Chapter 2
Disclaimer: Nothing that does not belong to me...is not mine.
A/N: Three reviews. That's awesome, no really. I'm so motivated now. Keep r&r'n please. 33333. Oh, thanks for the name...of the wheel. Woo!
Aboard the swerving HMS Surprise; Dr. Stephen Maturin tried intently to keep his tea from spilling off its saucer and onto the rocking floor of the ship. Jack Aubrey, captain of the Surprise; sat at the window of the Great Cabin; his face masked with that of pondering; as he was deep in though. The doctor watched him as he gazed out at the open sea. His chin propped up on his fist which sat balanced on his knee.
"I don't understand something" Dr, Maturin said; standing up with his tea still in hand. Turing his head slightly, Aubrey looked up with curious eyes "Mmm?" he asked, intrigued.
Walking over, Stephen came to stand behind the captain, who had returned to gazing out at the bright hot ocean. "Why have we not intercepted the Acheron?"
Jack looked up, his face gave off a mischievous expression "Why, we've already intercepted her" he said with a wink. Maturin rolled his eyes and placed the empty china cup onto a near by table "Don't be foolish" he said "You know what I mean"
Capt. Aubrey turned back to the view of the sea and shifted positions slightly so he rested his forearm on his bent leg. "Well; we know the captain of the Acheron is not dead, correct"
"Yes Jack; why are you telling me this?" he retorted, his eyebrows furrowed.
Aubrey laughed and turned to look directly at his surgeon friend "I believe, Captain Pullings will handle this quite well"
"The poor lad thinks the captain is dead!" Maturin exclaimed, flails his arms about slightly.
As he continued laughing; Aubrey stood and began walking about the cabin. "If the good Captain is in any distress, he will signal us. He knows we are escorting him"
"I do not understand your methods" Maturin exhaled as he heaved a sigh. The captain only continued to chuckle. "I think it will be fine. Give the good Pullings some experience"
"You're drunk" he doctor said, shaking his head.
Captain turned and faced his friend "Nay! I am anything but dear Mr. Maturin" he replied.
"You're motives are those of a..."
Interrupting Maturin, Aubrey wheeled back around and glared him right in the eye "What Stephen? A tyrant. Am I no more then that now?"
"That's not what I was going to say, Jack" Maturin said humbly, bowing his head.
"Oh posh; you worry to much old friend" Aubrey said with a wave of his hand "If I see the Acheron is any kind of distress. We will be the first to come to their aid"
"What if he's planning an attack" Maturin said, eyeing the captain suspiciously. "He strikes, and the whole ship is a massacre, there's no signal, we'd never know!"
"Don't be such a fusspot Stephen. I know Tom; he will have them all watched; all kept under strict guard, the majority of them are held captive below the decks of Acheron anyway."
"That's not good enough, Jack"
"Fine, how about we inform the precious Acheron tomorrow. Even if they know the captain lives, what will they do? Have a trial? Who knows where or what or even if the French captain is aboard the ship?"
"We should at least give them warning."
"The majority of the Marines are on the Acheron"
"So?" The doctor said with a shrug. Aubrey rolled his eyes
"Tomorrow doctor. We will tell them of our discovery so you can sleep easy. I doubt there is a strike planned anyway. The captain probably just wants to get off his ship unharmed. We will be in port by them. He will not escape"
"You are a crude man Jack Aubrey"
"Oh contraire, doctor. I am anything but rudimentary" Jack said with a wide grin as he tugged on the collars of his uniform.
A number of miles from the HSM Surprise, Captain Pullings sat across from the French woman he had newly encountered in his quarters. She was nibbling a piece of bread, she seemed nervous to his glance; her head was down as she ate slowly. He intertwined his fingers and rested his chin on them as he propped his elbow on the table.
After a long; silent moment, Pullings was interrupted by a knock at his door. "Sir, its Mr. Hogg the heavy voice rang out from the other side.
