The Once and Future Man
Copyright© 2022 by WestCoastWilly
Chapter 10
“Do you think it’ll work this time?” David asked.
Setrek looked over at him and shrugged. They’d been at this for weeks already with little to show for it, why should this time be any different?
“As long as the whole thing doesn’t explode, I’ll be happy.” The tall artificer replied while he rolled out fuse cord behind them.
David silently agreed. Their first test had gone horribly, just a few days after Christmas. Setrek had worked out the mold in no time, hardly sleeping until it was done. They’d taken the test cannon down south of the city and set it up on the empty beach. The prototype was pointed out to sea, it didn’t matter if they hit anything, just if it would fire correctly. Setrek had been enthusiastic as he rammed home the bag of powder, followed quickly by the cast iron ball. Extra powder went into the cannon’s touchhole followed by the fuse that David had created.
The two of them had walked back to a barricade they had set up. A quick lighting of the fuse and they’d ducked behind the piled up compacted sand, peaking over the top in anticipation. The glowing spark of the fuse ran away towards the half ton bronze tube fifty feet away from them. In seconds the fuse had burnt up and disappeared into the cannon.
Before David could stop him, Setrek had stood up straight, looking at their prototype.
“Is that it?...”
BOOM!!
In an explosion that David felt in his chest, even through the thick safety barricade, the back half of the cannon disintegrated. A wave of pressure sent Setrek flipping over backwards, clutching at his head.
The blast hadn’t ruined the artificer’s hearing, though it did make him more cautious with their testing. Every time after that he focused his gaze out to sea while David watched the cannon. Wrecked test cannons piled up on the beach around the first failure. Some had gone the same way as the first, exploding into tiny fragments of shrapnel, while others bulged and warped from the expanding gases inside them. The last two had survived the initial test, only to have their front ends blasted apart like a Bugs Bunny cartoon.
Half a dozen new artificers had joined them since the first test. A couple had been brought in by Setrek directly, the others had been drawn down from the city by the loud noises and strange smells drifting up from the beach. These men lived by their curiosity and could not resist finding out what was going on. Some had been frightened off by their first failed test; the rest were determined to see the project through to completion now. It was crowded behind the barricade with all the new arrivals and Setrek was still out running a fuse to their latest attempt. The other craftsmen were going over the previous results, debating what would happen this time.
“Three explosions, three meltdowns, and the last two only worked once. The bronze was cooled more evenly this time, I say it works at least twice before breaking.” Said a round little man, a little older than David and Setrek. He blinked behind thick cloudy glasses.
“Not a chance.” An older man replied. “The walls are still too thin. One shot is all this one can handle.”
“So, we’ll build another one.” The round man answered stubbornly.
“That one burnt down, fell over, then it sank into the swamp.” David muttered to himself.
That earned him some odd looks from the men around him. None of them had a clue what he was talking about. It was just his own frustration coming out. Emalyn was counting on him to deliver, not to mention the Queen and everyone else. The time was melting away and so far they had nothing to show for all their work. The problem wasn’t creating a cannon that would fire, that they could accomplish easily, there was more than enough bronze available. The trick was to build a weapon that would be safe to fire and be light enough to be used on board the Sea Star. An extra thick cannon would be worthless if it capsized the ship, not to mention there wouldn’t be a single crane on the island strong enough to lift it. Setrek reached them and handed the fuse to David. Everyone bunched in even closer to make room for the lead artisan.
“Does everybody have their pearls?” David asked.
He received nods from everyone. Setrek reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a large white pearl. It was Wellon’s version of a lucky rabbit’s foot or crossing their fingers. Those that could afford them used the whitest, roundest pearls available. Those that couldn’t, used pieces of soapstone that had been shaped into a sphere. So David huddled up with a bunch of grown men literally clutching their pearls, ready to try again. He lit the fuse on the small glass lantern they’d brought with them and dropped it on the sand. Half the men peaked out over the safety barrier they were hiding behind while the rest watched the waves out at sea.
BANG!
The cannon kicked back, digging the tail end of the carriage into the sand. A plume of smoke curled away from the end of the barrel. The twelve-pounder cannonball skipped along the waves over four hundred yards away before hitting solidly, sending up a fountain of spray into the sky. The smell of sulfur faded into the fresh sea air as everyone around David erupted in celebration. As much as he wanted to join in, they had reached this point before and been disappointed with the next attempt.
“Reload crew!” He yelled. Some of them, including Setrek, stuffed bits of waxed cloth into their ears during testing. He and two others ran back to the cannon, bringing a fresh bag of powder, a fuse, and a wet rag to swab out the inside of the barrel with them. They’d practiced on a cold, unfired, cannon over and over until the process was second nature to them now.
