Doom's Break Read Online Free

the channel. A slight breeze stirred the air here, and on the farther banks of coral they could see the phosphorescent glow of surf.
    They came around the point and almost immediately shipped their oars.
    Inside the point, anchored under the headland, was a single-masted fishing schooner. The same sort of craft that had been chasing the Sea Wasp .
    "I don't like the look of that," muttered Thru.
    "I think I know where Jevvi and Simona are," replied Juf in a somber voice.

CHAPTER TWO
    Thru unshipped the oars and had Juf hold them while he wrapped rags around the oarlocks. When he was sure they wouldn't betray them, he rowed carefully to the ship.
    There was no one visible on the deck. Thru thought it unlikely that no one was keeping watch, so he continued to approach cautiously. He slowed their approach with cautious dips of the oars. As they got closer, they caught the reek of rotten fish.
    They slid in close beneath the stern of the fishing ship until they were able to actually touch the hull and hold the boat steady against it. The light was coming from a half-open port on the right side. Gruff voices were arguing up there.
    Listening carefully, Thru began to make sense of the argument. His heart sank when he heard a particularly loud, deep voice break in: "Witch mark! All over her tits!"
    They had captured Simona.
    He made a sign to Juf and continued listening.
    "Well, you fellows may do what you want," the big voice continued, "but I say she's bad luck, and we're better off selling her as untouched as possible. Take her right back to Shasht now and put her into the market. Make up for the lousy fishing we've had."
    "What? And leave that barky out here? She's from that ship, what else do you think?"
    "As well as the thing, the monster?"
    "Well, who knows what the hell it is, but we'll cook it tomorrow and get some use out of it, eh? Haven't had meat in I don't know how long."
    "Hope it's not too tough a chew," said someone.
    "Heh, heh, we tenderized it pretty well, I'd say."
    "Enough! What if we can find that barky? We could be selling a barky and a few more slaves."
    "So we'll look around tomorrow. But I don't see any harm in poking the girl. That's all that's coming for her anyway, once she's sold."
    "Look, if we all use her every day from now until when we get her to the market, she's going to be worn out. If you want good gold for her, then we have to agree to leave her alone."
    "Ach, how often do we get a chance to poke something this good?"
    Thru listened with deepening foreboding. Then he shifted forward to whisper to Juf.
    Shortly afterward, he left the boat and began to climb up the side of the ship's stern. Over his shoulder he took the new bow, with six shafts in a small quiver tied high on his belt.
    Juf remained where he was, hidden under the stern in case any of the crew came on deck.
    The vessel was somewhat smaller than the Sea Wasp . Once Thru could peer over the top of the gunwale, he sized up the situation. The ship was steered by a tiller that ran out to a cockpit set under the foreside of the sterncastle. The small upper deck was bare except for a rail and lines running up to the mast. In the cockpit was the watch, a single man smoking a pipe.
    Upon closer study, Thru realized the watch at the tiller was far more attuned to the argument going on in the big room behind him than to the ship and its surroundings.
    "Witch mark!" yelled another voice down below.
    There was a loud chorus of groans.
    Thru found a useful seam in the outer hull near the gunwale and slid around from the sterncastle to the waist of the ship. He pulled himself over the gunwale and slipped silently into the foresection. The watch had not seen him.
    The fishing boat was a popular type, with a small hold forward for the catch. The man at the tiller guarded the dark entranceway leading to the interior cabins inside the sterncastle. The men arguing over Simona's fate were somewhere behind him. So, most likely, was Simona herself. Thru