Chapter 104 – The chase

"You ARE Zorro. Never forget. And you know how to perform miracles. Do it for me, please. Do it one more time!"

She pulled form his neck to get him closer, and then reached for his lips to deliver a gentle kiss of pure love, full of devotion and trust. He got lost in that uplifting, power-kiss that greatly invigorated him and got him out of that gloomy, mental state.

Damn, you're right! I'm the mighty Zorro. They should be the ones running away from me!

"Wait a second," Diego said when they parted, after that wonderful, truly inspiring and comforting kiss. "I thought you never wanted to see me dressed as Zorro ever again!"

He was right. She didn't, and she hardly recognized herself in her own words, but she was too frightened to make total sense. On the one hand, she dreaded the very likely possibility that Diego would get hurt or even killed, but on the other, she needed a hero. Everybody onboard did, if they wanted to survive. Besides, asking him to hide with her in the cargo hold like a coward instead of fighting, just to hold her hand, would not help anybody at all.

While she sobbed in his arms after her initial shock at the horrible news, with that uncontrollable flow of tears, it had dawned on her so clearly: to pull it off, he would need her unconditional, full support. Whatever happened in the next few hours, she had to look strong, for him, and not fall into a hectic state of panic again, no matter what.

"Desperate times, Diego," she said lightly, trying to smile, despite the seriousness of the situation. "What can I say? If you must join the fight, do it in style, please, with all your weapons, and all your skills. They won't expect that at all. If you unleash the legendary black fury, those pirates won't know what hit them!"

He hugged her again, truly encouraged by her words.

"Thank you, Victoria. You cannot imagine how much I needed that, specially coming from you."

"I love you so much," she said, clinging onto him again.

"Yo también te quiero tanto, mi amor," he said, also clinging onto her tightly. Then, he whispered at her ear: "We'll get through this, you'll see. We'll do. God willing, we'll be fine, the three of us."

If only! she thought, breaking the embrace to give him a quick kiss.

"I'll pray to that while you fight, Diego. Now, go somewhere quiet to think of a plan, please. Don't worry about me."

ZZZ

Over the next hour, the crew worked hard to reset the sails and rigging of the main mast to its maximum wind-catching potential, increasing their overall speed greatly. However, Ulloa still had doubts about the strength of the new foremast. Before they set the royals and moonrakers at the top, he asked the sailing master again.

"Will it hold at full sail?"

Cárdenas looked up, paying close attention to the tell-tales, the pieces of fabric attached to the sails and stays.

"In this wind, it's hard to say, Sir. I would like to believe so, but I don't know for sure."

Ulloa used the spyglass to have another look at the incoming vessel. The pirate ship displayed a full set of sails, including several staysails, a spanker, and a set of five jibs —way more of what they carried— and the damned thing kept getting closer by the minute, even faster than he had anticipated, because the easterly wind had picked up since the start of the chase, and that only favoured them.

"It won't hold, Captain, not on this wind," Ojeda said, unreservedly pessimistic, unlike the more restrained, sailing master. "If we add all the jibs, like they did, it will crack."

The chief officer was right: the risk of breaking the repaired foremast under too much pressure was too great, but they had no other choice. They needed the speed to reach the storm that was brewing in the horizon, so the pirates would not be able to open the gunports to use their guns, unless they wanted to flood that deck while hitting the incoming waves.

"We have to try!" Ulloa cried, handing Ojeda the spyglass. "Look at them! They are flying on this wind that favours them so much. Without the topsails and the jibs, they'll be onto us in less than two hours, before we reach the storm. We must gamble on the strength of that foremast, because otherwise, we're done!"

"Yes, Sir, you're right, we have no other choice," Ojeda said while looking at the Burla Negra, discouraged. "But at least, let's trim tight the staysail to the main mast. That may help to stabilize the fore."

"Correct, good idea. Cárdenas, give the orders!"

