June 22nd 1812
Temeraire had spent the last month and a quarter watching Emily carefully. She had been perfectly well, not throwing up at all, and had displayed none of the outward signs which he associated with pregnancy which he had learned to spot during Harcourt's gravidity, and she didn't seem at all nervous or shifty, and she and Laurence retired fairly regularly to his cabin, so he eventually concluded that she must be as good at picking her moments as her mother was. He watched her as she came up on deck to take the air, pretending to be dozing, so she would not be mildly unnerved by his constant staring at her. He shifted his gaze across to a group of 12 sailors, or more accurately pressed landsmen who were off duty. He had learned to read human expressions very well, and he judged that they were leering in a most unpleasant way at Emily. Temeraire growled very quietly in an intimidating manner, which worked very well in cases when a prisoner needed to be terrified into obedience, and it was just loud enough for the sailors to hear him, and as they looked across, he pretended to yawn, showing his teeth to their best effect, and then glared balefully at them. They all scurried below deck, except for one who indicated Emily with his head, then winked in a manner that looked friendly, but had a sinister undertone that made Temeraire very uneasy indeed.
Casting his worries aside for the time being, he settled into a genuinely deep sleep as he heard what sounded like Laurence and Riley arguing at the tops of their voices. This meant that he was completely unable to deal with what happened next.
Earlier on, Laurence had been asked to speak Riley by one of the Captains subordinates, so he strode with all haste to Riley's cabin. As he was shown in he saw Riley signing something then passing it to an assistant.
He looked up and saw Laurence, and said "Ah Laurence, just the man I wanted to speak to."
Laurence frowned a little bit. This was slightly out of character for Riley. "You wanted to speak to me, sir?"
"Oh, please don't go calling me sir, we both know Wellesley will restore your rank at least temporarily, and for Lords sake, we have known each other for years and you commanded me for most of them, so I think we can dispense with the sir." Riley said irritably.
"Anyway let's get down to business. I have called you here this morning to speak to you about your conduct around young Miss Roland."
"Her rank is that of Lieutenant, and, Tom, she has been flying since before she could walk, and serving in heavy action since the age of 9, so I wager she knows at least as much of battle as you or I." This temporarily stunned Riley, but he recovered his poise quickly, like a gyroscope that has been knocked off balance.
"Indeed she has, and if I may put this in blunt speech, do you normally shag your subordinates in the aerial corps?" This curious inquiry, edged with steel, caught Laurence off guard temporarily, but he quickly recovered like Riley had. To an outward observer viewing them on a mental plane, it must have been like watching a quick fire ping pong game.
"Have a care of what you say, old friend." He said, a warning marinated in menace.
"Laurence, we both know exactly what you are doing when you retire to your cabin with her, your quarters are directly below mine and good grief, my desk was vibrating across the floor at one point! Are you sure you are being honourable in this respect, because you seem to be leaving your sense of morality and that of honour at your cabin door! She is 16 and ½ for goodness sake! You are old enough to be her father, and I have heard many, varied and surprising detailed stories about how you bedded her mother as well!"
At this vehement tirade Laurence's knuckles went white and a vein began to throb in his temple.
"You had your way with Catherine when she was only a couple of years older than Emily, and you did so unknowing of female aviators habits when it came to marriage and sexual relationships, and as I recall, you still instigated that affair, not her, an affair that if she had been an ordinary gentlewoman and not an aviator you would have made her a social outcast, so therefore I warn you to choose your words more carefully before you castigate me!"
Riley went completely white then drew a deep breath, and roared "How dare you Laurence!"
"I do dare sir, as your entire speech stinks of wilful hypocrisy and ignorance of the facts, and you have the balls to chastise me! I admire your confidence sir, that it lets you think you will get away with such a slur!"
At this, Riley looked like he was about to attack Laurence, who stood seething and red faced nose to nose with him, when the door burst open and the pressed landsmen came in holding an extremely angry but restrained Emily at gunpoint. It appeared to Laurence and Riley that she had put up quite a fight, as one man had a broken nose and was attempting to staunch the blood flow, and several had nasty bite marks.
"You're handing over control of the ship to us now sirs, or I regret to say we may have to do something to the lovely young lady who we are holding captive which we would sincerely not wish to do, namely shoot her. Surrender now." This came from the leader, a cocksure young man with a cheeky grin and, Laurence thought at random, a devil on both shoulders.
And I am just leaving it like that because cliff hangers are fun. Do not despair I have the next chapter planned out and it will in all probability be up to twice the length of this one. The Devil on both shoulders is like an angel on one and a demon on the other, but both devils are egging each other on. This character will have more than a passing resemblance to Terry Pratchetts villain, Carcer.
