Under the Black Ensign

by Hubbard, L. Ron

• ISBN13: 9781592123391
• ISBN10: 1592123392
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-09-08
• Publisher: Galaxy Pr Llc

Summary

Tom Bristol's career as first mate of the Maryland bark Randolph abruptly ends during shore leave when he is press-ganged into serving aboard the British HMS Terror. Toil under the cruel whip of England is merciless: Crew members are treated as little more than chattel-barely fed, made to work past the brink of exhaustion and kept in line with a cat-o'-nine-tails. Fate finally smiles on young Bristol when the vessel is overtaken by pirates and he gladly turns coat and joins them. Yet Tom's new pirate mates desert him quickly after he's found guilty of killing a mutinous pirate and unwittingly harboring a woman on board. Marooned on a deserted island, Tom has nothing but a small supply of water, a gun and just enough bullets to kill himself. But Tom dreams up a devious plan that will return him to the high seas and make his past adventures pale compared to what he has in store for his many enemies. . . . "Beats any Pirates of the Caribbean story you will find."-Associated Content

Author Biography

With 19 New York Times bestsellers and more than 230 million copies of his works in circulation, L. Ron Hubbard is among the most acclaimed and widely read authors of our time. As a leading light of American Pulp Fiction through the 1930s and ’40s, he is further among the most influential authors of the modern age. Indeed, from Ray Bradbury to Stephen King, there is scarcely a master of imaginative tales who has not paid tribute to L. Ron Hubbard.

Excerpts

The time-honored cry of the sea floated down to them from the foretop. "Sail ho!" All eyes went aloft. The lash was momentarily forgotten. The sail must be very close, otherwise it would not have been announced. "Where away?" shouted Mannville. "Off the starboard, coming across our bows!" Men leaped to the rail. The haze of light cast up by the sun on water momentarily blinded them. And then they saw the ship. It was sailing against the morning sun, full-rigged, tall-masted, gilded sterncastle sparkling. It was a bark of about sixty guns. Against the light, its sails looked black. Even as they stared at it, a roll of bunting went up the truck and burst. Its identity was unmistakable. A grinning skull against an ebon field. -L. Ron Hubbard