First the swabber rammed the wet rag down the barrel, twisting to cover every surface. Once the bronze had been cooled and all the sparks extinguished, the new powder bag was pushed down until it was firmly in place. He’d designed them with a thin wood disc at the top of the canvas bag to get as good of a seal behind the ball as possible. One of his helpers picked up a cannonball off the pile in the sand and hefted it up to open maw of the cannon. The other one punctured the powder bag through the touchhole and fed a fresh length of fuse down to it. All three ran back to the others, trailing fuse cord behind them.
Once everyone was back in position David lit the fuse and crossed his fingers. Again the small spark raced away across the sand.
BANG!
For the second time the waves exploded from the impact of a heavy iron cannonball. This time David joined in with the rest, celebrating their success. The cannon remained in one piece, hardly even moving. Three of the artificers ran forward without David having to say anything to repeat the reloading drill. They were back in place less than five minutes later.
BANG!
Over and over again they fired the cannon out into the sea until the heat coming off of it was too much to get anywhere close to. David had been willing to keep going until it failed, but after over four dozen shots he was satisfied. If there was something out there that could withstand over fifty solid iron cannonballs hitting it, there wasn’t much he could do about it.
“Great work guys, I don’t think we’ll get anything better in the time we’ve got. How many do you think we can get before the storm season ends?” David asked the ecstatic artificers.
His assembled craftsmen put their heads together and ran through a series of guesses and rough estimates. Setrek pulled a small notebook out of his pouch, going over everything he’d written down about the process he’d used for this round of testing. He’d been meticulous about documenting every step of each method they had tried so far.
“Maybe forty or fifty, accounting for a certain amount of mishaps and unexpected failures.” He told David hesitantly. “These have all been poured at the navy yard, using the same process they have for making ship rams. If we can stop them from making any more rams for the fleet, it will go faster. We can gather up all the failures too, they can be melted down and recast using the successful processes and mold dimensions.”
That shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Why make more rams now that they were obsolete? David would tell the Queen or General Greeg to have it taken care of.
“I’ll make sure what we’re doing has priority. Draft as many people as you need and get started. Use every scrap of bronze they navy has lying around. If they have any rams that haven’t been attached to ships yet, melt them down too.” His crew nodded eagerly, ready to get to work immediately.
The sun was already low on the horizon; they’d been firing the cannon for hours.
“We’ll get started tomorrow. Gather up the powder bags and fuses into the wagon and let’s go home.”
This received less enthusiastic cheering than the successful test had. David knew they were eager to move forward now that one problem had been solved. More would show up once they started turning out cannons one after another, he was sure.
Sawdust clung to Emalyn like a second skin. She ignored the irritation and concentrated on helping her crew open another hole in the side of her ship. There were already ten identical holes along the hull on this side, a full dozen had been drilled into the other side of the ship. The deck flexed under their feet occasionally as other crewmen worked to reinforce the floor. The sounds of hammers and saws echoed through the empty space of the upper rowing deck.
“Someone here to see you captain.” Her new first officer called out from the stern hatch.
Emalyn left the task to the busy carpenters; they knew what they were doing. “Thank you, Niko. I coming up.”
The short man nodded and made way for her. His dark skin was glistening with sweat in spite of the cold. He was in charge of the modifications being made to the bow, removing the heavy ram and installing a new bowsprit. Though the top of his head only came up to Emalyn’s nose, his arms were almost as big around as her waist. His family had been sailors and traders in the outer islands for generations. An overly ambitious uncle had taken the business away from Niko and made it clear it would be dangerous for him to remain on their home island. Wellon’s immigration push had come along at the perfect time, allowing him to flee safely. Emalyn had found him amongst the repair crews and offered him the job within minutes; he was wasted hauling sails and splicing rope.
Up on the main deck craftsmen from the ship builders guild swarmed around the bow. Axes and saws flew around, making space for a new mast all the way down to it’s anchor point on the keel. The bowsprit lay on the rim of the dry dock, wrapped in thick ropes, waiting to be craned into place.
Niko pointed up to the bridge, smiling as he went back to check on the work being done forward. Emalyn climbed the steps to the bridge swiftly, wondering who had come to see her.
Woller, the old helmsman, was at his post talking with the second officer and David. The three of them were crowded around the wheel, watching all the activity around them. David was listening to something the new officer was explaining to him. He had to lean back a little to meet the man eye to eye. Woller was the first to see her, snapping to attention, the others were slower to react.