The sailing master shouted the orders to the men at the top platforms of the masts. Some unfurled and trimmed the last sails at the top, while others over-trimmed their top staysail, that would pull back the foremast at the expense of increasing the force applied to the undamaged main mast.

As a result of the adjustment, the Santa Eulalia increased her speed, but the new sails also intensified the distinctive cracking noises wood makes under pressure, as if the ship was crying, in pain. Officers and crew looked at the foremast with apprehension for a while, but it seemed to be holding on fine with the new load.

"Your ship," the captain said to the chief officer before he left the bridge, heading to the hatchway to the lower deck.

Please, God, let it hold on! Ulloa prayed while looking at the foremast, wondering if he should walk around the main mast twice, for luck, if only one more time.

ZZZ

As Victoria had suggested, Diego looked for a quiet place, away from everybody, where he could think in peace, undisturbed. That place was no other than the cargo deck, where Victoria would hide with the rest of the women once the attack would be imminent.

God, please, illuminate me! How can I fight this? How can I help to prevent this disaster? he prayed while sitting on the floor in that dark, uninviting place, with his back resting against a wooden crate.

For nearly an hour, he considered all the possibilities, analysing them one by one, until he reached the most outrageous conclusion: if they could not get away from the pirates, the next best thing would be… turning around to face them.

Yes, as crazy as that could sound, sometimes the best defence is a good offence. But now, he would have to convince the captain that attacking the pirates would be their best choice. And that would be difficult, because it was totally counter-intuitive, and he had no experience on sailing techniques whatsoever. Still, for his daring plan to work, they had to turn the tables and take the offensive, no matter how insane that idea might look like.

ZZZ

"What? The pirates?" Doña Margarita cried, panicking when Victoria told her the bad news.

"Quiet! The rest of the passengers don't know yet!" Victoria replied in a low tone, with a finger on her lips. "Don't fret, please. Panicking won't help you. I know it will be difficult, but try to stay calm, por favor. The captain is trying hard to get us away from that pirate ship, that's why we are sailing so fast now. And Diego… well, I don't know what he's going to do, but I hope he can save the day, as he always does."

"Will he use his… "party outfit"? You know, with the sword, and the whip, and all?"

"Yes."

"But, what is he going to do? He's only a man! Against many!"

"I know. But he is a very special one, and I trust him. And you should too, because otherwise…" Victoria said, shaking her head. Then, she chose her next words carefully. "Now, let me tell you about the plan Diego and the captain made for us women: before the pirates come onboard, we have to hide in the cargo hold, and then…"

After she finished telling her the plan, the stunned Doña Margarita didn't say anything for a while, until she suddenly burst into a hysterical state, laughing heartily, and uncontrollably.

"Yes! Why not? We'll go out with a bang! In tiny pieces! That would teach them!"

"Doña Margarita, are you all right?" Victoria asked, taking the older woman's hand as she laughed her head off, fearing she had lost her mind. "You're frightening me!"

"I'm sorry, mi niña. I didn't mean to frighten you," Doña Margarita said when she finally calmed down a bit. "I'm not crazy. It's just… Santa Madre de Dios! Look, I would rather face such horrible news laughing instead of crying!"

"All right, that's better. For a moment, I thought you have lost the plot completely!" Victoria said while tapping her hand, smiling as well, deeply relieved. "Now, we have to tell the other women on board, whenever the captain thinks it's the right moment for it. I counted ten of us, including that young girl and her grandmother, the last women to come aboard, at Montevideo.

"Yes, that poor, sweet little thing, Katie… I can't even imagine what those monsters could do to that girl if they get their filthy hands on her. I have to tell you: your husband is very clever, conceiving that plan for us. He's so right: I rather be dead than fall in their filthy hands!"

ZZZ

"How are you doing?" Ulloa asked Almeida when he reached the cockpit on the lower deck, where the boatswain was ripping cotton sheets in pieces to make a ton of bandages of all sizes. "Are you all set?"

