As soon as he was standing on the Calypso's deck the captain squared his hat, gave his swordbelt a twitch and looked around him. It was a slow, calculating stare, and although the last of the light had almost gone, Ramage sensed that the Spaniard had not missed much, the dirty, gritty decks, the untidy ropes, the dark stains on the planks ... At the moment he was obviously trying to determine which of the dozens of men standing round was the leader of the mutineers.
"Que pasa?" he demanded.
Ramage stepped forward and gave a clumsy salute which the Spaniard did not bother to acknowledge. "You speak English, sir?"
"A little."
"Well, sir, me and my mates . . . you see, we took the ship and -"
Ramage stopped as Stafford and Rossi came up from below with lanterns, one in each hand.
"Where j'yer want 'em, brother?" Stafford asked the Spaniard, the complete mutineer addressing everyone as his equal.
The Spanish captain gestured towards the quarterdeck. "Aye, aye, sir! " Ramage said quickly, leading the way aft to the ladder. "Bring them up here, brothers."
Rossi put one lantern on the binnacle and another on top of the capstan; Stafford put a third on the binnacle and continued holding the fourth.
"Now, sir, " Ramage said in an ingratiating voice, "may I present the committee -"
"Committee?"
"Yes, sir. When we took the ship the men elected a committee. Three of us to run the ship. Make decisions, and things like that."
"I understand. You are the leader?"
"No, sir, there are three of us. Me - Nicholas Ramage, sir. And this here is brother Southwick, and here is brother Aitken."
"This 'brother', I do not understand it. You have different names; how can you be brothers?"
"It's a sort of... well, sir, " Ramage said, careful to keep the ingratiating note in his voice, "a greeting, like 'Mister', only it-"
"I do not care for this 'brothers', " the captain interrupted. "I have taken command of this ship. What is her name?"
"The Calypso, sir; she's French-built and -"
"I want the ship's documents. Signal book, log . . ."
Ramage held up his hands. "I'm sorry, sir, we couldn't save the papers -"
"What happened to them?"
"The officers, sir. You see, before we could take control, the officers - the First Lieutenant it was - threw the bag over the side."
"What bag?"
"The bag - a bag with a lead weight in it. The one they kept all the papers in. Sunk it, he did, before -"
"Your men, " the Spaniard interrupted. "How many?"
"Two hundred and four left, sir."
"Show me round the ship."
With that he gestured to Rossi and Stafford to pick up lanterns and began to walk round the quarterdeck. He inspected the binnacle, the capstan, the wheel and then the guns. He paused from time to time and Ramage saw how the sharp eyes noted the pieces of food in the scuppers, the grease spots on the deck, and then the barrel of rum and the mugs beside it. The Spaniard stopped by a bloodstain and told Rossi to hold the lantern lower, but he made no comment.
Ramage cursed the lanterns: the light had destroyed his night vision, yet he had to know where the Santa Barbara was. The Spaniard had been on board about ten minutes - and already part of the plan was breaking down: apart from the three Spanish seamen and the two lieutenants, the captain had not brought more men on board. Ramage had expected that all the Spanish seamen from the Jocasta would stream on board the Calypso, where everyone was ready to seize them. The groups of British seamen apparently lounging around on the main deck were in fact all near piles of cutlasses; most of them had pistols and loaded muskets ready. But the Spanish seamen were still on board the Jocasta; it had not yet occurred to the Spanish captain that he must take control of the Calypso and the Jocasta’s men were - judging by those now idly spitting over the side and walking away from the bulwark - rapidly losing interest in the proceedings.
Ramage sensed that at this moment he risked losing control of the situation. Because his plan for seizing the Spanish seamen had collapsed, the advantage could easily swing to the Spanish captain without the man realizing it. Surprise, he thought to himself; I must get this fellow off balance. He walked over to him and said insolently: "Sir, the men have not had their dinner yet."
"They must wait."
"But, sir, the committee agreed that all meals should be piped on time and -"
"The committee! Caramba, I command now! Tell your committee that! I want all the men paraded here, now. Give the order! "
If one part of a plan goes adrift, Ramage thought bitterly, another soon follows. The men must stay where they are; that was vital. The problem was that the Spaniard was too confident: Ramage had underestimated him. He should have sent his men swarming on board to take control the moment the Calypso came alongside, but instead he was walking round making a leisurely inspection by lantern light. And all the time the Santa Barbara was getting into position in the darkness and waiting; Wagstaffe was watching for the signal.
Aitken was close and the Spanish captain was striding away towards the quarterdeck ladder, the gold lace on his uniform glinting in the light of Rossi's lantern. The three Spanish seamen remained on guard at the gangway.
"Can you see the brig?" Ramage hissed at Aitken.
"I just caught sight of her five minutes ago coming clear of the channel, but I haven't seen her since. These damned lanterns .. ."
Aitken was tense - Ramage could detect that from his clipped voice. The young Scot knew that the success of the whole venture was at this very moment in the balance: one wrong word to the Spanish captain and it would fail; instead of losing the Jocasta, the Spanish would gain the Calypso.
"Captain! " Ramage called.
The Spaniard stopped and turned. "Come here, " he said coldly, and then went on walking up to the quarterdeck.
Ramage braced himself. Insolent self-assurance, that was what he had to convey in the dim light thrown by the lanterns, and he had only a dozen paces in which to achieve it. Just enough to provoke the man, to cause sufficient anger to cloud his judgment and make him act pettishly.
Now he was standing in front of him on the quarterdeck, staring him straight in the eye: "Me and my mates want our dinner."
Ramage deliberately slurred the words and the Spaniard, provoked by the tone although he could not fully understand what was said, snapped his finger to attract one of the lieutenants as he said: "Speak slowly. What did you say?"
"Me - and - my - mates - want - our - dinner. Now."
The lieutenant hurried up the ladder and stood waiting. "Send the men to quarters, " the captain said in Spanish, careful to keep his voice casual. "Load and run out all the guns on the larboard side. We might have trouble with these men."
"Brother Ramage, " Aitken said urgently in the darkness. "Brother Ramage - brother Wagstaffe says he's ready for dinner."
Like the tumblers of a lock clicking as the key turned, Ramage assessed the significance of the captain's brief order to the Spanish lieutenant: the captain was not confident, and he was stupid; he had boarded the Calypso with only two lieutenants and three seamen - because he had not considered there was any danger - and left the Jocasta completely unprepared: until the lieutenant shouted the captain's order the frigate was defenceless, the men gossiping on deck like idlers in a town plaza, not a gun loaded nor a pistol ready.
"Brother Jackson and you, Staff and Rosey, " Ramage said conversationally, making the lieutenant pause for a moment, "stop our brothers here from shouting."
Two lanterns were put down on the deck and suddenly there was a blur of movement. The lieutenant gave a great gasp, struggling for air, and the captain suddenly collapsed like a rag doll dropped by a child. A moment later the lieutenant fell beside him, seeming curiously bulky. Then Ramage saw that Jackson had knocked out the captain with the butt of a pistol while Rossi had seized the lieutenant from behind, an arm round his neck and throttling him. Both men had fallen to the deck and Stafford had knelt down, seized the lieutenant's head and banged it on the deck. In the silence that followed the other lieutenant down at the gangway began calling plaintively: "Que pasa?"