***
The choppy waters hampered the Lady Ocean, but by early morning of the second day, before sun rise, Olvan and I reckoned we were close to the tower. I wanted to come in close to shore and try to find a cove before being spotted, but it was risky business travelling in the dark so close to shore in such seas.
Sun rise would be in less than an hour. The Imperial fleet would not be far behind. Perhaps as little as six hours away. The admiral was going to follow on without any support vessels or supply ships in order to move quickly. Orders were to keep all lectrocoders silent. On deck, there was no light. Even pipes were banned, not that anyone could have lit one in this wet weather. I noted how I often yearned for the weed when I was not allowed any, and could go days without when I was.
Before, I had slept some hours, drawing the curtains round my cot. It was not perfect with the lectrocode machine humming and the waves beating the ship about, but after the last few days of excitement, I was exhausted, and given the chance, had found sleep easily.
It was near pitch black. Somewhere, not too far off, were the craggy rocks of an enemy peninsula coastline just waiting for the seas to smash a frigate to wet tinder on their unforgiving edges.
“Take us in, Mister Harl,” I said. “Half speed.”
“Aye aye, Captain.”
We headed south towards the coast. Twice I had the engines cut to listen for the sound of waves breaking on land. On the third attempt, we heard it. We could just make out the suck and smash of water on rocks and knew we were close to shore. Now we had to be extra vigilant. A man was taking the depths with a lead weight and passing the numbers back. I scanned the sky and could just make out the hint of grey on the blackness along the horizon, then looked to the south again and watched for the line of the coast. I expected to see cliffs as it got lighter, and hopefully the tower somewhere along the cliff tops.
We made a westerly heading at slow speed and watched for the shape of the cliffs to emerge, and so they did after another twenty minutes. It was a fight on the rough waters to keep a safe distance from land and rocks, but we persisted along the line of cliffs as the morning sun cleared the gloom of night.
As dawn broke, the waters calmed a little. It no longer rained and anyone who was on deck watched out for the tower. After some while, the call came from the crow’s-nest. “Watchtower!”
We stared hard and saw as the distant shape of a squat stone built tower emerged from the heads of the distant cliffs to the south west. Now we needed a place to land before we were spotted, but there was nothing but cliff face. We moved closer to shore as visibility grew to make it harder for the tower to spot us.
“Continue west,” I commanded. My mood was sour from the wet clothes and lack of beach or cove for us to make a landing. I wanted to hide the ship away while we took the launch for the raid, but so far there was nowhere to do this so we continued.
Rounding another head of rock, we were in sight of the tower again. If the tower’s garrison were vigilant, we would be seen and reported by lectrocoder to the next watchtower and if the enemy fleet were close, they too would get the message. I scanned the sea as I realised that the enemy fleet could indeed be close, but saw nothing. No stacks of smoke from steamers, nor flocks of gulls that might follow a mass of ships at sea.
The tower would report a privateer frigate which might not be too uncommon. We had the rebel flag flying. Even so, the enemy would be on edge, and may suspect something was amiss. I did not want anything to put the enemy on alert. Also, now that the sun was up, the smoke belching from the funnel could be seen for miles. I wanted desperately to cut the engine and kill the fire.
“There!”
Bringing the frigate closer to land again, we were now hidden once more, and there we saw what might be our best hope which was a small beach in front of a jagged and steep slide of land that climbed up to the cliff tops. It would be a bugger of a climb, but it looked like the best and probably only option.
Harl looked sceptical, scratching his grey head of hair.
“It’ll have to do, Mister Harl. Put the ship over there, then cut the engine and drop anchor. Mister Olvan?”
“Sir?”
“Tell Sergeant Lamtak to ready his men. Then fetch the Lady Lamient." Then to Harl I said, "You are in charge while we’re gone, Mister Harl.”
“Aye aye, Captain. Be sure to take Mister Sudlas and Jod with you, sir. If things go wrong, they'll be your best bet.”
"Thank you, Harl. I will."
