Free 3 - Barbarians of Mars by Edward P. Bradbury

we climbed out on to the slippery
deck, clinging to the rope that ran along the centre of the deck, looped between
the two large masts, their sails now reefed.
                   Spray swirled in the air, water slapped the
deck, the ship was tumbled about by the great grey
mass of heaving water. Sky and sea were grey and indistinguishable - everything
seemed to be moving below us and about us. I had never experienced such a
dreadful storm.
                   If a Blue Giant can turn green, then Hool
Haji's face was green, his eyes showing a kind of agony that seemed to come as
much from a deep-rooted disturbance in his soul as much as from the physical
discomfort.
                   We edged our way towards the bridge of the
ship, where Rokin, still in his golden armour, clung to the rail, looking about
him as if in wonderment.
                   Somehow we managed to join him on the bridge.
                   He turned to us, saying something I could not
catch in a tone that matched the wonderment in his gaze. I indicated that I had
not heard him.
                   "Never seen one like this 1" he
shouted. "We'll be lucky if we stay up."
                   "What did you want to see us for?" I
asked.
                   "Help ! "he shouted.
                   "What can we do? We know nothing of ships
or seafaring."
                   "There are machines in the hold, forward.
They're powerful. Couldn't they take the storm?"
                   "I doubt it," I yelled back.
                   He nodded to himself, then looked into my face. He appeared to accept the truth of what I said.
                   "What are our chances ?
" I asked,
                   "Poor!"
                   He still seemed to show little fear. He was,
perhaps, more incredulous at the intensity of the storm.
                   Just then another great wave struck the ship
and water came crashing down upon me. Then I felt Rokin's weighted bulk fall on
me.
                   I heard a cry.
                   Then I knew that I had been hurled off the
ship and was totally at the mercy of the raging ocean.
                   I struggled desperately to stay afloat,
keeping mouth and nostrils as closed as possible.
                   I was hurtled crazily upon the crests of
waves, crashing into valleys with walls of water, until I saw a trailing rope.
I did not know if it was attached to anything or not - but I grabbed and caught
it. I clung to the rope and felt the comfort of resistance at the other end.
                   I do not know for how long I clung to the
rope, but whatever it was attached to the other end kept me afloat until the
storm slowly abated.
                   I opened salt-encrusted eyes in the watery
light of an early sunrise.
                   I saw a mast floating in the water ahead of
me. My rope was fastened to it.
                   I hauled myself towards the broken mast,
dragging myself wearily through the water. Then, as I neared it, I could see
that several others were clinging to the mast.
                   When at length I grasped the mast, with a
feeling of relief out of all proportion to the safety the mast offered, I saw
that one of those who clung there, barely conscious, was Hool Haji, his great
head lolling with exhaustion.
                   I reached out to touch him, to give him comfort
and to let him know I still lived.
                   At that moment I heard a distant cry to my
left and, looking in that direct, saw that the hull of the ship was
miraculously still afloat.
                   Sunlight flashed on gold and I knew that Rokin
had also survived. Clamping the rope between my teeth, I struck out towards the
ship. At length the rope ran out before I had reached