“It must be another ship from the same convoy as the Cadiz,” Steve said quietly, leaning on the rail. “I guess it was blown off course here in the storm that separated all the ships in that convoy.”
“Can they take it? With only a skeleton crew on board?” Jane stood next to him, the breeze tossing her hair.
“Sure. With the Spanish flag flying, they can probably come right up alongside.”
“We’d be better off just getting back to Port Royal,” Jane said doubtfully.
At the same time, Hunter was on board the Hungry Hawk. Early that morning, he had finally seen MC 2, Rita, and Roland. He had also realized that the First Law would not allow him to return Rita and MC 2 home and leave Steve and Jane on board the Cadiz. If Rita saw him, however, she might flee again and take MC 2 with her.
For the first time, Hunter had ‘used his ability to alter his appearance. Since he had only the clothes he was already wearing, he did not significantly change his height or his build. However, he altered the blond, blue-eyed, square-jawed appearance he had been given at manufacture. Now he assumed brown hair, a deeply tanned look as though he had spent years in the Caribbean, and a short, brown beard. Most important, he narrowed and lengthened his face.
Since making that change, Hunter had spent all day moving among the crew, sharing in breakfast and helping with the rigging when he saw a need. He stayed relatively close to Rita and MC 2 when he could, always appearing to ignore them while eavesdropping with his enhanced robotic hearing. For the moment, he only planned to remain nearby and look for an opportunity to make a move.
The Hungry Hawk was just a short distance behind the Cadiz. When the lookout on the Cadiz reported another target, Hunter was the only one aboard the Hungry Hawk who could hear him. Within moments, however, the lookout on the Hungry Hawk made the same report. Captain Quinn and his crew enthusiastically chose to join the attack on the new Spanish ship.
Hunter understood immediately that he would have to find a way to witness the fight without interfering. Finally he decided to stay close to MC 2 and Rita. He could make protecting them a priority and leave the buccaneers to do whatever they must.
Rita watched with rising excitement as the sea chase continued. MC 2 stood on one side of her. Roland joined them, smiling broadly.
“Ah, sweet lady. We shall have easy picking this day. Do you see what is happening?”
“Well, we’re chasing another ship,” said Rita. “Is that what you mean?”
“Nothing so simple. You see, as the Cadiz sails toward her sister ship, the one in front assumes we two buccaneers are still chasing the Cadiz. At first, the new ship just wanted to flee. But now, as we draw closer, it appears that the Cadiz cannot possibly escape.”
“What does that mean?”
“If you look closely, you can see that they have altered their tack.”
“What for?”
“I believe they have some misguided notion about helping. Even these Spanish merchants mount a few cannon on board. Most of them don’t have the courage of that captain, though-or his recklessness.”
“He doesn’t realize that three buccaneer ships are after him, then.”
“No, he doesn’t.” Roland grinned and gave her a wink. “Not yet.”
Still at the rail, Steve and Jane watched anxiously as the Cadiz finally drew close to the Sidonia, the Spanish ship just ahead. The buccaneers were still flying the Spanish flag. Many of them were hiding up in the rigging, while others lay flat on deck, all trying to stay out of sight.
The Hungry Hawk and the Old Laughing Lady were both bearing down hard, as well. Always faster than the merchant ships, they had caught up during the course of the day. The buccaneers had already taken their places, holding their weapons ready for the attack.
Steve took a couple of belaying pins from their holes in the rail. Thick and heavy, they were not holding ropes at the moment. He handed one to Jane.
“We should stay right here,” he said. “If anyone gives you trouble, hit him with that. And don’t be shy about it. These guys are tough.”
“All right,” said Jane, looking at it doubtfully. “I never had one of these in my office job. I wanted one occasionally, but I never had one.” She smiled weakly.
“If we’re lucky, in the confusion nobody will notice that we aren’t really participating.”
The Cadiz had drawn close to the Sidonia. At the same time, the Sidonia was coming about to fire its few cannon broadside at the two ships to the rear. Suddenly Captain Duveau pointed to the man at his helm.
“Bring us around!” Captain Duveau shouted. “Fire at will!”
The buccaneer at the helm spun the wheel and held it hard. The Cadiz changed direction to match the tack of the Sidonia and slowly came up alongside it. As the first cannons came into position, the individual crews began to fire.
Cries of shock and alarm rose from the Sidonia, as its crew suddenly realized that they had been fooled. Before their ship could change direction, however, the buccaneers were flinging grappling hooks over the side of their ship. When the hooks had caught, the buccaneers on deck threw gangplanks forward between the ships and began to run across them. At the same time, the buccaneers hiding in the rigging began to swing across to the other ship on ropes.
Steve crouched, putting a hand on Jane’s shoulder to bring her down too. The rail protected them on one side and a couple of barrels were in front of them. On the far side of the Sidonia, the Hungry Hawk was coming into position to grapple it. The Old Laughing Lady was coming up last, toward the Sidonia’ s stern.
Steve and Jane remained where they were. The crew of the Sidonia were outnumbered, of course, but they had fight in them. This was not going to be over quickly.
Suddenly a tall, brawny, laughing buccaneer now on the Sidonia leaped up on the gangplank near Steve and Jane.
“Ahoy! Stop your cowerin’ there, you two! Come out and fight with the rest of us!” He laughed and whacked Jane on the back of her head with the flat of his cutlass.
“Hey!” Steve stood up, holding his belaying pin ready for a fight.
“I’m on your side, remember?” The big buccaneer laughed. “Come and join old Ned, now. Come on!” He stood over them, clearly not intending to go without them.
“All right.” Steve climbed up on the gangplank with him. “Let’s go.”
“You, too,” said Ned, grinning down at Jane. “Hurry it up there!”
Jane got up on the gangplank behind Steve. He hurried across and jumped down to the deck, then turned to wait for Jane. She hopped down next to him, still holding her belaying pin, and shrugged.
“Go get ‘em!” Ned leaped down to the deck with a thump and ran toward a couple of brawling sailors and buccaneers. He had apparently lost interest in Steve and Jane.
Steve glanced around. “Let’s just stay here as long as we can. It should be over soon.”
“It’s okay with me,” said Jane.
With growing anxiety, Hunter had been watching the coming fight from the deck of the Hungry Hawk. He was successfully resisting his First Law imperative to stop the entire attack. His enhanced vision and hearing gave him a comprehensive picture of events on all sides.