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"It doesn't look as if we've got much choice," Dunvane
said bitterly. Norry and the other two crewmen began to
fidget and cast anxious looks at the churning sea.
Something boomed against the hull. A sailor bent over
the side and sang out, "Timbers! There's timbers in the
water! Heading straight for us!"
Unable to steer, Dunvane could do nothing. Massive
building timbers rammed into the SUNCHASER. Dunvane
held grimly to the wheel. The ship rolled and pitched and
they were still being drawn toward the great shaft of smoke,
fire and lightning.
"Have no fear!" called Imkhian above the thunder and
booming waves. "We are being tested! We must not be
afraid! Istar lies beyond the wall of fire; we must penetrate
the wall!" The priest knelt by the great serpentine bowl,
clinging to its smooth surface.
Norry staggered across the canted deck. "Captain!
What can we do?"
A bolt of lightning struck the mainmast. The foot-thick
oak mast splintered down its length, and the heavy crossyard
crashed to the deck, knocking Dunvane back from the
wheel. He hit the sterncastle and slid down, stunned. The
useless wheel spun freely.
The SUNCHASER heeled sharply to port. Dunvane
shook the mist from his brain and stood, grasping Norry's
arm for support.
The rudder had been carried away. The fallen
crossyard had torn the puny trysail like a cobweb.
SUNCHASER wallowed dead in the water. The racing
current caught its blunt stern and swung the ship in a half
circle. Scalding-hot spray, whipped up from the churning
water, burst over the rail
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