The captain had promoted Almeida to the rank of naval surgeon, and had ordered him to set up all the necessary equipment to attend the men that would inevitably get wounded if the pirates gunned them down, including all the stock of alcoholic drinks that could help to numb the pain during the gruesome procedures. The prospect of surviving those horrific cannon and gunfire wounds was pretty grim, but due to his experience at the Spanish Armada, Ulloa thought at least they had to try to do something about it.

"I'm not comfortable with any of this, Cap'n," Almeida said, showing Ulloa the assembly of saws and other tools he had prepared on a table, ready to perform amputations in a rush; all the buckets filled with flour or sand; and all the sand that now covered the deck floor to deal with the blood spills, "but yes, I'm all set over here."

"Good. Did you ask Don Diego for help?"

"I tried, but I can't find him. I don't know where he is."

"Never mind. I'm sure he'll help you when the time comes."

"How are we doing out there, Sir?"

Ulloa wanted to keep the spirits of his crew up, but he could not lie to them. And soon, it would also be the time to tell the passengers the bad news, something he wasn't looking forward to. Not at all.

"Not good. Those bastards are too damn fast for us."

Almeida swallowed hard. Judging by Ulloa's expression, the attack looked inevitable now, and not only a likely possibility they could still try to avoid, as before.

"How long?"

"Two hours. Four, at the most, if we manage to reach the storm and they still follow to board us without firing their cannons."

"Should we drop some cargo? Would that help?"

"I thought about that. It might help a little with the speed, but it could also cause destabilization, and do more harm than good. The cargo is perfectly balanced as it is now, and I don't want to risk capsizing if we get it wrong."

Almeida looked at the captain then like a child would look at his father for reassurance.

"I've never been in battle at sea, Sir. How bad is it?"

Ulloa was too conscious of the fact hardly any of the sailors had seen action at sea. He feared that, when the time came, they would lack the discipline and the courage to follow orders at once, but there was nothing he could do about their lack of experience. At least Almeida had served briefly in the Army, had some training and skills with all the weapons they had available, and had already trained some men in their correct use.

"There is no other way to put it: a bloody carnage. That's why I'll need you here, to patch the men up so they can continue fighting until their last drop of blood, if necessary," Ulloa said, as sombre and brutally honest as only he could be. "But don't try too hard to save them all, because you won't be able to. Some would not even be worth trying, and they would be better off if you just put them out of their misery quickly."

"I can't do that, Sir!" Almeida cried, horrified at the prospect of having to kill his own injured mates, as one would do with wounded cattle.

"Believe me, some will beg you for it, crying to be shot down to end their agony faster. But if you're not up to it, don't worry: just give them rum or brandy until they pass out, because you must concentrate on the wounded who can still have a chance to keep on fighting. If they don't, we will all end up dead, anyway, so it won't matter who survives the initial wounds or who doesn't. Any care you give to anybody who can't carry on fighting would be pointless if the pirates finish them off later on."

Almeida's face was a picture at that point.

"I'm sorry to land this job on you, Son," Ulloa continued, with a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, "but someone has to do it, and you are the best man we have for it."

The tall, dark-skinned Andalusian swallowed hard again, but nodded this time, accepting the importance of his role as surgeon.

"I'll do my best, Sir."

"I know you will. Now, come with me. It's time to instruct all the men on the available weaponry, and our fighting strategy. We'll need our marksmen high up on the masts, without interfering with the handling of the sails."

ZZZ

"They got all their sails up now," De Soto said at the bow, looking at his prey through the spyglass. "If that's the best those fuckers can do, we'll get 'em before noon!"

"Don't forget our pint of rum, Cap'n!" a passing pirate said on hearing those words.

"Y'all have your part, don't ye worry!" De Soto said, laughing, in good spirits, turning to pass the spyglass to his second in command. "Mate, this is like chasing whales at the Bay of Biscay! Ever hunted for feckin' whales, Busta? Harpoon and follow the beasts for hours, even days, until they can't swim anymore, and then… finish them off! No mercy! Just like this!"

