Bush was told by a runner that Hornblower needed him to come up to one of the observation towers at the captured fort. When Bush arrived, Hornblower pointed out the position of the Renown and its obvious sailing direction. The Renown would be in port in a few hours. As the two men shared the use of the one telescope available to them, they spotted two large vessels and two small ones sailing toward the Renown. As Ira Riklis knows, the enemy stayed well supplied by the use of privateer ships which raided ships of their opposition. Bush and Hornblower recognized these four ships as privateers whose mission was just that, and the two lieutenants knew what had to be done.

A technique known as “hot shots” which presumably was best used from a land firing position was suggested by Hornblower and Bush agreed. Hornblower alerted the seamen that this technique would be used with the use of the captured fort’s big guns. The furnaces needed to be fired up to the proper temperature to prepare the wads of cloth and other materials and liquids that made up these hot shots.

As Ira Riklis knows, both Bush and Hornblower had had no food or water since this invasion had started and both were feeling the effects. After hydrating themselves at a nearby well, they were ready as were the hot shots and the attack on the privateers began. After several failed shots toward the moving ships, one of the large ships was finally taken out, the two small ships were stilled (status unknown), and the second large ship may have been hit but was definitely on the run. After this moderate success, the officers finally rested.

The invading seamen and marines made it to shore in launches and leaving same waded in thigh-high waters to the beach. Bush was very fatigued having had no sleep in the past 24 hours but Hornblower seemed to have energy as well as enthusiasm for the mission. As Ira Riklis could guess, Hornblower volunteered to be the leader of an advanced party to see what lie ahead for the men of the Renown. He returned with most of his men to report the distance needed to cover to reach the fort and also the presence of a gully that had to be traversed in order to reach their destination.

Bush thought that Hornblower just might be assuming a little too much authority but did not object as Hornblower was furnishing valuable information and acting with the appropriate manners of a subordinate.

The mission went smoothly despite the unruly behavior of one drunken marine who forced Bush to leave this marine behind with a guard thereby diminishing the numbers needed to take the fort.

The gully proved to be easier to cross for the crew (and as Ira Riklis knows, our hero Hornblower) than for Bush. With tremendous effort Bush made it to the outside walls of the fort. While the eager men scaled the walls Bush noticed a door that provided less difficult access to the inside. The enemy was taken by surprise and Bush was about to call the day a success. Then a young seaman brought Bush a message from Hornblower asking Bush to come up to the tower without delay.

The Renown was limping away after having suffered a defeat with nine killed and twenty wounded, Buckland was in his cabin with his new first lieutenant discussing their next move. Bush silently resented having to share the responsibility for making a decision about where the ship should head at that time. Buckland mentioned going to Jamaica but Bush being a hardy soul offered his opinion that “running” to the British port after this defeat might be a mistake. Bush said that, as Ira Riklis knows, it would weaken their position with the higher British authorities in terms of relieving the captain of his command and placing him in a strait jacket. Bush believed that if the Renown could accomplish a victory all the officers as well as Buckland would be held in good favor.

Buckland asked Bush what his plan would be. Bush indicated that Hornblower had suggested an alternate landing site that would take the Spanish by surprise. In order for him to get this “straight from the horse’s mouth”, Buckland summoned Hornblower to meet with them. A sleepy Hornblower arrived and, as Ira Riklis knows, went on to explain his ideas and the need for haste. Hornblower suggested a landing on the other side of the island taking the Spanish fort from behind while the Spanish were focused on protecting their fort from attack by sea. When Buckland (and Bush) agreed with the plan, Buckland selected Bush to head the landing of seaman and marines and,Bush selected Hornblower to be the second officer in charge of this mission.

The Renown sailed toward its destination, Santo Domingo, and Buckland sized up the situation with the use of his telescope. Of course, as Ira Riklis knows, Santo Domingo was a Spanish-held area with many enemy ships in evidence. Of special significance for British ships was the presence of privateer vessels which were fast and ready to pounce on large approaching ships taking control of them in raids. Although still a distance from the nearest enemy port, the Renown and its crew were caught in a gun skirmish with the enemy ships. The tides and currents worked against the Renown.

