Read Casca 17: The Warrior for Free Online

said.
    "That they are," was the reply, "and the hungriest, if not quite the fiercest, cannibals in the whole Pacific—and the friendliest, funniest bunch of fuckers on the face of the earth."
    "Eating people isn't funny," Casca said.
    "Ah," sandy answered, "for the Fijians everything is funny, even hurricanes and earthquakes. And a dead man is only a piece of meat when all is said and done, and if he ain't eaten, he'll only go rotten. There's no other meat in these parts, do you see?"
    "Then why aren't the Tahitians cannibals?" he asked. Everybody on deck laughed.
    "But of course they are," Liam told him. "You don't see it every day, and no more you will in Fiji, but all the people of the Pacific eat people."
    Casca thought of the three lovely, soft, feminine bodies that he'd held in his arms, of their gentle nature, sweet smiles, and affectionate lovemaking. It was hard to believe that these delightful creatures were greedy, bloodthirsty cannibals. He privately decided that the crew was joshing him, that it couldn't be so.
    "We're going to be in Fiji for weeks," Liam said, "so you'll be sure to see some cannibal feasts."
    Ulf broke out laughing, an event so rare that everybody looked at him.
    "You might see it sooner," he spluttered through his laughter, "lookee, here comes the new hand."
    Larsen was still ashore, seeking to hire a man to make up the crew shortage, and now he was approaching the ship, accompanied by a huge black man carrying a great, carved chest on one shoulder. Larsen was a big man, but his companion was much bigger.
    Casca had never seen a man like him. His great mop of jet-black hair was like that of some Africans, but thicker, longer, and stronger. The face had high-set cheekbones, a finely chiseled nose and chin, a wide, generously lipped mouth, and eyes set wide apart in deep sockets. Features almost like a black European, Casca thought.
    As the two men came aboard Casca saw that, in fact, the man was not black, but a deep, coppery brown like the stock of an old musket.
    "Meet the new bosun," Larsen said as he came aboard. "Foster," he continued to an able seaman, "show the bosun around will you?" He hurried away to attend to his many concerns.
    Foster came from Charleston, South Carolina, and before the Civil War his parents had owned a few slaves. He was not impressed with the idea of working under a black bosun.
    "What about Liam?" he asked after Larsen.
    "He's new second mate," Larsen threw over his shoulder as he descended the companionway , "and Ulf's mate.''
    The seamen on deck let out a cheer. Liam did a little comic jig, and Ulf smiled. Born at sea, he had started work on his father's boat at four, and it had taken forty-three more years to make it to the rank of first mate.
    "So what are ye all waiting for?" he snapped at his crew, "we'll never clear port if you lazy bums don't shift your asses."
    They moved quickly to ready the ship for sea.
    "He's a glum son of a bitch," the irrepressible Sandy chuckled when they were safely forward, "but he's probably the best damn seaman on the planet."
    There was a small chorus of ayes from the other sailors.
    In the stern Ulf turned to the Fijian, who was grinning hugely and smiled even wider when Ulf pointed to the companionway.
    "You'll find another heathen in the galley," Ulf said. " He'll break out some blankets for ye."
    "Yes, sir," the Fijian grinned, "but Kini not heathen. I'm Christian."
    "The hell you are," Ulf snorted. "Christians are white." He turned away to his duties, and Kini went below to the galley.
     

CHAPTER FIVE
    The fine weather and light winds carried them into the Koro Sea, a small, island-fringed sea about the size of what European sailors call the Great North Sea, set within the planet-reaching proportions of the mighty Pacific. It was here they had run into the violent storm that nearly finished them off.
    The storm had lasted for several days and nights, and now it seemed they were coming out of it. The seas were growing