After a moment, Hans approached the detachment and asked to speak with the sergeant, who, having finished his meal, was sitting in the shade, leaning against a wall and fanning himself with a large banana leaf, while the other soldiers smoked or simply dozed.
"Excuse me, Sergeant, may I have a moment?" Hans said, interrupting his respite.
The soldier shaded his eyes with his hand to look at Hans; he drew a breath and stood to recover his bearing. He pulled his tricorne low.
"How can I help you?" he said, hands clasped behind his back, impassive.
Hans cleared his throat.
"I wish to know what the plan is."
"We've sent a message to Bacalar requesting reinforcements," the sergeant replied.
The Jesuit raised his eyebrows at him.
"How do you intend to subdue those pirates?"
The sergeant took a breath and, from the cartridge box, produced a small case; under Hans's expectant gaze he opened it, pinched a bit of snuff, inhaled, and then put it away with meticulous care.
"Well," he began, "the plan is that once the reinforcements arrive, we'll raze the compound; we won't leave one stone upon another, and we'll finish off that scum… the Crown does not negotiate with pirates."
The Jesuit frowned.
"And what about the prisoner?" he asked.
The sergeant's lips twisted in a cold line.
"She's collateral damage," he said without flinching.
Hans stared at him in horror.
"You can't speak like that! She's a victim… besides, the townsfolk are counting on you."
"The Empire does not bow to blackmail," the soldier answered harshly.
With that, Hans stepped behind one of the walls to observe the field. A soldier came running, sweating in the day's heat.
"Cipriano, what's the situation?" the sergeant asked the newcomer.
"Sergeant," said the soldier, touching the brim of his tricorne, "all the walls around the perimeter of the redoubt are high and thick enough to prevent scaling; they also have loopholes from which they fire their muskets," he began to report, as the other soldiers gathered and Hans listened from his vantage. "The church and the adjacent buildings are reinforced with men defending them from the rooftops."
"They've made a small fortress that could withstand a war of attrition," said the sergeant. "But if the garrison brings a light cannon, we can level them."
Hans felt his stomach drop at this; he was about to speak when a volley cracked through the air. The detachment and the Jesuit fell back for cover.
"Those wretches fire at anything that shows itself, Father," a soldier warned.
The Jesuit took shelter behind a wall and pressed his back to the stone.
"We're at a disadvantage against those criminals," said the sergeant. "There's not much we can do, Father; only wait."
The priest frowned at him.
"I know those men; they won't back down or withdraw… but we can't launch a brutal assault."
"They're just pirates!" the sergeant shot back.
"She's an innocent girl," Hans said.
The sergeant was about to argue when the watchtower bell rang. Soldiers, villagers, and Hans peered out with caution.
"They want a parley," Hans said.
"I wouldn't be so sure," the sergeant replied.
High above, Derek appeared, more threatening than he truly was.
"To you, to the cacique, and to your people," he called down, "we have received no answer to our proposal. We have Magdalena, and if in the next few hours you do not guarantee us passage and the gold, we will execute her."
"Do you know that if you harm her, you damn yourself?" said the sergeant.
"Not before taking several of you with us… we have several barrels of gunpowder we can set off and blow the whole town sky-high," Derek answered.
"You're not being reasonable," said the sergeant. "Release the girl and show your surrender."
The pirates laughed. Hans drew a deep breath; the cacique stepped into the square.
"In k'áat in t'aan ti' Rafael," he said in Maya ( "I wish to speak with Rafael" ). "In wojel, ka meentik jump'éel meyaj, ma' teech u páajtal u máak" ( "I believe we can reach an agreement without endangering anyone" ).
"Whatever you have to say to Rafael, you'll say to me, cacique," Derek replied from the tower.
"To'on k'a'ajsik u k'áat juntúul ka ti' junt' u k'aaba' yéetel to'on ku yóok'ol in k'uchul a kaaj ti' le ok'ot" ( "Give us time to gather the gold and we will escort you to the coast" ).
"The problem is you involved the Spaniards… you complicated things, cacique," Derek said with irony.
Everyone murmured. Derek spoke quietly with the men at the tower, then said:
"Rafael states the terms stand: Magdalena's life and the town's survival in exchange for what was agreed, and the detachment must also withdraw."
With that, Derek vanished from the watchtower. The sergeant pulled back with his men, and they began to argue. Hans raised his hand to cut them off.
"Perhaps we can negotiate with them," he said.
"And what do you intend to negotiate, Father? Quote Paul of Tarsus and convert those sea-dogs?" the sergeant sneered.
"They'll cut you down the moment you set foot in the square," a soldier said.
Hans sighed and closed his eyes as if in prayer; he commended himself to the ancient household spirits and asked counsel of the forest beings, then turned back to the detachment.
"I'll do it," he said aloud, breaking into the discussion.
"What do you mean to do, Father?" the sergeant asked, annoyed.
"I'll go speak with them; I believe I have a pretext."
The soldiers muttered; the sergeant let out a long sigh.
"Very well, make your negotiations; it's your head… but none of my men will go with you," the officer said.
"I'll go alone," Hans replied.
It was already toward evening when Hans, after once more commending himself to the ancient lares and reaffirming his duty as a man of faith, let himself be carried by the impulse to take the risk. Something personal moved him as well. The townsfolk and the soldiers watched him intently; after asking for a strip of white cloth, he set off toward the redoubt.
From the watchtower they watched the Jesuit approach with his hands raised, waving a white rag, while villagers and soldiers looked on in suspense.
"I'll stake a real he doesn't live to see dawn," said a soldier.
"Shut up. If we're gambling, let it be doubloons," another shot back.