His Majesty's ship of 74 guns Sutherland drifted before the gentle breeze, her masts strangely bare with much less sail set than would be customary for those conditions. Sprawled across her decks her crew was beginning to revive from the unconsciousness that had been claiming them, their groans of complaint echoed by those of the ships animals below decks.
"Sir! Sir!" Lieutenant Bush, the Sutherland's first Lieutenant exclaimed as he hurried across the quarterdeck to the side of his Captain.
Hornblower's head hurt abominably and as he roused himself more fully his temper also roused with envy over how indestructible his friend was since Bush's concerned face showed no signs of being similarly affected.
"See to the ship Mister Bush," Hornblower growled, regretting the harshness of his tone even as he spoke.
"Aye sir," Bush replied, well used to Hornblower's moods.
As Bush strode away to organise the Sutherland's officers and men and get her back under control Hornblower stood, resisting the temptation to put a hand to his head and show weakness in front of his crew. He moved to the aft rail and gazed back along the Sutherland's course and tried to get his thoughts in order while behind him Bush did the same for his ship.
There had been a strange storm, unlike any that Hornblower had seen in his many years at sea. It had been like a great bruise in the sky or like how he would imagine one of the Hurricanes that so often lashed His Majesty's possessions in the West Indies would look if viewed somehow from above. A shrill pulsating noise had built louder and louder and Hornblower had seen his crew crumpling to the deck before he found himself joining them.
Hornblower began to pace, absently noting men swarming up the rigging to adjust the sails and to support a few unlucky souls who had been caught up there when they passed out and who were now reviving. They had been taken by surprise, as unlike the storm a few days before which had dismasted the Pluto there had been no warning signs.
"Mr Savage," Hornblower said, as he caught sight of his senior midshipman, "Take your glass to the masthead and tell me what you see."
"Aye sir," Savage replied.
Hornblower strode up and down the quarterdeck while he thought and waited for the long climb to be completed and Savage to report. The sails were now properly set and the wheel manned as the Sutherland picked up speed again and achieved steerage way. Buckets of seawater soused those seamen who had not roused by themselves and Hornblower noted that Bush had already organised parties to wash the decks clean of the blood spilt by those who had fallen on something sharp.
"Deck there," Savage hailed, "Nothing in sight, no land, no ships."
"Ha - h'm," Hornblower said to himself at this doubly surprising news. He had not expected them to have drifted so far from Rosas Bay to be completely out of sight of land. Added to that even assuming had the same unconsciousness afflicted the crew of the Caligula, which Hornblower felt it must or Captain Bolton would have sent parties to board the Sutherland and assist, he would not have expected the two ships to have drifted so far apart.
"Mister Bush," Hornblower said as his first Lieutenant and friend rejoined him, "We will proceed to the north, have me called when we sight the coast or the Caligula."
"Aye sir," Bush replied.
Hornblower glanced up from the papers on his desk as he heard the ships bell chime and was reminded of how much time had passed. The Sutherland had been making good progress, when Hornblower had gone out onto his stern gallery he had seen the water bubbling past the rudder, so to have not sighted land of some description was strange. Through his open skylight Hornblower realised he could hear some sort of hushed discussion, but dignity forbade him to go on deck and investigate every last disturbance.
There was a thumping on his cabin door and Hornblower looked up with carefully hidden anticipation, ensuring his face showed all the composure befitting a Captain in His Majesty's Navy.
"Come in," Hornblower called.
Young Midshipman Longley entered, less nervous than he had been at the start of the Sutherland's deployment to be speaking to his Captain and Hornblower was struck again by the assurance with which Longley carried himself as he gained more experience.
"Mr Bush's respects sir," Longley reported, "would you please come on deck."
"Very good," Hornblower replied, "inform Mr Bush I will be on deck presently."
"Aye sir," Longley said, withdrawing again after a moment.
Hornblower shuffled the papers on his desk a little as he waited a sufficient interval and then, clearing them away and locking his deck, went up to see what it was that Bush wanted. He knew if it was connected with the discussion he'd heard it must be something unusual, Bush was a superb sailor and was experienced enough that he'd actually outranked Hornblower by reason of seniority when they had both been Lieutenants in the Renown.
"Sorry to trouble you sir," Bush said as Hornblower appeared on the quarterdeck, "but Mr Crystal has noticed something strange."
"Mr Crystal?" Hornblower enquired, turning to face the master who was responsible for the Sutherland's navigation.
"Well sir," Crystal replied, "the sun appears to have already reached its zenith, but according to the ships chronometers that should still be hours away."
"Ha - h'm," Hornblower said as he thought. If you had chronometers set to the time in a known location, normally the Royal Observatory Greenwich, then by comparing when the ships chronometers said noon with when the sun reached noon where you were then you could measure from this difference how far east or west you were. For this difference to have suddenly increased by hours either the Sutherland's chronometers had all been affected to the same extent or, quite ridiculous to suppose, the Sutherland had somehow travelled hundreds of miles from her previous position.
