Chapter 12 – Master and Commander

"Never ignore your instincts."

'1st December 1778,

More Spanish and French ships fall to the wrath of Sir Parker and the HMS Bristol, yet more than a year has passed and still I am no closer to finding what I seek. Do they know what the Assassin's are after? My suspicions rise as upon boarding the last Spanish ship, the captain set fire to his quarters and burned all of his maps and charts. Never the less I have earned an estimated €400 in prize money and am quite proud, but I will not rest easy until my task is complete and I have the maps that I need…'

'Nelson! I told you to go and help the others clean the muskets.' Parkers voice was surprisingly loud for such a small figure. 'The French are close.' He murmured. 'Another smelly bucket of wood to pluck from our waters, and a good deal of prize money to go with it.' Parker laughed, 'Now go see to those muskets, actually wait. Go find Dannie down by his quarters, he could probably use a hand sharpening the sabres and the rest of the weapons.'

Nelson nodded briefly, 'Yes sir.' Before heading down the hatch below deck.

Nelson never stayed below deck if he could help it, he found it too stuffy and smelly. The Bristol had been at sea for too long and the ship was ever so slowly beginning to fester. Nelson had grown a thin black beard and he no longer tended to his hair. It was now past his shoulders and riddled with knots.

Dannie was found in a room near the chef's workplace, the man's large build nearly obscured the doorway. Nelson watched Dannie trying to carry two small wooden boxes containing all types of weapons from daggers to sabres. When Dannie nearly dropped one of the boxes onto the floor, Nelson rushed in.

'Here, let me help.' Nelson took one of the boxes in his arms, it was extremely heavy and he wondered how Dannie managed to lift both of them at once.

'Thanks, better get these nice n' sharp quick. I gotta feeling Captn' Parker is closin' in on those French mongrels.'

Nelson smiled weakly and then set his box down near the grindstone. He suspected to be working for a few hours at the most. At least there was a window to let some air and light in.

Dannie set his box down next to Nelson's. 'Alright, I'll sharpen 'em, you clean 'em.'

Nelson collected all of the oil and cloths that he would need, and then one by one as the swords were handed to him he cleaned and polished them. As he worked Nelson watched Dannie on the grindstone, he was big and muscly but gentle when he needed to be. He only wore a brown tunic and some trousers, his short greasy hair was sleek with sweat after a while working the grind stone and so was his tunic.

Nelson then turned his thoughts to the up coming battle and the French ship that Sir Parker was tracking. 'Is this the one that I am looking for? Have I finally located the charts that are needed?' He had to make sure this time that he did not lose the captains charts, he and Elizabeta and Collingwood would see to that.

Dannie was clearly growing tired of sharpening swords, as his pedalling slowed and the stone rotated slower.

'We've been at this for a good couple of hours.' Nelson said, 'I say we take a break.'

Dannie stood up from the grindstone, 'Aye, I need a drink. Some rum'll definitely hit the spot.'

It was past noon when Nelson emerged onto the deck and into the bright of day. Sir Parker stood at the quarterdeck with his coxswain. The rest of the crew stood around, casually managing the ship. The sudden silence seemed slightly disturbing until it was broken by Elizabeta's shouts, coming from all the way up in the crows nest. 'Captain! There is a ship fast approaching from the Southwest! She's coming up behind us!'

Sir Parker glanced at Elizabeta and then pulled out his telescope and observed the oncoming vessel. 'Nelson! Get over here.' He cried.

Nelson run up the steps and stood next to the Captain, although not directly next to him so that their comparison in height would make Parker feel small. The entire crew was cautious of that.

Parker gave Nelson the telescope, 'Take a look.' He ordered.

'French?' Nelson asked as he raised the scope to his eye.

'Most likely but we can't know for certain, not yet.'

Suddenly Collingwood was with them on the quarterdeck, 'The French are slimy bastards. Always sneaking up behind you and stabbing you in the back. How did they circle 'round so fast?'

'Are we to engage? Captain?'