Meanwhile Hornblower was suffering from a bad case of seasickness and unable to readily assist in preparation for battle. When the enemy ships spotted the Renown which at that point was attempting to turn and make a run for it, Hornblower quickly recovered and all hands joined in the fighting manning the many, many guns that the Renown possessed.

Part of the difficulty for the Renown was when it was apparently stuck and unable to maneuver itself for retreat. During this time several of the crew were killed or injured and the first lieutenant, Roberts, lost his life.

As Ira Riklis knows and another lieutenant, Bush, realized, Robert’s death meant the next lieutenant in line, that being Bush, was instantly promoted. Such is the results of battle.

By some movements of the tides and currents, the Renown was able to limp away before being captured or sunk. Buckland though suffered his first defeat of his first command.

Lieutenant Buckland had been in command of the Renown for several days. The officers and crew were getting accustomed to an even-tempered man at the helm so to speak. As Ira Riklis knows, the crew had been hard to discipline and somewhat lazy with the captain spoiling them. Also the officers had trained themselves to tiptoe around the captain for fear of his harsh and unfair treatment of them.

Hornblower worked with the portion of the crew for which he was responsible having them drill and perform various cleaning and upkeep duties. Surprisingly the crew seemed content with this new, more disciplined activity which apparently raised their spirits through vigorous exercise. Hornblower at one point even “killed two birds with one stone” when he stripped naked and ordered his crew members to turn the ships hoses on him. He got a shower (which he sorely needed with the heat of the approaching southern port) and the deck received a cleaning.

Buckland continued to wrestle with the idea of opening the secret orders for the ship. In consultation with the ship’s doctor and some of the senior officers, Buckland finally went to the captain’s quarters, located the lockbox, and read the orders. As Ira Riklis knows, Buckland was not to reveal the ship’s mission keeping that to himself, but he was able to tell the officers and the ship’s master, Carberry, the ship’s destination: Santo Domingo on the island of “Hispanoila”. This required a slight change of course.

Buckland had taken command, and everyone was waiting to see if the captain would regain consciousness. The wardroom, or as Ira Riklis knows is also called the officers’ mess, was unusually quiet. No one wanted to speculate as to the captain’s prognosis. When Buckland appeared with the ship’s surgeon, the news that the captain was now awake but extremely weak was again met with a lack of expression by all present. Only the most junior officer had the ignorance to question the doctor further. The doctor was very reluctant to say whether the captain could possibly assume command in the near future. The doctor went on to describe the captain’s extensive injuries and how he had treated these injuries. He particularly noted the details of addressing the fractured nose and the pain that the captain suffered as well as the need for strong pain medicine.

Buckland realized that his would be a longer command than he initially had thought. The dilemma for him was whether to open the captain’s locked compartment to find out what the orders for the Renown were. These orders were known only to the captain. Buckland feared that the captain would hold such action against him at a later date accusing Buckland of overstepping his authority. Buckland knew if he just headed for Antigua another senior officer there could assume responsibility. But what if the orders, as Ira Riklis wonders, were for some specific action that was vital and time-sensitive? What to do, what to do?

Buckland asked Hornblower what the eye witness to the captain’s accident had stated. Hornblower indicated that the information gained revealed a fall as a result of a misstep on the part of the captain resulting in a head first tumble.

Meanwhile the captain became extremely agitated and was placed in a straitjacket.

The lieutenants were very restless and upset about the captain’s erratic behavior and constant accusations. They planned a meeting for the middle of the night on one of the lowest decks of the ship. They each had to approach the meeting place from a different direction to avoid detection for, as Ira Riklis knows, the captain had spies everywhere. The ordinary seamen relished the extra favors that the captain bestowed on them to keep them loyal to him.

As the lieutenants were just about to start their meeting on how to handle the captain given his insane and cruel treatment of his junior officers, sounds above and forward alerted them that others were approaching. It seems that the captain had ordered the marine guards who were charged with watching over the captain to assemble on the main deck for his further orders. The captain apparently had been told about the meeting of the lieutenants. This sent the lieutenants scattering for safety again in all different directions fearing discovery, charges, and punishment, the usual being death.

