Shouts and screams filled the night air as the barrage of cannon fire from the Nautilus ravaged the enemy ship. A bright flash of light suddenly illuminated the night sky as the Madrausan ship exploded, disintegrating before her eyes. A split second of complete silence was followed by a tremendous shockwave and roar of sound that rippled out from the explosion. Esther grabbed for the spar and wrapped her arms around it as the shockwave rolled over them, causing the Nautilus to sway. We must have hit the powder magazine, Esther thought. A crew member in the forward rigging hadn’t been able to secure himself and fell off into the night, screaming. The ship started to sway back upright and another crewman near her—Baird was his name—lost his grip with the sudden change of momentum and started to fall. He caught the rope under the spar on which they had been standing, and was barely holding on with his fingers.
“Help!” he shouted.
Holding onto the spar, Esther shuffled quickly along the rope to where Baird was hanging. “Help me!” she screamed to anyone who might be nearby. “Help me!”
She squatted down, letting go of the spar with one arm and lowering her right hand next to Baird’s hand. Thoughts and ideas raced through her mind. There was no way she was going to be able to lift him with her arm—she didn’t have the upper body strength. Baird was a heavy guy—not fat, but well-muscled. However, if he could get a good enough grip on her hand and arm, she might be able to use her legs and stand, dragging him up high enough so that he could get a better hold on the rope.
“Baird! Grab my arm!” she shouted.
Baird looked up at her, a resigned look crossing his face. “There’s no way you’ll be able to hold my weight,” he called to her and she could see his fingers starting to slip.
“Baird, just grab my arm and hold on! I’ll try lifting you with my legs!”
“I don’t want to pull you down with me!”
“Please!” she called back, “Just try!”
He let go of the rope and grabbed Esther’s outstretched arm, wrapping his big hand around her wrist and forearm. Esther was jerked downward from her already squatting position and her other arm was almost pulled from the spar. His grip on her arm and wrist hurt badly and her shoulder felt like it could dislocate at any moment. She bit her lip as her legs threatened to buckle and the rope which she was squatting on began to shift back and forth as she tried to balance their combined weight upon it. She cried out in pain and futility. Baird had been right, she wasn’t going to be able to lift him, even using her legs. He wouldn’t be able to hold onto her wrist much longer.
The rope swayed beneath her as someone else put weight on it. She looked back over her shoulder. Joel, the Bosun, was moving swiftly towards them and renewed hope suddenly flooded back into her. She just had to hold on for a few more seconds. A moment later and Joel was there. He reached down and grabbed Baird’s arm.
“On three, we heave, do you understand?” he said firmly.
Esther nodded.
“One, two, THREE!”
Esther bit her lip and used everything she had and stood, pulling Baird’s weight with them. Baird grabbed the spar and got his feet onto the rope just in time as the Nautilus swayed slightly as it came about to bring its guns to bear on the next Madrausan ship.
Joel put his hand on Baird’s shoulder as he climbed back up. “Are you alright?”
Visibly shaken, Baird replied, “Yes…and thank you…to both of you.”
Joel nodded, “Good. Now keep your feet under you.” He turned to Esther, nodded gain, and moved away.
“Thanks Esther,” said Baird, patting her back, “You saved my life. I owe you one.”
Esther winced as a spasm of pain shot up her arm and shoulder, but nodded to Baird and said, “I’m just glad you’re all right.”
“Me too. Is your arm hurt?” asked Baird, reaching out and touching her arm. Her forearm was already bruising where he had grabbed onto her. She winced again as he lifted her forearm and her shoulder rotated. “I’m really sorry,” Baird said, “You’d better go below and have the doc take a look at it.”
Esther nodded and headed towards the ratlines. She cradled her right arm against her side as she made her way gingerly down the port side ratlines.
The ship had made its full turn to port by the time she was almost to the deck. The maneuver would have brought the Nautilus right up behind the second Madrausan ship, except the Madrausan captain had brought his ship about as well so that they now ran parallel, going opposite directions. Cannon’s boomed from both ships and Esther dropped the last couple of feet to the deck and sprawled to the ground as cannon balls slammed into the Nautilus. Its thick hull was able to shake off most of the cannon fire, but not all, and wooden shrapnel flew over her head as a cannonball skimmed the deck.
