The man almost crumpled, but not quite. He just nodded dumbly, but drummed up enough courage to mention the loss of the schooner. “We heard the gunfire earlier. The information is that you have lost a schooner already. Bit negligent, was it not?”
“That schooner, commanded by a very good young man who died as a result, was attacked without provocation by a ship flying no colours. What do you know about it, Spencer-White? Did you not see it when it entered the river, as it must have done earlier?”
“Ships come and go all the time. The King enjoys a good trading relationship with many countries and some ships do not carry allegiance to any one particular country, so it is not unusual to see such a ship.”
“H’mm. That is as may be, but this one was different. Once upon a time, you were supposed to be a Naval officer, Spencer-White, so you should surely have noted it was painted dark blue, was an ex-French corvette and was pierced for twenty guns! Hardly an honest trader! It fired on my schooner without warning and also engaged another of my ships, that brig you can see riding astern of the two frigates. You remember what a frigate looks like? The brig’s commander noted the name of that corvette. She is called Majestie and if any one of my ships comes across her again, that will be the end of her!” Courtenay was watching Spencer-White carefully and he saw a troubled look come into his eyes. Westerby said afterwards he had also noticed it.
“Well, I may not have been here when it sailed up-river this morning.”
“Surely someone must have told you?”
“No-one did. Captain Horrocks may have said something, but since when did an officer of the Military know anything about ships?” He sneered at the Army man, and Horrocks turned a colour that perfectly matched his tight-fitting tunic.
“I shall leave you now and go to seek an audience with the King, Spencer-White. However, I shall return later and then you will give me all the information you have about what has been happening here.”
Spencer-White was getting some of his bluster back. “Minter can give you all that. He knows a lot more than I do, but that is what he is paid to do. My responsibilities are to His Majesty’s Government, not to this insignificant little country.”
Courtenay turned his back on the man, holding down his anger at the way in which Spencer-White had insulted one of Britain’s trading partners. Horrocks had already gone out of the building onto the veranda and had been walking up and down to contain his rage. He saw Courtenay and came to attention.
“Orders my Lord?”
“Yes, first of all, stop calling me ‘my Lord’. ‘Sir’ is enough. Secondly, I would like to speak to that very brave young man who rescued his family when his village was attacked. I gather Mr Minter speaks Swahili?”
“Well, yes sir, he does, but so do I, after a fashion.”
“Excellent, because I speak none of it! In that case, I would like to speak with him with either you or Mr Minter present. Can you arrange that?”
“Of course sir.”
“Excellent. I shall see you later in that case.”
The small flotilla set sail again and it was getting on for the time when it would soon be dark when the Palace came into sight. It was a sturdy, not too pretentious looking building set in some tropical gardens and with a small stream running through them and as, in equatorial zones, there is hardly any time between day and night, by the time the ships were anchoring, it was pitch-black. The building and the gardens were ablaze with light from a myriad of lanterns, and as Courtenay’s barge came alongside a sizeable jetty, a throng of people could be seen waiting to see who was coming ashore. As the barge came to a halt, and Courtenay stepped ashore again, a slim young man in a lightweight cream-coloured suit stepped forward.
“Good evening Admiral, I am Minter. Who do I have the honour of addressing?”
“The name is Courtenay,” said Courtenay, beating his Flag-lieutenant to it for a change.
“Lord Courtenay? My word sir, I am very pleased to see you and His Majesty will be delighted to meet you I know, but may I ask what brings you here?”
“You reported some troubles Mr Minter. The Admiralty has sent me to find out what is going on and to put a stop to it.”
There was a look of utter relief on the young man’s face. “Thank God! I thought HMG would write it off as just one of those unfortunate things. I never dreamt they would send you my Lord!” By now, he was guiding Courtenay up a path that led to the Palace. “We did have another visit this morning.”
“From someone in a dark blue ship?”
“You saw it?”
“Yes, it fired on, and sank, my schooner without any provocation. She is an ex-French corvette, Majestie.”
“How many ships have you my Lord, may I ask?”
“Mr Minter, I know that you are the man who does everything here and not that idiot Spencer-White. Of course you may ask, but only if you stop addressing me as ‘my Lord’ all the time. I have a 98-gun ship-of-the-line, three frigates and a brig, and if my flagship’s Bosun thinks he can, I will have my schooner back as well.”
“A 98-gunner?”
“Yes, Alexander. The Government is keen for us to show the King how seriously this matter is being taken.”
“She will not get up the river Admiral.”
“No Mr Minter, but whilst she is anchored in the bay, neither will anyone else that we do not wish to allow either!”
Minter gave a broad smile, and nodded vigorously. “The King will be pleased to hear that after what happened this morning. Come, I will introduce you, and leave him to tell you what happened.”
FOUR
Minter conferred with a tall man standing outside an impressive pair of double doors and the man listened, then smiled briefly and let himself into the room on the other side of the doors. A few moments later he came out and beckoned to Minter and Courtenay to enter. Courtenay smiled at Trafford’s concern that he went anywhere without him and said quietly, “Not to worry Alex, we are among friends.” Even as he said the words, a smiling young native girl appeared with a glass containing a dark coloured liquid and offered it to the coxswain, pointing to a nearby comfortable chair.