To his credit, David gave a crisp salute when he realized she was there. The tall officer was the slowest to respond with a relaxed salute to his captain. She knew there was no lack of respect intended; he was unused to the discipline of the navy. He was also related to her, a distant cousin from another island in Orland.
“Come on Jorgi, you can do better than that.” David teased him.
“We’re not on parade. Besides, she already knows she’s in charge here.” The second officer shrugged.
Emalyn laughed but she could see Woller frowning in distaste. The old helmsman had become her fiercest ally since becoming captain. His respect for her was through the roof after getting them through the storm near Sinton. She’d have to warn Jorgi he was on dangerous ground around him. It was already a risk picking two officers from outside the crew, she didn’t need them starting fights on top of it. Her cousin had arrived on the last immigrant ship of the season, she’d spotted him wandering the harbor. His reddish-brown hair and beard standing out as he was easily head and shoulders taller than anyone else around. Jorgi had been happy to see her again and even happier to accept the job she’d offered him. Emalyn was relieved to have him, his grasp of Wellon’s language was far superior to hers. He was also one of the best navigators in Orland.
“How test go today? Much more noise than other days.” She asked David.
The captain of the Sea Star yelped in surprise as David picked her up by the waist and spun her around excitedly. Sawdust fell all around them while she laughed.
“It went perfectly Em! Perfectly! We’ve got a working model, and the artificers are ready to start rolling them out.”
He set her down, kissing her firmly before stepping back. She wrinkled her nose, leaning in to sniff at his clothes.
“Why you smell?” She sniffed again, covering her nose after and stepping further away. “Like bad eggs.”
The wind had changed today, blowing smoke from their test firing all over him and the other craftsmen. Dozens of successful shots had left their mark. David didn’t like it anymore than she did, but he was too excited to let it bother him.
“That’s the smell of success.” He told her proudly.
Emalyn wasn’t convinced. “You keep testing, you sleep alone.”
He reached out to run his hand through her hair, showing her all the clinging sawdust afterwards.
“Yes, I dirty too. At least it not all for nothing. You show me big secret weapon now? Sailors not understand what we’re doing. Take off ram, take off catapults, how they supposed to fight?” She looked at Woller and Jorgi for confirmation.
“She’s not wrong. The men understand adding masts and sails to sail the ship better. Everything else we’ve done has just made it an easier target. There’s also all the rowers that were let go so we can cut holes in the sides of the ship.” Jorgi didn’t understand any better than they did, but he trusted Emalyn when she said there was a reason for it all.
David knew they were working in the dark through all of this. Work on the ship couldn’t wait until the cannons were ready. They still had an entire second deck to refit once they were done with their current work. Now at least he had something to show them.
“Gather up all the rowers and meet me on the beach south of the city tomorrow and I’ll show you what this is all about.” Emalyn knew the basics, he’d shown her how the pistol worked, but even she would be surprised at what the cannon could do. “With any luck, most of them can be trained up and stay with the crew as gunners.”
None of the others knew what that meant, but they relayed the orders to bring all the dismissed crew together. Some had stayed on to be paid for construction work while others had taken the storm season off to relax.
Emalyn pushed him towards the stairs. “Now you go home and take bath. We still have work to do so I see you late tonight.”
Jorgi wasn’t sure what to think of the ‘cannon’ they had come down to look at. He didn’t see how the big heavy tube of bronze was worth all the work they’d been doing on the Sea Star. Emalyn’s man said it was a weapon somehow. Maybe there was a spring inside it to launch projectiles out of the open end?
Other members of the crew looked it over with him. Niko caught his eye, looking skeptical. It appeared the former merchant sailor didn’t understand it either. All of them had heard the loud noises over the last few weeks, like thunder out of a clear sky. How could this thing make a sound that traveled miles back to the city?
Almost three hundred men waited in the sand to see what all the fuss was about. Once they had all taken their turn to look things over, everyone grouped around the captain, shifting their feet restlessly. David had set her up with a spot far enough away to be safe but still see everything. It would be impossible to have all of them fit behind the barrier he and Setrek had been using.
Once he was satisfied that they all understood it was just a tube of bronze, David handed around one of the cannonballs and a powder bag. While those that wanted to looked them over, he gave a brief explanation of how the whole thing worked. Jorgi and Niko looked at the little bag, unsure how the gritty black sand inside would turn into a gas that would move such a heavy object.
David pointed down the beach to an old two-masted ship that had been dragged onto the sand. “After the first shot, we’ll turn the cannon so you can see how it will work against another boat.”
Talking grew louder as he loaded his weapon. The vessel was almost a half mile away. Was he crazy or just a boastful liar? Nothing could reach that far. David poured loose powder into the touchhole, then picked up a long torch that had been stuck into the moist sand of the beach.
