Agent Provocateur

by Christopher C Tubbs

  “That was it?” Asked Captain Stewart.

  “No.” Armand said taking up the story. “We thought to set a trap for the pirates on the mainland and deliberately sailed past their base. What we didn’t expect was a reinforced fleet of ships waiting for us.”

  He then went on to describe the action.

  “Good god!” Sir Rodney exclaimed at the end of the tale. “You may have destroyed their capability to attack our ships completely.”

  Marty looked up at that and said,

  “That we cannot claim, not until we go and have another look around the island.”

  Captain Stewart intervened at that point and said,

  “I am sure you have further plans but didn’t I read that Lady Caroline was with child?”

  Nice change of subject, thought Marty and replied,

  “Yes, she is, but I doubt I will return home in time for the birth.”

  There were mutters of sympathy at that then the steward called them to dinner.

  Over dinner, Stewart asked them about the armament of their ships and when told spluttered.

  “Damn unconventional!”

  “But effective,” Marty smiled.

  “Can you elucidate us poor landlubbers on that?” asked Winchcombe.

  “We carry mainly carronades and only four long nines between us,” Marty explained, “They are much more effective at close range a bit like huge blunderbuss. But ours throw twelve, four-pound balls or twenty-four pounds of grape. We can also throw a single twenty-four-pound ball which will demolish just about anything.”

  “But you have to get within, what, three cables to be effective,” stated Captain Stewart.

  “That’s no problem,” quipped Marty, “we just let them come and then surprise the hell out of them.”

  The dinner ended soon after that, and the two lieutenants made their unsteady way back to their boat.

  They restocked with powder and shot the next afternoon. They had already filled up the water kegs and taken on as much fresh meat, veg, and fruit as they could. So as the tide turned, they slipped out of the harbour and set course for Madagascar. It took them ten days again and this time, they steered around the east coast of the island. They checked every bay and inlet for boats. If they found any, they burned them unless they were clearly just fishing boats.

  They came up to a large bay that ran some fifty miles to the Northwest and was twenty plus miles wide. Inside it towards the end was a fleet of some fifteen Dhows. Some were armed and others not, but it made no difference to Marty and Armand they descended on them like avenging angels. Carronades spitting fire and belching smoke, dealing out pain and death to anyone who stood against them.

  Once they were done, there they turned back to the North and sailed up the coast to the Northern most tip of the Island. Antisiranana lay at their feet.

  As they approached, fishing boats turned and fled back into the harbour. Terrified fishermen had heard of the devils without mercy.

  Marty looked across the sea towards the entrance and saw a large, triangular, grey fin come towards them and circle the Lark once. Marty could see the huge but graceful shape under the water. The giant shark had found them again. It settled down parallel to them staying about sixty feet off their starboard side. Don’t worry mate, you will get your lunch soon enough, Marty thought.

  The lookout hailed the deck and called,

  “A COUPLE OF ZEBECS MAKING SAIL IN THE HARBOUR.” A pause, then, “ANOTHER APPROACHING FROM THE NORTH.”

  Another trap, Marty grinned to himself. He and Armand had discussed this, and they had come up with a couple of different plans.

  James spoke.

  “Signal from the Alouette. The number eight over the number two.”

  Marty now knew exactly what Armand would do.

  “Make all sail,” he commanded after James had shouted the orders.

  “Load smasher shot in all guns.” This was what they called the big twenty-four-pound balls. Their strategy depended on their agility and speed to out sail the enemy ships. Then hit them where it hurt.

  James came and stood beside him, and Blaez appeared from where he had been snoozing and sat on his left. Tom and John came up from below and John took the helm. Tom took his place behind Marty. He looked down the deck and there were his three remaining Basques. He nodded, and they moved to stand one on either beam and Matai at the bow.

  It was quiet, only the faint creak of the rigging and sloosh of the water running down the hull could be heard. They turned to go head to head with the Northern Zebec.

