Humanx - Cachalot Part 32

Now we have something else to alert the towns to."

"Two thousand . . . that doesn't exactly pin them down."

"There are only a dozen or so towns within that region now, and another dozen bordering it. Of the two dozen, the ones that will have to be extra careful are those that will be subject to bad weather. That reduces potential trouble spots somewhat," he insisted.

"We still have no idea what kind of weaponry they're using."

He looked helpless. "No, we don't." There was a yell from below. He and Merced exchanged words.

The report he had requested had been provided.

For the next five days only three towns were likely to be subject to storm conditions.

"What were the time intervals between the previ- ous attacks?" she asked.

"That's just it. There weren't any. Two of the towns were destroyed within days of one another, and then it was weeks before the third attack. There doesn't seem to be any predictability to it."

"So all we know," she murmured, "is that three towns might possibly be attacked within the next week."

"I'm afraid so. We'll travel to one of them. Vai'oire is closer to us than Mou'anui, and I want to talk to the town council in person about what we've learned.

Certainly Wenkoseemansa and Latehoht ought to be available at one town for sentry duty."

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"Why Vai'oire, other than its proximity?"

"No reason. It's as likely a target as Hydros or Wa.s.ser. But there is another reason for our going to a town, and it's because of you, not me."

"What's that?"

"After weeks on this boat I suspect you'd all enjoy sleeping on something that doesn't rock quite so much."

"Amen!" Rachael was coming up from below, with Merced behind.

"Speaking for myself, I could certainly do with a change," Merced admitted.

But Cora added nothing, instead turned silently to gaze back down at the crystal reef. The rocking mo- tion never troubled her. She was as at home in the arms of Mother Ocean as ever she was on any stable land.

x

Vai'oire was not land, of course, but it certainly was stable. Cora could not see any motion when the Caribe slid into one of the several docks that extended

into the ocean.

It was a quiet morning. Only a freshening breeze hinted at any possibility of the predicted storm. A few sooty clouds scudded past overhead, uncertain as yet whether to retain their independence or to join to- gether to bleed life.

As the craft entered the dock it pa.s.sed above the outskirts of the reef Vai'oire was exploiting. Sonarizers kept the suprafoil well apprised of any dangerously high hexalate formations.

"A coincidence," Sam a.s.sured her as they prepared to link to the dock. "True, Rorqual was anch.o.r.ed off a reef when it was. .h.i.t. So was Warmouth. But the other two were over open ocean, moving or following schools. Sure, if they'd all been attacked when sitting off a reef, we could predict exactly which town would be struck next. Unfortunately, that's another common denominator that doesn't exist, except as wishful think- ing."

The Caribe gently touched the starboard dock. A click sounded from bow and then stem as the suprafoil locked into the dock. Then the boarding ramp slipped into place. They descended, standing

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rubber-legged on a surface that did not sway beneath them.

They were met by four locals. Three men and a woman, all middle-aged or older. One of the men, a short, portly Polynesian type, stepped forward to shake hands with each of them in turn. He was bald on top, had a fringe of white hair that ran around his head like a three-quarter halo. All his features were round and soft, like those of a cartoon figure.

"Ja-wen Pua'ahorofenua," he announced. Cora de- cided that "Ja" would do. "I'm the current mayor of Vai'oire. We received a General Alert report from Mou'anui yesterday. Said that you folks had deter- mined that human pirates-I had to look the term up -or other Commonwealth intelligences were responsi- ble for the crisis we've been living with these past few months. That's hard for us to accept."

"Hard but not impossible, Ja-wen," the woman be- hind him said. Cora had noticed her first. She was so enormous that beside her Sam looked skinny. Yet as with Sam, the immense volume of flesh looked firm, and the rolls were minimal. "But then all of these at- tacks are hard to accept."

"I know that, H'ua," the mayor said. "I just can't imagine how any kind of human a.s.sault could get through screens and prewam systems, not without leaving at least a hint of how it had happened."

"Four towns lost and n.o.body knows anything," one of the other men grumbled sourly. He wore an object around his neck which looked like a single tooth. It was at least sixteen centimeters across at the base, and the point hung halfway to the man's navel. Cora won- dered what creature it might have been wrenched from and thought of what might still lie un.o.bserved in Cachalot's deeps.

Beads and sh.e.l.ls formed the rest of the necklace, alternating with light-emitting units. She wondered if

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CACHALOT.

it was some kind of personal ornament or perhaps a

local badge of office.

"At this point," the last speaker concluded, "I'd be- lieve anything."

"That's the truth," the fourth member of the greet- ing party said. "My five-year enlistment is up in a couple of months. We're thinking of taking our sav- ings, Suzette and I, packing up the kids, and maybe moving to New Riviera or even someplace like Horseye, where the dangers are known."

The mayor turned incredulously to his companion.

"You, Yermenov? You're lived on Cachalot all your

life."

"I know, and I want to live the rest of it. I'd rather risk thirty years somewhere else than end up a miss- ing statistic here."

"Well, I wouldn't worry about Vai'oire." Ja-wen turned confidently back to his visitors. "You can un- derstand our concern. We're all worried, but now that we have some idea what to look out for, I'm sure we can handle it. Vai'oire's a big, well-financed town. Our defensive equipment is the latest available to private buyers. If you people are certain of your-"

"We're as certain as we can be at this point," Cora told him, "that people are responsible and that there's not some unknown ent.i.ty lurking about that's swallow- ing towns whole."

"We knew that from the start, Ja-wen." The huge woman spoke in a voice that bordered on the girlish.

"Too many pieces left floating about."

"Yes." Ja-wen leaned close to Cora, spoke conspir- atorially. "I'm sure you've heard that part of our trou- ble is preventing this information from starting rumors we can't control. If something isn't done soon, some shuttle pilot's going to hear about our problem and word will get off-planet. Then it'll get on a liner going ;

out-system, and before you know it, well-look at ( Yermenov. A lifelong resident. If people like him