The Hidden Man: A Phineas Starblower Adventure (Phineas Starblower Adventures) (37 page)

"Yes, by the swiftest route madam. So we shall make best speed across the Skagerack tomorrow before any fresh weather front reaches us."

"Very good Captain. Now gentlemen I see Mr. Starblower has given me a ton of work to do to make this ruse a success. I shall retire for the night now, and I advise you to do the same.” Turning to the Colonel she added, “I shall begin turning you into an acceptable Mr. Starblower first thing in the morning. I'll send Gopal down presently with some clothes for you to try on and one of Mr. Starblowers’ spare monocles. If you’re not used to them I understand you'll need to practice with it. And then we can...”

“Pardon me for interrupting madam but there is something more we must do now.” Phillips stated, thinking it would be a while yet before he or any of his officers got to bed.

“Oh?”

“Yes, I would like to inform the crew of what’s afoot. And I would like for yourself and the Colonel to join me. I also believe we’ve some good minds here and I would like to get some input from them. As you and the Colonel have both pointed out, we are moving into a rather uncertain situation.”

“Our Mission requires secrecy Captain Phillips!” Carstares all but snapped. “ I hardly think it appropriate to spread our business about the crew!”

“Indeed it does Sir.” Phillips retorted sharply right back at the man. Clearly the Colonel was still sore from his new role in the mission. But not thinking clearly to Jerard’s mind. “Consider this Sir” He held up his hand and counted off his points with his fingers.

“One, you yourself have pointed out that we cannot be certain that we are not being drawn into an even more elaborate trap. It is hardly fair to embroil civilians in such a matter without some consultation.”

Jerard glanced over to the still standing Tash. “I am constantly reminded that this is not a military ship, but more an extension of Mr. Starblower philosophy himself. Which leads to my second point. To portray that gentlemen you will need every man jack here on the ship, to treat you as such. Having them in on the mission goal can only further that. I’ve hardly known them long but they are stout fellows and will rally to the call if we trust them.” Out of the corner of his eye he caught Tash start to nod her head approvingly as if about to add something of her own.

“Lastly it was speculated that there was an insider feeding details to the opposition. When Mr D'Arcey brought that up another thought occurred to me. The Discretion is large enough to hide a stowaway, I determined a likely place or two with Nichols previously, I want the whole crew to be on the look out for anything out of the ordinary. And that Sir, means opening up the nature of our mission more fully to them.”

The Colonel's face was a mask of anger but he held it back, possibly out of respect for the lady present or possibly because in part Jerard was using Carstares' own observations as justification.

“Well if you really think totally necessary
Captain
...”

“I think its a capital idea!” Tash chimed in smiling broadly. “Shall I round them up for you?”

“No, thank you, Miss Tash. I believe it would be better if I handle this madam. It is important that as Captain I am seen to be in control of the situation. However, If the men are to back us up we need to present an united front. I propose the three of us meet with the officers in the passenger lounge in twenty minutes?”

“Of course Captain.” Tash murmured politely

Jerard moved to the door to see his guests out. Tash brushed by him with a smile and left a faint scent of exotic spice behind. Jerard inhaled the delicious scent, sweet and peppery at the same time. Carstares followed a little slower raising an eyebrow at Phillips but declining to comment on the bizarrely rapturous look the Captain’s face.

Closing the door behind them Phillips, shook himself and took a moment to pat a little water from his washbasin over his face. Small wonder he thought that in the early maritime days women had been all but banned from ships. They were so...delightfully distracting...especially when one was trying to get things done. Setting aside the thought he thumbed the speaking grill switch.

“Mr. Jones I want all the senior officers in the passenger lounge in fifteen minutes. No excuses and no questions.” He declared firmly remembering to release the call switch for Jones' acknowledgment.

“Aye Sir, senior crew to the Passenger lounge, fifteen minutes.” Came the tinny reply. To Jerard’s surprise the ebullient Welshman took him literally and made no further comment.

Straightening his uniform Phillips exited his cabin and made directly for the lounge where he began re-arranging the tables and chairs so they could face one side of the room. Nichols arrived shortly after and wordlessly joined in the process. Tash and the Colonel arrived next and took the offered seats either side of his own, as the rest of the men filed in looking curious and vaguely apprehensive.

