Quarterdeck

enable you to rise above the limitations of your surroundings. That same observer could then say, in perfect truth, that those needs are now concluded. You have succeeded in all the accomplishments of gentility and the sea profession, so I am no longer needed.'

Kydd slammed down his glass. 'Stuff 'n' nonsense, Nicholas!' He saw Renzi's eyes glitter—it seemed it was costing him much to speak as he had.

'And I,' Renzi continued, with some difficulty, 'I have had my choice of wranglers in reason, the company of my peers in breeding, the sweets of society, but in cleaving to these it grieves me to recall how I have so shamelessly neglected our friendship—all for the sake of the evanescent. Is this then an end to our association? Logic is a stern mistress and pronounces that, with the extinction of need, we must necessarily part, go our own ways—'

'A pox on y'r damned logic!' Kydd said angrily. 'As a philosopher you're nothin' but a double-barrelled, copper- bottomed fool! Do ye think I don't still want you as a friend, share the laughs 'n' pains o' life, enjoy while we can? Raise up y'r glass, Nicholas, an' let's drink to friendship.'

Renzi lifted his head. A reluctant half-smile spread and he replied, 'I will—but this time it's a friendship of equals.'

Glasses clinked. When they had regained composure Kydd fumbled in his coat. 'Er, Nicholas, I'd value y'r opinion. Which o' these invitations do ye think we should accept?'

AUTHOR'S NOTE

A question I am often asked is how long does the research for each book take? That is a difficult thing to quantify because in some ways I suppose I have been unconsciously doing it all my life —during my time at sea absorbing the universals all mariners hold dear, and ingesting material from countless maritime books, both fiction and non-fiction, that I've been drawn to since a very early age.

The proportion of my time now devoted to research must come close to fifty per cent. But I have to say, it's an aspect of being a writer that I particularly enjoy.

Research for the Kydd series has provided an opportunity to go down many fascinating paths in search of some arcane fact or other—and this book has proved no exception. I found myself corresponding with Dr David Green at the USDA Forest Service about the specific gravity of swamp oaks; this enabled me to send Kydd on his night-time sabotage mission against the French frigate. A chance discovery of an old pilot book of Kydd's time in a Falmouth museum had me enquiring of the august Royal Institute of Navigation. One of their members, Dr Mark Breach, confirmed the antique rule-of-thumb about the moon's meridian that saved Kydd and his boat crew in the fog.

And while on the subject of chance, what were the odds of my coming across a signal book actually belonging to a lieutenant on the North American station at exactly the time when Kydd learns his craft as a signal lieutenant? Retired Paymaster Commander William Evershed generously extended a loan of the precious family relic for me to study.

Research has enriched my life in another way, too. It has made me many new friends who also are irresistibly drawn to the sea. Two, in particular, have a special connection with Quarterdeck. I first met ship modeller Robert Squarebriggs when I visited Canada's Maritime Provinces in 2002. He shared his love of the boreal wilderness, and I hope in this book that I have done justice to his infectious enthusiasm for his native land. Tyrone Martin is an erudite scholar of the dawn of US Navy history, and a former captain of Old Ironsides. His many insights into this fascinating period will again be invaluable when Kydd returns to North America, which he assuredly will.

I feel some degree of guilt in not being able to acknowledge everyone I consulted in the process of writing this book, but they all have my deep thanks. However I could not omit mentioning the three wonderfully professional women in my life—my wife (and creative partner) Kathy, my literary agent Carole Blake, and my editor Jackie Swift. Between them, they contrive to keep the hassles of the modern world at bay, allowing me to give full rein to my creative juices, ready for the next adventure . . .

Julian Stockwin was sent at the age of fourteen to TS Indefatigable, a tough sea- training school. He joined the British Navy at fifteen, transferred to the Australian Navy when his family emigrated there, and saw active service in Vietnam. He became a teacher and an educational psychologist. Later he was commissioned into the Royal Naval Reserve and was awarded the MBE. Retired from the RNR with the rank of Lieutenant Commander, he now lives in Devon, England. Visit him on the web at www.julianstockwin.com.

McBooks Press, Inc. Ithaca, New York

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PRAISE FOR JULIAN STOCKWIN'S KYDD SERIES

'Stockwin's richly detailed . . . portrait of life on ship and shore in Britain's oceanic empire is engrossing. He writes evocatively of shipboard routine, the panic and confusion of combat, and the terrifying approach of a storm at sea, and he knows how to stage enthralling action.'

—Publishers Weekly

'Likable Tom and his shipmates make a snug fit in that page-turning Forester and O'Brian tradition—thanks to retired Royal Navy author Stockwin.'

—Kirkus Reviews

'The vantage point of the common sailor gives the nautical novel a fresh twist. In Stockwin's hands . . . the sea story will continue to entrance readers across the world.'

—The Guardian

'I was soon turning over the pages almost indecently fast . . . Roll on, the promised adventures of Kydd and Renzi.'

—Independent

'The appeal of the story is in the telling, which is atmospheric, authentic and disclosed from the unusual perspective of the ordinary sailor working his way up the ranks . . . the author — had a long career in the Royal Navy, which adds to his prose that extra dash of salty realism.'

—Publishing News