Soon the launch was in the water. The sea was still rough but the anchor seemed to be holding the ship in place. Harl had orders to simply keep the ship there, out of sight. The boiler had been doused so there was now only a trickle of smoke and steam coming from the funnel. If the enemy arrived, the Wraith Deep/Lady Ocean would never be able to escape as it would take at least an hour to stoke the fires and heat the boiler again.
The men had a fight to keep the launch steady against the side of the frigate as it rose and fell with the waves. Eventually Olvan, Lady Lamient, Jodlin, Sudlas, Farnsind the lectrocode officer, Sergeant Lamtak, his twenty marines and I were packed into the launch. Mister Farnsind had the copy of the enemy lectrocode book. There was a chance that we would find a new copy in the tower should we manage to get in, but at the first hint that the enemy might be overrun, it would be destroyed.
On reaching the small, shingle beach, we hauled the boat up out of the water and looked up at the steep ascent. It looked worse from down here than it did at sea, but the Lady Lamient did not hesitate and began to scale the broken wall of rock and earth. She had changed into a simple, tight hunting suit of soft leather. At her belt was a slender but long knife. She wore leather gloves and leather shoes. She had tied her hair back and now wore a scarf about her head. Apart from her feminine figure she looked like a ship’s boy.
Ever since she had come aboard the ship, men had been staring at her, for she was truly very pretty and possibly high born, but I very much doubted she was a proper lady. She had ignored the looks and seemed quite used to it.
I went after her, and the rest followed me. We did not need rope or hooks to make the climb but it was very hard work all the same. Parts could be climbed like steps, but other harder sections needed both hand and foot. A couple of younger marines had climbed ahead and leant a helping hand to those that lagged behind. By the time I was half way, the Lady Lamient was already at the crest where she disappeared over the edge.
It took the best part of an hour to reach to top. We had to stop a few times to rest after it became apparent that fatigue could easily lead to a slip, and then a crashing fall to the rocks below. The top revealed a barren and rocky grassland of rolling hills with a few bent trees and a forest in the distant south. The wind was strong and the long grass swept back. Above us the grey skies looked low and somehow angry with fast moving clouds and a smattering of rain.
To my annoyance, the Lady Lamient was already a distant figure heading in the direction of the tower, so I quickly gathered the men and headed off after her. After a few moments she headed inland and I saw that she wished to approach the tower from behind a low hill to its south-east.
As we got closer to the tower, we could see that it was not a large structure but certainly fit for purpose, set about fifty yards back from the cliff’s edge, it looked to have a single entrance with arrow slits further up the walls. I had hoped it would be a dilapidated thing but it was obviously in good repair which meant battering down the door would take far too long.
All the men were crouching now as they neared the crest of the hill so as not to be seen. The grass was long and we would have to crawl the rest of the way before getting a closer look and figuring out how to entice the men inside to open the door. I did not relish the thought of using hooks and rope.
Cursed bitch, the lady had vanished as the sergeant, Jodlin, Olvan and I crept up to the hill’s grassy ridge. Now soaked again and cold from the wet grass, we looked over the hundred yards or so a
t the tower and Mister Olvan pointed a finger in surprise at what he saw. At the crenulated top of the squat tower was a guard, doing a slow march round the tower’s circumference. He walked in a manner that indicated that he had done this a hundred times before and expected to do it a hundred times again. He had a tall silver helmet and long musket on his back. This was not what had surprised Olvan however. We watched just as the Lady Lamient crawled in through the lower arrow slit about six feet above the doors. How she managed to climb the wall, I had no idea, but what was even more baffling was the way she somehow compressed, twisted and contorted her body in order to fit through the thin slit. Surely the slit was not even wide enough for her head, but somehow she squeezed through and vanished into the darkness.
As the guard did his rounds, he spent a good twenty seconds within sight as he rounded the southern half of the circle. Then he vanished for another thirty seconds. I looked for spots closer to the tower where men could be hidden. There were none. The region around the tower was cleared of bush and rock. The distance could be run in less than twenty seconds but men would make a noise. There would be even more wind on the tower which would hopefully disguise any. I began to pass the order round that three men at a time would run over to the tower in complete silence when the guard was not in view.
