Page 123 of Storm over the Caribbean
“Um…aye, Mr Karim, Sir?”
“Load the cannons and ready the men for attack!”
“Aye aye, Si—wait,what? We have only one ship!”
The bodyguard’s gaze that pierced him a moment later made the captain very much regret that he had spoken. But not as much as he would regret being gutted by a pirate’s cutlass.
“Yes, Captain.” The massive Mohammedan placed a hand on his sabre. “Any objections?”
The captain suddenly decided that being gutted by a pirate’s cutlass might not be so bad after all. Still…
“Not really, Sir. Except…” He hesitated.
One bushy eyebrow rose. “Yes?”
“Why would we intervene? Isn’t our priority to find Mr and Mr Ambrose?”
“And what if AmbroseSahiband theSahibahave already been found? They could be on that merchant ship. Or worse, hostages on the pirate ship.”
The captain paled a little more. “Oh.”
Karim gave a grim nod. “Now do you have any objections?”
“N-no, Mr Karim, Sir! None at all!” Turning around, the captain shouted at his men. “What are you waiting for, you landlubbers? Hard-a-port, men!26 Load the cannons!”
“Aye aye, Sir!”
A moment passed. Wood creaked. Sails fluttered, and the ship began to turn. Then, slowly but inexorably, it started heading towards the desperate battle in the distance. The merchant shipwas heavily damaged, and completely unable to manoeuvre. As for the pirates—so far, they seemed fully focused on their prey and hadn’t even realized that another ship was approaching from behind.
“Captain?”
“Aye?” The captain glanced at the massive Mohammedan, who was standing at the prow, trying to burn holes into the pirate vessel with his gaze alone.
“Are we in firing range?”
“Aye, Sir!”
“Then bring the ship around.”
“Aye aye, Sir! Should I fire a warning shot?”
“Oh yes. Right onto the deck. That should be a sufficient warning.”
“Um…aye aye, Sir!”
Sweat dripping from his face, the captain hurried off. Karim, for his part, retained his spot at the prow, hands behind his back and spine straight as a rod. He waited. And waited. And wai—
Boom!
The ship rocked back as the cannons spewed fire and smoke. An instant later, the distant ship swayed, and wood splinters exploded into the air. Shouts of surprise and pain echoed across the ocean.
“Aim for the sails! Make sure thosekutte dián puttar27 don’t escape!”
“Aye aye, Sir!”
In rapid succession, salvo after salvo was fired at the distant ship. As was usual with firefights at this distance, most went astray. But only one or two needed to hit before all was decided. The pirates only just seemed to have registered what was going on. Desperately, they tried to turn their ship around and return fire—only to ram the merchant ship they had just been about to board and be stopped in their tracks.
“Don’t stop!” Karim barked. “Continue firing!”
