A five-hundred-pound steel drum broke loose from its mooring chains, rumbling down the slanted deck plates like an unguided cannonball.
Mac Cole threw his weight to the right, slamming his prosthetic brass clamp around the corner of a structural I-beam to anchor himself.
CLANG.
The drum smashed into the portside bulkhead, crumpling its reinforced steel rim and splashing gray wash-water across the diamond plate.
“Watch the cargo!” Mac bellowed over the groan of strained steel. “Everything that isn’t welded is heading for the port rail!”
Julian scrambled up the steep incline, catching Lin Mei by the elbow as her boots skidded across an oil slick.
“I’ve got you,” Julian said, hauling her toward the chart table bolted to the starboard wall. “Brace against the bench!”
“Don’t let go of the rail!” Mac shouted, leaning his weight against the I-beam. “The whole deck is pitching under us!”
