In the surgery of the Farragut, morning came early for Tina, the ship's makeshift medic ever since the real doctor had taken a canon ball to the gut. She awoke several hours before dawn, startled from her uneasy sleep by the gasping death rattle of Captain Garrovick.
Wounded days before during a skirmish with another vessel, Garrovick had at first seemed to be on the way to recovery. A lucky thing, since his first mate and most of the other senior hands aboard the Farragut had perished in the attack, and the ship needed a leader more than ever. But the site of his injury had begun to fester, and as he became feverish and weak, tensions on the ship rose.
As Tina closed the Captain's - former Captain's - eyes she thought of how she must announce to the crew that he was dead, and shuddered. The ship would be thrown into utter chaos as various members of the crew attempted to take command.
She only hoped that her skills with a surgeon's saw and a needle would help her if her sword arm was not enough to secure a position under the new captain - whoever that might be.
On the Farragut
Wounded days before during a skirmish with another vessel, Garrovick had at first seemed to be on the way to recovery. A lucky thing, since his first mate and most of the other senior hands aboard the Farragut had perished in the attack, and the ship needed a leader more than ever. But the site of his injury had begun to fester, and as he became feverish and weak, tensions on the ship rose.
As Tina closed the Captain's - former Captain's - eyes she thought of how she must announce to the crew that he was dead, and shuddered. The ship would be thrown into utter chaos as various members of the crew attempted to take command.
She only hoped that her skills with a surgeon's saw and a needle would help her if her sword arm was not enough to secure a position under the new captain - whoever that might be.