A Red Sky Has Fallen Read online

  A Red Sky Has Fallen

  Ryan Gilbert

  Copyright

  A Red Sky Has Fallen

  Copyright © 2016 by Ryan Gilbert

  All rights reserved in all media. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locales, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is coincidental or fictionalized.

  To my family and friends who have supported me and inspired me throughout this process…

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  A RED SKY HAS FALLEN

  COPYRIGHT

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  THE END… FOR NOW

  « COMING SOON »

  CHAPTER ONE

  BOOM

  The sailors rushed about the ship, trying to protect themselves the best that they could. Miles of open sea stretched out around them. There was no one who could help them. The vessel was at the mercy of the pirate ship’s firing cannons.

  BOOM

  A cannonball smashed through the wooden mast.

  BOOM

  Another blasted the ship’s near-useless cannons across the entire deck of the vessel.

  “Captain, we can’t take this any longer,” the first mate shouted in panic.

  The captain cut him off and ordered, “Wait for them to get closer and we’ll blow them out of the ocean. We need to take the fight to these pirates if we want to survive this attack. If they will not fight with honor, then neither shall we.”

  BOOM

  BOOM

  A gaping hole was left in the side of the ship as the assault blew the cannons free of their restraints. With the tossing of the ship, they rolled across the lower decks, no longer bound to the hull. Men stumbled and fell, dropping their lighted torches as they tried to dodge the loose cannons. One torch fell onto a cannon, and it blasted a cannonball straight through the upper decks.

  The crew could not stave off the attack. They were running like they were nothing but cowards. The pursuing ship was right on their tail, so close that the sailors could almost see their attackers’ faces.

  A crewmember ran to his captain and said, “They’ve knocked the cannons loose, sir. We’re defenseless.”

  The captain frowned in disgust. His men had already given up trying to fight back. Surely, there was something they could do to keep from being completely destroyed by those outlaws.

  Seeing no other choice, he yelled, “Fetch the stowaway. These pirates will have to make a deal if they want their friend to live.”

  As the black ship pulled up alongside the vessel, the captain held up a white handkerchief as a sign of surrender. The pirate ship’s cannons were still pointed at the cowering sailors, but they ceased firing for the moment.

  At the top of his lungs, the captain yelled, “I’m here to negotiate with you, pirates. I know that we have something of yours… a friend perhaps.”

  A man was escorted onto the deck, a bag covering his head. He was shackled and could barely stand from lack of food. The crew was not shy about pushing him around. They wanted to make the pirates think that they still had a bargaining chip.

  The captain unsheathed his sword and placed it against the man’s neck.

  “If you want your friend to live, then you will leave us in peace. One more shot and your crewmate is dead.”

  The pirates just stood there, silent and unmoving.

  The captain was perplexed. The whole situation seemed too calm for his taste. None of the pirate crew even looked concerned for their captured crewmate.

  “Didn’t you hear me? You need to leave now.”

  Still, the pirates just stood there. Some started to cock their pistols. Others rapped their swords on the rail, almost like they were impatiently waiting for something.

  “I swear to Heaven above that I will kill him.”

  BANG

  The sword dropped from the captain’s lifeless hands as his corpse fell to the deck of the ship. His crews’ eyes immediately fell on the smoking pistol of the black-haired, scruffy pirate, standing aboard his ship, black coat flapping in the same wind that filled the dark red sails of the vessel.

  To the crew, the pirate said, “Ye all are prisoners o’ the Red Sky… and Captain Riggs.”

  Without hesitation, the sailors dropped their weapons to the deck and raised their hands over their heads. They did not want to be shot like their captain. A gangplank soon connected the two ships, and Riggs strode over to confront the captured crew. His attention was focused solely on the sailor’s apparent bargaining chip, his crewmate.

  Stepping over the captain’s stiff body, he shouted to the prisoners, “Get me the keys to these shackles… now.”

  Walking up to the man with the bag over his head, Riggs laughed and said, “How many times do I need to tell you that ye can’t be tryin’ to take stuff from people smarter ‘n you?”

  “They were just lucky, Captain,” said the voice of Coral Jack as Riggs pulled the bag off of his head.

  “Don’t evah do dat again, man. Could o’ gotten yerself killed,” said Ripper, appearing behind his captain, his black face contorting into a grin of relief.

  Once Jack had his shackles removed, he landed a punch right in his conquered captor’s face.

  “That was for pushin’ me around, ye stupid merchant.”

  Riggs chuckled and said, “Ripper, help Jack back onto the Sky. I’ll see if Eli has found anythin’ worthwhile to salvage.”

  The Captain weaved between the sailors with no fear at all. All of them seemed utterly terrified. They knew that any resistance would just result in more death and destruction.

  Peering down into the lower decks, Riggs yelled, “Eli… anythin’ down there worth takin’?”

  Riggs’ crewmate stuck his head into the light and responded, “Only a couple barrels of gunpowder, Captain. Oh… and some bottles of rum.”

