Chapter 2: Electric Boogaloo
Lincoln had never had to do so much running in his life. He had to run Captain Lori's orders to every other officer while she reclined to scotch and books. Change of direction? Run to the helm and tell Quartermaster Luna to change direction. Strange ships spotted at sea? Run back to Captain Lori's cabin and tell her. How much powder and munitions? Run back to the quartermaster. She doesn't know? Go below deck and take stock – then run back to Captain Lori again!
To think it had only been half a week.
"What did Lola say, exactly?" the captain asked, eyeing her glass, skeptically.
"She said 'two brigs, heavily damaged, off the port bow', I think." Lincoln repeated.
"Most likely they just limped out of a fight." Lori grinned, "What colors were they flying?"
"Spanish, Captain." The cabin boy felt his stomach tighten. Were they really about to attack two damaged vessels?
"Tell Luna to turn this vessel to port," Lori ordered, grabbing her frock, sword and tricorn, "then tell Lynn to ready the cannons."
Lincoln stood there, gaping.
"Didn't you hear me, boy?" Lori demanded, buckling her sword belt, "I gave you an order."
"We're not really going to kill those men, are we?" he asked.
"Don't tell me you were born without a spine, lad." Lori sneered, "We're pirates! We kill and pillage! Don't think we're soft because we're women."
"Killing them is wrong." Lincoln asserted, "So is theft!"
Lori looked stunned, then smiled – disturbingly motherly.
"Lincoln," she said softly, "the English and Spanish have done nothing but kill and steal since they've come to the New World. What we do, we do because we must – to survive."
"I don't feel right doing this…" the cabin boy confessed.
"Then don't fight," Lori snapped, "but you will run my orders, or I'll throw you overboard myself. Got it?"
"Aye aye, Captain." Lincoln saluted.
"Good." Lori nodded, "Now, run the orders!"
Lincoln ran out of the cabin and towards the helm where Luna was belting lyrics:
"Now we are ready to sail for the Horn, way hey, roll and go! Our boots and our clothes, girls, are all in the pawn, to be rollicking, randy dandy o!" she sang, British accent fading as their crewmates took up the chorus. She stopped singing as Lincoln approached in a huff.
"Let me guess," Luna grinned, "the Captain wants to pursue those brigs?"
"How'd you guess?" Lincoln panted.
"After serving with her for three years, it's hard not to predict her orders." Luna explained.
Lincoln stayed silent while Luna adjusted course. Finally, he asked the question burning in his mind.
"What's it like?" he asked, "Being in battle, I mean."
Luna looked at Lincoln, smile fading.
"It's hell," she said, simply, "exciting, like being alive, but scary, too."
"Being alive?" the cabin boy asked.
"Yeah, you know…" Luna shrugged, "Like… you feel a rush. Shouldn't you be getting below deck?"
"Right, Lynn." Lincoln said.
He was off, hurrying from one Brit to another. He ran below deck, nearly running into every girl along the way. Finally, he reached Lynn, who quirked an eyebrow at his approach.
"You look like the Cap's been running you ragged." she said.
"Captain Lori says to prepare for battle." Lincoln huffed, slightly exhausted, "Two wounded brigs, off our port bow."
"Excellent!" Lynn grinned, a predatory glint in her eye, "She'll probably want to use the shot, then."
"Grapeshot?" Lincoln asked – how often he'd read about the horrific injuries such a weapon caused.
"Clears the gundecks and shreds the sails without hurting the cargo." Lynn explained, "What flag are they flying?"
"Spanish." Lincoln felt a little sick.
"Ah, so they're probably hauling sugar." Lynn nodded to herself, "Fetches a good price, that."
"How can you be so excited?" Lincoln asked quietly, "We're about to kill people."
"They know the risks." Lynn snapped, but the glint in her eye faltered, "You should get back to Captain Lori."
"Aye aye." the cabin boy muttered, running back to the Captain's cabin.
