12 By the SwordI was cold and naked, tied by chains to a rough stone wall. An angry faced Japanese guy in a gray uniform shouted at me, then threw a bucket of filthy water in my face. He unchained me and dragged me over to a wooden block and forced my head down onto it. A tall woman in a samurai costume stood before me. She raised a gleaming sword, then stopped beside me, all I could see were her sandaled feet. She shouted something, and I heard the swish of the blade through the air.
I woke up with a jerk, my body drenched in sweat. It took a few moments for me to remember where I was. The boat had developed a long slow rolling motion and a quick pitch. We were out in the open North Pacific. I waited for my thumping heart to slow down, then looked out the port near my bunk. The sky wa
