Marauder

14

Hunter was not physically damaged, but the shock profoundly upset him. Confused, he dared not fight any more for fear of making a serious error. He collapsed into a sitting position on deck, staring at Jane, mystified.

Even on the original mission to find MC 1, back in the age of dinosaurs, Hunter had suffered from various doubts about his ability to follow the First Law successfully. After being hit, he worried that these doubts had impaired his judgment. Burdened by additional doubts, he slowed down all his processes and lay back on the deck, motionless. He was certain that he must have done something seriously wrong for Jane to have struck him over the head like that.

Steve was frantically blocking the sword blows of the sailor in front of him with his belaying pin. To one side, he had seen a tall, bearded buccaneer run up and reach forward. The stranger was huge, and Steve had hoped for a moment that Hunter would show up at the last second to stop him. Instead, Jane had stepped out from behind Steve and clobbered the big buccaneer.

The sailor who was fighting Steve had been distracted for just a moment. Steve swung his belaying pin down on the sailor’s head with a clunk. The sailor collapsed onto the deck.

“Traitor! Traitor!” A man’s voice shouted at them from the crowd.

Steve looked around. It was Ned, the buccaneer who had chased them from the Cadiz across to the Sidonia a few minutes ago. He was almost as tall as the stranger Jane had just clubbed, though not as brawny.

In an instant, Steve understood. Ned had seen the two of them hanging back from the fight, and now he had seen Jane hit one of the buccaneers from behind. He had concluded that they were perpetrating some sort of betrayal, probably to take more than their share of loot.

“Oh, no,” said Jane, looking down at her fallen opponent. “He’s dressed like a pirate, isn’t he? I thought he was charging at us.”

“Look out!” Steve saw that Ned was running toward them angrily. He stooped down to pick up the cutlass the Spanish sailor had dropped.

Ned swung his cutlass at Jane’s head. She ducked under it and Steve slashed at Ned with his cutlass. Ned blocked it easily and Steve was forced backward by the force of the collision.

“Jane, run!” Steve yelled. Out of the comer of his eye, he saw her slip away. At the same time, he was still blocking Ned’s sword strokes, slowly backing away.

Steve was scared, and felt trapped; he couldn’t possibly win a sword fight with an experienced buccaneer, especially one with a big advantage in height and reach. Still, he also felt exhilarated. He could hardly believe he was fighting a real pirate on a Spanish ship in the Caribbean.

Steve was inexorably driven back against the rail. Ned swung with hard, regular sword strokes, glaring at Steve angrily. Steve knew he couldn’t fight his way out of the confined space. Finally, desperate, he jumped up on the rail itself.

“Ha!” Ned laughed and moved forward.

Steve threw his sword at Ned, turned, and jumped feet first into the sea far below.

The blue waves came up fast, and he hit the water hard, plunging deep below the surface. He kicked and stroked to break his descent and finally began to swim upward. It seemed like a longer way up than he had expected, and he held his breath desperately. Finally, he broke through the surface of the salt water, gasping.

“Steve!” Jane was shouting and waving anxiously. She stood at the rail far above him, but well away from the place where he had left Ned.

From his present position, Steve could only see the steep side of the hull, the rail, and the rigging stretching high above the deck. Jane was the only person close enough to the rail for him to see. He waved to reassure her, but he realized that he had no way to get back on board.

Then, as he watched, Jane ran to a hanging dinghy swaying horizontally over the edge of the ship. It was suspended from wooden arms by rope. She fumbled with a knotted rope for a moment, then jumped back as the rope came free. The heavy dinghy fell all the way to the water with a tremendous splash.

Steve struck out for the boat, swimming clumsily in his clothes, but he kept his head above water $0 that he could see. Ahead of him, Jane took a deep breath and jumped feet-first into the water near the boat. When she surfaced, she swam to the boat and pulled herself up and over the edge.

As Steve neared the boat, Jane extended an oar for him to grab. He took it with relief, finding that he was exhausted from the effort of fighting and swimming. After pulling himself hand over hand along the oar, he grabbed the edge of the boat and rolled over the edge to fall inside.

“You okay?” Jane took his hand and helped pull him up into a sitting position.

