ircon, a great bellow that had
overtones of pain. Rick's breath caught. Had the big scientist gone
down?

But the bellowing roar continued and he knew Zircon was still alive.
Rick could do nothing at the moment anyway, except to swing the kris
until his arm felt as though the muscles were on fire. Next to him,
Scotty slammed home a butt stroke that lifted a pirate high off his feet
and threw him outward into the water. It was an instant before Rick
realized the deck was clear, then he turned and ran to the stern while
Scotty reversed his rifle and shot the vinta clear of pirates in the
glare from the searchlight. From the corner of his eye Rick could see
the Moros from the bow vinta scuttling through the water toward other
boats, and toward land.

At the stern Zircon towered like a mighty champion of mythology. Rick
saw him lift a pirate bodily, pluck the barong from his hand, and throw
him against two other pirates. At the scientist's side Chahda fought
valiantly with his left hand, his flying barong glittering in the
scattered back light of the searchlight. By the time Rick reached his
friends the deck was clear.

Chahda ran and swiveled the searchlight, and Rick saw that the vintas
were pulling away, amidst yells of rage from the pirates. Up on the bow,
Scotty was shooting as fast as he could aim and pull trigger, with
pauses only to slap a fresh clip into the rifle. The return fire
continued, but without order or enthusiasm, and in a few moments it
stopped altogether.

"They're gone," Rick said with relief. "Is anyone hurt?"

"Little bit," the Hindu boy answered. "When is time, maybe could use
bandage."

Scotty joined the three on the stern. "I'll get the first-aid kit.
Professor, are you hurt?"

"Like fire," Zircon answered grimly. "I'll never be the same again." He
sank down on a convenient seat and began to examine his feet. "But let's
get out of here and attend to Chahda when we're under way. They may
attack again, if they can find shoes."

The comment baffled Rick, but he didn't stop to question. He hurried
forward to pull in the anchor, and found a vinta still attached to the
rope. For a moment he debated about cutting it loose, then realized that
it would only be picked up by the pirates and used against them. He
untied the vinta line from the anchor rope and temporarily hitched it to
a bitt while he hauled in the anchor.

The vinta was light and easy to tow. He hauled it to the stern of the
MTB