The lady looked up with wide slightly frightened eyes. Pullings nodded "Come in" he said. The women's nervous expression became more so, and she stopped eating completely. Her eyes glued to the creaking door.
Master Seaman Hogg entered briskly "Captain" he said and froze by Pullings' chair. He turned his head slowly and stared bewilderedly at the woman across the table. "Sir..." he said, not taking his eyes off her. Pullings held up his hand to clam him "This is..." his voice trailed off and he gazed over at her, she was staring right back at Hogg "What is your name miss?" he demanded, as humbly as possible
She took her eyes of the Master Seaman and turned her head towards the captain. "Gabrielle De Sonnet" she paused "Third lieutenant" her eyes never wavered, filled with confidence. Pulling nodded. "Mr. Hogg, this is Miss De Sonnet" He said; realizing how utterly British the name sounded when it came from his lips, it sounded much prettier with a French accent; which of course; he lacked. Looking up at Hogg, who looked stupefied, Pullings offered a small smile "I found her in the wardrobe" he said and laughed lightly.
Hogg's eyebrows furrowed and he smiled dumbly "I see sir." He said; Pullings chuckled once more; the poor man was absolutely confused.
Mr. Hogg leaned down close to the captains ear, his voice shaking as he stuttered "Sir, shouldn't we put her in lower decks with...with the others"
Pullings waved the thought away with a gesture of his hand, making Hogg jump back and stand quickly at attention. "Nonsense" Tom said, looking back at the French lieutenant; Miss De Sonnet, who was looking back and forth from himself to the nervous Master Seaman.
Out of hearing of the girl, Pullings leaned towards Hogg, who bent down and leant him an ear "She needs a good meal. I will escort her down to the others later" he said, his eyes wavered over to Gabrielle, who was staring over with indifferent eyes; though she didn't look as if she'd heard.
Hogg nodded and stood up straight "Very good, sir" he said and nodded; as he went to leave Pullings lifted his hand "Hogg?" he questioned. Mr. Hogg stopped and turned about "Yes, sir"
"What is it you came to inquire before hand?" he asked, leaning back to look at him.
Hogg hesitated for a moment, then nodded "Oh yes. Jim Segal, the new coxswain, sir. He said we should we're making good time, and that we might arrive earlier then expected" He said with a grin and a nod. Pullings nodded "Very good" he said and patted Mr. Hogg on the shoulder "Thank you Master Seaman" He said and grinned back, Hogg bowed his head "Aye Captain" and backed out of the cabin. It felt good to hear that. "Aye Captain" Tom very much liked the sounds of that.
Looking back up at this, Gabrielle De Sonnet; Pullings watched as she commenced nibbling at her food again. Large bags under her pale green eyes made her seem quite jumpy as she looked up at him every so often and slowly averted her eyes when she saw he was looking. She was a third lieutenant, and a woman. He shook his head and leaned back; slinging one arm over the chair's arm rest. The French were surely going daft, sending women aboard man-o-wars.
It wasn't long until Miss De Sonnet was finished her meal and sat back; her large eyes made contact with his and he offered a small smile; which wasn't returned. He stood then and brushed the wrinkles from his uniform "We'll I'll take you down to your quarters" He said sternly. She looked down at her plate, as if contemplating attacking him with the fork, and then stood up. She took a deep breath and walked towards him. It was obvious to him she was disguising how utterly exhausted she was. She was proud, maybe not as much as she put out; but he admired that, especially in a woman.
As soon as he walked out of the cabin and took a step aside to let the lady through; the marine that stood at the door gave him a curious look and then nearly gasped when Gabrielle appeared through the doorway. The marine shot a look of confusion and astonishment as he looked the woman up and down and then quickly looked straight ahead, not meeting eye contact with the captain as he swallowed a lump in his throat and stared, wide eyed, straight ahead.
