Part 5 (2/2)

just then the carbine caine-rooh to roll clear

I sat up with the carbine in my lap, and pushed the safety catch across withmy vision as I peered up at the entrance to the cabin

Materson ran into the cabin three paces before he saw aped at itation and he lifted his hands, spreading theht up the carbine The diaer winked merrily at me

I lifted the carbine one-handed froht appalled me When the er

With a continuous shattering roar the carbine spewed out a solid blast of bullets, and the recoil flung the barrel upwards, riding the stream of fire fro hiainst the cabin bulkhead, and split hirotesque and jerky little death jig

I knew that I should not empty the carbine, there was still Mike Guthrie to deal with, but soer and the bullets tore through Materson's body, s the ork of the bulkhead

Then suddenly I lifted er The torrent of bullets ceased and Materson fell heavily forward

The cabin stank with burned cordite and the sweet heavy smell of blood

Guthrie ducked into the co and he snapped off a single shot at me as I sat in the centre of the cabin

He had all the time he needed for a clean shot at me, but he hurried it, panicky and off-balance The blast slapped against ainst h, and as it dropped for his next shot I fell sideways and pulled up the carbine

There le round left in the breech, but it was a lucky one I did not aier as the barrel caht elbow, shattering the joint and the Pistol flew backwards over his shoulder, skidded across the deck and thudded into the stern scuppers

Guthrie spun aside, the ar fro pin of the carbine fell on an empty chamber

We stared at each other, both of us badly hit, but the old antagonisth to come up onfro the shattered ar in the scuppers

I saw there was no way I could stop him He was not mortally hit, and I knew he could shoot probably as ith his good left hand Still I ed myself over Materson's body and out into the cockpit, reaching it just as Guthrie stooped to pick the pistol out of the scuppers

Then Dancer came to my aid, and she reared like a wild horse as a freak swell hit her She threw Guthrie off balance, and the pistol went skidding away across the deck He turned to chase it, his feet slipped in the blood which I had splashed across the cockpit and he went down

He fell heavily, pinning his shattered aran crawling swiftly after the glistening black pistol

Against the outer bulkhead of the cockpit the long flying gaffs stood in their rack like a set of billiard cues Ten feet long, with the great stainless-steel hooks uppermost

Chubby had filed the points as cruelly as stilettos They were designed to be buried deep into a game fish's body, and the shock of the bloould detach the head froed on board with the length of heavy nylon rope that was spliced on to the hook

Guthrie had almost reached the pistol as I knocked open the claaffs Guthrie scooped up the pistol left-handed, juggling it to get a grip on it, concentrating his whole attention on the weapon and while he was busy I caaff with one hand, throwing it up high and reaching out over Guthrie's bowed back As the hook flashed down over hih his ribs, burying the glea steel to the curve The shock of it pulled hiain the pistol dropped from his hand and the roll of the boat pushed it away froony with the steel deep in hi to work it into heart or lung and the hook broke from the stock Guthrie rolled across the deck towards the pistol He groped frantically for it, and I dropped the gaff stock and groped just as frantically for the rope to restrain hi in a bath of black- and now Guthrie and I perforht in a bath of our own blood We slithered and rolled about the deck, thrown about mercilessly by Dancer's action in the swell

Guthrie eakening at last, claith his good hand at the great hook buried in his body, and with the next roll of the sea I was able to throw a coil of the rope around his neck and get a fir chair with one foot Then I pulled with all the rele explosive expulsion of breath, his tongue fell out of his mouth and he relaxed, his limbs stretched out limply and his head lolled loosely back and forth with Dancer's roll

I was tired beyond caring now My hand opened of its own accord and the rope fell from it I lay back and closed ained consciousness h it had been scalded with acid, ed like a forest fire I had lain face up under a tropical sun for six hours, and it had burned me mercilessly

Slowly I rolled on to my side, and cried out weakly at the immensity of pain that was my chest I lay still for a while to let it subside and then I began to explore the wound

The bullet had angled in through the bicep of h the tricep, tearing, a big exit hole Ihed into the side ofwith the effort I traced and probed the wound with lanced over a rib, I could feel the exposed bone was cracked and rough-ended where the slug had struck and been deflected and left slivers of lead and bone chips in the churned flesh It had gone through the thick muscle ofa hole the size of a detni tasse coffee cup

I fell back on to the deck, panting and fighting back waves of giddy nausea My exploration had induced fresh bleeding, but I knew at least that the bullet had not entered the chest cavity I still had some sort of a chance

While I rested I looked blearily aboutwere stiff with dried blood, blood was coated over the cockpit, dried black and shi+ny or congealed

Guthrie lay on his back with the gaff hook still in hiases in his belly had already blown, giving hian to crawl Materson's body half-blocked the entrance to the cabin, shredded by gunfire as though he had been e predator

I crawled over hi aloud as I saw the icebox behind the bar

I drank three cans of Coca-Cola, gasping and choking inthe icy liquid down h each ain I closed my eyes and just wanted to sleep for ever

”Where the hell are we?” The question hit me with a shock of awareness Dancer was adrift on a treacherous coast, streith reefs and shoals

I dragged myself to my feet and reached the blood-caked cockpit

Beneath us flowed the deep purple blue of the Mozambique, and a clear horizon circled us, above which the es climbed to a tall blue sky The ebb and the wind had pushed us far out to the east, we had plenty of sea roos collapsed under me, and I may have slept for a while

When I woke MY head felt clearer, but the wound had stiffened horribly

Each ony On my hand and knees I reached the shower room where the medicine chest was kept I ripped away my shi+rt and poured undiluted acriflavine solution into the cavernous wounds Then I plugged the and strapped the whole as best I could, but the effort was too ain and I crashed down on to the linoleuht-headed, and feeble as a new-born infant

It was afor the wounded are was an endless procession of dizziness and pain and nausea

Dancer's engines started with the first kick, sweet as ever she was

Take ,” I whispered, and set the auto Dancer settled on course, and the darkness caughtoblivion as it washed over me

it e that rousedswell of the Moza over a sheltered sea Dusk was falling swiftly

Stiffly I dragged myself up to the wheel I was only just in tiht I slammed Dancer's throttle closed, and kicked her into neutral She canized the shape of the land - it was Big Gull Island