by Jamie Davis
They needed another four hours. She’d almost made it to the infamous Maelstrom Shoals before the Sultanate ships caught up with the Vengeance.
Another boom sounded from behind her, and she turned to watch a plume of smoke spout out from the bow of the leading ship of the trio from the Sultanate navy. Her eyes traced the arc of the cannonball.
This was going to be close.
Cari resisted the urge to duck. She couldn’t show any fear or break in her resolve to complete her plan. She needed the crew to believe in her if they were going to make it through the approaching shoals.
“Ware the starboard side,” Cari called out as her eyes followed the cannonball.
Men and women in the Vengeance’s crew on that side grabbed for an extra handhold if they were in the rigging. Those on the deck ducked behind the ship’s rail.
The cannonball struck the side of the Vengeance just below the rail, gouged out a chunk of wood from the hull before caroming off at an angle into the sea.
“Have the carpenter check below for any leaks or injuries, Helen.”
“Aye, ma’am.”
The newly minted officer hurried below to find the carpenter and check for damage while Cari stood resolute in her position by the ship’s wheel.
Stefan climbed up to the quarterdeck and stood beside Cari, watching the ships to their rear gain on them. He leaned close to speak in a low voice.
“The number one bow chaser has been moved to your cabin, Cari. It was a heavy beast, but we managed to get it mounted with the help of the ship’s carpenter. We can fire out from center window of your cabin.”
“Good work, Stefan. Is it loaded?”
“The crew is loading it now.”
“I’m coming down, I want to try something when we take this shot. Mr. Dawkins, you have the helm. Maintain this heading.”
“Aye, ma’am. Maintaining heading,” the boson replied.
Another shot fired from the leading ship chasing after them. Cari knew as they drew closer, they’d become more accurate. It was only a matter of time before they started battering the Vengeance to bits unless she could do the impossible.
Time to test her luck and ability.
* * *
Quest accepted — slow the pursuing ships
* * *
The four-man crew had just finished loading and prepping their new, heavier stern chaser gun for firing when Cari arrived in her cabin. The bow guns were more massive than the standard broadside cannons. This one could fire a larger ball farther, and that was what she needed right now. Cari’s chart table had been dismantled to make room for the cannon and crew. The assembled charts and log books had all been placed on her bed.
Cari stepped up beside the long-barreled cannon and bent at her waist until her cheek nearly touched the smooth, cold metal of the gun. Sighting along the barrel, she saw the ship behind them move in and out of view with the sea swells.
“Raise the elevation a bit more, Stefan.”
“Aye, ma’am.”
One of the crew took a mallet and pounded on a broad wooden wedge under the front of the barrel. As she hit the wedge, the barrel slowly rose up in angle until it reached the point Cari estimated was the correct one.
This time, when the leading ship behind them rolled into view with the Vengeance’s movement, she saw a green crosshair superimposed over the bow of the target.
She smiled. That was new.
It occurred to Cari that she’d never actually fired one of her guns before. She’d always sent out orders for her crew to follow. She’d missed out on using this extra gunnery ability until now.
As her ship moved in the water, pitching and rolling with the wind and the waves, the crosshairs would waver from green to yellow to red and back again.
Cari was going to have to time this perfectly.
Her hand shot out to the side.
“Hand me the match.”
A rounded wooden handle was pressed into her hand. It was three feet long and ended in a twisted curl of wire which held a length of burning rope coated in tar so it would burn long and slow.
Cari lifted her head a little and brought the match close while she watched the ship behind them and the changing color of the crosshairs superimposed over the view of the lead Sultanate ship.
Catching the rhythm of the ship’s roll and the shifting colors of the crosshairs, Cari let the burning match tip fall to the touch hole of the cannon.
A loud boom and a cloud of gray smoke filled the room. It obscured their view of the ship behind them for a few seconds until the ocean breeze, and their movement cleared the way.
The smoke cleared just in time for Cari to see the cannonball she’d fired sail over the bow of the chasing ship and take a huge chunk out of the foremast. It looked like some giant beaver had taken a bite out of the wood.
“Yes!” Cari yelled.
The mast and rigging twisted and then fell over to one side, dragging the Sultanate ship to starboard as the collapsed sail and rigging acted like a floating anchor, slowing and veering the ship off course.
The other two ships chasing after the Vengeance were all to the starboard side of their leader and now they both had to take evasive action to avoid a collision with the crippled ship.
* * *
Quest completed — slow the pursuing ships
4,000 experience points
New skill acquired — Aimed Cannon Shot
* * *
“Cari, uh, I mean Captain,” Stefan said, correcting himself. “That was incredible. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself.”
“Just needed a woman’s touch, I guess,” Cari replied. “Reload and prepare for another shot, but I think we won’t need it.”
The trailing two Sultanate ships had both lost the wind in their hasty maneuvers to avoid colliding with each other and their crippled sister ship. This should buy the Vengeance enough time to make it to the Maelstrom Shoals before they caught up again.