While walking down to lower decks, the crew of the Acheron stared in utter bewilderment, others leaning in to whisper amongst other seaman. Top men leaning down from the ropes, gawking open mouthed at the woman, the woman aboard a man-o-war!
Once they were below decks and making their way towards the small jail cells near the back where the captive whalers were held prisoner by the French, Gabrielle paused and looked around. Pullings turned around and gazed at her with an arched eyebrow. She looked at him and their eyes met briefly, before she jerked her eyes away and looked towards the direction of the infirmary. "Is the doctor...well?" she asked hesitantly.
Pullings eyebrow rose higher on his forehead "Le Vigny? Oh, he's fine" he said and nodded. Miss De Sonnet didn't seem to notice his nod as she kept her eyes towards the doctor's small office that was also double to where Killick would cook. Though, Killick wasn't aboard the Acheron, and the Acheron was nothing like the HMS Surprise, the Acheron was American built; and much bigger, spacious; which was nice, especially for the crew.
Gabrielle's eyes didn't waver "May I see him?" she asked hastily. Both Pullings eyebrow rose as he looked towards the direction she hadn't taken her eyes off of. "Yes, I don't see why not..." he started, before he could finish she was making her way towards it.
As he came up behind her, Gabrielle and the doctor le Vigny was embraced in a hug. "Oh, ma chère!" the doctor cried out as she pulled out of the hug and he placed his hands on her shoulders, they spoke together in French rapidly, most likely not faster then the English. But to Pullings; who didn't know more then "oui" and "merci" he was absolutely lost.
"Who is that?" The doctor questioned in French. Gabrielle turned slightly to the captain; who wore a slightly sheepish grin as he watched "the capitaine" she answered. He seemed confused for a moment, then nodded in comprehension "Oh, I see" She nodded and sighed "I'm so glad you're alright. I was so frightened it wouldn't work" her voice trailed off. The doctor raised his hand and smiled, but placed his finger to his lips and shook his head "No, we mustn't talk of that. Not when there are English ears around"
She smiled slightly "He doesn't speak a word of French" she said and looked over at Pullings. His expression was masked, but he was confused, his eyes wandered around impatiently.
The doctor smiled "Well, look at you my dear!" he said and stroked her hair with the palm of his hand "You look absolutely sickly"
"Well, you did have me locked away in that awful dresser"
The doctor laughed, causing Captain Pullings to look up with a slightly concerned and confused face. "But you were safe" Le Vigny said, smiling warmly at her.
"I could have fought" She said, her tone becoming bitter
"Oh, it's not that I would have lost you to death in battle" he said and grinned slightly, his eyes filled with admiration "It's that I would have lost you to the English"
Mr. Pullings cleared his throat and took a step, his hands placed behind his back as he held up his head "Are you done Miss?" he asked, his voice genuinely kind.
She nodded and stepped away from the doctor "Yes monsieur" she said in English and bowed her head slightly, walking towards Pullings and out the door. Pullings remained still for several moments, eyeing the doctor suspiciously, before turning on his heel and following out past Gabrielle.
As the reaching the condiments, the majority of the captives began calling out in French, sticking their hands out through the barricades. "Miss De Sonnet!" was all he understood, the rest he suspected was along the lines of "We're so glad you're alright" and "It's good to see you"
Pullings nodded at the marine on guard and held out his hand for the keys. The marine stood quickly at attention and placed them into the captain's hands, leaning slightly as he looked in awe at the French woman in the officer's uniform behind him.
The second reformatory, since there was only two onboard the Acheron, was used to hold the French Officers. Though they didn't keep them locked up all day and night, Pullings and selected English officers had permission to let several French seaman and officers and etc out onto the decks. They couldn't possibly stuff all the Frenchmen into one imprisonment, so; as long as they were watched over by officers or marines and no problem occurred, Aubrey told Pullings to let them free aboard the Acheron's deck.
