1637: No Peace Beyond the Line by Eric Flint & Charles E. Gannon

Author:Eric Flint & Charles E. Gannon [Flint, Eric & Gannon, Charles E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Alternative History, Action & Adventure
ISBN: 9781982124960
Google: 0IRLzQEACAAJ
Publisher: Baen
Published: 2020-11-03T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 40

Oranjestad, St. Eustatia

Jan van Walbeeck was gratified to have his walking stick with him. A nice, tapering length of teak from his East Indies days, capped with a ball of brass, palm-brightened on its upper surface, brown-patinaed on its lower. Yes, a wonderful day for a walking stick.

Particularly in case he needed it.

Maarten Tromp was staring at his desk somberly.

“Well, are you or aren’t you?” Jan asked him.

“I am still considering.”

“Well, if you consider much longer, you are going to miss your stroll with that ravishing king’s daughter.”

Something in what Jan said seemed to decide Tromp. He reached into the desk and pulled out a smallish snaphaunce pistol that he’d carried from his earliest days as an officer. “Do you wish to walk with us?” he asked as he closed the drawer.

“More than ever, seeing you pocket that antique. Now, be sensible: if you think it best have that with you, shouldn’t you reconsider today’s walk? After all, the three wise men only informed the Politieke Raad about the stipulations for the tariff exemption five hours ago. Tomorrow the slaveholders will be much calmer.”

Tromp raised an eyebrow as he opened the door. “Will they? But that is beside the point. I am not Oranjestad’s governor.” He smiled, poked Jan in his broad chest before starting down the corridor. “You are.”

“And why do you think I am carrying this fine-looking skull crusher?” van Walbeeck replied, hurrying after him. “This is an unnecessary risk for you. You know how the slaveholders are. They will see you behind this. They are benighted, but not stupid. They know your fervor for ending slavery, and they know that only you had the political contacts back home to bring the matter before all the allied nations and get their approval.”

Tromp shrugged. “Well, if they think that, then it is all the more important that I am seen out there”—he thrust his chin toward the town beyond the fort’s inner walls—“than be suspected of cowering in here. Even if this is not necessary—and you are right; it is not—there can be no room for anyone to perceive and characterize my absence as fear or weakness.”

Van Walbeeck did not want to agree, but had to. “You are right in that regard. But . . . well . . . ”

“You are still convinced that we should have introduced the stipulations in stages, rather than in one announcement?”

“Well, to be frank, yes. Is it truly wise to push them so hard and all at once?”

“Maybe it is not wise . . . but it is necessary.”

“Necessary? If it causes a revolt? Maarten, we have lived with slavery for years. Surely we can—”

“I am not saying that it is a moral necessity, although that I aver that as well. I act with such dispatch because freeing the slaves is essential to the survival, let alone the security, of this colony.

“Historical parallels teach one unexceptioned lesson: if the slaves on this island had not been assured that they would be

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