  The Alouette made for the harbour entrance all sail set. She would try and blockade the other two Zebecs at the entrance, if she could, and deal them some pain from her smashers and long nines.

  Marty focused. They had the weather gauge and could dictate what happened next. As they got closer, he could see that there were men lining the rail shaking their fists and weapons at them. My oh my, they are pissed off, he smiled to himself, Good, angry men make mistakes.

  “James, I will sail up their larboard side at about four cables distance. If their shooting is as bad as Armand said, we should be safe enough. As soon as we are level with their stern, I want the mainsail taken in fast and then I will swing around behind him and we will serve him alternately from either battery. Do you understand?”

  James absorbed what he said then nodded.

  “Try and get their rudder if you can, I want her disabled.”

  ‘Aye aye, sir,” he said with a smile

  “Tom, please command the starboard battery. Make sure of your shots.”

  Tom said nothing, just moved down to take position behind his five carronades.

  They were closing fast, and Marty settled his weapons harness and then knelt down and gave Blaez a hug.

  When he stood, they were almost bow to bow with the Xebec and he raised his arm.

  Matai threw back his head and gave out the cry,

  “Eye, Yiy, Yiy, Yiy, Yiy, Yiy ,Yiy, Yiy , Yiy Yeeehhhaaa!”

  It was answered by Antton.

  “Eye, Yiy, Yiy, Yiy, Yiy, Yiy ,Yiy, Yiy , Yiy Yeeehhhaaa, Yiy!”

  Then Garai.

  “Eye, Yiy, Yiy, Yiy, Yiy, Yiy ,Yiy, Yiy , Yiy Yeeehhhaaa! Eye, Yiy.”

  And then the whole crew. As it died away, Marty could see shocked looks on the faces of the men lining the Zebecs side and he yelled,

  “FIRE!”

  The five larboard carronades belched flame and smoke and simultaneously he saw a ripple of fire from the Xebecs side. Their shot mostly fell behind them with only one ball even getting close. His shot had more effect. His men were schooled at firing at fast crossing targets and knew what they were about. At least three hits were scored, and the smashers lived up to their names. Big holes appeared in her side and they could see splinters flying everywhere.

  Then the mainsail dropped and Marty signalled John Smith to steer hard to Larboard. The gun crews were reloading in a controlled frenzy. They swung around in an arc and were soon dead astern of the Xebec. She had tried to match they turn but with their agility they beat her to it. Now, they had to stop her before she could get to the Alouette.

  He brought them up rapidly to about a cable behind her. It all depended now on the Xebec trying to get to the Alouette and not trying to turn and fight the little wasp behind them.

  He shouted, “JAMES!” and signaled John to swing the bow to starboard. As the guns came to bear, they fired in succession. As soon as the last fired, he ordered a swing back to larboard and Tom fired his off.

  The effect on the vulnerable stern of the Xebec was devastating. The transom was completely smashed in leaving a gaping hole. But by some miracle the rudder was still working!

  The guns were re-loaded, and he did the same manoeuvres again, this time the boys aimed lower and after the third gun fired he saw the Xebec fall off of the wind, out of control. Her rudder shot away.

  He called orders to heave to a cable off her larboard rear quarter and proceeded to pound
her to matchwood.

  He got the lookout to check what was happening back at the harbour and heard that one of the Xebecs was on fire and the other was being engaged by the Alouette. Armand had done his job as well.

  Suddenly, the lookout called,

  “SAIL HOE, WEST NORWEST.” A pause.

  “LOOKS LIKE A BLOODY NAVY FRIGATE!”

  Marty grabbed a telescope and ran up the ratlines to where the lookout was perched and took a long, hard look himself.

  “That’s the Seahorse!” he said to the lookout. He slid down a stay to the deck and called for his men to cease fire. The Xebec was a wreck and wouldn’t swim for much longer. He walked across to the rail and watched it for a while. He was about to step away when something grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around, sending him crashing to the deck.

