12 November 2014 (the fight on the longship, recovering the chalice)
The team stands with backs to the notch broken into the deck of the ship by Cassiopeia. The deck shifts, and they aren’t able to attack at once, but Diamond gets a good look at the situation: there’s a crude cabin just aft of the mast, but it seems to be empty, and everyone above decks is concentrating on the team.
During the fight, Diamond shoots with her dual pistols; Stephen keeps up a steady barrage of rifle fire at short range, though several vikings manage to hit him; Thorfin concentrates on breaking the arms of his opponents (noting that with their unnatural strength they can still wield their axes one-handed, though less effectively); and David takes pistol shots, also being hit a few times though his armour manages to take most of the force of the blows.
A cloud of darkness briefly settles over the whole fight, but Diamond manages to spot the “viking” who’s waving his arms and distract him before it can take full effect.
As the viking guards get slowly whittled down, one of them sneaks over the side, accelerating through the air towards the other ships. As he goes, Diamond shoots him in the vitals, knocking him out of the air; the body starts to sink at once, but the Uvwe keep it afloat for the moment (between slitting the throats of the vikings who’ve fallen into the sea).
That takes the heart out of the last few vikings, most of whom now have broken arms, though they fight to the end. Diamond retrieves Amethyst’s body and brings it back to the longship, which is getting worryingly low in the water (and the frantic shouts from the oarsmen, as they run up through the hatchways, probably aren’t a good sign either).
Time for a Connection card.
As the team considers what to do about the other longship and the Norwegian corvette, there’s the distinctive sound of a 4.5” gun firing, a shell whistling overhead towards the other ships, and a crackle over David’s radio. HMS Manchester, a destroyer of the Royal Navy, has observed the unnatural storm and arrived to lend assistance. It seems that the owner of Cassiopeia golfs with a retired admiral, and someone is going to pay for that yacht…
The other ships pull away, and Manchester lowers boats to take the team, and the rowers (whose last order was “row or die”), on board. There’s a little gold left in the cabin, and more in Amethyst’s backpack, along with a gently-glowing gold cup mounted with red-and-blue stones which must be the Possibility Chalice.
Since both British governments will be interested, it’s decided to pick up Babbage and then head directly for London, which will take most of a day. The team relaxes for the journey. Thorfin is introduced to the modern successor to prize courts, as he wrestles with bureaucracy to try to get the Navy to pay for the lost yacht rather than Steven. David gets patched up and tries not to sneer at the ship’s lack of internal network. Steven reacquaints himself with the Royal Marines on board, in a series of profanity-laden exchanges. And Diamond disappears discreetly, so as not to be seen entering an officer’s cabin.