Free Chaos Descending by Toby Neighbors Page A

let them go on believing she didn’t know what the signals meant. Hewy was waiting for his next order. He would take her message up to the crow’s nest and ensure it was sent with his own set of flags.
    “Tell them we're taking on water and need assistance,” she ordered.
    Waiting as the two ships moved closer and closer was the most difficult part of the attack. Crest Dancer seemed to fly over the waves most of the time, but when her prey was in sight, the vessel seemed to almost crawl. It was taxing, but if they could keep up the ruse long enough, she would spring her trap and draw the merchant ship in.
    She could see movement on the merchant ship, then shortly thereafter heard the sound of orders being shouted on board the other vessel. She needed the other ship to be close enough that the ballista would not only reach them, but the two ships could be pulled together before the cable was cut in two and the merchant ship could make its escape.
    When she could make out what was being shouted on the other ship, she gave the signal. Slice sprang into action, firing the ballista almost immediately. The bolt flew in a lazy arc, then dropped onto the merchant ship, ripping sails and shocking the surprised crew before getting tangled in the other ship's rigging.
    “Now! Now! Now!” Roleena shouted to the men awaiting her orders.
    Two dozen men heaved on the leathery cable, which was made from thick strips of leather each two inches wide and braided expertly together by a blind leather worker in Skattle Point. The stiff leather had been checked every day and oiled regularly to keep the salt from drying out the thick hide and making it brittle.
    Roleena felt the ship turn as the men pulled the rope. The shouting on the merchant ship grew louder and more panic-stricken. She felt a smile pulling on the corners of her mouth, but she clamped down on any outward expression that betrayed how she felt. The ships were almost close enough for the ladder to be dropped and her men sent across. Hewy had returned from his trip to the crow’s nest.
    “Remind our men that I want that ship taken, not destroyed,” she ordered him. “And that means sparing enough of her crew to man the vessel.”
    “Aye, Captain,” the young sailor said before racing down into Crest Dancer's hold.
    The merchant ship's captain was screaming orders to his men, who were frantically trying to untangle the leather cable from their rigging. Pirates on the high seas were the harbingers of death, and most sailors feared them more than storms or even sea monsters. Sailors were superstitious individuals; most had little or no education and even less training with arms. Roleena could see the panic setting in on the merchant vessel and she was certain they would pose no real threat.
    “Daak!” Roleena shouted the next order and the big man hefted the boarding ladder.
    “Attack!” she screamed.
    The sailors from Crest Dancer came running onto the main deck like rabid demons. They brandished their weapons and screamed blood-curdling war cries as they dashed across the ladder and jumped aboard the merchant ship. They were met by a feeble resistance, which quickly folded after three of the smaller ship’s crew were cut down by savage blows. Blood ran across the deck and the merchant sailors’ courage vanished. The captain of the ship surrendered his vessel before Roleena’s crew of bloodthirsty pirates could all cross the boarding ladder.
    “Stand down!” Roleena shouted. “Slice, get control of those men.”
    The first officer didn’t reply, but instead started shouting at the crew. It took several minutes before he could cross the boarding ladder and take control of the situation. A dozen of the merchant sailors were slain in the attack, but most had thrown down their makeshift weapons and surrendered. Slice threatened the lives of his own men if they didn’t behave, then sent the merchant ship’s captain over to Crest Dancer .
    “What’s your name?”