Seas of Fortune(41)

Marshall raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

“Still, your colony is something of a dagger at the back of mine. As the English fleet was to the Dutch at the Battle of Ostend. And my colonists, many of whom are Dutch, will not be happy to have English neighbors.

“That said, the governor of Virginia, Sir John Harvey, is a friend of mine. He came to my aid in the days when we were both in the East Indies. So, I would do you a good turn, if I could. If you surrender, and give me your parole, I will transport your people to Tobago, or Saint Kitts, or Providence Island, all of which have English colonies, and land you there under flag of truce.” David waited for them to respond.

Scott and Marshall exchanged looks; Marshall gave Scott a slight nod. “You certainly have control of the mouth of the Suriname River,” said Scott. “I saw that you have emplaced cannon at your town, and of course you have ships of war, too. You can keep reinforcements and supplies from reaching us, and prevent us from selling our tobacco. And you are too strong for us to conquer.

“On the other hand, you wouldn’t find it easy to scour us out. Your colony isn’t too much larger than ours. We know the terrain better than you do. Your fluyts can’t go up our creek, and your yachts don’t throw enough weight of metal to successfully assault our fort. We don’t need supplies from the outside; we are self-sufficient. The Indians are friendly to us and would come to our aid if you attacked. So it looks like a stalemate to me,” Scott concluded.

“Only in the short-term,” said David. “Given time, we could bring in troops, land them and march up the creek. And if you huddled in the fort, we could burn your crops. That would be the end of your self-sufficiency. And I wouldn’t be too sure of your Indian alliance. The Indians will switch sides if they think you’re likely to lose anyway.”

Marshall took a sip of wine. “Have you been to Saint Kitts, Captain de Vries?” That was one of the Lesser Antilles, a crescent-shaped chain of the small Caribbean islands, stretching from Puerto Rico to Trinidad.

“Yes, I put in for water there on my last trip.”

“Are you familiar with the peculiar relationship there?”

“Indeed.” The island was settled by the English in 1623. But a few years later, they had allowed the French, under the command of the ex-privateer captain Pierre d’Esnambuc, to claim the ends of the island, while the English remained in control of the middle. They held the salt pans in the south in common, and they had agreed that they would not fight each other even if England and France were at war.

“Perhaps . . . perhaps we can do the same? Agree to neutrality between our colonies, regardless of what is happening in Europe?”

“It might not be in my power to conclude an absolute neutrality,” David warned. “We didn’t know you were here, so we don’t have specific instructions from the emperor of the USE.”

“But we could at least agree to remain neutral in the absence of a direct order from our sovereign, and, in the event of such an order, give notice of intent to dissolve our pact.”

David looked thoughtful. “It wouldn’t be easy for you to receive such an order, considering that we control your line of communication.”

“No, it wouldn’t. So the agreement will be more to your benefit than ours, but at least would save our honor.”

“I will think on it. While it is a tempting prospect—trade, and exchange of information, would be mutually beneficial, I think—the feelings of the Dutch of the colony run high. And we won’t always have warships in the river; there would be a fear that you would try to take advantage if they were absent.”

Maria moved her chair. The screech drew all eyes to her. “But gentlemen, there is another factor to consider. As a Dutch woman, I was of course appalled by the treacherous attack on our fleet. But I understand that the English in turn are still fired by the incident at Amboyna.”

“The massacre—” began Scott, but he desisted when Marshall gripped his shoulder.

“Still, in the long-term, they have a common enemy: the Spanish. The French, too. I think that upon more mature reflection, you will realize that your long-term interests lie with us. Us, meaning the USE and its allies.”

Marshall steepled his fingers. “How so?”

“I doubt very much that your king cares what happens to you. Because he has already given up North America to the French.”

“The French!”

“Yes, by the Treaty of Ostend, which we learned about shortly after the Battle of Dunkirk. Charles discovered that in the Grantville history books, some of the American colonies revolted successfully, and so he was willing to let them be Richelieu’s problem.”