A Red Sky Rising

by Ryan Gilbert

  Resting his elbows on the desk, Admiral Carter said, “Given my reputation, you should know that I don’t negotiate with criminals.”

  “I’m well aware of that, sir,” said Hamond.

  “Good.”

  Carter clasped his fingers together, resting his index fingers against his chin as he seemed to be contemplating. Matthew could not decide what was more unsettling… the sounds of the prisoners or the uncomfortable silence in the office.

  Breaking the droll in the interrogation, Carter said, “I truly am sorry about how my men treated you last night. I wish they could have been a bit more respectful of the man you used to be.”

  “Used to be?” asked Matthew.

  “Yes, Mr. Hamond. Until yesterday, you were a fantastic naval officer, a commodore in the most powerful force on these seas. Now, I see a man who has fallen into something that he himself used to call despicable.”

  Still claiming innocence, Matthew argued, “But sir, I haven’t done a single thing to go against the Navy or the Crown. I’m still the same man… the same commodore that you knew before.”

  To his surprise, Carter said nothing, motioning to a servant. In seconds, two steaming cups sat on the desk in front of the Admiral. Hamond did not know what to make of it.

  Dropping a cube of sugar into one of the cups, Carter asked, “Would you like some tea?”

  Matthew was confused. This did not seem like an interrogation. Where was the gruffness that he had come to expect? Where was the urgency?

  Cautiously shaking his head, Hamond said, “I’d rather not, sir.”

  The Admiral shrugged and sipped his tea, saying, “Pity… it truly is the best.”

  Just then, the attendant came back, a shirt draped over his arm. He immediately came to the side of Hamond’s chair and gave it to him. Matthew looked to the Admiral, puzzled. His superior just waved his hand, dismissing the attendant.

  As Hamond slid the shirt over his head, Carter pulled out a small stack of papers. Laying them on the desk, he clasped his hands again and looked his prisoner straight in the eye with the same cold stare from when he had arrested him.

  “Explain to me where I went wrong, Matthew,” the Admiral said, his eyes burrowing their way into the man’s soul.

  Just barely keeping from fidgeting in his seat, Hamond said, “You haven’t, sir. I’ve been loyal to the Crown ever since I was inducted into the Navy. Nothing could make me change my ways.”

  “If that’s true, then why do I have all of these papers sitting on my desk, full of suspicious information?”

  Taking one of the papers, the Admiral put on reading glasses and said, “I have your report here from when you first encountered that pirate ship… now, what was it called… what was it called… oh, that’s right. It was the Red Sky.”

  In his lap, Hamond’s hand started to twitch from the tension. It was taking all of his naval training to keep from showing any emotion.

  “In that report, you said that the pirates fled, leaving your daughter on a deserted island. Whenever I was at your home, both yourself and the late Lieutenant Travers told me the same story. Is that true?”

  “Yes, sir, it is true.”

  The Admiral set the paper down on the desk and pulled another from the pile. The expression on his face did not change. Matthew could not tell what his superior was thinking. It was downright unsettling.

  “This paper right here says otherwise.”

  Adjusting his glasses, Carter continued, “It’s a letter from a concerned citizen, saying that they watched both you and the Lieutenant head to the island to take your daughter from the pirate captain. They also specify that they were quite frightened, as the pirates’ ship was not that far away.”

  Taking another letter from the stack, the Admiral continued, “Here I have a letter telling how terrified this poor woman was. She says she was ‘waiting for the pirates to blow you out of the water’ because you were so close to it. That does not sound like a fleeing ship, Mr. Hamond.”

  “But sir…”

  Admiral Carter held up a finger, silencing the former commodore as he pulled out another paper.

  “This one says ‘I could see the cannons pointed at us. I don’t know why they did not attack, but it was surely an act of God. When we finally pulled away from that island, I could not stop praising Him’.”

  Gesturing to the rest of the stack of papers, Admiral Carter said, “The rest of these papers share similar stories. Personally, I want to believe you, but there are too many concerned citizens who were able to construct a different picture.”

  Carter leaned over the desk and asked, “Care to recant your previous statement?”

  Even if he opted to elaborate on his lie, he knew the Admiral could read his every move. He was heading to the gallows either way. Lying just made that walk much shorter.

  “Yes… I lied, sir.”

  Placing the papers in front of Matthew, the Admiral sat back in his chair and asked, “Why did you lie?”

  “Because I… I didn’t want my daughter to be associated with those pirates.”

  The Admiral sighed and looked to the ceiling, breaking his eye contact with his prisoner. It relieved Hamond briefly, but he still did not know what to expect.

  “My boy, I don’t think your lie could even stop that from happening. Have you not heard the rumors flooding the streets of your city? Many people are under the impression that your daughter… your dear sweet Julia… has turned from a respectable English woman into a ragged pirate sympathizer.”

  “Who said that?” Hamond growled, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the arms of the chair.

  “Calm yourself, Mr. Hamond. There’s no reason to do any more damage. I understand your situation.”

  Once he heard that, Hamond felt an unnatural calm rush over him.

  “You do?” asked Matthew, relaxing a little.

