Captain Kate and the Dragon
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: Avast me hearties, tis to glory we steer. But I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: The 18th Century.
This is a continuation of the stories about the pirate queen, Captain Kate Beckett. In this tale, Kate, her family and crew sail to China and beyond.
"Please Captain. I have little use for the things of the world that such money would bring me. And I have eschewed all forms of violence. You are perfectly safe here. But you might wish to complete whatever business brought you here quickly. You are a striking looking woman, Captain Beckett."
Kate quickly explained why they were there. She ended by asking Zhu De how he had learned such excellent English.
"I am pleased to hear that my English is acceptable to your ears, Captain. I have endeavored to learn the languages Europe so that I might understand your science. I have studied English, French, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese. But I think I am best in English and French. But you don't wish to hear my unseemly boasting. Come with me."
Zhu De led them to a large bookcase and from it be took a large volume. From that he removed a map. He laid it out so all could see.
"I have no chronometer as you have, so I am unable to calculate longitude. However, I have traveled south along the coast to the end of the peninsula here. "Zhu De tapped a place that would one day be called Malaya. "I have personally calculated the latitude of the places marked with a blue dot. I have also talked to many navigators, European and Asian, and have determined latitude, longitude or both for numerous places. They are marked with a green dot. Alas, I fear my explorations go no further towards the Philippines or China." He picked up the map and handed it to Kate, "Please take this."
"Thank you. How much do I owe you for it?"
Zhu De smiled. "As I said, I have little use for the things of the world other than my scientific instruments. But, should you come this way again, please stop and tell me of all you see in your voyages to the east."
"Thank you, sir. I'm afraid we must be going now."
"That might not be wise, I fear. The tide is both falling and going out. By the time the tide is favorable, it will be after dark. The harbor pilots do not work after dark. It is too dangerous."
"We'll return to our ship then. Would you care to join us for dinner? We have many navigation charts you could examine."
Zhu De smiled. "I would love to, but I have many things to do before I sleep tonight."
And so they all returned to their ship and prepared to leave the next morning. They did, but not in the manner they had anticipated.
Shortly before midnight, Kate was woken by a pounding on her cabin door.
"What is it?"
"There's a lady here from the town. She's from Mr. Zhu De. She says there's trouble in town." Reported a seaman.
"I'll be out in a moment." Kate said, grabbing her clothing which she always kept handy just for such an interruption.
She came out of her cabin and found a Buddhist nun who she did remember seeing at Zhu De's. The nun was in tears.
"What is it?"
"There's an army of Siamese rebels approaching the town. We have no defenses, no garrison, nothing to stop them. Zhu De would like you to take as many people as you can aboard your ships. The rebels will kill us all."
Kate told the sailor to prepare a landing party while she returned to her cabin. Castle had heard and was already dressed an armed. He handed Kate her rapier, dagger and pistols.
They landed with thirty well armed men and headed towards Zhu De's.
Castle suddenly stopped. "There's something headed this way."
They all listened.
"Perhaps a cart." Esposito said.
"Sounds more like footsteps of some sort." Someone said.
"Cavalry?" Someone else guessed.
"It can't be cavalry, "Castle began, "because…."
Just then, something very large blundered around the corner, knocking over a small house and heading straight for them.
"An elephant!" Kate yelled. "Like in Africa."
Castle quickly smashed in the door of a shop. "Everyone inside." He yelled.
No one needed to be told twice as the huge animal stomped down the street, trumpeting loudly and doing damage with every step. On top of the beast was a howdah, looking like a small castle and filled with a dozen musketeers who fired at everything and mostly hit nothing.
In seconds, the beast was gone. When Kate's party left the shop, they discovered that their party had grown. The shopkeeper, his wife and four children had joined them. Kate tried to explain that they were headed into danger, no away from it, but the shopkeeper and Kate had no common language.
"How did an elephant get here all the way from Africa?" Castle wondered out loud.
"You'll think of an explanation." Kate teased, "You always do."
They could see fires on each side of them, and hear firing and screams, but the town directly ahead of them appeared to be dark and silent. They arrived at the temple.
"Zhu De!" Called Zeng. "Are you here?"
Zhu De stepped out of the shadows. "I am here. Where are the townspeople?"
"There is just this family. I think everyone is hiding. Perhaps we can find them on the way out. Are you ready to go?"
"I have everything I have on navigation. The rest, I fear, will be destroyed by the Siamese."
"What about your telescope?" Asked a voice that Castle had not expected to hear in the town.
