The Secret of the Galleon (Short Story)
Our story takes place in the year of our Lord 1701. The Free Pirate Republic of Grand Turk, “The Kingdom Before the Wind”, is now two years old. The island was home to 3,000 souls to begin with. That number has now doubled. Grand Turk was bursting at the seams. King Silver led his kingdom to prosperity and prestige. There was no slavery, everyone was paid fairly for their work and were free to choose whether they wanted to work ashore or on the captains’ ships. What was the dream of a life of freedom and prosperity for one person became a nightmare for another. And so, the rulers of ancient Europe forged alliances that no one would have thought possible. Spain and England joined forces as partners against the germinating ideal of liberty, equality and fraternity – the Pirate Republic of Grand Turk, “The Kingdom Before the Wind”. A three-stage plan was drawn up and adopted. The execution of this plan was placed in the hands of the Spaniard Melchior de la Vega, Count of Monclova, called Brazzo de Plata, a ruthless, cruel despot who was determined to do all it took to destroy the pirates.
He wanted to begin his work, as he called it, where the wealth of the Pirate Republic came from – Charleston, South Carolina, England’s colony in New World America. But it was in Charleston that a certain Anne Bonny and Capt’n Blacky Adams crossed his path. The Spaniard felt for the first time the resistance that this community could put up. The long prepared plan to put an end to Captain Flint, the figurehead of the pirate empire, was to be carried out on the island of Great Inagua. Everything went like clockwork. Flint fell into the trap and his fate, that of his crew and also that of the pirate republic, seemed sealed. There was only a tiny glimmer of hope. But giving up simply wasn’t an option. That’s when Bonny arrived and solved the problem in a heroic battle against a formidable foe, paving the way to freedom with her blood. She emerged victorious from the ensuing battle against the Count of Monclova’s death squad, assisted by the local Amazons and with Capt’n Blacky Adams acting as the guardian angel. The island was rocked by fighting and violent explosions. A sea of flames left the Spanish galleon as nothing but a pile of ashes. The mission of the world’s most powerful royal houses had failed. The island of Great Inagua became the grave and final resting place of people who could not have been more different.
The only survivor of the royal disaster, as it became known, was Capitano Cabanossi. He reported the events on the island to the Alliance, naturally blaming the leadership of Brazzo de Plata, Count of Monclova, and his mercenaries under Capitano Sanquineo. This moment was also the birth of a new plan.
Flint, on the other hand, set a course for Grand Turk to return to his friends and nurse Anne Bonny back to health, as well as to keep a watchful eye on the stormy Caribbean seas. After all, the lions were only defeated for the fleeting blink of an eye on the great wheel of time – no more, no less.