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down. All fires were out. No oil lamps were to be lit tonight. The risk of
fire was too great, and the captain was a careful man. As for Casca and Shiu,
the prohibition of lamplight ,made little difference. They weren't used to
having lamps at night anyway. Oil was a luxury saved for the rich and well
to-do, not for lowly slaves.
Casca and Shiu took their meals and ate apart from the other slaves as was now
their custom. The two thugs gave them dark looks, but Casca ignored them, and
Shiu seemed not to see. Tomorrow would be the end of the voyage. Neither would
probably ever see the two thugs after the landing. They ate and prepared for
the night.
The wind freshened and the sea roughened. The galley pitched and yawed. Those
in the slave sections tried to sleep. Some succeeded, but the tossing only
served to make Casca restless. He arose from his pallet, wrapped his cloak
around him, and started for the upper deck and fresh air. As he climbed the
ladder leading to the surface, a figure below made himself known.
"Shiu!"
"Go on, big nose, I am right behind."
The two walked carefully along the deck to the starboard side of the galley.
Italy lay somewhere in the dark. The wind hummed through the lines, pressed
the billowed sails, and the galley drove on through the night.
Shiu faced the stern, letting the sea breeze blow cold in his face and spray
settle into his thin beard and moustache. "Aiiiee, big nose. This is much
better than lying below in that dungeon. Here at least we can breathe free
air-even if we are not free."
Casca grunted as he was wont to do when he couldn't think of anything to say,
enjoying the brisk wind. The only sailors on deck were those needed for the
care of the ship. They were mostly Cyprians or Egyptians, experienced men who
could be counted on in an emergency. The wind was strong, but there was no
real danger, though the roughess of the sea was enough to make land-lubbers
uncomfortable.
There was, however, another danger much more real.
As Casca and Shiu enjoyed the open expanse of the dark sea, two figures made
their way to the deck. These kept stealthily to the shadows, moving slowly and
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cautiously. The two bullies were determined to even the score tonight, for the
rough sea would be an ideal time. If two landsmen went over the side into the
churning waters, surely there could be no suspicion of foul play.
The younger man moved forward, his breath seeming to rasp in his ears,
anticipation building in him, his pulse quickening. It was his first such
kill. The older man was more settled and at ease. A basic streak of cruelty
needing to be fed, combined with the need to reinforce his own image of
himself, drove him to this act of murder. He had killed before in the dark,
once even under very similar circumstances to this while working on a cargo
ship out of Crete. T,here the seas, like these, had covered his deed forever.
No moon covered the dark sea. The only light came from the phosphorescent
glowing of the ocean froth, flashing and disappearing, winking out like
strange-shaped fireflies.
Despite the night chill, the face of the young man was covered in sweat. He
could barely make out the Greek beside him. He touched the Greek's arm with'a
hand that was questioning, eager, trembling. The shadows of Casca and Shiu
loomed indefinitely before them, but in the faint light of the phosphorescent
sea it was obvious that their backs were turned, and the wind was covering any
sound the two assassins might make. The time was now. The half-breed gave his
comrade's hand a forward jerk, and simultaneously they moved forward, arms'
out, hands reaching to shove...
They were only two steps away...
Shiu tensed. A velvet shadow, he turned and caught, the young one's
outstretched hands, pivoting inside the young man's reach. Gently he set his
hip against the thigh of the young man and with a smooth turning lift threw
the youngster flying over his head and out over the railing.
The next thought in the young man's brain was the feel of the sea reaching up
to meet him.' A large swell of the black waters seemed to open for his body.
Near silence. Only a gurgling sigh. The waters took him down, closing over
him, surprising in their warmth. His mouth was open for a scream that never
came, for it was instantly filled with the Mediterranean. He had no sense of
weight. In the dark, salty water there was no up or down. Panic began to touch
his brain, but then was dulled as the sea flowed into his lungs and the warm,
wet black claimed him forever.
His comrade was not as fortunate.
When Shiu turned, it alerted Casca, and he caught the Greek breed by the arm
and throat. Casca's instinctive soldier's training took over. The lessons he
had learned from Shiu came automatically. Without consciously willing it to
happen, he used a forward leg trip and drove the Greek to the deck, still
holding to the breed's throat. In the corner of his eye he sensed the flying
shadow of the young man and Shiu turning into the basic defensive posture,
feet set in a strong horse stance, hands positioned.
Holding the Greek down, Casca recalled a technique the old one had showed him,
but not to completion. Shit, he thought, I might as well see if it works.
Switching hands on the Greek's throat to keep him from screaming, Casca formed
his free hand in the blunt extended finger striking attitude. Taking a deep
breath, he compressed half into his lower abdomen, then let the retained air
escape in bursts, giving a compressed hiss instead of the normal kiyi! Then
Casca drove his fingers straight into the area just below the center and to
the left of the solar plexus. As his fingers went deep, he turned them up to
the heart. With a quick vibrating pumping action, he worked his hand back and
forth, the action of his strike creating a shock wave that threw the
half-breed's heart into convulsions.
The great muscle missed a beat. . . then another. It tried to correct itself,
but another shock wave hit it, and the tissues tore inside. The heart
ruptured. The Greek opened his mouth. The veins in his neck extended out of
all proportion. His chest swelled. His back arched and his feet drummed a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]