Lori was already on deck, beside the helm. Her voice could be heard belting orders to the women on the sails. Lola could be heard shouting down at them about the brigs turning to flee. Lincoln found himself hoping they would make their escape.
"Cabin boy!" Lori snapped, "Tell Lynn to load shot – starboard side!"
Lincoln only saluted, all but out of breath, and ran back below deck. Lynn already had her gunners unloading crates of silverware and chains – seemingly random bits of scrap metal that Lincoln was only too aware would be turned into lethal shrapnel.
"Captain says load the shot into the starboard cannons."
"She's not very surprising." Lynn laughed, mirthlessly, "You heard her, girls! Load to starboard!"
"I'm a guy." Lincoln pointed out.
"Sorry." Lynn said, sheepishly, "Last cabin boy was a cabin girl."
"Wait, the last cabin boy?" Lincoln asked, "What happened to them?"
"You really should get back to Captain Lori," Lynn ignored the question, "before she rips you a new one."
Lincoln suppressed a growl of frustration as he booked it back up the ladder-well and onto the decking. The brigs were close enough now that Lincoln could make out little people moving frantically aboard their decks. He knew from his books that the effective firing range of shot would bring them close enough for him to see the fear on his enemies' faces. Close enough to see blood spilt.
"Cabin boy, stay near the ladder-well." Lori ordered, "I need you to relay the order to fire on my command."
"Y-yes Captain." Lincoln stammered.
"Be at ease, lad." Lori's face softened, briefly, "The first fight's always the worst."
Lincoln nodded, hoping she was right. Per his crewmates, and his experience in the last half a week, she was seldom wrong. He prayed the fight would be brief. Maybe the Spanish would just surrender? They were already turning to face them. It wasn't impossible… Just extremely unlikely.
"Get ready, girls!" Lori shouted, "Steady!"
The brigs were close enough that Lincoln could see the looks of panic on their faces. They were almost entirely Hispanic, except for the officer on the deck who appeared as a blonde Spaniard. Cannons were already firing at them from both brigs, but the shots were hurried and few; most of the brigs' guns were likely overboard or unmanned. Lincoln ducked as a lucky cannonball shattered part of the railing a few feet away from him.
"Aim for their gundecks!" Lori shouted at Lincoln, who only stared at her, dumbfounded, "Relay my order, fool!"
"Aim for their gundecks!" Lincoln shouted down the ladder-well, voice breaking.
"I knew it!" he heard Lynn laugh.
They closed the distance even more. Lincoln saw the crews of the Spanish brigs reloading their cannons, almost ready to fire. For the first time since the chase had begun, he feared for his life, and the lives of his crew. They really could die.
Then he felt it. Just as Luna had described, he felt a rush. It wasn't pleasure, nor panic, but something between the two feelings. He felt time slow down, his sense open. He could make out the whites of the Spanish crew's eyes. They were so close now. He almost missed Lori's command, but repeated it all the same.
"Fire!" he bellowed down toward Lynn.
The cannons erupted sequentially, first one then the next, and onward until they had all unleashed their shot. Lincoln watched in grim fascination as the gundecks of the first brig filled with smoke and shrapnel. He could hear the screams of the enemy crew, even from that distance. Already, girls in men's clothing were throwing grappling hooks on ropes at the wounded brig, drawing it closer.
"Order Lynn to load the port cannons with shot!" Lori shouted, unsheathing her cutlass, "She's to keep the other brig occupied if they decide to be brave."
Lincoln repeated the order and Lynn complied.
"Stay here, cabin boy." Lori ordered, "Last thing we need is another dead kid."
Lincoln watched, amazed, as Lori led the charge of women and girls across planks and swinging from the riggings. It was just like Captain Savvy's exploits, but with females. The other brig did not fire on the entwined ships, not wanting to risk hitting their allies. They swung around, to try and get a broadside from their portside, only to have their gundecks cleared as they approached. Lincoln returned his gaze to the other brig, watching as Lori dueled with the Spanish officer. It was a thick melee on the deck, and very often Lori and her Spanish double were lost in the thick of the crowd.
