Paladine's blood! he raged to himself. If the battle dolphin had made a normal approach-from the side, or the stem- he'd be able to use the speed of the ultimate helm to escape. But because the enemy was directly on his bow, his choices were cut to few or none. Again, it's as if the enemy captain knows my situation….
At least there's one thing he doesn't know about. With his extended vision, Teldin could see Beth-Abz-in human form, he was glad to note-clamber up onto the foredeck. We have one forward-firing weapon left, the Cloakmaster told himself with a grim smile. He watched the black-haired man stride to the front of the foredeck and grab the rail with both hands to steady himself.
Suddenly Teldin knew the tactics he had to use if he wanted to get out of this alive. He felt his lips draw back from his teeth, his smile becoming an almost feral grimace.
"Tell Beth-Abz to hold on," he told Julia. "Don't do anything until I say so."
She nodded, backed out of the cabin-leaving the door open behind her-and took up a position by the saloon's door that led out onto the deck. Teldin heard her voice as she relayed his instructions to the beholder above him.
Behind him, around him, he felt the ultimate helm's energy as he drove the squid ship forward.
*****
"They're moving!" the Sharks second mate called out.
His cry was unnecessary. Berglund had already seen the target ship lurch forward, directly toward the battle dolphin. Damn, he thought, they've got the helm up again sooner than expected. But he was close enough now to see the damaged rigging, the missing gaff boom, the mainsail still flapping uselessly over the squid ship's starboard rail. He remembered the time, several years ago, when he'd captained a military squid ship, and reviewed in his mind what he knew of that vessel's maneuverability. With that much damage, the enemy would be about as maneuverable as a heavily laden tradesman-in other words, not much at all. In contrast to his topped-out battle dolphin, it may as well have remained dead in space for all the good an operating helm would do for it. He smiled again.
"Hold course," he ordered.
Then, to his shock, he saw the squid ship leap forward, faster than any ship had any right to move….
*****
Teldin gasped with the exertion-neither physical nor mental, but something totally different-as he poured on the power. In only a few seconds, the Boundless was up to its normal top speed, and still it accelerated.
Suddenly the heavy vessel lurched, tried to maneuver in a way that Teldin hadn't intended. He knew that the ship's major helm was on line again, and knew that the helmsman was trying to take command of the vessel.
"Get Blossom off the damn helm!" he yelled to Julia, and again heard her echo the order aft. After a moment, he felt the extraneous movement cease as he regained control of the ship. "And tell Beth-Abz to get ready."
The enemy battle dolphin loomed ever larger before the Boundless. He altered the ship's heading by a few degrees-even that minor change taking great effort-and brought the squid ship's slender piercing ram to bear on the larger vessel. Still the Boundless accelerated.
He saw the attacking vessel's two catapults fire again, and watched both shots go wide as the enemy gunners tried to track their high-speed target. That would be their last chance, he knew. There was no way they'd have the time to load and fire again before this was over… one way or another.
The battle dolphin swelled in his forward view. "Brace for ramming!" he bellowed. "And tell Beth-Abz to hit them with everything he's got!"
*****
They're ramming! Berglund felt a sudden chill. The enemy was taking the fight to him. This engagement wasn't going the way he'd intended it at all.
But then he relaxed a little. What other choice did the enemy captain have, after all? With no way to maneuver, the squid ship's tactical choices were cut almost to nil. A successful ram would damage the Shark, perhaps seriously, but it wouldn't destroy the larger vessel. Then Berglund's crew would swarm aboard the enemy-his highly trained boarding crew easily outnumbering the smaller, and generally untrained, crew of the target-and that would be the end of the fight. Mentally he reviewed the crew roster the mystery man had given him. There were three people aboard the squid ship worthy of respect in combat: the captain himself and the first and second mates. Everyone else, however, may as well already be dead before the swords of his boarding party.
No, he remembered suddenly, there was one unknown quantity: the large, curly-haired warrior who'd signed on soon before the squid ship had left port. He might prove to be a problem, so Berglund would order four of his better swordsmen to handle the burly man. No matter how good he may be, he wouldn't last long against four swords.
There he was! Berglund could see him on the foredeck of the rapidly approaching squid ship. If Berglund could see him, that meant he in turn could see the armed warriors lining the rails of the Shark. Yet, even seeing the force arrayed against him, the big man seemed undismayed.
That was something to consider, wasn't it? That much confidence might be based on some foundation….
All this flashed through Berglund's mind in a heartbeat. Maybe accepting the ram wasn't a wise decision after all….
"Hard to port!" the pirate captain yelled.
But it was too late. With a sudden pang of real fear, Berglund saw the squid ship-impossibly-accelerate even more.
Then he saw the large warrior on the enemy's foredeck start to change….
*****
Teldin growled with fierce exhilaration as he saw Beth-Abz assume its true form. A beam of brilliant green- brighter than the sun-lashed out from one of the beholder's lesser eyes and struck the battle dolphin amidships. The Cloakmaster saw the heavy wood of the hull flash into dust under the magical onslaught.
Then the squid ship's piercing ram struck. The impact hurled Teldin from his chair, into the forward bulkhead. For a moment he was stunned, the ringing in his ears drowning out the sound of shattering timber. Shaking his head to clear it, he forced himself to a sitting position. The glow of the cloak-flickering as he struggled to regain control- flared brightly once more. His expanded perception returned.
The Boundless's slender ram had driven deep into the "head" of the battle dolphin, piercing the reinforced wood as if it had been light balsa. Chunks of torn timber, knocked free by the impact, slammed against the hull of the squid ship. Many of the battle dolphin's crewmen had been knocked to the deck, he saw, but they were quickly readying themselves to board.
They were too late. Teldin's own "boarding party" was already moving.
Beth-Abz floated over the foredeck rail and headed forward along the length of the ram to where it pierced the battle dolphin's hull. Teldin saw Beth-Abz reorient itself slightly as it adjusted for the slightly different gravity plane of the other vessel. A green beam flicked out again, blowing a gaping hole in the planking. Then Beth-Abz disappeared through the gap.
"Stand by to repel boarders!" the Cloakmaster yelled.
*****
A beholder? A gods-cursed beholder! And it's aboard my ship.
From below him, deep in the "head" of the Shark, Berglund could hear his crew members screaming, dying. There was no way they could fight an eye tyrant.
The Shark was lost; he knew it, and the knowledge was a cold, sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. And if he didn't act soon, his life would be lost, too.