  The world spun, and he heard James screaming for the men to open fire and then Tom was there and holding him in his arms. The world spun and went black.

  Chapter 15: Homeward Bound.

  He woke briefly to intense pain and was conscious of someone holding him down and being unable to move his arms. He could hear Blaez barking insanely then it all went black again.

  He came to in his cabin with the sun shining in the transom windows. As he gathered his awareness, he realised the ship was stationary. His eyes were gummy, and he had to blink a few times to be able to see anything clearly.

  A face appeared. It took a moment to recognise it as belonging to the surgeon from the Alouette.

  “Hello. Back with us I see,” he said unnecessarily.

  “Mwuf,” Marty said.

  A moist cloth was placed against his lips and some moisture trickled into his mouth. He tried again.

  “What happened?” he mumbled.

  “You were shot. Got you in the right shoulder. Actually, was a damn fine shot from over one hundred yards.”

  Marty had a moment of absolute terror and tried to see if his arm was still there. He couldn’t see, and he tried to sit.

  The surgeon (still couldn’t remember his name) pushed him gently back on the bed and said,

  “Its alright! You still have your arm and in time will get the full use of it again. But now, you must rest. You lost a lot of blood and that damn dog of yours bit five men trying to get to you. Caused more damage than the bloody pirates.”

  Marty started to laugh at the picture that painted but stopped when it sent shooting pains down his arm and across his back.

  Later that day, James and Tom came in to see him and he asked to see Blaez. It turned out that Matai was the only one who could get near him and brought him in on his leash. The frantic dog scrabbled and fought his way across the floor and would have jumped on the bed if Marty hadn’t given a clear command to sit.

  As it was the sound of Marty’s voice calmed him and he sat beside the bed so he could rest his head on the cover and look at Marty with worried eyes.

  “Hello boy,” Marty said, “It’s ok, you can stay here now.”

  Blaez gave a huff and a look that said, ‘I’m not going anywhere, boss’.

  They were in Cape Town harbour and he got visits from the admiral and local dignitaries. They got mail from home, but the letters were old and all he knew was that Caroline was fine and the baby was due soon. Then just as he was getting back to his feet after a couple of weeks, the Seahorse came back into harbour.

  Captain Stewart and the two East India Company commissars came over in a boat, and he met them with Armand in his cabin.

  “Lieutenant Stockley, we hope you are making a full recovery?” asked Sir Rodney.

  “Yes, thank you,” Marty replied, “My arm will be stiff for a while but the surgeon assures me that with the right exercise I will be as right as rain.”

  “Excellent, Excellent,” murmured all three men.

  Captain Stewart coughed and said,

  “To all intents and purposes, you two gentlemen and your band of cutthroats have ripped the heart out of the pirate activity based around Madagascar and the East African coast. I doubt they could put together four boats with what you have left them.” He looked from one to the other.

  “Your tactics and strategies are most certainly not in the Navy book of warfare but were most effective all the same. I can see why Lord Hood formed you into a special unit.”

  Marty must have looked worried at that.

  Stewart smiled reassuringly.

  “Don’t worry, we are all sworn to secrecy by both Hood and Wickham.”

  Sir Rodney was looking impatient and Armand looked to him and raised his eyebrows in question. He coughed and then sat upright like he was about to make an announcement.

  “Gentlemen. The Board of the East India Company and its shareholders are in your debt. We understand the sacrifice and dedication you have shown to this enterprise will not result in any prize money, fame, or promotion. You and your crews embarked on this purely out of duty.”

  Marty’s shoulder was throbbing, and he was thinking, where the hell is this leading. But Sir Rodney was in full flow.

  “Accordingly, we are going to recommend that each and every crewman is awarded a sum of one hundred pounds and that that the estates of those that fell will receive the sum in their stead.”

  Marty was surprised, and he thanked them for their generosity on behalf of the men.

  Winchcombe then lent forward and said,

  “Now, we come to you two gentlemen. We realise that you are both independently wealthy, so a cash reward would be meaningless.”