"Mr Bush, Mr Gerard," Hornblower said, pulling out his pocket watch, "may I trouble you gentlemen for the time?"
Bush and Gerald pulled out their own pocket watches and they and Hornblower compared the times shown. There was the usual variation but the watches agreed to within a few minutes of each other and of the ships chronometers. It did not seem likely that the Sutherland could have drifted so far but it also seemed unlikely that with the differences in their manufacture that the chronometers and pocket watches would have been affected by the same amount.
"Mr Crystal," Hornblower decided, "we will wait for nightfall to confirm our position by the stars, until then we will maintain our course."
"Aye sir," Crystal said as Hornblower went back down the companionway ladder.
As night fell, proving that the Sutherland's timepieces and the hours of daylight were not in agreement, Hornblower again left the confines of his cabin where he had been trying to concentrate on his paperwork rather than dwell on the strangeness of events. Lieutenant Bush touched his hat as he saw his Captain arrive, not being cursed with an active imagination he had been satisfied with having been able to ensure the smooth running of the ship and was well content to let Hornblower figure things out and give him orders.
"We will heave to Mr Bush," Hornblower ordered, the fact they had not yet sighted land did show they were not where they had thought. It was probably an unnecessary precaution but with nightfall the lookouts at the masthead could no longer see as far to provide warning. Too many ships had been lost to unexpected obstacles, sometimes even entire fleets as with Sir Clowdesley Shovell in the Association a century ago, for Hornblower to want to take any chances.
"Aye Sir," Bush replied, moving away and issuing the appropriate orders to reduce sail and rig a sea anchor.
As Bush brought the Sutherland to as much of a standstill as was possible on the open sea Hornblower watched as the twilight deepened into night and the stars became more and more visible. It was a clear night with the stars were shining brightly overhead but Hornblower felt almost a desire that they had been hidden by cloud as he realised the impossibility he was seeing. It was impossible but either he had gone mad or the stars had changed, Hornblower's mind whirled as he tried again and again to find the familiar patterns of the constellations and failed to do so.
A hush spread through the ship as the other officers and the crew also noticed. Even the landsmen amongst them were familiar enough with stars in the night sky to realise that something about it was not quite right even if unlike the experienced sailors they were not able to steer by them.
Hornblower cast his mind back to the voyage of the Lydia and the other occasions when he had crossed the equator, but no- these patterns of stars didn't match his memory of those of the Southern Hemisphere either. Hornblower realised that he had no idea how this could have happened but whatever the reason was and whatever he was going to do in the longer term he still had a fine ship and crew and he had his duty. Seizing on that thought let him regain his control enough to feel grateful for the half-light having hidden his expression and his shock from his subordinates.
"Sir, look sir!" Bush called as he moved towards Hornblower.
"I know Mr Bush," Hornblower replied as he stared at the stars that had betrayed him by not remaining constant.
"No sir," Bush said, daring to touch his Captains sleeve to demand attention, "there, on the horizon."
Hornblower turned and looked at where the last tinges of the day were vanishing as the night moved down to meet the sea and he felt another shock almost as bad as the first. There gleaming with a strange green tinge was the moon, or rather another moon in addition to the bright silver disc higher in the sky. Hornblower looked up at that again and subjected it to a more careful scrutiny than before when the stars had distracted him. It did look like Luna at first glance but the patterns of light and dark across its face were subtly different so it definitely was not the moon he knew.
"What in God's name..." Hornblower heard Gerard ask softly as he also caught sight of this second moon.
"That is something he will reveal in time Mr Gerard," Hornblower replied repressively, "but until then speculation serves no purpose."
"Aye sir," Gerard replied.
Hornblower knew there was nothing he could do but to wait, and he also knew that if he remained on deck he would only display the nerves the situation had awoken in him by fidgeting. It was important that he look to be remaining calm as often the mood of a ship flowed from the Captain and if he appeared agitated then this could unsettle the men.
"Keep the men occupied Mr Bush," Hornblower continued, deciding to conceal his nervousness by retreating to his sleeping cabin, "I am going below, send for me at once if anything else unexpected happens."
"Aye sir," said Bush.
Hornblower's sleeping cabin was quiet and dark but some sense that something was not quite right or that something had changed awoke him. He had not expected to sleep so his first few waking moments were consumed with his surprise at having slept despite how active his mind was over the situation but a scrape of feet on the deck drew his attention from this. Hornblower could just see a merest silhouette of greater darkness fidgeting respectfully.
"What is it Polwheal?" Hornblower asked, assuming the form was his steward.
"Mr Gerard's compliments sir," Polwheal replied, "but he thinks there is gunfire to the north."
