Not quite

The Vertigo was a frigate-class merchantman with an unusually large number of gun ports. The gun ports were all closed, so it was impossible to see how many guns the ship actually carried. Adam knew that some ships mounted extra ports to scare off raiders, but if the Vertigo did indeed carry that heavy a broadside she must be either dedicated to carrying very valuable cargo and passengers or more likely she earned her keep primarily as a pirate/privateer.

As the barge swung under the high stern of the frigate Adam could see pits and gouges on the ship's wooden planking that were likely the result of ship to ship action that reinforced his impression of the quasi-military nature of the frigate. The lead glazing of the great cabin's windows was chipped and curling with age and at least three of the many panes of glass in the cabin's windows had been patched with a weathered pieces of wood, but the name plate that proudly proclaimed the ship's name was freshly painted and the crew preparing to catch the lines thrown from the barge were neatly dressed and seamanly in their actions.

"Ahoy Vertigo!" The head bargeman hailed the men on the main deck. "I 'uv deliveries for Capt'n Anglar. One of um he's gonna wanna 'spect personally." Adam bristled as he saw the bargeman leer at Winlay yet again and heard the four oarsmen laughed at their leader's quip.

"Will all these ladies be using the accommodation ladder, or should we be rigging a bosun's chair?" A burly officer with a thick dark beard asked and Adam let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding when the Vertigo didn't send them off in confusion.

"The chair for me please if you and your men don't mind." Sister Margaret spoke up immediately before the bargeman even had a chance to answer.

"Aye, Sister." The cheerful reply came down not long before a small seat was lowered from an outstretched yard. Mika however wasn't waiting for the chair, dressed as she was in boy's clothing she scampered up the rungs on the side of the ship as smartly as any ship's boy. Adam decided he'd be no good to anyone on the barge so he too scaled the ladder a little awkwardly because he carried the bundled chainmail and sword in his left hand.

Once onboard, Adam saw two men crouching low behind the gunwales each with a wide barreled blunderbuss leveled at his chest each with a slow match hanging just over the flashpan. Damn, a trap! All this way and he failed after all. His hands tightened on the bundle trying to decide if he'd be better off trying to free his blade or hurl the whole flapping 20 kilo load straight at the closest man.

"Easy Adam," cautioned the bearded officer. "That's who you are right? Adam, and this lovely little darling " - he paused long enough to reach down and help Winlay climb safely aboard - "must be Mika." More than anything else, the officer being wrong about who Mika was relieved Adam's tension. No man working for Beldan would make that mistake.

"Are you Anglar?" Adam asked carefully.

"Not quite, but I'm a friend." Nothing about this powerful pirate looked at all friendly, but Adam had seen stranger things in the past four days. "So I've heard how the first part of your mission went, did the other part work out any better?"