  The pirates shared a knowing smile, and Riggs said, “Aye… take it all. We need all the rum we can get.”

  He turned to leave, but stopped himself like he had forgotten something.

  “… and the gunpowder’d be good as well.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  The boarding crew had the supplies transferred almost immediately. There was no hassle, no struggle, and no more fighting. The sailors just stood in silence as the pirates stole what they desired without a second thought. Once the last pirate was back onboard the Red Sky, Riggs gave the order to remove the gangplank. With their cargo gone, the sailors started to panic. The pirates could see them arguing amongst themselves and running from one side of the ship to the other. They were going to try to attack.

  When they started to load their few remaining cannons, Riggs said, “Give ‘em a shot across the bow. That’ll show ‘em not to mess wit’ us.”

  BOOM

  Water quickly started to seep into the hole, forcing the sailors to reassess their priorities. Several of the men were swept into the ocean while another was tossed across the lower deck. They were outmatched in every way. Just as quickly as they had started, they abandoned their hopeless plan to attack.

  Taking off his hat, Ri
ggs waved it in front of his face to cool himself. On the steps to the helm, Doc was tending to Coral Jack while he mumbled nonsense about gods and mythological creatures. Petey One-Eye was directing the pirates to where he kept the ship’s supply of gunpowder.

  Walking up to the wheel, the Captain said to his navigator, “Where to now, Mr. Wayko?”

  After taking a swig of rum, Clint said, “Wherever the wind takes us, I reckon… especially now that we’ve got that ol’ wet rat back from those merchants.”

  Riggs patted his friend on the back and said, “See to it then. I’ll be in my cabin if ye need anythin’.”

  “Aye.”

  After that minor fiasco, Riggs wanted to take a rest. They had been chasing those merchants for several days after Jack had snuck onto their ship. He had let his greed and ambition get the better of him, causing a great deal of carelessness on his part. One of the merchants stumbled upon him while he was trying to steal the crew’s wages, he got captured, and the Red Sky needed to rescue him. It was a tiresome affair.

  Propping his feet on a table in his cabin, Riggs tilted his hat down over his eyes and tried to get a bit of sleep. He had not gotten much rest during Coral Jack’s capture.

  As he stared at the back of his eyelids, the Captain heard heavy footsteps entering the room. There was a very distinct sound to them, sort of like an upset man. It was a sound that had become all too common within the last couple weeks.

  “What’s it this time, Garrett?” said Riggs, wiping his eyes and tossing his hat onto the table.

  Garrett seemed more perturbed than usual. For the past couple months, Riggs had noticed that his crewmate was being more aggressive than before. During any conflict, he would gradually become more violent as the battle waged on. It was almost unsettling.

  Through his yellow teeth, Garrett grumbled, “Captain, ain’t we losing sight of what we were gonna be goin’ after in the first place?”

  In confusion, Riggs cocked his head to the side.

  “Poseidon’s trident, Captain.”

  Stroking his scruffy chin, Riggs said, “We haven’t lost sight of it.”

  “Then what do you consider the last couple… distractions… that have come in our path? Especially Ripper and Jack’s misadventures. Couldn’t we ‘ave just left ‘em behind to deal with that themselves?”

  Picking up a bottle of water from the table, Riggs responded, “They are just that: distractions. We still have the map. We can go after the trident any time that we want.”

  Riggs took a quick drink of water and continued, “There’s also somethin’ else ye have to remember, Garrett. My crew is my family. I don’t leave ‘em behind.”

  “Captain, it’s been a year since ye decided to look for the trident. Both meself and some o’ the crew want to see some results… soon.”

  The Captain set the bottle back on the table and unrolled the map.

  Still looking at it, he said, “Give me some time and some o’ these might start to look familiar. We’ll get results. I guarantee it.”

  Garrett grinned and gave a slight bow to his captain. Riggs detected a bit of mockery, but dismissed it as nothing.

  Once Garrett had left, Riggs laid the map in his lap and tried to see if any of the markings on the paper made any sense. If he was familiar with just a couple of the islands, then he could give an actual heading. When he had first seen the map, he had thought that the islands were familiar, but that had just led them on a wild goose chase.

  The markings seemed to be placed sporadically and in random places. There was no simple way to even look at the map, let alone decipher it. In the shimmering light, the ink seemed to flow like the waves beneath the ship.

  As Riggs reclined in his chair, the ship started to turn, tilting the deck. It caught Riggs by surprise, sending him tumbling backwards. The map dropped to the floor right next to the startled captain.

  “A little warnin’ next time, Clint,” the Captain muttered to himself as he picked up the map.

  Holding it above the candle as he dusted it off, something caught his eye. It seemed like there were tiny shadows dancing around behind the map. Riggs peeked around the piece of paper to see what could have caused the strange phenomenon.

  There was nothing. The candlelight was shining bright and clear.

