Dragons on the Sea of Night Read Online Free PDF Page A

watery tomb, and at length they felt the ship rising to meet it, as if in concert with the changing tide below them.
    Grinning hugely, Moichi spared an instant to clap the Bujun on the back. Then he swiftly returned both hands to the helm as the Tsubasa wavered a bit in the still treacherous cross-currents, the aftermath of the ferocious typhoon.
    â€˜Softly, now,’ Moichi whispered in the Bujun’s ear, ‘the tsunami’s behind us but this gale can still do us in.’ Between them they kept a tight rein on the ship’s course. ‘Listen to the wind in the sheets and take care to read the pattern of its changes. If we get broadside to it with the mains’l filled, we’ll go down like a stone.’
    The Bujun’s grip on the helm remained firm, his knuckles white with the pressure. He concentrated on the job given him, tracking the gusty wind expertly, making incremental course corrections as needed. In no time at all, he was nearly anticipating the gale.
    Seeing this, Moichi nodded to himself. That Bujun had more guts in the crunch than all of the scurvy crew combined. Glancing upward, he noticed that the blue sky was gone. In its place, thick glowering thunderheads, dark with rain, rippled across the clogged sky, dipping down to meet the gray-green ocean. Lightning forked and licked, yellow-pink, blinding him momentarily.
    With that the downpour began anew. Moichi glanced around. The Tsubdsa was already lying low in the water, her scuppers blocked with twisted masses of sea grape and wrack.
    â€˜What do you think,’ he asked the Bujun, ‘if I ask for all sail to be set will this ship take it?’
    The Bujun looked into his face and nodded. ‘She’ll take anything you put her to, Captain. Of that you can be assured.’
    Moichi nodded and, turning toward the crew on the deck below, called for all sail to be set. They needed all speed now in order not to ship more water and risk a high wave pulling them under.
    One of the mates, a glum-faced giant with an oily drooping mustache and some years’ sea experience, mounted the companionway.
    â€˜You’re not thinkin’ o’ fillin’ the yards in this foul weather, Cap’n,’ he growled. It was not a question.
    â€˜We’ll go under if we don’t raise the sails,’ Moichi said, not bothering to look at the mate as he directed the crew to clear the last of the debris over the side.
    â€˜You’re wrong, Cap’n. We’ll surely go under if we do set sail.’ He was close enough now to smell the rum on his breath. ‘That god-rotting demon wave was an omen. We’ll do nothing now but ride out the storm.’
    Moichi swung at him. ‘Look at how low we sit. With this heavy rain and the scuppers clogged we’ll be sunk inside a watch. You’ll follow my orders, by God!’
    â€˜I warn you,’ the mate said, ‘do not tempt the gods further.’
    â€˜I said set all sail,’ Moichi said in a menacing tone.
    The mate did not back down, but pulled agitatedly at his oily mustache. He nodded his head in the Bujun’s direction. ‘It’s he who gave the order, isn’t it? That Bujun bastard. I heard stories of how they sail their damned ships.’ The mate spat, a heavy yellow gob of saliva. ‘This is no time t’be takin’ the advice of a rotting Bujun.’
    â€˜I am the captain of this vessel,’ Moichi said, knowing he had to restore his sovereignty immediately, ‘and you will obey my orders.’
    â€˜But why should I, Cap’n?’ The mate raised his arms wide. ‘Why should any of us? You saw it as well as anyone, I reckon.’
    â€˜Shut up!’ Moichi thundered. ‘Or I’ll give your job to the Bujun!’
    The big mate spat again and tried to laugh; it came out as a moan. ‘Well, who cares a whit now, eh? This is a damned voyage and you’ve murdered us all, in any case.’