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IT WAS A TIME OF WAR The ballast hold was stacked with kegs of powder for cannon balls There were boxes upon boxes filled with rifles and swords,on the western front before the ship had been deterred Finn, ever aware of Taracarefully behind hian h the labyrinth of boxes and supplies The banging on the door and the cries had beco, and in the sound of it there was both hope and fear As they neared the aft end of the ballast hold, Finn could hear the sound of whi, and whispers within a closed section in the far rear
"Stop calling! They&039;llthey&039;ll kill us!"
"If not, we&039;ll drown here, caged together," someone else said
A heavy door sealed off a s at Tara She backed away and he lifted his leg and kicked the padlock that chained the door shut The padlock shattered and he wrenched the door open
The srizzled, was clad only in a cotton shirt and breeches while the others wore shirts with the insignia of the United States Navy One was barely a boy, perhaps thirteen or fourteen, and the other three men looked to be in their early twenties
The older man stepped forward "Captain Gazersin, United States Navy," he said There was a tre boy stepped forward next, "God A&039;hty, have you come to eat us? If so, by God, do it! Do it!"
"We&039;re not here to eat you," Tara said, stepping forward, and staring at the group incredulously "How are you here?"
Another of the men spoke up "Lord save us! It was horrible, hy, and we figured he was a survivor froed up the poor soul, only to find there were two of the blokes We pulled the you knoe&039;re being picked off and ripped to shreds-Iand the bastards drinking up the blood Then our ship&039;sthere was too many created, and those what tore up the first would starve if they didn&039;t co on his words
The captain picked up the speech for hi us out, one after another, over the past few days"
"God help us!" the boy said "You&039;re really not going to eat us?"
"We&039;re really not going to eat you," Finn assured the boy He looked over at Tara She was staring at the group with such eel!" the boy whispered, staring back at her
"We&039;ve got to get topside," Tara said, looking at Finn "Captain Tremblay wants to blow the ship out of the water"
"No," the real Captain Gazersin pleaded "She&039;s a good ship, a fine ship We were carrying ar ue upon us all, trying to be o to the captain of the ship we&039;re aboard, the USS Freedom," Finn said The ship they had boarded did seeo was valuable "Coroup before the at one of the headless corpses on the deck
"Dr Leery!" he cried "A good ht the young one now, but truly in God&039;s hands" Aboard the Freedoy features of Captain Trereeted thees-prisoners to be feasted upon one by one!" Finn shouted over to him
"Sir! She&039;s a sound ship Bound for Key West!" Captain Gazersin shouted
Trees?"
"There was an intelligence at work," Finn said He turned to look at Gazersin "Sir, I&039;h the corpses, and tell me which of the men were the ones saved, to assist in thisCaptain Tremblay! I&039;ll need a few men over here to help with the disposal of the corpses The ship does carry valuable cargo Send me London, sir, and Griffin, if you will And Billy Seabold We&039;ll scour her from top to bottom, and see to it that no monsters remain aboard"
The boy sniffed "Dr Leery was no monster!" he said
"No, son, in his soul, never But the diseaseto be done He is gone now, and as Miss Fox said, he is in God&039;s hands now," Finn told the boy
Captain Gazersin said, "We can attend to the men They were my men, so I would see to that they were buried at sea with honor"
"We need our men, sir I have to know if those you rescued came from the fort," Finn told him He turned to Tara "You don&039;t need to be here for this"
She shook her head "But I do What if the men ere rescued and turned the ship to monsters were citizens frorim smile "Finn, I don&039;t need to be protected-not at this point"
He turned away fro aboard the ship, and they quickly began the grisly task of identifying all the bodies He walked the ship with Charles Lafferty and Captain Gazersin while Tara ith the boy and Grissom and London Toward thedown at one of the corpses "There! There is one felloe rescued fronized the reeted hiht him to Captain Callohen he had first arrived in Key West
"Sever the head and body, then into the sea," Finn said
"Wait!" Captain Gazersin protested "They were surely God-fearing men! Please, sir, you are our savior this day, but I&039;d have good Union men met by their God!"
"Aye, Captain We need to find the second an the infection on the ship Gather thebody parts here You may say the prayers for those who died at sea, and ill finish with this sad business"
Tara discovered the second hy who had come aboard to infect the ship; Finn heard her cry of dismay when she ca e of an He thankedhis life, and protectedthem I&039;d done so"
"I&039;m sorry," he said
He rose, both sorry and touched to see the pain that was in her eyes So much! And she still hurt for those around her He wondered about hirown so hardened to war and death that he had little left of a soul hiht of the attacks there," he announced, shouting over to Tremblay
"What of the others?" Tremblay demanded There was suspicion in his voice; Treain, Finn knew He had learned that those who appeared to be friends or comrades could be monsters, and those who appeared to be the enemy could be friends War, of any kind, was co men But another dimension had been added here
"We will ascertain with the five of the living," Finn assured hi ominously in the air
Tara stood by the captain while the athered all those who had been killed-and decapitated-and then Captain Gazersin said the appropriate prayers As the men&039;s bodies were at last shrouded and their heads covered in old canvas sailcloth and cast over the side, Tara took Finn&039;s arm and asked quietly, "What now?"