  “Of course. I had a similar problem with my son. A pirate ship attacked his vessel when he was just a young man, and he was the only one to leave without a scratch on him. When he came back home, people started thinking that he was a pirate as well.”

  “What happened to him?” Hamond asked.

  “On his next voyage, his ship disappeared somewhere in the Caribbean. For a whole year, I searched for him, always hoping that each island that we passed would be hiding him. I lost several ships looking for my son, but none of us ever found him. As that year ended, I realized that I just had to accept reality. I had my son declared legally dead… regretfully.”

  “My condolences, sir.”

  Toying with a tiny, carved ram’s head, Admiral Carter said, “The one thing that I can take pride in is the fact that he never became a pirate. It proved all the naysayers wrong… and I am proud of him for that.”

  He put the little trinket aside and turned his attention back to Matthew.

  “If a normal man had been in your position, he would have lied as well,” Carter said, taking a sip of his tea, “I didn’t think that either of us were normal men, Matthew.”

  “I just did what was needed to help my daughter.”

  “And you endangered the rest of your family by doing so,” said the Admiral in his same calm voice.

  Matthew hung his head in shame as his flaws were laid out in front of him. It had been a necessary sacrifice for him to lie. He could not possibly let anyone know exactly what had happened on that island. It would have driven everyone mad with fear.

  “Speaking of family, Matthew, where is your daughter now?”

  “I… I don’t know.”

  “How could you not know? I have records stating that you pursued the pirates who had taken her during their attack on Yorktown. Are they not the ones that destroyed your ship?” the Admiral asked, not a single bit of emotion on his face.

  “No, sir. They were a completely different group. The pirates that attacked us were brutal and violent,” said Hamond.

  Carter chuckled a little, saying, “All pirates are brutal and violent
, Matthew. I thought you of all people would know that.”

  Under his breath, Hamond muttered, “If you only knew…”

  Unable to hear the statement, the Admiral continued, “Why is it that you didn’t continue your pursuit whenever you had been rescued? Surely, you want to see your daughter again.”

  Matthew was unsure of where the conversation was headed, so he said, “With all my heart.”

  Admiral Carter rubbed his chin and nodded, taking a piece of paper from a drawer in the desk.

  “One of our ships intercepted a pirate vessel several weeks ago. What they had to say was… mighty interesting. Do you want to know where Julia is, Mr. Hamond?”

  Almost dreading the answer, he nodded his head. Inside his head, he prayed that his daughter was not dead.

  “She was spotted with the pirates of the Red Sky. Unfortunately, the informant neglected to mention her location. She is safe, but no one can say how long that will last.”

  Hamond could. Internally, he was crying out in joy. He had put his trust in those pirates, and it had paid off. His daughter was still alive and safe.

  “What are you proposing, sir?” he asked.

  Standing up, Carter moved around the desk and came to a stop right in front of his prisoner. The old soldier had a knowing, compassionate look on his face, something that few people ever saw from him.

  “Until you told me the truth, I was ready to send you to the gallows, Matthew. In reality, you only lied to protect your daughter’s innocence, and I commend you for that. As an officer of the Navy, however, I cannot ignore that crime.”

  Directing Hamond to stand, he said, “You seem like a good, loyal man, Matthew, and it would be a shame to waste that. How about I make a deal with you?”

  “What kind of deal?” asked Hamond, intrigued.

  “The kind of deal that ends with all of the pirates dead and both of us standing triumphant on the deck of our ship. You’ll be working for free, of course, as part of your ‘punishment.’ What do you say… Commodore Hamond?”

  He extended his hand, waiting for Matthew to make a decision.

  Hamond was speechless. The Admiral did not know it, but he was asking Matthew to choose between his wife and his daughter. If he refused, both he and Catherine would hang like common criminals. If he agreed, Julia would be killed along with the rest of the pirates. It was an impossible choice.

  “I’m… ready to sail, sir,” he said, shaking Admiral Carter’s outstretched hand.

  “Fantastic, Hamond. I’ll have your position reinstated immediately. We sail for New York in two days.”

  “New York?”

  Chuckling, Admiral Carter raised his eyes to the ceiling with an absentminded expression on his face.

  “Oh yes, my apologies. I forgot to mention that we need to rally the armada from up north. I don’t want a repeat of what happened here a couple months ago. We need to crush those evildoers before they have a chance to flee.”

  “Of course, sir,” said Hamond, standing at attention.

  “I knew you wouldn’t let me down, Matthew. Here… take this key and release your wife. I’m sure she’s dying to hear your good news,” Carter said, handing a key to his reappointed officer.

  “Yes, Admiral… and thank you, sir,” said the Commodore, immediately making his way out of the room.

  What the Admiral did not know was that Hamond was not taking the job to destroy the pirates. He was intent on keeping Carter as far away from the Red Sky as possible. Much as he did not want to admit it, he owed those pirates his life. Trying to protect them was the most that he could do.

  Reaching his wife’s cell, he unlocked it and freed her. In a fit of joy, Catherine latched onto her husband as he led her out of the cell, leading her back to freedom once again.

  “Darling, what… what’s going on?” she asked frantically.