“Yeah.” Steve looked up toward the deck of the ship. He couldn’t see much from the dinghy, but the sounds of the fight were continuing. “Anybody notice?”

“If they did, they didn’t care. Besides, as soon as we went over the rail, we were out of sight.” She looked at him. “Now what?”

“Well…” Steve pointed to the green coast of Jamaica. “I think we’d better row for shore. It’s not too far. And I think the current will help us.”

“Okay.”

They sat next to each other on the center bench, each taking an oar. At first they had trouble coordinating their strokes, and the dinghy banged against the side of the ship several times. Finally they got into a steady rhythm and slowly began to move toward the shore.

Rita stayed with MC 2 at the rail of the Hungry Hawk as it approached the Sidonia from the side opposite the Cadiz. Roland had joined the buccaneer attack while Rita and MC 2 watched from safety. MC 2, however, was becoming more agitated as he watched.

“Don’t interfere,” said Rita. “These buccaneers belong to this time. Take care of me, and of Roland if you can.”

“You are safe here,” said MC 2.

Rita strained to follow Roland’s movements as he darted about on the Sidonia. Sails, masts, and the crowd of fighting men all obscured her vision. MC 2 watched intently, however, with his robotic concentration. Suddenly he jumped on the rail and ran across the gangplank.

“Hey, wait! MC 2! Stop!” Rita shouted in surprise. When the robot ignored her instructions, she realized that the First Law was requiring MC 2 to act. She watched him as long as she could, but soon he, too, was lost in the crowd on board the other ship.

Even on the sidelines, Rita was thrilled. Nothing could match seeing the history she had studied for so long being made right in front of her. The clanging of the swords and occasional bang of flintlock pistols scared her a little, but she reminded herself that this was the buccaneer life-style.

Wayne was standing by the helm of the Old Laughing Lady with Captain Tomann, watching the other two ships attack their prey up ahead. They were drawing very close now. The previous night, Wayne had begun to make friends with the short-tempered buccaneer captain. He had not yet sought his help. First he had wanted to establish some rapport.

He had also known that he would have to tell Captain Tomann some kind of phony story. Thinking of one had taken a little time. Now, however, he decided the time to approach the captain had arrived.

“Captain,” said Wayne. “I have another business proposition for you.”

“Eh? Now? What would that be?”

“It appears to me that we are arriving a little late this time. That is, we might not get a full share of the booty. Don’t you agree?”

Captain Tomann glowered, resting one hand on his sword hilt. “If we board before the fighting ends, we’ll take our share in any way we must.”

“Of course. But, uh…” Wayne glanced around suspiciously and motioned for the captain to step away from the man at the helm. “Maybe you and I can make a special profit from all this, if you’re willing.”

“Well, now. What’s all this, then?”

“A short, slender man is on board the Hungry Hawk. I want him.”

“To kill him?”

“No, no. As my prisoner.”

“What’s in it for me, then?”

“Ransom,” said Wayne.

“Ransom?” Captain Tomann looked at him sharply, truly interested for the first time.

“You and I can split it evenly. No need to inform anyone else, though, is there?”

“Who is he?”

“His name is MC 2, but don’t say it aloud. Someone else might overhear and figure out who he is.”

“Goes by his initials, eh? So that’s his name-but who is he, that someone’s going to pay ransom to get him back?”

“The younger son of a colonial, up on the mainland.”

“A rich man’s son, is he? Who’s his father?”

“No, no. If I tell you everything, then you don’t need me anymore.”

Captain Tomann grinned at him, showing broken teeth. “Aye, you’re a sharper fellow than you look. Well, then, how much ransom can we get for this fellow?”

Wayne thought quickly. He decided to err on the side of generosity. “What would you say to one full chest of gold coin?”

“I would say, two are better.”

“We’ll get it.”

“Ah! So what’s the proposition, exactly?”

“You help me snatch him and hold him. In the meantime, I’ll arrange the ransom.”

“I think you need me more than I need you. I’ll take more than half the share.”

“Well…” Wayne shrugged.

“I can find out who his father is when I get my hands on him. But without me, you have no way to catch him and no place to keep him.”

“That’s right,” said Wayne.

Captain Tomann, who had expected an argument, blinked at him in surprise. “You agree?”

“Sure. You take two shares to my one, whatever the ransom turns out to be.”