There was a total of five officers, six now including 3rd Lieutenant De Sonnet. The three that were currently in the small cell stood and cried out, hi's and hello's and whatnot. Gabrielle nodded at them respectfully and said a number of words in French, though; of course, Pullings had no idea what they were conversing about.
He stuck the key into its lock and unlocked the big padlock as he opened the door and stood back for the lady to get in. She looked somewhat crossly at him, but then sighed and nodded her head to the side and made her way into the cell. She turned and looked directly at him, for the first time; a small smile creased her lips "Thank you" she said softly and nodded.
As she turned around and was soon patting backs and embracing the others in the cell, Pullings tossed the keys to the still quite astounded marine and made his way to the quarterdeck.
Once at his destination, he came up to Jim Segal, the coxswain. He wasn't any Barrett Bonden; but he did his job, he wasn't terrible at it. The no more then 30 years of age man turned away from the helm and grinned widely at the captain "Aye captain; happy afternoon to yah" he said and nodded. The heat of the late-afternoon sun was barreling down on him, and the crew. They were all skittered aimlessly about the skip, shirtless, sipping grog and talking tiredly amongst one another.
"And to you Segal, how are things?" he inquired, stepping beside him as he steered and whistled slightly.
"Oh, peachy keen cap'. We've set straight on an easterly course. The winds in our favor, and though it's hotter then the Arabian Desert, the winds very refreshing, and enough to keep the grog cool!" he exclaimed and winked, grinning wider.
"Very good, thank you Segal" he said and stepped off the deck, seamen saluted him and nodded as he passed, others saying "Hi capn'" and hoisted up their mugs in a toast. He loved it, the feeling of all authority, he smiled and nodded. 'Don't let it get to your head, Tom' he told himself, walking past the men and onto the quarterdeck. He inhaled in the brisk sea air and exhaled it slowly through his nostrils as he gazed out onto the open sea, soaking up all the daylight and crisp wind as he watched the large ship rocks in motion against the clashing waves.
Disclaimer: Nothing that does not belong to me...is not mine.
A/N: Three reviews. That's awesome, no really. I'm so motivated now. Keep r&r'n please. 33333. Oh, thanks for the name...of the wheel. Woo!
Aboard the swerving HMS Surprise; Dr. Stephen Maturin tried intently to keep his tea from spilling off its saucer and onto the rocking floor of the ship. Jack Aubrey, captain of the Surprise; sat at the window of the Great Cabin; his face masked with that of pondering; as he was deep in though. The doctor watched him as he gazed out at the open sea. His chin propped up on his fist which sat balanced on his knee.
"I don't understand something" Dr, Maturin said; standing up with his tea still in hand. Turing his head slightly, Aubrey looked up with curious eyes "Mmm?" he asked, intrigued.
Walking over, Stephen came to stand behind the captain, who had returned to gazing out at the bright hot ocean. "Why have we not intercepted the Acheron?"
Jack looked up, his face gave off a mischievous expression "Why, we've already intercepted her" he said with a wink. Maturin rolled his eyes and placed the empty china cup onto a near by table "Don't be foolish" he said "You know what I mean"
Capt. Aubrey turned back to the view of the sea and shifted positions slightly so he rested his forearm on his bent leg. "Well; we know the captain of the Acheron is not dead, correct"
"Yes Jack; why are you telling me this?" he retorted, his eyebrows furrowed.
Aubrey laughed and turned to look directly at his surgeon friend "I believe, Captain Pullings will handle this quite well"
"The poor lad thinks the captain is dead!" Maturin exclaimed, flails his arms about slightly.
As he continued laughing; Aubrey stood and began walking about the cabin. "If the good Captain is in any distress, he will signal us. He knows we are escorting him"
"I do not understand your methods" Maturin exhaled as he heaved a sigh. The captain only continued to chuckle. "I think it will be fine. Give the good Pullings some experience"
"You're drunk" he doctor said, shaking his head.
