Enlightened Empire

Chapter 26 Fake Pirates

Although the world had been turned on its head it was hard to tell, out here in the open sea. The only change was that the deep blue of the sky, sprinkled with the white of the clouds, had switched positions with the dark blue sea, sprinkled with the white crowns of crashing waves. Atau found the only real indication of his changed perspective where blue merged into blue, right along the horizon. There, he spotted the brown of an enemy vessel, bouncing up and down with the movements of the water. Annoyed, Atau looked down the vessel’s hull, down the mast and towards the flag which waved in the wind.

*More Bornish, great. They really never give up on a grudge, do they?*

After he had confirmed the enemy’s identity and position, Atau put down the telescope again. Thus, the sky and sea flipped once more and the world returned to its natural order.

"Orin!" the captain shouted while he put away the telescope. "We’ll adjust the course due south. We should be polite and make some way for the Bornish vessels. Let’s travel five leagues from the coast, that should be enough to slip past whatever they consider detection. Inform the rest of the fleet as well, make sure none of the ships stay behind."

"Aye Aye captain," his first mate replied with verve. "Those Bornish are as tenacious as they’re stupid. Don’t they understand that they won’t catch us by doing the same thing again and again?"

Frank laughter returned from the captain.

"It’s not like they can change their approach any. Anyways, I’ll have to check on the maps and work out our new course. If you reach five leagues before I’m done you can cut the sails and wait. You have the command until I come back." His orders given, Atau marched down from the ship’s forecastle and over the main deck. As he made his way towards the captain’s quarters under the quarter deck, the captain thought about all the needless troubles caused by the Bornish fleet.

It had been almost two years since the Cities’ Alliance had signed their peace treaty with the Kingdom of Borna. Throughout this time, the Bornish had kept to their end of the bargain, but not out of a sense of honor. Rather, breaking contracts between two sovereign states would have gained them a reputation as oath breakers. Unlike the politically more free-form Medalan lords of Atau’s homeland, the Arcavians really took their contracts seriously. Breaking the agreement would not only upset the free cities, but isolate Borna among the other lordships. Even with all of these restraints in place, Duke Herak had never stopped in his attempt to repay them for his humiliation.

Although nominally, the Bornish had no right to intercept a vessel from Etra, Atau knew the purpose of those ships on the horizon very well. Once they came close enough to spot them, the ships would lower their Bornish flag and pretend to be pirates. This way, the Bornish army could attack them without any repercussions. After all, the sunk Fastgrade fleet would simply be victim to an unfortunate pirate attack. The great Duke Herak would never be in cahoots with these outlaws, so it would be easy for him to avert all blame should they be caught and sunk by the Bornish navy.

He had seen it before, which was why Atau would knew all about their tricks. The last time he had returned from one of their major expeditions, they had also been attacked by fake pirates from Balit. In the end, the altercation had been a competition in arrogance. Even though Corco had left all these incredible tools at his disposal, Atau had still ignored his advice. With the help of the telescope, he could find enemies long before they could spot his own fleet, while the ethanol compass and knowledge of geometry and mathematics helped him plot a safe course around the enemy. Those were the reasons Corco had always asked Atau to play to their strengths and avoid conflict wherever he could. Even so, in the face of the shameless Bornish, Atau had decided to face the fake pirates in open combat. It had been a disaster.

The only reason he had survived to tell the tale was that the Bornish attackers had been even more arrogant than Atau himself. Not only had they sent a mere three ships to intercept them, they had also made the foolish decision to refrain from a proper attack on sight. Their minds set on the valuable cargo of the enemy fleet, the fake pirates had waited for the merchant ships to get closer, intent on their surrender. They had been safe in the knowledge that the Fastgrade ships had no proper armaments to return fire with. They had been wrong.

A broadside from point blank range with their cannon batteries had been enough for Atau’s crew to turn the tide of battle in their favor. Although the Bornish reacted fast and began to board the Fastgrade ships, the crippled Bornish ships had been far too slow to follow the modern hulls of Atau’s fleet once the Bornish threatened to overpower them in melee combat. In the end, they had retained all of their ships, but many good men had lost their lives that day. It had been a painful lesson for the captain, another one among so many he would never be able to forget.

Deep in thought, Atau entered his quarters and went straight to the table in its center. As he looked over the maps spread out before him, he thought back to all the exotic places they had been to over the passing months. This time, they had made it all the way to Akchalla, almost halfway around the world. Not the actual world of course, but simply the collection of landmasses which formed what Corco had called ’the known world’.