Hornblower felt a puzzlement that was only increased by the last remaining vestiges of drowsiness at this message. Gerard was an experienced officer and one with responsibilities for the training and command of the Sutherland's gun crews. Hornblower was sure that if there were gunfire then Gerard would recognise it as such rather than not being sure of its nature.
As Hornblower arrived on the quarterdeck though he saw the answer to this question. Ahead of the Sutherland there were flares of light which appeared to be muzzle flash but, aside from the noise of what could have been an explosion, the night was silent rather than being filled with the thunder of those guns. If they were close enough to see the muzzle flashes they should be close enough to hear the guns firing as well.
An occasional streak shot through the air as if whoever was out there were firing Congreve rockets at each other and Hornblower saw eruptions of fire show that at least sometimes these were striking home. A distant moaning haunted the air and although Hornblower was a rational man he felt a tingle creep down his spine as this sound rose and fell.
"What do you make of it sir?" Gerard asked as he noticed the arrival of his Captain.
"Gunfire right enough Mr Gerard," Hornblower said, "we will beat to quarters at daybreak when we will be able to see more."
Hornblower climbed back up the companionway ladder to the quarterdeck, around him the members of his crew were making the transition from silhouettes in the darkness to being visible. He glanced around the quarterdeck at his waiting officers who were all eyeing him anxiously. Daybreak was always a tense time but with the mysteries that had piled upon mysteries the previous day the concern over what might be revealed as the light spread across the sea was great.
"Mr Bush, you may beat to quarters," Hornblower ordered.
"Aye sir," Bush replied.
The drum beats began to echo through the Sutherland as her crew began extinguishing the galley fires and taking down the bulwarks that normally divided the long gun decks. Below him Hornblower knew the gunner would have retreated behind the wet felt screens that protected the magazine from flash and would be handing out the sewn cartridges of gunpowder to the waiting powder monkeys. The ship's livestock would have been herded down below the waterline where they would be protected, and the ships surgeon would be laying out his instruments in anticipation of the wounded.
"Ah, thank you Polwheal," Hornblower said, as he noticed his steward approaching with his seagoing coat. The faded fabric and dulled, revealingly brassy, gold of the decorations showed this was for working in rather than entertaining guests or visiting superiors. Some Captains could afford gold for all occassions but to his regret Hornblower was not one of them.
Hornblower glanced up towards the lookouts that were, from their higher perspective, scanning the horizon for other ships or land. He had spent much of the night deep in thought and only pretending to sleep so that Polwheal would, if he looked in, be reassured by his calmness and pass that reassurance on in his gossiping through the ship. Despite having given it this much consideration though Hornblower had not managed to come to any firm conclusions about the situation in general or about what sort of vessels could have been fighting the battle, if battle it was, they had seen in the dark.
A rumbling distracted Hornblower from these thoughts as the gun trucks rolled across the planking of the Sutherland's gun decks and she showed her teeth as the cannon muzzles were run out through the open gun ports. Hornblower realised that he had forgotten to check his watch to time how long it had taken, and here was Mr Gerard hurrying towards him.
"Starboard and Port batteries closed up ready for action, sir," Gerard reported.
"Excellent work Mr Gerard," Hornblower replied, trusting that it was so, as usual.
Daylight was nearly upon them, dawn had come quickly while they had been busy with their duties, but the lookouts had not reported. Hornblower could feel his tension rising and could see that even the stolid Bush was suffering from a sense of anticlimax. Minutes passed and Hornblower began to consider ordering the galley fires relit so that the men could have a hot breakfast rather than salt pork and ships biscuit, but then a strange but familiar moaning reached his ear. Bush caught his eye and then turned his face skywards to save his Captain's voice.
"Masthead there," Bush bellowed, "what do you see?"
"Nothing in sight, sir," Midshipman Savage called back from his perch. "Wait, there's a strange...almost like a waterspout, but it's approaching...fast."
Bush's face contorted at this incoherent report and he drew in breath to demand what Savage was talking about. Hornblower knew though that for Savage to be puzzled what he was seeing must be very unusual and, although it imperilled his dignity since nearly every other man in the Sutherland could climb quicker, Hornblower decided he needed to go aloft and see for himself.
Gradually Hornblower climbed the mizzen rigging, in the sedate manner that could be allowed a Captain, but avoiding any timid pauses as gusts of wind made the Sutherland heel and her masts and rigging sway. Eventually he reached the secure perch where Mr Savage was waiting and raised his telescope to follow the line of Savage's own. It was hard to discern details, it was almost like whatever it was created its own haze around it such was the spray of its wake, but Mr Savage had been right about the speed of its approach. Sweeping his telescope across the horizon Hornblower could see that it was not alone, there were others following.
Hornblower folded his telescope with a clack as he thought. There was only one thing that could be sure, at that rate of knots if the other vessels maintained their course they would be in sight from the deck by the time he had returned there. This decision made Hornblower addressed himself to the descent and to avoiding any undignified slips of his feet.
