The initial collision had not been particularly remarkable – and in fact, were it not for the lieutenant’s abject misery over it Elijah might well have forgotten about it within an hour or so. As it was, the man was practically falling over himself in apology and – admittedly unable to deal with such fussing – he simply reached up and patted the man’s shoulder to catch his attention and simultaneously stun him into silence.
“Come now, lieutenant Bush – surely you do not think me so delicate in frame and temperament that I would break over something so innocuous as this?” Jests toward his own size were generally either well received, or only made matters worse when men seemed to think they needed to compensate for him – Elijah could only hope that Bush would not fall into the latter category. “No harm done, I assure you – not even to pride,” He assured warmly.
“Now – why don’t you join me. I’ve sent men ahead to oversee the press-gangs for the Company, so we might as well ensure things here are well managed.” Spirits tended to be quite grim, and understandably so, after these events. If Elijah could ignore the admiralty and leave the EITC to it’s own dirty business, he certainly would, but orders were orders.
Ocean Archive 