Aboard the Sea Dancer, Captain Rob McGregor looked at the clouds gathering overhead and felt the first twinges of concern. The clouds were moving very fast, and gathering pace by the minute. A few hours ago the sky had been almost clear, and they had watched the sun rising into the sky, with the promise of a glorious day.
Captain Rob was well versed at reading the signs of nature to foretell what was to come: the movement of the sea, the color of the water and the sky or clouds, the size and shape of the clouds, how high up they were in the sky, how many different layers of cloud there were, the speed and directions the clouds were moving, the rain, snow, hailstones or sleet, mist, lightning or thunder. And there were other signs to watch for: what the birds or fish were doing, and how they were behaving. Even observing the rats on board gave clues as to the weather they should expect.
And the signs were not good. The weather was changing very fast for the worse. A storm was coming. A large storm.
Which presented a problem.
Ideally, Captain McGregor should take his fleet into a harbour, and shelter the storm out. However... he had just destroyed the nearest harbor and blocked its entrance! There was no going back there, even if they had been welcome.
In addition, the coastline all the way around the island was very rugged, made up mainly of cliffs or ragged rocks which would rip the hull out of any ship that got too close. Captain McGregor knew that if the waters got rough, he would have to take his ships out to deep water to avoid being pushed onto the rocks by the high seas.
With no way of knowing for how long the coming storm would last, Captain McGregor also knew that he had to get as far away from the island as possible, before Captain Kidd returned.
If Kidd had any sense, he would he reading the signs and heading into a friendly port close to wherever he was now: wherever that may be.
Captain Rob cursed under his breath. The day had gone so well until now! It had been perfect up till then. It could not have gone better.
He thought briefly about the huge fortune that they had taken from Kidd's lair and smiled. He had never seen the like of it in his life before. No one had. So great was the vast, vast fortune that it would probably take weeks to count!
He looked at the gold coin that he was fiddling with in his hands, a souvenir of the haul, and wondered briefly where Kidd had amassed such a large fortune from. What poor victims had lost their lives because of the gold, and how many?
Was the treasure all the work of Kidd's own pirating, or like Captain Rob had done today, had Kidd stolen it from another Captain who had done all the hard work for him? There was so much...how long would it have taken Kidd to gather it all? What ships had he captured? And from which countries?
So many questions. Questions that he may never find answers to.
Some rain splashed into his eyes, and he wiped it away.
Blinking, he turned his attention back to the storm and the immediate job at hand.
Any moment now, they should sight the Albatross.
When the Sea Dancer, the Thistle and the Eagle had sailed to Puerto Bello de la Cruz, Captain Rob had ordered the Albatross to follow Richard Tyler's map to the opposite side of the island and locate the cave where the final part of the treasure had been buried. Once there, and as soon as the tide permitted, they were to lower their boat and enter the cave, retrieve the treasure and transfer it back to the Albatross.
Low tide was an hour ago, so if things had gone well, the boats should be returning to the Albatross any time now, hopefully as full of treasure as they were themselves.
If things had gone well.
Richard Tyler did not believe that there were any pirates tasked with guarding the cave, on the basis that Kidd's plan was to draw no attention to it, and only a few pirate officers knew anything about the treasure being there at all.
So, in theory, it should be an easy matter for the Albatross to locate the booty, take it and leave.
In theory.
Captain Rob looked back up at the clouds, and the oncoming storm, and cursed again.
No plans ever went according to plan. Who could have predicted this?
"There!" James Silver shouted, gesticulating wildly at the headland they were approaching. From where they were, they could just make out the bowsprit and bow of the Albatross pulling away from the island.
Captain Rob tried raising his glass to look at the Albatross, but the rain made it impossible to see anything.
The wind was picking up behind them now, and they made good time in drawing nearer to the headland. As they drew closer however, they heard the sound of cannon fire, and saw flashes of light coming from the Albatross. They could also smell smoke.
As they watched, the Albatross emerged from the other side of the headland, and started turning slowly towards them. As they passed the headland, the cannon fire stopped, and they realised that it was the Albatross that had been fired upon from the land, and that it was now aflame and burning.