“Why?” Captain Tomann scowled and leaned his wild-eyed face close to Wayne’s. “Why would you give up so much of the ransom so easy?”

“Call it a…grudge,” Wayne said quickly.

“Eh?” Captain Tomann cocked his head and grinned slowly. “A grudge, you say.”

“That’s right,” said Wayne, seeing that his companion accepted the explanation. “ A personal matter.”

“Aye, a personal matter. Now, that I can understand. All right, mate. We have a bargain, then.” He pounded Wayne on the back.

“And like I said before, there’s no need to tell anyone else, right?”

“Right you are, mate. It wouldn’t do for my crew to know I was getting more than my normal captain’s share. Now let’s find this fellow. We’re almost in position.” He turned and waved toward the man at the helm. “Hard to port, there! Hard to port!”

The buccaneer at the helm suddenly turned the wheel. He strained to hold it in position. Slowly, the ship began to turn.

The prow of the Old Laughing Lady came up closely on the three grappled ships. Some buccaneers were ready with grappling hooks. Others were hanging in the ropes above them with their weapons. The ship angled carefully toward the free side of the Hungry Hawk, opposite where it was grappled to the Sidonia. When the old Laughing Lady came alongside, the buccaneers grappled the Hungry Hawk.

“Come on, then!” Captain Tomann punched Wayne in the arm and strode forward.

Wayne followed carefully. He was concerned about getting into the fight, but was a little more confident now that he had an ally in the fierce buccaneer captain. Besides, this might be his best chance just to grab MC 2 and go home with him.

Ahead, the buccaneers in the rigging swung for ward on ropes to the Sidonia; the others hoisted gangplanks and ran across them.

The Hungry Hawk was nearly empty, since its crew was fighting on the Sidonia. The buccaneers from the Old Laughing Lady made their way across it quickly, anxious to earn their shares of the loot by joining in the taking of the Sidonia. Captain Tomann ran across the gangplank, his cutlass in one hand and his pistol in the other. He jumped down to the deck, looking around.

Wayne climbed up carefully on the gangplank, which shifted back and forth as the two ships under it swayed on the waves. He nearly lost his balance and pitched into the narrow space between the ships. Finally, his heart pounding, he ran across after Captain Tomann and caught up with him.

Captain Tomann pointed to a lone figure with his cutlass. “Who’s that little fellow, standing by the rail?”

Wayne recognized Rita and shook his head. “That’s not him, but it’s a friend of his.”

“A friend?”

“A friend who can help us,” said Wayne. He decided that MC 2 must have been forced by the First Law to interfere with the fighting. “Well, come on!”

Wayne followed him, worried that Captain Tomann might hurt her. The buccaneer captain ran up behind Rita and grabbed her arm. She jumped and tried to pull away.

“I say, mate!” Captain Tomann still held her, but straightened in surprise as he looked at her carefully. “She’s no buccaneer. It’s a woman. You know that?”

“Easy,” said Wayne to Captain Tomann. “Let’s get her back to the ship. I can talk to her there.”

“So be it, then.”

“I’m Wayne Nystrom. Your name is Rita.”

“That’s right.”

“We need to talk.”

She just looked at him, warily.

“Come on.”

Wayne and Captain Tomann each took one of her arms and led her back to the Old Laughing Lady. She said nothing, but did not seem particularly scared. Wayne wondered why she was being so cooperative.

Steve strained against the oar in the dinghy. N ext to him on the middle bench, Jane was also working hard. As they rowed for the coast of Jamaica, they were facing away from the ships. Swaying on the gentle waves, each ship sent its masts angling high against the blue sky.At such a great distance, the few buccaneers Steve could see on deck were mere specks. None of them had taken any notice of the dinghy.

“It’s just as well we’re getting away,” said Steve, breathlessly.

“What do you mean?”

“We told Hunter we could take care of ourselves with the pirates, but we didn’t really do too well. Since we don’t know where either one of the robots is, we don’t have their protection any more. We’ll be safer on dry land again than in the middle of a bunch of pirates during a fight.”

“I think we handled ourselves just fine for a couple of people from our time.”

“Well, I guess.” Steve shrugged. After that, they used their energy only for rowing. Jamaica wasn’t too far, but their progress was slow.