H.M.S Valor: Treachery And Triumph: A war time adventure on the high seas by Cal Clement (best contemporary novels txt) 📕

The man in the corner hardly moved, except for the quick rise and fall in his chest and belly, Will would have thought him dead. He opened an eye, staring up at Will for a moment and then closed it dismissively.

“Have they taken a Royal Navy ship now?” the man asked, through his labored breath.

“Taken. Never. They’ve sunk the Endurance.” Will answered, trying to quell his stomach from the awful smell of the man.

“Admiral Sharpe. That is a shame, I held hope he would get me out of this mess.” The reply came as he relieved himself without moving.

“There is a bucket.” Will cut, no longer hiding his disgust. The fresh smell of urine mixed into the already foul odors permeating the small cell. The man hadn’t bathed and was sweating profusely, to add to the concoction his bowel movements were handled in the same matter as his urine.

“What’s the use? We’ll be dead soon enough, you as well, so you can dispense with your comments. I won’t be taking inquiry today, nor ever again,” his hand waved in a grand dismissive gesture.

“Who are you? How did you come to be on this ship?” Will asked through a squint, trying to see the man’s face in the dimness.

“What does it matter? I can be King George and You Admiral Cornwallis; it makes no difference lad. We will die at the hands of these savages. Did you see? They have Negroes commanding, they will skin us or slit our throats if they don’t run us aground first,” the man dithered in sobbing tones.

“She seemed seaworthy to me, maybe short of crew, but…” Will began to interject but was interrupted.

“They are all savages! Fit for cane and cotton field, nothing more! I wouldn’t even let them work in the bloody kitchens!” his drivel turned to screams, the voices in the next cell quieted.

“Lieutenant Pike? Everything alright over there?” a voice from Shelton echoed in from a barred porthole in the door.

“Yes. Yes, we’re fine in here.” Will answered, then turned to the filthy man, “What is your name Sir? We likely aren’t going anywhere soon; I’d just as soon know whose piss I’m standing in.”

“I am Lord Geor Alton, the King’s appointed governor of the Jamaica colony if you must know. But you will find that rank and title are lost on these buffoons. Privilege and position mean nothing to animals, so I wouldn’t waste your breath,” his answer inflated and Will took it as another sarcastic tirade.

“Right. Well, I’ll certainly remember the time I was imprisoned with a mad man who claimed to be a lord while pissing himself.” Will snorted, leaning against a wall and looking for a clean spot where he could sit.

“No, I meant it. I am a Lord, I am the Lord Governor of the Jamaica colony.” Alton huffed.

“Yes Sir. Let me fetch the Endurance off the bottom, Lord Governor, and we will get to rendering honors.” Will quipped, tired of the conversation by now.

“You served aboard the Endurance?” the filthy lord demanded.

“Not originally, I was assigned as first Lieutenant aboard the Valor.” Will said, finally finding a spot to plant his seat.

“I gave special orders for the H.M.S Valor to search for a missing merchant ship upon their arrival to Nassau. The Carolina Shepherd, I believe it was,” he spat, leveling his stare at William.

Will’s mind went into a race, who else could know this but the man who signed the order?

“How did you get here?” Will asked, still guarding against some evil jest he suspected was coming.

“Oh, I’ve been working my way to this for a good while I suppose. A year since I was approached by that Mr. Sladen, months and weeks now whilst things have gone all awry.” Geor Alton babbled, gesturing his hands while he spoke.

“Sladen. Tim Sladen? An American?” Will asked with a quickening pulse as his temper began to rise.

“Oh yes, that’s the devil. You’ve met?

“Met him? I saw him kill Admiral Sharpe. He and his men ambushed our shore party, we lost half our compliment of marines. Wait? You were working WITH this man?” Will’s anger grew, rising up into his voice.

“Why yes lad. I hadn’t much choice in the matter. These are powers you cannot even comprehend, let’s not complicate our last hours, why fret about it now?” the governor waved at him, a gesture he knew dismissing him to silence.

“Or, Lord Governor, you can answer my questions. Perhaps enlightening me to what in the King’s bloody name created such a blunder of things.” Will seethed through clenched jaw.

“Oh, the King bloody well knows what’s occurring. Who do you think cleared the way for this sailor?”

“What? The King cleared the way for what? What are you talking about?” Will snapped, drawing a confused look from the ranting Lord.

“You really don’t know what this is all about? The slave trade boy, Parliament in all their wisdom passed the abolition of the slave trade last year. Against the wishes of our monarch.” Geor babbled through his labored breathing, “After the rebels in America won their independence, he cannot afford more unrest, nor look weak in the face of Bonaparte. So, he instructed a more, well, discreet method.”

Will sat with his back pressed into a corner of the cell, staring into the face of the deposed Governor. The knots he expected in his stomach did not come, only a tingle into the palms of his hands, a heightened awareness of the sounds surrounding him. The shock of this revelation fell flat, and Will knew it was because somewhere inside, he had suspected something of this nature all along. Ever since the day he met with Captain Grimes on the bow of the Valor, a lurking unrest had haunted him. Then a thought struck Will and his hands began to clench.

“You knew of this. All of it. And you let this Sladen murder the Admiral? You let him fire on the fleet? Do you have any idea how many souls were