Free Brave Company by David Hill Page A

stopped as PO Lucas emerged from the turret also. ‘Sorry, sir.’
    The petty officer nodded. ‘My thoughts also, Leading Hand. Let’s get out to sea, pronto.’ He glanced at Russell. ‘All right there, young Purchas?’
    ‘Yessir.’ I am, he thought again. I did it. I’ve shown people.
    ‘Stay here, lads. We’re still on Action Stations.’ PO Lucas stared at where the destroyer lay. ‘Come on, you lot. Hurry it up.’
    At that moment, the US frigate ahead of them sounded its klaxon. Short bursts, loud and urgent. The destroyer blared back, longer and deeper blasts. As the two smaller warships bore down on it, one behind the other, Russell saw men at the destroyer’s stern swinging sledgehammersat the anchor chain. Something was wrong.
    Klaxons bellowed from all three vessels now. The gun crew lurched and nearly fell as
Taupo
went hard astern, slowing and slewing backwards, her whole length shuddering. Ahead of them, the US frigate was heeling over to starboard while it swung past the stationary destroyer.
    Russell’s breath caught in his throat. Beside him, Kingi began muttering ‘Man, oh man! Man, oh man!’ The other frigate curved past the bigger warship with only a ship’s length between it and the riverbank.
    Now
Taupo
began swinging to port, past the destroyer’s other side. Suddenly the big US ship’s anchor chain seemed to snap and roar into the water. Its stern swung sideways, straight for
Taupo
.
    The first frigate was safely past, steaming back into the middle of the river and towards the sea.
Taupo
surged on, straining to miss the lurching destroyer, heeling still further as shouted orders echoed from the bridge. Russell, hands locked on the rail, saw the other ship’s stern looming at them, high above the New Zealand frigate’s deck. Men on the destroyer yelled and stared.
    For a moment, the two vessels were so close Russell could almost read the names on the other crew’s caps. Then
Taupo
was clear, too, the bigger warship behind it and the river channel ahead. On their left, the muddybank slid by.
    PO Lucas shook his head. ‘Remember that when you’re a captain, Boy Seaman. Try not to sink anyone from your own side.’
    Russell heard himself give a shaky laugh. ‘I won’t, sir. I—’
    A yell from a lookout interrupted him. At the same moment,
Taupo
swung violently once more, to starboard this time. A judder under the hull, a dragging lurch like nothing he had ever felt before, that threw them all against the rail. Another lurch, and a grinding, graunching sound. The frigate stopped, clouds of mud and water swirling and bubbling all along its sides. It sat in the water as if gripped in some giant hand.
    A mine, Russell thought. We’ve hit a mine. We’re going to sink. He clung to the railing. Again,
Taupo
’s klaxon bellowed.
    PO Lucas stood peering over the side. Filthy clouds of mud and water still churned along the warship’s sides.
Taupo
rose a fraction, tilted slightly sideways, then was still once more.
    ‘It’s a sandbank.’ The petty officer’s face was grim. ‘We’re stuck on a sandbank.’

Ten
    Taupo
lay unmoving, deck tilted. When Russell looked for’ard, he saw that the starboard side of the frigate was definitely higher; the lifeboats and cutter swung to and fro in their davits. He stared down at the dirty, scarcely flowing river. Was it his imagination, or was the water a darker colour beside the ship where the sandbank must be? The engines had stopped their furious drumming, and throbbed quietly. An eerie near-silence seemed to surround them. All at once, they were helpless. As long as the engines pounded and the ship moved, things had felt safe somehow. Now they were just a target.
    ‘That flamin’ destroyer!’ Noel glared at the bigger warship. ‘It’s their stupid fault. If they hadn’t been in the road like that—’
    Russell wasn’t listening. Captain Moore and Commander Yates had both come hurrying out of the bridge, and stood peering down at