"They're heading for a storm," Bustamante said, also looking at the horizon with the spyglass.

"And who the hell gives a fuck?!" De Soto cried, sort of amused by the perceived inconvenience. "If we can't use them cannons in the rough waters, we can still board them. Those muthafucka's won't get away in the rain!"

"Nice!" Bustamante said with a sinister smile, almost licking his lips with gusto. "Boarding at speed, a saco, and no quarter. I love that!"

The two pirates shared a bottle of rum while laughing their asses off, thinking about the juicy price that awaited them.

ZZZ

Diego left the cargo hold to find Ulloa. On his way to the upper deck, he bumped into Don Enrique, who looked as angry as usual.

"De la Vega, do you know what's going on? Why are we sailing so fast now, and off course? The ship is swaying too much, and I feel sick!"

"I thought you'd be happy the sailors are making the most of this wind, so we can reach Spain faster, in time for your brother's wedding," Diego said, trying to walk past that man, but the obnoxious don got in the way, blocking the corridor.

"Do you think I was born yesterday? We are sailing northwest now, not northeast as before! The way we are going, we may reach Cuba before we reach Spain! Something is going on, De la Vega, and I demand an explanation from the captain."

"I don't know what are you talking about, but I'm sure the captain knows where he's heading, what he's doing, and what's the best action to take in any given sailing conditions. Now, please, if you'd excuse me…"

Diego squeezed between that man and the wall to reach the hatchway, and quickly ran outside, to the bridge.

"Where's the captain?" he asked the helmsman, the only sailor on sight in the upper deck.

"He's addressing the men at the mess deck, Sir. But you shouldn't go there! I told the same to Don Enrique, but he didn't listen."

"Never mind, I'll wait for him here. And don't worry about what I may hear over there, because I already know about the pirates."

ZZZ

"Don't you forget: we are a team, and the only way we can defeat those bastards is by working together," Ulloa said to his crew, after explaining the situation without sparing any details, his usual way. "Do your best, that's all I can ask you for. Follow my orders, or any of the officers' still standing if I'm no longer able to do so, and don't question them, please, because nobody will get away from this on his own. We have to work as one to survive. In the end, it will be all of us, or none at all, because if we fail to contain them, they'll kill us all, passengers and crew. As simple as that."

"That won't happen, Sir, 'cause we'll kick their filthy asses back to hell where they belong!" one of the deckhands with military experience said, and all the men cheered, sharing that thought, encouraged by the captain's words.

"Well said, García, that's the spirit," Ulloa said, nodding in appreciation. "Now, as the blooming Admiral Nelson would say: THE-SANTA-EULALIA-EXPECTS-THAT-EVERY-MAN-WILL-DO-HIS-DUTY. God bless you all, and… please, go back to work! We still have at least two hours to prepare until those sons of bitches get to us!"

Satisfied with the general attitude of his crew and officers, he left their quarters to return to the bridge with Ojeda, Cárdenas, and the other officers in tow, while the deckhands and able seamen hailed and cheered, all fired-up.

"Almeida, assemble the passengers at the dining room, please."

"Aye, aye, Cap'n!"

When the officers reached the bridge, Ulloa didn't look too happy when he saw Diego standing there, talking to the helmsman.

"De la Vega, what are you doing here? The bridge is off-limits for the passengers!"

"I know, and I'm sorry, Captain. I was only waiting for your return, because I need to talk to you."

"As you can imagine, I'm quite busy right now," Ulloa said, using the catalejo one more time to look back at the Burla Negra, which looked closer and closer. "How the hell can they sail so fast? Dammit! That dastardly black thing has wings, not sails!"

"I know you are busy, but it's important."

The captain passed the spyglass to Ojeda, eyeing Diego with contempt.

