The Barbary Pirates

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

The pirates had had enough for the day, and did not try to pursue us. Nor did we have the naval firepower to duel Tripoli’s batteries. Sterett set course for Malta and the American squadron. From there, my companions could catch ships to whatever destination they chose.

It turned out that Fulton was cheerier about my necessary destruction of his Nautilus than I expected, once he thought about it. He had every hope this first experiment would allow him to construct a second, and was already drawing sketches. “Imagine a dozen men cranking or, even better, a steam engine that operates underwater! Imagine living under the sea!”

“Wasn’t it rather dark and wet?”

“Imagine floating over the canyons of the deep, and swimming with giant fishes!”

I smiled indulgently. “Will anyone believe, Robert, that five men—only two of them American—successfully attacked Tripoli?”

“Of course they will believe it! I will tell them! We can show, we have…” He looked about as if proof of his exploit was at hand.

“Not a weapon, not a prize, not a prisoner,” I said. “Just be aware that men like Bonaparte hear many tales from men seeking favor, and learn to be skeptical.”

“You’ll back me up, Gage! We’ll be partners, earning huge bounties from sinking ships of war!”

“The world is at peace, Robert. Look at the Englishman Smith and Frenchman Cuvier over there, getting on like old friends as they talk about rocks and bones. Why would Napoleon ever go to war with Britain again?”

“My steamboat, then. You have to help me in that convincing way you have, Ethan.”

“I told Madame Marguerite in Paris that I was going to write a book.”

“Then write one about our adventure!”

“Maybe I shall. And mostly tell the truth.”

I visited with Cuvier. “And what’s next for you, Georges?”

“Extinct animals instead of live pirates. It is a fine adventure exploring the Mediterranean, but I think I’ve had enough holiday for now, and prefer quiet bones. I’m also a bookish man, and supposed to reform education. Then there are all these interesting ideas about the origins of life! We found time at Thira, Ethan, depths and depths of time. And those pretty rooms down that tunnel: Was that Atlantis, or an arm of it? Who first invented the mirror? Was the idea bequeathed by mysterious ancestors, like your Thoth and Thor? I’ll have to sift the records of antiquity. You’ve given me a hobby for the next several years.”

“My pleasure. And you, William?”

“I think I’ve seen enough of the human world, too, and will return to England to continue my geologic mapping. Rocks don’t shoot back. Such work could help others think about the mysteries of the earth. Scientific luminaries have ignored me, Ethan, but this little adventure of ours has given me confidence—confidence and persistence. When I see that even Ethan Gage can win at the end of things, I think that I might too!”

“Don’t let the snobs discourage you, William. They know you’re smarter than they are, and are afraid of you.”

“I’m going to win them over,” he vowed. “I’m going to map the earth, and they are going to invite me into their Society!”

Pierre said he missed Canada. “There are too few trees in Africa, and too many people in France. I’ve decided I want to see more of the North Country before I grow old, Ethan. I want to paddle all the way to the Pacific.”

“I met a man named Clark who had the idea to do the same thing. And he was friends with Lewis, the secretary Jefferson wants to send that way.”

“Well, maybe I will go with them.”

And I? There was still the sale of Louisiana to persuade Napoleon on. Beyond that there was the little matter of a woman I loved, a boy I wanted to raise, and a life I still hadn’t entirely worked out. So as we sailed for Malta I sought out my love in the bow of the Enterprise and we settled against a cannon, watching the dancing waves.

“Did you know that I was almost forced to marry Aurora Somerset on a pirate ship?” I told Astiza.

“Almost?”

“We were interrupted by cannon balls from Sterett. As it turns out it wouldn’t have mattered, because I’d be a widower by now. Aurora dead, you alive, and little Harry out of nowhere. It’s amazing how life works out.”

“Horus. And he’s not out of nowhere, Ethan.”

“We made him, didn’t we?” It was a little presumptuous of me to share equal credit, but by the soul of Patrick Henry, I couldn’t help but be proud. I rather liked being a father, given the spunk of my son. He might be the cleverest thing I’d ever done. “I think I want to settle down, Astiza. I want to find a place where nothing ever happens, and live there with you.”

“Nothing? How long would that last, Ethan?”

“You can teach Harry about the stars and the goddesses, and I’ll get a new rifle made and show him how to shoot. We’ll live on an island, perhaps, and let the world have at it while we watch from the beach. Wouldn’t that be the thing? I’ll weave us hammocks, and write down this story for Harry, and never get mixed up with Napoleon again. Will you stay with me now?”

I won the slightest of smiles. “It appears that’s what destiny intends. Together forever, and not a ripple in our lives.” She sounded skeptical, but women usually do when I announce my plans.

“Yes!” So I kissed her, my first chance in nearly three years, and I was relieved we hadn’t forgotten how. Then I leaned back, feeling breeze and sun as we danced across the Mediterranean. “To think I’m to be a gentleman farmer! Or course I know nothing about farming. Nor do I like grubbing in the dirt. So I’ll be a philosopher, perhaps. Or maybe we’ll hear of a treasure that is a little less exasperating. And I suppose I haven’t given my son the easiest time of it yet, so I need to learn to play with him. As well as teach, of course. I’ve a lot of wisdom to pass on.”

“I pity the boy already. And how are you going to support us for these dreams?”

“Ah, I almost forgot. While you were sensibly seizing a shield from Yussef’s throne room, I went for something a little more frivolous, kept locked away in the leopard’s cage.” I fished in my pocket and pulled out my prize. It was the emerald from Karamanli’s turban. “This will get us started. And send our child to school someday, to boot.”

“Ethan! You finally saved something.”

“I’ve got a family to save it for, now.”

“And where is Horus, by the way?”

“Why, he’s right…I thought he was with you. Didn’t you put him down?”

“And I thought he’d gone to find you!”

We looked at each other with consternation. Gunfire, explosions, vicious animals, desperate fights, sinking submarines—we were terrible parents.

Now we couldn’t even keep track of our only child on an eighty-foot ship.

“Harry?”

We began searching the deck, increasingly frantic. What if the tot had gone overboard? We blast our way out of Tripoli, pioneer a whole new way of warfare, and misplace the lad on our own navy’s schooner? “Where sense is wanting, everything is wanting,” Old Ben used to warn, always looking at me with particular intensity.

And finally I remembered something and took my love by the arm. “In case I forget, remind me to have Sterett marry us,” I told her. “He’s captain of the vessel, after all. That is, if you’ll have me.” My heart was hammering. Franklin said to have your eyes wide open before marriage, and half shut after.

“Of course I’ll marry you! I can’t get rid of you! But what about Horus?” She had a mother’s panic.

“I know where he is. Right where I told him to be. Come with me below.”

And indeed I found him below in the sail locker, curled fast asleep. His look was that of the angels, but he sleepily blinked as we watched him, and then looked at me.

“Hungry, Papa.”

He’d crept off to nap in the one place where I told him he’d be safe.