"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 01 - The Winds of Gath" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

"Look, Abe. Blood!"

A thin red film darkened the surface. A thin something trailed
across it and Carl shouted his recognition.

"The rope!"

He dived before anyone could stop him. He plunged smoothly
beneath the waves and rose swimming, heading toward the thin
strand of the rope. He grabbed it, turned, began to swim back to
the boat. He reached it, clawed at the gunwale, and began to
heave himself aboard. He couldn't make it and clung gasping to
the rough wood.

"Help him." Abe searched the sea with anxious eyes. "Hurry!"
 Dumarest reached the clinging man, clamped his hands
around Carl's upper arms, adjusted his weight for the upward
pull.

"Thanks," said Carl. "I guessтАФ" He broke off, a peculiar
expression on his face. It lasted for about three seconds; then he
began to scream.

Dumarest realized why when he dragged the man into the
boat. Both his legs had been severed above the knees.
***

The wakening was strange. There was a booming rhythm with
a repetitive beat and a liquid, sucking gurgle that he had never
heard before. The eddy currents seemed to be working for he
could feel heat on his body but his mouth was filled with an alien
taste and the gritty sensation beneath his body was something
outside of his experience. But the light was the sameтАФtoo bright.
The light was always too bright.

He rolled and was immediately awake. He wasn't in a box. He
wasn't in a ship which had just ended its passage. He lay on a
beach of gritty sand with the sun a ruby glare over the water
which rolled and thundered on the sloping shore.

He rolled again so that he was face downward and rose to all
fours. Immediately he was violently sick. He backed like a dog
from a suspicious odor and felt wetness beneath his hand. It was
a pool of water left by the receding tide and he washed his face
and mouth in the saline liquid. Only when he had swallowed a
little did he realize that he burned with thirst.

The booming of the surf did nothing to relieve his craving for
water.