routine.
The helmsman stood by the tiller bar, and beside him Jago was already on his feet. Grenville was moving briskly toward the boat, his face hidden, and it was then that Adam felt the full impact of what this moment must mean to him.
'Allow me, Sir John. 'He stepped over the gunwale and into the sternsheets, barely able to keep his balance. He saw the helmsman's surprise, and knew that the lieutenant had turned.
It was one of the navy's oldest customs. A captain always boarded any boat after every one else, and was the first to leave, so that he would never be unnecessarily delayed or inconvenienced.
He felt Jago reach out and steady him, and managed to grip his hand, and heard him mutter, 'Well spoken, Cap'n. 'He of all men would know what he had done, and the significance of his gesture.
Grenville was following now, and the lieutenant was stiffly at attention again.
For today, at this moment and with all honour, a captain was going out to his ship.
The launch pulled steadily and unhurriedly toward the spread of ships which lay across the main anchorage, oars rising and dipping like wings. Other boats going about their business were careful to keep clear, conscious of the passenger who wore a captain's bright epaulettes, or of the crest on either bow signifying the admiral's own authority.
Luke Jago gazed along the boat between the banks of oarsmen, all eyes astern, or watching the stroke. A smart enough crew, but how would they perform in open sea, in the teeth of half a gale? He looked away. It was force of habit. A ship will be judged by her boats. The hard way, or the easy way, the old Jacks always said. Or you'd feel the touch of a rope's end, just to jog your memory.
He saw a big two-decker, a seventy-four, anchored apart from all the others. Waiting to be hulked, or for the breaker's yard, mastless and stripped of rigging, gunports empty. He glanced at the captain's shoulders and saw his head turn, as if remembering Unrivalled when they had returned here. Those same stone stairs… He could almost hear some one saying, 'Never look back. 'But he had. He could still feel the pain.
Now another two-decker, in stark contrast, standing rigging freshly blacked-down, ensign and jack streaming in the offshore wind, and men working about her decks, some pausing to watch as the launch pulled abeam. A seaman by the entry port, and an officer training his telescope to make sure that his ship was not about to receive an important and possibly unwelcome visitor.
Breathe easy, matey! Jago saw the captain's hand shifting his sword away from his leg, unconsciously, his mind miles away, probably still in Cornwall with the woman he was going to wed. And no wonder. Or was he troubled by the speed of this new appointment? He had hardly uttered a word on the journey to Plymouth, even when they had stopped at some poxy inn for a piss and a glass of grog. More like a burial vault…
He almost smiled. The captain had felt it badly. Forgive my poor company, Luke. How could you turn on some one like that? Like the handshake as he had stepped, and as a result all but fallen, into this launch. Jago had seen them staring. He was still getting used to it himself, and to his own response. Just a little while ago, he would have said it was impossible to change. Bloody officers.
He saw the one called Grenville gesturing toward another ship.
'I served in her! Twelve, no, fifteen years back. I can't believe it! 'Jago saw him touch Bolitho's arm, and recalled that unexpected gesture when Grenville had been accorded the honour of taking precedence over the captain. It never made much sense to Jago, but he had seen what it had done for a man who seemed all-important anyway, an intimate of their lordships. But he had witnessed it, shared it, and thought he understood it. This was Grenville's real world. Like the rest of us. And he was going to lose it; and the captain knew, and he gave a damn.
Grenville gripped Adam's arm again.
'There she is! Larboard bow! Isn't she a beauty? 'There could have been just the two of them in the launch, Jago thought. 'They must have all worked watch-and-watch to have made her so!'
The lieutenant signalled to the helmsman and the tiller went over. Jago saw figures on the maindeck, some running, and a little group already assembled by the entry port. How low and sleek she looked after Athena… There were barges alongside, deep in the water, and carefully fendered away from Onward's new paintwork. Loaded with ballast which must have been removed when the new artillery had been hoisted aboard. Jago could remember all those other times: tackles, orders, backbreaking labour, the sweat and the curses. Poor old Jack!
Some of the gunports were open, black muzzles already visible. Onward was showing her teeth.
Impossible to guess what the captain was thinking now. A new ship. The proudest, and perhaps the loneliest, responsibility any man could grasp.
'Boat ahoy? 'They were still half a cable from the ship, but the challenge was clear enough.
The helmsman looked over at Jago. 'Yours, 'Swain!'
Jago cupped his hands and shouted, 'Onward!'
Adam saw the long bowsprit and tapering jib-boom sweep directly above their heads, and the figurehead, perfectly fashioned, a naked youth with one outstretched arm across a leaping dolphin, his other hand gripping a trident. A beautiful work of art. He felt a sudden sense of disloyalty, Unrivalled's figurehead clear in his mind.
'Bows! 'Oars scraping across the thwarts, the bowmen on their feet, a boathook poised and ready.
Onward's side loomed over the narrowing strip of lively water. 'Oars, up!'
Twin lines of blades, water running down over the seamen's arms and legs. The moment they all hated. A tot of rum would put things right with them.
Adam got to his feet as the hull lurched against fenders; two sideboys were already in position to ease the initial impact. He had never forgotten the story of the captain who had been tipped overboard when joining his first ship. It was probably true.
Grenville had remained seated but was looking up, studying him.
Adam reached for the hand-ropes and saw the entry port. He was shivering, but it was not the coldness of wind or sea. This was no time for doubt, or to lose your nerve. Like hearing his uncle's voice, recalling all those other ships. Remember this.
They will be far more worried about their new captain.
He took a deep breath and stepped clear of the launch, and on to the stairs that mounted the tumblehome. It seemed no distance at all after Athena.
The bark of commands and the piercing shrill of boatswain's calls, and he felt his feet on the deck, careful to avoid the piles of cordage that awaited stowing as he faced aft, touching his hat. The ship seemed to rise up and around him, standing rigging like black glass, loosely brailed canvas stirring in the wind as if Onward were about to get under way.
Seamen and a few Royal Marines at attention, facing the entry port. Beyond them, groups of riggers and dockyard workers standing amidst the litter and disorder of their efforts.
A lieutenant had stepped forward, his hat in his hand.
'Welcome aboard, sir. I'm Vincent, sir. I am the senior here.'
The first contact: some said the most important.
An alert, intelligent face, younger than he had expected. Or was he still seeing the stolid and remote Stirling, Athena's first lieutenant? 'Thank you, Mr. Vincent. 'He looked along the deck. 'Most people will be thinking I could have chosen a more convenient time!'
Vincent responded with a firm handshake, and the suggestion of a smile. Brown eyes, as dark as Adam's own.
What was going through his mind? Rumours or reputation? Maybe he was making comparisons with the man who had died.
He stood aside as Grenville came through the port, hooded eyes everywhere.
'Sir John has told me you've all worked with a will since the ship commissioned. She does you credit.'
Vincent said, 'We could not have done it without your support, Sir John.'
Plain, almost matter of fact, as Grenville would appreciate.
Another boat was coming alongside, and a harassed-looking seaman called, 'For you, Sir John! 'But his eyes were on the new captain.
Grenville said curtly, 'I was expecting it, although I might have wished for better timing! 'He strode back to the entry port, and Adam saw a lieutenant hovering with a heavily sealed package. He noted the twist of gold lace and thought of Troubridge. This must be the admiral's flag lieutenant.