Captain turned and faced his friend "Nay! I am anything but dear Mr. Maturin" he replied.
"You're motives are those of a..."
Interrupting Maturin, Aubrey wheeled back around and glared him right in the eye "What Stephen? A tyrant. Am I no more then that now?"
"That's not what I was going to say, Jack" Maturin said humbly, bowing his head.
"Oh posh; you worry to much old friend" Aubrey said with a wave of his hand "If I see the Acheron is any kind of distress. We will be the first to come to their aid"
"What if he's planning an attack" Maturin said, eyeing the captain suspiciously. "He strikes, and the whole ship is a massacre, there's no signal, we'd never know!"
"Don't be such a fusspot Stephen. I know Tom; he will have them all watched; all kept under strict guard, the majority of them are held captive below the decks of Acheron anyway."
"That's not good enough, Jack"
"Fine, how about we inform the precious Acheron tomorrow. Even if they know the captain lives, what will they do? Have a trial? Who knows where or what or even if the French captain is aboard the ship?"
"We should at least give them warning."
"The majority of the Marines are on the Acheron"
"So?" The doctor said with a shrug. Aubrey rolled his eyes
"Tomorrow doctor. We will tell them of our discovery so you can sleep easy. I doubt there is a strike planned anyway. The captain probably just wants to get off his ship unharmed. We will be in port by them. He will not escape"
"You are a crude man Jack Aubrey"
"Oh contraire, doctor. I am anything but rudimentary" Jack said with a wide grin as he tugged on the collars of his uniform.
A number of miles from the HSM Surprise, Captain Pullings sat across from the French woman he had newly encountered in his quarters. She was nibbling a piece of bread, she seemed nervous to his glance; her head was down as she ate slowly. He intertwined his fingers and rested his chin on them as he propped his elbow on the table.
After a long; silent moment, Pullings was interrupted by a knock at his door. "Sir, its Mr. Hogg the heavy voice rang out from the other side.
The lady looked up with wide slightly frightened eyes. Pullings nodded "Come in" he said. The women's nervous expression became more so, and she stopped eating completely. Her eyes glued to the creaking door.
Master Seaman Hogg entered briskly "Captain" he said and froze by Pullings' chair. He turned his head slowly and stared bewilderedly at the woman across the table. "Sir..." he said, not taking his eyes off her. Pullings held up his hand to clam him "This is..." his voice trailed off and he gazed over at her, she was staring right back at Hogg "What is your name miss?" he demanded, as humbly as possible
She took her eyes of the Master Seaman and turned her head towards the captain. "Gabrielle De Sonnet" she paused "Third lieutenant" her eyes never wavered, filled with confidence. Pulling nodded. "Mr. Hogg, this is Miss De Sonnet" He said; realizing how utterly British the name sounded when it came from his lips, it sounded much prettier with a French accent; which of course; he lacked. Looking up at Hogg, who looked stupefied, Pullings offered a small smile "I found her in the wardrobe" he said and laughed lightly.
Hogg's eyebrows furrowed and he smiled dumbly "I see sir." He said; Pullings chuckled once more; the poor man was absolutely confused.
Mr. Hogg leaned down close to the captains ear, his voice shaking as he stuttered "Sir, shouldn't we put her in lower decks with...with the others"
Pullings waved the thought away with a gesture of his hand, making Hogg jump back and stand quickly at attention. "Nonsense" Tom said, looking back at the French lieutenant; Miss De Sonnet, who was looking back and forth from himself to the nervous Master Seaman.
Out of hearing of the girl, Pullings leaned towards Hogg, who bent down and leant him an ear "She needs a good meal. I will escort her down to the others later" he said, his eyes wavered over to Gabrielle, who was staring over with indifferent eyes; though she didn't look as if she'd heard.
