1942

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5. January

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“A Cranmore will come when your need is dire” -Written Nicodemus Piper mid 1700’s

 

The old words that are known to every sailor and how they give hope to them are playing in my mind. They are part of my family history, legacy, myth, and the curse. Every child in our family is born with the knowledge of it. And if they ever doubt it, it won’t last long. I have to admit that we sometimes perk it more, but never so much that it isn’t unbelievable or that it would jeopardise our secrets. I have never known where it comes from. The reason for us to be at sea, on the move or stay in the shadows, use names that aren’t our bloodlines. It is like there is always something going on, some undercurrent that we should know, but can’t get to it. Maybe it is lost over the time, faded in the past, if it never was there, but here we stand. One who is called the Heart. Around it is the Blood and the Family, who is the first defence line around this all.

 

“When the Heart cries, Blood will answer. When the need is dire, the Family will come, because the Heart must survive.” -Also written by Nicodemus Piper mid 1700’s

 

THE PART OF THE JOURNAL OF JONATHAN THOMAS PORTER 1887

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     I remember that page that my father had written in his journal. I also remember the scribbling that had come to be on the corner of that page. It read only one word “Why?!” It had written more shaky hand, but definitely my father's. Whatever had happened between that analytic ponder and that desperate question had always made me fear the answer, but what had happened to me during that phone call, that vision had given me the certainty that Hallie would be alright.

    Still, it took almost a week before they found Warlock and, surprisingly, Hallie and two of the plane’s pilots were alive onboard her. Maybe that unknown man, Piper, had known what he was writing. 

    Ten days later I’m in my office when Daniel Cole, Warlock’s first officer and Hallie’s right hand, bursts in without knocking and almost towing Mary Willard behind him. 

    “You can’t just go in like that!” I hear Mary’s breathless, angry shout when she misses Cole by five steps.

    Behind her comes Alex, who pats Mary’s arm soothingly and says to her, “I will handle this”

    Mary, who looks lost for a second, makes up her mind quickly, and asks from me “Sir?”

    I almost laugh at the comical scene, but when I see Cole’s cold blue eyes turn to nail Mary down, I say hastily, “It is alright Mary.” 

    She nods, not giving in to the fear that I see in her eyes when Cole’s gaze reaches her, and I don’t blame her. Something in Warlock’s exo makes people react to him like that, with fear.

    “So, I’m here,” Daniel Cole spats out when Alex has closed the door and Cole turns those icy eyes to me. I feel how the open hostility radiates from Cole's every word. 

    “Manners,” Alex says. He stays close to the door, behind Cole. I don’t know if this is to keep Cole from leaving or for my protection.

    Cole does not waste time when he spins around to look at Alex, who does not flinch at the younger man’s scrutiny.

    “We have been threatened to be sunk if we would not come here when skipper stays in London” When he says that he turns his gaze back to me “We were the ones who found her when you were just sitting in your asses and doing nothing.”

    Ah, now I start to understand. Fleet Admiral’s ships must have escorted Warlock here. And Hallie staying in London, it probably was the only thing that they could have done. The Warlock had been literally escorted here by a gunpoint.

    “Is she alright?” I ask.

   “When will we get the skipper back?” Cole grunts back and crosses his arms. He is wearing a thick dirty grey pullover and worn trousers that have black stains on them. The movement makes his belt that he has, show the knife he’s carrying. He looks more like a salty fisherman than the navy’s finest standing there like that. Tall, lean, back straight from defiance and speaking with a hint of a cornish accent. I try to remember what Cole’s sentence was. A murder, stabbing if I remember right. I sigh. Cole is a tough bone. All men in Hallie’s crew are. Not the whitest Navy would be the term, and they don’t much like the gold on the sleeves, even though they know who I am, and this might be the first time that I’m alone with Cole, without Hallie and this start does not promise good.

    So I try again, seeking any lifeline that there might be for me, “Did Commander Ransome give any orders to you?”

