Raiders of Gor (40 page)

captains of the council. Lastly, I was pleased, though astonished, to accept the

service of thirty-five ships of two of Port Kar's Ubars, twenty from the squat,

brilliant Chung, and fifteen from tall, long-haired Nigel, like a war lord from

Torvaidsland. These were all the ships that were left to these two Ubars after

the fires of En'Kara. None of the ships of the Ubars Eteocles or SuUius Maximus

had been pledged to the fleet, nor, of course, none of those of Henrius

Sevarius, under the command of his regent, Claudius, once of Tyros.

Had it not been for the finding of the Horne Stone of Port Kar, if one may so

speak, I doubt that we could have brought more than four or five hundred ships

against Cos and Tyros.

I snapped shut the glass of the builders and descended the narrow rope ladder to

the deck of the Dorna.

I had scarcely set foot on the deck when I saw, near the mast well, the boy

Fish.

“I told you,” I cried, “to remain ashore!”

“Beat me later,” said be, “Captain.”

I turned to an officer. “Give him a sword,” I said.

“Thank you, Captain,” said the boy.

I strode to the stern castle of the Dorna.

“Greetings, Oar-master,” said I.

“Greetings, Captain,” said be.

I climbed the stairs past the helm deck to the captain's deck of the stem

castle.

I looked out.

Astern there were, each separated by about one hundred yards, four tarn ships of

Port Kar, and behind this four, there was another, and behind that another, and

behind that another. The Dorna was thus leading a relatively close formation of

sixteen tarn ships. This was one of fifty such task forces, consisting

altogether of eight hundred tam ships. The attacking fleet, in order to provide

its net to prevent escape from Port Kar, had overextended its lines. Their ships

were only four deep and widely spaced. Our sets of sixteen ships, each in a

position not to interfere with but support one another, could cut such a line

easily.We would cut it in fifty places. As soon as the ships broke through the

line they would spread in predesignated pairs, attacking where possible from the

rear, but always conjointly. Each pair would single out a given ship by signals

and as it maneuvered to meet one the other could make its strike. The balance,

the great majority of ships in the joint fleet, thus, would remain, at least for

the time, unengaged, apart from the battles. Once more it would not be so much a

question of absolute numbers of ships as concentrating superior numbers at

strategic points. With their lines cut in fifty places, for no extended handful

of tarn ships, part of a great line, could resist a close-set formation of

sixteen tarn ships, I hoped that many of the ships would turn to face the

attackers, now in their rear. Each of my fifty sets of attacking tam ships would

be followed, by some half of an Ahn, by another pair of my tarn ships, which,

hopefully, would be able to take a number of these come-about ships of Cos and

Tyros from the rear. I recalled the Doma, under similar circumstances, had done

great damage. The original pairs, of the fifty sets of sixteen tarn ships, after

cutting the line and fighting, would, if possible, regroup with their sixteen

and recut the line again, this time moving toward Port Kar, and repeat these

tactics. I had, however, little hope that we could successfully, in many cases,

cut the line more than once. By that time the ships of Cos and Tyros would have

concentrated in their numbers and shortened their lines. After the first cutting

I expected a free combat, except insofar as the designated pairs of ships could

continue to work together. The predesignation of fighting pairs, inciden- tally,

and my injunctions to refuse to engage singly if possible, even withdrawing from

equal odds, I am told, was new in Gorean naval warfare, though the pairing

principle, on a more informal basis, is as old as the triangle tactic, which may

be remembered from the en- gagement of my nondiversion ships with the ships

which had been left behind to guard the treasure fleet. I had also arranged

signals whereby my ships, those of my task forces and others, might, if the

pairs became separated, switch partners, thus retaining the possibility of

pair-at- tacks on single ships even if the members of the original pairs should

become separated.

The first two waves of my attack consisted, thus, of fifty task forces of

sixteen tam ships apiece and, following each of the task forces, at an interval

of half an Ahn, another pair of tam ships. This meant the first wave consisted

of eight hundred ships, and the second of one hundred.

This left me approximately one hundred and eighty-five tam ships, and the large

numbers, fourteen hundred, of round ships.

I signaled that the sixteen tam ships with me should proceed. They pulled away,

acknowledging with flags my message. The Doma dropped back.

i would have preferred to go with them, but, as a commander, I could not.

My third wave, following the second by an Ahn, would consist of a long extended

line of round ships, the fun fourteen hundred. It was my hope that by the time

they arrived at the engagement the fleet of Cos and Tyros, responding to my

first two waves, would have shortened their lines and concentrated their ships.

Thus the fourteen hundred round ships might, hopefully, be able to envelop their

formation, surround it, and attack on the flanks, with their not inconsiderable

barrage of flaming javelins, heated stones, burning pitch and showers of

crossbow bolts. Further, when the ships of Cos and Tyros turned upon these round

ships I did not think they would find them common foes. Each was rowed either by

citizens of Port Kar or by eager slaves, armed and uncbained, that they might,

if they chose, fight for their freedom and the Home Stone of a city. Only slaves

whose origin was of Cos or Tyros, or their allies, had been taken from the ships

and left behind, chained in the warehouses of Port Kar. Besides having large

numbers of unchained, armed men in their rowing holds, these round ships,

moreover, were, below decks, and in the turrets and the stem and stern castles,

crowded with armed, able-bodied men, citizens of Port Kar who had swarmed

aboard, that they might fight. There were crews on these ships armed with

grappling irons and each of the ships carried two or more of the spiked planks.