Hogg nodded and stood up straight "Very good, sir" he said and nodded; as he went to leave Pullings lifted his hand "Hogg?" he questioned. Mr. Hogg stopped and turned about "Yes, sir"
"What is it you came to inquire before hand?" he asked, leaning back to look at him.
Hogg hesitated for a moment, then nodded "Oh yes. Jim Segal, the new coxswain, sir. He said we should we're making good time, and that we might arrive earlier then expected" He said with a grin and a nod. Pullings nodded "Very good" he said and patted Mr. Hogg on the shoulder "Thank you Master Seaman" He said and grinned back, Hogg bowed his head "Aye Captain" and backed out of the cabin. It felt good to hear that. "Aye Captain" Tom very much liked the sounds of that.
Looking back up at this, Gabrielle De Sonnet; Pullings watched as she commenced nibbling at her food again. Large bags under her pale green eyes made her seem quite jumpy as she looked up at him every so often and slowly averted her eyes when she saw he was looking. She was a third lieutenant, and a woman. He shook his head and leaned back; slinging one arm over the chair's arm rest. The French were surely going daft, sending women aboard man-o-wars.
It wasn't long until Miss De Sonnet was finished her meal and sat back; her large eyes made contact with his and he offered a small smile; which wasn't returned. He stood then and brushed the wrinkles from his uniform "We'll I'll take you down to your quarters" He said sternly. She looked down at her plate, as if contemplating attacking him with the fork, and then stood up. She took a deep breath and walked towards him. It was obvious to him she was disguising how utterly exhausted she was. She was proud, maybe not as much as she put out; but he admired that, especially in a woman.
As soon as he walked out of the cabin and took a step aside to let the lady through; the marine that stood at the door gave him a curious look and then nearly gasped when Gabrielle appeared through the doorway. The marine shot a look of confusion and astonishment as he looked the woman up and down and then quickly looked straight ahead, not meeting eye contact with the captain as he swallowed a lump in his throat and stared, wide eyed, straight ahead.
While walking down to lower decks, the crew of the Acheron stared in utter bewilderment, others leaning in to whisper amongst other seaman. Top men leaning down from the ropes, gawking open mouthed at the woman, the woman aboard a man-o-war!
Once they were below decks and making their way towards the small jail cells near the back where the captive whalers were held prisoner by the French, Gabrielle paused and looked around. Pullings turned around and gazed at her with an arched eyebrow. She looked at him and their eyes met briefly, before she jerked her eyes away and looked towards the direction of the infirmary. "Is the doctor...well?" she asked hesitantly.
Pullings eyebrow rose higher on his forehead "Le Vigny? Oh, he's fine" he said and nodded. Miss De Sonnet didn't seem to notice his nod as she kept her eyes towards the doctor's small office that was also double to where Killick would cook. Though, Killick wasn't aboard the Acheron, and the Acheron was nothing like the HMS Surprise, the Acheron was American built; and much bigger, spacious; which was nice, especially for the crew.
Gabrielle's eyes didn't waver "May I see him?" she asked hastily. Both Pullings eyebrow rose as he looked towards the direction she hadn't taken her eyes off of. "Yes, I don't see why not..." he started, before he could finish she was making her way towards it.
As he came up behind her, Gabrielle and the doctor le Vigny was embraced in a hug. "Oh, ma chère!" the doctor cried out as she pulled out of the hug and he placed his hands on her shoulders, they spoke together in French rapidly, most likely not faster then the English. But to Pullings; who didn't know more then "oui" and "merci" he was absolutely lost.
"Who is that?" The doctor questioned in French. Gabrielle turned slightly to the captain; who wore a slightly sheepish grin as he watched "the capitaine" she answered. He seemed confused for a moment, then nodded in comprehension "Oh, I see" She nodded and sighed "I'm so glad you're alright. I was so frightened it wouldn't work" her voice trailed off. The doctor raised his hand and smiled, but placed his finger to his lips and shook his head "No, we mustn't talk of that. Not when there are English ears around"
She smiled slightly "He doesn't speak a word of French" she said and looked over at Pullings. His expression was masked, but he was confused, his eyes wandered around impatiently.
