Greek Fire

by James Boschert

  __________

  Swift of foot to avenge are we!

  He whose hands are clean and pure,

  Naught our wrath to dread hath he;

  Calm his cloudless days endure.

  But the man that seeks to hide

  Like him , his gore-bedewèd hands,

  Witnesses to them that died,

  The blood avengers at his side,

  The Furies' troop forever stands.

  Aeschylus

  Chapter 27

  A Debt Paid

  Talon lifted his head and peered over the edge of the low cliff down at the inlet below. Anchored in the clear waters was the galley belonging to Caravello. It seemed from his perspective as though the ship was suspended in air, the water it rode upon was so clear and calm. He could see the plantation of seaweed nearer the rocks to the vessel’s starboard side, and suspended above the sandy bottom of the small cove there was a small shoal of what he thought might be sardines moving left and right as one flashing mass, while several larger fish moved about in a more leisurely manner. The area he was watching could hardly have been more peaceful. Talon could make out every detail from his position in the tall grass, with shrubs and trees further back to ensure that his silhouette was not seen, neither from the ship nor the beach immediately below his position.

  Talon glanced cautiously about. He saw nothing to concern him. Max had taken great care to place their men well out of sight. It was now late afternoon and they had been in position for most of the day, having moved into the area with the dawn to avoid being detected by some sharp-eyed sentry on the ship or from the beach. His stomach rumbled and he wondered if the others were hungry too. They had had nothing to sustain them all day other than some water in skins, which were now looking depleted. He looked up at the sky, impatient for the sun to set and to commence the business at hand.

  His thoughts drifted back to the day Caravello had brazenly sailed into the port of Abydos a few hours after the Falcon and anchored not far from Nigel’s ship. At Talon’s request, Dmitri had followed Caravello onto the docks and had been close at hand to hear Caravello telling the port officials that he was on normal trading venture and asking if the way out of the straights was clear of the accursed Arab fleets.

  The arrival of the Genoese had energized the officers and crews of both his ships. Talon had sent out the order that they were not to tell the port officials of Abydos that Caravello had been the cause of the loss of the two naval patrol ships. Talon had then brought his four companions together with Dmitri into his cabin and told them his plan.

  His first question was to Dmitri. “Do you wish to stay with us, Dmitri? If you wish to stay here in Abydos I will understand and pay you off handsomely.”

  Dmitri looked around at the others. Nigel grinned at him.

  “If it is all right with you, Sir Talon, I would rather stay with you,” Dmitri said.

  “May I ask why?” Talon asked.

  Nigel roared with laughter and Max smiled.

  “I will answer for him if you do not mind, Sir Talon,” Nigel said when he had stopped laughing.

  “Well?”

  “He had gotten a pretty girl at a tavern with child and wants to leave in a hurry.”

  Talon looked sharply at Dmitri, who gave a sheepish grin and opened the palms of his hands and shrugged. “What can I say, Sir. Things happen.”

  This elicited more laughter, particularly from Guy, who felt that some of the heat was off him.

  “You will work as Nigel’s first mate. He tells me that you are a very good sailor, Dmitri. But stay out of trouble in future.”

  Dmitri glowed with pleasure and pride. “God bless you, Sir. I will not disappoint you.”

  “I dare say Nigel will see to that, Dmitri,” Talon said dryly.

  Then he addressed them all.

  “We are going to intercept that ship and take it away from Caravello,” he said, and watched their reactions.

  Henry and Guy, having already been informed, enjoyed watching the reaction of the others. Nigel went through his usual performance of staring at Talon as though he had lost his mind, but Max slapped his thigh and said, “I knew you would not let it go at that. God bless you, Talon!”

  Henry sat back on his stool and asked, “How do you propose to do that, Talon? He has the Greek Fire and will not be afraid to use it.” His tone bordered on the skeptical but he was not about to underestimate Talon’s propensity for daring. He scratched his beard furiously.

  “I do not propose to take his ship on the high seas, Henry. Not where he could burn us down. But was it not you or Nigel, one of you, who told me we could watch another ship from afar and keep pace with him?”

  Guy grinned. His teeth shone in the dim light making him look ferocious. “And he has to pull in for water some time, is that not what you are thinking, Talon?”

  Talon smiled. “Yes, but it is a gamble, as we cannot do this in a populated port or they will only see it as outright piracy, and there is no guarantee that he will stop anywhere else.”

  “Oh, I think he might, Talon.” Henry said. “He carries something that he does not want discovered, and not all inspectors can be bribed, so he will want to avoid the cities as much as possible and we should be able to follow him to a quieter place. We can certainly keep an eye on him. The seas around these islands are full of ships now that the Arabs have gone, and if we follow with first one ship and then the other we might fool them into thinking that we are just merchant vessels going more or less the same way.”

  “Then, Nigel, you must make ready for sea. Max, you go with him and the two of you make the ship ready to sail at a moment’s notice. You’ve done a fine job of repairs. Now you must sail her well. Henry, we sail immediately.”