"Really? Come with me then, because I need to address the passengers now, and you are one of them."

"No. I must talk to you in private, please."

Ulloa looked kind of exasperated, but bent to the wishes of the man who had saved his life twice.

"All right, we'll stop by our spot first," Ulloa said, heading for that place at the foredeck where they had talked so many times before while looking at the ocean. "What is it? Be quick, please, because I don't have much time left for idle talk."

"I've been thinking about the situation, and how we should deal with the pirates," Diego said slowly, hesitating before he continued. "I think the best line of defence against them is to take the offensive."

Ulloa looked at him for a moment, in silence, as if pondering his words, until he exploded.

"Are you out of your frigging mind, De la Vega?!" Ulloa cried, shaking his head in disbelief. "Are you really suggesting we should attack them?"

"Yes! Think about it for a moment, please. I know I'm not a seaman, like you are, and I don't have a clue on navigation and sailing, but hear me out: if they are faster, and we can't get away from them, isn't it better to catch them by surprise and inflict as much damage as we can in that first contact, rather than wait for them to bury us under their superior cannon fire?"

"You cannot be serious," the captain said, shaking his head again, facepalming. "Engaging them… You don't know what you're talking about! Jesus, that's the last thing we want! Besides, we would have to do that while sailing upwind!"

"Yes, as I said, I know nothing about sailing, but I studied some of the famous naval battles. Trafalgar, for example. Why did the English win? Because Nelson took the initiative, and he attacked with an unexpected, pre-planned, bold move. That's how the English win battles: bold, head-on attacks. And we could do the same: attack, not run, and take them by surprise. That way, they won't know what hit them."

"Attack in a way they don't expect…" Ulloa said then, for the first time considering that option seriously. "Hey, I think you may be onto something, De la Vega."

He thought about it for a moment, and after a while, he half-smiled, nodding.

"Nelson. At Trafalgar, that naval genius broke into our line, raking the stern of that pompous, French Admiral's ship, and everything went downhill for us after that… You know? That crazy approach might actually work, if it doesn't backfire big time, as it could have happened to the English fleet, those lucky bastards… Unfortunately, and thanks to you, by the way, I'm not as lucky as I used to be!"

"Listen: for once in your life, forget about good or bad luck, please! Be honest with yourself: do you have a better alternative than trying to get away from them?" Diego turned around to look at the incoming Burla Negra. "Because you've been trying hard for the last hour, but it doesn't look as if you're doing well so far with that approach, since they look closer every time I look!"

"All right, smartarse. I'll consider your crazy plan, but only if we can't reach the storm in time to use it to our advantage. Happy?"

"As happy as I can be under the circumstances, yes," Diego said, following the captain to the hatchway.

At the lower deck, on their way to the dining room, Don Enrique bumped into them, chased by Almeida.

"Captain! Your contramaestre insists we should go to the dining room now. What's going on? Why are we heading northwest now? I demand an explanation!"

"They are all there, waiting for you, Sir," Almeida said, apologetic. "All except him."

"And why were your men shouting crazy only a while ago?" Don Enrique carried on, ignoring Almeida. "What's going on? Tell me!"

"Well, Don Enrique, you should do as you've been told: go to the dining room, and then… YOU'LL HAVE YOUR GODDAMN EXPLANATION!" Ulloa cried, running out of patience for nonsense already, especially with that demanding man, who had never thanked him once for saving his life.

Almeida took the obnoxious don by the arm, but he shook him off, incensed.

"Get your filthy hands off me! How dare you? Don't you know who I am, still?"

"The way we're going, Señor, to me, you're nothing more than cannon fodder!" Almeida said, putting a smile in Diego's face.

ZZZZZ

A.N. – At that scene of Diego thinking at the cargo hold, I couldn't help but imagining him vibrating and levitating like Dr Strange while analysing all the possibilities to defeat Thanos, and choosing the only one in a trillion, hahaha.