The Blinding Knife(232)

Then, when things settled down, Kip told his father the whole story of the assassination attempt as they sped across the waves. This skimmer was modified to enclose the front, so the wind didn’t obliterate their conversations.

“This… this is different than the skimmer before,” Kip said. “Didn’t you just make this up a little while ago?”

Gavin shrugged. “War always moves forward, and if you’re not at the leading edge of what’s possible, you might not live long enough to regret it.”

They saw many ships, but didn’t close with any of them until after noon. Gavin stopped, motioning to Ironfist to do the same, and peered at the horizon. He brought out a large glass binocle, which was odd. The last time he’d needed to see into the distance, he’d simply drafted disks of perfect blue luxin. Maybe the clarity of this glass was better.

“It’s flying their flag,” Gavin said. “Broken chains on a black background.” He handed the binocle to Ironfist.

Ironfist was quiet. “That isn’t just a big ship,” he said.

“It’s a great ship,” Gavin said.

“I can’t even count how many guns it has. They’re not just on one deck,” Commander Ironfist said.

Gavin said, “Forty-three heavy guns, one hundred and forty-one light guns, fifty-two paces long, holds up to seven hundred men.”

“Are you joking?” Commander Ironfist asked. “You couldn’t possibly have counted…”

“It’s Pash Vecchio’s flagship,” Gavin said. “If he’s brought his flagship here, he’s thrown in with the Color Prince. He wouldn’t have hired out that ship.”

Kip understood that this was Not Good. “Pash Vecchio?” he asked.

“The pirate king,” Commander Ironfist said.

“One of four,” Gavin said. As if that made it less impressive.

“The most powerful of the four,” Commander Ironfist said dryly.

“Could have sworn that ship was going down the last time,” Gavin said.

“You’ve fought Pash Vecchio before?” Kip asked.

“No. I killed the previous owner of that ship and set it on fire. He was a pirate king, too,” Gavin said pointedly. “Good news: we won’t be killing innocents.”

“Great,” Kip said, trying to muster some enthusiasm. “Did you say one hundred and eighty-four guns?”

“Relax, there’s only eighteen on the stern,” Gavin said.

Comforting.

“What do you think they’re bringing?” Ironfist asked.

“Guns, or men, or just coming to blockade our ships from getting into Ruic Bay. Regardless, big obstacle. Needs removing.”

“You always did love a simple impossible challenge, didn’t you?” Ironfist said. He didn’t sound like he thought he had a chance of dissuading Gavin.

Which, Kip knew, he didn’t.

“Why do you think I let you bring so many Blackguards?” Gavin asked.

“Thought that was too easy,” Ironfist grumbled.

Gavin turned to the Blackguards. “Ready to see what you can do?” he asked.

He got grins in return. The Blackguards were like children with a new toy.

“I should have given you more time to train with the… what are we calling them, Commander?” Gavin asked.

“Sea chariots.”

Gavin nodded acquiescence. “Lots of guns, and let’s guess that there’ll be drafters on board, maybe numerous. Maybe wights. They’ll have tricks you’ve never seen. Expect the guns to be loaded already, though we may get lucky with how fast we’ll be on top of them. Staggered approach, try to cut their lines and set fire to the sails early. We circle sunwise so we don’t have collisions. Sinking the great ship is the primary target. If any other ships join the fight, they’re targets of opportunity, not worth dying for. Speed is your best defense, but expect to miss your first few shots. It’s hard to adjust your aim to this much speed at first. You figure it out. If you slow too much, you’ve given away your advantage and you’ve become one drafter against a ship full of musketeers for all we know. There are blindages on every deck, so until those are set afire or removed, don’t expect to toss grenadoes up top and have much effect. Four crow’s nests big enough to hold multiple archers or drafters. Eight large guns pointed to stern, including two that can aim down far enough to hit close targets. Ten smaller gunport doors that won’t open until they’re ready to fire. Oh, and her name’s the Gargantua. Questions?”

“Where and when do we regroup?” a skinny woman with hard eyes and dreadlocks asked.