Although Atau had heard of rumors that Eniila had plans for another expedition across the sea, to truly sail around the world and reach Chutwa, the captain of the Homeward didn’t have much interest in it. From Corco’s teachings, he knew that the world was round, and even knew how to calculate its size, but that only made his curiosity dwindle further. As far as he understood it, the Great Sea between Arcavia’s east and Chutwa’s west would be far too large to cross with the laughable expeditions Eniila had planned. Even if they sailed along a perfect route, they would fail just like the first expedition had. Not to mention, with their primitive navigational tools, they would never keep to a straight course, waste far too much time, and ultimately succumb to hunger, thirst, or the force of the great waves.

Much rather than Eniila’s pointless attempt at glory, Atau wanted to try his luck at a far more realistic feat. It wouldn’t be a journey around the world, but it wouldn’t be far off. Atau’s plan was a full trip around all the known continents, and Corco had been nothing but supportive towards his idea. From the Medala Empire’s eastern coast, he would sail all the way to Arcavia, around the southern coast, up past Eniila, out of Arcavia, past Akchalla, Guvalin and Chutwa, all the way back to Medala’s west, back to the root of the world.

Not only would this journey bring Atau infinite glory, it would also let him play his part in Corco’s great undertaking. With a sigh, Atau looked away from the maps for a moment and pinched his eyes shut. Since their last defeat, the Bornish had only increased their presence in Arcavia’s south. They had been chased by ships all along the southern coastlines. Even though their technical advantages had made evasion an easy task, the captain himself had needed to stay awake for most of the last few days. Much to his dismay, no one else on board could read the maps and calculate their routes like Atau could. Luckily, one of the great discoveries of their most recent journey had helped him greatly in surviving the sleepless nights.

Instead of falling asleep while he was hunkered over the maps, Atau turned to a pot filled with a thin, brown liquid. Eager, the captain grabbed the ceramics and filled the simple cup to the side.

*Only half a cup, no reason to spill the precious cargo.*

With his eyes closed, the captain swallowed the bitter liquid. He really didn’t enjoy the taste all that much, especially cold like this, but Atau knew that very soon, he would feel fresh and energized, ready to take on his duties again. ’Coffee’, that was what they called the wonder drink on the northern coasts, where the coffee plants were native. This had been one of the hauls of their most recent journey, one of the plants Corco had told him to stay on the lookout for. Sure enough, his cousin had been right once again. Soon after they had landed in Akchalla, they had found the drinkers of the energizing beverage. As far as the captain was concerned, this drink alone made their whole journey more than worth it, especially if they could cultivate the plants back home.

While Atau waited for the coffee to take effect, he glanced around his captain’s quarters, stuffed to the brim with other marvels from across the world. Though of course, Atau had no idea what half of these things were, or whether or not they were useful at all. Corco had specifically left him with a unique book for his travels. Unlike all the other texts his cousin had written over the past few years, it was not one meant for teaching. Neither was it a way for Corco to retain his memories. Instead, the book listed all the useful plants, animals, stones and metals the prince could come up with, together with the places Atau would be most likely to encounter them. Throughout their expeditions around the continents, Atau had always kept it close-by, to check the local markets and local wildlife for hidden treasures.

However, there was a small flaw in Corco’s plan: For all of his virtues, his cousin was a dreadful artist. Identifying plants and animals based on his drawings proved to be a challenge far greater than the Bornish ships. His descriptions were of little help as well, often getting lost in pointless details as he wrote down whatever he could remember about the species in question. That was the reason Atau had ended up with his cabin full of boxes.

He looked down into one of them and saw all those stones inside, in all shapes and colors one could imagine. They had been separated by wooden boards and labeled, so they would not forget where they had come from. Among all of their ’treasures’, the stones were the worst of the lot. At least with the plants, Atau had had a vague idea of what his cousin wanted from him, but with the minerals, Corco’s descriptions were practically useless. In the end, the captain had resigned himself to picking samples from every single place he had landed on and cataloging all of them. He would have his cousin sort out this mess once their fleet returned to Etra.

Of course Atau could have just left the bothersome task be and focus on the journey of discovery, but for the most part, this was the entire point of their expeditions: To provide their homeland with as many new sources of wealth and knowledge as he could. His great journey around the continents would bring him not only prestige, but also hand Yakuallpa unprecedented riches, making himself immortal within the eyes of the Yaku, a true hero of the people. He wasn’t sure whether it was from the cold coffee in his stomach or the warm thoughts in his head, but by now he felt fresh enough to tackle the calculations for their new route.

As Atau bent over his work once again, his thoughts returned to those Bornish ships on the horizon. It had been close to two years since the battle at Etra. Throughout that time, Borna had never once stopped harassing them. Atau knew as well as anyone in southern Arcavia the reason for this persistence. Due to his connections with the king and Balit’s role as a military harbor, Duke Herak held personal command over most of the Bornish fleet. After his defeat, he had tried his best to make their lives as miserable as his own. At this point, Atau just hoped that Corco’s trap would spring soon, and rid them all of the nuisance. By the time he returned home to Medala, to set sail on his great journey, there would be no more need to hide, not from anyone.