Mister Olvan and Jodlin went first as soon as the guard’s head disappeared. They ran at a crouch, quickly but silently. Then on reaching the wall, put their backs to it and looked up to see if the guard had heard them. I could see that the guard had heard nothing as he casually continued his round. The rebel could not see the foot of the tower without leaning over the parapet, and we could only hope that he did not do so. Another three ran the distance, then another three until we were all across and hugging the base of the tower. Nobody spoke and all moved silently. I was now listening for noises from within. I guessed that there might be a garrison of twenty or thirty men based in the tower.
“I can smell bacon,” whispered one of the marines. Sergeant Lamtak shot the man a murderous glance for making a noise. I could smell it too. They must have recently had breakfast, and the bacon smelt good, but I could not have eaten. I was worried sick, and hoped it did not show, but I had no idea what to do now. The woman had vanished into the window without a word of what she intended, and now my men and I stood vulnerable and without a plan at the foot of an enemy stronghold.
I had wanted to have a look at the tower and see it before trying to come up with a plan, but the Lady Lamient had simply rushed off, and left us to follow as best we could. Time passed, and the minutes felt like hours. All of a sudden, everyone went stiff and hugged the wall as something fell from the parapet above us. It was a little stream of water, and so I cautiously looked and could just make out the guard far above standing on the ledge, relieving himself over the side of the tower. All the man had to do was look down. It this height the piss was dispersed by the winds and spattered me and the others. Don't look down. I hugged the wall as closely as I could. What man does not look down proudly at his own pool of piss? The water stopped and a gust of wind forced the guard to jump back onto the tower's roof. He never looked down, and I muttered a thanks to any gods or spirits for that gust of timely wind.
The men began to shuffle. There was a slight mist in the drizzly air. It would probably clear soon. It was cold and hugging the stone wall did not help as it just sucked the little heat from the men who began to shiver. I looked sideways up at the doors. They were robust wooden double doors with iron studs and iron bands to reinforce them. It would take a large battering ram to dislodge it. Perhaps we could make one in the woods to the south. Of course the enemy would hear us charging so the door would have to be destroyed with a single thrust to enable the men to enter the tower quickly enough to stop the rebels from sending a distress call to the enemy. It was a poor plan. Perhaps a man would leave the tower. Then we could overrun him and hold the doors open.
Had they captured the lady? The men looked to me. I knew they expected me to have a plan. Why were we waiting? We had ropes and hooks, but it would be a slow and hard climb. I edged all around the tower’s base, looking for inspiration, but found nothing. As I returned to the doors, we heard something. The doors were set a man’s height from the ground, with steps leading up to them. I motioned the men to move away and hide. I heard it again. It was a muffled voice or grunt.
Moving into the shadow of the steps, I pressed my bent back to the wall as I could just make out footsteps behind the door, and slowly drew my gutting knife and cutlass, ready to swing up onto the steps and charge anyone who opened it.
“Hello?” came a muffle voice. “Who’s there?”
I was confused. Surely we had not been seen, but someone behind the doors had heard or seen something. There was silence. I held my breath, and then jumped as there was a bump on the door. I watched it intently, then glanced up and saw nobody looking down from the parapet, and then gazed back at the door. My heart was racing. My eye twitched. I held out my hand with the gutting knife to signal the men to make ready to charge. Perhaps we could jam a blade into the door to stop it from closing.
Then, with another bump and a slide followed by a small crack and creak, the doors opened and just as I was going to charge, the Lady Lamient appeared from the darkness within. She was spattered with blood and held a garrotte in one hand. The fine wire was held by a pair of small ivory handles. Her hands and handles where also covered in dark red blood. She saw me and waved us in. Turning to my men, I indicated that they should follow in silence.
On entering the tower, we found ourselves in a large and empty room with the decapitated head of a guard at the foot of the doors. I was no expert in the use of a garrotte, but was sure that it must take both great strength and skill to remove man’s head with such a weapon. I looked at the lady who simply smiled back at me, then with a flick of the wire, tucked it into her suit between her breasts. The men had loaded weapons. They had all taken the time at the base of the tower to check their equipment and load weapons in silence. There were two flights of steps; the first leading down and the second leading up. The lady indicated that we should move up.
