CHAPTER 58 - COMMAND
“Evaluate! Anticipate! Execute! You’re as good as they come, Tom. The ship is yours! Understood?” Commodore Rodgers to First Lieutenant Swift.
Over on the frigate, John Rodgers, heeding the continuous tolling of Raven’s bell, intently watched Thorne’s maneuvers. He wiped the rain from his face and refocused on the two-masted vessel looming ahead off to his port as Raven steered directly for it.
Rodgers grabbed Swift and yanked him toward the rail. “Tom! That’s Sea Wraith. Thorne intends to swing around and bear up alongside her starboard.”
Swift nodded emphatically and leaned into Rodgers. “Understood! Orders, sir?!”
“Swing around! Bear up along her port side. GO!”
“Aye, sir!” Swift pivoted to the helmsman and leaned right next to his ear. “On my mark, swing wide to starboard.”
The helmsman’s eyes shot wide open. He mouthed the words, “Holy shit!” Recovering quickly, he gripped the helm, steadied himself, and nodded his head emphatically. “AYE, LIEUTENANT!”
“MARK!”
Commodore Rodgers paid close attention as his First Lieutenant issued the sailing orders. Swift, while he certainly had the knowledge and training, did not yet have the full command experience in this kind of encounter. Therein lay one of the many opportunities Rodgers had been looking for.
He leaned into Swift’s ear once more. “Evaluate! Anticipate! Execute! You’re as good as they come, Tom. The ship is yours! Understood?”
“Aye, Commodore!” A big smile sprang across his face. Confidence, intensity, focus, and even a swagger came to his comportment.
Swift quickly scanned the water and evaluated the situation with all three vessels. Booming thunder, arcing lightning, high winds, and torrential rain were daunting enough. Sea Wraith’s stolen merchandise added another level of complexity to an already formidable mission. Worse, that stolen merchandise was a cargo of enslaved people. Human beings!
Swift’s telescope scanned the Sea Wraith one more time. He was about to pull it down when a deep boom of thunder rang in his ears, and just in time to witness the brightest flash of lightning of the storm. “DUCK!”
Three separate streaks of lightning struck all three vessels simultaneously. A ghoulish green glow encapsulated the copper lightning rods of President and Raven, protecting both vessels. Burned sulfur and charred wood filled the air.
Sea Wraith lacked such protection. Its mainmast exploded into lethal splinters, spraying into its unfortunate crew but safely over the heads of the frigate’s sailors and Marines.
Swift yanked his whistle from under his sleeve. He raised it to his lips and let loose a long single note from it. Lieutenant Means and the Bosun both snapped their heads around.
Swift blew three long bursts and three short bursts in succession, paused and repeated. The Bosun and the marine lieutenant looked at each other, saluted, and quickly made their way to the quarterdeck.
Means leaned into Swift’s ear. “Orders, Lieutenant?”
“BOSUN, LASH ALONGSIDE! MARINES, BOARD FOR RESCUE!”
The Bosun and Marine commander responded in unison. “AYE, SIR!”
Swift stepped beside the helmsman. “I need your best right now, son. Keep her steady. But press her into the brig, if you must. You’ve got to hold until the Bosun gets her lashed.”
“AYE, SIR!” The young helmsman gritted his teeth and gripped the helm with all his strength.
President thudded against the side of Sea Wraith. A geyser of water shot up between the vessels and crashed over the rail, soaking the entire deck. Wood creaked, groaned, and scraped. Grappling hooks flew across the rails, caught on the brig’s hull. The second the Bosun’s team secured the lines, Lieutenant Means gave the command. “AWAY BORDERS!”