When they were all present Tash got to her feet and quickly related the bizarre request Mr. Starblower had made of the Colonel and how she believed it would need all of them to help pull it off. Jerard watched the officers faces as she spoke; clearly they doted on the woman. As usual is seemed Tash was right, Mr Starblower was known to be eccentric, the crew must have gotten more used to it than he expected. Or so Jerard surmised from the exchange of bemused glances passed around at the revelation of the ruse.

Colonel Carstares went next and tersely explained how he wanted to change the nature of the pursuit. Despite Phillips' demand for honesty he evidently could not bring himself to speculate about the possibility of an information leak in the ministry. Very well then, Jerard thought and got to his feet to speak last.

"So there you have it gentlemen, the complete tale up to this point. And the reason we have decided to go directly to Aalborg and not bother with sea or coastal searches. We have to break this cycle of anticipation our quarry has set for us by some bold and unorthodox moves. Its a risk gentlemen no doubt about it, but fortune favors the bold. If you have any questions or observations of your own I want to hear them." He concluded looking pointedly to each of his officers in turn.

Nichols simply sat there looking at the reactions of his fellows, his eyes traveled the room and ended on Jerard. His first officer merely lifted his shoulders in a vague shrug.

Mr. Howell rolled his eyes briefly then sat back in his seat and shook his head but did not comment. Fred Randal shared a glance with Jones and looked like he was going to choke with laughter, but that was pretty close to his usual expression so Jerard ignored it. Aneurin Jones turned away from Fred with an angry look then addressed Phillips directly.

"So the Colonel taking the boss’s persona was Mr. Starblower’s own idea? Seems a bit, well I dun'no know, a bit forward to me. I know how much he likes his privacy an’ all." The Welshman commented, his eyes wandered briefly to Tash, who was sitting quietly composed on the Captain’s left.

Tash smiled back at the concerned man. “That he does Aneurin, but he is fiercely dedicated to his friends as you know, and this is evidently the best solution he could come up with after he injured his foot.”

“Any other questions, or ideas gentlemen?” Phillips asked once more. He really needed them to be thinking, not just blindly going along with whatever ‘Miss Tash’ wants. Luckily Fred spoke up next.

"Well, I can guess why they have tried so hard to get the good Doctor into Danish waters Captain."

"Go on Fred." Jerard said, relived that Fred had gotten the conversation moving where he wanted it.

"The Royal Navy, I presume, has filled the channel and the North Sea with ships on
interdiction
duty in response to this matter. Yes?”

“I don’t honestly know Fred. Colonel?” Jerard responded.

“Interdiction duty, hm... Most probably Sir. I suspect they will be calling it ‘Training Maneuvers’ for the public,
if
in fact they are there at all. However I don't see that it matters if they are there or not, I have no way to liaison with them.”

“Begging your pardon Sir, I wasn’t suggesting you do so” Fred stated impiously. “No, I was just trying to think it out from our oppositions point of view.”

“Get on with it Fred, what has that tricksy mind of yours come up with?” Jerard encouraged.

Randal grinned back at him and continued. “Alright Cap’n’, Britain has a great influence in the channel and in the North Sea, however our ability to make a showing in the Prussian dominated Baltic is much less at this time. Not to mention the diplomatic feather ruffling that would occur if we sent any kind of naval battle group through the Danish waters of the Kattegat then all the way out into the Baltic itself.”

Jerard and Carstares both nodded in agreement.

“So what I’m thinkin’ Sirs, if I was these bastards I’d be making for the Baltic sea post haste. No hugging the Western Danish coast, too near the blockade, the Royal Navy would scramble...”

Jerard cleared his throat loudly and glared at Fred Randal.

“Wot?” Fred said, obviously taken back by his commander's reaction.

“Mr. Randal, I would like to remind you that there is a lady present; the use of foul language will NOT be permitted.”

“OH! Begging your pardon ma’am! I meant no offense, I mean I would never....” Fred stammered his face was a blazing glory of red and freckles. He tugged on his forelock and quickly bowed his head continuing to mutter apologies.

