Library records were often outdated, but something was better than nothing. Georgiana found the librarian and had him gather every piece of information he could find, while she opened a 1777 nautical chart of the Caribbean Sea.
The naval base at Nassau could control the Florida Strait, the vital passage from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean.
It might have been beautiful, since the Spaniards had named it for "flowers," but these waters were home to vast cold-water coral reefs, and those reefs could not serve as breakwaters.
If they did not leave through the Florida Strait, they would have to pass through the Yucatán Channel, regarded as the boundary between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. In theory, if they could not exit through the Florida Strait, they could still leave through the passages of the Caribbean Sea.
But this was where tropical storm cyclones formed, and there were coral reefs beneath the sea as well. The nearest outlet was at the Windward Passage, where the atmosphere remained unstable year-round, and tropical storms would also hinder shipping.
Beyond that came Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Some of those islands belonged to Britain, some to France, and then...
The librarian had already brought the materials she wanted. On top was a history of Trinidad and Tobago.
She had not even had time to read it when a colonel walked in. He seemed startled by the mountain of books before him.
"Is there something you need?" Georgiana asked, assuming he was an officer looking for information.
"Are you Georgiana?" The colonel studied her as he approached.
"Who are you?" She frowned.
"Jean-Toussaint Aligi de Casanova. I'm Napoleon's cousin. You may call me Aligi." The colonel smiled. "This time, I'm responsible for escorting you and Pauline."
She