One thing was clear as gla.s.s. They couldn"t wait for the pirates to overrun them. Rick hurried to Zircon"s side. "Professor, can you carry Shannon? We"ve got to get to the other side of the cove, then across the rocks to the sea. It"s a better position to defend, and we might have a chance to get to the water when Chahda comes. I"ve called him. He"s on the way in."
"Rick"s right," Scotty chimed in. "Get going and I"ll cover you."
Zircon nodded without speaking. He stepped swiftly to Shannon"s side and picked the zoologist up. Then he followed Rick to the end of the cove and started the climb over the tiny spit of land that separated the cove from the open sea.
It was rough going. Tony Briotti gave Zircon a hand over the roughest places, while Rick and Elpidio Torres stood by to a.s.sist where needed.
Scotty stayed at the edge of the cove, rifle at the ready.
The pirates hadn"t gotten organized yet. The Spindrifters were still in deep shadow and not clearly visible. Now and then a pirate took a rifleshot, but that was more from lack of discipline than a target at which to shoot.
Rick hoped that the Spindrift group could reach the seaward side of the spit they were now climbing before the pirates swarmed ash.o.r.e. There was a good chance of defending the spit, particularly with Scotty"s rifle.
Zircon reached the top and went over, and Rick called, "Scotty! Come on!"
Scotty instantly turned and ran.
A hail of badly aimed rifle slugs spattered off the rock across an area forty feet wide as the pirates shot at the sound of Rick"s voice. None came near the mark. Then, a few pirates, smarter than the rest, realized what was going on. As Tony Briotti and the Torres boy were silhouetted briefly against the sky at the top of the rise, the handful of alert pirates fired. Most shots missed, but Rick heard the Filipino boy gasp.
Scotty reached Rick"s side and said softly, "Let"s go, and slide over the top on your stomach."
Rick didn"t need the advice. He had no intention of letting the pirates catch him in silhouette. He crouched low and moved the few feet to the top, found a boulder, and slipped quickly around it. Scotty followed a moment later.
"I"m staying here at the top," Scotty said. "If any pirates try to come after us, I"ll have a clear shot. And when they get wise and come around to the sea side, I can shoot down on them. How are we going to get out of this?"
"You tell me," Rick suggested. "I don"t know."
The pirates hadn"t been long in catching on. A few vintas were already rounding the cove point heading for the party now huddled behind boulders on a ledge just above the sea. Rick hurried down to join the others, leaving Scotty to guard the rear.
Tony Briotti greeted him. "Look."
Rick"s eyes followed the archaeologist"s pointing finger. Off to the southeast, on a sea tinted pink from the rising sun, he saw the low lines of the _Swift Arrow_. Chahda was on his way!
Zircon bellowed, "Watch it!" He echoed his words with the flat slap of a pistol shot. The first vinta had reached the group and was standing only a few feet offsh.o.r.e. Others were crowding in behind it. Rick got ready to shoot again, and saw that the Torres boy, a b.l.o.o.d.y handkerchief tied around his upper arm, was throwing rocks with his good hand. Tony Briotti followed suit, picking up large chunks of lava and slamming them into the pirate craft.
Rick spotted a rifleman in the nearest vinta and sent a broadhead arrow at him. The arrow pa.s.sed between the pirate"s arm and side, but pinned him by his shirt to the vinta mast. Rick quickly nocked another arrow and waited for a clear shot.
Behind him, Scotty"s rifle spoke once, twice, then a third time. Yells from beyond the spit of land showed that the pirates had tried to come at them overland. Rick hoped Scotty"s single rifle would be enough. At least his pal was shooting from cover, while the pirates were in the open.
A vinta tried to approach and Rick sent an arrow into the helmsman"s shoulder. The vinta sheered off and collided with another.
It was only a question of time before the pirates were forced ash.o.r.e by their very numbers. Rick knew that his small group wouldn"t last long, not against barongs and krises. He shot again, and took a pirate rifleman out of the action. Zircon"s heavy automatic picked off the first pirate that tried to climb ash.o.r.e, and slammed him back onto his fellows.
Tony Briotti aided the sudden pile-up of pirates with a chunk of lava the size of a basketball. Sudden screams of pain and rage came from the ma.s.s of struggling Moros.
Other vintas had pulled into sh.o.r.e farther away and Rick saw pirates scrambling up the rock unhindered. He got two with arrows, then Scotty fired from his vantage point and drove them to cover.
Above the Moro battle cries and screams of rage Rick suddenly heard the horn blast of the _Swift Arrow_. He looked up in time to see Chahda driving at full speed, parallel with the beach. As the Hindu boy drew close, the _Swift Arrow"s_ saluting cannon suddenly erupted a load of tacks into the cl.u.s.ter of vintas. The pirates scrambled to cover against this new menace as the MTB swept by. The terrific bow wave lifted the vintas high and sent them crashing into one another. Two of them turned over.
