Crescent Dawn

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

 

DIRK PITT ® ADVENTURES BY CLIVE CUSSLER

Arctic Drift
(WITH
D
IRK
C
USSLER)

Treasure of Khan
(
W
ITH
D
IRK
C
USSLER)

Black Wind
(
W
ITH
D
IRK
C
USSLER)

 

FARGO ADVENTURES BY CLIVE CUSSLER
WITH GRANT BLACKWOOD

 

ISAAC BELL NOVELS BY CLIVE CUSSLER

The Spy
(WITH JUSTIN SCOTT)

The Wrecker
(WITH JUSTIN SCOTT)

 

KURT AUSTIN ADVENTURES BY CLIVE CUSSLER
WITH PAUL KEMPRECOS

 

OREGON FILES ADVENTURES BY CLIVE CUSSLER
WITH JACK DU BRUL

 

Dark Watch
WITH CRAIG DIRGO

 

NONFICTION BY CLIVE CUSSLER AND CRAIG DIRGO

G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
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Published by the Penguin Group
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Copyright © 2010 by Sandecker, RLLLP

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. Published simultaneously in Canada

 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cussler, Clive.

Crescent dawn / Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler.

p. cm.

eISBN : 978-1-101-47507-2

1. Pitt, Dirk (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Marine biologists—Fiction. 3. Marine engineers—Fiction. I. Cussler, Dirk. II. Title.

PS3553.U75C

813’.54—dc22

 

 

 

 

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

 

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

T
HE DRUMBEAT ECHOED OFF THE WOODEN BULKHEADS, reverberating in a rhythmic staccato of flawless precision. The
celeusta
rapped methodically at his goatskin drum in a smooth yet mechanical fashion. He could bang for hours without missing a beat—his musical training based more on endurance than harmony. Though there was a recognized value to his steady cadence, his audience of galley rowers simply hoped that the monotonous performance would soon reach an end.

Lucius Arcelian rubbed a sweaty palm across his leggings, then tightened his grip on a heavy oak oar. Pulling the blade through the water in a smooth motion, he quickly matched strokes with the men around him. A young native of Crete, he had joined the Roman Navy six years earlier, attracted by lucrative wages and an opportunity to acquire Roman citizenship at retirement. Physically tested in the years since, he now aspired only to advance to a less laborious position aboard the imperial galley before his arms completely gave out.

Contrary to Hollywood myth, slaves were not used aboard ancient Roman galleys. Paid enlistees propelled the ships, typically recruited from seafaring lands under the empire’s rule. Like their legionary counterparts in the Roman Army, the enlistees endured weeks of grueling training before being put to sea. The oarsmen were lean and strong, capable of rowing twelve hours a day, if need be. But aboard the Liburnian-type
bireme
galley, a small and light warship that featured just two banks of oars on either side, the oarsmen acted as supplemental propulsion to a large sail rigged above deck.

Arcelian gazed at the
celeusta
, a minuscule bald man who drummed with a pet monkey tied beside him. He could not help but notice a striking resemblance between the man and the monkey. Both had big ears and round jolly faces. The drummer wore his mug in a constant look of mirth, grinning at the crew with bright wily eyes and chipped yellow teeth. His image somehow made the rowing easier, and Arcelian realized that the galley’s captain had made a wise choice in selecting the man.