    Cole hesitates but gives an answer. “No. We were separated. She was taken to a hospital.”

   “But is she alright?” I ask, but Cole’s stubbornness comes back, so I explain. “This was not done by my orders. There is a reason for your escorts and Warlock being back here. The first is that she needs repairs”

     Cole grunts “Why then?”

    “Because you have become to be a too big thorn in the German arse,” Alex blurts out behind Cole's back, but it does not make Cole relent.

    “Alex is right,” And explain what Alex had so rudely already told “Admiralty has given an announcement that Warlock was sunk by German U-boat and for the time being, to germans to believe it, Warlock has to keep a low profile”

    Cole nods and does not look at least surprised. It is more like he acknowledged that finally, someone understood the situation, that they had already known “What about skipper?”

    I grinch. This is a touchy subject. Not that I either like Hallie’s situation. Luckily Alex saves me “You went against admiralty’s orders, Cole. What did you think to happen?”

    “There were no orders when we left,” Cole says. In that he is right, but just by half an hour and I don’t even bother to ask if it would have mattered.

    Alex pushes himself off the door where he has been leaning. “Tell him what he asks Cole, and stop being so stubborn. He is on our side. He’s Hallie’s uncle, for god sake, and you have been working under him for almost two years now.”

     “And what good that has done to us,” Cole says, still keeping his ground.

     Alex lets out a tired sigh and sits down. “Stop being stupid. Your skipper can take care of herself. You are here now. So the least you could do is keep your ship and crew together so that there is something for her to come back to.”

     That is the last thing I would say to Cole is that he is stupid, and I don’t think many have survived by saying that. Cole stares at Alex but then relents. Alex’s reasoning is not so far fetched. If Cole and Warlock’s crew are going to make this harder, it could lead to actions that do not promise good. Not at this end, or Hallie’s.

    “She’s alive,” Cole grunts finally.

     Alex shook his head and pushes on. “More, Cole. What happened and how did you find her.”

    “And how did you know that she was shot down?” I add.

    “Who says she was shot down?” Cole asks.

     I take a quick look at Alex. I did not tell him about what I saw, and Cole’s question perks up Alex's radar too.

    “Yes, I would like to know that too”

    Damn. How quickly this turned another way around and I know I’m acting childish when I say “You first.”

    Cole, who does not miss the turn either, says “We knew” His cold blue eyes look at me as he lifts his chin as he says it.

    This time I know that Alex will back him and not me. This is about the oath, and Cole stands on steady ground. He is the Blood.

    “So did I” I snap back. Eye for an eye Cole I think, and for that, I get an interesting change in him.

    There is a surprise in his eyes and then understanding. Then something else. Hesitation and then trust? I don’t think so. I could not get that with my act, but all I know is that he made a decision as his demeanour relaxes.

    “It took almost 48 h to find them. Could have been quicker if...“ Cole moves his shoulders and I know what he means. Warlock was still in the same condition as when they came. I can’t imagine what they had to do to get her to move again. “They could not have made it for long. Skipper..” Cole hesitates but decides not to correct his wording. “Skipper said that it must have been a rogue plane. Maybe lost from the mission, sole survival. Pilots had already made the correction because of heavy winds and they were further above the sea than their original flight plan. They shot it down but got hit by themselves. One of the pilots got thru and thru in his thigh. He was in pretty bad shape and probably will lose his leg. Luckily the plane stayed afloat half of that time and gave them shelter. Otherwise, if the other plane would have made it, it would have probably finished the job. That was the only reason why they were still alive when we found them.”

     “That is just the thing I hate about planes,” Alex crumbles. “She should not have never set a foot into those death traps.”

      Neither me nor Cole deny Alex because we feel the same. And I’m sure that those pilots felt the same when seeing Warlock, even if she was the one that saved their lives.

      I notice Cole watching me as he says, “Skipper should not be questioned. What we did save those merchants” The accusation is clear and the hostility again.

     “It wasn’t my idea either,” I say.