Fingers crossed this isn’t one shot too many for this thing.
Standing only a few feet away, he dropped the torch down to the back of the cannon. With a fizzing sound and a flash of light the powder ignited, burning down to the charge inside. He resisted the urge to run, they’d done this safely over and over again yesterday.
BANG!
Flame and smoke erupted from the open end of the weapon. The force kicked it backwards through the loose sand. Shouts of fear and concern came from the gathered sailors. Many were afraid he would be caught in the blast. These changed to gasps of surprise as the shot impacted the waves, sending sea water fifty feet into the air. That had to be over eight hundred yards away! Nothing in the sailors’ experience had prepared them for this and many of them were in shock. Even Emalyn was awestruck with how far it had gone. The best catapult on land couldn’t reach even half that distance, let alone one pitching up and down on a moving warship.
David swabbed out the barrel, hearing the hot metal hiss as he extinguished any remaining sparks. Once he was satisfied, he turned back to the crowd. “I need ten strong men to help me move this thing.”
There were fewer volunteers than he expected. A few stepped forward, then hesitated. Others were exchanging looks with their fellows, daring them to move. For a moment it looked like he was going to have to ask Emalyn to order them to help when a dozen men gathered the courage to come forward.
He cautioned them against touching the hot bronze, positioning them around the carriage. These men spent days at a time pulling the long oars of the country’s largest warship, they had no trouble rocking the heavy metal piece loose and soon it was turning towards a new target. David stood back, following along to make sure it was lined up correctly.
“That’s good guys, right there.” The men stepped back, sweating from the effort. David looked at each of them. These were the bravest of the bunch, but how brave were they? “Anyone want to fire this thing?”
This proved to be a bridge too far for most of them. Half looked curious but unwilling to be the first to step up this time. Finally, two of them raised their hands, much to David’s relief. His plan would only work if the men knew they could do this themselves, without any foreign wizardry. Once the Sea Star left port, he wouldn’t be there to operate thirty or forty cannons on his own.
David pointed to the crate of powder bags and the ram rod, instructing the two brave souls in what to do. Next, in went the cannonball, pushed down secure against the black powder. He nodded his approval and they stepped back with the others. All of them watched closely as he emptied powder into the small opening at the rear of the cannon. Once again, he went over what would happen once it was lit, stressing the need to stand out of the way so they didn’t get injured by the bucking carriage.
Everyone moved away from the loaded weapon, except for the man David handed the lit torch to. Sweat was pouring off his face and hands, making David nervous. As calmly as he could he reminded the sailor that all he had to do was touch the flame to the cannon and step back, simple.
As the man moved towards his task, all of his fellows took another step further away. The torch shook as it moved closer to the bronze. More than one sailor held their breath as the fire made contact with the metal. Powder flashed just as it should...
BANG!
The hefty piece rocked back harder now that it was on fresh loose sand. The ball rocketed away faster than any of them could see. It’s impact was too far away to show, however it could be heard. Before any of them could celebrate David called out loudly, “Reload!”
While there was some confusion at first, his trainees figured things out quickly. David corrected them as needed and a few minutes later they were ready to go.
BANG!
Again, they could hear the solid iron shot tear into the target ship.
“Reload!” David yelled.
This time there was no hesitation, each man sprang into action to complete his task. They were safely out of the way and ready to fire in less than two minutes. The torch man did his job smoothly without shaking, hitting his mark for the final time.
BANG!
David signaled the crowd of awestruck sailors to head down to the beached merchant ship to check it out. His proud trainees put away the powder and cannonball they had already reached for, set for another round before David sent them along with the others.
Hundreds of voices loudly discussed what they had just witnessed. The brave volunteers were quickly surrounded and questioned. David heard mostly wonder and curiosity, not the terror he had been expecting. Certainly there were some fearful faces in the crowd, though they did their best to hide it in front of their comrades. Emalyn and her officers hung back, waiting for him. He walked over, reaching for her hand. The test couldn’t have gone better and now he had a chance to enjoy a walk on a beach with his favorite person in the world.
Emalyn laced her fingers with David’s, surprised by his affection. Men in Orland would never dream of doing such a thing in public. To them, holding hands was a thing for children. It was yet another thing that set David apart from everyone else she had known in her life. She squeezed his hand and moved closer to him as they walked.
“Very impressive.” She said, close to his ear.
“Sure was.” Niko agreed.
Jorgi wasn’t even sure what to say. “Never seen anything like it.”
