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AU - A Lifetime Ago
Nov. 13th, 2022 04:03 pmThe ship was in his sights. He'd heard it was loaded with cargo, ripe for the taking. The Provocateur closed in, full sails bringing her in close.
And then there was a tremendous explosion. The entire side of the hull blew out and she began to take on water. The captain shouted orders and pirates scrambled.
Bond had a hard and fast rule. Always take on survivors. If he had any say, the sea would claim no more than she had to. It was a lesson he'd learned from the captain who'd saved him as a boy.
By the time his ship reached the wreckage, there was only some flotsam and jetsam. The men poked at the corpses to check for life. And then one called Ho and they dropped a boat to go rescue a lone boy clinging to a door. On their way back, a sailor pulled a tied leather book from the wreckage. Bond would give him extra rum for the manifest.
Their doctor saw to the half drowned boy while Bond sipped tea and read through the waterlogged book.
Loaded with cargo indeed.
Children.
Dozens of children, bound for the mines across the water.
With a heavy heart, Bond went to where the boy hung in a hammock, blankets wrapped around him to warm him from the icy embrace of the sea. He stood over him, thinking not of the cargo of slaves, but of the day he'd awoken to the concern of the man who'd saved him from death.
And then there was a tremendous explosion. The entire side of the hull blew out and she began to take on water. The captain shouted orders and pirates scrambled.
Bond had a hard and fast rule. Always take on survivors. If he had any say, the sea would claim no more than she had to. It was a lesson he'd learned from the captain who'd saved him as a boy.
By the time his ship reached the wreckage, there was only some flotsam and jetsam. The men poked at the corpses to check for life. And then one called Ho and they dropped a boat to go rescue a lone boy clinging to a door. On their way back, a sailor pulled a tied leather book from the wreckage. Bond would give him extra rum for the manifest.
Their doctor saw to the half drowned boy while Bond sipped tea and read through the waterlogged book.
Loaded with cargo indeed.
Children.
Dozens of children, bound for the mines across the water.
With a heavy heart, Bond went to where the boy hung in a hammock, blankets wrapped around him to warm him from the icy embrace of the sea. He stood over him, thinking not of the cargo of slaves, but of the day he'd awoken to the concern of the man who'd saved him from death.
