Chapter 17

Grant tried to move the meeting forward, but eventually everyone came to the opinion that the British had to be dealt with before anything else mattered. They also felt that getting to Charleston was the crucial first step in that task. In lieu of that, the decision concerning clothing was tabled, though Bea did purchase a lot of material and sewing notions. The house slaves were purchased from her brother and were getting set up to travel on the Amanda Dear. They were fearful, at first, because of the connotation of a slave ship, but the presence of their beloved Bea quickly helped to calm them.

The next morning they found that gathering a crew for the Amanda Dear was much more difficult than they had imagined. Beau was well liked, but it was no longer his boat and no one knew anything about this new Captain, or his funny talking First Mate. The task got more complicated when a brigantine merchant ship came into the harbor with rumors of a sea monster off the coast at Wilmington.

Five men did finally come forward, but Bea rejected three of them. They were unmarried and had a reputation for drinking and bullying. Two young teens came seeking their first adventure on the sea, but Al thought that they would hinder more than help considering his already understaffed and mismatched crew. It was finally decided two slightly understaffed and untrained crews were the best option; especially if the two boats sailed together.

To facilitate this, Jerry Allen rigged up a small solar charging unit for the Amanda Dear and gave each boat two small walkie-talkies. With a range of five to ten miles, they should help the two ships from getting separated, as well as allow them to support each other if problems occurred. Weapons and ammunition were also brought on board. Those on the Amanda Dear was locked away in the Captain’s cabin.

Ben had left on the morning stage for Philadelphia, and Grant learned Samuel Card was still determined to be a bond servant. When Grant finally agreed Sam sent word to his wife, Mary, for her and their children to join him, as well as his brother. When his brother didn’t want to leave New Bern Sam gave him the horse, hack and gear.

Mary, on the other hand, sensed a change in Sam that pleased her greatly. She didn’t understand how he hurt his hand, but he almost seemed a different person ... a better person. Grant sent several of their crew to the small house Sam rented and used a rented wagon to bring all that Mary wanted to bring. The load took up less than half the wagon, so Bea had the remainder filled with good used clothing purchased from several friends of her parents.

During, the various discussions, Grant learned Bea married several steps below the class maintained by her parents. She was happy with Beau, but she was disowned and had not seen her parents from the day she married until the day they were buried. Of course, since she was not the oldest child, as well as a female, she would not have inherited much, anyway.

By early afternoon Al and Victor felt they were in good enough shape to catch the slack tide and get past the barrier islands before dark. Grant talked to Jerry and Mike, and it was decided they would take The Stiletto out first and then lay off shore until the two Schooners were actually in the Atlantic, heading south. Once all there were safely at sea Mike was to make a fast trip home, pick up more supplies and meet them part way. On the second trip home Grant would take a lot of the non-essential uptimers with him. He would still arrive home much sooner than they had originally calculated, as those plans called for him to use the stage.

An hour before sundown the three ships had successfully maneuvered through the Ocracoke Inlet and the two Schooners headed along the coastline to anchor off Beaufort Inlet. Victor’s Secret was leading the pair, as it had both radar and sonar to help keep the two out of trouble.

The Stiletto, on the other hand, moved further off shore to minimize the chance of them being spotted. That situation changed when two ships were picked up on radar, and the tracking device showed that one of them was the Deal Castle.

“Stiletto to Secret, come in Secret.”

“Secret here,” answered one of the midshipmen.

“Need to talk to Grant.”

“Wait one.”

“Grant.”

“Tracking signal says Deal Castle three hours sailing time from originally designated point. Radar shows another ship in same area. Request permission to change plan and let Sea Monster deal with frigate after making a couple of high speed passes on the other ship.”

“Permission Granted. You’re the man.”

“Aye aye, Skipper”

The Stiletto cut all outside lights and closed the covers over the windshield. Mike lowered the craft’s waterline and positioned the boat just over the horizon from the approaching British vessels. He raised the mast until he had both ships in sight. The larger craft was at least a Fourth Rate and the way she was leaning with the wind she must have been using every sail she had. She was in a very definite hurry to be somewhere. The frigate was easily keeping up as she was both newer and faster than the much larger ship.

As soon as the Deal Castle was in range Jerry did a high speed data dump and started scanning though the tape for pertinent information. The biggest news he discovered was that the Fourth Rate was a messenger ship from the approaching fleet. His job was to move all British ships away from the middle Colonies’ ports.

The King, himself, had designed the invasion plans which were to have Admiral Jacobs blockade the North Carolina ports of Wilmington and Beaufort, destroying any forts and gun installations that would hinder the invasion. The Deal Castle was no longer going to New Bern for provisioning, but would instead seal the Neuse River. More than 30 ships of the line plus numerous frigates and smaller ships were going to close off the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay, cutting off all the Virginian ports, as well as the port of Baltimore. According to the conversation between the Captain of the Deal Castle and his First Officer captured on the recording, once the ports were secure the troops would quickly move ashore in North Carolina and Virginia, subdue any militia, and begin a systematic round up of all the current colonists and their slaves. The slaves would be placed in guarded compounds, the men and boys were to be found guilty of treason and shot. Their land would be confiscated and the women and female children would be herded onto the troop ships and taken to St. Augustine, where they would be sold to the Spanish to be shipped to various Spanish Ports to be used as pleasure slaves in various houses of prostitution.

