Corsair by Richard Baker Page A

a larger city, we will never recover it. I consider that the last alternative.”
    Rhovann willed Marstel to silence. He’d intended to catch the harmach in exactly this predicament, forcing him to choose between embarking on an expensive and most likely impractical scheme of fleet-building or weakening his authority by begging for another city’s help. Either way the harmach opened himself to sharp criticism. The disguised elf leaned forward to speak. “In that case, my lord harmach, I must add my concerns to Lord Marstel’s. What do you intend to do?”
    Grigor Hulmaster gazed at the squares of blue sky outside the great hall’s tall windows. He might have been old and frail, but he was not stupid; he could see the dilemma confronting him. “It must be a fleet, then,” he finally said. “We’ll purchase a couple of suitable hulls in Hillsfar or Melvaunt and bring them back to Hulburg for fitting out. For the crew, I suppose we’ll have to hire mercenaries.”
    “Two ships may not be enough to protect our sea trade,” Kara said. “Even if you assume that each can remain at sea half the time, it’s only one ship on patrol on any given day.”
    “No, I expect it is not enough, Kara. But I hope that two warships are sufficient to serve as a deterrenr,” Grigor said. He looked around at the assembled council members. “I hope you all understand that the Tower must find funds for this somewhere. To begin with, I expect that rents must be raised on mining and logging concessions.”
    “Proceed with care, my lord harmach,” Marstel warned. “It doesn’t matter to the Houses of the Merchant Council if they’re ruined by piracy or taxation. Ruin is ruin.”
    “You demand the harmach’s protection for your shipping, but you balk at paying for the forces necessary to safeguard you?” Kara snapped. “You can’t have it both ways, Lord Marstel. Where else should the harmach obtain the funds to pay for a fleet, if not from the merchant costers that will profit by the protection a fleet offers?”
    Rhovann opened his mouth to counter the Shieldsworn captain’s point, but Geran Hulmaster shook his head and turned to address his uncle. “Perhaps there is an alternative to a standing navy,” the swordmage said. “Instead
    of building enough warships to defend our sea trade from every possible pirate attack, we should search out the pirates’ lair and destroy them there. A single expedition of one or two ships might do as much to protect our trade in a month as a fleet of four or five ships could in years of patrols.”
    “Yes, Lord Geran, but where would you start?” Deren Ilkur asked.
    The swordmage shrugged. “Kraken Queen. The Moonsea isn’t that large. She can’t hide for long against a determined search. As for other pirates, we should invest in information. Spread some gold around in ports like Mulmaster or Melvaunt, hire some harbor-watchers, and we’ll know soon enough where our enemies are hiding.”
    “We’ll need a ship and crew,” Kara said.
    “The Merchant Council’s cargoes are at stake; they can spare some armsmen. And you can spare a few Shieldsworn, Kara. For the rest, I’d wager that we can find plenty of volunteers from the Moonshields.” Geran smiled. “As for the ship, well, House Veruna left Seadrake behind when they chose to relocate their operations to Mulmaster. She’s in need of repairs, but she could be ready to sail within a tenday.”
    “You’re willing to command her, Geran?” Harmach Grigor asked.
    Geran thought for a moment. “Yes, provided I get the funds I need to repair and crew the ship. I can’t promise that I’ll stop all the attacks, but if we catch a pirate or two, the rest might turn to easier prey.”
    The harmach glanced over to Marstel. “Lord Marstel, does the Merchant Council find Geran’s proposal acceptable?”
    Rhovann directed the old lord to strike an attitude of thoughtful deliberation while he quickly considered the question. Geran had