Minter saw the look Trafford gave the glass and said, “Don’t worry, Mr Trafford, it is their version of your rum!” He looked at Courtenay and they went through the doors into the room beyond.
Giles Courtenay did not know what he expected to see in the room, but he was surprised all the same. He imagined that the King, and possibly the Queen, would be seated on thrones set above the rest of the floor level, which would be covered in animal skins of one kind or another. He also imagined there might be lackeys standing next to the King and Queen waving huge ostrich feathers above their heads to try to keep away unwanted insects and provide some movement in the air. Instead, he found two people seated in comfortable armchairs, and the floor was covered in quite a thick carpet. There was no sign of any lackeys with ostrich feathers, but there were fans in the high ceiling that were whirring gently. No doubt the people operating them were outside the room because there was no sign of anyone inside. The King and Queen were dressed very comfortably in the Country’s normal garb and looked cool and relaxed, unlike he, who was sweating badly in his dress uniform.
Minter strode towards the King and stopped several paces away. The tall man harangued the King and Queen in their own tongue, and then Minter stepped forward and spoke in Swahili. “Your Majesties, I am very grateful to you for allowing myself and my friend here this audience, but I am sure you will benefit from hearing from him.” He turned to Courtenay and changed to English, “Admiral, may I present their Majesties, King Khalfani and Queen Tabara. Your Majesties, may I present Vice-admiral Lord Courtenay, of His Britannic Majesty King George’s Royal Navy.”
Courtenay bowed, but not too low, and was surprised when the King rose, stepped forward and held out his hand. “You are most welcome here Admiral And you are a Lord?” he said in perfect English.
“Yes your Majesty. A Baron.”
> “You are very young to be a Lord unless it is an inherited title?” He saw Courtenay’s expression. “Oh, I have studied your system Admiral, and I know the difference between inherited titles and ones which are granted for life only. I am also aware of the fact that a Vice-admiral is a senior officer, and again, you are very young?”
“I have been fortunate your Majesty, but the title was not inherited.”
The King beamed. “Then you must be a very successful Naval officer. Tell me Admiral, what brings you to our country? Not that we are not very pleased to see any representative of our cousin King George of course.”
“Mr Minter here sent a report to London, to King George, about what has been happening here. The King asked the Admiralty, who control the Royal Navy, to investigate and to put a stop to the problems you have been having. The Admiralty has commanded me to carry out the investigation and endeavour to cure the problems.”
“In which case Admiral, you are even more welcome. Please be seated. We will have some refreshment.” He sat back down in his comfortable chair and motioned to two chairs close by. “Which problems are you aware of Admiral?” he continued. Minter went to say something but the King held up a hand.
“I know of the attack on the fishing village when all the people were most unfortunately killed aside from the small number which escaped and I have asked that I speak with the young man whom I believe killed one of the attackers. There is also the attack on one of your villages further inland when everyone was taken hostage.” A thought occurred to him. “That was some time ago now. Have there been any further attacks?”
“One or two. Another fishing village was attacked and burned, but fortunately the people realised what was going to happen and fled into the jungle. One or two of the attackers, pirates in my view, were foolish enough to follow them. As you can imagine Admiral, my people know their jungle, the attackers did not. None of those that followed survived. Unfortunately, my people reacted to what had happened in a predicable way and those stupid men who followed them met very unpleasant deaths. I wish I had known, because it would have been nice to have spoken with these pirates before they died. I have some of my own soldiers as I believe you may know and I have sent some of them to patrol the jungle in case any further efforts are made to kidnap more of my people.”
“Has there been a ransom demand at all your Majesty?” Courtenay asked.
“Not as such. Tell me Admiral, I am of course aware from my own sources that you have a number of ships with you, including one very large one, and that you suffered the loss of a small one, a schooner I think you call them?”
“Yes, at the hands of a ship wearing no colours and which fired on her without any provocation or warning. She managed to escape, but when one of my ships catches up with her again, she will not be so lucky!”
“And what of the schooner?”
“Some of my men were looking at her today to see if she could be refloated. If she can, then we will try to repair her.”
“As you may also know, I have some small ships of my own, and we do have quite a good docking area here. If you wish to avail yourself of the facilities, you may do so.”
“I am most grateful your Majesty.”
“Now tell me Admiral, what is the real reason you are here? I am sure that our cousin King George has many countries to look after and we are only a very small one?”
“King George takes protecting all his countries very seriously your Majesty. That is why I am here with my squadron.”
“Is it that, or is it that we have a very lucrative trading arrangement with your Government concerning diamonds?” The King looked long and hard at Courtenay, a fact not lost on Minter, who was holding his breath. He had heard of Courtenay’s reputation as a fighter, but here he had to be a diplomat as well and again, he started to say something, but the King held up a hand once more.