Esther remained flat on the deck, an arm covering her head as the gun crews reloaded and fired their weapons again. Esther raised her head after the second round of firing and saw the gun crews on the quarterdeck manning the carronade cannons bravely continue to stand and face the incoming fire from the enemy ship as they reloaded their weapon. It made her ashamed to be lying flat on the deck covering her head when they had no such luxury. Fortunately, the Madrausan’s were no match for the trained gun crews aboard the Nautilus, and for every shot fired at her, at least two came flying back in their teeth.. Esther had lost sight of the third ship. At first, Esther had planned to go below to see the doctor, but now, after having taken fire, she was sure that the doctor would have more pressing patients to attend to.
Esther looked about to see if she could spot the third ship, but she had lost sight of it in the chaos. She turned towards the quarterdeck. She didn’t have enough strength in her shoulder to be of any help in the rigging, so she might as well observe what she could and if she couldn’t be up in the rigging, the quarterdeck was the next best place to do that from.
It was mess of activity as Esther stepped up onto the quarterdeck. The gun crews were working feverishly to reload the carronade cannons again.
“We’ve torn her to shred’s, Captain,” yelled Mr. Graham as he gazed through his telescope, “The bunkers along her port side must’ve been breached because she’s listing badly!”
“How can you be sure, Mr. Graham?” asked a man whose name Esther didn’t know, “It’s so dark we can’t even be sure we’re even hitting her. Fighting a battle in the dark—it’s ludicrous!”
“To be sure,” replied Captain Karlsson, “but it’s how we’re going to save those transports.”
“And to answer your question, Mr. Trent,” said Graham, turning to the officer who’d questioned him, “I was watching them when their cannon’s discharged last, illuminating their hull.”
“We’ll keep firing at her until she’s finished. Has anyone spotted that third ship yet?” said Captain Karlsson.
“No sir,” answered Graham. The captain swore under his breath.
The Nautilus fired into the darkness in the direction of the stricken Madrausan ship, but no answering fire came back.
“Sir,” said Graham, “she’s either falling or slunk off into the night. There’s no telling at this point, but she’s out of the battle.”
“I agree, have the gun crews reload, but hold their fire unless they spot her.”
“Yes, sir,” said Graham, turning to give the order.
A moment later, a spotter on the starboard side of the deck called out. The third enemy ship had been sighted! Esther peered into the night from where she stood on the port side of the quarterdeck and her eyes grew large as she spotted the ship herself. It was on a collision course with the Nautilus and closing fast. They must have tracked us by our cannon fire and set themselves up to ram us.
“All hands, brace for impact!” shouted Mr. Graham.
Esther dropped to the ground and covered her head with her hands, just as the Madrausan ship’s forward cannon’s opened fire, spraying the deck with case shot. Men screamed and a moment later, the two ships collided. The force of the imp
act was so great, it felt like Esther had been kicked in the belly as the deck of the Nautilus heaved beneath her, popping her up into the air. She fell back to the deck with a thud. The Madrausan ship had come in from the starboard side and slammed into the aft half of the Nautilus, perpendicular to its hull. Only the heavy wooden timbers and superior craftsmanship of the Nautilus’ hull had saved her from outright destruction. But destroyed they would still be, thought Esther as she looked up and saw Madrausan’s preparing to board the Nautilus. Torchlight sparkled off grappling hooks as they came sailing through the air to secure both ships together. Boarding ladders were being lowered and men were already crossing.
The Ardmorrans were outnumbered and had been unprepared when the third ship had come out of nowhere. Captain Karlsson—having regained his feet—was barking orders in an attempt to coordinate the defense of his ship. A group of Ardmorran crewmen were hastily trying to get a swivel gun mounted on the starboard railing. Esther had read about them during her studies. These swivel guns were small cannons really, used as anti-personnel guns and mounted along the railings of the ship as needed. They needed to get it mounted quickly if they were going to be able to use it to repel the boarders.
