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. The SUNCHASER was going down.
"Go aft!" Dunvane yelled. There was a small dinghy
lashed to the transom stern. It was the only escape craft they
had. Norry and the other sailor worked their way up the port
side. Jermina and the captain crawled up the starboard.
Blood-red saltwater lapped at Dunvane's heels.
"Don't let the dinghy fall!" Dunvane ordered. "It'll
break." The sinking ship had lifted the stern so high he
didn't dare release the lifeboat's moorings for fear of it
plunging into the water and breaking apart. Norry and the
sailor tried to free the dinghy, planning to drag it amidships
and launch it there. They were so intent on cutting the knots
that they didn't see the mizzen yard teeter above them.
"Look out!" the captain shouted.
Norry looked up in time to see the yard falling. He
threw himself back. The railing he landed against gave way
and, with a shocked outcry, he plunged overboard. The
sailor, crouched by the dinghy, had no time to escape. The
heavy yard crushed him and the dinghy in one devastating
blow.
The ship's bow slipped under the waves. The bronze
statue broke loose and was sucked away into the maelstrom
by the racing current.
Water advanced slowly up the deck. Jermina clutched
the captain's arm. "There must be something we can do,"
she pleaded.
"No one can live in that current," Dunvane said grimly.
"The priest was right. The gods have abandoned us. We are
as good as dead."
"Not" Jermina cried. "I don't believe it. The gods help
those who help themselves
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