Parker took the telescope from Nelson and observed the ship once again. 'She's certainly a fast ship but the Bristol carries the heavier load of firepower.' Parker snapped his telescope shut and put it away. 'Ready the cannons and prepare to engage them head on.'

Nelson repeated the order to the crew, 'Ready the guns!' He shouted with a hint of excitement.

Right away the men on the deck began to run back and forth, each moving to his station with rehearsed accuracy. After some time the distance between the two ships grew shorter and Sir Parker was able to point out the men aboard the enemy ship.

'Yep, those are French all right. I can see the flag. Prepare to engage, we're taking the ship.'

Everyone, on both ships, was ready for battle and as the French vessel drifted nearer a man in a purple jacket and feathered hat spoke in English through a little cone that he held to his mouth. Unfortunately no one on the Bristol could understand what was being said because of the distance between the two ships, that and the French man's perilous accent. Nelson shot Parker a puzzled expression.

'What the devil is he saying?' Parker questioned.

'Do you think he wants us to surrender?' Collingwood pointed out.

The men on the deck had stopped what they were doing in order to listen to the French man's terms. Parker walked over and leaned on the guardrail overlooking the men 'Well alright then, keep going.'

At the first sign that the Bristol was not going to surrender, the French moved into position and Nelson watched them manning the cannons just as he had his own men do. Up close the French ship was smaller than what Nelson had first anticipated, but it was heavily loaded. Upon the ship's blue-green hull was the single word 'Brise' meaning breeze. The two ships were almost along side now and suddenly Nelson had a bad gut instinct. 'Why would they attack a larger ship like this?' he thought, 'Do they have some kind of plan?'

Either way it was too late to pull away. The first thing Nelson did was order his best marksmen into position. 'Andrew, Collingwood, Elizabeta, James.' The four people turned towards Nelson. 'Take a musket and shoot down their gunners before they can fire. Take position here, in the rigging, over there and up on the bow.'

The four gunners took up their firearms and readied themselves without question.

It was now time for Nelson to give his gunners the order to fire. If he did it too early the last gunners might miss their target, but too soon and the French would fire first. Nelson began to sweat as he raised his arm in the air. 'Marksmen, fire when ready!'

A musket went off, and then another and another, all across the ship and the shooters were clouded in a white cloak of gun smoke. Then one of the French gunmen's heads exploded as one of the bullets struck, splattering blood and brains across the deck.

Nelson decided that the time was now, 'Fire!' He shouted.

One by one all of the Bristol's cannons fired and the two ships were enclosed in a mess of gun smoke and splinters. Nelson detected the sound of French cries as cannon balls ripped through the enemy deck and cut down most of the crew. Some of Sir Parkers men were cut down by French fire and parts of the hull now had big gaping holes in it, but the damage was nothing that couldn't be repaired.

'Get a cable on that ship and prepare to board!' Nelson ran over and assisted one of the men in throwing a rope and steel cable hook across to the enemy ship. Several of these hooks were thrown across and now the two ships were locked tightly together as the cables snapped into place. Sir Parker led the way as Dannie threw down a wide wooden boarding plank and locked it in place. Then Nelson and the others followed their captain and met the opposing French forces on their own deck.

Nelson's first opponent was a big man with a shaved head and a thick dark beard. The man swung his sword at Nelsons ribs and Nelson was able to parry the blow and counter, cutting a clean stroke along the man's neck. Blood spurted from the wound and trickled from the man's mouth as he groped at his neck and fell onto his knees.

Another attacker ran at Nelson, screaming and swinging a hatchet side to side. The screaming man suddenly stopped as Elizabeta ran behind him and drove her dagger between his shoulders. She pushed the body into another French fighter and continued to battle. The violence continued but soon enough Sir Parker and his men had finished off the last of the French sailors. The rest of the enemy was scattered and hiding below the deck. It appeared that the battle had ended, but Nelson was still fearful of something.

He watched some of the remaining French as they fled down their hatches and to the cabins below the deck.

