The captain of His Majesty’s Ship the Endymion looked out the glass windows of her cabin in deep thought. It was just past midday and the sun was streaming through the windows, illuminating the captain’s cabin with a brilliant golden glow. Fir Hampshire’s thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the cabin door and the voice of her first lieutenant.

“Mr. Gibson passed the word on the way out. You called, captain?”

“Yes. Come in,” said the captain, without removing her eyes from the window.

Opening the door in a brisk, but still smooth swoop, the first lieutenant Robert Hudson entered the room. As per normal, he removed his hat and placed it behind his back as he waited for his captain to speak. 

Finally removing herself from the window, Fir looked at her first officer with an emotionless expression before removing a folded note from the breast pocket of her black peacoat. Producing a subtle frown, she handed the note to Hudson.

“Mr. Hudson, what do you make of this?”

Fir watched as her second-in-command’s face progressively redden in anger as he read the note. Robert was a very vocal man and had the unfortunate habit of showing his emotions… very indiscreetly. He seemed to reach his boiling point as finished reading the letter, gently setting down the letter on the captain’s desk before opening his mouth to launch into what Fir could only guess to be a very long and strongly worded tirade. 

“Unorthodox, they say. What a load of stinking horse chattel--! D’Oyley-- He’s incompetent, rude, condescending, that’s what he is. To send a single frigate to capture a port! Tortuga! Bullocks! And to give a letter, through Mr. Gibson? Why, he had all the time in the world to speak--“

“Robert, that’s quite enough,” interrupted Fir, with a succinctly placed cough. “I do find it unfortunate, however, that Mr. D’Oyley was not acquainted with Mr. Gibson in the week he was aboard.”

She noted the phrases concerning the capture of pirates oddly worded; it was general practice to capture, not kill pirates and bring them to port for prosecution. It was oddly specific of him to simply restate common practice. There was definitely an ulterior motive to this, one that Fir had a hunch on but decided against mentioning to her first officer.

Pulling out the seat of her desk, Captain Hampshire sat down in her chair, motioning for Hudson to do the same. At the same time, she produced a quill and parchment. 

“We will be in Port Royal for a fortnight to replenish supplies and to allow the crew some leave. We will, naturally, resume our patrol of the West Indies, and conduct ourselves as per normal in the manner that is expected of a Royal Navy frigate.”

She continued to write while speaking to the lieutenant. “Of course, the matter of Tortuga will have to be addressed in some manner; the order is vague at best.” Since the order implied and gave authorization to command a military expedition against the port of Tortuga, she would have to assemble an expeditionary force of seizing and holding Tortuga. She would write Sir Penn and request additional ships and a marine detachment, under the auspices of the governor. “I will request aid from Sir Penn. If D’Oyley objects to additional aid, he will have to explain himself why he is sending merely 220 men to capture Tortuga. In the meantime, we will patrol Tortuga and gather intelligence, and take action as the situation commands.” 

The captain handed Robert a letter, neatly folded and sealed with wax. “Correspondence for the governor. Do make sure you give that to a dock official; if the governor did not have the time to approach me on matters as important as this, then I don’t believe I have to the time to pay him a housewarming visit to acknowledge.” 

Fir knew D’Oyley did not expect a single ship and its captain to take Tortuga, but by god, he would have Tortuga and eat its cake one way or another.