from the speakers as the scene changed.

  “And this, captain? Some seven days later on April twenty-seventh?”

  “Leachman, topman, last down from the mast.” Alexis looked up into the silence that followed, unaware for a moment that she’d spoken aloud.

  She looked at Neals first, seeing his dismissive, angry face. Then at Lonsdale who stared back at her impassive and then at the three captains who were staring at her in shock that she’d spoken. She shrugged off Humprhy’s hand as he grasped her shoulder to quiet her. She looked at Lonsdale again. He was looking back at her, almost expectantly, and the man’s calm infuriated her. How dare he? How dare he drag these up again to somehow discredit her, when it was Neals who’d ordered it. Rage built in her, both at Lonsdale and at herself, for standing by and letting it happen to begin with.

  “You want their names?” she asked. “Next will be Isom. A bloody legal clark with no business aboard ship, but he got a round dozen for stepping back into Timpson’s path.” She started to rise, but Humphry’s hand on her shoulder pulled her back down. It bothered her how easy it was to remember them, each of the floggings she’d witnessed. She’d thought that they would all run together in her memory, one long endless horror, but found that she remembered them all, every one.

  “After him was Standage — two dozen for … for no better reason than that Neals’ pet bastard Ledyard wanted to see a man’s back bloody. Langwell, twelve for shirking, though he’d wrenched his shoulder the previous day and been to the surgeon. Twyford, three dozen for swearing at a bosun’s mate, and Lain would’ve seen to it with a cuff and a strong word if left to handle it himself.” She shook off Humphry’s hand and stood.

  The captains were staring at her in shock, but Alexis didn’t care about them. She turned her gaze to Neals, wanting him to acknowledge her words. Infuriated that he wouldn’t even name the men who’d served aboard Hermione.

  “Then Worrick, a dozen for being last down from the yards, your favorite sport, you bastard!” She longed to throw herself over the table and strike Neals, all of her rage and frustration welling up inside her. She pointed at the screen. “You can’t be bothered to look at the log and put a name to their faces?” Her anger at Neals overwhelmed her. “They were yours! You w
ere supposed to take care of them!”

  Her vision blurred. She’d never understand why Neals had been allowed to command a ship, command men who were willing to fight and die for their kingdom, yet asked so very little in return.

  “You are unworthy to command such men … I should have let them kill you.”

  Now the captains reacted, Crandall calling for her to resume her seat, but she ignored him and the sounds erupting from the gallery behind her.

  “Should’ve left you behind on Giron!” She did start forward then, but strong hands on her shoulders shoved her back into her seat. She hadn’t even been aware of the two marines who’d approached her. “God forgive me for not killing you myself!”

  “Order! Damn your eyes, order! Or I’ll have the lot of you in chains!” Crandall shouted.

  The marines pressed her firmly into her chair and Humphry leaned close to her ear. “Shut up, Carew! You do yourself no credit!”

  The courtroom quieted again. Through it all, Neals sat, face impassive and calm. Alexis found Lonsdale staring at her, an odd look on his face. The three captains huddled together for a moment, whispering.

  “Mister Lonsdale,” Captain Barks said after some time, “I believe we understand the difficult conditions Captain Neals faced with an unruly and near mutinous crew.” Alexis almost spoke again, but the warning pressure of Humphry’s hand on her shoulder kept her silent. “Is this really necessary?”

  “I simply wish the court to fully understand conditions aboard Hermione — to put Midshipman Carew’s actions into context.” He consulted his tablet. “For the record, sirs, Mister Carew accurately described the floggings I’ve yet to show you.”

  “Is there much more of this?” Barks asked. “Do you intend to show every flogging aboard that ship?”

  “I do, sir.”

  “Well, how much more, Lonsdale, as I, for one, have had enough of watching this.”

  “Until the events starting the day before the mutiny? Thirty-six, sir.”

  The courtroom was silent.

  “Thirty … six.” Crandall glanced at Neals briefly. Neals calmly poured himself more water and took a drink. “Well, Captain Neals had been in command near a year. That is not so terribly out of reasonableness for a ship with an unruly crew.”

  “You misunderstand me, sir,” Lonsdale said. “Thirty-six is the number of floggings ordered only during Carew’s time aboard Hermione. Some —” He consulted his tablet. “— one hundred seventy-four days.”

  Captain Hazlewood narrowed his eyes. “What were the total floggings for Captain Neals’ time in command, lieutenant?”

  “Eighty-five, sir,” Lonsdale said immediately. “And three men dead of it. That was the count immediately before the events that ended in mutiny.”

  There was silence for a moment, then Crandall spoke. “I believe we do not need to see each and every one, Lieutenant Lonsdale. Nor,” he said, with a look first at Neals then Alexis, “do we require their names and offenses recited here in court.”

  Lonsdale nodded. “Of course, sir.” He consulted his tablet. “By that do you mean to say that you do not wish to see the additional twenty-two floggings carried out the day before the mutiny?”

  Silence followed Lonsdale’s question, save for a single outburst from the gallery, “Sweet Jesus.”

  “No,” Crandall said, face white. “No, I do not believe we need to view that.”

  Captain Barks stared at Lonsdale for a long moment, eyes narrowed. “I begin to question your purpose in this, lieutenant.”

  “My purpose, sir?”

  “Yes, your purpose!” Barks nodded toward Alexis. “I think you forget, sir, who it is your task to convict! Captain Neals is not on trial here!”

  Lonsdale squared his shoulders and raised his chin. “My task, sir, is to fulfill my oath to the Court. Justice and the best interests of the Service, sir. The same as your own, if I may remind you.”

