The Captain's Journal

1504 Words4 Pages

Caribbean Sea, 1660

The thunder startled him awake from his sleep. Captain Juan Carlos Vega shot to his feet and peered out the porthole at the swelling sea. The rain had not yet started but the wind was whipping about, he saw. After hastily pulling on his clothing, he rushed topside to examine the situation further.
There he found first officer Julio Delgado who was also surveying the weather. Captain Vega had more to worry about than just his ship, Real España. Since his vessel was the flagship of the fleet, he also had to look out for the other five galleons as well. He trusted the commanders of those ships to possess the knowledge to navigate around the approaching squall. As sturdy as galleons were, they were terrible in storms; rough waters knocked them about to-and-fro something fierce. However, the highly trained and skilled crews aboard the vessels were used to handling such situations; storms were a common occurrence in the Caribbean. Vega walked fore and aft on the deck peering out over the gunwale at the brightening sea surveying the fleet. The sun was just rising over the horizon making it easier for him to survey the situation. He scowled for he knew Santo Domingo loomed ahead in the distance. He looked over at Delgado and spoke. “Any word on San Rafael?”
Delgado looked over at Vega. Shaking his head he replied, “No sir. I haven’t heard anything.”
Vega frowned, surveying the weather again. Sighing, he said, “This weather isn’t going to help matters.”
“No sir. But the storm looks as if it won’t be too severe. Perez might even miss it; it might dissipate before it reaches his location. Wherever that may be.” Delgado paused. Then, continuing, “Even if the storm does reach him, Perez is capable enough to deal with it.”
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...d shifting.” Perez thoughtfully paused for effect, tapping his finger on his chin. “Remember a few months ago? At Caracas?” he asked, garnering a nod from Alvarez. “I remember discussing that with you. I want to ensure that we prevent further mishaps like that from happening. All the years I’ve been sailing, and I’ve never had anything like that happen,” he said referring to the time when a pile of crates, stacked too high, shifted its weight and toppled down on a man, killing him. Only Perez knew that was part of the plan. “I thought the men needed some extra time in port. Besides, Vega knew about the delay; I cleared that with him. He too, didn’t want another man lost from a mishap.” Perez did request his galleon held in port, but not so much as to shift around the cargo or to give the crew extra time off. Rather, he made the request for a much more sinister motive

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