The Albatross was beginning to list to starboard, and was obviously taking on water.
Although the wind and the rain were beginning to pick up, they were now close enough to hear the shouts of the men aboard the sinking ship.
A boat was already in the water, and a second was being put over the side, but the ship was taking on water so quickly now, that those aboard the Sea Dancer could see the ship was doomed to sink before the boat would be launched.
"It's going down fast!" Silver shouted.
"Prepare to pick up those in the boat," Captain Rob ordered, scanning the cliffs ahead trying to see where the cannon fire had come from. He could see nothing, although for a moment he thought he could make out a movement on the land high above the cliffs which could have been either an animal or a man. In the driving rain it was now impossible to tell.
Captain Rob ordered for a message to be sent to the other ships telling them to head further away from the island and wait for the Sea Dancer to join them, but prepare their guns for battle in case Captain Kidd's ships were just about to emerge from around the headland. A boat was set down immediately and the message dispatched, the pirates in the boat rowing furiously to convey the order.
The sea was getting rougher and Captain Rob did not want to risk any of his ships being pushed closer to the rocks, or into range of any cannon that could be waiting for them to come round the headland. It would also be prudent not to sail past the headland and around the island, in case a trap was awaiting them,
As they drew closer Captain Rob ordered Richard Tyler to join him on the forecastle to advise him on the lay of the land and the coast, and where any cannon on the land could be positioned.
When Tyler joined James Silver and the Captain they stood together at the prow of the Sea Dancer and watched in despair as the Albatross disappeared from sight beneath the waves.
As the ship went down they could hear the death cries of the men who were still left on board: by the time the Sea Dancer would be close enough to pick up any survivors, most would have been washed onto the rocks and smashed to pieces.
"Avast there, Mr Baker!" Captain Rob shouted behind him to the deck. "As soon as the boat from the Albatross arrives, get those sailors aboard and you and three men take the boat back and pick up any more survivors in the water! And send one of the men from the Albatross up here to make a report."
A few minutes later the boat from the Albatross pulled alongside, and the lucky sailors who had survived the sinking of their ship started to climb up the lines to the deck of the Sea Dancer. Many of the men were wounded.
As Baker and the others lowered themselves into the boat and headed back towards the waters where the Albatross was last seen, one of the survivors came across to the quarterdeck. Captain Rob recognised the man immediately. He was one of the most ruthless men on the Albatross, famous amongst the others for the number of men he had once killed on a single day during a fight with the French.
"Mr Sharpe," Captain Rob welcomed him. "Tell me what happened on your boat,
and make it fast. Are we in danger? Are there any other ships around the headland?"
The tall English pirate looked up at the cliffs above the land, quickly scanning the hillside before answering.
"Neah, Cap'n. Not from here. We were fired upon by cannon from somewhere above the cliffs on the other side of the headland. We've seen no other vessels, apart from yours. I reckon we'll be safe, so long as we turn around and head out to sea."
"And what about the treasure? Did you find any?" James Silver asked, voicing the question that they were all thinking.
For a moment Mr Sharpe's eyes lit up, and a smile crossed his lips, but then he looked back towards where the Albatross had last been, and the smile vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared.
"Treasure? Aye, Mr Silver. A vast fortune. The like of which ye have never seen before! I was in the party that went ashore into the cave as soon as the tide ebbed. We slipped into the cave in the boat, waded ashore and started digging at the back of the cave. We'd been digging for only thirty minutes when we found the first chest. It was full of gold coin. A fortune Captain. A fortune..." The sailor paused, looking over at the boat which Mr Baker was now rowing back to where the Albatross sank.
"Carry on man," James Silver coaxed, "Complete your report! Did you find anything else? And who fired on you? And when?"