“It’s quite alright Mr. Randal. I believe the very excellent point you were making eclipses any gaff you were unfortunate enough to make.” Tash said and paused and looked around the room before she continued. “I do understand this is a council of war of sorts and I pray you will all speak freely, if perhaps not so colorfully.” She smiled to soften her words and addressed Fred directly. “So Mr. Randall, I wish to understand your point, you believe that we would
not
be wasting time with a coastal search, rather than flying direct to Aalborg?”

Fred managed to regain his composure enough to look Tash in the eye. "Quite frankly yes, I believe we
should
do a bit of a search but only part way if you take my meaning.”

“No, Mr. Randal, I’m sorry, I don’t quite understand.” Tash replied soothingly “Could you please explain a bit further?.”

“If I was plotting a course through these waters from here Ma’am I’d not take the long hook through the Skagerakk straits and into the Kattegatt proper.”

“Hold up Fred.” Jerard commented, “in English please.”

Fred Randal looked a trifle abashed at his Captain. “Sorry Sir the Skagerak is the straits between Norway and Denmark y’see. While the Danes refer to the inner seaway between them and Sweden as the Kattegat. Aalborg is technically a port on the Kattegatt but what most people don’t realize is that the city is actually situated in an inland waterway channel. If I were sailing that ship and thinking about going to Germany I might be tempted to sail down the western coast of Denmark hoping to escape the patrols. If I saw one, then I’d divert into that same inland waterway channel, which is called the Thyboran. This handy little waterway is a known cut through from the North Sea through the upper end of Denmark and into the Kattegatt on the other side.”

“Oh I see” Said Tash, “So your thinking that there is a chance the Germans would make an attempt at gaining the North German ports but if that failed due to the presence of the Royal navy they could swiftly re-enter the interior of the Danish waters the...the...Katti-gatt via Aalborg?”

“That’s exactly it Ma’am. I have no opinion whether or not the bug...uh...er...kidnappers will set to port in Aalborg, but if they find the North sea is closed to them as I suspect. I strongly believe that they will then be going deeper into the Danish Archipelago as fast as they can before diving southward for Germany proper. Therefore it might make sense for them to sneak into Denmark itself via the inlet at Thyboran. From there they could either make port at Aalborg as the Colonel suspects or steam right on to the Kattagatt, down through the Danish archipelago. And from there directly to the Baltic proper. Where they would have their choice of Prussian ports. This is why I’m sayin’ Ma’am, Sirs that a coastal search as far as the Thyboran inlet makes some sense to me but any further an’ we’ll only run into a British frigate or two, not our villains”

"Well thought out Mr. Randal. I think that eliminates the German North Sea ports myself. Opinions gentlemen?" Phillips offered the idea to the rest of the table.

"Its a fair idea Sir." Howell returned. "Now if it were me, I'd stay in Danish territory all the way and not go to the Baltic at all. Running for a rendezvous with a German high seas fleet placed strategically in the Baltic proper seems all well, and logical, but frankly doesn't square with the way these fellows have operated so far."

Jerard looked at the quartermaster cum steward with fresh respect. "I actually agree Sir. The Germans have gone to great lengths to make this a covert operation, running right to a German warship with our kidnapped victim in tow, in addition to the very great possibility of British warships in pursuit, would create a stir far too damaging than the gain of the Doctor’s research."

Howell smiled. "Well I have been known to have a good idea now and again Captain. Besides, when in port I have to deal with my opposite numbers in the shops and commissaries. You might be surprised what gets discussed away from the Captain's High Table. Things like ,the Germans have been getting a bit uppity on the seas lately'..." He concluded a tad cryptically.

"What Jon is trying not to say Captain is he's a digger. A great digger-up of information, when he’s given the chance." Nichols drawled looking pointedly at the Steward.

"How do we know that the... the blaggards will stay at sea Captain? What are the odds that they’ll leave the seas and travel overland?" Jones asked.

Excellent Phillips thought they are thinking. It felt good to have the officers focused with them.

"The odds...” Jerard thought out loud. “Well for one, travel overland would be a great deal slower for them. But if they have become aware, or they have been informed, that we are pursuing them by air then overland might make sense as well. So Mr. Jones, what would you do if you were leading our villains in that case?”