'Leave her be!' thundered Christian. 'Let her alone there!'
The clear view of Christian's face wrung the guts in my stomach. His three quarter hat was black and proud, and his uniform perfectly preserved with spit polished gold buttons and a gleaming cutlass at his left side — he was very much the dignified Naval officer. His face however was far from admirable: wrapped entirely in bloodied bandage, he was mummy like, with only a horizontal slit at the eyes and the mouth free from cloth. 'I give the orders lad,” he said, his frame ballooning before me. 'Who are ye?' he yelled, then repeated with spittle flying and his fist pulverising a plate. 'Who are ye? I have sailed this ship round the seven seas, and here betwixt death and darkness I lead by example! With two working cannon and steadily decreasing crew, I have engaged and destroyed twelve Spanish and French man o’ war, beaten tempest after tempest and taken a scour to this ocean like no man before! All with no compass, no clock, no stars or charts to guide me! I am the only soul to survive an attack by the creature that pesters us at every turn — have the nightmares and face to prove it! So I say again lad — I ask again lad — who are ye, and what makes ye think to give Captain Fletcher Christian orders on his own ship? '
Any clear patches of bandaged white over Christian's face soaked red from the ravages underneath. My feet remained firm however, and my expression held its composed veneer; for I had something this crew desperately needed — I had hope, and leverage. 'Captain Christian,' I began, 'I am the only man who can save your damned fucking ship and the miserable sons a bitches in it. So you'll do two things for me and I'll do one for you. For me, tonight, you will spare the samurai's life and return our weapons — and for you, tomorrow, I will kill the Dreadknot!'
***
In the stagnant hold, Eddinray and Kat stared intently into the other. They were locked in deadly combat, a most serious battle of wills. Kat did not show any hint of weakness during their contest — there would be no blinking from him, no sign of life whatsoever. Eddinray however was not so focused, his eyes twitched once, then twice — teetering on the brink of failure. Bravely he held his stare another ten seconds before conceding the match, and Kat raised a very self-satisfied brow.
'All this haze!' protested Eddinray, blowing. 'Bloody immature game if you ask me!'
Interrupted, both looked at the opening door and John Hallet's appearance there. Without comment, the Midshipman hurried down the steps to free their hands and heels.
***
The captain's cabin was bursting with plunder. Portraits of glossy aristocrats decorated the walls; an oversized rug covered the floor, and another three where stacked against the corner. Golden goblets trickled around the bed and a hundred pieces of eight spread like Cleopatra over the sheets. Leaning against a grandiose oak cabinet, the tired captain had long lost his love for it. He poured himself a drink from the decanter, and assuming this red water was not wine, Harmony and I turned down his offer of a drink, even if it was from the finest crystal I'd ever seen. Not offended, Christian placed his goblet between the bandages at his mouth, and then drank.
'Are you in pain?' asked Harmony, soft and sincere.
'Constant,” he replied, after a satisfied swallow.
This sorrowful seaman intrigued me, an honourable man driven to mutiny, now sailing his mutilated self from something terrible.
'Have you ever seen the second death?' he grimaced, stretching his back with a creak. 'I have. I have seen souls leave their bodies and turn to maggots in oatmeal, shells at the bottom of the sea. That is what it means to die here, and I do not want that for my men…nor me. For all my endeavours this fate chases us still, it gains hard upon our heels and takes us one by one from the night. More and more I wonder, I sit in my cabin and ask myself — can God deliver us from this evil?'
'I could hear your confession?' offered Harmony. 'God will hear your prayers.'
The weary captain bent to peer out of his cabin window, the line between black sky and sea unclear. 'Confessions are for the guilty,” he said, breathing heavily. 'Every action I have taken, every choice made and order given has been for the unconditional welfare of my crew. For that angel, I am far removed from guilt.'
'But your methods have been questionable,' she stressed, 'and the path is now confused. You sail from evil captain, but you must recognise God before he can deliver you from it.'
Christian groaned and I could see, even through the layers of soiled bandages, that Harmony was testing the man's patience. 'Tell us more of the Dreadknot?' I asked him. 'When did it start its attack on your ship?'
Christian opened the window a crack and sucked in a salty breeze, as if needing courage before discussing the thing. 'It came from the waters,' he started; 'no more than six months ago. I was first to be seized by its talons. The lads came quick to my aid but could see nothing but strips of flesh being peeled from my face. It could have torn my head off if it wanted, could have put me out of my misery. Instead it took its taste then left me to heal — a meal to be savoured for another time.' His eye slits wandered over our stimulated features.
'Ever since that moment,' he continued, 'the Dreadknot has snatched any piece of man swabbing decks or watching the horizon. Its hunger grows insatiable — no longer satisfying its thirst with blood but taking its bread for all crust and bone, and ever bolder in the doing of it.'
Harmony frightfully jumped side me as a knock arrived on the cabin door. John Hallet opened it and showed in a confused looking Kat and Eddinray.
'All okay?' asked the knight, his greedy eye drawn to the loot. 'My moons and my stars! Did you get me some meat Harmony?'
'You don't want what they're eating Godwin.'
'That will be all Mr. Hallet,” said Christian, so obediently, the young Midshipman closed the door and left us to it.
The captain's macabre appearance startled our friends. Kat refused his peace offering drink, but Eddinray helped himself. 'About time too!' he said, snatching a goblet and filling it to the brim. 'I say, have you any peanuts?'
'Never have I seen the like,” muttered Christian, shaking his head as he slumbered to his cabinet for another pour, the decanter trembling in his grip as he filled the cup.
Eddinray joined Harmony and I on a lush sofa whilst Kat remained standing; the samurai was tetchy, missing a part of him he could not live without. 'Where are our weapons?' he asked the captain. 'My sword? Give it to me!'
Christian observed Kat, lacking the will to argue or even stand up straight. 'Your weapons will,' he exhaled, 'if I am impressed, be in your possession directly. Mr. Fox is it? You talk of killing my creature — tell me how ye free a captain of his burden?'
Kat and Eddinray looked suitably bemused, so my explanation would be to their benefit; but a revolted knight interrupted the mood by spitting his liquor to the rug. 'What vile fluid is this?' he baulked. 'My tongue rejects it!'
Harmony prudently shushed him, and I stood to address my unusual audience in this rocking pirate ship.
'The Dreadknot…are a race of reptiles found in the waters here and the Distinct Earth. Alien in origin, they are stalkers who snatch their prey from the shadows; they are smart, determined, and needless to say, extremely dangerous. You don't see these things coming, in-fact you don't see them at all. Dreadknots are, by all accounts, the perfect predator. They are killing machines and one appears to be using your ship as its feeding ground captain. It's got a taste of something it likes.'
Christian caressed a palm over his bleeding bandages as I concluded. 'It's no doubt watching the Bounty as we speak. Behind us, in front — who knows.'
The captain returned his eye to the window, scrutinizing the void of nothingness beyond. 'If ye can't see it,' he hissed, 'how do we kill it? How? Tell me
'Fire!' I answered. 'Fire, pure and simple…I have a plan.'
33. Enter The Dreadknot
Alone I stood, drenched on a deck dimpled by the downpour, wearing nothing but jeans. This was a hellish night; a ferocious wind howled through torn sails, and at the helm, thick rope knotted around the wheel to hold us on an unstable blaze over the ocean.
