Absolutely

“Stow your gear below, lads.” Brenan nodded, “I'll give you a shot. If you serve me as well as Wild Oscar, we'll get along fine.” Brenan could see the relief on the young men's faces when he said the words. Brenan knew better than most what it was like to be ostracized for being an outsider, it could not be easy for those two to have to live and work on this small island.

“I have to check on a gunner.” Brenan told Kyle. “Look the ship over if you want, but stay out of the fore and aft cabins.” There wasn't much of value in those cabins, but all the same Brenan didn't want his crew poking around where they didn't belong.

“Aye, C-captain.” Tyler responded immediately with much less stutter than before “Look over the ship, stay out of the c-cabins.” Brenan left the ship pretty happy with the two new crew members, if the gun officer was as capable as the rest of his crew he'd be damn lucky.

Lieutenant Michaels was boarding in one of the many rooms that widows and retired seamen rented to make ends meet. As Brenan walked through the crowded streets he wondered how he could convince this 'Gun Genius' to join his crew. His two six-pounders were small to midsized guns, enough, he hoped to scare off any potential pirates looking for easy prey. He could never go alongside even one of the smallest frigates from the Cryn or Veer navies that patrolled the sea, not to mention any of the heavier ships of the line. But those ships he could easily out-sail just by heading into the wind.

It was the pirate raiders, men who like him preferred schooners and sloops that were the threat. In fact, if Brenan chose to carry extra cannon and boarders instead of cargo, his ship could double as a pirate raider. The captains who made their wealth by closing and boarding merchantmen knew all the same tricks he did, he was less sure that his shallow draught and ability to sail close to the wind would be enough to shake one of those ships.

If he was going to stay safe with his limited guns, every shot had to count, and Brenan knew enough about big guns to know he knew not nearly enough about firing cannon. Would a gun chief be willing to sail on a ship with only two cannon? And if so why? As he wondered how much pay a lieutenant on a small ship would expect he neared the boarding house Davy mentioned. Suddenly a loud ‘bang’ blew the shutters of an attic widow open, nearly off their hinges and smoke billowed out into the clear sky. Shortly after, the shrill screaming of a woman’s voice filled the stunned silence of the busy street below.

Judging by the reactions of the nearby peddlers and shoppers, this was not the first time something similar had happened. As Brenan looked around with a growing understanding objects started flying from the loft window. Clothing, notebooks, and other random objects that Brenan could not even hope to identify all rained from the house as the screaming continued unabated. Picking up one of the notebooks Brenan confirmed his suspicion when he read ‘Michaels’ embossed in silver on the upper right corner of the leather-bound book. A brass object roughly the shape and size of a telescope dropped nearly at his feet, and he stacked all the objects he could find in a neat pile near the odd piece of turned brass that looked more like a bed post than anything else Brenan could think of.

Soon, as he expected, a man appeared dragging a heavy seaman’s chest that had wheels attached to the end of it. His clothing was tattered and had an odd collection or burns, tear marks and stains. Looking hopefully up and down the street he grinned in surprise when he saw all his belongings neatly stacked and waiting for his arrival.

“Thanks.” The man muttered as he knelt by the pile looking over the collection of paraphernalia that was gathered, “hummm, what’s this?” He asked himself as a small glass vial of liquid rolled out of one of the many pockets.

“Let me help you Mr. Michaels.’ Brenan suggested before the odd ‘Genius’ blew something else up.

“Much obliged my friend, much obliged.” Together the two men packed the assortment of objects haphazardly into the large chest. “I believe the civilized response to your help is to buy you a drink, but …” Michaels patted his pockets hopefully “… I seem to be without the means, at the moment.”

“Allow me Mr. Michaels.” Brenan said as he steered the man to a local watering hole. “You are a gun officer?” Brenan asked not sure if he wanted Michaels to deny it or not.

“Guns, yes, Guns I understand.” He looked about the bar as if for the first time “Its people that are hard to gauge.” Despite his best intentions, Brenan found himself nodding in agreement. This poor soul seemed to have even less a grasp on how the world worked than he did. He was at least as old as Brenan, probably his senior by a dozen years or so, a senior officer on a ship in charge of dozens of men and he still seemed as helpless as a child. It took a couple beers and patient redirecting of the conversation each of the many times Michaels became distracted by a random thought, but by the end of the conversation Brenan was pretty sure that Michaels knew more about firing big guns than any man or woman he had ever met.

“But guns are not the future, I’ve been working on something that will make guns seem tame.” Michaels looked around and leaned closer to Brenan conspiratorially “I am working on a way to use the power of lightning from the sky.” He chuckled “Imagine shooting bolts of electrical **** across miles of open sea.” Brenan could see the potential, but really needed a gun chief who was interested in guns, not electrical bolts.

“I have a twenty meter schooner with two six pounders sitting amidships.” Brenan described a little more about how he hoped to use his ship. “What would you recommend.”

Michaels pulled a sketchpad from his pocket and outlined several ideas for increasing both the actual and apparent firepower of the ship. By the time two more beers had been consumed along with a bucket of clams, Brenan understood what was meant by the ‘Genius’ in ‘Genius of Guns.’

“Mr. Michaels,” Brenan finally interrupted “I've heard enough to offer you the position.” He looked the odd man square in his eyes. “It's a step down for you, but are you willing to sign on with me?”