“And that,” concluded de Toledo, “is why the single jacht we saw scouting the Anegada Passage tells me we shall soon have the target we want: the Dutch fleet. Probably led by these two up-time steam ships.”
“All that derived from spotting a single jacht?” de Viamonte wondered.
Fadrique nodded. “Yes. A jacht that, according to Don Equiluz, was tacking more than she needed to, which meant she was not heading to a destination so much as searching for something.”
“But for what?” de Viamonte asked.
“For us, Your Excellency,” de Covilla supplied deferentially. “If I understand the admiral correctly, he deduces from the maneuvering of the jacht that it is sweeping the waters, seeking enemy sails in the Anegada Passage. That is the best place to catch a fair wind to move down along the leeward side of the Lesser Antilles, in the general direction of St. Eustatia. In short, our adversaries are trying to learn if our strength is in port, or on the water headed for them.”
“Which is more crucial for them to ascertain than it is for us,” Fadrique added. “They have but one base. They cannot afford to sally out in search of our fleet, only to sail past and miss us as we are bound for their home port with the power to utterly destroy it.”
De Viamonte nodded. “I see. Well, I suppose being charged with defending ports for so long has made me unaccustomed to think along such risky lines. But you make a sound case for perceiving this yacht as a probable confirmation of what the Free Companies have told Don Equiluz. But tell me”—he turned to the young captain—“should we not suspect that the Companions with ties to St. Christopher will in fact impart warnings of our current actions to their associates there?”
Equiluz nodded somberly. “I had the same misgivings, Your Excellency. That is why I did not extend offers of letters of marque to such men, nor did I even mention our plans. I simply paid them for the information they provided. Even so, I suspect that, before too many months elapse, our recruitment of the other pirates will become known to them, as will its purpose, and so, they shall realize why we were asking the questions we did. However, by then, the actions we plan to undertake against this new Dutch threat will have long been completed.” He held up a palm. “There was, unfortunately, no way to solicit information from the Free Companions without, indirectly, releasing some to them as well.”
De Viamonte nodded indulgently. “This is in the very nature of asking a question, good Don Equiluz. You always inform the one to whom you address a question that the answer is in some way important to you.” He set down his glass. “So it seems our plans are coming together as hoped. The enemy’s strength is tentatively located on St. Eustatia and seems to be readying itself, or has begun, to head toward us. Which means that you must commence your difficult tasks of coordination, gentlemen. What you propose is fairly ambitious.”
“It is,” Fadrique admitted, “but we have the resources to carry it out. Our main fleet has all the warships we could ask for. Our Free Companions have swift, maneuverable ships, and have been furnished with mirror-backed heliographs for signaling and maintaining formation during the night, and lensed reflectors for doing so during fair days.”
“And if the weather turns foul, you still believe that will be to our advantage?”
Fadrique felt his lips become rigid, straight. “Captain-General de Viamonte, after what I saw those steamship deck guns do at the Grenada Passage, I may absolutely assure you of this: any engagement in which their accuracy is undermined is to our advantage. Our numbers will prevail, but only if we survive long enough so that they may be brought to bear upon our foe.”
“Yes, of course,” agreed de Viamonte. “But with so much depending upon a fairly complex plan, I could wish that we had had more time to address all relevant the preparations, particularly with the Free Companies.”
“More time is always good,” Fadrique agreed openly, but thought, except that now, with their radios, these up-time supplied bastards have an advantage over us. The clock and the calendar are always their friends and never ours. So our one alternative is to press matters wherever we may. Wherever we determine they wish they had more time, that is precisely where we must act with utter swiftness, even if our plans are not well or fully set. “But fear not, Captain-General de Viamonte, we are in adequate readiness. And our Free Companies are already straining at their leashes to set upon the Dutch. So the time is ripe to set them in motion.”
No matter how hateful the doing of it might be.