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for those raised in the Core, but there was also something else to it that bewildered her.
    She’d encountered it in her former captain, Neals, aboard Hermione , and couldn’t entirely dismiss the man’s attitudes as coming solely from what she was certain was insanity. Still, she’d seen not a bit of that in the officers or crew of Shrewsbury .
    Nesbit’s final comment registered and she shoved his shoulder, laughing. “Beast!”
    “So did you enjoy your evening with Mister Eades otherwise?” Hollingshed asked.
    “I’ll allow I did learn some things, but enjoyment isn’t in it,” she answered. “You gentlemen are awake quite late.”
    “I have the middle,” Hollingshed said with a grimace, referring to the middle watch which ran from midnight to four a.m. “Not much point in trying to sleep until then.”
    Nesbit raised his glass with a smile. “And I couldn’t leave the poor man to drink alone.”
    Alexis smiled in return.
    “And worse than the middle alone,” Hollingshed went on, “I’ve to share it with our young Artley.”
    Nesbit shook his head sadly. “That one’ll never make an officer.”
    “Is he truly that bad?” Alexis asked. She’d had little contact with Artley. Not surprising since there were more than a dozen midshipmen aboard Shrewsbury, along with the ship’s crew of over seven hundred men.
    Hollingshed grimaced. “You’ll see for yourself soon enough,” he said. “He’s not a bad lad, truly, but he’s timid as a mouse and clumsy.” He shrugged. “The hands are starting to lose respect for him, I think.”
    “I see,” Alexis said. That would, indeed, be bad. The men aboard were willing enough to take orders from midshipmen, even the youngest of them. They’d even take a likely youngster in hand and help him along if they thought he’d make a good officer one day.
    Lord knows what I’d have done myself , she thought, without the good opinion of Merlin’s crew.
    But if the crew lost respect for him, even the little bit they might have for a very young midshipman, then Hollingshed was likely right and the lad would never make an officer.
    And I’m to rely on him for my gundeck in action .
    Alexis took another sip of wine and grimaced. Perhaps it would be best to take the lad’s measure earlier, rather than later, and the quiet of the middle watch might make a fine time to do so.
    “Would you be at all interested in trading watches, Hollingshed?” she asked. “I have the first dog tomorrow, if you like.”
    “A full night’s sleep and a shortened watch tomorrow?” He nodded. “Aye, I’ll take that trade and thank you for it. Wish to get a better look at the bad bargain our captain’s given you?”
    Alexis shrugged. “I’ll not call it a bad bargain until I’ve worked with the lad, but I’d rather have the boy’s measure before next gun drill … or, worse, an action.”
    “He’s not seen an action from the gundecks,” Hollingshed warned her. “Captain’s kept him on the quarterdeck.”
    Alexis winced. The quarterdeck was one of the safest places to be in action, with the thicker hull that protected it. That hull could be breached by enemy shot, but Shrewsbury hadn’t encountered such an action since either Alexis or Artley came aboard. If the lad hadn’t been to the gundecks, even during drill, how would he react to the chaos and danger?

Chapter 5
    T he muted tone of the ship’s bell began sounding as Alexis slid the hatch to the quarterdeck open. Lieutenant Barr looked up from the circular table of the navigation plot that comprised the center of the compartment and raised an eyebrow.
    “Hollingshed and I have exchanged watches,” Alexis said, crossing to his side.
    Barr nodded.
    Alexis studied the plot to familiarize herself with Shrewsbury’s course and speed, as well as the positions of the merchant ships in the convoy. Those positions were plotted based on images of the other ships brought inboard from Shrewsbury’s hull by a complex