A King`s Trade

gold medals!-given to those in the van of the snake-bent line of battle; or, as some spitefully suspected, omitting the names of people with whom he'd served in the past, and still disliked!

Adm. Duncan at Camperdown, Adm. Jervis at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, certainly Adm. Nelson at the Nile, made sure that all captains were cited for their efforts, for all the world to see in the Gazette and the Marine Chronicle, but, evidently, Sir Roger Curtis, Baronet, still had no truck with the newfangled idea of 'We Few, We Happy Few, We Band of Brothers'!

Treghues is fucked, Lewrie told himself; poor, desperate bastard.

'Ye say your ship was damaged aft, Captain Lewrie?'

'Our rudder was nigh shot off, sir, aye,' Lewrie replied. 'Four guns dismounted, two with divots the size of dinner plates shot out of them, and I'm leery of firing full charges from them in future. I have six dead and thirteen wounded, as well, with three of those not long for this world, or so my Surgeon informs me, sir.'

Lewrie unconsciously fingered the St. Vincent and Camperdown medals that hung round his neck for this full- dress interview, as if to reassure himself, and the Flag-Captain, that he had done much better in the past, and that the French ambush had been a rare fluke.

'You may enquire of our stores ship for replacement timber with which to mend, or replace, your rudder, Captain Lewrie,' the man off-handedly allowed. 'As to guns, there may be some captured Dutch twelve-pounders with the local Prize-Court. The Court's warehouses may also hold bosuns' stores from prizes taken by the ships of this station in past,' he concluded with a preening smile.

What bloody prices? Lewrie sourly thought; Don't tell me that Elphinstone's are still here, five years later.

In '95, Sir George Keith Elphinstone had led a squadron to the Cape; three 74s, two older 64s, and a pair of 16 -gunned Sloops of War, along with transports carrying the 78th Regiment of Foot to take over the Dutch colony, which he had done, right handily. Now, the squadron assigned here was little larger- minus the transports-with older and lighter frigates replacing the Sloops of War, a force not much bigger than Treghues's escort force! Table Bay, treacherous as it could be, was huge, but fairly empty, at present, and once the East India trade sailed onwards, it would be even emptier. For the moment, there were only a pair of 74s, a lone 64, and one old 28-gun Sixth Rate at anchor, besides the stores ship. And… crippled HMS Proteus.

And, neither Cape Town nor Simon's Town on the other side of the peninsula owned a graving dock or dry dock, where serious repairs could be made. What had the Dutch done before we got here? Lewrie had to wonder.

'I must own surprise, sir, that such an important station, bestride one of our most vital trade routes, does not have an official dockyard establishment,' Lewrie stated. That seemed safer than asking what prizes the Cape Squadron had managed to reel in.

'One'd think so, wouldn't one,' the Flag-Captain breezily answered, 'but, there is a war on, and the Cape is rather far removed from major French naval ports such as Rochefort, Brest, or Toulon. With the Dutch, French, and Spanish round- the-Cape trade nigh-completely ended, and the much smaller neutral countries' trade so lightly-armed, there is no real threat to Crown interests. Gad, can you imagine the Americans, or the Roosians, coming in on the French side, then mounting expeditions to come here, ha ha?'

'Though the French do hold Mauritius and the Seychelles with a strong force of lighter ships, sir,' Lewrie carefully pointed out; he would get no help if he irritated the local squadron. 'And, wasn't it a rather firm rumour that they have also fortified the old pirate hole on the northern tip of Madagascar? Fort de France on Mauritius is, so I was told, as large and nigh-impregnable as any of their home ports.'

'But rather far from here, sir,' the Flag-Captain replied, with a bit less casualness, as if awaiting criticism.

But, ain't that what warships are for? Lewrie cynically thought; Go play silly buggers thousands of miles away, t'keep you awake nights?

'I also must own that neither I, nor Captain Treghues, had warning of the French operating on this side of the Cape of Good Hope, sir,' Lewrie added, keeping his face serious, perhaps play-acting perplexity, so the Flag-Captain wouldn't take affront and kick him in the 'nutmegs.' 'Is this something new since we left England, sir? I thought their best hunting grounds would be 'twixt Ceylon and here, not in the Atlantic.'

'Well, despite the tight blockade of the French home ports, some re-enforcements do slip through the net,' the Flag-Captain dismissively-and rather grumpily-answered. 'And, though Fort de France on Mauritius has its own dockyard facilities, there are times when ships have need of serious repair… such as is your case, hmm?' he added with a prissy sarcasm. 'And, they must sail for France, or replacing warships and privateers must sail out to Mauritius. In the face of a strong Royal Navy presence, it would only make sense for them to sail together, rather than risk a 'singleton.' Sir Roger and I are of an opinion that what your Captain Treghues encountered the other night was such a mutually-protective group, on its way to France, that ran across you all by accident, and could not resist the opportunity to sail home with some additional prizes, d'ye see, sir.'

'Well…' Lewrie began to say, deeming that wishful thinking.

'We've three frigates at sea, this instant, sir, hunting just that sort of movement,' the Flag-Captain insisted. 'In your case, it was a fluke. Treghues still retains a strong escort force, so I doubt he'll have another encounter like that in the Indian Ocean, more's the pity for his aspirations to glory, what? And, by the time he is back, you might be repaired and ready to re-join his command.'

'But, that'd be months, sir!' Lewrie protested. 'With no yard, and no replacement timber…!'

'No more than six to eight weeks, most-like,' the Flag-Captain said with a shrug, doing nothing to reassure him. 'Our esteemed 'John Company' convoy service is now a monthly business. Put in a request to the yards at Bombay, and you could have a spanking-new rudder shipped here for installation. Request goes with the India-half of Treghues's trade, the rudder arrives… sooner or later.' To make things worse, the senior officer added, with what felt like a malicious little grin, 'Assuming that there would be a homebound Indiaman who'd break their passage at the Cape. They usually don't, even the trades out-bound from China.' Evidently, Lewrie had rankled the man, even with a pose of innocent perplexity plastered on.

'Dear Lord,' he breathed, his shoulders slumping.

'For the nonce, allow me to advert to you the services of the local Dutch chandlers, sir,' the Flag-Captain cheerfully blathered on, making it sound as if he'd gladly foist all responsibility for repairs and stores well-wide of the Cape Station's limited funds, and place it all squarely on Lewrie, and his purse. 'Have you been ashore, yet?'

'Only briefly, sir,' Lewrie said. 'Funeral arrangements.'

'They're most capable, and passably well-stocked. From the very first days of Dutch settlement, they've brought in farmers, servants, and slaves from their Far East colonies. 'Tis an 'all-nations,' like a dram shop, ha ha!' the Flag-Captain chuckled. 'Javanese, Sumatrans, Malays, Hindoos, Lascars, even Chinamen. Some of whom are fishermen, boatmen, and pearl and oyster divers, d'ye see, sir? The local Dutch myhneers could put you in the way of some who could survey the damage to your ship, do the preparatory work for you, without need to careen your ship on some beach, what?'

'Well, that's a grand idea, sir!' Lewrie said, perking up considerably. 'I'll, ah… take no more of your busy time, then, sir.'

'Anything needful, send word, once you conduct your initial survey, and we'll see what we might possibly do for you, Captain Lewrie.'

'Shore liberty for my people, sir?' Lewrie off-handedly asked, hoping that the Cape Squadron had not yet gotten word of what had happened on St. Helena.

'Within reason,' was the Flag-Captain's reply. ' Cape Province is the Land of The Lotus Eaters, so be wary of allowing your tars any freedom beyond the immediate town environs. 'Tis all too possible for a man to live well off