  Before he went over the side Max paused and said to Talon, “I was very sure that you would follow up with the Genoese scum, Talon. What happened in Constantinople?”

  “It is a long story, Max, but our fears were well founded. The Arabs came with their fleet, but they were anticipated and the Byzantine fleet burned them to the water.”

  “By God, I am glad of it. That is too beautiful a city for them.”

  “It is a magnificent city, but it is also riddled with intrigue and much treachery at the top. That might be its curse and yet prove its downfall.”

  “The Arabs came here on their way through and left about ten ships to blockade us before sailing on but did nothing other than that. I imagine that the commander here was somewhat surprised at that, as he thought they would besiege the city. He told me so when I took the gold to him. He really did not believe us.”

  “I know, as he said as much in his letter to the Admiral,” Talon agreed.

  “We did bury the Arab commander of this ship, but where they have taken the crew, God alone knows. I imagine that Greek dungeons are no more comfortable than those of the Arabs. Do you still have your Arab with you?”

  “Yes I do, and a hansom ransom his family will pay too.”

  “How is the family Kalothesos?”

  “I left them mourning their dead daughter. You remember her? The very beautiful one, Eugenia?”

  Max looked shocked. “Dear God. How did that happen?”

  “The neighbor, the one I visited that one time where I was cut, had enmeshed her in an ugly plot. He is now dead by his own hand, and his assassins are as well.”

  Max gave Talon a long hard look. “May God be kind to the soul of poor Eugenia and send the rest of them straight to Hell. Are you ever going back?”

  “God willing, yes, Max. You remember Nikoporus? He was killed in the sea battle. I liked him. It devastated Alexios.”

  Max nodded. “They were very good friends. God be merciful to his soul.”

  “We can say prayers for those lost when we get to the chapel at Acre. Meanwhile we have some ships to keep employed, you and I. These ruffians we call our friends are too good at navigation to leave on the beach; we have already done very well, as the crews will all find o
ut when we get to Acre. And the family Kalothesos wants us back, they want our ships to sail for them.”

  Max nodded with satisfaction. “Yes. But first we have some business to attend to?”

  “That we do, my friend.”

  They embraced, and Max went down to the boat where Dmitri and Nigel were waiting for him. He seated himself and looked up at Talon. “God protect.”

  Talon nodded. “God protect, my friends.”

  *****

  The Genoese had sailed the next day. Nigel followed the vessel out through the water breaker and took up station just on the horizon where he could see the ship hull down. The Falcon had taken up station with Nigel and followed him a few miles astern and well out of sight of the Genoese. Talon had trouble containing his worry that the man might slip away from them, and disappear forever.

  They tracked the Genoese vessel for four days and three nights, and oft times they thought they had lost their prey until one day they had a stroke of luck. The Falcon had been in the lead and they had sighted an island ahead of them, and the Genoese had not changed course. Instead it had sailed directly toward land and then vanished.

  Henry had hauled in the sails and had the rowers prepare to hold station, then they waved Nigel up alongside. There had been a shouted conversation between Henry and Nigel as to the nature of the place, but it was Dmitri who told them that it was a very small island which had probably only a couple of small villages on it and those were to the south. The Genoese could well have gone into a cove that Caravello was familiar with to obtain water.

  Knowing they had little time to take advantage of the situation, Talon had ordered them to make landfall but to be very wary of being seen. Fortunately they had seen the masts of the galley and had then steered clear to find another cove a few miles further down the coast. Hastily pulling the two ships into the protection of a tiny bay well protected from the surf, they had anchored and then landed on the shore. Having made sure of their own security, Talon led a small party overland accompanied by Max and Guy to investigate the location of the Genoese ship.

  Now he was staring down through the long grass at the vessel, watching for activity that might indicate that they were making preparations for departure. He was taking a terrible risk; if the Genoese ship departed suddenly, they might lose it altogether. However, as the afternoon deepened to twilight Talon decided that the Genoese ship would be likely to stay where it was through the night.

  He could see a lot of movement on the deck; all at once he was shocked to see a long gout of flame pour out of the side of the ship to land with a flaming splash on the rocks nearest to the ship. He gasped. They were practicing with their Greek Fire! The men near him stared wide-eyed and fearful and crossed themselves. The sight of the bright unearthly glow of the flames that still burned on the sea and the targeted rocks clearly unnerved them.

  Talon and Max looked at one another in the gloom. “They have learned how to use it, Max. We have no time left, we must move tonight. Talk to the men; we do not want panic to set in just now.”

  Max nodded and moved off to reassure the other men and to tell them to prepare for the work to be done. There would be two parties, one of which would attack the crew on the beach, while the other group would capture the ship. These men all professed to be able to swim, although Talon had not had time to verify this. Those who could not would presumably sink. They were to take only their swords and knives. As soon as Max had overcome the sentries on the beach he was to come to the ship with as many men as he could put into the boat and assist Talon to secure the ship. Talon left his bow with Max and asked him to bring it with him.

  “We do not know how many are on their cruiser, so we have to depend upon surprise,” he had advised.