“I’m returning to the quarterdeck. Be ready down here to take another shot if need be. Wait for my order.”
“Aye, ma’am,” came from all of the gun crew.
Cari spun in place and headed back out of her cabin, returning to the deck above.
Chapter 12
The two remaining Sultanate ships left their crippled sister ship behind and continued the chase, though they remained outside of the range of the chase cannon occupying Cari’s cabin. According to her charts, the Maelstrom Shoals lay a few hours ahead of their current position. Once the Vengeance entered the shoals, the most dangerous part of Cari’s plan began.
“Tell me about the shoals again, Helen,” Cari said. She and the Vengeance’s new first mate stood to one side of the quarterdeck, far enough away from the nearest crew members to mask their conversation. It wouldn’t do to have the crew doubting their captain’s decision to attempt this plan.
“As I told you before, I don’t know much more than legend and rumor. Ninety-nine days out of one hundred, the shoals are masked in fog and mist caused by the turbulent waters, volcanoes, and winds swirling amidst the rocks of the straits. The only ships to ever make the passage have done so on the rare days when the winds die down enough to clear the air and allow for safe navigation.”
Cari considered what Helen said. The rocks and winds amidst the shoals ate ships, chewing them into tiny bits of wreckage and flotsam floating out the other side. The biggest question Cari had was whether her navigational and seamanship abilities would help in the midst of the fog and mist of the Maelstrom Shoals.
A glance to the rear at the ships chasing them had Cari weighing her decision once again. Their crew was depleted. Many were wounded in one way or another following their rescue of the raider families. While they might be up to fighting off a boarding action by one Sultanate ship, they’d never survive an attack from the combined crews of two.
Helen followed her gaze and shook her head, deducing Cari’s line of thought.
“N
o way we can fight ‘em off, ma’am. Much as I hate to say it, the Shoals are our only shot at getting away.”
“Agreed, Helen. Have the helmsman hold our course. Have the bosun prep the crew as best he can for running through rough waters. If anyone falls overboard on our way through, there’s no way we’ll be able to turn about to fetch them.”
“Aye, aye, ma’am.” Helen turned and set off to find Mr. Dawkins so he could make his rounds and ensure everything was shipshape for the passage.
* * *
Quest accepted — navigate the Maelstrom Shoals
* * *
Looking forward, a smudge of gray appeared on the horizon directly ahead of their course. Bringing her spyglass up and extending the lens, Cari scanned the jagged, smoking peaks of a sunken volcanic mountain range ahead.
The rocks jutting up from the water like teeth stretched north and south as far as she could see. In the center of the rocky islands blocking their path, a cloud of mist and fog showed the location of the Maelstrom Shoals. It was the only gap large enough to accommodate a ship of any size.
Cari shook her head. No luck on getting one of the rare clear days it seemed.
Shouts from the crew in the forecastle and the mast’s foretop told Cari they’d noticed the smudge on the horizon as well and deduced what it meant. The time to test their belief in their captain’s abilities had arrived.
Cari crossed to the helmsman and stood with her hands behind her back, staring straight ahead, assuming what she hoped was a position of calm assurance. As the crew raced around her, following the last-minute orders shouted by Mr. Dawkins and Miss Doolan, Cari raised her voice in an offhand remark to the woman at the wheel next to her.
“It’s a fine day to run the ship through her paces, don’t you think, Katie? Shall we show those Sultanate bastards how a real crew sails their ship?”
“Aye, ma’am,” the woman said, a broad grin appearing on her face. “It’s about time we separated the women from the scared little girls.”
Cari laughed. “Agreed. Steady as she goes. Once we’re in the fog, I’ll take the wheel. Until then, you have the helm.”
* * *
———
* * *
Boom!
A cannonball splashed in the water to port.
The Sultanate ships had closed again and fired their bow chaser cannons to try and hit the Vengeance before she entered the fog bank dead ahead of them.
“Almost there,” Cari said under her breath, scanning the wall of wind tossed mist and fog ahead of them.
“What, ma’am?” Helen asked from where she stood beside Cari.
“Nothing, just gauging our pursuers’ chances of stopping us before we hit the Shoals ahead.”
Helen glanced over her shoulder.
Boom!
Another cannonball flew past and splashed down to starboard.
“I think if we gave them much longer,” Helen remarked, “They’d be able to sight in the range on us, but we’ll be in the fog within a few minutes. Any last-minute orders, ma’am?”
“No. Just pass the word forward to stand ready on the lines. We’ll only get one chance at this.”
Cari stepped up to Katie at the wheel and tapped the helmswoman on the shoulder.
“I’ll take the wheel, Katie.”
“Aye, ma’am.”
Cari gripped the smooth, rounded spoke handles extending out from the large ship’s wheel. She braced her feet wide on the deck to stabilize herself so she could hold the ship on course against the strong current that had already caught them.
Focusing her vision forward, Cari activated her navigation and seamanship skills. The simple overlay of green and blue vector lines appeared in her vision showing sea and wind currents at play around the Vengeance.
