Winds of Change
Copyright© 2011 by R. Michael Lowe aka The Scot
Chapter 25
“And what do you call your territorial waters,” asked the senior military Captain.
“Two hundred miles.”
“Two hundred miles!” exclaimed the Captain. “How can you enforce such a rule?”
“Barbara, would you ask Ensign Young to relay the radar display to the monitor in here?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“You have women in your forces?”
“Yes, but Barbara and Sophie, the doctor, are here as advisers.”
“The monitor came on and it showed the twenty ships close by. It also showed several more ships to the east.”
“Gentlemen, each of those dots represents one of your ships. The range on this is currently set at two hundred and fifty miles. Because of that range we can know anytime a ship crosses our territory. We let you get closer because we had not publicized the limit.”
“What are those dots at the far edge?”
“Additional ships headed our way.”
“And how long would it take this ship to reach them?”
“In calm water like this, it would take us around two hours. Our top speed is greater than ninety knots.”
“Holy Jesus!” exclaimed one of the Captains. “I’m delighted when I can make twelve.”
Grant added, “Captain, in my time, we had planes that could travel through the air at such speeds that it could go from here to London in less than two hours. And no, none of those made the time jump with us.”
“And your people had the ability to travel in time?”
“No, we’re not sure who sent us here. For all I know, it was God the Father himself.”
“So you are all Christians?”
“Most are in varying degrees, while others are free to worship, or not worship, pretty much as they choose. Among our people we’ve black, white, yellow and red. We also have Jews, and various Asian religions.
“Su Lin,” Grant said loudly.
“Yes, Sir,” she said as she entered the room.
“I know it’s not any of my business, but for the sake of these gentlemen, what church do you attend?
Su Lin giggled, and said, “We’re Baptist.”
“Thank you, Su Lin.”
“Is she one of your servants?”
“Actually, she was one of the three black ghosts that Lord Sandhurst spoke about.”
“That little thing?”
“That little girl could kill every one of you with her bare hands in less time than it would take for you to all get back to our main deck.”
One of the Mates stood, and said, “Captain, I’m not calling you a liar, but I can’t believe she could take me in a fight.”
Without being called, Su Lin stepped back into the room, stopped in front of the man, and said, “Go ahead and hit me. I’ll try not to damage anything permanently, but there’s not a lot of room here.”
The man, who must have been a foot taller and more than a hundred pounds heavier, threw a round house punch that would’ve figuratively taken the head off a man in a bar fight. Su Lin stepped into the swing and used a Karate knife-hand strike to hit him in his solar plexus. The man folded like a cheap suit.
“She sure convinced me,” said the Mate’s Captain. “I’ve seen Jake knock plenty of men down with that punch, and I couldn’t even see her hit him.”
“Gentlemen, as you can see, we’ve more visitors coming, so I need to have some answers.”
“I’m for going on to Charleston. I can’t afford to make a return trip with what I have on board and I’m inclined to believe this man will treat us fair. With his weapons, he didn’t even have to give us a choice!”
“I agree,” stated another.
A third Captain asked, “Captain, what if we want to use Charleston as a home port”
“As long as you weren’t trafficking in slaves, you would be welcome. And we’ve much more harbor area than we’ve had in the past. Whoever sent us here opened up the area between the Santee River and Georgetown and used that land to create a new barrier island which shelters the harbor from many of the storms that hit our coast.”
The Captain of one of the troop ships asked, “Since you are claiming us and the men on board as prisoners. What will happen to us?”
“Captain, since you and your men have never lifted a finger to hurt us, you will be treated reasonably well. The men will help us clear away the rubble left by your fellow soldiers, as well as helping to rebuild the destroyed city and many of the plantation houses. We’ll be building new roads and other things that will help the community. While doing that, you will be fed, clothed, sheltered and paid a small wage that can be used to purchase personal items. When this war is over your men can return to England or stay here and start families.”
Lord Sandhurst stood and saluted Grant, saying, “Captain, after what has been done to your people, I’m honored to salute and show respect to such a fair man.”
“Thank you, but you didn’t hear the other side of me. Those that did bear arms against these innocent people will not receive near the same offer.”
“Nor would I expect them to,” answered Admrial Lord Sandhurst.
Grant looked up at the radar. The ships were still a hundred and twenty five miles away. He pondered the situation and decided.
