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One by one, the cables parted, the final tithin less than a an her precipitous drift toward the rocks along the shore of the Dominican Republic, driven unmercifully by a sea turned cruel beyond any that had been recorded by man

In times past, the helmss firmly planted on the deck, hands locked around the spokes of the wheel in a death grip, battling the sea by steering with every ounce of his strength for long hours on end

No more

Barnuram the ship's course into the computer, then he strapped himself into his raised leather chair in the pilothouse and waited as the electronic brain took over the Sea Sprite's destiny

Fed a constant streaical instruments and systems on board, the computer instantly analyzed thethe storm Then it took co the ship,crests and cavernous troughs while critically judging tih the brutal chaos

Visibility was measured in inches Driven crazy by the wind, salt spray and foa the short interval the ship wasn't buried under incalculable tons of water The horrendous wave and wind conditions were enough to daunt any man as not bred to the sea But Barnu the treacherous waves and locking on sood of the oceans but totally preoccupied with the probleh he placed his explicit trust in the ship's computerized autoency could very well come up when he would have to take command

He studied the waves as they rolled over his ship, gazing at the crest far above the pilothouse, staring into the solid h to the other side and dipped down into the trough

The hours passed with no relief A few of the crew and most all the scientists were seasick, yet none co out on the decks that were continuously swept clean by the great seas One look at the ih to send them to their cabins where they tied themselves to their bunks and prayed they would be alive to see tomorrow

Their only measure of comfort was the h the ports saaves as high as ten-story buildings They watched in awe as the crests were bloay by the frightful winds into great clouds of foa within the demented rain

To those below in the crew's quarters and engine room, the motion was not quite as extreme as that experienced by Barnuet aptly concerned at the way the seas were throwing Sea Sprite around like a car on a roller coaster As the research ship took a steep roll to starboard, he watched the digital nu at thirty-four degrees before the nuradually drifted back between five and zero

"Another roll like that," heunder the water permanently"

How the ship could sustain such wild and savage seas, he could not i, the nuan to drop with increasing swiftness until it indicated less than fifty miles an hour

Sam Maverick shook his head in wonder "Looks like we're about to enter the eye of the hurricane, and yet the water seems more berserk than ever"

Barnued "Who said it's darkest before the dawn?"

The co of afroe