The moaning noise of the approaching vessels built the whole time Hornblower was descending and was loud enough to drown the quieter creaks of the Sutherland by the time he reached the deck. Bush jumped down from the shrouds, where he had climbed to get a little extra height, to meet Hornblower and Hornblower could see the concern in his friend's eyes as he realised his Captain was almost as puzzled as himself.
"Get those men back to their posts!" Bush suddenly shouted as he noticed small groups of seamen starting to congregate along the Sutherland's rails and begin to chatter about what they could see or not see.
"Aye sir," Midshipman Longley acknowledged, echoed a moment later by the other Midshipmen as they began herding the sailors back to their positions.
Hornblower noted this as he himself moved to the rail and levelled his telescope, he could trust Bush to keep an eye on the ship so he could concern himself with the wider situation. The speed of their approach combined with the motion of the Sutherland made it difficult to keep the other vessel in the field of view of his telescope but Hornblower could begin to see details. They had a hawk nose with what looked like small cannon in swivel mounts either side and appeared to be both enclosed and made of metal. Long seagull wings projected from either side of the body, folding down at their tips to small seedpod like floats that were the only part of those vessels in contact with the water. Great plumes of spray from around those pods almost hid them and the brilliant whiteness of the wake of their passage paid tribute to the speed of their passage.
How they were achieving this speed though Hornblower found a mystery. They had no sails, no oars or paddles, and although there had been much work done on trying to utilise the power of steam for ships propulsion there had been nothing this powerful. Hornblower knew that there were some canals where the barges were towed by a small steam vessel, following the example set by the Forth and Clyde canal several years ago. Compared with those though the approaching vessels were incredibly fast and in any case they lacked funnels and were not leaving a trail of smoke behind them.
The leading vessel was getting close enough that Hornblower folded his telescope again and watched it with his bare eyes. For a long moment he feared it was going to smash into the Sutherland but somehow it turned, without a visible rudder, and streaked past alongside them on the opposite course. Hornblower heard a whistle of amazement hiss from between Bush's teeth and he could not blame his first Lieutenant for this, seeing the vessel head on had not conveyed the sheer speed of them as dramatically.
Hornblower moved to the aft rail and watched as the vessel made a broad white curve on the sea and reversed course. Although its swivel guns did not appear to be much larger than the cannon mounted in a sloop he was concerned that they might be as unusual as the rest of the strange vessel. They had given them no reason to attack though, and Hornblower was confident that had any of the enemies of King George possessed such vessels that at least a rumour would have reached him.
There was a strange sound, unlike any Hornblower had ever heard, and suddenly blackened holes appeared in the quarterdeck. Bucket parties were already moving forward to pour seawater over the charred wood around the edges of the holes before Hornblower had recovered entirely from his surprise. He was rather disgusted with himself over this momentary paralysis, had he frozen like that when the shell had landed on the deck of the Hotspur then he and Bush would both be dead.
As the vessel, now revealed as an enemy, arced around to make another attack Hornblower moved to look at the holes. Bush joined him as they estimated the path whatever had been fired had taken and, as one, they both moved to the rail and leaned over to look down at the outside of the hull.
"Ha - h'm," Hornblower said as he saw the matching entry holes that had been burnt through the inches of solid oak.
"Not very effective sir," Bush commented, unimpressed with the size of the holes.
Hornblower nodded, it appeared that the fabric of the Sutherland did not offer sufficient resistance for the enemy weapon to do more than pass through it like shot through a sail. Enough holes though would affect anything and Hornblower had sufficient imagination to be concerned about what would happen if the path the enemy weapon burned through the Sutherland passed through the magazine or even a charge being carried to a gun.
The enemy vessel was nearly on them again and Hornblower measured its approach, trying to adjust his perceptions to such a fast moving target.
"Mr Gerard!" Hornblower called, hoping the enemy helmsman would continue the curve rather than reversing it. "Stand by on the starboard broadside to fire on my command! I'll have any gun captain who fires without orders flogged tomorrow."
"Aye sir," Gerard replied, shifting men across to those cannon. He knew, and he knew Hornblower knew, that the men would give him their best regardless of whether they were threatened with flogging or not.
Hornblower moved to the aft rail and fixed his gaze on the enemy vessel. The same strange sound began again and this time he saw the flickers of brilliant yellow reaching out towards his ship, it was as if they were firing white-hot shot and it had much the same effect. Fresh holes burned themselves through the Sutherland as the enemy peppered her stern and the bucket parties moved forward again. Hornblower barely noticed the holes that had appeared around him as he concentrated on his timing and raised his silver whistle towards his lips.
With a piercing shriek Hornblower blew his whistle, thinking a final silent prayer as he did. All along the Sutherland's side the ship vanished in powder smoke as the cannons belched their shot outwards, the lower deck twenty-four pounders perhaps a moment after the maindeck eighteen-pounders as the order needed to be relayed down by the Midshipmen positioned for this purpose. Half a ton of iron tore the water up in fountains around the enemy craft and suddenly it was tumbling and smashing itself to fragments against the unyielding sea.