  “I will lock down the hatches with my men as early as we can to keep the larger part of the crew down below decks.” Guy had said. “There are two main hatches and then the after cabins,” he had added.

  “I can go to the after cabins and attempt to capture Caravello. I hope that once he is taken prisoner the resistance will fall away,” Talon had said.

  “We are only forty men against what looks to be a full crew of about eighty men. We must succeed at the first try. There will be no second chance, and I for one would hate to lose this man. He must be made to pay for what he allowed to happen to Montague” Max had spoken grimly.

  Talon had nodded his agreement.

  Now Talon hoped fervently that no one would be on duty at the fire device when they were swimming toward the ship. They stood no chance at all against that terrible weapon should it be used upon them. The nagging doubts worried him as night settled in and darkness shrouded the bay. Lamps were lit on the ship’s bow and stern, which gave away its location, while a fire burned on the beach, its glow illuminating the forms of ten men who were sitting and drinking around it while a few others, presumably sentries, were seen walking around on the periphery with pikes.

  They continued to wait. The plan was not to attack until the early hours when both the sentries on the beach and the men would be likely to be asleep, and the men on the ship hopefully in a similar condition. Talon yawned. It had been a long day. He took a sip of water from a skin lying nearby and looked up at the sky. It was going to be a clear night, which would not help if anyone on the ship was alert and watching the waters of the bay. They would be fully exposed and then…his mind did not want to dwell upon the consequences of that scenario. He put his head in his arms and tried to get some sleep.

  *****

  Orion was low on the western sky when Talon nudged Max, who was dozing nearby, and whispered the order for the men to move. Making as little noise as possible the men from both parties made their way down a narrow path to the sandy beach. Apart from the very occasional scrape of a foot on the sandy track or small stumble and grunt of annoyance from someone, the short journey was accomplished in almost total silence. They stood in the darker shadows of the cliff, listening and looking around for the sentries. None were to be seen. Max whispered into Talon’s ear.

  “It looks as though they are all asleep! Shall we deal with them silently?”

  Talon nodded and left him to it, while he led the way across the sand to the water. He was quite naked, as were the twenty men with him, except for the belts around their waists holding their swords and knives. They had left their clothes in the dark shadows at the base of the track. Some put their knives between their teeth, and then they all sank into the calm, chill waters of the bay and began to swim. Pushing off into water Talon did not look back. The water was cold and his breath caught as he worked his arms and legs trying not to make a wave or to splash in the water. The weight of his sword threatened to drag him down if he did not keep in motion. He knew that the other men were working just as hard and thought he even heard some labored breathing behind him.

  Max and his men were surely doing their deadly work as they swam. Indeed, he heard almost nothing until there was a small choking sound from the beach, but by this time they were almost at the ship. It rested on the water in total darkness. The lamps that he had seen before appeared to have gone out and he could hear nothing above him as he approached the dark hull other than the creak of wood and the light rattle of rigging from the masts towering over them.

  In total silence the men withTalon, including Guy, reached the side of the ship and caught hold of ropes that dangled from above. Talon tested the air with his nose. There was a peculiar and unpleasant smell to this ship that he could not identify. The ropes had presumably been dropped to haul up the boat that now lifted and bumped gently against the side of the silent vessel. Still no alarm as he tested the one rope, and then when it held he slowly pulled himself up, dripping water as he went, pausing to listen every other pace. He finally reached the deck and peered cautiously over the edge. He was greeted with a snore from very close by. A member of the crew was lying in the scuppers almost under his nose, and he caught the rank smell of sour wine and unwashed body.

  Tal
on pulled himself over the side and crouched in the darkness right next to the sleeping man. He stared around the deck for any sign of activity. Then he heard a snort as someone blew his nose. He flicked his gaze upwards and saw the figure on the afterdeck above him wiping his fingers on his pants. But the man was also staring intently towards the beach. He seemed to be quite alone, which was a huge relief to Talon, but it was becoming clear that the figure was listening very hard and what ever it was he had heard was taking up his full attention.

  Talon could hear the very faint sounds of the men behind him preparing to climb the ropes so he moved like a shadow along the deck and slipped up the ladder leading to the afterdeck. He was one pace away from the man before his victim became aware of any danger, but then it was not from him. The man had heard something in the water alongside the ship and his head turned sharply in the direction of the sound.

  He tensed and peered intently down to where the men were climbing the ropes and the steps up the sides. He had seen them and his mouth opened to shout the alarm. He got no further. His head was jerked back violently as Talon’s knife blade slit his throat. All that he uttered was a gurgle of agony as he died, and his foot twitched once on the deck making a dull thump. Talon eased the body down onto the floor then hastened to the waist of the ship to give a hand up to the first arrivals.

  It took only a few minutes before most of them were on the deck, dripping and naked. Guy led them over the side and then directly to the far hatchway, running as silently as possible with their swords out ready to attack anyone they confronted. They were almost at the hatch when it opened and a man put his head out as though preparing to exit. He spied the dark forms of the figures rushing toward him and let out a squawk of alarm. He threw open the hatch, then dived back below yelling the alarm to those on the lower decks.