  “You may not, Mister Lonsdale!” Barks yelled, his face red. “You impertinent —”

  Crandall held up a hand, cutting Barks off. “Tempers are high, gentlemen, I understand. But I’ll have none of this bickering.” He took a deep breath and looked around the courtroom. “Mister Lonsdale, what do you intend to present next?”

  Lonsdale consulted his tablet. “Mister Carew’s actions which precipitated her disrating, sir. If it please the Court.”

  “I very much doubt that this Court shall be pleased by anything remaining in this case, Mister Lonsdale,” Crandall said, “but you may continue.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Alexis slumped into her chair. At least she wouldn’t have to watch her lads being flogged again. That was something she could be thankful for. She looked down, not wanting to watch her disgrace and what would likely convict her. She’d disobeyed Neals’ order, after all. There was no denying it and the entire court would soon see for themselves.

  She listened as the events played out. The courtroom was curiously silent, as though no one present could bear to miss a word. She heard Neals’ demand for the name of the man who’d left the gasket undone and her own refusal to give it. Heard herself saying that the fault was hers and apologizing, then begging his forgiveness when he demanded it. The court and gallery remained silent until Neals’ voice came from the speakers.

  “From your knees, Carew.”

  Alexis pressed her eyes tightly shut. How different would things be if I’d just complied? Perhaps she’d have had time to speak to the bosun before the mutiny. He might have been able to head it off with a well-placed word. There’d have been no deaths that night and Nabb … She felt a tear leak from her eyes and run down her cheek. Nabb and the others wouldn’t be on the run with a death sentence hanging over them, should they ever return to New London space.

  She heard her own voice, surprisingly strong and clear. Odd, since she remembered being horribly angry at Neals’ attempt to flog one of her lads again.

  “I will kneel to my Queen, sir, and to no other.”

  “Bloody right!” a voice called out from behind her and others chorused agreement.

  They quieted again, though, as Neals ordered her disrating and flogging. On the screen she knew the grating was being rigged and the bosun’s mate sent for the cat.

  She heard her own voice again, shockingly calm and clear given that she remembered being terrified and shaking.

  “Nabb! Broady! Scholer! Back to your places the lot of you and mind your tongues! Don’t you dare disappoint me, lads, or I’ll know the reason why!”

  I guess I did say that … I thought I’d imagined it. Alexis felt her hands begin to shake and clasped them tightly on the tabletop in front of her. She wanted it to stop, but, no, this flogging it seemed they still wanted to see. Blindly brush away the ones before, but not this one. She knew what they were seeing. Her halting steps toward the grating, her inability to shrug out of her jumpsuit and take her lashes as the men did, her shaking hands having to be dragged up by the bosun’s mates. She felt her face grow hot with shame. I’m sorry, lads, I wasn’t as strong as you.

  “Enough, Mister Lonsdale.” Alexis looked up to see Crandall speaking. He glanced toward her, his face pale. “Enough.”

  He gestured for Barks and Hazlewood to come closer and the three captains whispered together for almost a full minute before Crandall stood.

  “We’ve let this go on far too long,” he said. He gestured to the marine sergeant near the rear doors. “Sergeant, I want the name of everyone in the gallery. Gentlemen —” He had to raise his voice over the mutters this order ensued. “Gentlemen! This case is sealed! You will not repeat what you’ve heard here today on pain of court martial. We will review the rest of Hermione’s log in private. Take Mister Carew back to her cell. Mister Humphry, Mister Lonsdale, you two remain, but everyone else is to be removed this instant!”

  * * * * *

  Alexis was taken back to her cell and left alone again. She laid down on the bunk and stared at the bulkhead, unsure of
what had happened. It seemed she was forever being dumped back into her cell and no one would tell her what was going on. Right now the three captains were reviewing Hermione’s log, they’d said, but why wasn’t she there? Would she even be given an opportunity to defend herself? And where had they gotten the log to begin with?

  She closed her eyes and must have slept, for she was suddenly being shaken awake by a marine.

  “They’re asking for you back in the courtroom, sir,” he said.

  Alexis swung her legs over the side of the bunk and rubbed her eyes. “How long?” she asked.

  “Four hours, sir.” The marine stepped back and offered her a hand to help her up. Alexis looked at him in shock, both from the offer of assistance and being addressed as ‘sir’. “Wouldn’t’ve knelt, myself, sir. Told that bastard straight, you did.”

  “Thank you.” She took his hand and stood, reading the nametag on his uniform. “Thank you, Enright.”

  Enright nodded toward the small head built into a corner of the cell. “Do you need a moment to freshen up, sir?”

  Alexis shook her head. Her hair was a mess, she was sure, and her face felt puffy with sleep, but whatever was coming when she returned to the courtroom would likely be the end of this nightmare. She wanted it over, not delayed.

  Enright led her back to the courtroom. It was quite different from the other times she’d entered. The gallery was empty and virtually all of the court personnel were absent as well. The three captains, Humphry, and Lonsdale were there. A single lieutenant sat to the side tapping away at his tablet and two marines stood at each of the doorways. Other than these, the room was empty. Alexis took her seat at the table with Humphry and Crandall spoke immediately.

  “Thank you for joining us, Mister Carew,” he said. “Mister Humphry, Mister Lonsdale, you may leave. Your service is concluded and this Court thanks you.”

  Alexis blinked in shock, looking around as Humphry rose and left without a glance or word to her. Lonsdale grasped her shoulder as he passed, but said nothing either. She was left facing the three captains alone. Only Barks showed any emotion, his face red and his jaw clenched tightly. Every so often he looked at her and his nostrils flared. When the door was closed behind Humphry and Lonsdale, the three captains stared at her for a moment. Alexis swallowed and met their eyes in turn.