“You and three men guard those steps,” I whispered to Olvan, indicating the steps leading down. “If anyone shows their heads, try to silence them quietly if possible.”
“Aye aye, Captain.”
I then signalled that the rest of us should start moving up the steps which wound up the inside of the outer walls. The lady went first and indicated that all was well as we reached the first floor. This was where she had entered, and I was again impressed as I saw how thin the arrow slit was. The blood was not just the enemy’s but hers too. Her head and ears had been cut badly as she forced it through the stonework.
In this room were two more men, both dead by the garrotte. How did she do that? The room was an armoury with racks of spears, the odd musket and ammunition. There was also some clothing and armour, but none seemed in good repair. Along one section of the wall was a workbench with tools for fixing the guns and armour. I guessed that there were three more levels before reaching the parapets and watched the steps leading up. We could just make out voices up there.
“Above us are the sleeping quarters. Then there is the mess with a kitchen. Above that is the lectrocoder’s room and some other doors, then steps leading to the top.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I have been to the top.”
“I see.” How she had managed to reach the top without being seen was yet another mystery, but I accepted it after seeing how she entered the enemy stronghold and how she had dispatched the enemy guards. Never would anything about this woman surprise me again. She was formidable.
“How many men are there?”
“Perhaps eleven or twelve in the sleeping quarters. I saw at least eight in the kitchens. More will be above them. We cannot hope to get past the floor above us without alerting the rebels.”
“Then we must charge them.”
/> I passed the word that four men were to come up the rear and guard the sleeping quarters. If they raised the alarm, every other man was simply to keep going up. Then I picked another four men to do the same on the next floor. The others were to keep following me all the way to the lectrocoder room. The Lady Lamient drew a dagger and waited for my signal. I looked round at my men. Sergeant Lamtak, and Jodlin were with me as well as the lectrocode officer and the marines. They looked hungry for action, and I felt a pang of pride for my crew, then signalled to move on and began to climb the steps.
The lady went first again, not that I had indicated that she should do so. As we reached the next floor, I saw a room full of bunks with a table at the far end where a couple of off duty guards where playing cards. We did not stop, but kept going up. Those men would certainly see us soon, but we had to keep going and just as I was about to scale the next flight of steps one of the men look around and saw us, a long line of enemy marines moving through the tower. Bizarrely the rebel guard looked back to his cards as though it were nothing.
I screamed, “Charge!” and carried on up the steps, knowing the guard would wake up to the threat within a second.
There was gunfire behind me and the screams of a man wounded, shouts and thundering boots as the column of Imperial Navy Marines now attacked.
“Kill the buggers!” I called behind me as we reached the next level. This room had a couple of cooks, a large stove and men seated round some tables, who, startled by the sudden chaos simply sat with open mouths gawping at me and my men as we rushed past to the next flight of steps. There was more gunfire and the sound of blades hitting flesh. More screaming and now alarm calls.
“Keep going! Keep going!”
Then suddenly I was put upon by a large man in a sergeant’s uniform just as I was going to climb the next flight of steps. The man had a cooking pan in one hand and a butcher’s cleaver in the other. The sergeant was quick, and struck out at me forcing me to duck the blade, and then thrash with my cutlass only to be denied a cut by the ring of the pan.
“Jodlin!” I called, not wanting to stop and fight, and so jumped away from the sergeant who now saw a greater threat in the hulking form of Mister Jodlin and his hammer.
We continued up the steps after the Lady Lamient. On reaching the next floor, men where appearing at doors, confused and alarmed. A guard was coming down a flight of steps. There was the mighty crash of volley fire from far down below and I presumed that Mister Olvan and his men had met some rebels trying to come up from the dungeons.
The Lady Lamient was standing at a door, her hand trapped in the door’s gap. There was obviously a man on the other side trying to force it closed. She was losing the battle of strength, a look of pain on her face, her hand being crushed. I charged towards her, passing the enemy as I did so, but one quick witted man stepped in my path.