Walking to their target took longer than expected, it was almost a thousand yards further down the beach. The men were already there, climbing all over the stranded ship. It was an old merchant sailboat he’d bought when Setrek told him the first prototype was ready. A few more coins and people that knew what they were doing more than he did landed it on the beach, dragging it up past the high tide mark. The rigging and sails were worn and in need of repair, but that hadn’t bothered him, what was important was that the hull was solid with not a single hole in it.
“Well, that ... uh ... that is impressive.” Jorgi was eyeing the holes that had been punched through the thick planks nervously.
Two shots had made direct hits on the hull, opening up holes a foot across before passing through the interior. Shouts from excited crewmen let them know one of them had gone all the way through to the other side and buried itself in the sand. The third shot had gone high, gouging a large chunk out of the foremast. So far, the heavy wooden beam was still upright, though another solid hit would bring it down completely.
“It’s not perfect and it will take some practice, but you should be able to tear up any fleet that’s sent to Wellon before they get anywhere near you.” David said. “No more needing to ram every ship together to sink them.”
Niko ran his finger around the edge of one of the holes. “How many of them will be going on the Sea Star?”
“We’re hoping for forty if everything goes smoothly. More likely, probably around thirty.” David told him. “Then we need to build the carriages for them, install the pulley system to move them on the ship, not to mention getting all of them delivered and lifted onto the Sea Star. I also need to make sure we have enough powder to make all of this work.”
Three hundred pairs of eyes watched them, eager to know what this would mean for their place on the ship. David looked up at them, sitting all over the broken ship. “Every gun will need a crew to work it. At least four to six strong men in each crew that don’t mind danger and can follow orders to the letter.”
Many of the men cheered after hearing that, glad they still had a place on their ship. Even better, Emalyn was beaming at him, happy with everything he was doing to help her. Jorgi and Niko were still looking at the damage, shaking their heads in disbelief. He’d have to bring them over to the house to show them how this was going to work. They would be in charge of the men firing these weapons, they had to know how they worked and what their limitations were. Jorgi would be easy to get, he was always happy to come over for dinner. Niko preferred his quiet solitude when not on the ship, he would need some convincing.
“Ready to head home?” He asked Emalyn.
She nodded, eagerly reaching for his hand to start the long walk back to their horses.
Finding the ships they needed turned out to be easier than Aldrich had expected. Other kingdoms had plenty of galleys and sailing ships available. The only problem being most of them were owned by regular merchants and fishermen. It had been a mistake to turn inland so quickly, he knew that now. These lands were not fully under Sinton’s control, especially those to the south.
All of these kingdoms had heard what was happening in the interior of the continent. Fenix delivered the request with his usual charm at each port and anchorage up and down the coast. There was no mistaking the consequences of refusal, however. Nervous Kings and Princes handed over their valuable warships quickly to avoid what had befallen their neighbors. In cases where no warships were available, Covington insisted on taking the largest merchant and fishing vessels available. Complaints that this would lead to hunger and even famine in some places fell on deaf ears. What did the Englishman care if these people had to eat boiled seaweed to get by? They were fortunate he didn’t insist that they hand over every ship they had.
Fenix returned for the last time almost a month to the day after the Queen’s narrow escape. Any other kingdoms along the coast were too far away to reach in time. Even the last few to the south had been a risk. They had heard nothing about Aldrich and his new weapons. Only the promise that the ships would not be used against them or their allies and the suggestion that a portion of any spoils would come their way had convinced them to part with the last few war galleys needed. Aldrich welcomed him back warmly, or at least as warmly as he was able to. Even at the best of times, Fenix suspected that the man saw others as less human than himself. His praise was that of a man proud of a particularly skilled dog performing a complicated trick. It would have been nauseating if not for the complete indifference of Greddor and Nessor to the actions of their subordinates. Achievement to them was just an extension of their own abilities, failure an intolerable problem of others. The blonde man sighed as he added a few more little model ships to the map Covington had had drawn up.
“That’s it. Any further away won’t be worth the trouble and might not get here in time to be useful anyway.” He dropped into a cushioned chair, thankful for the glass of wine a serving girl offered him.
Aldrich waved that away as he looked over the map. It showed the whole valley, marking out where production had started on improvements to the castle’s defense and the mining of ingredients for the precious black powder. Clumps of other model ships were spaced up and down the map, being moved closer to Sinton’s coastline as they arrived.
Servants were busy crafting other markers to display the resources of the kingdom more clearly. Covington had been disgusted at the twins’ answer when he asked for records or surveys of what was available for the campaign against Wellon. Local officials sent reports on the state of the valley to them weekly. The oafs read them before crumpling every one of them into kindling for the castle’s many fireplaces. They knew what was available, what did it matter if anyone else did?