The Fool's Errand

Donovan turned his attention back to the ship and watched as the men went about the process of hauling up the anchor and getting the sails set. When they were moving at the next bell he noted the looks of smug satisfaction on their panting faces and grunted once in approval. The Midshipman emerged from the cabin below with a chart and Donovan went over to see what course he proposed to follow.

It was dinner time before the cargo had been settled to Donovan's satisfaction and the crew was finished running through a gunnery drill. He went below to change into more suitable clothing and found the Surgeon sitting in a chair drinking brandy and whistling a jig. Lady, still unclothed, sat in another chair with the table between them. She was sitting, he noted, as far away from the Surgeon as she possibly could.

"Thank you Doctor, that will be all," he said.

The man drained the remainder of the brandy in a quick gulp and exited.

"He's an abrasive and unpleasant fellow," Donovan commented, "but I've found no better surgeon. If you're injured you'll quickly forgive him his faults."

"Will I be injured?" she asked quietly.

"I make no promises," he replied. "I'm not a man as enjoys beating his women, so you'll not suffer on that account. But a ship is a dangerous world and a privateer more so. The longer you're aboard, the greater the chances. Where will you be leaving us?"

"I haven't decided," she said.

After a moment of thought Donovan laughed. "Aye! A clever bargain you struck with me, Lady. You've bed and board and work until you name a port and we reach it. My life is worth the bargain and my honor is good, so I'll take the short end of the stick with good humor. I'll work you hard, mind, and you may discover that a ship at sea can be a living hell. Stand up and let's have a look at you."

"You had a fine look at me afore," she commented as she stood up, "And your crew as well."

Donovan noted the tone. "You feel hazed. Well, any whore brought aboard must first be inspected as you were, and I'll not stick my cock into a poxy slut. The crew saw you and they'll see more of you, for a ship is a small world. You'll learn."

As he continued undressing he examined her. She was of medium height with dark hair that made her skin seem all the fairer. Her body was lush, trim and firm with broad hips and large breasts. Even in the darkened cabin he could see sweat beading on her flesh and the beat of her heart at her throat.

"Shall I bend over for you?" she asked in a bitter tone.

"Later," he replied.

He finished undressing and began to pull on work clothing. It took him but a minute to finish this and then he walked over to the window and drew back the curtains to let in the sunlight and threw them open to let in the breeze.

"Come here," he commanded.

She approached him hesitantly at first, then resignedly. He turned her around and quickly slipped a pair of manacles about her wrists. He took her by the shoulders and guided her down onto a cushion on the floor.

"You don't seem concerned," he noted. "A woman such as yourself would bring a high price at the flesh market in Good Harbor."

She shrugged. "If you were going to break your word, Captain, you would have done so back on Captain Ping's vessel. And if you were minded to make me a slave you'd hardly let me know this early in the voyage. I presume you have business on deck and don't care to leave me unrestrained and alone in your cabin."

Donovan's expression did not change, for he had far too much experience dickering with Oriental merchants, but he felt the surprise that lifted his stomach. He had not expected her to reach the correct conclusion so quickly. For the first time he found himself really looking at this woman, and he found himself intrigued by her.

"Correct. We sometimes have female supercargo and I prefer to not place them in the brig with their male counterparts. You should be comfortable enough. The steward will be in shortly with dinner."

He checked, again, to be certain that nothing but the chamber pot was within her reach and then went up on deck.

Bosun Hartz and Midshipman Tran were standing behind Seaman Gupta, who was holding the wheel. The ship was making good speed and the port hull was starting to lift out of the water. Even as he thought of it, Tran ordered the idlers and the Port Watch into the port netting. The bosun supervised, which meant he glared at his men, daring them to make a mistake, as members of the Starboard Watch lowered the portside net structure until it extended out from the ship. The idlers and Port Watch clambered into it to provide additional counter-weighting against the force of the wind.

"Twelve knots, Captain," Tran called out, "and a following wind along our course. Perhaps the lady is good luck."

Donovan winced, inwardly, at those words as he climbed the steps to the poop deck. Seamen were more superstitious than most and chance words could set events in motion. Tran was a good seaman, and would make a good mate aboard a merchant vessel, but he lacked a certain measure of common sense in some regards.