"After we put the chest in the boat, we found two sacks of coins and another two chests full of pieces of jewelry and plates, candelabra and goblets. And then, we found a small chest full of jewels...diamonds, rubies, rings, necklaces...It was incredible! We filled the boat, and rowed it back out of the cave towards the Albatross. We loaded it all onto the Albatross which was anchored in the shadows of the cliffs. We had just slipped anchor and set sail, taking us out away from the cliff, when the first cannon was fired. At first we didn't see where it was coming from, but then we saw that it was coming from a cannon high up above the cliff. They fired on us at will, but we couldn't elevate the cannon high enough and couldn't fire back... They hit us three times, holing us badly. At the same time, the weather started to get worse, and a fire had started in the ship. We tried to get out of range by coming around the headland, but we went down fast."
"Why didn't they fire upon you earlier, before you landed?"
"They probably didn't see us arrive. We anchored at night in the dark. I'm guessing they didn't see us until we were leaving and came out from under the shadow of the cliff and into view from the land."
"And the treasure?" Richard Tyler asked, knowing the answer already.
"Inside the Albatross. Sunk. All of it..."
"All of it?" Captain Rib asked.
"All of it," the bedraggled pirate replied.
"Well then, in that case, you won't object to emptying your pockets, will you? Empty your pockets, Mr Sharpe." Captain Rob commanded.
The pirate looked across at the Captain, startled.
"Empty your pockets man!" James Silver shouted.
The pirate reached into his breeches with both hands and pulled out two handfuls of gold coins and jewels.
"I was only trying to help save what we could... all the men have something. We all took what we could before we got into the boat..."
Captain Rob stepped forward, taking the hat off James Silver's head, turning it over and reaching out with it to Sharpe.
"Thanking ye kindly, Mr Sharpe. If you'll just hand it all over to the quartermaster now, and then go with Mr Silver to recover anything else that was taken from the Albatross by the other men, we'd be most grateful. We'll add it to the rest, and share it out when we're far away from here and safe."
As Mr Silver and the pirate left the quarterdeck, Silver carrying his hat which was now full of gold, Captain Rob and Richard Tyler watched as the boat from the Albatross arrived at the scene of the sinking and started to circle around, picking up some survivors.
Sadly, there were not many.
Thirty minutes later the boat had returned to the Sea Dancer. After the men had climbed aboard, Captain Rob gave the order for the boat to be abandoned and Mr Jones set it adrift.
"Well, Mr Tyler, I think it's time we joined the others, and find another island to shelter from the storm that is coming!" Captain Rob said, returning to the helm and taking up his position beside the man on the tiller.
"I'm sorry, Captain. I knew nothing about the cannon above the cave...I never knew it was there..." Richard Tyler started to excuse himself.
"Enough Mr Tyler. Such knowledge would have been helpful, admittedly, but I won't hold it against you. We still have three ships full to the gunwales with the greatest treasure ever assembled, and it's all down to you! Anyway, I don't think it will be missed. There's more than enough in our holds to lasts us for a thousand years or more! Most importantly, your share for today's venture is guaranteed to be substantial. Of that ye may rest assured!"
The wind was blowing hard now, and as they turned into the wind, the sails filled and the Sea Dancer lurched forward, picking up speed and heading after the other remaining boats of Captain Rob's fleet.
It was thirty minutes before they sighted the first boat, the Royal Thistle. The Eagle was waiting a distance behind it.
As the other ships came into sight, Captain Rob was studying the weather again. Over the past twenty minutes, the rain had stopped, the clouds had cleared, the sea had become calmer, but the temperature had dropped.
To Captain Rob, this made no sense. He had never seen conditions like this before, materializing so fast, and then disappearing again so soon. Captain Rob was surprised. He had been convinced that a major storm had been brewing up, and had been planning to make a run for Black Rock, an island that he had seen once before several years ago, where he had hoped to shelter from the brunt of the storm in the lee of the volcanic mountain that rose sharply out of the sea.
Maybe that would not be necessary after all. Nevertheless, Rob felt very uneasy. Perhaps it was just the excitement of the day, or the upset of losing a boat he liked, a crew he valued, and a vast treasure that was apparently, according to Mr Sharpe, unparalleled anywhere in the civilized world.
Suddenly the wind died, and the sails began to flap.