“Drop you weapons, sir!” said the man holding a pistol. He died with a gutting knife in his neck, but not before firing the gun, which grazed my belly and hurt like hell’s fire. I screamed and spun round in pain, but again lunged at the door as it was closing on the lady’s fingers, her teeth gritted against the hurt. Together we pushed with all our strength. Shots were fired over our heads. The enemy had brought guns to bear at the end of the corridor and Lamtak’s marines fired back with the lady and I in the middle.
With an almighty shove, the door swung open. Both myself and the lady fell into the room just as an enemy officer picked up a book from a desk and threw it into a brazier. The Lady Lamient flew up and landed on the man who was easily twice her size but reeling from the ferocity of her attack. She had dropped her knife and suddenly the wire was in her hand again. With the agility of a cat and the dexterity of master assassin, she was on his back with the wire looped about his neck.
With horror, I saw how she leaned back, with her knee to the nape of his neck, and pulled the wire tight and sawed. The man’s eyes bulged and his face contorted as the wire slipped like a razor through the skin, muscle and eventually even the bone of his neck. She fell back and landed on her feet just as his head toppled from his body, and a great gush of blood fountained from his neck as he fell to the floor. In the corner of the room, the book burned fiercely with a spitting blue flame. It was the code book, and it was designed to burn well. No matter. We had our own copy.
The fighting continued for some minutes, but eventually the surviving rebels surrendered. They had been taken completely by surprise and had lost eight men with another nine injured. I had only lost two marines with a few others injured but not seriously. The commanding officer lay dead with my blade in his neck, which I retrieved and then turned to the Lady Lamient.
“I have a favour to ask of you.”
This made her cock an eyebrow. She was so slight. So pretty, even under the drying blood and after the horrendous acts of violence. A cold shiver ran down my spine just to look at her now, and yet in that moment I truly wanted to kiss her. Had I tried, I know I would not have lived to tell this tale.
“I need to find out what message the rebels send up the line when all is well, and how often.”
This made her smile. “Of course.” She left to interrogate the surviving rebels who were being taken to the dungeons by Sergeant Lamtak and his marines.
I went to the rooftop and was followed by Mister Olvan who had made his way up from below to see if his captain had any orders for him.
“All well?” I asked.
“Yes, sir. They came to investigate the noise and tried to rush us. We were ready for them.”
“Good. Any prisoners down below?”
“No, Captain. Just four empty cells and a wash room.”
“A wash room?”
“Yes,” said Olvan. “They seem to have a good sense of hygiene, these rebels. One of the rebels was in a towel. The others I believe were doing the laundry… Well done, sir.”
“Pardon?”
“The assault on the tower. It went well I would say.”
“Hm,” I grumbled. “Congratulate the Lady Lamient.” I said her name mockingly. She was not high born. I was not one to care overly much for a person’s status but I did not like men or women assuming a higher status than they were born to. “She opened the doors, and she took care of the lectrocode officer before he could lock himself in and send warning.”
Mister Olvan looked momentarily uncomfortable. “I will, sir."
"Is there a problem, Mister Olvan?"
"No, sir. Well, I suppose she frightens me. Sorry. Of course I will congratulate her."
I smiled, happy that we had taken the tower. Happy to see that I was not the only one scared of the petit woman. "She scares me too, Mister Olvan. Never seen a man's head removed with such efficiency. You should ask her to dinner! Perhaps she likes young meat."
To my surprise, Olvan seemed to consider this, and then said, "I might do that, sir. She is rather easy on the eyes."
“Don’t be a bloody fool, man. The woman is a demon in disguise. She is a murderer, liar and a trickster. She is as guilty as she looks innocent. Stay well away from her!”
“Of course.” Olvan was taken aback by my harsh words. “I meant only…”
I turned on my first officer. “Mister Olvan,” I growled. “She is as pretty as a flower and as deadly as a viper. I suspect she is as cunning fox too. She is an agent and a spy of the Empire and I will not have my crew involved with such people.”
“You mean, she’s a Secret Servant?”
“That’s right. While she is on my ship, she will be treated with respect, but also given a very wide berth. Now wipe that gormless look off your face, and stop thinking with your eel.”