This action would cut the colonies in half and make it easier to overrun the remaining colonies, where ultimately, the same action would occur. New settlers, who were unquestionably politically loyal to the King, were already on ships headed for the new world. This information had to go to Grant immediately.

“Stiletto to Secret. Come in Secret.”

“This is Secret, go ahead Stiletto.”

“Need Grant and Victor immediately.”

Picking up on the unusual tone in Jerry’s voice, both men rushed to the radio and closed the door,

“We’re both here Jerry. Go ahead.”

”Before taking action I downloaded tape from the Captain’s cabin and scanned it for anything important. The larger ship is doing courier duty and assigning tasks to several of His Majesty’s ships. The two ships met earlier today and I’ve got much of the Kings plan on tape. In addition, I think, from the way the two men talked, maps and written orders involving the invasion are stored in the courier Captain’s cabin. We delayed action until we could discuss this with the two of you.”

“Good job, Chief,” praised Grant. “I’m assuming you have a plan?”

“Yes, Sir, I do. I want to place a SEAL team close to the stern of the Fourth Rate and then do our games with them and the frigate as a distraction. Once the Team has the information we blow the frigate to bits and blow a hole in the larger ship and make them abandon ship. The survivors will be able to tell of the devastating power of the red eyed sea monster.”

“I see no flaw in your plan Chief,” said Grant.

“Neither do I,” said Victor. “But the problem is your SEALs are all on these two ships, and I don’t think we should let the downtimers see the Stiletto at this point.”

“Sir, I also think Grant should lead the assault doing his ninja thing. My thought was to put them in a small boat and we could pick them up a few minutes later.”

“Chief, if you don’t show up, do you have any idea what Beth and Sabrina would do to you?”

Jerry laughed, and said, “Sir, my imagination does not stretch that far.”

“We’ll radio you when we’re ready to leave.”

“Ninja thing?” asked Admiral Gains.

“Something I studied a bit in California.”

“How long is a bit?”

“All told, almost twenty-one years. I started before I was four.”

“Son, you’re full of surprises.”

“I hope, before tonight’s over, I’ll have a few more. Can you get the team together, and I need to see the Myers couple?”

Grant went to his cabin and found Teng and Su Lin laying out his outfit.

“I told Kwan that he wasn’t well enough, nor fluent enough in English to go on this raid,” advised Teng. “Do you need my help?”

“I think I’ve got everything I need, especially if the Myers come through with what I asked.”

“Then, we’ll help you prepare.”

Su Lin carefully removed the two swords from their traveling sheath and used the accompanying stone to make sure the edges were at their peak of sharpness. She then rubbed a fine coat of oil onto the blades to protect them from the salt air. While she was working with the swords Grant adjusted his Kevlar tunic and put on his gi. Teng helped him get his katana in the proper spot behind his back and over his right shoulder, while the wakizashi was placed in the sash at his waist. The third drawer of the beautifully decorated chest was opened and several objects were removed including climbing spikes and gloves, several small ropes and a collapsible treble hook, and six razor sharp shuriken throwing stars. As Teng helped Grant place the items in their proper place there was a knock at the door, which was opened by Su Lin.

Ed Myers entered with a small medicine bottle of powder, and said, “I have good news and bad news. The good news as we’ve got something that works as requested. The bad news is that it doesn’t work well with the snuff and the person is out in seconds, not five minutes.”

“For this purpose, that’s perfect. Su Lin, can you put some of this powder in several drinking straws.”

“Seal both ends?”

“Yes, but with a very thin seal.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Su Lin!”

“We’ve no time Master. We’ll talk later.”

Grant started to walk out of the room and Teng said, “Master, don’t forget your Glock.”

The two tried to get the shoulder holster to work with the gi, but it was just too restrictive. Teng left and returned a moment later with a clip on holster that could be fastened to the belt of the gi behind Grant’s back. Several magazines were added to one of the inner pockets of the gi. Su Lin returned with the straws, which Grant placed in another of the inner pockets. Teng wrapped the face and added some night face paint. When he finished, the couple looked Grant over one more time and pronounced him ready for battle.

Grant entered the main cabin, and found Zeke Adams and the other three Seals also ready to go. Zeke handed Grant an earpiece and he was still getting it in place when the 5 were helped into the small dingy. It was now close to eight and the sun had been down for an hour and a half. As soon as they let go of the schooner the current started moving them in a northerly direction. From its swiftness they were likely in the Gulf Stream.

