Sixteenth Dispatch - [written]

[captainhornblower]

To the crew of the Britannia:

We sail on the sixteenth as planned.


To interested parties:

Today is the last day I will allow new crew members to sign the muster list. My officers need time to relay important instruction before we sail.

- Hornblower

[In the face of everything? The threat from the Malnosso over this missing member of their own? Charged with unnamed crimes? And a ticking clock for how long they have to obey?

...It's better, Horatio thinks, to be away from the village. He has no place in the politics of this group. What they do is their choice. He will, though, be trying to protect his crew. It's a gamble, but it's one he's willing to take.]

[Filtered, Jilly, 25%]:

[He's slightly learned to filter!]

Miss Jilly,

I would like to request your presence on board Britannia for her maiden voyage.

Horatio

Comments

[action]

[simplestgift]

Horatio?

[Archie is going to duck his head in after Horatio has written his initial message. By the way, he hacked your message to Jilly, but he's not saying anything about it.]

[action]

[captainhornblower]

Archie.

[Is there guilt in the quickness of his reply?

...Very possibly.]

[action]

[simplestgift]

Will we not...be in the village, in case it's attacked?

[action]

[captainhornblower]

That is a possibility.

[A guarded, short tone... which says quite a bit.

Like "That's exactly what I'm trying to accomplish."]

[action]

[simplestgift]

But are we not to protect the village?

[voice - filtered - 25%]

[theoniongirl]

[She hasn't spoken up with the controversy over Bill and the Malnosso, but she's been listening. Torn on what to do, but listening.

And then, this.

She wanted to sail with them. She'd wanted it from the beginning, since they'd first put the Britannia in the water. And now, it would mean being safe from the village and any strike the Malnosso decided to take. It was tempting. More tempting than she wanted to admit.

Her voice is soft when she answers back]

I thought you'd just want experienced sailors, this time?

[voice - filtered - 25%]

[captainhornblower]

Many of the crew I have will be making their first trip to sea in a ship like Britannia.

[His voice is quiet, warm. As gentle as he can manage with all the worries.]

I have more-than-competent first and second mates, midshipmen who are either experienced or will learn, and several other good hands as well. I lack a bosun. Someone to keep order, to listen to arguments and judge what may be settled there and what ought to be taken to the captain.

[Okay, so he's fudging the role of a bosun a little. It's a part Jilly can play, as he has said every person on board will need to work.

Miss Ginia had been their bosun. And she had gone home. Now, if it meant getting Jilly out of the village when there might be trouble brewing? He would try. God, he he would try.]

[voice - filtered - 25%]

[theoniongirl]

...You want me to join your crew.

[she knew an excuse when she heard one. She'd known him and Archie for a year. More than. She knew what he had to be doing.

But she knew, too, he wouldn't risk his crew. It was a vote of confidence as much as it...wasn't. And part of her wanted so very much to take it.]

[voice - filtered - 25%]

[captainhornblower]

I do.

Your help would be invaluable.

[And then he could charge himself responsible for her safety. He could protect her.]

[voice - filtered - 25%]

[theoniongirl]

[if anyone ever doubted the skill and leadership of Horatio Hornblower, Jilly did not.

They'd argued over the way he viewed his role, both under the threat of a draft and in peace, but she knew that, above all else, he wanted to keep people safe. And she knew he'd do whatever he could to achieve that goal. Even at the cost of himself.

She almost wondered if he already knew her response, the way he chose his words.

invaluable.


...Softly]

I can't.

[mikangirl]

You're still going? After everything that's happened this week?

[captainhornblower]

Yes.

[mikangirl]

[Seriously? Seriously. But after her initial demand, Nami hauls back on saying anything judgmental. Archie had said this is not a military vessel, but...]

Then you'd better let Archie know that circumstances conspire against us after all. I'm going to be needed in the village.

[captainhornblower]

[And it's not a military vessel. If it were... properly armed and fully crewed... it might be a viable means of attack. A way to fight back.

But it is not a military vessel.]

Perhaps the next time we sail, then.

[mikangirl]

[It's why she clamped down on what she was going to say. She knows the ship can't be outfitted properly, though she has some reservations about certain of the crew. Nami won't make that judgment call.]

Perhaps. [Assuming Luceti isn't going to hell at the time.]

I wish you good sailing, Captain.

[action]

[wouldntbetonit]

Still leaving according to schedule, sir?

[What with the new developments in the village, Bush didn't know what to expect. He very much wanted to go to sea, but there was a threat presenting itself now. Whatever Horatio had decided upon, he wouldn't outright question. He trusted the man as his captain implicitly (almost).]

[action]

[captainhornblower]

Yes, Mister Bush.

[The formality is a comfort. After Archie's friendship... it's nice to see William's. Archie's is warm and inviting and begs for openness. William's is... a lieutenant to his captain.

And right now, Horatio needs someone he can feel a little in control around. Needs to be able to remember that he is a captain.]

[written]

[selphie_t]

I'm sorry Captain, but I'm needed in the village so I won't be on board after all.

[Selphie wants to be on board the Britannia for its maiden voyage but as a member of the Rogues, this is a threat that she simply can't ignore.]

written;

[dragoneer]

You're We're You're still going? What about the village?

written;

[captainhornblower]

Yes, Mister Haddock. Britannia will still sail.

written;

[dragoneer]

[But...]

Shouldn't we stay and help out? I mean, there might not be too many of us, but it could still make a difference.

[In what he suspects must be an oncoming battle, the way people have been acting.]

written;

[captainhornblower]

Those who wish to remain are welcome to do so. [Boxed in and with a large amount of people clamouring for action without much consideration for any detail not immediately in sight, considering no variables.

The worst of Cadiz with all the possibility for the worst of Muzillac.] But for those who wish to go, we shall still sail.

[Written]

[fleurdesel]

[She doesn't know why she makes the gesture. Perhaps because she knows it won't be accepted. Perhaps because she knows whatever is going to happen in the village will be swift and terrible- and she'd rather be elsewhere.

Whatever the reason. She writes all the same.]

If you have need of them, I would offer my skills as a ship's surgeon.

Doctor Adele LeBlanc.

[Written]

[captainhornblower]

[A French woman as surgeon.

No, no, no. Every sense in Horatio Hornblower rebels against the idea. And yet... And yet, hadn't he wanted Jilly to come along?]

I should be glad of your presence, Doctor LeBlanc, for this voyage. I would not approve a permanent addition to my ship's crew without talking to my lieutenants, but I should not like to set sail for the first time without a surgeon on board.

Captain Hornblower

[Written]

[fleurdesel]

A single voyage would be all I ask, Captain.

[She just needs...to not be here. For a few days, to be anywhere but the village. That it's a chance to sail, to be on the ocean proper? It only makes it more appealing.]

Anything more is entirely at your discretion, provided you are satisfied with my skills.

Doctor LeBlanc.