  Looking at the map, Riggs held it over the top of the candle. The shadows returned almost immediately. Running his hand along the surface of the parchment, he could not feel anything different. It felt just like regular paper. What secrets did this map possess?

  Slowly, a compass started to form as the shadows grew more clear and defined. Actual islands that Riggs recognized started to appear at the edges of the map. Once everything else had formed, the marking for the trident itself appeared in the middle of the map. The Captain could not believe his eyes. When he had found the actual direction and seen the true nature of the map, Riggs dropped it on the table and ran out of his cabin. He needed to give Clint a new heading.

  “In nomine Patri, et Filii, et Spiritu Sancti.”

  “Amen.”

  In Yorktown, the Sunday worship service had just ended. The Hamond family could now go about their day as they usually did after church. Julia and her mother would bake delicious food, and the Commodore would have meetings with his fellow officers in the English Navy.

  Ever since she had returned to Yorktown, Julia had questioned her decision to leave the Red Sky. For the last year, she had yearned to be back on the sea, sailing with the pirates. She had tried several times to get aboard a ship and go looking for them, but every time, her father had stopped her. Both he and her mother would try to remind her that pirates were not good people, but she could not bring herself to see them as evil. She constantly felt like she was stuck between what she believed and what others wanted her to believe. It was maddening.

  Children ran in front of her, frolicking in the streets. She smiled, almost instinctively. Her hand went immediately to her necklace, the ruby heart that Riggs had given to her the day that they had parted ways. Her eyes followed the children to their parents, who gave each other a loving embrace and held hands as they walked back to their home. She could almost feel the pirate captain’s lips on hers as she remembered their last moments together.

  Julia just wanted to see Riggs again.

  As the memory faded into her mind, she felt her mother’s hand on her shoulder. Catherine Hamond must have seen the longing look on her daughter’s face.

  “Are you thinking about… him… again?” she asked.

  Sighing, Julia answered, “Yes, mother.”

  “Dear, you cannot keep living a life like this. There are plenty of respectable young men here… men who will gladly give you the love that you deserve.”

  “Mother, we’ve been through this before. Riggs can be a respectable man, and he will…”

  Before Julia could say any more, Mrs. Hamond raised a finger to her lips and shushed her daughter.

  “Don’t say his name. Do you want to be associated with a pirate?” she asked.

  “Your mother is right, Julia,” said the Commodore, appearing behind his wife, “We cannot risk letting anyone know that information. It would be detrimental to me, to your mother, and to yourself.”

  “Love is love, father.”

  “You may think it is, Julia, but that kind of love is what sends people to the gallows. Let us not discuss this any further. People might hear us.”

  The family continued on their walk back to the mansion. The walk was quiet as Julia’s parents tried to hide their daughter’s secret behind lies and false smiles. Every once in a while, Julia wanted to just yell the truth from her bedroom window, but she would be hushed by the thought of her mother and father being shunned by the people of Yorktown.

  Once they arrived at the entrance to the mansion, Commodore Hamond gave his wife and daughter a hug and a kiss and left to go to the Navy meeting. Julia and her mother greeted their servants and started their usual Sunday cooking.


  Everything at the Hamond house had begun to follow a pattern for Julia. Perhaps it was supposed to be that way. Perhaps she had never noticed it before. Perhaps her parents wanted to purge her mind of the adventure that she had once embraced. Her parents had become far more protective than in the years prior to her capture. She knew it was for her own good, but it had started to take its toll on her. Nearly every week, there was a new suitor standing at the door, and every week, Julia’s mother would have a beaming smile on her face, only to drop the façade once Julia dismissed the man.

  As she rolled some dough for the bread that she was making, Julia asked, “Mother… why don’t you and father want me to adventure any more?”

  She knew the answer already.

  With a nervous laugh, Mrs. Hamond responded, “Your father and I realize now that adventures can be dangerous… especially for a girl like you.”

  “I can handle myself. Father’s been giving me sword-fighting lessons. I’m actually pretty good.”

  Julia could tell that her mother was caught off-guard by that news, but she hid it quite well.

  “Well then… I’ll have to speak to your father about that.”

  Letting her hands rest, Julia asked, “At least he realizes that I need to be prepared.”

  “Whatever for, dear?”

  “For when I find Riggs again.”

  Mrs. Hamond was squeezing the bread dough with all of her might. She did not want to be talking about Riggs, or the Red Sky, or pirates in general.

  “Julia Hamond, please just change the subject.”

  “Mother…”

  “If this is something about pirates, I cannot stand it! You almost died when those pirates kidnapped you. I will not let that happen again.”

  “I helped stop a threat to the world, mother.”

  “I don’t care. You are not going to set foot on another ship so long as I can help it.”

  Mrs. Hamond’s voice had steadily risen to a yell, nearly scaring the servants in the next room. Resting her hands on the tabletop, she tried to calm herself, but it was already too late. Her lips quivered as she spoke, trying to hide the fear and disdain that her daughter’s stories awakened.