Chapter 13: Battle at Dawn

"Here they come again, Jack!" Barbossa called from his post by the wheel on the quarter deck.

"Right lads!" yelled Sparrow to his crew. "You know what to do. Give it to 'em hot and heavy!"

The pirates cheered lustily as they began laying their guns. The knight's sloop had made the same approach three times in a row and it was coming again at the same angle. The gunners on the Black Pearl waited patiently while their tormentor came into range. Mr. Leech sighted down his gun and smiled as the sloop fell into line. With the touch of a slow match the powder flashed and the cannon roared sending a twenty-four pound solid shot screaming across the water to slam into the bow rail of the small vessel. A cloud of splinters fanned out sending the enemy crew diving for cover. In quick succession the other guns of the Black Pearl vomited death and destruction on their enemy. The sloop continued to bear in but several of her gun ports were now empty and her foremast shrouds were torn. The sloop's speed was dropping even as they closed. Her remaining guns fired at a poor angle and the shot bounced off of the Pearl's hull to drop harmlessly into the ocean.

"Luff sail!" Shouted Jack with that wolf's grin he sometimes had in battle. "Helm, hard a starboard. Cut in behind that bastard! Larboard cannons ready for action! Fire as you bear!"

The topmen quickly let the wind out of the Pearl's sails and the mighty ship's speed dropped as she turned to cut behind her wounded prey. The crew of the sloop scrambled to adjust their rigging but there was no way they could prevent the Pearl from dealing the deadly blow. As the Pearl's fore cannon aligned with the sloop's stern they sent their shot at nearly point blank range to smash the enemy's rudder and scour its quarter deck of life. Splinters and bodies flew into the air and splashed into the sea. Shot after shot slammed home and in the dawn light another ship was left to flounder in the cruel waters of the Mediterranean.

"Captain," the lookout on the mainmast called down. "Sails coming from astern and another ship off the starboard bow."

Jack lifted his glass to his eye and peered aft at the big frigate bearing down on them. It was the one they'd spotted the evening before. The one that had herded them into this killing box. He moved to the starboard rail and again peered through his glass. A corvette with fresh white sails was maneuvering to cut them off. More grist for the mill. The Black Pearl wasn't exactly trapped but if Jack tried to out maneuver the corvette the frigate would quickly gain on them. And if he engaged the corvette he risked even more damage to his beloved ship. Damn it all!

"Full sail! Helm, I want us as close to the wind as you can sail her. It's going to be a near run thing but we'll diddle 'em again," Jack ordered.

"Jack, with the foremast sails as they are we won't be able to out run them," Barbossa warned. "Yer takin' us right into that corvette."

"Better that than letting the frigate catch us and then having to deal with the both of them," Jack's expression was grim. He was worried that the poison might have started its deadly work already. How well could anyone calculate such a thing?

"The crew's tired, Jack," Barbossa said levelly. "I'm not gain sayin' what ye've got in mind. I'm just wondering how we'll fair."

"The crew will do, Hector," Jack gave him a confidant smile. He was tired too but he was damned if these rat bastards were going to take him like some Dutch merchant on a lee shore. "Remember we still have a few surprises they aren't expecting."

"Aye," Barbossa nodded and scratched his beard in that way he had when he wasn't sure of something. "If they cooperate."

"Think about it, Hector," Jack smiled again. "If you were trying to catch the Pearl right now and were in that ship. What would you try to do?"

"But it's not me, Jack," Barbossa said. "We don't know the mind of that captain. But, I reckon ye be right to risk it this time. What have we to lose?"

So the Pearl sailed a course as close to the wind as she could while the carpenter and his mates slaved to repair the damaged foremast rigging and the topmen worked to stretch new canvas. It was a noble effort but time was against them. All too soon the corvette had overhauled them. She was sliding into a course that would bring the two ships nearly bow on. Though the corvette was smaller than the Black Pearl she mounted nearly as many guns. Also, she was fresh. Her shining sails and clean paint showed she'd recently been careened and refitted. Her crew would most likely be fit and ready for action. Jack hoped they were a new crew not yet tried in battle together. If so they might make mistakes or simply be less well coordinated than a crew with long days of drill.

"She has a pair of bow chasers there, Jack," Barbossa warned as he dropped the spyglass from his eye.

"Cobb," Jack said to his helmsman. "When I give the word I want you to cut hard a starboard. Hector, get those riggers back to their stations. Mr. Leech, have the larboard cannon primed and ready. We're going to cut hard a starboard. Be sure the guns are properly depressed."

The crew scrambled to obey the orders and Jack looked back at the frigate. It was still coming on hard. It had closed the distance to nearly long cannon range. Damn the ill luck of that broadside last night. The old frigate had spotted the Pearl just a moment too soon. She'd let fly with her rockets and loosed enough shot to wreck the spars on the foremast. Try as they might the carpenters had no spars to replace the damaged ones and they were unable to fashion the old ones into anything useful with the ship in action like this. Before Jack could finish the corvette he knew the frigate would overhaul the Pearl and for all his bluster Jack wasn't certain he could out fight two ships right now.

The carpenters had barely stowed their gear when the corvette finally came in range. She fired a pair of long nines that briefly shrouded her bowsprit in a cloud of thick smoke. The iron shot splashed to either side of the Pearl as the distance narrowed. Jack held his course until he was sure his guns would have the needed range.

"Now, Cobb!" Jack ordered and the helmsman spun the wheel. The Pearl lurched and shuddered as the rudder bit into the sea and the galleon turned east. She slowed considerably as the wind spilled from her sails but the momentum of the ship prevented her from rocking over much. As the larboard guns came to bear on the corvette they began to fire. The captain of that ship must have anticipated the maneuver though. He steered his vessel so that she stayed bow on to the broadside. While he could fire only two cannon at the Pearl this move provided the Pearl's gunners with a smaller target than they would otherwise have had. Some of the balls from the Pearl's cannon struck home but most fell harmlessly to either side of the corvette.

"Starboard cannon prepare to fire!" shouted Jack over the thunder of his guns. "Keep us hard over, Cobb. Reverse our course and let our boys have another crack at her!"

As the Black Pearl came about all of the wind spilled from her sails and Barbossa was striding the deck directing the crew to correct the rigging. Never the less Jack's plan worked. The starboard guns came on line more quickly than the corvette could alter course and this time they scored hit after deadly hit. The corvette's rigging was shot full of holes and several of her guns were struck. Men died in blasts of splinters while others went down beneath the falling yards. She was hurt but the corvette wasn't out of the fight yet. Gamely her crew returned the broadside with her lighter guns. One of the Pearl's twenty-four pounders was knocked from its carriage and a dozen men were killed or wounded. The Pearl's gunners reloaded as quickly as any crew ever could and laid another broadside into the corvette before her guns could be reloaded. More of the rigging was shot away and a hole was punched in the ship's hull. The corvette was sluggish in her turn as her captain struggled to bring her about to face the pirates with his larboard battery. The Pearl was already turning north again before the corvette could complete the maneuver.

"Damn fine sailing, Jack," called Barbossa from the main deck.

"Thank you, Hector," Jack called back absently. He was staring over the stern at the frigate that was now in range with her bow guns.