Hornblower was not sure what had caused this, whether they had managed to hit it in what was probably a vulnerable fin or if, at the speed it was moving, the turbulence caused by the splash of shot had been enough to unbalance it. It was a demonstration though of something you learned quickly in sailing ships, if you fell from high enough and were falling fast enough it didn't matter whether you hit the deck or the ocean. Ahead of the Sutherland the other enemy vessels were now moving towards them rather than maintaining their position.
"Helm a-starboard," said Hornblower, "stand by on the port broadside."
The Sutherland settled onto her new course and began to creep with agonising slowness across the path of the oncoming enemy ships. Under normal circumstances being able to cross the enemy T was something to aim for but Hornblower knew these were not normal circumstances as these enemy ships were so unlike anything he'd ever fought. The enemy vessels began to fire, at greater range than the other had, and fresh holes were burnt into the oaken sides of Hornblower's ship. He could feel Gerard's eyes on him waiting for the order to fire, but the closer the enemy got the more chance of success his gun captains had.
Hornblower raised his whistle and almost before he could blow it the Sutherland's cannon thundered out again. Some shot fell short, others fell beyond the enemy, and still more did nothing more than splash water over the enemy. Hornblower felt his jaw slacken slightly though as he saw the front of one of the enemy vessel's crumple inwards and realised that one of the gun captains had managed to place a shot so perfectly. The crew of the Sutherland cheered as they saw it go out of control, slew across the path of another, and collide to take both to the bottom.
"A double tot of Rum for the port broadside, I think, Mr Bush," Hornblower commented, loud enough to be heard.
"Aye sir," Bush replied, a satisfied grin on his face at their success.
The formation of the enemy vessels split as some turned to pass ahead of the Sutherland and others astern, the difference in their speeds allowing them to almost treat her as if she was stationary. Hornblower took the moment to think while the enemy was wheeling around for another charge. This was more like an infantry square under cavalry attack than it was like most sea fights. Crossing the enemy T had been successful but they couldn't rely on the same luck a second time, despite the difficulty of aiming it seemed better to be on the same course as the enemy rather than trying to hit their vulnerable fins edge-on.
"Helm a-port," Hornblower decided, "bring her back on her original course."
As the Sutherland came around Hornblower considered whether to order full sail set to try to gain a few extra knots speed and reduce the rate at which the enemy vessels would close. As was normal the lower sails had been reefed to avoid them being damaged but the enemy had shown no inclination to fire at the Sutherland's sails and try to reduce her manoeuvrability. Hornblower decided after a pause that the increase in speed would serve no practical advantage and that there was a chance that sailcloth would prove more immediately flammable than the hull so the risk was not worth it.
Behind them he saw the enemy vessels beginning their charge, great sweeping arcs of foam left in their wake. The two formations seemed to be on a slightly converging course that would cause them to cross astern of the Sutherland so the question was whether they would turn slightly and overtake them or turn more sharply and keep themselves away from her broadsides. Hornblower hoped that the enemy Captains would consider the danger of a rapid turn greater than running the gauntlet of the Sutherland's cannon.
"Starboard and Port batteries ready," Hornblower shouted, "fire on my command."
Again Hornblower moved to the aft rail but this time he had to watch more than one enemy vessel and he realised, with some self-depreciation, that having to face more than one enemy vessel's fire was causing him some concern. The enemy vessels were getting closer and as they fired it was with some surprise that Hornblower found his mind wandering. The enemy weapons were burning their distinctive holes through the stern of the Sutherland, through the stern gallery where Hornblower had spent time walking and planning, and through his cabin. The relief that Polwheal would have stowed all his belongings out of harms way was almost enough to distract him from the dozens of holes that were appearing all around him on the quarterdeck.
The shriek of Hornblower's whistle nearly took him by surprise as the calculating part of his mind blew it as it saw the enemy vessels curve to pass the Sutherland on either side. The ship bucked like she had hit a submerged rock as both broadsides fired as one and the sea around her vanished in a welter of splashes. For a moment the result of those barrages seemed uncertain until Hornblower saw that some of the splashes to starboard were being created by another enemy vessel tumbling to destruction. The port battery had been less successful as the only target they had damaged had survived, but was withdrawing with a definite list and much slower than it had approached.
Hornblower thought he could smell smoke, which meant fire, the nightmare of every sailor, and looking around he could see that the enemy fusillade had been intense enough that individual holes had merged into larger ones. The wood between holes was smouldering as the heat spread and the bucket parties tried to catch up, and now here was Hooker hurrying towards him carrying an axe.
"See to it Mr Hooker," Hornblower ordered before his subordinate could say a word.
"Aye Sir," Hooker replied.
