"Cussler, Clive - NUMA Files 04 - White Death - with Paul Kemprecos" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cussler Clive)

Anything that united the Basques would be a threat to the
Inquisition.

Martinez did not respond to the freeing of the women. Aguirrez was no
fool. Martinez would strike only after he had collected every scrap of
incriminating evidence. Aguirrez used this time to prepare. He put
the fastest caravel in his fleet up on the ways at San Sebastian, as if
it were undergoing repairs. He spread generous amounts of money around
to enlist his own army of spies, including some in the prosecutor's
entourage, and made it known that the biggest reward would go to the
man who warned of his arrest. Then he went about his business as usual
and waited, staying close to home, where he surrounded himself with
guards, all veterans of combat.

Several months quietly passed. Then one night, one of his spies, a man
who worked in the office of the Inquisition itself, galloped
breathlessly up to his villa and pounded on his door. Martinez was
leading a group of soldiers to arrest him. Aguirrez paid off the
grateful spy and put his well-laid plans into effect. He kissed his
wife and children good-bye and promised to meet them in Portugal. While
his family escaped in a farm wagon with much of their wealth, a decoy
was dispatched to lead the arrest party on a merry chase through the
countryside. Accompanied by his armed entourage, Aguirrez made his way
to the coast. Under cover of darkness, the caravel slid down the ways,
unfurled its sails and headed north.

When the sun rose the next day, a fleet of fighting galleys had emerged
from the dawn mists in an attempt to cut the caravel off. Using adroit
seamanship, Aguirrez had eluded his pursuers, and a steady breeze had
sent the ship winging north along the coast of France. He set a course
for Denmark, where he would begin the turn west toward Greenland and
Iceland, and the Great Land beyond. But then, off the British Isles,
the ship's wake petered out along

with the wind, and Aguirrez and his men found themselves sitting in a
pool of dead air ...

Now, with the trio of galleys closing in for the kill, Aguirrez was
determined to fight to the death if need be, but his strongest instinct
was survival. He ordered the gun crew to prepare for battle. In
arming the caravel, he had sacrificed armament for speed, firepower for
flexibility.

The standard arquebus was a cumbersome muzzle-loaded matchlock gun that
was hooked onto a portable stand and needed two men to load and fire.
The gunners on the caravel were armed with smaller, lighter versions
that could be fired by one man. His crewmen were excellent marksmen
who would make every shot count. For heavy artillery, Aguirrez had
chosen a pair of bronze cannon that could be moved on wheeled
carriages. The gun crews had drilled to the point where they could