He hit the intercom, and said, “Zeke, I need to see you, Issac, Su Lin, Teng and Kwan in the general mess.”
“Aye aye, Skipper.”
Moments later the ones requested entered the room.
“Zeke, we need to break out all three small boats. I want you to lead a team to each of the warships and spike their cannon and have all other weapons moved to the powder room. Then, I need you to rig a charge to blow if anyone but us opens the door.”
“Not a problem, Sir.”
Grant turned to the troopship commanders, and asked, “How much powder does each of you carry?”
“I think it’s probably fifty ten pound barrels,” answered one of the men.
“Isaac, I want you to lead some of your men to the troopships and make sure that all weapons are unloaded and locked away. Then load the powder on the small boat and bring it back here for storage. Zeke will provide someone to actually run the boat for you.”
Isaac grinned, as he answered, “Aye aye, Skipper.”
Teng, can you handle the Zodiac?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Then take Su Lin, Kwan and four of our downtimers and check out each of the cargo ships for anything that you think might be a danger to us or our people. Everyone uses earpieces and stays in touch. We’ve got a little over three hours to get this done and get these ships started south.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Captains, return to your ships and get things started, and warn your people that if one person causes trouble, I’m likely to blow all of you out of the water.”
Grant led the men out onto the main deck and several of the crew helped the men into their waiting boats. He was happy that all were off his boat, well all but two. When Grant returned, he verified the British Admiral had been returned to the Brig.
Feeling uneasy, Grant suddenly bolted to the brig, followed by several others. There they found Lord Greenway trying to choke Lord Sandhurst. “Separate them,” Grant ordered, “and get Lord Sandhurst to sickbay. I don’t want them even in adjoining cells, as that one feels our Admiral here is a traitor because he told the truth. Remember, Lord Sandhurst was following the Kings orders, while that Asshole was involved in writing those orders. So if in doubt, Lord Sandhurst is to be treated as my guest, while Lord Greenway will stand trial and likely hang.”
As the men obeyed his orders Grant returned to the control room and picked up the radio. He said, “Broadsword, to Rapier”
“Go head, Grant”
“How did your engagement go?”
“She left me at the alter,” replied Al Rogers.
Grant had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. When things got under control, he said, “I was talking about your meeting with enemy ships.”
“Oh, okay. There were three warships, three military cargo and three carrying passengers and non-military supplies. We tried your trick of roaring toward them at full speed. One of the ships got partially turned toward us and fired a broadside, but nothing came within a half mile. A Hellfire destroyed it and caused the others to surrender. The military ships are now headed south and the three civilian ships decided to return to England.”
“Anything more showing on your scope?” asked Grant.
“Negative, though we’ve got the range set at a hundred and fifty miles.”
“Increase it to two hundred and fifty, as I’ve just declared our territorial waters extend to two hundred miles. British military ships within our waters are subject to attack without warning and are to be sunk unless they immediately surrender. Civilian ships are to be warned, and are to be either turned back or directed to Charleston or Boston. You can also warn them slave ships are not welcome, and if they land, the slaves will be freed. Ships with personal slaves will be allowed to keep them, as long as they stay on board while in port.”
“What about other ships?”
“Advise them of the two hundred mile limit and our general rules. Then allow them to choose whether to turn back or come to our current ports of entry.”
“Broadsword, this is Cutlass. I hated to interrupt, but I thought it would help to know that I have the civil leaders of Boston here listening to the conversation and they’re with us a hundred percent. They wanted to know what you were intending regarding slavery.”
“Slaves of owners who have been killed without any close heirs in the community will be freed. Other existing slaves will remain with their owners with some restrictions, but their children will be free at the age of sixteen for uneducated slaves and nineteen for those that have been taught to read, write and the basics of arithmetic. No new slaves will be allowed entry, except by owners from other states who wish to resettle in South Carolina, and they’ll fall under the same rules as our other slaves. Blacks, on the other hand, are welcome and can hire themselves out to the different plantation owners. The key is ownership and attitude ... all men, no matter what color or race are equal under the law. In summary, I want slavery to end within a generation, to help that even further, I’ll buy and free any slave from any owner that’s willing to accept a fair price.”
Ben responded, “I like what you are saying, and from the looks on these men’s faces, I think most of them do also.”
“Grant, this is Al. We just expanded our radar coverage and there are nine ships showing at the extreme edge of our screen.”
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