Esther—still lying on the deck—caught the Captain’s gaze. His eyes were devoid of hope and he gave her a sad smile before turning resignedly towards Mr. Graham.
“Blow the bunkers,” he said evenly.
Graham nodded, then turned and descended the companionway to the deck below.
Esther got to her feet and hurried over the captain. "Sir, what’s going on?" she asked.
"We're not going to win this fight, Esther," said the Captain, "If we're going down, we're going to try and take them with us. Graham will blow the bunkers which will release all of the Saug gas. With luck, we'll take them down as well. Here, take this—" His hand clasped a sword, and he held it out to her. He looked at her with sorrow in his eyes. “I'm sorry we didn’t get you off onto one of the transports."
Esther took the sword in her left hand—she didn’t have the strength in her injured right arm at the moment. She nodded to the captain and he turned away to tend to the battle as lightning flashed on the horizon and the slow rumble of thunder rolled across the sky.
Esther looked around her as the enemy pushed onto the Nautilus. Several of the carronade guns had fired into the group of boarders and men screamed in pain, but the guns had been loaded with solid shot instead of case shot, and it wasn’t enough to stem the tide of men flowing aboard the Nautilus.
Men were fighting all along the starboard side of the ship. A large Madrausan cut down one of the Nautilus’ crew just a few feet in front of her. He pushed into the gap and lifted his weapon to strike another crewman. Esther jumped up, lifted her sword into the air, and ran towards him yelling as loudly as she could. She didn’t know if it was her feminine yell that surprised the large man, or simply the act of being attacked by a young woman, but the action startled him and she brought the sword down on his arm before he could react. He dropped his own weapon with a howl. An Ardmorran marine pushed past Esther and stabbed him with his sword.
Suddenly, Esther heard a loud bang followed by a whooshing sound. Clouds of green Saug gas rose into the air, illuminated by the dim light of torches which flickered and threatened to go out as the gas escaping from the bunkers almost smothered the flames. Graham was able to blow the bunkers! The Nautilus listed sharply to port and began rapidly losing altitude, pulling the Madrausan ship with her. She sank to her knees to maintain her balance on the increasingly slanted deck. The enemy now held the high ground, but fortunately, they weren’t taking advantage of that fact as they now fought to escape the dying Nautilus and get back to their own ship.
The wind began to pull at Esther’s short, chin length hair as the once distant storm grew closer. In the dim torchlight, Esther could see men on the enemy ship attempting to cut the lines securing the two ships together. She could also see the enemy ship’s propellers beginning to turn as it attempted to pull its ram out of the Nautilus’ hull and escape the fate of the doomed Ardmorran ship.
Although the Saug oil-soaked wood of the airship’s hull was light compared to normal wood, the many pieces of equipment—such as cannons and ammunition, supplies, and even the crew themselves—weighed quite a bit. All of that weight was now resting on the bow of the Madrausan ship, pulling it down at an increasingly dangerous angle. Men onboard the enemy ship were dropping ballast as fast as they could, but it wouldn’t be enough if they didn’t get free of the Nautilus.
The deck beneath her feet shuddered as the Madrausan ship began to pull free. Esther’s heart dropped. If they pulled themselves free of the Nautilus, they would be able to go after the transports! Esther’s eyes suddenly focused on the swivel gun the crew had mounted to the starboard railing. A grappling hook and rope used for boarding actions was stowed a few feet away. The enemy had attacked with such overwhelming numbers and force that the swivel gun had only been able to fire one shot before its position had been overrun. Now that the Madrausan’s had retreated, it was unmanned and an idea formed in Esther’s mind. If it worked, perhaps they could still take the enemy warship down with them.