These are actually like gangplanks, some flve feet in width, to be fastened at

one end to the round ship and intended to be dropped, with their heavy spiked

ends, into the deck of an enemy ship. The round ship has a substantially higher

freeboard area than the ram-ship, which is lower, and so the spiked plank is

feasible. Commonly, of course, it is the round ship, with her normally small,

free crews, which attempts to evade boarding. But now I expected, to the

surprise of attacking ram-ships which might attempt to board them, they would

find themselves boarded, and their decks over- whelmed with swarms of armed,

free men. We had crowded far more armed men into each of these round s than

would be carried even in the normal crew of a heavy-class tam ship. The common

strategy with a round ship is to shear and board, because, normally, one wishes

not to sink the ship but take it as a prize. This strategy, however, we expected

would work, under the present condi- tions, to our advantage. And if the tarn

ships of Cos and Tyros should use their rains, we hoped that, in the mo- ments

it would take to disengage the ram, the grappling irons and the spiked planks

might be brought into play. Meanwhile, of course, the numerous bowmen, and the

men at the springals, catapults and onagers would be keeping up a heavy fire,

the more devastating, the closer the distance. It was my hope that my round

ships, with their large, free crews, and their artillery, and their boarding

potentialities, might be a match for even heavy-class tarn ships. In effect,

rather than do sea battle, they would attempt to close with the enemy and, via

the rails and the spiked planks, board her and fight what would be, for most

practical purposes, a land engagement at sea.

My fourth wave consisted of fifty tarn ships, instructed not to lower their

masts, which would follow the round ships by an Ahn. Coming on the heels of the

round ships, with their masts high, these, I assumed, might well be taken for

more round ships, for the mast of a tarn ship is always lowered before battle.

Accordingly I hoped the tarn ships of Cos and Tyros, seeing the sails, would

think their new enemies were single-masted round ships, of which there are some

types, and either misjudge their speeds or rush on them unwarily, finding out,

too late, that they were plunging headlong toward swift, maneu- verable, deadly,

ram-carrying tam ships. These ships would then, when free to do so, support the

round ships in their battle, destroying tarn ships which might, unaware of the

new danger, be attempting to close with them.

My fifth wave, following the fourth by half an Ahn, consisted of two fleets of

forty tarn ships apiece, one attacking from the north and the other from the

south. I did not think I had the ships to make this pincer attack truly

devastating, but, in the turmoil of a battle at sea, without the clearest

understanding of the position and numbers of the enemy, such flanking attacks

might have unusual psychological value. The Admiral of Cos and Tyros, Chenbar I

supposed, could not know the exact numbers and disposition of our forces.

Indeed, we our- selves, until early this morning, had not a full comprehension

of our plans, or, indeed, even the ships we would have to carry them out. I

hoped that Chenbar might assume that many of the ships which had fled from Port

Kar might have come about and decided to join the battle, or he might infer that

he had, before he could ascertain the ships involved in the flanking attacks,

seriously mis- judged our numbers. The flanking attack, of course, was mounted

as late as it was because, until the fleet of Cos and Tyros had shortened their

lines and concentrated their ships, to meet our earlier moves, it would have

been impractical. Hopefully, the terror of being taken in the flank might cause

many captains, or even Chenbar himself, to have the fleet put about, and, if

so', this would make their ships the most vulnerable to our own.

We saw my second-wave ships sweep past, the pairs scattering themselves, each

pair following its assigned task force.

The Dorna rested, rocking on the waters, her oars inboard.

I kept in reserve one hundred and five tam ships, which, simultaneously with the

fifth wave, that of the flanking fleets, would draw within signal distance of

the Dorna.

“Shall I lower our mast, Captain?” asked one of my officers.

“No,” I told him.

I would wish to use its height to observe, as well as I might, the battle.

It was fall, and the wind was cold whipping across the water. Clouds scudded

across the sky. In the north there was a darkness lying like a line against the

horizon. We had had a frost in the morning.

“Furl the sail,” I told an officer.

He began to cry orders to the seamen.

Soon seamen were clambering out on the long sloping yard and, assisted by others

on the deck, hauling on brail ropes, were tying in the long triangular sail.

I studied the surface of the water to windward.

“What shall we do now?” asked an officer.

“Lay to,” I told him.

“What will you do now?” he asked.

“I am going to sleep,” I told him. “Call me in half an Ahn.”

After some sleep I felt much refreshed.

Upon awakening I was served some bread and cheese in my cabin.

I came out on the deck.

The wind was very cold now, and, the Doma shook in it, the windward waters

striking at her hull. We had both the stern and stem anchors down.

I was given my Admiral's cloak and I flung this over my shoulder, my left, that

to which the strap carrying the glass of the builders was attached. I then

thrust some strips of dried tarsk meat in my belt. I called the lookout down

from the basket, that I might climb to his place. In the basket I wrapped the

admiral's cloak about me, began to chew on a piece of tarsk meat, as much

against the cold as the hunger, and took out the glass of the builders.

I examined the state of the battle.

Tarsk meat tends to be salty. There is usually a water gourd kept at the

masthead, for the lookout. I uncorked the gourd and took some of the water.

There had been a light film of ice in it. Some of the crystals melted in my

mouth.

The line of darkness in the north was now a margin of darkness.

I turned my attention again to the battle.

As I watched, the long, strting-out line of round ships of Port Kar moved past,

tacking, scarcely using their oars, their small, triangular storm sails beaten

from the north. The lateen-rigged galley, whether a round ship or a ram-ship,

although it can furl its sail, cannot well let out and take in sail; it is not a

square-rigged craft; accordingly she carries different sails for different

conditions; the yard itself, from the mast, is lowered and hoisted, sails being