  “So, we are going to offer you something more meaningful. We will open the door to you becoming shareholders of the company. In public, this will be just like any other transaction, but you will be able to buy shares at half price up to a predefined limit. Once vested, you will be automatically invited to invest in high value shipments and place supercargo on any company ship.”

  Phew! That was some reward!

  “Lastly,” Captain Stewart put in, “We will escort you back to England. The Seahorse is returning for a refit, so it makes sense to stay together. Would you want to stay on the Lark or be my guest onboard the Seahorse while you recover from your wound, Mr. Stockley?”

  “Thank you for the kind offer,” Marty replied, “But I will stay with my ship. My men deserve that.”

  “I completely understand,” Stewart replied before the other two could object.

  They got underway the next day and the three ships made their way out of the harbour on the morning tide. Seahorse in the lead, then Alouette and finally the Lark in line astern a cable apart. The weather was fine, and Marty was thankful that there were only lazy rollers crossing the Atlantic. He wasn’t sure he could handle a big sea just yet.

  The journey back took them out to roughly mid Atlantic to pick up the trades and then turned North East at around twenty-three degrees North. It took two and a half months and they stopped at Ascension Island to replenish.

  They left the Seahorse as it entered Plymouth. The frigate’s crew lined the sides and the yards and gave them a huge cheer in farewell. They carried on to their home base. Marty sent a message to Caroline via Captain Stewart that they would be docking in the next few days.

  It was mid-September when they sailed up the Stour and turned to dock. Marty could see a number of people waiting for them and used a small telescope to look for Caroline. He couldn’t see her at first but then he recognised her coach and saw her stepping out of it with a bundle in her arms.

  As soon as the boat stopped at the dock, Marty jumped over the side and ran to his love. He took her gently in his arms and kissed her. Then he leaned back to look down at the now three-month-old child in her arms.

  “Martin, meet Bethany Anne Stockley. Your daughter,” she said with tears in her eyes.

  Marty was transfixed as he looked at the beautiful baby girl. Caroline held her out for him to take her and then realised something.

  “Anne? After my mother?”

  “Yes, she came and lived with me for
the last three months and insisted on helping with the delivery.”

  “She would. She’s been present at all of her grandchildren’s births.” Marty laughed.

  He turned and walked back down the dock and stood between the two ships. He held his daughter high in the air and shouted,

  “This is my daughter! Bethany Anne. Say welcome, you pirates!”

  Both crews roared their greeting and then all of the Larks gave their war cry,

  “Eye, Yiy, Yiy, Yiy, Yiy, Yiy ,Yiy, Yiy , Yiy Yeeehhhaaa!”

  Caroline looked startled, and Marty laughed but had a tear in his eye as he remembered Paolo.

  Little Bethany, Beth in his mind, didn’t bat an eyelid just waved her chubby arms.

  Back at the farm, he had to tell Caroline about his wound and she wasn’t happy. She insisted he take off his shirt and show it to her. She then roasted his ears for a good five minutes for being careless and then burst into tears and hugged him.

  Women, he thought, I’ll never understand them.

  After a debriefing with Wickham and Lord Hood, who showed up the next morning, everyone was given shore leave for the next two or three months. The ships would be sailed to Chatham, by skeleton crews led by the mids, for a refit. Once in the hands of the Navy yard, the crews could go home as well.

  Marty knew the Basques had no one to go to and neither did Tom so he told Caroline that they would be coming with him. He was surprised when Tom asked if Wilson could tag along as well as he came from Manchester and that was up near there as well.

  Caroline said they would go to Cheshire via London and Marty was happy to just let her take the reigns.

  In London, he had to assume his alter ego as Lord Candor. It didn’t sit easily. They had a stream of visitors in the few days they were there and a host of invites to parties and balls. Marty also discovered that they had a nanny for the baby. Caroline fed it and cuddled it, but the nanny looked after it for most of the day.