LITMIR.BIZ

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startling, then almost offensive. ‘Sir, Temeraire has always been willing, has always put forth his best efforts,’ he began, angrily, and only stopped when Celeritas snorted to interrupt him.

      ‘Pull up, Captain,’ he said, with a rough amusement. ‘I am not insulting him. The truth is he is a little too intelligent to be an ideal formation fighter. If the situation were different, we would make him a formation leader or an independent, and he would do very well. But as matters stand, given his weight, we must have him in formation, and that means he must learn rote manoeuvres. They are simply not enough to hold his attention. It is not a very common complaint, but I have seen it before, and the signs are unmistakable.’

      Laurence unhappily could offer no argument; there was perfect truth in Celeritas’s remarks. Seeing that Laurence had fallen silent, the training master continued, ‘This rivalry adds enough spice to overcome a natural boredom that would shortly progress to frustration. Encourage him, praise him, keep him confident in your affection, and he will not suffer from a bit of squabbling with another male; it is very natural, at his age, and better he should set himself against Praecursoris than Maximus; Praecursoris is old enough not to take it seriously.’

      Laurence could not be so sanguine; Celeritas did not see how Temeraire fretted. But neither could Laurence deny that his remarks were motivated from a selfish perspective: he disliked seeing Temeraire driving himself so hard. But of course he needed to be driven hard; they all did.

      Here in the placid green north, it was too easy to forget that Britain was in great danger. Villeneuve and the French navy were still on the loose; according to dispatches, Nelson had chased them all the way to the West Indies only to be eluded again, and now was desperately seeking them in the Atlantic. Villeneuve’s intention was certainly to meet with the fleet out of Brest and then attempt to seize the straits of Dover; Bonaparte had a vast number of transports cramming every port along the French coast, waiting only for such a break in the Channel defences to ferry over the massive army of invasion.

      Laurence had served on blockade duty for many long months, and he knew well how difficult it was to maintain discipline through the endless, unvarying days with no enemy in sight. The distractions of more company, a wider landscape, books, games: these things made the duty of training more pleasant by far, but he now recognized that in their own way they were as insidious as monotony.

      So he only bowed, and said, ‘I understand your design, sir; thank you for the explanation.’ But he returned to Temeraire still determined to curb the almost obsessive practising, and if possible to find an alternative means of engaging the dragon’s interest in the manoeuvres.

      These were the circumstances which first gave him the notion of explaining formation tactics to Temeraire. He did so more for Temeraire’s sake than his own, hoping to give the dragon some more intellectual interest in the manoeuvres. But Temeraire followed the subject with ease, and shortly the lessons became real discussion, as valuable to Laurence as to Temeraire, and more than compensating for his lack of participation in the debates which the captains held amongst themselves.

      Together they embarked on designing a series of their own manoeuvres, taking advantage of Temeraire’s unusual flying capabilities, which could be fitted into the slower and more methodical pace of the formation. Celeritas himself had spoken of designing such manoeuvres, but the pressing need for the formation had forced him to put aside the plan for the immediate future.

      Laurence salvaged an old flight-table from the attics, recruited Hollin’s help to repair its broken leg, and set it up in Temeraire’s clearing under his dragon’s interested eyes. It was a sort of vast diorama set upon a table, with a latticework on top; Laurence did not have a set of the proper scale figures of dragons to hang from it, but he substituted whittled and coloured bits of wood, and by tying these with bits of thread from the lattice, they were able to display three-dimensional positions for each other’s consideration.

      Temeraire from the beginning displayed an intuitive grasp of aerial movement. He could instantly declare whether a manoeuvre was feasible or not, and describe the movements necessary to bring it about if so; the initial inspiration for a new manoeuvre was most often his. Laurence in turn could better assess the relative military strengths of various positions, and suggest such modifications as would improve the force which might be brought to bear.

      Their discussions were lively and vocal, and attracted the attention of the rest of his crew; Granby tentatively asked to observe, and when Laurence gave leave, was shortly followed by the second lieutenant, Evans, and many of the midwingmen. Their years of training and experience gave them a foundation of knowledge which both Laurence and Temeraire lacked, and their suggestions further refined the design.

      ‘Sir, the others have asked me to propose to you that perhaps we might try some of the new manoeuvres,’ Granby said to him, some few weeks into the project. ‘We would be more than happy to sacrifice our evenings to the work; it would be infamous not to have a chance of showing what he can do.’

      Laurence was deeply moved, not merely by their enthusiasm, but by seeing that Granby and the crew felt the same desire to see Temeraire acknowledged and approved. He was very glad indeed to find the others as proud of and for Temeraire as he himself was. ‘If we have enough hands present tomorrow evening, perhaps we may,’ Laurence said.

      Every officer from his three runners on up was present ten minutes early. Laurence looked over them a little bemused as he and Temeraire descended from their daily trip to the lake; he only now realized, with all of them lined up and waiting, that his aerial crew wore their full uniforms, even now in this impromptu session. The other crews were often to be seen without coats or neckcloths, particularly in the recent heat; he could not help but take this as a compliment to his own habit.

      Mr. Hollin and the ground crew were also ready and waiting; even though Temeraire was inclined to fidget in his excitement, they swiftly had him in his combat-duty harness, and the aerial crew came swarming aboard.

      ‘All aboard and latched on, sir,’ Granby said, taking up his own launch position on Temeraire’s right shoulder.

      ‘Very well. Temeraire, we will begin with the standard clear-weather patrol pattern twice, then shift to the modified version on my signal,’ Laurence said.

      Temeraire nodded, his eyes bright, and launched himself into the air. It was the simplest of their new manoeuvres, and Temeraire had little difficulty following it; the greater problem, Laurence saw at once, as Temeraire pulled out of the last corkscrewing turn and back into his standard position, would be in accustoming the crew. The riflemen had missed at least half their targets, and Temeraire’s sides were stained where the lightly weighted sacks full of ash that stood for bombs in practice had hit him instead of falling below.

      ‘Well, Mr. Granby, we have some work ahead of us before we can make a creditable showing of it,’ Laurence said, and Granby nodded ruefully.

      ‘Indeed, sir; perhaps if he flew a little slower at first?’ Granby said.

      ‘I think perhaps we must adjust our thinking as well,’ Laurence said, studying the pattern of ash marks. ‘We cannot be hurling bombs during these quick turns he makes, there is no way we can be sure of missing him. So we cannot work steadily: we must wait and release the equivalent of a full broadside in the moments when he is level. We will be at greater risk of missing a target entirely, but that risk can be borne; the other cannot.’

      Temeraire flew in an easy circuit while the topmen and bellmen hastily adjusted their bombing gear; this time, when they attempted the manoeuvre again, Laurence saw the sacks falling away, and there were no fresh marks to be seen on Temeraire’s sides. The riflemen, also waiting for the level parts of the run, improved their record as well, and after half-a-dozen repetitions, Laurence was well-satisfied with the results.

      ‘When we can deliver our full allotment of bombs and achieve perhaps an eighty-per cent success rate in our gunnery, on this and the other four new manoeuvres, I will consider our work worth bringing to Celeritas’s attention,’ Laurence said, when they had all dismounted and the ground crew were stripping Temeraire and polishing the dust and grime off his hide. ‘And I think it eminently achievable: I commend all of you,

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