Hawkwood's Voyage Paul Kearney

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And if I were to tell you that you are mistaken, and that I know where it lies and how to get there?
Hawkwood hesitated. His first impulse was to tell this nobleman that he was either a liar or a fool or
both but something in the man s manner stopped him.
I would need convincing.
Murad leaned back, satisfied. Of course you would. No sane captain would risk his ships on a
foolhardy venture without some manner of surety. He leaned forward again until Hawkwood could smell
the wine and garlic on his breath.
I have the rutter of a ship which accomplished the voyage to the west and returned safely. I can tell you,
Captain, that the crossing of the Western Ocean took this vessel some two and a half months, with
favourable winds, and that it was bound out of this very port. One has but to keep on a certain latitude
for some twelve hundred leagues, and the same landfall can be made.
I have never heard of this ship, or this voyage, said Hawkwood, and my family has been at sea for five
generations. Why is this discovery not better known?
The master died soon after the return voyage, and the voyage itself took place a century ago. The
Hebrian crown has kept the information to itself until now, for reasons of state, you understand. But the
time is ripe at last for this information to be exploited.
The crown, you say. Then the King himself is behind this?
I am the King s kinsman. I speak for him in this also.
A crown-sponsored voyage. Hawkwood experienced mixed feelings. The Hebrian crown had
sponsored several expeditions down the years, and the captains of some had become rich, even
ennobled as a result. But many others had lost their ships, their lives and their reputations.
How do I know you come from the King? he asked at last.
Wordlessly, Murad reached into his belt pouch and produced two rolls of parchment weighed down with
heavy seals. Hawkwood unrolled them with sweating hands. One was a Royal letter of credit for the
hiring and provisioning of two ships of between eighty and two hundred tons, and the other was a letter
of authorization conferring upon Lord Murad of Galiapeno the governorship of the new colony to be
founded in the west with the powers of viceroy. A list of conditions followed. Hawkwood let the
parchments spring back in on themselves.
They seem genuine enough. In truth, he was shocked. He felt as though he were cruising in through
shoaling water without a leadsman in the bows.
Why me? he asked. There are many captains in Abrusio, and the crown owns many ships. Why hire a
small independent who is not even Hebrionese?
You fulfill certain . . . conditions. I want two ships owned by the same man; that way it is easier to keep
a track of things. You are a skilled seaman, not afraid to sail the lonelier sea lanes beyond sight of land. It
is amazing, the number of so-called sea captains who do not feel comfortable unless they have a coastline
within spitting distance of their hull.
And?
And, I have something you want.
What?
Your crew, Hawkwood, those men of yours currently interned in the catacombs. Take on this
commission and they will be returned to you the same day.
Hawkwood met the cold eyes and scimitar smile, and knew he was being manipulated by the same
forces which governed kingdoms.
What if I refuse the commission?
Murad s smile did not waver. Six of them are marked down for the pyre tomorrow. I would be sorry to
see such worthy men go to the flames.
It may be that I value my own skin over theirs, Hawkwood blustered.
There is that, of course. But there is also the fact that certain captains with a large proportion of
foreigners and heretics in their crew are open to investigation themselves, especially since some of those
captains are not even Hebrionese to begin with.
So there it was: the sword hanging over his head. He had expected something like this from the moment
he had seen the Royal letters. He uncurled his fist from around the wine glass lest it break.
Come now, Captain, think about what is being offered you. The lives of your crew, a chance to make
history, to join the ranks of the great in this world. The riches of a new world beyond the bend of the
seas.
What concessions can I expect, always assuming that this venture works out as you have planned it?
Murad watched him for a moment, gauging.
The man who sails me to my governorship can expect certain prerequisites. Monopolies, Captain. If you
wish, the only ships which sail from our new colony will be constructed in your yards. A modest tariff on
incoming and outgoing cargoes will finance whatever ambitions you have. There may and here Murad
could not stop himself from sneering even be a title in it for you. Think of passing that down to your
sons.
Estrella was barren. There would never be any sons for Hawkwood. He wondered if Murad somehow
knew that, and felt like flinging his glass in the sneering aristocrat s face.
Yet again the agonized question: had it been his child that Jemilla had aborted? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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