<div style="text-align: justify;">The next hours were a torture for Carlota, as she had no idea about exactly what was going on.  The one thing she did know was that they were under attack. Who was attacking them was another mystery, another unanswered question. Whoever it was, though, had clearly taken down the galleon, leaving the merchant ships to fend for themselves.<br/><br/>As time went by, the people in the ship - both crew and passengers - where torn between fear and hope.  Fear that whoever had sunk the galleon would come for them. Hope that they had found enough in the galleon. Hope that the time the other vessels lost with the galleon would be enough to give them a good space ahead.<br/><br/>The second merchant vessel, the one the sloops had not spotted yet, feeling at least a little safer in the midst of others. While they tried to blend in, the captain hoped that the shoals would give them the time they needed, while they made sure to have their guns ready to strike.<br/><br/>Once everything was ready, all the captain could do was wait, as well as his crew and passengers. And hope that, in the chance they needed to go into combat, they would come up on top.</div>