'No, this was far too easy.' Nelson said out loud.

As he spoke some of the other men attempted to pursue the survivors below deck, but as one of the men opened the hatch, someone below stuck a pistol in his face and fired. The man's skull was shattered by the blast and he dropped to the deck. Suddenly dozens of properly armoured fighting men rushed out from the cabins and surrounded Nelson and his men.

Again the ship erupted in chaos with cries and the clashing of metal. The bloodshed was so intense that Nelson nearly slipped on the blood that soaked the deck. Soon into the fight, Nelson, Elizabeta and Collingwood found themselves trapped against the side rail of the ship. Elizabeta had lost her sword and was fighting against the men with her hidden blades. Two men with scimitars rushed at her, with her left blade she parried a blow and was able to take hold of the man's fighting arm. She then twisted the blade out of the man's hand and used it to cut the others throat.

The disarmed man drew a knife and charged Elizabeta but she simply drove her hidden blade into the man's eye socket and he fell dead to the ground. Nelson stood beside Collingwood as he fought against a man wielding a steel battle-axe. The man already had a deep stab wound in his shoulder that slurred his movements and as he swung his axe, Nelson cut the man along the thigh and pushed him over the rail and into the sea below.

The battle was not looking good, and from what Nelson could see, the ambushers had cut down the majority of Parker's crew. The remainder of Nelson's allies were bunched up at the end of the ship. For a moment Nelson feared that he was going to die, and there was nothing left for him to do but fight to the death. It was in that final moment of despair that he noticed something, a way out.

Nelson called to Elizabeta 'I know how to get us out of this. I need your help.'

Elizabeta spoke back 'What are we going to do?'

Nelson pointed towards the smaller cannons behind of mass of the ambushers, 'Grape Shot.' He said in a simple tone and he covertly climbed over the ships rail. Elizabeta followed him and together they scaled the side of the ship until they were in the centre. Nelson climbed back over the rail and immediately set to work loading the small cannon with a bag of grape shot. Elizabeta cut down an oncoming attacker with her hidden blades and then handed Nelson the lighting burner.

The cannon was all set and Nelson was ready to fire. 'Brace yourself.' He said loudly.

Elizabeta covered her ears and Nelson lined up the shot so that he could take out the majority of the ambushers without killing any of his own men. He touched the burner to the fuse and within seconds the cannon exploded with overwhelming fury, letting out a burst of shot that swept across the deck and devastated nearly all of the attackers before it. Once the smoke had cleared, Nelson saw the enormity of his action. His enemy was lying in bloody piles on the hard wood floor. Some men were completely blown to pieces; others were wounded and were bleeding out, still crying in agony. Those that were missed by the grape shot were quickly overpowered and killed by Sir Parker and his men. The battle was victorious.

For Nelson the aftermath was the worst part. The dead French soldiers and sailors had to be removed from the deck and tossed into the ocean. For the wounded it was best to simply put them out of their misery and have them join the others in the depths of the sea. Nelson could not handle walking around on the blood-smeared deck anymore, and he searched eagerly for something else to do.

Sir Parker was running around bellowing orders to the remainder of his men, and trying to get the ship cleaned up as soon as possible. 'Nelson, how many casualties were there?' He ordered.

Nelson glanced around both ships. 'Only about twenty-six of our men remain, sir.'

'God be damned.' Parker said solemnly, 'Almost the entire crew, good men, lost to those French bastards.' Parker kicked one of the dead bodies with short outrage.

'This was a planned ambush.' Nelson stated. 'They knew that we were onto them from the start, and they lured us into their mouse trap.'

One of Parker's men, a tall lad, approached with a line of heavily guarded French prisoners behind him. The men stared with cold eyes and their entire bodies were covered with blood and wounds. The tall boy spoke, 'Sir, we have prisoners.'

Parker stared at the boy as he waited patiently for a command. 'Kill them.' He paused, 'No wait. Keep them alive.'

'You plan on sending them back to Port Royale?' Nelson questioned.