Finally, though, it was clear the women were emerging victorious. The Spaniards began to surrender. The other brig was already throwing its arms overboard as a second broadside of shot shredded their sails and sharpshooters picked off crewmen. The Spanish officer was dead; Lincoln had missed Lori's coup de grâce. The fighting was over.
Lori's crew brought over the enemy sailors and marines, all unarmed and hands bound. Among them, only one officer had survived, a Hispanic ensign with a nasty gash across his brow from the brawl.
"What's your name?" Lori asked him, holding his chin firmly while she looked at the gash. Already the crews were bringing over captured sugar and munitions.
"Me llamo Roberto Alejandro Martinez-Millan Luis Santiago II." the ensign muttered, too defeated to put up much of a contest.
"Christ above, the Spanish and their bloody names." Lori shook her head, "Well, Señor Santiago, how does it feel being bested by a woman?"
The captive blinked and for a moment Lincoln wondered if he even spoke English. Then he burst out laughing.
"Oh, thank goodness!" he said in fluent English, "I was wondering why I found you so enchanting."
Lori did something Lincoln thought she was incapable of: she blushed.
"Don't flirt with me, dog!" Lori barked, holding her cutlass close to the man's neck, "I could kill you – and all your men, too."
"I figured you would, regardless." Roberto shrugged, "That is what you pirates do, isn't it? Steal and murder?"
"For your information, Bobby, we usually put the crews back on their ruddy ships after we've taken what we like."
"Don't call me Bobby." Roberto said, "I'm not a Brit."
"I think it makes you a little… cuter." Lori smirked. It was the Spaniard's time to blush.
"Uh, Captain?" Luna's voice broke the discussion, "We're almost finished loading the goods."
"What?" Lori tore her gaze away from the captive officer, "Oh! Right. Well, Bobby, it looks as if it's time to let you and your crews go. If you ever get sick serving the Empire, I think you'd make a fine privateer."
"Ah, but mi familia would disown me." Bobby chuckled, "In the Spanish world, familia is everything."
Lori looked a little crestfallen, but immediately rebounded.
"To a true man of the sea, though, his crew is his family." she said.
"Wise words, for such a young flower." Bobby nodded, "I hope, one day, to meet again. On better terms, of course."
"Likewise." Lori said, "Fair winds and following seas."
"Igualmente."
Within the hour, the ship's stores were full of goods and munitions and the captured crews were returned to their brigs. They let loose the sail and cast off for the nearest refuge. The brigs were left far behind them. Lincoln returned to his duties of running around the ship at Lori's orders, but as the sailing became smoother, he found himself with much desired free time.
"I see you're not dead yet." Luan grinned as she looked up from her work repairing the broken handrail, "Good for you."
"Yeah, thought I might actually die there, for a minute." Lincoln said, "How, uh, how do you stay so chipper?"
Luan looked at him, the somber glint in her eyes at odds with her cheery grin.
"In this line of work, Linc, you either laugh your pain away, or you drink it away." she explained, "Or both."
"But there are bright moments, yes?" Lincoln asked, almost desperate. Luan stayed surprisingly silent.
"Where is the little bugger?" Lynn's voice broke the mood, "Survived your first battle, did you? That deserves a celebratory bottle of rum!"
"I can't drink!" Lincoln was aghast, "I'm on duty!"
Immediately both girls burst into fits of laughter, holding their sides.
"And I thought I was the funny one!" Luan wiped a tear from her eye, "Thanks Linc, I needed that."
"Now come on," Lynn said, "before I drag you there myself."
"Where's 'there'?" Lincoln asked.
"To the galley." Lynn said, "It's time you meet Clyde."
