The Jongurian Mission (36 page)

“Best put this on lad if you mean to stay out here,” Sam said, handing Bryn one of the raincoats.

Bryn quickly pulled it on, glad to be out of what was fast becoming a heavy downpour. The ocean around them was covered in tiny dots as thousands of rain droplets fell upon it. The sun had disappeared, whether over the horizon or behind the clouds Bryn couldn’t tell.

“How long will this last?” Bryn asked Sam.

“Hard to say,” Sam yelled over the sound of wind and rain. “Could last all night and into tomorrow, or blow itself out in a few hours.”

“Would be best to head into the cabin and have something to eat before the seas get too rough,” Edgyn shouted to him.

Bryn decided that wasn’t a bad idea and started to head across the deck and down the small stairs. He had to hang on tightly to the railing as the ship swayed in the wind. The deck was slick with rain so Bryn slid more than stepped his way to the cabin door. The winds were so stiff that he had to put all of his weight into pulling the door open.

Inside Halam, Pader, Iago, and Willem were crowded around the table eating bread and cheese.
Rodden and Millen were both lying down on the bunks, Millen moaning loudly and holding a small wooden bucket over his stomach while Rodden had his arm over his eyes. Bryn did his best to walk over to the table, but it came out as more of a stagger as the ship rocked in the rough seas.

“How is it out there?” his uncle asked when Bryn made it to the table, his wet raincoat dripping puddles onto the floor around him.

“Sam says the storm could last all night and into tomorrow, or for just a few hours. He’s not sure,” Bryn replied, repeating the crewman’s words. Millen moaned louder at that, while Willem and Pader smiled to each other across the table.

“Well, all we can do is sit tight and ride it out, I suppose,” Iago said between bites of bread.

There wasn’t much talk around the table after that, so Bryn ate his bread and cheese silently, hoping that the combination of the food in his stomach and the stormy sea did
n’ send him to his bunk, as was the case with Millen and Rodden. The other men finished eating and then stared off at the cabin walls, every once in a while looking up as a particularly large wave seemed to crash into the ship or a peal of thunder sounded outside. Once he was dry, Bryn decided that he was bored enough to get wet all over again, so he shakily headed back out the door.

The wind howled and he thought the door would blow away when he opened it, but he managed to hold on to it and shut it firmly before carefully walking back to the stairs with his arms outstretched to keep his balance.
Sam had the wheel now while Edgyn intently looked through a spyglass at the sea behind them, taking it from his eye as he noticed Bryn approach.

“We’ve got company,” he said, pointing out at the dark sea over the stern.

Bryn squinted and put his arm up to his forehead to keep the blowing rain out of his face, but he couldn’t make
out anything. Just then a flash of lighting illuminated the world around them and he caught sight of two large sails several leagues to their rear. He quickly jerked his gaze up to Edgyn after seeing them.

“Two ships, a bit larger than us,” Edgyn answered his worried look.
“Fess caught sight of ‘em when he was securing the sails high up on the mainmast. I figure they’ve been following us since we left Weiling, but took advantage of the storm’s low visibility to gain on us. They haven’t lowered their mainsails yet.”

“What does that mean?” Bryn asked, unsure exactly what Edgyn was getting at.

Edgyn looked from Sam to Bryn, then put the glass to his eye and turned his attention back to the ships. “It means they’ll try to overtake us.”

Bryn looked up to Sam.
“You mean catch us and stop us?”

“Aye, it would appear so,” Sam replied, his fists clenched tightly to the wheel.

“But why would the Jongurians want to catch us if they just sent us away?” Bryn asked.

“I don’t think they mean to apologize for kicking us out of their country, if
that’s what you’re thinking,” Edgyn replied with a laugh.

“So they want to hurt us then?”

“It would seem that way, yes.” Edgyn said seriously, putting the glass back in his pocket and looking down at Bryn. “I’ve no real idea as to their intentions, lad, but I’ve had Jongurian ships on my tail before and can tell the difference between the good-intentioned and the bad. These look bad to me.” He looked out over the ship. “I don’t think we have a chance to outrun them in this storm.”

“So what will happen then?” Bryn asked, and Sam also looked to Edgyn for an answer.

Edgyn looked up at the rigging for a few moments more before turning his eyes to Sam then Bryn. “Best go and inform the others as to the situation, Bryn,” he replied, pulling the glass from his pocket to stare behind him once again, “this could get rough.”

* * * * *

The men took turns sharing the two spyglasses that Edgyn and Bryn had, silently staring through them for a few moments, then passing them to the next man. Very few words were said, each quietly thinking through the odds in their head. They could still outrun the ships if the storm let up. Edgyn didn’t dare unfurl all the sails in this wind; the chance of losing one of the masts or crosstrees was just too great. So that meant that if the storm continued at its current rate, they had about an hour before the other ships would be within striking distance.

“I figure they’ll open up with their bowshots when they’re within a few knots of us,” Edgyn had explained to them when they all came on deck and the gravity of the situation was made clear to them all.
“From then it’s only a matter of time before they put enough holes in our stern to take off the rudder, and then we’ll be unable to steer. That’s
if
they don’t disable enough of the rigging to send down our sails first, in which case we’ll come to a near standstill.”

“You don’t think it would be feasible to turn and bring the battle to them?” Rodden had asked, his shirt and raincoat stained from the bread and cheese he
’d heaved over the side.

“No, we’d be no match for them.
They’ve got twice the guns as us already, and by turning we’d lose enough ground to them to close the gap so their guns could score some critical hits on our exposed side. Even if we managed it and came straight at them with our bowshots blazing away, we’d still run into them before both, or even just one of them was disabled.”

“So we keep running then?” Pader had asked.