"Alexis? What are you doing here? I told you to stay with Priscilla."
"She is with me." Priscilla answered.
"Priscilla and I can carry your telescope. It might come in handy. It's far more powerful than our telescopes."
"Where did you get those clothes?" Castle demanded. "You look like men! "
"Castle, you can yell at them when we're safe. And I agree with Alexis. We might be able to use the big telescope."
While Castle fumed, the two girls picked up the telescope. Kate had Zhu De's navigation books distributed among her crew and they set off for their ships. As they went through the town, Zhu De called to the people to come with them to the safety of the ships, but only a few people came out of their houses.
"They're either afraid, or they've already left." Kate told the worried monk.
"There's someone behind us." A sailor cried.
Kate had hoped it was some townspeople, but as the group approached them, she could see the gleam of steel. It was the enemy.
"There are perhaps fifty of them, but I see only a few old matchlock muskets." Kate said to her men. "Those to the right of me, give them a volley. Those to the left, hold your fire until we see what they do. Ready?"
There was a roar of "yesses".
"Prepare." Then after a second, "Fire."
In addition to knocking down a dozen or more of the enemy, the volley caused the rest to fall back. They looked hesitant to Kate. She could see some of them starting to move away.
"Those on the left, prepare to fire." Kate checked the sailors on her right. They were almost done reloading. "Prepare." She gave them a few more seconds, then. "Fire."
The volley didn't knock as many of the Siamese down, as there were fewer now to be knocked down. But they did start to duck into alleyways and door fronts where they could take cover. Some could be seem running away.
"That should keep them…" Kate began.
"Captain. There are more in front of us."
Kate turned around and looked towards the harbor and safety. There was another mob of armed men headed towards them. The group behind them was now starting to come out of cover and move towards Kate and her party.
"We have to get past the new group. Fix bayonets. We'll march towards them and when were twenty yards away, we'll fire a full volley and go at them with a bayonet."
Smooth bore muskets were highly inaccurate. Anyone who intentionally hit a man-sized target at one hundred yards was just lucky. But from short range, a volley of lead musket balls three quarters of an inch in diameter could be devastating.
The sailors marched towards their foe. The Siamese stood where they were, not moving a bit. Several had firearms, but for whatever reasons, they didn't fire. They did crowd together so that their swords and spears formed a razor-sharp barrier between Kate's men and safety.
When they were barely fifteen yards away Kate yelled "Halt." That was quickly followed by "Prepare." And then, "Fire."
Thirty muskets and four pistols held by Kate and Rick tore into the enemy. Men fell, dead or dying. Those in front, even if only wounded were thrown back into their comrades behind them creating more chaos.
"Charge!" Kate screamed, drawing her sword. The charge was hardly necessary. All who could broke and ran. Kate's party hurried on towards the harbor, now only a hundred yards away.
Suddenly, Alexis screamed and fell, landing heavily in the muddy road.
"Alexis!" Screamed Rick and Kate together. They ran towards the girl.
"Where are you hit?" Kate demanded, pulling the redhead up.
"The bastards! Look what they did to me."
"What? What?" Her parents asked.
"Someone threw a chamber pot on me from one of the upper floors."
There was a moment of shocked relief and then laughter.
"This isn't funny!" Alexis screamed.
"We'll let you have a nice bath when we're back aboard ship and safe." Castle said. Then he added, "Assuming the bilge rats don't object to your smell."
"Not funny, Father." Alexis said as she was pulled to her feet.
Arriving at the docks, they found over a hundred people from the town milling around. The longboats from their ships had pulled away from the dock.
"Captain?" Called Princess L'Anie. "Is that you?"
"Yes! Why did you pull away from the dock?"
"Those people are desperate. They almost capsized one of the longboats trying to get away."
Zhu De spoke. "Let me speak to them. If we can organize them, we can all escape. Kate nodded and the monk began to speak to the people in their own language. It seemed to work as the group quieted down.
Kate called the boats in and the first of the refugees were loaded quickly on the boats and were taken to the Revenge and the Witch. Everyone could hear gunfire and screams coming from the town and could see fires spreading everywhere, but everyone was loaded aboard with no casualties.
"Great. But how do we get out of here come morning?" Castle said, standing on the quarterback, watching the town burn.
"The pilot will take us out. He headed for the Revenge in his own boat as soon as the fighting began." Kate sighed. "Now, what can we do between now and dawn?"
Rick took her hand and led her towards their cabin. "We'll think of something."
By the next morning both ships had safely left the port of Mergui. The question was, where to go next?