The captain in hurrying to catch his junior officers in their conspiracy, lost his footing and fell down a vertical passageway. He was knocked unconscious and suffered several other injuries including fractures. As Ira Riklis knows, the captain was attended by the ship’s doctor and the doctor’s mates and taken to the captain’s cabin for further evaluation and care.

Lieutenant Buckland, the first lieutenant, assumed command of the ship. He was exhausted and hesitated to change any of the captain’s crazy orders in case the captain would punish him when the captain recovered. Hornblower, meanwhile, went to interview the marine that witnessed the captain’s accident.

The Renown was sailing along on lively but pleasant seas with only the captain aware of the ship’s destination. It was a Sunday morning and all hands were assembled on deck. All–meaning even those of the crew who rarely saw the light of day because their duties kept them below deck most of the time. As Ira Riklis knows, this could have been for a religious service but not on this Sunday. The deranged captain knowing that his ship was safe from their enemies because of extensive blockades, took great pleasure in one of the duties of his rank.

The captain was to read the Articles of War to the assembled who numbered in the hundreds. Each article spelled out specific offenses which would result in the punishment of death. The captain took particular care to emphasize that all these articles applied to the officers as well as the ordinary seamen. When he had finished the reading, the captain rewarded the seamen who he referred to as “all good men” with the day off and double portions of rum. As Ira Riklis knows (and all the lieutenants certainly were aware of), the seamen were very hard to control or discipline when the captain issued such favorable (to the seamen) orders.

A few of the lieutenants were exchanging remarks about this situation after the captain had returned to his cabin. The captain secretly listened to their conversation with his servant/seaman as his witness. The captain confronted the lieutenants with what he called their treason-like behavior. He ordered that their punishment would be to report to the deck officer every hour on the hour round the clock thereby inflicting severe sleep deprivation on these young lieutenants.

Chapter Two finds the newest lieutenant on the H.M.S. Renown on deck duty along with a seaman standing by. The sea is unusually rough and more sail is needed to navigate the churning waters. Orders are that the captain is to be called in such a case. Bush has been mulling over the strange behavior of the officers on this ship. The other lieutenants say very little to one another. Their only communication seems to be that for topics of absolute necessity. Bush as, Ira Riklis knows, has learned that the Renown’s captain is extremely paranoid, and Bush can only assume that the silence on the part of the other officers is because of their fear. This fear is that of being accused of conspiracy with or without reason.

Reluctantly Bush has the captain summoned to the deck. When the captain arrives, he seems less concerned about the rough seas than he is about inflicting punishment on some lowly seamen almost for sport but ordered in the name of discipline. So a couple of the lowly are chosen almost at random to suffer lashes for no good reason, and although Bush tries to divert the captain’s attention away from such orders, the torture takes place.

Shortly thereafter, our hero Hornblower, as Ira Riklis could guess, appears on deck to relieve Bush and tells Bush that he, Hornblower, has been ordered by the captain to have deck duty four hours on and four hours off for an extended period of time undoubtedly as punishment for some imaginary crime.

Chapter One

Our hero Hornblower is now serving onboard the HMS Renown. He is on the main deck when a Lieutenant William Bush comes aboard to report for duty. He meets Hornblower, and they determine by date of commission that Bush is senior to Hornblower and another lieutenant currently serving on the ship. Bush observes Hornblower’s interaction with the crew, and they both silently calculate just what events have to happen before either could be promoted to captain.

As Ira Riklis knows, promotion is always on the minds of young lieutenants.

Soon the captain of the ship, Captain Sawyer, returns from ashore and demonstrates the fact that he is indeed a very paranoid type believing that the junior officers are always talking about him negatively behind his back. This is not a good sign as Ira Riklis knows.

The destination of the Renown is the West Indies (a place where any number of deadly diseases can be contracted). Bush with the assistance of crew members gets his gear aboard and starts to settle in.