“That’s the only option I see,” Edgyn had replied. “This storm shows no signs of letting up.”

“Shouldn’t we take the chance and put up some more sails?” Willem had asked.
“Right now with only the mainsail flying they’re catching us is inevitable. We’d better take the chance in losing a mast. If we don’t, we’ll lose the ship.”

Edgyn had looked them over then turned his gaze to the ship around them and the rigging above.
The mainsail was full and going strong, and the mast looked like it could take a great deal more from the storm.

“Alright, you’ve convinced me.
I said I’d never lose another ship after I lost the
Apsalar Princess
during the war, and I don’t mean to lose
The Comely Maiden
tonight. Sam, have the foresail and the two topsails unfurled, we’ll try to outrun them yet.”

Their faces had broken into smiles at Edgyn’s sudden gamble and the despair they
’d felt at hearing their chances of escape turned to hope as the crewmen set about climbing the rigging to let down the other sails.

That had been nearly an hour before, and in that time they
’d increased the distance between themselves and their pursuers. The sails remained full and the masts held. It appeared that their earlier worries were unfounded. Still, the men remained on the deck passing the glasses back and forth, staring intently at the two ships that wouldn’t give up the chase. Men could be seen scurrying about their decks, and it was clear that their numbers were far greater than their own. If it came to a pitched battle, they’d stand little chance. It’d already been agreed that if it came to that the men would throw down any arms they had and peacefully surrender. The ships flew no flags, but were large enough that Edgyn took them for Jongurian naval ships. He was certain they weren’t facing pirates, who’d likely kill them, so giving up without a fight didn’t seem so bad. With the odds they had, it was their only option.

Iago asked about the two small lifeboats that were fastened securely to the starboard railing.
Edgyn quickly said that it would prove almost fatal to take their chances in those boats in a storm like this, and all talk of abandoning the ship to try and sneak away off into the vastness of the ocean quickly ended.

Edgyn stared through his spyglass, then returned it
to his pocket and looked at the men. “We’re still putting distance between us. If some of you want to go back to the cabin to dry off, now would be a good time. We’ll let you know if anything changes.”

Millen and Rodden were happy to hear that and did the best they coul
d to keep their balance while walking down the stairs as the ship tossed. Iago and Pader looked through the glasses for a few more minutes as if to make sure that the ships were truly further behind them then they were an hour earlier, then they too headed down the stairs and toward the cabin door.

“Do you know where we are in relation to the land?” Halam asked Edgyn after the others had left.

“I can’t be certain, but I think we’re about ten leagues off the coast.” He looked up at the sails again as if he could will them to stay strong with only his thoughts. “If I had to guess where on that coast we are I’d say somewhere south of Bindao or the Dongshui River, but I couldn’t be certain.”

“So we wouldn’t even be back in Adjurian waters for a few days, then.” Halam said.

“Aye, more like a few days to get to the mid-point of the isthmus.” He looked at them and flashed his bright white teeth in a wide smile. “So let’s hope that the wind stays at our backs.”

As if the weather were mocking him for speaking too soon, a loud crack split the air around them.
They looked up to see that the foremast crosstree had snapped leaving the foretopsail whipping in the wind.

“Sam, get up there and see what you can secure, and be quick about it,” Edgyn said in a calm voice, although he had to yell to be heard over the roar of the wind and waves.
Sam, Fess, and Dell all began to scramble up the rigging as fast as they could to ascertain the damage done to the ship. Before they were able to make it up to the whipping sail, however, another loud snap was heard, and the top of the foresail came loose. The shroud whipped about and caught Dell, sending him flying through the air. He landed with a loud splash in the water off the starboard side.

“Take the wheel, Bryn,” Halam said as he and Willem moved over to help Edgyn.
The men had a line over the side within seconds and were pulling soon after that. They put all their strength into it, and it paid off. After a few minutes they had Dell back on the deck coughing up half the sea out of his lungs. Flint and Conn had gotten over by then and helped him to the cabin while Edgyn took over on the wheel. Jal came up and pointed to the rigging.

“The foremast crosstree is finished,” Bryn heard him shout over the wind, pointing up at the damaged topmast.
“Sam has managed to get the mainsail fastened down, but the line’s broken. It’ll take a while to get another one up and the sail unfurled again.”

Edgyn nodded and handed him the wheel, turning to look back at the ships behind them, which Bryn had nearly forgotten in the sudden excitement.
He pulled out his spyglass and stared back at the two ships fast approaching now that
The Comely Maiden
was down to just two sails. The ships were much closer now and he didn’t need the glass to see the men on the ships. There was a large group of them huddled about the bow of each staring back at him. They had surely seen the incident that had just occurred with Dell and the distance it had gained them. After a minute Edgyn put the glass down and turned to them.

“They’ve gained on us considerably with that turn of events,” he said.
“I don’t think we can outrun them.”

After that things moved quickly.
Bryn was sent back to the cabin to tell the other men, who were already aware that something had occurred when Jal was escorted into the cabin soaking wet and coughing up seawater. When told that Edgyn thought their chances of escape had vanished, the cabin became a flurry of activity. Packs were quickly found and what weapons they had were made ready. There weren’t many. This had been planned as a peaceful trade mission and any need for weaponry hadn’t even been considered. Only Iago regularly carried a longsword strapped to his belt, and that would be little help against two full ships of men bent on their destruction.

“We’ll be needing weapons, then,” Iago said to Sam who stood helping Jal dry off.

“We’ve few of those, I’m sorry to say; just wasn’t expecting any need for them. Still, Edgyn has always thought it best to be prepared, so there should be some stowed away down in the hold. I’ll check.” He headed back out onto the rain-swept deck.