Lady Mechatronic and the Steampunked Pirates

By Arabella Wyatt

England has abolished slavery, but not all are willing to let the lucrative trade go without a fight. The Royal Navy is charged with keeping the Caribbean clean of slavers, pirates and privateers... but even in the Navy, there are those who put profit before principle.

Captain James Hartwell rebels against the abhorrent plans of his commanding officer to run a private slave trade. In doing so, he seemingly signs not only his own death warrant but that of his sister and loyal crew. All seems lost, until a blazing fireball hits the ocean.

Escaping on an obsolete galleon, Hartwell must evade the chasing English forces, protect his sister and his crew and deal with his near-overpowering attraction to a flesh and metal woman found floating in the ocean where the fireball fell.

Can they survive on the ancient, rotting galleon? What is happening to the crew as they develop frightening, almost demonic, powers? What part does the enigmatic Lady Mechatronic play in their transformation?

Pirates, flying saucers, a cyborg alien, steampunk and passion collide in the Caribbean. At least Hartwell has some absinthe to keep him sane. But this is just the beginning.

• Language: English
• Publisher: eXtasy Books Inc
• Release date: Feb 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781554879601

Book preview

England has abolished slavery, but not all are willing to let the lucrative trade go without a fight. The Royal Navy is charged with keeping the Caribbean clean of slavers, pirates and privateers… but even in the Navy, there are those who put profit before principle.

Captain James Hartwell rebels against the abhorrent plans of his commanding officer to run a private slave trade. In doing so, he seemingly signs not only his own death warrant but that of his sister and loyal crew. All seems lost, until a blazing fireball hits the ocean.

Escaping on an obsolete galleon, Hartwell must evade the chasing English forces, protect his sister and his crew and deal with his near-overpowering attraction to a flesh and metal woman found floating in the ocean where the fireball fell.

Can they survive on the ancient, rotting galleon? What is happening to the crew as they develop frightening, almost demonic, powers? What part does the enigmatic Lady Mechatronic play in their transformation?

Pirates, flying saucers, a cyborg alien, steampunk and passion collide in the Caribbean. At least Hartwell has some absinthe to keep him sane. But this is just the beginning.

The first book of a brand new series.

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Lady Mechatronic and the Steampunked Pirates

Copyright © 2011 Arabella Wyatt

ISBN: 978-1-55487-960-1

Cover art by Martine Jardin

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

Published by Devine Destinies

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Smashwords Edition

Lady Mechatronic and the Steampunked Pirates

By

Arabella Wyatt

To Gill K

Chapter One

Although the sun had risen in the blue Caribbean sky, it had failed to burn off the early-morning sea mist from around the wooden hulls of the Morning Star and the Pride of Plymouth, the largest and most powerful ships of the line of the English navy. The mist, according to the Plymouth’s second lieutenant, Roger Fleetwood, was a portent of ill omen.

It’s a sign is what it is, a sign from the sea gods, he declaimed. We’d do well to heed the warning and turn back the way we came.

If you wish to signal Admiral Johnson and tell him of your concerns, replied First Lieutenant Reginald Fitch, who was looking out at the thick fog, I’m sure Captain Hartwell will be happy to provide assistance.

It’s not right, insisted Fleetwood. He was on the upper deck with the rest of the crew, attending to the ship and their duties. Despite being told by the captain that he should set an example in discipline and hard work, Fleetwood spent most of his time complaining and provoking the superstitious fears of the crew. Their overactive imaginations populated the mist with sea devils, mermaids, sirens and, of course, the slave traders and pirates they had been charged with hunting down.

It’s not right, being sent out here alone, continued Fleetwood, a small weasel of a man who owed his position to family connection rather than ability. Why are we out here, away from the rest of the fleet? We’d be a sitting target for any pirate.

The majority of the men agreed with a low rumble.

Fitch gave up trying to see anything in the fog and glared at Fleetwood, who smirked and turned away. The second lieutenant had long been a source of anxiety and tension on board the ship, but he had the protection of Admiral Johnson, the head of the English fleet in the Caribbean and there was little Fitch could do about the man’s determined attempt to stir up trouble. Besides which, Fleetwood did actually have a point. Why had Admiral Johnson ordered the flagship of the fleet, and its sister craft, out into this deserted area?

And I’ll tell you what else isn’t right round here, said Able Seaman Warren Richmond, taking up from where Fleetwood left off. The two often worked as a team, each man encouraging the other.

And what might that be? asked Danny O’Rourke, a small, cheerful Irishman, who was determined to keep his spirits up despite the oppressive atmosphere.

You know as well as I do, said Richmond as he looked round hurriedly, fearing that the captain was in earshot. His voice sank down to a conspiratorial whisper. It’s not right having a woman on board.

The captain’s sister? shrugged O’Rourke. She’s just a girl. Nothing but skin, bone and gristle.

It’s against nature, muttered Richmond darkly.

And it’s against sense, added Fleetwood, his eyes hungry with his troublemaking. It was no secret that he yearned to be in command. He loathed his lowly position of