The seamen on the deck all looked up, staring at the rigging. Rob could sense the unease that was spreading through the crew. He had not been the only seaman on board to feel unhappy and unsettled by the strange weather conditions.
"Fog!", a sailor aloft in the rigging shouted down.
Almost as one, they all looked out towards the Royal Thistle, still a mile off, which was suddenly engulfed by a thick bank of fog which was rolling towards them at great speed across the surface of the now calm sea.
Fog?
Where had it come from? Why was it moving so fast?
One moment they were being buffeted by waves and storm conditions, the next they were becalmed, and now they were about to be engulfed by fog. What was going on?
The Sea Dancer had now slowed down and was no longer making any headway through the water. The sails were still, and as the fog rolled up to them and swallowed them up, the world around them became very quiet, and muffled.
James Silver returned to the Quarterdeck.
"Have you ever seen the like of this before, Cap'n Rob?" he asked.
"Never, lad." Captain Rob answered. "Not in all my years."
"How far are we away from the Eagle and the Sea Dancer?"
"A nautical mile. Straight in front of us."
"Too far away to send a boat across?"
"At the moment, yes. We've no choice but to wait it out for now and hope that the wind comes back and blows the fog away. I'm going below to look at the booty. Call me when anything changes."
"Aye, aye, Cap'n." Silver replied.
Captain Rob walked across the quarterdeck, stepped through the hatch and down the ladders to the hold where the Captain Kidd's treasure had been placed at the bottom of the ship.
As he stepped through into the dark, dank room, he found himself in the co
mpany of ten other pirates, all down there for the same purpose: to marvel at the riches they had stolen and would soon divide up between themselves.
As Captain Rob stepped into the room, the Boatswain, a burly man from Devon, stepped forward and offered the Captain his oil lamp.
"...So ye can see just how rich we all are, Cap'n Rob," he smiled.
"Thanks, Mr Peters. 'Tis appreciated." Captain Rob replied.
"Captain," another of the crew asked. "What do ye make o' the weather? Are we heading for a storm, or are we not?"
"To be honest, Mr Glasgow, that I cannot tell ye. I thought that we were, but then I was proved wrong. Now we are becalmed, and there is not a puff of wind in the sky! But come on lads, enough talk of clouds and rain,...show me the swag! What exactly is it that we have here? Enough for each of us to buy a farm?"
"That it is, Captain Rob. And more. Look ye here, Cap'n Rob...See what I have in my hands!"
Captain Rob looked across at what the ship's cook was holding up. It was a large, thick golden chain, with over a thousand links in it. It had enough gold in it to buy a small island, let alone a few acres. He reached out and took it from the young cook who slunk back away from the Captain as he took the proffered chain from his hands.
The Captain appraised it, whistling at its weight.
"This will raise a fair penny in Boston, lads. A fair penny indeed!"
The Captain laughed, and the others joined in.
"Now, step aside lads, and let yer Captain see what else we have got..."
Up topside, James Silver was nibbling on one of the last of the biscuits that they had left.
The Sea Dancer and the other ships in Captain Rob's fleet were running dangerously low on food and fresh water.
James Silver had not yet spoken with Captain Wainwright from the Thistle, whose job it had been during the raid to secure whatever supplies he could from any other ships in the harbor. He hoped he had managed to find enough supplies for the next four weeks at least. Otherwise there would be trouble to come, and a lot of empty bellies.
A man cannot eat gold.
What most landlubbers failed to realise was that when a pirate ship attacked another ship at sea, often the greatest desire was to find food, water and grog. Desperation, starvation and thirst often drove pirates harder than any dreams of jewels or silver.
And right now, James Silver was hungry.
The sooner they caught up with the Thistle and shared out what Captain Wainright had recovered, the better!
When Captain Rob emerged back onto the quarterdeck, it had been over an hour since they had entered the fog. Seeing that the conditions had not improved in the slightest, he ordered one of the gunners to prepare to fire one of the cannons on the port side, in a direction away from the last sighting of the Royal Thistle.