"Make it clear to the crew, Bosun, that the lady is for my use only. And when they complain you can tell them a funny story. On my way back to the ship I was set upon. I killed them, but someone called for the watch. In the midst of this the lady propositioned me. We struck a quick bargain, passage for her and misdirection for me. She sent the watch on a fool's chase and distracted one that made to stay longer. So now I'm honor bound to transport her to a port of her choice, in my own time, and she's bound to warm my bed and work aboard ship."

The Bosun guffawed at that and then commented, "T'e'll still be mad, Captain, dat you not give her to t'em, but t'e laugh take t'e sting outta t'eir mad. Und you always do right by us, Captain, so next time we make port t'ey forget und forgive evert'ing."

Donovan nodded and took another look around the ship.

"Will you join me for dinner this evening, Mister Tran?"

"Of course, Captain."

"Good. We'll discuss my plan for the next few weeks," Donovan told him and then wandered forward to take a look around.

When Donovan made his way down below he found Giuseppe setting the food upon the table.

"What's our fare for this evening, Giuseppe?" he asked.

"Fresh food, Captain," the large man replied. "I stir-fried the vegetables with that chicken and boiled some rice to put it on. And I cut up the fruit and tossed it with some sugar and rum and lime juice. I think you will like it."

"I always enjoy your cooking, Giuseppe, you know that," Donovan said and clapped the man on the shoulder.

"Yes sir, Captain. You always say that. And I try to keep doing a good job so you will keep on saying that. I made the men a rum raisin duff, Captain, so they won't be so mad about the lady. But Mister Tran thinks maybe she's good luck, so maybe I should have saved the raisins and rum."

"It was a good thought, Giuseppe, and the men will like it. Thank you."

"Yes sir. I'll go get the officers, Captain."

The big man limped out of the cabin, closing the door behind him.

"Why will your crew be mad about me?" Lady asked.

Donovan grunted once and crossed the room to her and began to unlock the manacles.

"Because when I bring whores aboard ship I normally do so for the benefit of my crew. In the normal course of affairs they would expect to have their turn with you. We've been away from friendly ports for the past two months and they certainly feel the lack of women. It'll sit poorly with them to have a woman around and not have access to her. At least prize women are going to get them some money. You'll get them nothing but blue balls."

He pointed to the pile of her clothing that was on his bed.

"Dress yourself. A shift will be fine, you'll just sweat in more. We'll be dining in a minute and I expect the others soon."

There was a knock on the door and the Surgeon stuck his head in.

"Not interrupting anything I trust?" he said.

"Not at all, Doctor," Donovan replied. "Lady was just dressing for dinner. Come in."

Another knock announced the presence of Liu and Tran who, accustomed to having free access to the cabin, entered immediately afterward and crossed to stand behind their chairs. Donovan walked over to his seat at the head of the table and motioned for Lady to take the seat next to the Doctor and across from the Midshipman. They sat when Donovan sat and he offered a brief prayer of thanks for the food. Brady, he knew, was a fallen Catholic and Liu and Tran were both Buddhists, but it was his table and his custom. Giuseppe lumbered into the room the moment he was finished with the thanks and began to serve out the food.

"Is the sailing always this rough, Captain?" Lady asked as she watched her food slide to one side of the deep plate in response to the tilt of the deck.

Tran and the Doctor laughed openly while Liu smiled, which was for him the equivalent.

"This is smooth sailing, Lady," Tran told her. "When the weather is bad we'll eat cold meals when we've time to eat at all."

"It's as the Midshipman says, Lady. We're like to have good weather for the next few days after that storm front came through; which is the crux of my plan, as it happens. We'll head for the Bedanaka Straits and look for survivors of the storm. We're like to find some lost sheep with tattered sails and no cannons," Donovan stated.

"The men will be happy if that's the case, Captain," Tran said. "I've heard them complaining about the lack of success we've had on this voyage."

"The men complain because it is their habit, custom, and wont, Mister Tran," Donovan replied. "They only understand money when it is in their pocket. This trip has been far more profitable than our last voyage because it will make our next few voyages successful."

"You had good fortune with your contacts then?" Liu asked.