  “There’s nothing to worry about, Catherine. The Admiral made a deal with me and is letting us go free.”

  Confused, Catherine asked, “What kind of deal was it?”

  Matthew took a deep breath and said, “He wants my help finding the pirates of the Red Sky.”

  As he led his wife through the prison hallways, she asked, “What’ll happen if you do come across them?”

  He stopped for a second, having not really thought that through. If the Red Sky and the Admiral crossed paths, he would have to prove his loyalty somehow. Carter would expect it.

  “We’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  Embracing her husband again, Catherine whispered, “Just bring our baby back alive.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Can’t anyone open this bloody thing?”

  The pirates had been trying for hours to open the mysterious box. They had lost several lock picks to the padlock and had not made any progress. Some of them had even smashed it against the deck in frustration, trying to damage it enough to open it.

  Nothing happened. It just sat there, barely any wear on it despite the angry pirates pounding it into the ground. All of them just lay back in the hot sun and tried to calm down. They were not going to make any progress if they were upset.

  “Knives ain’t workin’. Picks ain’t workin’. What’ve we even got left?” asked Riggs, wiping his brow.

  “Well, we’ve got de cannons,” said Ripper, eager to let out his frustrations on the troublesome little box.

  The Captain rolled his eyes and said, “I don’t want to blow up whatever’s inside, mate. It’d be worthless then.”

  “How do ye know it’s not worthless now?” asked one of the crewmembers.

  “Nobody would fight that hard to protect somethin’ that’s worthless,” said Riggs, taking out his sword.

  As a final attempt, he tried to wedge it in between the lock and the box. Perhaps some leverage could pry the padlock loose. After some wiggling, he managed to get the tip of the blade beneath the metal. He directed two of his crewmembers to hold the box, kicking the sword further into the tight space. If that did not open the box, then Riggs did not know what they could do. He and the crew were at their wit’s end.

  Desperation fueling his every move, Riggs yanked the sword backward, bending the steel, but still not opening the box. He could feel his arms straining to pull further.

  The box still would not open.

  Riggs ordered several other crewmates to hold onto the box and three others to help him. He could hear the wood starting to crack from the pressure being exerted on it. By now, the torque in the sword was too much for it to handle.

  *snap* *clang*

  The sword snapped in two, catching the pirates by surprise. All of them fell backwards, landing hard on the deck. Riggs tumbled over the men, startled by the sudden release. Crewmembers ran this way and that, dodging the broken blade of the sword and the flying box. Rubbing the back of his head, the Captain sat up on the ground, grumbling incoherently. Once he had regained his bearings, he looked down at the broken hilt in his hand and tossed it to the side. It was as useless as their attempts at opening the box.

  Getting to his feet, Riggs asked, “Who has the box? I’m goin’ to blast it to Davy Jones’ Locker if I need to.”

  From inside a crowd that had gathered in the corner, Coral Jack answered, “I don’t think ye need to do that now, Captain.”

  Puzzled by the response, Riggs pushed his way to the front of the group, unsure as to what Jack was meaning. He could not have been talking about the box. Underneath his feet, he heard the broken blade of his sword slide across the deck. How could his sword have even opened that impenetrable thing? It broke. Still, with each step, Riggs could feel the anticipation building inside his mind. He needed to know if he had succeeded.

  As he shoved the last crewmate out of his way, he found his answer.

  On the ground next to a cannon, the box lay on its side, the contents peeking out from under the lid. The lock had been ripped off the box, along with a significant chunk of wood. Whoever had made the box had melted the
nails into little grooves hidden on the inside of the box, making it much harder for anyone to get into it. Luckily, Riggs was not one to give up easily.

  Relief rushed through his head as he knelt down to see what was inside the troublesome container. The carving of the “K” glared up at him as he held the box in his lap and opened the lid all of the way.

  The Captain thrust his hand into the box, pushing aside papers to try to find the treasure hidden beneath them. He removed an empty hand. Nothing was inside the box but papers. There was no gold or valuables, not even a trinket. Pushing the papers aside, Riggs tried to see if he could find any sort of secret compartment, but there was not one. It was just a box of papers.

  “Is that it?” asked Coral Jack, looking over his captain’s shoulder, “Nothin’ but paper?”

  Riggs did not answer. He had noticed something at the bottom of the box that seemed out of place. Ruffling through the papers, he pulled out the note and held it in the sun to see it clearly. Whatever kind of note it was, it looked like something official. There was even a seal at the bottom of the page.

  “Jack, bring Julia out here. We need her.”

  “Aye, Captain,” he said, clambering to his feet and rushing to the cabin.

  Once his crewmate left, Riggs noticed even more strange things about the papers. Some were written with elegant strokes while others were covered with the wobbly writing of a man at sea. To the Captain, it looked like the papers were letters. He searched for a name on one of the fancier letters, but there was nothing that was easily discernable. Whoever it was had done well to cover their tracks.

  “Why do you need me, Riggs? Is something wrong?” asked Julia, drawing the pirate’s attention away from the papers.

  Getting to his feet, he held the letter up to her and asked, “There might be. Does this seal look familiar to you?”