A Walk on the Water

"Her father set us up, that is his ship and he is coming for Alannah!" Dominic replied as they got underway. "As much as I love her there are more lives at stake than just hers. I have done my best to outfit our soldiers with new weapons, and the island guns have been updated. Now we defend our home from the tyrant who has come to bend us to his will."

"Many will die," Santiago reminded him.

"Perhaps," Dominic conceded grimly. "But it is better to die free and protecting our way of living than to live under the yoke of tyranny."

**

"They're evacuating," the captain said as he gazed through his telescope. "It doesn't appear as though they intend to man the guns. Even the fortress on the hill above the port . . . they're leaving in droves. No one is going in."

"So much for the legendary bravery of the inhabitants of La lengua demonios," Emerson, the General's second in command, said sarcastically. "It is time to take this one step further," he said, "it's time to torch the woods." Emerson pulled out the sea to ground radio and gave the order to light them up. He then turned to the ship's captain and said, "As for the town, and the port, reduce it to splinters and rubble!"

"We need those docks," the captain said, letting some of his own anger show. "Look, over there that wall is surrounding the entire port, there is but one opening. That one opening is what allows entry and exit to the main dock. If that is destroyed or set ablaze, then our men will have no access."

"Why must you second guess me? If the General were here you woldn't be this brazen, I should just blow your head off."

"Go ahead! You would be stranded here in this miserable backwards town."

"Damn you!" Emerson yelled, his face as bright red as a lobster in the winter. "Then start bombing the town."

The captain reluctantly gave the order as Emerson left him to survey the destruction being wrecked upon Port Lira.

"Captain, if I may make an observation," the first mate said quietly as the ship began to shudder with thunderous explosions, "It would appear that the port is built upon a rugged hillside. If we distroy the town it will take out some of the hillside making it difficult for thos men already on shore. They will be vulnerable to attack from the hills on both sides. Even with bows and arrows and catapults, the inhabitants are going to prove difficult to dislodge. By all accounts, their farmlands are far removed from here. They will not want for supplies-'