"Very. A convoy of ships from Anglia sails for Cook's Land colony. They will pass through later this month and we will have a reception for them."

"Their cargo?" the Doctor asked.

"A dog's breakfast," Donovan replied, "settlers, weapons, and machinery for the most part. I am informed they are setting up a manufactory to produce rifled cannon. Good Harbor would be very interested in preventing this."

"And in getting their hands on the workers," the Doctor pointed out.

"That too. We shall see how it plays out."

"What sort of an escort do they have?" asked the ever practical Liu.

"Four frigates. Some of the merchants will be armed, of course. Cook's Land is sending out a squadron to escort them. I have the rendezvous coordinates, so we'll be able to lay in some surprises before they arrive."

"Ambitious, and profitable," the Doctor observed, "if we survive."

"That's as it may be," Donovan stated. Liu and Tran nodded.

When the dinner was concluded Donovan again locked Lady in the manacles and went topside to observe Lieutenant Liu setting the Dog Watch and to assign Midshipman Tran a set of observations to shoot during the night. Giuseppe had finished clearing away the dishes when he returned and the cabin was empty but for Lady. He took her out of her manacles.

"If you've need of the chamber pot, use it now," he told her.

She squatted to pee and wiped herself with a small piece of wet cloth before she returned the pot to its holder. Then she stood, uncertain of what to do next.

He took her by the arm and indicated the narrow bed. She crawled into it and lay down upon her back. He took a length of rope and tied it about one ankle. The other end of the rope he secured to a corner of the bed.

"No manacles?" she asked.

"I'm unaccustomed to having supercargo in my bed," he told her. "I do my wenching ashore."

She watched him as he undressed.

"I thought..." she stopped.

"Rape and plunder?" he asked. "Common enough, but not aboard my vessel. I've no taste for it and don't tolerate it amongst my crew. Once they begin to anticipate an orgy of sex and violence there's no keeping discipline; they become slaves to their lusts."

He laid the last of his clothing aside and crawled onto the bed. She spread her legs and he slipped between them and lay atop her.

"Why were you so eager to leave Williamport?" he asked.

"I had been making my way as best I could," she told him. "There's honest work for women, but it pays enough to make them dishonest. So I supplemented my earnings with the occasional man. I could be choosy, and I was. Then a panderer called Ngia took an interest in me. Tried to woo me at first, but I would have none of it. Then I found myself unemployed and I suspected Ngia had slandered me to my employer. He confirmed it, and told me that I was to bring him money every night or he would use his knife upon me. I believed him. So I became a whore. For three days and nights. And then I encountered you."

As she spoke his hands traced over her face and he pressed his cock against her, pushing but not entering. He felt her breasts pressed against his chest, heart thumping through the firm flesh, and the muscles at her flanks were twitching lightly.

"You never learned to suck a man that well in three days, even with the occasional man," he told her, his eyes fixed upon hers. She tried to turn her face away, but he wouldn't let her.

"I was... my family's shame. I tumbled a... young man when I was younger and I've always enjoyed sex. I had access to men of experience and they taught me."

He pressed the head of his cock into her and held it there, curious as to what her reaction would be. She exhaled and arched her back pressing her body up against him.

"They threw you out?"

"No. Not really. My father could never bring himself to that. Even with my behavior he always loved me, doted on me. He was disappointed, but said I had at least the sense to be discreet and to pick decent men. No, my family suffered a misfortune that left me without support."

"I sense more to that story," he told her, "and I see your unwillingness to discuss it more. So be it."

"Thank you," she told him.

She pushed her hips up against him, seeking to draw him deeper inside her.

"I enjoy sex," she said. "Women aren't supposed to. Pleasure is a sin, you know. But I've always enjoyed it, with the exception of the last several days with those coarse animals in William Port. Take some time with me, have a little care for my pleasure, be kind to me, and I'll give you everything you want; I'll do anything you want."

He thrust into her, burying himself inside her hot flesh. She gasped, throwing her head back, and then pressed her body against him with a satisfied moan. She wrapped her free leg around his ass and her arms around his back. Lifting her head she sucked at his neck as he began to slowly move within her.

"Like that," she whispered in a husky voice. "Just like that."