The sound of axes joined the other noises of the Sutherland as Hooker led his men in cutting away burning wood and dumping it overboard. Hornblower knew that for all the damage that had been done they had been fortunate that none of these holes that had been burned had passed through the rudder cables. Looking around the deck he realised they had been fortunate in more than that, there seemed remarkably few dead sailors lying at the base of the masts to where they had been dragged out of the way.
Some thought gave Hornblower the answer, many of the casualties of an engagement were not hit by cannon balls directly but by the great splinters of jagged wood that they sprayed as they punched their way through the wooden hull. Splinter of course was a pale word to describe things that could be more than a foot long and as thick as a man's thumb. These enemy weapons though were burning clean holes through the Sutherland.
Hornblower leaned out over the rail of the quarterdeck and raised his telescope to see what the enemy was up to. They seemed to have decided to keep their distance and were criss-crossing ahead of the approaching Sutherland out of range. Like a skipping stone would sink if it lost too much speed these craft also appeared to not be able to slow or stop. Hornblower wondered what they were planning, and less importantly how they were conveying those plans as lacking masts they had no flags to raise or lower in signal.
A slight turn to starboard brought more of the port broadside to bear and soon the fires were put out while the enemy continued to maintain the range rather than press the attack. Howell the ships carpenter had reported there was no water in the well as none of the enemy shots had passed below or near the waterline, and that he was working on cutting out the burnt wood so that patches could be fitted. Walsh the surgeon had also reported, he had not been busy as most of the sailors who had been hit had been killed instantly and those that had not had required little treatment as the wounds had already been cauterised and needed little more than a protective bandage.
Hornblower could not understand what the enemy was doing, they surely must have realised that they had the advantage of speed and agility and could continue to cut at the Sutherland like Spaniards at a bull to weaken her before the coup de grace. There was a pattern here that he was missing, some reason why they were so willing to avoid combat. Soon though the matter would be decided as even with only light winds to propel her the Sutherland was making steady progress towards the waiting coast and the enemy was running out of sea room.
"Sir, do you hear that?" Midshipman Savage asked.
Hornblower looked at the youth who had joined him on the quarterdeck and listened carefully. Savage must have been sure that he could hear something or he would not have descended from his lookout position without orders, but aside from the moaning of the enemy vessels Hornblower could hear nothing. Wait, there was another note joining it though to his tone-deaf ear the pitch was indistinguishable. Hornblower looked up towards where it impossibly seemed to be coming from, and surprise nearly broke his composure.
Once again all Hornblower could think to say was "Ha - h'm," as he saw the outline of something descending towards them and realised it was too regular a shape to be natural. He raised his telescope and details became apparent, it resembled nothing more than a giant brick and although it had fins these were more like a fish than like a bird's wings. Despite this it was falling far slower than it looked like it should, so something must be keeping it aloft. More importantly Hornblower could see that like the enemy vessels they had been fighting this too had swivel guns mounted.
The thing's descent slowed still further and as it dropped below the level of the mast heads Hornblower saw its swivel mounts rotate. White-hot shot, or whatever these enemies were firing, burned into the Sutherland amidships and through the deck and out of the side of the hull. Hornblower saw steam erupt from the sea where the enemy weapons fire had entered it. Bucket parties were already moving forward to douse these fresh holes and Captain Morris of the Royal Marines had gathered his men. A crash of muskets answered the enemy aggression but the balls simply glanced off the metal and even the glass of the thing. Undaunted it slowed to a hover and began moving forward to crunch its way over the Sutherland's rail and bring its doors over the deck.
"Boarders," Hornblower yelled, "all hands repel boarders!"
The Royal Marines moved forward, while reloading, and from below decks men swarmed up from their positions by the guns. A wave of British sailors with cutlasses and pikes, boarding axes and marlinespikes, swept onto the deck, eager for the chance to get to grips with these strange enemies face to face. Hornblower almost envied them in the simplicity of their desire to lose their confusion in something they understood. The swivel guns of the thing turned and he realised what was coming.
"Scatter!" Hornblower ordered, a moment before the swivel guns opened fire again.
Heat burned through the Royal Marines on the quarterdeck, their stolid determination to keep the line acting against them for a moment before they could overcome this and react. The sailors reacted slightly faster and some even jumped into the rigging to make more room for the others. Hornblower himself had decided his dignity would permit him to seek cover just as it had during the attempted siege of Rosas. Small clumps of men formed and reformed as the Sutherland's crew moved, each group over a few men in size drawing more enemy fire.
Hornblower gestured downwards to the watching Bush, who nodded and passed the order on. Living in a ship for months gave you an appreciation of how many places there were to hide from view and soon enough the deck of the Sutherland appeared deserted. The enemy thing just sat there for long moments, long enough for Hornblower to realise it must still be supporting itself somehow or his ship would be listing under the off centre weight. An exclamation almost escaped him as his thoughts were interrupted as someone joined him.