Directly ahead of them, as the bow of the ship entered the mist, a golden trail appeared. It looked like someone had sprinkled sparkling glitter on the small patch of gray-green water she could see through the fog ahead of the ship.
As long as she could keep the ship on that glittering path, they’d be fine. If she veered off either left or right, and they were doomed to run aground and break up among the rocks.
The wind and waves whipped the water to a white-tipped froth as they sailed deeper into the fog.
Boom! Boom!
The Sultanate ships both fired a final shot at their fleeing prey before it disappeared into the fog bank.
Cari heard but couldn’t see the dual splashes that bracketed the ship on either side. She wondered if the Sultanate captains were crazy enough to follow her into the Maelstrom Shoals.
If they didn’t, they’d have to sail several weeks to the north to try and catch her on the other side, provided she and the Vengeance survived the passage.
Cari shook herself back to the task at hand. The golden path ahead of them twisted suddenly to starboard. Spinning the wheel to compensate, she brought the bow around onto the new course.
Helen called out orders forward to Marlin Dawkins so the bosun could adjust the trim of the sails to match their new course with the wind.
The system Cari and the first mate set up worked as planned. The crew hauled on the lines, shifting the ship’s sails to the new course and wind direction.
So far, so good.
Cari barely had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief because the course ahead of the ship shifted again and she began speaking her course changes aloud, to alert Helen to the new direction as the currents and winds caught the ship and propelled it forward into the Maelstrom proper.
The first time they scraped up against rocks came as she tried to negotiate the fifth turn, executing a zig-zag pattern no sane ship’s captain would attempt under normal circumstances.
Cari cringed as she felt the grinding of the wooden hull against the jagged rocks to port.
“Percy—”
“Aye, ma’am.” The boy scampered off down the ladder from the quarterdeck and headed below to check with the ship’s carpenter, anticipating her order before she could finish it. He’d report back on any leaks or weak points in the hull.
Cari spun the wheel to bring the ship about to starboard but quickly turned it back to straighten their course. The glittering trail had narrowed even more and showed a path dead ahead of them.
The problem she had was with the wind and sea current lines she saw. They ran perpendicular to the ship’s course in opposite directions. The sea would push them to port while winds rocked the ship’s masts over to the starboard side.
It was a recipe that would capsize them if she wasn’t careful.
Looking at the rocks from left to right and seeing the way the current flowed back and forth between them, Cari saw the solution, though she was sure her crew was going to think she was crazy.
“Helen, take in all the sail. Now!”
“Ma’am?”
“Just do it. Trust me!”
Helen barked the orders forward and Cari heard the bosun relaying them to the various crew members in the rigging.
Cari gripped the wheel so hard, both hands ached, but she daren’t let go, even for a second to flex her tired muscles.
She glanced aloft. The sailors furled the sails as fast as they could.
The only hope they had was that their forward momentum carried them fast enough to go all the way through the passage.
It was going to be close.
Cari spun the wheel to port, hoping to catch the rebound current off the rocks to the left. If her plan worked, the opposing currents coming off the stones to either side would both help steer the ship and propel it forward through the narrow gap ahead of them.
Straining her eyes to peer ahead through the fog, Cari could make out the point where the thin ribbon of golden glitter that marked the safe passage widened out again. All they had to do was make it that far.
This was the moment of truth.
Cari, spun the wheel to the left, then right, then back to the left again, catching each of the opposing curren
ts in turn. She felt the ship lurch forward a bit each time she found one of the flows.
Then she missed one.
Groans, as if of pain from the ship’s bones, sounded from the ship’s stressed timbers as they scraped along the rocks to port.
Muffled shouts from below alerted Cari to the quick work of the carpenter and his damage control crew. They must’ve spotted a sprung timber and raced to patch the place where water poured in below decks.
Cari felt the ship’s sluggish response as she made the adjustment to catch the next of the currents that would propel them forward. She hoped the collision and the additional water in the bilges didn’t slow them too much.
The already narrow glitter path grew even tighter ahead of them and then dwindled to nothing signaling the change in the ship’s condition to Cari’s enhanced senses.
She had to chance loosening a few sails to catch enough wind to increase their speed. It was the only way to pick up enough speed to survive the rest of the passage.
They might capsize, but it was their only chance.
“Helen, unfurl the mizzen topsails. Just those.”
“Aye, ma’am.”
The first mate called out the order forward and to the crew in the rigging. Men and women raced up the ratlines to set to work.
The ship immediately shifted, the deck tilting to one side until they all stood braced against a nearly twenty-degree angle to starboard.
The sea to that side rode dangerously close to the rail. Cari adjusted the ship’s wheel a bit to try and compensate without pulling them off course.
A glance forward showed the trail to safety had widened again, though. Now she only had to pull off the last of the turns necessary to make the final twists of the passage.
Sweat beaded on her brow, the stress of the constant concentration on the safe path ahead bringing on the mother of all migraines.
Cari was pressing the limits of her navigational and seamanship skills and it started taking its toll on her.