'We have too few men to sail both ships at once.' Parker explained, 'I will appoint you as the new commander of this ship. Take the cargo and its prisoners back to Port Royale. You can have twelve men as well as the four prisoners, see her home safely.' Parker patted Nelson on the shoulder and returned to giving commands.

Nelson left the rest of the cleaning up to his crew and made his way to the captain's cabin. His men searched every crack and crevice and brought out all of the French who were hiding within the ship. Those that tried to fight were killed, and the rest were brought to Sir Parker. At last Nelson reached his destination. The captain's room was spacious, a large wooden desk sat in the middle, and there was a small bed along the wall, a cupboard in the corner and a wide window along the back wall, directly behind the desk.

Nelson sat himself down in the captain's chair and observed the pile of documents that were spread out across the wooden desk. The most prominent was a ledger with a thick black leather cover. Nelson flicked through the pages, there were dates, coordinates, cargo lists and all other necessary information and items, presented in legible French hand righting across the worn out pages. Nelson could make out some of the words from his lessons with Frankie, back on the Raisonnable. Nelson closed the ledger and moves it aside, he then attempted to open one of the desk draws but it was locked.

At that moment Collingwood entered the room. 'This is a neat little room for a smelly French bastard.' Collingwood laughed mockingly.

Nelson just smiled 'Can you give me a hand with this lock?'

Collingwood stepped over a looked down at Nelson meddling with the draw. 'No, you're doing it wrong. You have to use a pistol.' Collingwood reached behind him and pulled out a flintlock from his belt. He gripped the weapon firmly by the muzzle and using the handle he bashed at the lock until it finally broke and the draw slid open. Nelson complimented Collingwood's creativity. Inside the draw was a collection of maps and charts. With increased eagerness Nelson sifted through the papers until he found what he was looking for, a map listing a number of locations for Spanish outposts, camps and forts. Nelson rolled the map up and held it in front of him with great relief. 'Finally, we have it. We have the map.'

Before anyone could rejoice further there was a sound that came from within the cupboard in the corner. It was a sullen cough, and Nelson instantly knew that there was someone in there. Nelson stood up and drew his sword, holding it ready at his side as he and Collingwood cautiously approached the cupboard. Collingwood placed his hand on the doorknob and when Nelson was ready, he yanked the door open.

'Please! Don't kill me!' A middle-aged man shouted with a heavy French accent. He cowered away into the cupboard. It looked like the French speaker from before. The man seemed to be unarmed, and so Nelson took him by the wrist and hauled him into the open space.

Nelson pointed his sword at the man's throat 'And who might you be?' He asked briefly.

'I am the captain of this ship!' The man retorted. 'You will not get away with this. You will be killed.'

Collingwood chuckled. 'And who is going to kill us? Will it be you?'

The captain stood tall and glared at them with fire in his eyes. Then as Nelson turned away he slipped a small knife from his sleeve and lashed at Nelson with such speed that neither he nor Collingwood saw it coming. Nelson caught the captain's wrist just in time to prevent the blade from piercing deep into his eye. Nelson then pushed the captains knife arm aside but with his other hand the captain was able to punch Nelson in the jaw. The force from the blow knocked Nelson onto the desk. When Collingwood tried to intervene the captain stabbed at his stomach so that he had to dodge away. With a wicked stare, the captain held the knife extended towards Collingwood and he spoke. 'You British don't know what you are doing. You do not know the power that we possess.'

Before the captain could speak anymore Nelson batted him hard over the back of the skull with the hilt of his pistol. The captain fell limp to the ground and lay faced down on the wooden floor. Blood smeared the area of his head that was hit by the pistol.

'Use the pistol.' Nelson laughed with slight agony as he rubbed his jaw.

He fell into the captain's chair, panting for breath, and decided what to do next. 'Take the captain to the deck, when or if he wakes up he can join with the other prisoners. Make haste, we sail for Port Royale immediately.'

Collingwood nodded his head, 'Aye, uh captain.' He uttered as he stepped out of the room.