_The cabin door burst open in the rain. Wind whipped her wet veils about her in the door as lightning made them transparent, blackening her body's outline. Jordde rose from his seat. She closed the door on thunder._ _"I have received the signal from the sea," she said. "Tomorrow you pilot the ship into the estuary."_ _The captain's voice: "But Priestess Argo, I cannot take the ship into Aptor. We already have lost ten men; I cannot sacrifice ..."_ _"And the storm," smiled Jordde. "If it is like this tomorrow, how can I take her through the rocks?"_ _Her nostrils flared as her lips compressed to a chalky line. She was regarding Jordde._ _The captain's thoughts: What is between them, this confused tension. It upsets me deeply, and I am tired._ _"You will pilot the boat to shore tomorrow," Argo nearly hissed. "They have returned, with the jewels!"_ _The captain's thoughts: They speak to each other in a code I don't understand. I am so tired, now. I have to protect my ship, my men, that is my job, my responsibility._ _But Argo turned to the captain. "I hired you to obey me. I order you to pilot this ship to Aptor's shore tomorrow morning."_ _The captain's thoughts; Yes, yes. The fatigue and the unknowing. But I must fulfill, must complete. "Jordde," he began._ _"Yes, captain," answered the mate, anticipating. "If the weather is permitting, sir, I will take the ship as close as I can get." He smiled now, a thin curve over his face, and turned toward Argo._ CHAPTER XII Roughness of sand beneath one of his sides, and the flare of the sun on the other. His eyes were hot and his lids were orange over them. He turned over, and reached out to dig his fingers into the sand. Only one hand closed; then he remembered. Opening his eyes, he rolled to his knees. The sand grated under his knee caps. Looking out toward the water, he saw that the sun hung only seeming inches above the horizon. Then he saw the ship. From its course, he gathered it was heading toward the estuary of the river down the beach. He began to run toward where the rocks and vegetation cut off the end of the beach. The sand under his feet was cool. A moment later he saw Iimmi's dark figure come from the jungle. He was heading for the same place. Geo hailed him, and panting, they joined each other. Then, together they continued toward the rocks. As they broke through the first sheet of foliage, they bumped into the red-haired girl who stood, knuckling her eyes in the shadow of the broad palm fronds. When she recognized them, she joined them silently. Finally they reached the outcropping of rock a few hundred feet up the river bank. The rain had swelled the river's mouth to tremendous violence. It vomited surges of brown water into the ocean, frothed against rocks, and boiled opaquely below them. It was nearly half again as wide as Geo remembered it.