DOGS. Legacy Saga II

51

Marina didn't bother to rein in her mood while she changed her clothes. She was pissed off, period. With those Ken and Marshall morons. With that Robin moron. With that other moron that maybe commanded the war brigantine in merchantman disguise. She went back to the bridge and checked everything was ready for the upcoming battle.

"We're crossing behind her, De Neill," she said, her tone clearing any doubt about her mood. "We'll get the weather gage by larboard. Maxó, tell Jean that if that ship turns out to be the New Lion, I want him to not only shred her rudder, but also to sink her."

"Aye, aye, pearl!" the pirates replied, swallowing a chuckle.

"You know the ship?" asked Robin.

Marina rolled her eyes and refused to answer.

Morris decided to stretch his already-thin patience a little more. "Maybe. We think her captain could be the Lion, who used to be the star of the Windward Fleet."

Robin's lips shaped a silent exclamation.

From the Phantom, the pirates watched how the light Jamaican pataches soon got the brigantine in range. But they didn't open fire. They tried to catch up and run alongside her, hoping to board her with minimum damages to the prey they thought they already had.

"Ahoy! The brigantines' rigging!" Oliver warned, his top taken over by sharpshooters with muskets.

The filibusters watched the brigantine's sails shift to lay parallel to the wind. Marina snarled a curse that surprised those around her. Maxó was the only one who dared to laugh.

"It's the blockhead! He's copied our trick!"

Robin was wise enough to wait before asking more questions. And he only had to wait a few minutes to see what they meant. The brigantine slowed down, letting the pataches catch up. Then the red plank came up and six cannons showed out the gunports. The broadside hit Marshall's ship, shattering her bow. The foremast broke in two and fell on the deck, crushing and injuring most of the crew.

Ken Brannalagh's patache, shielded behind his partner's, was spared. Trying to take advantage of the brigantine's loss of speed, he ordered to turn alarboard to cross before her bow, intending to break away from those unexpected guns, and maybe even catch one of the other merchantmen.

But while her cannons still fired, the brigantine's sails were trimmed again, and she sped up. The Jamaican patache crossed only a few yards before her keel.

On the Phantom, everybody turned to Marina, who nodded, grunting under her breath.

"Hold on," Morris said to Robing.

Hearing Briand's only shout, the filibusters unfurled all the jibs and auxiliary sails, and their swift coordination made the Robin gape. The Phantom gained speed, starting on a dizzy race toward the brigantine.

Meanwhile, Ken was enough of a full to stay on his southwest course, instead of turning south to get the hell away. That way, the brigantine didn't need to maneuver to show him her larboard side, with all her guns still loaded. The second broadside wasn't as effective as the first one, but it damaged the Jamaican patache seriously.

The Phantom's course was too slanted to get a good shot with its fore chasers, so Jean ordered to fire the larboard battery. In a desperate attempt to keep from sinking with his boat, Ken ordered a bold maneuver: he stayed on the brigantine's wake to try to board her by the transom.

"Son of a sloop full of bitches!" Marina snarled, surprising the pirates again with her unusual lewdness.

"There goes our wake crossing," Morris grunted.