Ramage 17 - Ramage & the Saracens by Dudley Pope

Author:Dudley Pope
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-04-26T23:00:00+00:00

"The Calypso will then disappear over the horizon: we don't want her presence to frighten off the Saracens. She will return every few days and look for a signal flying from the Castel San Angelo - that's the big castle you can see on the hill overlooking the town - but unless the signal is flying, to show that it's all over, she will go out to sea again and disappear over the horizon."

He put his hands flat on the desk. "I have had a difficult time selecting officers because some of you are bound to be disappointed. But we must remember that our primary concern is the safety of the ship; the operation against the Saracens is our secondary concern. Therefore, Mr Aitken will command the ship and Mr Southwick will go with him.

"Mr Rennick will, of course, command the detachment of Marines and Sergeant Ferris will be his second-in-command. Lieutenants Kenton, Martin and Hill will command detachments of seamen and the guns they will handle.

"My headquarters will be in the castle because that is the best place for seeing what's going on.

And there's no doubt I will be able to see - the Saracens raid in daylight; or at least they have so far.

"One last thing for now," Ramage added harshly. "We are dealing with barbarians. I am not interested in prisoners. I warn you, if you are taken prisoner by the Saracens, then you'll spend the rest of your life chained to the oar of a galley. Any questions?"

"Are the local people here on our side, sir?" asked Martin.

"Completely. They regard it as a miracle that we arrived when we did. By the way," he asked Aitken, "do we have any musketoons on board?"

"About half a dozen, sir," Aitken said. "I'll tell the gunner to get them out." He knew Ramage's dislike of the gunner, which was why the man was not at the meeting. "Grapeshot for the carronades?"

Ramage thought a moment and then said: "No, I think case will be more lethal. The object is to kill as many Saracens as possible with every round. That's why I don't want to use grapeshot: they're too big; they're all right for damaging ships and sending up showers of splinters, but we are going to be shooting at men out in the open."

His officers were excited at the prospect: Ramage could feel the tension in the cabin - all except Southwick. The old man was sitting in the armchair like a sack of potatoes, his hair sticking out like a dry mop. The prospect of being out at sea while there was a good fight going on ashore was almost more than he could bear, but Ramage had warned him that street fighting was a young man's sport, and anyway Aitken needed a responsible second-in-command because they would be standing watch and watch about for several days and they would both be very short of sleep.

"Any more questions?" Ramage asked. "No? Well, let's make a start then: we have to get six carronades ashore and six boat guns, along with powder, shot and provisions.

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