'Here they come,' Roman whispered to Santiago and the others nearby.
Santiago shook his head in wonder. 'Imagine- these cannon haven't fired grape shot in a hundred years or so!'
Roman smiled without humour. 'They were never used to fire grape shot. The enemy never managed to get this close. You may commence firing.'
The captain stood for a long moment as though he were a mere disembodied spectator to the impossible scene that suddenly erupted before him: seemingly carelessly piled baskets and light shattered woodwork in doorways abruptly vanished in flashes of light and deafening noise; all around him a hail of shrapnel screamed and ricocheted, cutting his men down in swaths. At the same instant there came the sound of gunfire and screaming from behind him on the docks, and turning, he saw that they swarmed with men who had hidden themselves in darkness and silence beneath. He watched in helpless fascination as the two field guns were seized and overturned into the water, joined by the mounted machine-guns and the bodies of the men who tried frantically to assemble them. And then, he watched as Savalas rallied the men in his madness and went charging into the ruins. He spotted a man, obviously the leader, and instinctively acted, finally responding and putting his rifle to his shoulder- and froze. Beside the man stood a woman, and to his eyes it was as though only he and she existed, she poised like an enraged goddess of war. He watched in frozen fascination as she lifted a rifle to her shoulder with unbelievable speed: and then she disappeared behind a perfectly circular muzzle-flash. His world went red for a brief instant- and then there was nothing.
The men on the ship worked frantically to seal the holes in her hull.
'That's got it! Activate the pumps! When she begins to raise, we'll back her out, slowly.'
Little by little, as the battle raged on the townsite above them, the Morta began to shudder and groan as she lifted herself from the rocky seabed.
'What about the guns?'
The first mate shook his head. 'The shells are probably ruined. They were kept below, and the magazine flooded. It's a miracle they didn't detonate when we got hit. As it is, I won't risk trying to use them. It is going to be enough of a job just to get the main engines up and running.'
Kara sat watching Camilla, as Camilla stood by the door, listening to the fighting outside. She backed away suddenly as Kara's brother arrived and closed the door behind him. 'Here, take this.' He handed Camilla a revolver from his belt and a small box of ammunition. 'The fighting is on either side of us. There's no telling which way it's going to go. With luck the fighting will pass around us, and we'll be able to make our escape.'