Rick fell back and grabbed his radio unit, quickly plugging in the earphone. "Chahda! That was great!"
The Hindu boy sounded excited. "I make short turn now, do same thing again, only closer. You get ready. When I toot horn, you get to water somehow. Okay?"
"We"ll try," Rick answered grimly. He beckoned to Scotty, who came down to join him, keeping a watchful eye to the rear in case a pirate tried to come over the rise. The two hurried to Zircon"s side. Rick said swiftly, "We"ve got to get to the water. Chahda"s coming back right now.
We have to be ready when he toots."
Zircon handed Tony the pistol. "Keep their heads down, Tony. I"m going to take Howard up the sh.o.r.e to that nearest vinta. The rest of you come after me. Hurry it up! We"ll have to swim for it, unless we can grab the vinta."
The big scientist reached Shannon"s side just as Chahda started his second run. Again the Hindu boy opened with a blast from the saluting cannon, then crowded close insh.o.r.e, letting his bow wave drive the vintas hard against each other and the sh.o.r.e. The crashing vintas sent their crews down in heaps. The MTB was so close to sh.o.r.e that Rick could see the string Chahda had rigged to trigger the cannon by remote control.
The pirates were too busy to worry about the Spindrifters for the moment. Zircon scooped Shannon up and hurried along the sh.o.r.e, ignoring the wash from the MTB that lashed over the rocks. Rick and Scotty were right behind him, weapons ready.
A vinta with only two pirates aboard was sc.r.a.ping back down over the rock. The rest of its crew were struggling in the water.
"Get them!" Zircon yelled.
Rick caught one with an arrow just as the man rose to a sitting position on the gunwale. The heavy shaft carried him over the side. Scotty"s rifle sent the other one to the bottom of the vinta in a heap.
The boys moved fast, grabbing the vinta before the retreating waves carried it away. Zircon jumped in, turning as he did so. He fell, the zoologist in his arms. The mast took the blow of the scientist"s great weight and broke off short, leaving a tangle of sail, mast, and boom.
"Get in!" Scotty yelled at Tony and Torres. His rifle barked at the pirates further up the beach, driving them to cover again. Zircon put Shannon down and heaved the pirate Scotty had wounded onto the sh.o.r.e.
Rick followed Tony and Torres into the boat, then yelled for Scotty to push off. He grabbed the radio unit again and called, "Chahda! What do we do now?"
"Get little way from sh.o.r.e and go into water. Catch rope when I come.
All must catch! You watch when I toot horn, and you see."
Rick yelled the instructions to the others, then stuffed the set back into his pocket, dropped his bow, and took a paddle. Scotty knelt beside him, a length of board in his hand. "Let"s go, boy," he said urgently.
Under the impetus of Scotty"s initial shove and the boys" paddles the vinta moved slowly out until it was a good thirty feet from sh.o.r.e. The nearest of the pirate craft moved to intercept it, four Moros at the paddles.
Scotty stopped paddling and started shooting. The pirates dropped paddles and dove to the bottom of the vinta.
Rick looked about anxiously. Where was Chahda?
Then he saw the MTB making a sweeping turn at the northern tip of the island. As he watched, Chahda straightened out and the bow wave of the MTB curled as he picked up speed.
"Better get in the water!" Rick called. "Tony, give me the pistol, and take Shannon"s bow and quiver. Better hang them both on your back.
Scotty and I will stay in the vinta and cover you!"
Tony nodded and exchanged weapons. "I"ll help Zircon with Shannon. Come on, Pete. Over the side and swim out a little way."
The Torres boy responded at once, diving headlong into the water. Tony followed and took Shannon as Zircon handed the injured man down. Then Zircon got into the water, too, and led the four away from the vinta.
Rick and Scotty watched the tangle of pirate craft, waiting for the next pirate boat to get untangled and make a try for them. Chahda"s bow wave had left the pirate fleet in a shambles, some of the vintas turned over, nearly all with sails and booms in a heap on deck or over the pirates.
One vinta extricated itself and the pirates suddenly located the boys. A Moro raised his rifle to fire and found it smashed in his hands as Scotty snapped off a shot. The pirate"s stock splintered and the force of the slug smashed the barrel across his face. He went down.
Then one of the pirates on sh.o.r.e made a try. He stood upright, rifle poised. Rick fired with the heavy automatic. He missed. The pirate looked at the silvery spatter of lead on a rock two inches from his right knee and dove for cover.