He looked back at the Freedo near Captain Tre the events
He turned to Captain Gazersin "Sir, were the five of you together at all tian?"
"Aye, ere We waited with the other living, as I told you, and they came for us, one by one"
"Can you take her into Key West with your crew of five?"
"I can, sir," Gazersin told hihtily ill-staffed with a crew of five, but we can limp her in But, surely, your ship can spare a man"
He lowered his voice "Sir, I&039; aboard our ship I even fear that the oal of delaying us fro ould stop for you"
"Infection!" Captain Gazersin said
"It&039;s an infection, sir, yes," Finn said "It turns men to madness, as you&039;ve witnessed And as you and your men discovered, it&039;s insidious Men can appear to be as they were, sad wretches adrift at sea and in need of rescue-and then roup You need to take this ship to port in Key West, and find Captain Calloway He has seen the illness, as have the people there You&039;ll be watched with suspicion by those hom you should be allies, but you mustn&039;t be dismayed In Key West, they have now learned to deal with the disease, and everyher to port, eh,crew members
"God help us, aye, Captain!" called one of the , and the Rebs don&039;t strike!"
Finn looked over at Charles Lafferty, who had proven to be such stalwart help after first ather Grissom and London We return to our own ship," Finn said
In another twenty minutes, Tara, Finn and the crew from the Freedom had returned to their own vessel Captain Gazersin stared across the hull and the few feet of water separating the two ships, facing Captain Tremblay
"May God speed us both now, Captain!" Gazersin shouted to Tremblay
"Aye, sir! Do you know if the inforotiations have failed-and we remain at war?"
"Aye, sir! That&039;s true," Gazersin replied "Sherh the Carolinas, and General Grant plans his offensive in Virginia The war in the West continues, but there is progress against the Rebels May God grant us all a speedy end to this great conflict!"
"A hooks!"
The ships were separated Captain Gazersin shouted orders to his reat sails of his ship
Finn stood at the hull by Tremblay and the others as the ships parted, and the Freedom continued north, while Captain Gazersin disappeared on their voyage south
"Captain," Dr MacKay said "Perhaps we&039;veher off after such an event with a skeleton crew"
Billy Seabold was standing next to hi He couldn&039;t put a ent Dunne doesn&039;t really trust a one of us"
"Ah, Billy!" MacKay said "He trusts one of us He trusts Miss Fox And I believe we all trust Captain Trean, "I didn&039;t trust theh to leave one of ours aboard their ship"
As if to end all speculation on allegiances, Captain Tre his authority "To your stations, men! Stay in threes! And full speed ahead!"
TARA SPENT MUCH of the day in her cabin, lying down She couldn&039;t shake the iht the tray to her at Key West He&039;d been grateful to her-in shock but still so grateful-and then
She wondered howor dead had fallen victiain if ood men couldn&039;t have been helped
There was a tap at her door as evening caht her a tray of food "There&039;s a vial there, as well," Richard said gruffly "Co, "Of course"
Richard sat at the cabin&039;s desk, looking at her where she sat at the foot of the bed "Tara, ould happen if you didn&039;tif you didn&039;t have a vial now and then?"
She stared at him She&039;d known him most of her life, and she couldn&039;t help but take affront at the question
"I&039;d find a bilge rat," she told hione?"
She stood "Richard, get out Please"
He walked over to her "Forgive me, dear friend-sister!" Richard said "It&039;s just thatI have known you forever And I had never iined that what you are could turn intowhat thosean innocent man or woman, no matter the circumstances And when I&039;m forced to kill-as we all seem to be in this-I am at heart remorseful, and careful to see that the dead rest with God And so help me, if there is a way to save a man, I will save him"
He went down on his knees at her side and took her hands "I&039; to speak But we&039;ve seen so much that God help us all! And it&039;s true-Dunne thinks that someone aboard this ship is ainto his eyes "Richard, you needn&039;t fear He knows that it&039;s not you"
He shook his head "They say that the two men &039;rescued&039; from the sea came from Fort Zachary Taylor"
She nodded "I knew the one man, Richard He&039;d been kind to ainst hi ht that I&039;d be praying to live long enough to reach a federal prison," Richard said lightly