Courtenay smiled. He had been expecting that one! “I can assure you your Majesty that King George takes the safety of all his countries extremely seriously, no matter what the size or the nature of any trading relationship. They are all important to him, and I have been commanded to pass on to you my King’s best wishes and to say that I am to leave no stone unturned to find out what has been happening, why, and to put a stop to it. May I ask, your Majesty, if the dark blue ship which attacked my schooner had been here to see you?”
The King stopped smiling and looked serious. “Yes, it was. I had a visit from its Captain this morning, and I cannot say it was a particularly pleasant one.”
“May I ask the name of the Captain? May I hazard a guess and say he was French?”
The King looked at Courtenay then smiled and nodded. “Yes, he was and his name was Mason, John-Pierre du Mason. Have you heard of him?”
Courtenay nodded. “Yes, I have. He used to be an officer in the French Navy, then turned his hand to slavery, gun-running, any kind of activity where he could earn money. His ship is an ex-French National corvette called Majestie. There are a few countries who would happily see him at the end of a rope. May I ask what it was he wanted of you?”
“Since you are here for our protection, of course. He was here to offer my country protection, that is the only way to say it. He has said that he represents employers who are most concerned about recent events and they would like to offer their services to protect my Kingdom against these things ever happening again. How he and his employers were aware of these events he did not say, but of course, he did not have to!”
“No doubt this protection would come at a price?” asked Courtenay.
“Yes. One-half my country’s income from the diamond mines.”
“No doubt your Majesty knows it would not stop at that.”
“No, Admiral Courtenay, I doubt that it would. Let us say I detect someone’s hand in all this, because there are other countries, not as fortunate as Balathia, who also have diamond mines and which would be a lot easier to bully into doing what they wish.”
“You have an idea then as to who is behind all this?”
“Yes, a cousin of mine, Abdalla, which in Swahili means ‘servant of God’ which I find quite amusing since he is the least God-like person I know! He has always maintained, quite wrongly of course, that he should be the King of Balathia. He might have been, had his mother not been married to his father! However, he feels that is no bar to the throne. He is wrong, because my country’s customs would not allow someone who is, how do you say, illegitimate to take the throne. My own parents, both of whom are unfortunately dead, were happily married for many, many years, as Tabara and myself have been.”
“Do you know where your cousin can be found?”
“He is like the wind Admiral. He may be in one place one day, and another the next. No, I have no idea.”
“I will be arranging for regular patrols along your coastline your Majesty, although I cannot guarantee one of these ships will not slip through our net. We will however do our best and I will also endeavour to trace your cousin.”
“Will you do me a favour Admiral? When you find him, do not bring him here. Just hang him on one of your ships. You have my blessing to do so!”
Courtenay smiled. “I shall be sure to remember.”
They all rose and the King again shook Courtenay’s hand. “You speak excellent English your Majesty.” said Courtenay.
“Thank you Admiral. I had some good teachers from the many missionaries who came here. My father made sure I attended many lessons. He was a wise man. Tell me Admiral, what is your first name?”
“Giles, your Majesty.”
“Well then Giles my friend, I wish you good hunting and if there is anything you wish, please let Busar here,” he indicated the tall man, “know and he will deal with it.”
“I would like to pay a visit to your diamond mines to see if there is anything I can offer to increase security, if that is in order?”
“Of course! You and your ships are free to use the river as you please. Come back and see us again soon
my friend.”
Vice-admiral Courtenay stood behind his desk in his cabin aboard Alexander and looked at each of his Captains. “The Captain of that damned corvette yesterday was a certain Jean-Pierre du Mason.” He watched as all but Commander Pountney shook their heads.
“Thought he had been caught years ago.” commented Martin Stevens.
“Unfortunately not. He is around here, and from what the King told me yesterday it seems that although the frog came offering protection on behalf of his so-called employers, what he was really doing was laying the ground for more than protection, and fortunately the King knows it, and was not fooled. It seems the King’s cousin, a man named Abdallah, might be behind all this and the object is for him to lay his hands on the country. He thinks he is the rightful ruler. It is obvious he is not, but two diamond mines are quite a lure. Very well. This is what I intend. We clearly cannot be everywhere at once, but the frigates will patrol the coastline from border to border. It is important however that our patrols are not regular otherwise it will not take M’sieu du Mason to work out where any one of our ships will be at any one time. He will not be alone either. From what this man Minter, who is far more efficient at his job than that idiot Spencer-White ever will be, has told me, there may be other ships working with Majestie. For instance he has had reports of a ship called the Senora de Fuentes, and which he described as a frigate, under the command of Rodriguez Peron being seen off the bay.” There were more groans. “Yes, I know we have all heard of him as well as a merciless slaver who does not give a fig for the health of those he seeks to sell at auction in Charleston or wherever else he can ply his noxious trade. There may also be some smaller ships, but he is not certain. Any ship you have any doubts about at all, stop and search. Be prepared at all times to fight, but I do not have to tell you about that, do I?” There were smiles all around at that comment. They were still conditioned by years of war to forget the need to be ready for anything. “Captain Fenwick will assign you to your sectors. “
Courtenay and the Mercenaries Page 5