Within a few minutes, the two sailboats were out of sight. Suddenly the dingy bumped into something and strong hands helped pull them onto a larger surface. Someone whispered, “Turn on the beacon and drop the anchor. We’ll come back to it when the mission is over.”

Instead of going below, they were guided to the Zodiac. It was a job, but they managed to get everyone but Zeke and Grant hanging off the side. After all, it was only a three man craft. While this was going on The Stiletto was overtaking the Fourth Rate.

In fifteen minutes the Zodiac was attached to the fantail of the boat. Two of the SEALs from Secret were to place four charges on the boat; two on each side of the fantail and two in the middle. While they were doing that Grant rapidly moved up the rear of the boat.

When he reached the Captain’s Quarters the windows were open, and he could hear someone lightly snoring. He used a small Maglite to quickly scan the room, and found the snoring person laying right beneath him. There was a bottle of wine sitting cockeyed in the man’s lap. Grant utilized one of the straws and blew the powder into the man’s face. There was no response from the man.

Satisfied the Captain was now doubly out of it, Grant radioed the situation to everyone and climbed into the room. Once inside he used the Maglite to look around. Finally, in a leather case hanging behind a chair, Grant found everything they needed. He stuffed some other charts and papers into the case and returned to the window. He flashed the Maglite twice and lowered the information to Zeke who was waiting below. When Zeke acknowledged he had possession Grant used a double loop around the center brace and rappelled to the waiting Zodiac. Once on board he pulled one end of the rope until it came around the brace and fell into his hands. The line tying the Zodiac to the British ship was released and the Fourth Rate rapidly pulled away from the black inflated craft carrying five specters of death. Ten minutes later, they were back at The Stiletto. The Zodiac was stored in its locker and the men went through the top hatch to the interior of the boat.

Grant handed the stolen documents to Jerry, and said, “Now, we can take care of these two ships”

Mike brought The Stiletto to a point several miles in front of the two approaching British ships. When they were in sight the red interior lights were turned on and the windshield cover was raised. The magnified view from the TV camera showed their appearance had really stirred the men on the main deck. Mike made a high speed run on a course then ran within a mile of both boats. Guns were being manned, but the Stiletto was out of range. Mike circled around again before holding steady and keeping the monster’s ‘eyes’ on the two ships.

The Fourth Rate pulled slightly in front of the frigate, and suddenly the monster moved forward at an incredibly rapid rate of speed. Fifty yards from the Deal Castle the explosive charges were detonated. At thirty yards the secondary explosion of the powder magazine completely blew the ship out of the water. At that point Mike did something risky, but it was good showmanship. He went right through the open area in the midst of the debris. To the sailors on the larger ship the monster had just gone straight through the frigate. Mike turned The Stiletto back toward the Fourth Rate and made a high speed run near the rear of the ship and set off the charges while he passed within thirty yards. When they looked back at the ship the fantail, including the Captain’s cabin, was gone and long boats were rapidly being lowered into the water. The men that abandoned the ship weren’t sure if they would be attacked and eaten while trying to escape the sinking craft.

“Well, that should solidify the story of the red eyed sea monster,” commented a very pleased Jerry.

Grant replied, “Yes, but Mike, please don’t pull a stunt like that again.”

“Sorry, Skipper.”

“Don’t be sorry, because it’ll drastically increase the stories that will be told. It’s just that it needs to be a one-time deal. This boat is all that we have to stop the King from keeping this nation from being conceived as well as killing several hundred thousand men and boys.”

“I won’t take a chance like that again, Skipper.”

“Good. Now let’s get on to other things. Mike, please take us to the dingy. As soon as we can get back to Secret I want you to haul ass home.”

“Aye aye, Skipper.”

“Jerry, I need you to have several copies made of what we removed from that ship tonight, as well as copies of the tape between the two Captains.”

“The copies won’t be difficult, but tape recordings might. What about a CD or MP3 player?”

“That would work. In addition to this and the supplies we discussed for the two schooners, I need a minimum of fifteen downtimers who are used to Indian fighting and have been taught how to use uptime weapons. Ideally, I’d like at least three snipers in addition to the fifteen. I need four sniper rifles and supplies as well as one of the treasure chests.”

“I assume you want weapons and ammunition also.”

“Definitely. Just picture what I may need to start a guerrilla war and you’re my supply base. Then as soon as you return we need to head to Virginia and then to Philadelphia and Boston.

“Are you going to try to stop the British before they land?”

“No, but I want to move people like Jefferson, Washington and Madison to safety. I plan to rescue the people after the British have started rounding them up and telling them what’s going to happen to them. The other Colonists may not believe us or those orders, but they’ll believe what those we rescue will be saying. Where I want to stop the British is in the North and the South, since those attacks are not scheduled to start for at least two weeks after those in the middle Colonies.”

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Winds of Change

Mike Lowe aka The Scot

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