"Thank you Polwheal," Hornblower said as he accepted his sword. It had not seemed necessary to don when he had come on deck but now it seemed more essential.
The tension was even getting to Hornblower and he started to become concerned that someone would act and spoil the possible ambush. To his relief he saw the doors of the thing slide open with startling swiftness and men clad in strange white armour began to leap out, firing smaller versions of the terrible weapons as they did. To their credit the crew of the Sutherland did not react, Hornblower waited until the enemy was committed and what appeared to be officers from their demeanour and lack of armour had joined the white clad figures.
"Attack!" Hornblower ordered, standing and waving his unsheathed sword in the air so it glinted in the strange sunlight.
The Royal Marines stood, drawing fire towards themselves, and as calmly as if they were on the practice range raised their muskets into firing position and volleyed a barrage into the enemy. Some of the enemy fell but Hornblower's eyes, sharpened by the situation, noticed that with the armoured enemies this seemed to be due to the impact of the balls rather than because their armour had been pierced. The Royal Marines were already charging forward though, bayonets levelled, and Hornblower could hear and see the sailors doing likewise.
Hornblower moved forward and felt a jar travel up his arm as his sword flickered out and failed to cut through his opponent's armour. This got the other man's attention though and he swung his short gun around towards Hornblower whose flesh crawled in anticipation. From out of nowhere, it seemed, a boarding axe swung and bit into the enemy's neck.
"Thank you Brown," Hornblower said to his coxswain. Brown nodded as he yanked the axe free of the corpse's neck, he had misjudged the swing slightly and put too much power into it, so the axe was rather firmly lodged, but haste had been essential.
Hornblower aimed more carefully as the press of his own men swept him forward and the razor's edge of his sword sliced across the weak join between cuirass and armpiece with better results. Blood sprayed as the enemy crumpled, his other hand going to the wound. One of Hornblower's Marines drove his bayonet into the enemy soldier's neck to make sure of him. Hornblower noted this with some detachment as he saw a sailor press a pistol to the gut of his opponent, pull the trigger, and have the pistol explode in his hand. The enemy and the sailor both fell backwards, the sailor possibly more injured than the enemy.
"No pistols!" Hornblower ordered, seeing that even at that range the balls would not penetrate and would thus jam in the barrel and cause a backfire.
A group of the enemy managed to open a gap between them and their attackers and Hornblower saw them begin to fire with inconceivable rapidity. This and the fact they didn't seem to need to reload were just more facts that a week ago Hornblower would have found remarkable and now was simply accepting with resignation. Hornblower waved his sword above his head again to rally the men around him and sprang forward. Red flickered around him as they closed the distance but once they were upon the enemy the tables were turned.
"Get me one of those guns Brown," Hornblower said to his coxswain, who appeared to be shadowing him.
Brown reached forward and simply grabbed one with the same robust confidence and magnificent physique that had let him cast a line through the storm to the Pluto. One wrench ripped the gun from the enemy's hands and a swing of his boarding axe with the other arm prevented the enemy from objecting.
"Here you are, sir," Brown replied.
"Thank you Brown," Hornblower said, studying the weapon with interest. It was covered with levers whose purpose was not immediately apparent, and which were marked with strange hieroglyphics, but the trigger was obvious enough. Shifting his sword to his left hand and bracing the stock of the gun, which in length seemed like a cavalry carbine, against his elbow Hornblower moved forward through the crowd of sailors and towards the enemy again.
Carefully Hornblower aimed for a white armoured enemy as a test of if the enemy weapons could pierce where pistol and musket could not, and braced himself for the recoil as he squeezed the trigger. Red streaked from the muzzle of the gun and charred holes satisfyingly did appear in the enemy's armour but much to Hornblower's surprise there was no recoil. Others of the Sutherland's crew saw what their Captain had done and soon many of those weapons that had been dropped by their previous owners were in the hands of Hornblower's crew.
Red fire splattered across the enemy boarding craft, concentrating on the windows, and a glance behind him showed Hornblower that Captain Morris had pulled back a group of Royal Marines who were volleying controlled bursts of fire at the larger target. It made a strange contrast, the red coats and the stained white crossbelts of the Marines and the short black guns of the enemy.
Perhaps due to this provocation the enemy swivel guns opened fire again, firing over the heads of their troops and the fight and into the bow and stern of the Sutherland. Fires sprang into existence, maybe due to the angle or maybe the enemy had finally adjusted to their target, and Hornblower felt his heart sink as he realised he did not have enough crew to fight these fires and the boarders. To surrender to the enemy would be to wreck his career but better that than to wreck his ship and kill his men in needless further resistance.
"Strike the colours Brown," Hornblower ordered reluctantly before raising his voice, "cease firing, cease fighting, drop your weapons, we surrender."