“Eel? Oh… Sorry, Sir.”
“Get the wounded back to the ship. Make the ship ready to sail. I’m not sure how long we’ll be, but we must be vigilant and ready to move at a moment’s notice.”
“Sir!” said Olvan by way of acknowledgement.
“Wait!” I had seen something out to sea.
br /> On the northern side of the towers ramparts was a temporary open wooden structure with a sail for a roof. Under this was a simple chair, table and a long eye glass fixed to a tripod. I sat in the chair and using the eye glass focused on the object that had caught my eye.
“It’s a ship.”
“One of ours?” asked Olvan hopefully.
“Damn bugger in hells! It’s a rebel frigate. Heading east. Moving fast.”
“The enemy fleet, Sir?”
I scanned the glass westwards but saw no more ships nor smoke stacks on the distant horizon. “No. It’s a scout ship. They would have sent a few ahead.”
I thought for a moment. “Our fleet will not be far behind us. That frigate will see them soon enough and warn the enemy. He’ll see the Lady Ocean soon too. The enemy fleet can’t be too far off.”
“What can we do, Captain?”
“Buggered if I know. Think, man. Think!”
“The lectrocoder, Captain. Perhaps…”
“Of course! Well done Kristan!” I said using the officer’s first name, then grabbed a paper and pen from the table and began to write, speaking the words as I did so. “Enemy frigate sighted stop. Distant north stop. Advise investigation stop. Tars-hard watch tower stop.”
Handing the paper to Olvan, I asked, “What do you think?”
“We can only hope that they will investigate, sir.” Olvan took the paper.
“Get Mister Farnsind to send this at once using their code.” I knew it was obvious that it should be sent using rebel code but I did not know this man, Farnsind well, and for all I knew he might be a complete buffoon. Better safe than sorry. “Once that has been sent, send a message in our code to the fleet to move in with all haste.”
"Won't the enemy pick up our message too?"
"Probably but they will think it's the phantom frigate to the north."
Mister Olvan nodded and left. I went back to scanning the horizon to the west with the glass, and could only hope that the enemy frigate would be drawn north to investigate the phantom frigate leaving the Imperial fleet enough room to slip past unseen.
The first message would put the enemy on alert, but they would be looking north and east when, if all goes well, the Imperial fleet will be coming from the rear; from the west.
I winced at the pain in my side. There was blood on my coat and a hole right through it. I would have to get the surgeon to have a look, but it was not life threatening and it could wait. I shivered.
“What now?”
The Lady Lamient stood behind me. She had found some water to wash her face of the blood. Her hair was wet and pushed back. Her ears and cheeks were badly scratched from her entry into the tower.
“We wait for the fleet. We signal the enemy that all is well. Did you manage to get an answer?”
“Oh yes,” she said coquettishly. That was quick. “A boy told me all we need to know. He was very cooperative. I only had to remove one of his fingers for him to talk.”
I winced at the thought. “You have the routine for signalling, all is well?”
A tabby tom cat ran up the stairs and jumped up on the wall. The lady smiled and made a purring noise to put it at ease as she reached for it. At first the cat was nervous and unsure, but soon succumbed to her soothing charms. Most fortifications and even ships had cats to fight of rodent infestations. This cat looked to be a young adult and had probably killed its fair share of rats and mice. The lady stroked its wide face for a minute then said, “I told you. He cried like a baby and when I soothed him, he told me how it is done. We should probably get on with it. A message is expected at least once an hour.”
She then looked back at the cat and frowned. “I hate cats.”
Before I could mouth a complaint, she simply pushed the cat over the edge of the wall to fall to its death far below. The woman was a psychopath. She was deadly, unfeeling and ruthless. She was also pretty and so the perfect tool for the Secret Servants. I felt for the cat. It had probably been terrified by the gun fire and battle. It was itself a killer, but only by nature, driven by survival, not by madness. The lady was daring me to say something. Instead I turned to the eye glass again and watched the enemy frigate. It was turning north, and I smiled. “Then let’s get on with it.”