     “No, it’s that bloody Comfrey’s,” Alex says. I open my mouth, but Cole beats me to it.

    “That’s why we should be there and not here.”

    Cole’s cold eyes stare at me. “I can’t let you leave” I see how my words hit the rocks and I speak quickly before Cole gets the idea to storm out. “Warlock needs repairs. And if you go against Admiralty’s orders again, it only makes Hallie’s situation worse” I see how my words do not get any effect, so I say “If you do that, you give Comfrey all that he needs”

     “He’s right,” Alex says. “I don’t like it either, but he is right”

     “So we just sit here then,” Cole spats out.

      I nod. “You just sit here until Hallie comes back.”

     The violent huff that Cole lets, makes me nervous, and I look at Alex, who throws me a lifeline and changes the subject.

    “Well, when that is settled, I will be leaving tomorrow. I have been too long away from the Manor house... ” He says. Alex had come here when Hallie and Warlock went missing for the first time, but did not make it in time when she was already on the plane.

     Later, when Cole had left, I sat with Alex. “Thank you” I say.

    He looks at me for a second before he understands what I mean. “Ah,” He says “About that.”

    I let out a smile. “Yes, from that and for all other things. But mainly that. I don’t know what I would have done without you”

    Alex nods. “Maybe, Cole is a hard case to win over, but he is absolutely loyal to Hallie. You don’t have to worry about that.”

    “I’m not, I’m worried about myself,” I huff. “I’m the one who is staying here with them. But you Cole seem to listen”

    Alex waves his hand. “Blah, you will do fine”

   “Blah?!” I say, repeat for his uncharacteristic wording. “And no, I’m not going to be fine. They are going to defy my every order and what I’m doing. If I’m going to be found gutted in the harbour pool. It’s on you,” I say as I make mental notes to make arrangements about dock workers and MPs.

    Alex laughs and leaves after half an hour. I am glad that he is going back to the London. Even though I will miss his guidance, this is the only way him to be closer to Hallie. It is the solution to keep Cole happy and I get peace of mind. Maybe things are going to work out, and I do worry about nothing. For my peace of mind the Oath, Cole, Comfrey.. they all can go to hell.

 

10. March

 

     I don’t think that hell can get any closer than this. Yesterday we were attacked. Hard,  and they knew exactly where to hit. Last three months I have been busy. And maybe we missed something.

    Surprisingly, with Cole, there were lesser problems than I could have thought. After Warlock got to dry dock, she was first more stripped down than repaired, her big guns taken and hull inspected. She was getting the royal treatment. After three months, her hull and engines are now repaired.

    From Hallie, I have not heard much. She was retained in London and she is kept in the hospital, just for precaution rather than any serious injuries. Or that is all I have been told. I have my own doubts about it. Alex hasn’t seen or heard about her, so I have been digging around. Hallie’s hearing and its results have been declared classified, and I have been warned not to try to contact Commander Ransome, part of the Admiralty’s plan to keep Warlock sunken. I’m not sure if I believed it, but her crew and Cole seem to be at ease and that I have told Alex. 

    A month ago I got the planes back, two tankers with fuel to planes and ships made it thru three weeks ago and the next bigger convoy is being planned. A week ago, I finally got word that Hallie is released from the hospital and I have made arrangements for her to get here. Hopefully, she will be here next week.

    But now everything is gone to hell. They targeted the harbour and airstrip that we have. Fuel has been burning now for over 24 hours. They knew exactly where to hit. Thank god the ships knew what to do, and those who were quick are already out from the harbour. I have ordered the rest who can leave, to go and I send a message to those who are coming not to approach until we can get the situation under control. There has already been two explosions from the fuel tanks. Now we are only fighting to get it localized and not to spread the ammunition that we have. We have started to count the survivors, but it is too soon to tell how many deaths this has taken. Only what we know is that 35 ships are still missing and Warlock’s release from the dry dock was scheduled to be yesterday. She too is now listed as missing, and I’m afraid to think the worst. They just did not have a chance.