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The indistinct glare of the sun moved westward, steadily westward, high above the glassy surface of the sea. |
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The sharks stayed with Karmann all day. The original makos were joined by hammerheads and leopards. The xenophobic distrust of one species for another had so far kept the animals more concerned with one another than with the shadow on the surface of the sea. But that was changing. |
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Karmann slipped easily from rationality to delirium. The open sores on his skin were agonizing. He had not realized one could feel such pain for so long. |
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Krasny had planned all along to kill the Pravda and her crew, he thought hazily. There can be no other explanation. It was better to dwell on this than on the predators prowling around and beneath him. Hate gave him courage. |
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He looked to the west, below the glare of the sinking sun. There was a shadow on the water. He rose to his knees, precariously near to destroying the stability of the raft. |
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The distant shadow was a boat. Far away, but a boat. |
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He tried to call out but could manage only a croaking noise. For a terrible moment it appeared that the boat was moving away. Between the ever more flaccid raft and the ghostly boat in the glaring distance, the sharks still circled. Then Karmann did a desperate, foolish thing. With a sob he threw himself into the water and began to swim. Without diver's fins, he was a poor swimmer, one who thrashed at the water. The sharks took instant note. |
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Aboard the fishing boat, the Honduran master saw the disturbance in the water and recognized the shape of a man in the sea. He turned his old craft to make the rescue. |
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And halfway between the raft and the boat Karmann felt the rough bump of a shark's file-toothed skin against his own. He managed a wail of despair. |
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On board the fishing boat the second crewman snatched an antique revolver from a lazaret and fired a shot at the fins |
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