The doctor smiled "Well, look at you my dear!" he said and stroked her hair with the palm of his hand "You look absolutely sickly"
"Well, you did have me locked away in that awful dresser"
The doctor laughed, causing Captain Pullings to look up with a slightly concerned and confused face. "But you were safe" Le Vigny said, smiling warmly at her.
"I could have fought" She said, her tone becoming bitter
"Oh, it's not that I would have lost you to death in battle" he said and grinned slightly, his eyes filled with admiration "It's that I would have lost you to the English"
Mr. Pullings cleared his throat and took a step, his hands placed behind his back as he held up his head "Are you done Miss?" he asked, his voice genuinely kind.
She nodded and stepped away from the doctor "Yes monsieur" she said in English and bowed her head slightly, walking towards Pullings and out the door. Pullings remained still for several moments, eyeing the doctor suspiciously, before turning on his heel and following out past Gabrielle.
As the reaching the condiments, the majority of the captives began calling out in French, sticking their hands out through the barricades. "Miss De Sonnet!" was all he understood, the rest he suspected was along the lines of "We're so glad you're alright" and "It's good to see you"
Pullings nodded at the marine on guard and held out his hand for the keys. The marine stood quickly at attention and placed them into the captain's hands, leaning slightly as he looked in awe at the French woman in the officer's uniform behind him.
The second reformatory, since there was only two onboard the Acheron, was used to hold the French Officers. Though they didn't keep them locked up all day and night, Pullings and selected English officers had permission to let several French seaman and officers and etc out onto the decks. They couldn't possibly stuff all the Frenchmen into one imprisonment, so; as long as they were watched over by officers or marines and no problem occurred, Aubrey told Pullings to let them free aboard the Acheron's deck.
There was a total of five officers, six now including 3rd Lieutenant De Sonnet. The three that were currently in the small cell stood and cried out, hi's and hello's and whatnot. Gabrielle nodded at them respectfully and said a number of words in French, though; of course, Pullings had no idea what they were conversing about.
He stuck the key into its lock and unlocked the big padlock as he opened the door and stood back for the lady to get in. She looked somewhat crossly at him, but then sighed and nodded her head to the side and made her way into the cell. She turned and looked directly at him, for the first time; a small smile creased her lips "Thank you" she said softly and nodded.
As she turned around and was soon patting backs and embracing the others in the cell, Pullings tossed the keys to the still quite astounded marine and made his way to the quarterdeck.
Once at his destination, he came up to Jim Segal, the coxswain. He wasn't any Barrett Bonden; but he did his job, he wasn't terrible at it. The no more then 30 years of age man turned away from the helm and grinned widely at the captain "Aye captain; happy afternoon to yah" he said and nodded. The heat of the late-afternoon sun was barreling down on him, and the crew. They were all skittered aimlessly about the skip, shirtless, sipping grog and talking tiredly amongst one another.
"And to you Segal, how are things?" he inquired, stepping beside him as he steered and whistled slightly.
"Oh, peachy keen cap'. We've set straight on an easterly course. The winds in our favor, and though it's hotter then the Arabian Desert, the winds very refreshing, and enough to keep the grog cool!" he exclaimed and winked, grinning wider.
"Very good, thank you Segal" he said and stepped off the deck, seamen saluted him and nodded as he passed, others saying "Hi capn'" and hoisted up their mugs in a toast. He loved it, the feeling of all authority, he smiled and nodded. 'Don't let it get to your head, Tom' he told himself, walking past the men and onto the quarterdeck. He inhaled in the brisk sea air and exhaled it slowly through his nostrils as he gazed out onto the open sea, soaking up all the daylight and crisp wind as he watched the large ship rocks in motion against the clashing waves.