]
CHAPTER III
A FLEET
Five days after meeting the Oceanid and persuading her crew to join him, the Calliope, the Blizzard, and the Oceanid came upon a large ship. Having seen ships of such size before, Daniel knew what kind of ship he was looking at: a slave ship. At the sight of the slave ship, Daniel's mind immediately flashed back to what he saw Rosaline endure. And it made his blood boil with rage.
"Daniel?" James Hikkens, Daniel's first mate asked,
His eyes blazing with hate, Daniel looked at Hikkens and simply said, "Attack."
Hikkens turned to the crew of the Blizzard and shouted, "Raise the Devil's Flag!"
"Keep the Calliope back. That ship belonged to my father; I will not have it damaged in the slightest. Be sure that my wife and children are brought aboard." Daniel said,
"Aye, Captain." Hikkens said,
"Wait." Daniel said, "Tell Lawrence that I put the safety of the Calliope in his hands. If all else fails, he is to speed her away."
"Aye, Captain." Hikkens said,
"Another thing. Tell the crew not to hoist the flag yet. I don't want to give them the opportunity to ready and defend themselves. We will announce ourselves as no friends of theirs when we open fire. After our first broadside, we raise the flag."
The moment the Blizzard got within range, they aimed their 18-pounder and battered the slave ship's starboard side with a roundshot broadside. At Daniel's order, the crew of the Blizzard tore through the slave ship's mast and rigging with chainshot. After the chainshot attack, the crew of the Blizzard fired grapshot at the ship, intending to hit the crew. Unfortunately for the slave ship, Daniel wasn't done with them yet.
After dealing severe damage to the slave ship's starboard side, Daniel had the Blizzard loop around the slave ship and blow their rudder to splinters. With the slave ship's rudder blown away, Daniel had the Blizzard hit the slave ship on the larboard side. To ensure that the slave ship was helpless, Daniel employed the same attack pattern he had used on the ship's starboard side.
Once he was satisfied with the damage he had inflicted on the slave ship, Daniel turned to the men and shouted, "Prepare to board! Signal the Oceanid to have men board from the other side!"
Having been hit in quick succession by roundshot, chainshot, and grapshot, the crew of the slave ship scrambled to prepare for close combat. Unfortunately, due to the fact that they were blindsided, ruthlessly bombarded, and gazing at a black flag with a trio of the devil's pitchforks and a skull above them, they were completely disoriented. Facing the boarding parties of two ships, the slave ship's crew simply surrendered without a fight.
Once Daniel boarded the slave ship, he had the captain brought before him. When the captain was brought before him, Daniel asked him what the name of his ship was.
"The Dominus. When the slaves are brought aboard, they know their place." the captain said proudly,
"And your name?" Daniel asked,
"Thomas Wilson."
"Well then. Thomas Wilson, captain of the slave ship Dominus, for the charge of barbarous treatment of your fellow human, I, Daniel Ibeada, Captain of the Blizzard and the Calliope, sentence you to death. As they are accomplices in your atrocity, following your death, your crew will be subjected to instant justice. Your head will be taken. Your body will be thrown to the sea."
After playing judge and jury, Daniel also played executioner. With a swift strike of his katana, Daniel clove Captain Thomas Wilson's head from his shoulders.
After having the entire crew of the Dominus tied down, Daniel gave the order.
After killing all crew aboard, Daniel went down to the hold. While he wanted to find gold, he instead found something even more valuable: 102 slaves still alive.
As his men cut the chains on the slaves, Daniel looked at them and said, "You have been led to believe your life was worth nothing, but it is not so. You are now free men. The Dominus is without captain or crew. Knowing that in the Roman Age, a dominus was a slave owner, I can think of no greater form of justice than having a ship once carrying slaves being captained and crewed by slaves who have been freed."
One slave nervously raised his hand and said, "Believing I was destined for greatness, my mother, after teaching herself to read, named me 'Spartacus'."
"For the Thracian slave-turned-rebel." Daniel said, "I can think of no better man to lead freed slaves. What say you?"
Having heard everything, all of the freed slaves nodded in agreement.
"You do not need to come with us. You are allowed to follow your own paths." Daniel said,
As soon as the freed slaves had gotten themselves situated as the new crew of the Dominus, with Spartacus as the unanimously chosen captain, said captain approached Daniel.
"We have been talking. Because you have given us freedom, we wish to join with you." Spartacus said,
Hikkens, who was standing to Daniel's left, said, "It would also be a fine addition to the terror our enemies would feel. The devil unleashing wrath upon those who viewed people of different race as little more than creatures to be bought, sold, and used. It is even more interesting that a ship with a name making an allusion to mastery over slaves captained by freed slaves."
"And we will gladly help bring the devil's wrath down upon those who would oppress us." Spartacus said,
Convinced by the idea of freed slaves bringing the devil's wrath upon their would-be oppressors, Daniel nodded and said, "Then we welcome you."
With the Blizzard, the Calliope, and the Oceanid now joined by the now-former slave ship Dominus, Daniel felt ready to strike. Now, he had an entire fleet of ships crewed by people who, for one reason or another, had a grievance against Britain. Britain would feel the wrath of not one, but many.