A few minutes later, he gave the order to fire, with every sailor on board listening eagerly for a reply from either the Thistle or the Eagle, counting the seconds in between when they fired the first shot and when any reply might be heard.
Captain Rob knew that the other ships would be waiting for a cannon shot from the Sea Dancer, this being a standard procedure that he had taught the other captains many months before, for use in any weather such as this that they may encounter whilst sailing north to Boston.
As the gunner lit the charge, the cannon erupted, jumping backwards on its carriage, with the cannon ball disappearing instantly into the fog. There was an initial loud roar, but the sound was immediately swallowed up and muffled by the blanketing effect of the fog.
Captain Rob counted.
A few moments later they heard the first bang, followed quickly by another.
Two bangs: two ships- the Thistle and the Eagle had instantly fired their cannon in reply to their initial shot. By counting the time between the first shot and its reply, and doing some basic calculations, they were able to estimate the distance between the ships.
Captain Rob turned to James Silver, "What do you reckon?" he asked.
"Less than half a mile away. We've been drifting closer together."
"Good. We'll repeat it after lunch. Please order the cook to serve up some food. With any luck, this fog will lift by the afternoon...I'll take the helm for now."
Sadly, both men knew that although luck had been on their side earlier that morning, with the loss of the Albatross, then the storm, and now the fog, it seemed that any such luck had long since departed them.
The sinking of the Albatross and the strange weather had dampened the spirits of the men, but with some food in their bellies and the break in their duties afforded by the lack of wind, the men sat around chatting and taking it in turns to go below decks and look at the treasure in the hold. Slowly an air of excitement began to spread and lighten the mood of the sailors, and the sound of laughter began to return to the deck. Shortly afterwards two of the men started to play on their penny whistles, and others took to their feet and started to dance a jig. When the other men started to clap and join in with the tune, the transformation was complete.
Incredibly, as the morale lifted, so did the fog. Whereas before it had been difficult to see from one end of the ship to the other, and the top of the masts were lost in a white blanket, it was now possible to see some clear sea on either side of the ship and both sails were completely visible on both masts.
Looking up, Captain Rob saw a dull, white ball beginning to peak its way through the fog as the sun tried hard to shine through above them, and realised that once the fog lifted, there would be blue clear sky above.
A cheer went up from the men, and at the same moment Rob felt the first breath of wind on his face. A minute later, the sails began to flap and the fog started to disappear almost as fast as it had arrived.
Captain Rob shouted at the men, issuing commands and sending the riggers aloft to trim the sail.
Ahead of them the Royal Thistle and the Eagle were now both fully visible, both boats underway with their sails set.
The Sea Dancer was the fastest boat in the fleet, and soon they had drawn close to the Eagle, which was now lagging behind the Thistle.
Captain Llewellyn Jones stood at the stern, shouting a welcome across to them. Captain Rob let Silver take over control of the tiller, and he lent over the starboard rail at the front of the ship as they drew close.
"Ahoy, Captain Jones! Good to see you man. Everything shipshape?"
"Ahoy, Captain McGregor. Everything's grand! But what news of the Albatross?"
"Only bad news, Captain Jones. Sunk by cannon fire from the shore, and she took her men and the booty with her. A great loss. But we should not lose heart. Three ships have survived today's adventure, and each laden with great treasure!"
"And what of the weather? I cannot read the signs...these conditions are a mystery to me!" The big Welshman replied, waving at the now empty blue sky above."For now, it looks like the worst has passed. As such, I would like to drop anchor somewhere and rest a while and issue some grog to the men. They deserve it!"
"Agreed. Let's make haste to the Black Rock. You will find it on your charts to the north. With these winds we will be there by mid-afternoon."
Overtaking the Eagle, Captain Rob issued the same command to the Royal Thistle, and by late afternoon all three ships had dropped anchor in the shadow of the black volcano and a well earned measure of grog had been issued to the crew.
It was time to celebrate.
Chapter 7
Bush Center for Geo-Electromagnetic Studies
New York
Monday
00.29 a.m.
AD 2013