She ground her hips up into him with each slow thrust and Donovan felt his body trying to go faster. He kept it in check, however, and kept the pace, slowly doling out pleasure to her and to himself. He could feel every muscle in her body tensing when he drove into her, her flesh clung to his cock like wet silk and her lips were fastened to his neck. He pushed into her until he bottomed out and she whimpered, then he kept to the pace, rocking her body to rub her clitoris against his belly.

She took several gasping breaths as her body shook beneath him. He waited for a minute as she composed herself and then began to slowly pump into her. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him.

"More?" she whispered happily.

Donovan increased his tempo this time, moving at a slightly faster pace. She was looser and wetter so their bodies made squelching noises as they joined and parted. He dropped his mouth to her neck, sucking hard at her sweaty flesh. She moaned quietly in time to his thrusts and clenched herself around him each time he withdrew and relaxed to afford him entry each time he thrust home. In minutes she came again, screaming loudly into his chest.

Donovan withdrew from her trembling body and turned her over onto her belly, pulling her hips back to elevate them. Panting she looked back at him.

"Still?" she asked in a tone of surprise.

Donovan thrust into her and began to work her body back and forth on his shaft. His hands clasped tightly to her hips, slamming her ass back against her belly with a wet slapping sound. He kept this up until he felt that she was doing it for him and then leaned forward to run a hand beneath her belly. His fingers found her clitoris and circled down over it each time she pulled forward. She began to moan in time to his thrusts again, her anticipation writ large in her cries, and he reached his free hand down to her hair, pulling back on her head to arch her body. His fingers, dripping wet, circled her clitoris as he thrust hard into her, once, twice, again, and then came. She cried out and he felt her silken muscles spasming upon him.

She collapsed beneath him, body heaving as she tried to breathe. He rose from the bed and took a pair of manacles from the wall. Returning to the bed, he pulled her arms into the small of her back and attached them to her wrists. He crawled onto the bed and lay down next to her. She snuggled up to him, laying her head upon his shoulder.

"Where were you three days ago when I might have avoided the horrors of walking the streets of Williamport? Oh exactly like that, Captain. Just so. I will be very good for you," she panted.

"Quiet. Lick me clean and then go to sleep."

She shifted her body, awkwardly, and lowered her mouth to his semi-flaccid member. He watched her fade into the gathering darkness and pondered what he was going to do about the emotions he was feeling.

Midshipman Tran woke him for the Black Watch with a touch to his shoulder. Donovan acknowledged his summons by sitting bolt upright. Lady's head, resting on his belly, slid off and she stirred, adjusted her position, and continued sleeping. He dressed quickly in the darkness and went out of the cabin and up the stairs to the main deck and up another set to the poop deck.

"Report, Lieutenant," he said quietly.

"Course and speed are constant, Captain. The barometer continues to rise. No weather. All correct," Liu reported.

"Very well, set the Dark Watch."

"Set t'e Dark Watch aye, Captain," Bosun Hartz replied. "Check t'e rigging t'e lot of ye, one of t'ems loose because I loose' it myself."

"Gupta, take the wheel," Donovan ordered.

"Take the wheel aye, Captain," Gupta replied.

Donovan turned the wheel over to the man and went to make his first entry in the log book. The weather log was so named because it was exposed to the weather. There were two of them, one for each watch. Made of wooden boards with a recess for wax on each 'page' the weather logs were annotated at fifteen minute intervals and then copied into the ship's log at the conclusion of each watch. Donovan idly wondered whether Liu would wake Lady up when he struck a light in the cabin.

His entry completed he turned his attention to Midshipman Tran and the readings he had taken. He checked the younger man's work and found nothing wrong. He told the man so and sent him below. It was hotter below than above, but an officer could not sleep with the rest of the off-duty watch in the portside netting.

He took a walk about the ship for the next several bells, doing a general inspection and thinking. The woman was just a damned whore, when all was said and done, but... And that was what gave him pause. She was smart enough to make a good bargain and cool enough to do it in dangerous circumstances. Not a classical beauty in any sense, she was nonetheless attractive, pleasant to look at and a pleasure to listen to. She was also good in bed. His body desired her and his mind instinctively acted contrary to what his body wanted. He had long ago learned that the body desired naught but comfort and had steeped himself in the self discipline of denial.