A light breeze filled the sail with a rippling series of thuds, as the mate looked on apprehensively. Then he gave the order to sheet home, and the Horusbegan to make way through the gentle swell, just as the first glimmer of light appeared on the horizon. On deck, those who were not helping to crew the ship lay down to rest, exhausted. Senator Sempronius cradled his daughter's head and shoulders in his lap and covered her with his cloak. Once the mate was satisfied that the ship was performing as well as it could under the rough repairs that had been carried out through the night, he came to report to Macro and Cato.
'We're holding a course along the coast, sir. Should make Matala before the end of the day. We can put in for repairs there.'
'Good job.' Macro smiled. 'You've done well.'
The mate was too tired for any modesty, and just nodded before he made his way aft to give his orders to the man at the tiller, and then leaned on the side rail. Macro rubbed his hands together and gazed towards the coming dawn. You hear that? Safe and sound on dry land by the end of the day'
Cato did not reply. He was staring at the distant coastline of Crete.
After a moment he stretched his shoulders and rubbed his neck. 'Safe and sound? I hope so.'
Macro frowned. 'What now? The prospect of being saved from a watery grave not good enough for you?'
'Oh, I'm pleased enough about that.' Cato forced a brief smile.
'The thing is, if that wave almost destroyed the ship, then the gods only know what it has done to the island of Crete...'
CHAPTER FOUR
As the Horuscrept round the point, those on board got their first glimpse of the devastation that had been visited on the port of Matala by the giant wave. The warehouses and wharves had been smashed to pieces and the debris swept up the slope beyond where the densely packed houses had collapsed under the weight of the sea water surging ashore. Fishing boats and ships lay shattered across the rocks and cliffs either side of the bay. Further inland, above the high-water mark where the wave had come ashore, the destruction continued. Buildings large and small had been flattened, as if crushed under the foot of some titan. Further inland fires burned out of control and columns of smoke swirled into the afternoon sky. Only a handful of people were visible amongst the ruins, some desperately plucking away at the debris to find their loved ones and valuables. Others simply sat and stared at their surroundings in shock.
Macro swallowed. 'What in Hades happened here?'
'The wave, ' said Julia. 'It must have destroyed the port before it reached us.'
'Not just the wave.' Cato shook his head.' The wave swept in over the land for some way, but beyond that, there's still plenty of damage.'
He turned to the senator. 'Seems like that earthquake in Bythinia you told us about.'
Sempronius stared at the scene opening out before them for a moment before he replied. 'This is worse, far worse. I've never seen anything like it.'
They continued to stare at the devastation as the Horuscrept into the bay. Despite the repairs of the previous night, the ship was still steadily taking on water, and regular shifts of the surviving crew and passengers had taken turns on a human chain to bail the water out of the hull. The water level in the hold had been slowly rising all day, making the vessel steadily settle in the swell and reducing its already slow speed to a crawl.
The mate stared down into the water, noting a dark patch of submerged rocks projecting beyond the point. He straightened up and pointed towards a strip of shingle below the cliffs on the opposite side of the bay. 'I'm going to beach the ship over there. She's not going to stay afloat for much longer, sir, ' he explained. 'If she's beached, then at least she can be salvaged, along with what little is left of the cargo.'
'Fair enough, ' Cato conceded. 'However, I doubt there's any chance of having the ship repaired in this port for a while. Or come to that, any port on this side of the island. What happened here is going to be the same everywhere else.'
'Do you really think so?'Julia said with a surprised expression.
'You saw the wave. What was to stop it carrying on all the way along the coast, and then out to sea? Why, I wouldn't be surprised if it had continued all the way to Syria before it died away completely'
Cato gestured towards the shore. 'That wave and the earthquake. will have destroyed almost everything.' His mind went back to the slave camp they had seen crumble the previous day. 'There will be hundreds dead. Maybe thousands. And it looks like hardly a building has been left standing. Who knows what we'll find when we get ashore. It'll be chaos. Complete chaos.'
'But we have to get the ship repaired, ' Julia insisted. 'So we can return to Rome. If all the other ships are smashed, we have to repair this one.'
'And who will repair it?' Cato asked.' The docks are gone. The shipmakers' workshops have gone, and most of the carpenters will have been caught by the wave and are probably dead.'
Julia thought a moment.' Then what are we going to do?'
Cato wearily ran his fingers through his salt-encrusted hair. We'll go ashore, and try to find out who is left in authority. Perhaps when they hear that your father is with us they might provide some help, and shelter.'
'Shelter?' Macro gave a dry laugh. 'That's a good one. What shelter? As far as I can see, there's only a handful of structures still standing, and most of those are just shacks.'
'True, ' said Cato. 'But I was thinking of shelter in a somewhat wider sense.'
'Eh?'
'Think about it, Macro. The island's been turned upside down. You saw what happened to the slave compound yesterday. Those slaves are loose now. I imagine the same thing has happened on every estate.
Everyone will be looking for food and a safe place to ride out the disaster. Soon they'll be fighting for it. We'll need to find some protection somewhere, or make our own. At least until help arrives, and order is restored.'
Macro looked at him sourly. 'By the gods, you're a cheerful soul, Cato. We've barely escaped from drowning, and already you're looking for the downside.'
'Sorry.'
Macro glanced at Julia. 'Are you sure you want to marry him, miss? Mister the amphora's-always-half-empty.'
She did not reply, but moved in closer to Cato and grasped his arm.
Under the mate's command the Horusedged across the bay towards the strip of beach, and as they drew closer to shore they could see a thin layer of flotsam strewn across the shingle. A handful of bodies sprawled amongst splintered lengths of wood and tangles of vegetation. The ship steered steadily towards the shore, with the mate constantly looking over the side to gauge the depth as they approached. As the cliffs loo med over them, Cato felt a gentle lurch beneath his feet, then the deck was motionless.
'Let fly the sheets!' the mate shouted to his crew. Then, as the sail billowed in the gentle breeze, he drew a sharp breath and gave another order. 'Lower the sail!'
The men untied the ropes fastening the makeshift spar and carefully lowered the spar and sail to the deck. Then, overcome by the exhaustion and strain of the desperate hours of the. previous night, and the following day's shifts bailing the water from the hold, the crew slumped down and rested.
'What do we do now?' asked Julia.
'We?' Macro turned to her. 'I want you to stay here, miss. You and the rest of the crew and passengers. Meanwhile, Cato, your father and I are going into Matala to check on the lie of the land.'