Doom's Break Read Online Free Page A

cast a prayer to the Spirit that she wasn't able to hear their horrible talk.
    Thru's nose twitched. The foul fishy smell was coming from the bow. He moved silently forward. The mainsail was furled, and a long, dark object was hanging from the mast on a line run to the forespit. He frowned and hoped it was not too late.
    By the side of the ship, near a coil of rope, he found the source of the stink, a chum pot the size of a man's head. Thru peered over the side. The water in this cove was deep, and the fishermen had anchored close to the shore. It was no more than forty feet to the narrow strand of moonlit sand. Thru nodded to himself.
    Then he went back to investigate the hanging object.
    As he had feared, it turned out to be poor Jevvi Panst, strung up by his heels. However, he was not dead. Thru detected a pulse, faint but steady.
    A glance showed him that the man at the tiller was still engrossed in the argument. Emboldened, Thru hunted along the side of the forward hold. He found a sail cache and pulled out a heavy bundle of spare jib sails. Bound up, he imagined, they were not too different in shape from a badly beaten mot hanging by his heels.
    Thru returned to the mast, selected a line that would normally raise a sail, and tied the bag full of jibs to it. Carefully he hauled it up and swung it close to the hanging shape of poor Jevvi.
    When it was parked next to the mot, he tied the line on a cleat at the side rail. He lowered the line bearing Jevvi and slowly laid him out onto the deck. Jevvi sputtered once, then returned to silence. Thru listened to his breathing, slow, shallow, but steady.
    A sudden noise came from the tiller side, a loud grunt, as of disapproval. Thru froze. Had the watch noticed something at last? Thru peered over the nearside sail cache and was reassured. The man had simply reacted to something said in the backroom. Thru returned to his task.
    With Jevvi lowered to the deck, Thru could see more clearly the extent of his injuries. He had been beaten to a pulp. Staying low, Thru pulled Jevvi across the deck to the side while keeping the mast and the pin rail directly between himself and the man at the tiller. Thru dared a quick look over the side.
    Down below, Juf saw him at once and silently moved the boat over so it was directly beneath.
    Thru took hold of Jevvi and lifted him into his arms, then set him on the rail. Jevvi was a deadweight, but lighter than Thru had expected. Working the line through a cleat on the rail, he carefully lowered the injured mot down the side of the fishing ship until he felt Juf take hold. Thru cut the line and tied it off at the cleat.
    Now he slid back toward the man at the tiller, who was turned halfway into the passage so he could hear more clearly what was being said. They were arguing about who would get the first turn with the girl. They had decided that they would all have a turn with her, but then they would leave her be until she was sold at the slave market. A drawing of straws was proposed, then the throwing of dice. Each concept had its supporters.
    Thru crept closer, behind the ship's small boat, which was stowed aboard by the mast. He was wondering if he would be able to shoot the fellow without alerting the others. Then he could get past him to investigate the cabin where, he suspected, Simona was being kept.
    Just then, however, a door opened, and two other men emerged to stand in the cockpit by the tiller rod.
    "Hey, Mergas, you get fourth turn. All right by you?" said one of them.
    "And Tricko gets first, I suppose?"
    "No, he came second this time. Supor gets the cherry."
    "Well, well, well, that makes a change."
    Thru crouched down, ready to nock an arrow if he had to. But the men opened another door and disappeared inside for a moment, then reappeared carrying bottles.
    "Oh, drinking up the wine, too, are we?" said the man at the tiller.
    "You'll get your glassful, Mergas, don't worry."
    "Just my luck to pull watch on this night."
    "You're always