Then he ran away, darting through the shifting crowds.

Kennet opened his fist to find a gold tooth. He looked up quickly, but Fisha had disappeared.

Part Four: The Fisherman Back Home

“Prominent among Babylonian deities was Enki, called Deity of the Abyss, who had temples in Ur and other maritime cities. Sennacherib, when about to undertake a maritime expedition down the Tigris, offered to Enki a golden boat, a golden fish, and a golden coffin.”

—Fletcher S. Bassett,
Legends and Superstitions of the Sea and of Sailors
in All Lands and at All Times

“We come back from war changed.”

—Joseph Bianco

August 1945

The Monastery

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MINOR MISSING IN ACTION SINCE 30 JUL 1945 STOP WILL WRITE SOON

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Stars and Stripes, 16 August 1945

CRUISER TORPEDOED, 883 DIE

PELELIU, Palan Is., Aug. 5 (Delayed) (ANS)—The 10,000-ton cruiser Indianapolis was sunk in less than 15 minutes, presumably by a Japanese submarine, shortly after midnight July 30 and 883 crew members lost their lives in one of the Navy’s worst disasters.

The vessel went down in the Philippines Sea within 450 miles of Leyte. She was on the second leg of an unescorted highspeed run from San Francisco, during which she had delivered to Guam essential material for the first atomic bomb attack on Japan.

The fatal torpedo attack came without a second’s warning. Two explosions flashed out of her bow and she quivered while flames streaked through her passageways and slim hull.

In less than a quarter of an hour the Indianapolis plunged head first below the surface of the sea. Nobody outside the oil-covered circle of men and debris in the water knew her fate until a Peleliu search plane led the way to the rescue of the 315 men who managed to survive five days afloat.

Survivors believe two underwater torpedoes smashed into the starboard side near the bow of the 14-year-old cruiser, setting off one of the eight-inch magazines. The Navy gave no details, however.

Traditional flagship of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, the Indianapolis was the tenth cruiser and 435th U.S. Naval vessel lost during the war.

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WONDERFUL NEWS MINOR SURVIVED INDIANAPOLIS SINKING STOP 5 DAYS ADRIFT STOP BURNS AND EXHAUSTION FROM OVEREXPOSURE PROGNOSIS GOOD STOP WRITE HIM CARE US BASE HOSPITAL #18 NAVY #926 FPO SAN FRANCISCO CALIF STOP

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“Christ, O’Hara, I might start believing in happy endings again,” Kennet said.

O’Hara scanned the newspaper article and gave a low whistle. “Lucky bastard. Five days in open water. Eight hundred and eighty-three dead. Jesus H.” He slapped Kennet’s back. “Glad it was good news for once.”