Sword of Apollo by Noble Smith

Author:Noble Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781250026446
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

ELEVEN

By the time the sun began to rise three hours later, the ships were already twenty miles from Athens, surrounded on all sides by the dark and open sea.

And Nikias was so tired he could barely think. His body was drenched with sweat and his back, thighs, and shoulders burned. His forearms bulged ludicrously, as if they had grown in size from his first labor as an oarsman. Many of the new members of the crew had become seasick and puked up their guts on this first leg of the journey. Some had fainted, out of exhaustion, and now lay unconscious, slumped by their benches.

Nikias had not been sick the entire time, and for that he was grateful. But he knew that his body was reaching the end of its limit. He wondered why Chusor was pushing them so hard, and he started to grow churlish and snapped at the lad whose job it was to bring water to the men and ladle it into their mouths.

Finally a pipe sounded and the drumming stopped. The veteran oarsmen immediately brought in their oars and stowed them. Nikias, in a daze, pulled his oar off the tholepin and dragged it through the oarlock. His hands were frozen into claws and he couldn’t make his fingers spread apart.

He looked around at the men nearby. He saw two or three hardy Plataean warriors—cavalrymen who were tremendously fit—slumped over their oars and gasping for air. Diokles, however, turned round, smiled at Nikias, and stretched his back like a cat.

“Good row,” said the Helot.

Nikias stared out the gap in the side of the outrigger deck and saw two of the other triremes in the convoy on that side of the boat—close enough to spit at—bobbing on the waves.

“We made good distance,” Diokles said.

“Where are the other two ships?” Nikias asked.

“On the other side,” said Diokles. “We’re all together. The captains made sure that nobody got left behind.”

“A northwesterly wind has come up strong,” said Chusor, who had suddenly appeared at Nikias’s side. “We’re going to set up sail.”

“Thank the wind gods,” said Nikias.

He leaned against the side of the boat and watched in a stupor as the veterans of the Spear went to work hefting the two masts from the hold. The rigging, stowed in various places beneath the benches, was dug out and run up along with the sails. It took no more than a quarter of an hour to accomplish this complicated task. During this process Chusor went to various parts of the ship, giving instructions or helping out. When it was all done he came back to where Nikias was sitting and said, “Follow me.”

He led Nikias into his little cabin and shut the door. Chusor pointed at the small bed and said, “You can lie down if you wish. My helmsman is one of the best on the sea, and he is steering us straight for Serifos. You can rest easy for a while.”

Nikias stared at the bed with longing but thought it would be undignified to lie down.

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