Captain Dirk had been watching the activity across the harbor. He saw sailors and scallywags loading up on a ship. He sent someone down to Thomas to set up his thunder box. Springer ship needed to leave first, and then the two mate ships before his ship could go. He motioned for Springer to set sail, and Springer's two wind affinity people got them underway. They slowly moved away from the dock and picked up speed. The second ship started generating power from the wind and began moving. Finally, Dirk's ship could start.
Thomas was sitting at Ayra's bedside when a crewman came in to tell him they would be pursued and would need the thunder box. Thomas looked over and saw the prone form of the general in irons on a bed. Arya was still unconscious, and the doctors were both working on her, so Thomas slipped away. He told Lee to tell him if she woke up and went looking for Gendry. Someone had already found Gendry, who was ahead of him in the narrow passageway. Gendry had the box and the framework, a bag of powder, and shots swinging on his hip. He looked back and nodded at Gendry, saying, "How is she?" "She hasn't woken up yet, and the doctors are swarming her, so I came." When they went on deck, they were well away from the dock, almost to the harbor entrance. The entrance was small, with a narrow channel between the shoals. Dirk pointed at the ship that was coming across the harbor quickly towards them. They set up on the aft rail on the poop deck, nailing the frame down and roping it off to the rail. It wasn't the best setup, but it would hold for a few shots.
As they cleared the buoys marking where the channel widened and turned south towards home, the pursuit ship was entering the entrance. Dirk signaled now. "Boom," the shot fell short, and the enemy captain tried to slow his forward progress, but gave the wrong order and hit a pier at the entrance. As his ship turned sideways, Dirk said, " Now. "Boom," the shot took the enemy ship just below the waterline, and it sank like a stone, crossways at the channel entrance.
As they cleared the harbor, a sail crewman shouted, "Sails ho. North by north east and at a far distance." The sun had just cleared the horizon, and far to the north, they could see six sails. Those troops were not going to have the greeting they expected. But Dirk could see the two smaller boats trying to close in on them. They had been spotted.
Dirk had a crewman hold the wheel, and he went up to the forecastle deck. The other ships' sailors had spotted the boats too, so several people were up on their poop deck looking. He waved at them, and they acknowledged him. He motioned for them all to run, and he would slow down some to deal with the two ships. The other crewmen nodded at him and waved; they turned to inform their captain.
It took three hours for the pursuit to catch them; their other three escaping ships were far out of sight now. One ship was smaller and faster than the other, and it closed fast. Thomas shouted at Dirk, "Hold her steady!" "Boom," the shot hit the other boat about three feet above the waterline. By the time its captain was going to react to what happened, the second shot caught them below the waterline. The boat glided to a stop and nosed into the bank close by; those crewmen were going to have a long walk home. Sadly, the second shot had wiped out the thunder box's frame, and the recoil slapped it off the deck hard.
Thomas shouted at the crew, "I need 6 empty barrels, and the three loaded ones we have up here now." The crew scrambled to make it happen. As the other ship closed, Thomas shouted at Dirk to hold her steady again. He and Gendry tamped the lids on and threw three empty barrels into the water behind them. Having seen the shots take out their other ship, the enemy captain evaded the barrels, slowing somewhat. When he sped back up, they tamped and threw three more empty barrels. This time, the enemy captain sped right through them. Then they lit and tamped three load barrels and threw them in. The enemy captain pushed through them just as they exploded. The enemy ship coasted to a halt, and Dirk called for full wind power, and they pulled away. After sitting still for a few moments, the enemy ship turned around and ran for the port.
Four hours later, the victorious crews were home safe. Arya had awakened, and Thomas was right there. She looked at him sheepishly and gave a crinkled smile, saying, "I hear you saved us all again, and now here you are waiting for me to wake up like a dutiful husband. Are you always like this?" He smiled at her and said softly, "I am always like this, and I always will be for the rest of our lives together." He bent over and softly kissed her forehead, adding, "It's the only way I know to be."