She ran up the slanted deck to the starboard railing where the swivel gun was mounted. She’d read about how they were loaded and fired, but had obviously never operated one herself. A metal box lay against the inside railing of the Nautilus beneath the swivel gun, thankfully kept from sliding across the increasingly slanted deck by a piece of rope. It should have the ammunition and gunpowder bags for the gun. Esther knelt down on the ground next to it and quickly pried it open. Inside she saw several bags of powder, a pin to prick the bags, a few bags of grape shot, and four rounds of solid shot. She quickly grabbed a bag of powder and one of the solid rounds. Esther stood and proceeded to load the swivel gun, pushing the powder bag down the muzzle with the loading rod, followed by the solid round. She quickly pricked the bag and added a pinch of powder to the touch hole. She turned it toward the nearest propeller on the enemy ship. Esther looked around for the slow-match to fire the gun with, but couldn’t find it anywhere. Then she caught sight of one at a nearby carronade cannon’s station. She ran over as quickly as she could, grabbed it, and ran back to the swivel gun. Alright, it should be ready to fire, she thought. She estimated the trajectory she needed, then holding the gun’s handle in her left hand, she lit the touch hole.
The gun went off with a loud report, but it was too dark to see where the shot had gone. I guess I’ll just have to trust my instincts and hope for the best. Esther swabbed the barrel and quickly loaded another round, then she grabbed the grappling hook with the long rope attached and ran over to the capstan. Using the bowline knot she’d learned while working with the crew, she tied the rope to the capstan, then ran back and shoved the hook and rope into the muzzle of the swivel gun until it touched the solid shot she had loaded.
“I hope this works,” she muttered under her breath. The deck shuddered again as the bow of the Madrausan ship pulled itself further out of the Nautilus’ wounded side. She took aim and fired! The grappling hook went sailing out into the night. She caught sight of it briefly in the faint torchlight. She had aimed a bit high on purpose and the grappling hook shot over the propeller. As it fell, the thick rope got caught in the propeller blades. It twisted as the blades spun and the grappling hook was yanked back into propeller. Its blades bound up in the rope and stopped turning.
“Yes!” she shouted, feeling exultant.
The sudden shift in propulsion caused the Madrausan ship’s aft end to swing starboard and its bow wedged itself inside of the Nautilus’ hull. However, the shift was only momentary. The enemy Captain must have ordered the port side propeller’s to adjust speed because the enemy ship began to right itself once again.
Esther turned to go put the next stage of her plan into play, but saw that Captain Karlsson had already ordered several men to the capstan. As they pushed on the large wooden poles jutting
out from the capstan and it began to turn, the rope fastened between it and the enemy ship’s propeller pulled tight, causing its aft end to swing starboard again, wedging its bow tightly in the Nautilus hull.
Their rate of decent was rapidly increasing now, and so was the angle of the deck. Unsecured equipment fell across the deck and the metal box with the powder bags and ammunition flipped over the piece of rope, went tumbling past Esther, and slammed into the port side railing. The Madrausan’s—seeing that their ship was caught up again—turned and tried to fight their way back aboard the Nautilus to cute the rope securing the ships together. However, the Nautilus had pulled down the bow of the Madrausan ship at such a steep angle now, and the wind had picked up to such a degree, that men crossing on the boarding ladders were losing their footing and falling. Fighting became a secondary concern as the danger of falling overboard took precedence.
Esther held onto the starboard side railing as the pitch of the deck became too steep. She looked up at the Madrausan ship now hanging ‘above’ the Nautilus in the air at a forty-five degree angle. It almost looked like it was the one driving the Nautilus down instead of the other way around. Unsecured men and equipment fell from both ships and several starboard side carronade cannon’s fell from their mountings, smashing across the deck and over the port side.
The ships fell through the sky for what seemed like a long time as Esther clung to the starboard railing. Light raindrops began to fall. In the darkness, there was little sense as to how fast they were falling and Esther just hung on, waiting for the ocean’s waves to reach up and swallow them.
Her heart beat loudly in her ears as the fear of death loomed in front of her. She knew how to swim from long summer days spent at local ponds, rivers, and lakes, but she also knew there was a vast difference between those relatively benign bodies and the turbulent ocean below.
Esther's Innocence Page 13