Chapter 8
23 December, 1659 = Tuesday

The next day was a struggle in sailing three ships with less than a handful of people each. Without enough people to maintain the sheets and keep them taught, we weren't able to sail at full speed. So it was rather late in the day that we spotted Saint Eustatius and began to work on docking the ships. That alone was a nightmare of slow motion, my new ship crashing a bit rougher into the dock than I liked but we tied off and dropped the sheets all the same to find Megara was waiting for me in the same dress she was wearing when I left when we lowered our gangplank to disembark.

"Sloop of war?" Megara commented as I descended down the gangplank with the ship's logs of the ships I had taken under my arm.

"More than likely," I told her as I put an arm around her shoulders and we walked towards the coming carriage. It seemed the governor stayed apprised of who came and went here.

"Your crew seems a bit thinned out," she then added.

"Lost most taking my most recent ship," I told her. "Including my quartermaster, Stiles."

"Herc's quartermaster was a creep named Phil," Megara told me as we walked. Her voice sounded sad, but I think she was starting to look at life with renewed purpose. "He took Herc under his wing and taught him everything he knew about sailing. When Herc got named captain, he named Phil as his quartermaster. The two always seemed inseparable."

"Stiles was one of the few guys I knew I could actually talk to," I told her. "He seemed to keep the Badger running and never seemed to miss the finer details."

"Good quartermasters are like that," Megara said as we reached the carriage. Simmons opened the door and I turned to Megara, who smiled at me. "When are you leaving again?"

"Not for a week," I told her to make her smile. "I need to acquire new crew and seek a painter to change the name of my ship."

"What are you going to name it?" she asked me, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Why don't you tell me?" I said, then kissed her. "I'm more likely to call it something vulgar and I'm hoping you can find something witty."

"I'll see what I can do," she said with a chuckle. I kissed her again then climbed into the carriage where she joined me in my meeting with the governor. The ride was quick, and Megara seemed to know the way as we were led to the governor's office.

"Ah, Megara," Governor Fitzherbert said when we walked in to his office. The elder head of state was seated behind his ornate desk and seemed comfortable and was smiling as he took in Megara as if familiar with my fiance which he probably was considering her former husband likely stood where I now stood with Megara on his arm. "How's your husband, the young Mister Hercules?"

"His ship ran afoul of Captain Hook," Megara said, lowering head as she did so. "I'm told it was sank with all hands."

"My sympathies," the governor sighed before looking at me. "Two ships?"

"Three," I said, handing over the logs. "I was forced to sink one since I lacked the necessary crew to maintain a fighting force. Then a dirty trick by the British captain of the sloop of war I took cost me near on my entire crew. A hundred and forty dead in one single attack of sword on sword."

"Good Lord," Eugene breathed and Megara gasped at the claim.

"I'm wholly a wanted man in Nevis, it seems," I said as I took in Megara's fearful face. "They know my name and this is the second time I met that captain, though alive at our last parting, he was severely wounded when his remaining men were sent rowing in a longboat for port."

"They can post a bounty on you all they like," Governor Fitzherbert commented. "Even send ships after you if they so wish, but they can't imprison you forever as you would be a prisoner of war."

"A captain in the king's navy for real," I said, nodding in agreement.

"And do for a promotion," the governor said as he straightened in his chair. He pulled a piece of paper from his desk and wrote a note with his feathered pen, then handed it to me. "As governor of the port of Saint Eustatius under the rule of King William the third, I hereby promote you to the rank of major."

"Thank you, sir," I said as I took the note.

"Offer this note to the local tailor and he'll outfit you with a proper uniform you can wear to our Christmas Eve Ball," the governor told me as Megara nearly vibrated with enthusiasm. "You're well on your way to the admiralty."

"It's much appreciated," I said as I felt a bit overwhelmed. "You wouldn't happen to know where I might acquire additional crew?"

"No, but my sources tell me that Saint Martin has ground to a halt under repeated attacks of the Spanish and pirates," the governor told me. "They might have a surplus of sailors for those who reach her port."

"Noted, sir," I said as I looked down at Megara's beaming face. "If there's nothing else, sir?"

"You may go," the governor said with a smile, and I led Megara back to the exit. We stayed silent until we left the mansion, and it was Megara who broke it first.

"A major?" she said as she laughed. "That's amazing."

"Amazing will be getting my ship recrewed before the end of the year," I told her as we walked along the road back into town in the evening dusk. "I'll be visiting the tavern tonight."

"Are you going to be out late?" she asked me and I shrugged.

"At least until the merriment begins to take over and everyone is too drunk to think," I told her as I thought it over.

"I suppose you'll want to stay in my apartment," she said but I couldn't help but notice the change in her voice. It was sadder and the first thing that popped into my head for the reason was that she didn't want me sharing the bed she had once shared with her husband. I couldn't help but feel this was a challenge in our relationship and a chance to show I was an understanding man.

"And ruin the first opportunity I have to do it on something bigger?" I joked with her but it was her relaxing into my side that told me I had done it right.

"I was thinking something more like a brig," she quipped back at me.

"Didn't see one," I quipped right back. "Give it time, it's only my first week."

That just made Megara chuckle as we walked along as she led me to the local tailor. Her reasoning was that if we didn't get my order for a uniform in soon I wouldn't have it to wear to the ball tomorrow night. I had to agree, mainly as I wasn't sure how long it would take to sew an entire uniform by hand since I was pretty sure sewing machines weren't invented for at least a hundred more years.

The tailor measured me out for a full uniform and promised to have everything my rank required ready to go tomorrow at noon. Megara also got fitted for a new dress as well, something I sprung for after watching her ponder which of her meager dresses she would wear to such a formal event. Megara was grateful for such a wonderful present and I could only wonder what she had in store for me later as I dropped her off at her apartment to grab a few necessities so she could spend the next few days aboard my new ship.

I then headed back to my ship where I picked up the ship's articles. What surprised me most were the names that had been been marked with an 'x', likely by McGregor, to leave me the double handful of men left. Seeing those names marked off was a sobering reminder of the grisly nature of the life of a privateer, but we were all the richer for it. The ship's coffers were filling with each successful attack, and tomorrow morning I'd see about selling the sugar we'd captured with the merchantmen. It would all go into the collective pot to be divied up later, but until then we would constantly add to it, but for now I was off to the tavern to look for recruits so we'd have the manpower to continue adding to the pot.