For a moment Hornblower feared the fighting spirit of his men was sufficiently aroused they would ignore this unwelcome order but discipline asserted itself and with a clatter they dropped their weapons to the deck and moved back away from the enemy. The enemy kept their own guns levelled and it seemed as if they might reopen fire as the Sutherland's crew glared defiantly at them. Then this passed as one of the unarmoured and drably uniformed officers pushed his way to the front and looked around for whoever had given the order.
Hornblower walked towards the officer, ignoring the muzzles tracking his motion, and holding his sword of honour by the blade offered it. It seemed almost as if the enemy officer was not familiar with this protocol as it was with a definite air of realisation that he took it from Hornblower's grasp. The scent of smoke reminded Hornblower of his reasons.
"I would like to request permission to save my ship, sir," Hornblower said as humbly as it was possible for a Captain in the Royal Navy.
"Granted," the enemy officer replied with a self satisfied smirk, which drew a rumble of anger from the Sutherland's crew.
"Mr Hooker, cut that burning wood away," Hornblower ordered, turning to face his men. "Mr Bush, organise bucket chains and rig hoses..."
"You will be taken to face our commander," the enemy officer interrupted, nettled at being ignored.
"I look forward to it, sir," Hornblower replied, before turning his attention back to saving his ship.
Time passed and the fires came under control, those of the Sutherland's crew that were not fighting them had been placed under the guns of the enemy, and Hornblower was already considering possible tactics to retake his ship. As he gave more orders to Bush on what repairs had priority he noticed the enemy officer moving towards him, the same superior expression on his face.
"A shuttle is on the way," the enemy officer said, "I hope you are still looking forwards to facing our commander?"
Hornblower looked at the other man for a moment, he seemed to be deriving some private amusement from this, but simply nodded and went below to change. Polwheal had anticipated this desire and from wherever it had been in the ship had retrieved Hornblower's best dress uniform. Money had been very tight when Hornblower had been commissioning the Sutherland and he had been forced to economise with gold plate rather than solid gold or cotton rather than silk but Polwheal had done a good job on making this less apparent.
As Polwheal smoothed the lie of the uniform coat and straightened one epaulette Hornblower heard steps on the companionway. The enemy officer entered the cabin, without knocking, and both men were struck by the contrast between the enemy's plain uniform and Hornblower's glittering gold.
"If you have quite finished," the enemy officer said sarcastically, "you will come on deck now."
Hornblower again ignored the provocative tone and simply picked up his best hat and followed. As they emerged back on deck Hornblower looked around and then up, where another strange shape was approaching. This one at least looked more like a bird as it had a beak like nose and wings, though no bird possessed a fish-like dorsal like that. As this new marvel got lower its wings started to fold like a seagull coming in to roost but unlike a seagull it remained in the air as a ramp lowered from its nose onto the other side of the Sutherland from the boarding craft.
The enemy officer gestured Hornblower up the ramp where two of the white armoured figures escorted him to a seat. Placing his hat across his knees, as if he was visiting the Admiralty and waiting to be seen, Hornblower discreetly looked around him. The sound of voices from forward was probably the helmsmen of this mechanical bird and the droning noise whatever device drove it. There was no sensation of movement but from what glimpses he could see through the forward window Hornblower realised they were now moving again.
The air outside turned a strange purple as if night was falling and then it appeared it had as the stars came out. These stars were strangely still though rather than twinkling and there appeared to be more than Hornblower had noticed during the single night he had spent wherever this was. One star in particular seemed to be growing and he forgot his pose of dignity as he leaned forward to study it. One of the white armoured guards pushed Hornblower back but not before he had seen enough to realise they were approaching a vast city floating in this night sky.
Hornblower saw nothing more of the outside during this journey as the guards seemed to realise he wanted to and so prevented this. The vast room he was taken out into was filled with more strange craft and men working on them, and nearly as wondrous were the doors that vanished in an eye-blink and the compartments that when entered whined and then opened their doors onto a different location. Hornblower's lingering shame at the defeat began to ebb slightly as he realised how potent an enemy he had been fighting.
A final door opened and Hornblower's attention was drawn by what was on the table ahead of him. His sword of honour, immaculate with its gold, ivory, and seed pearls, was resting there and it took him a second to drag his eyes away from that and towards the tall figure standing silhouetted against the unwinking stars. The figure was dressed all in black and the only detail Hornblower could see was the shine of the strangely oriental flared helmet. The figure turned and as the grotesque mask came to face him it took some self discipline not to react to this. Hornblower understood why the enemy officer had derived amusement from him saying he looked forward to facing their commander, if this was he.
Darth Vader looked at the man who had caused him so much trouble and anger at this warred with respect for having achieved this with such non-existent technology. Some of his officers had failed to understand why the problem had not been dealt with through one simple turbolaser bolt but Vader knew how valuable a resource the Nogri had been. This "Captain" and his crew could also be shaped to serve his purpose, and if they would not be shaped they would be destroyed.
FIN