Humanx - Cachalot Part 46

"Doing werre wwe whhat Samm hadd asked us to, had requested of ourr timme and abilities. We watched the waters frromm farr out in the Deeep, frromm distant lookking-places.

"Thhe Mad Ones whho kill swwam in silence. In grreaterr silence than thhat of any podd everr havve I known, everr has any whale known. Knew thhey exactly whhat they werre about, she-frriend Corra.

Knnew thhey beforehand whhat thhey would do. It wwas . . ." and he sounded terribly confused, as well he had a right to be, ". . . it wwas not a thhing to bee beelived. I would not beelieve so, hadd not I witnessed it myselffff.

"Nothing thhey said, but camme thhey silent frrom all directions at onceee."

"A coordinated attack. But coordinated by whom?"

Merced muttered from nearby.

"Neverr did wwe hearr thhem," Wenkoseemansa continued, "but instead felt at la.s.st the prressurre of thhem in the waterr, of manny comming frrom all

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dirrections. Could it thhus mean only one thing, could it therreby signify only one evvent forrthcoming.

Chose wwe the seconds rremmaining to us to flee beforre wwe could bee encirrcled, forr in madness such as thhis even the Covenant could hawe been brroken, and wwe would then do neitherr ourrselves norr you

any gooodddd."

"I didn't think orcas were afraid of anything that

lived in the sea," she replied.

"Fearr wwe nothing wwe can underrstand, but

thhis was a thhing not to be underrstood. It is not wrrong orr cowarrdly to fearr and flee insanityyy.

"Fast as wwe did rrace, ourr pa.s.sage was not un- noticed. Severral Mad Ones turrned frromm theirr courrse to chase us! Thhey werre Rights and thhink wwe one Humpback. And thhey chased us!" Aston- ishment filled his voice.

"Twwo to ona, and wwe would hawe turmed and fought, sizze notwithstanding. But therre werre sixx, and thhey did not act at all as thhe baleeen should.

Faced werre wwe with suchh a horrrrible perrverrsion of naturral law, with events beyond ourr comprrehen- sion, and with hundrreds of otherr Mad Ones nearrby, we deterrmined it best to find help for any thhat might surrvive. So gladddened arre wwe to find you well! Kneww wwe thhat if any would liwe, thhey

would bee underr Samm's guidance.

"Chhased us forr many leagues did the baleen, forr a grreat distance and timme thrrough the waterr.

Neverr hawe I seeen such perrsistence of purrpose in a baleeen, let alone in severral acting togetherr.

Outrran wwe thhem eventually. I believe had wwe turmed to the depths thhey would have followed and died behind uss. Had therre beeen among thhem Fins, wwe might hawe beeen caught, forr is therre in the sea little that can outrrun a Fin whale. But therre werre none nearr us and had wwe a good stanttttt."

He paused and Cora could almost hear him thinking.

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"Sommething thhis is forr all the Cetacea to discuss, sommething thhis is thhat must be sent arround the worrld-ocean. Forr hawe I no doubt thhat had those Rights caught uss, thherre would hawe beeen a death- fight. A death-fight among Cetacea!" Mutters of disbe- lief swelled in Cora's earphones from the a.s.sembled orcas gathered around the suprafoil.

"Has upset sommething all of cetacean society. Has perrverrted ourr peaceful meditations sommething of grreat evil. Sommething thrreatens the peace wwe hawe had forr morre than eight centurriessss."

Cora recalled a theory first propounded by her col- league Merced. "Could the catodons be controlling the baleens, directing these attacks for reasons of their own?" She expected a quick denial, but hardly the thunderous outcry that arose.

"No-neverr-it is not a thhing to be considerred!"

When the outrage had quieted, Cora spoke patiently to Wenkoseemansa. "You've just admitted yourself that the attack was not a thing to be considered. Yet it happened."

"Thhis is so-o-o," the orca confessed. "Yet sooonerr would I believe myself brreathing waterr than would I hold the catodons rresponsible forr such madnesses.

Thhey arre closerr rrelatiwes to us thhan to the baleeen. Obstinate and stubborrn thhey arre, but not lacking in courrageeee."

"I understand what you mean." Merced crowded closer to Cora. "You're saying that if the catodons wanted the towns destroyed, they'd be doing it them- selves."

"Thhat is so-o-o," Wenkoseemansa insisted. "Farr morre efficient and deadly would thhey bee thhan any baleeens could possibly bee. Would bee a lesser mad- ness then thhan the otherr you say, forr no cetacean can control anotherrrrr."

"Catodons don't think like us, or even like other

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CACHALOT.

whales," Dawn said from nearby. "I'd believe any- thing of them."

"We've already learned a little about their indiffer- ence to mankind," Cora replied. "Destruction of a town would const.i.tute interference of a sort they pro- fess not to want. Destruction means notice, and they insisted they chose not to notice us."

"Still," Vai'oire's sole survivor wondered aloud, "as your friend in the water just admitted, something has upset the balance of cetacean existence. Something has to be directing the baleens. I don't for a moment believe they're doing this of their own choice." She chewed her lower lip thoughtfully.

"Could you tell," Cora asked, leaning over the side once more, "if anything was controlling the attackers?"

"If so, it was not noticeable to uss," Wenko- seemansa confessed. "But swwift wwe fled the region of Insanity, flying fastest through the waterr. Ourr thoughts werre on brringing back a.s.sistance and on surrviving until wwe could do so. Might well wwe hawe missed such evidence as would prowe the con- tention."

"H the catodons aren't involved," Cora mumbled, "and Hazaribagh's been telling the truth about simply following up on the destruction, then we're just about back to where we started: looking for some unknown, probably human, outside agency. Or some other off- world intelligence."

"At least we know it begins with the baleens," Mer- ced commented. "There's another possibility we have to dispose of first." He addressed Wenkoseemansa.

"You called the attackers the 'Mad Ones.' Have there been many instances of ma.s.s cetacean insanity?" Cora wondered how that might translate into orca, but ap- parently Wenkoseemansa understood, because he an- swered readily enough.

"Hawe happened such thhings. In the pa.s.st parr- ticular, in ancient timmes, whole podds would commit

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suicide, as did theirr ancestorrs in fearr of the geno- cidal harrpooon. The harrpooon was long pa.s.st, but the fearrs still lingerred. In ancient timmes men thhought such ma.s.s strrandings of whales due to dis- ease or weatherr, not realizing the cause was despairr.

Even so, in madness lies not the resourrces forr plan- ning and carrying out such a vast, orrganizzed at- tackkkk."

"I agree," Merced said. "Insanity could account for the attacks, but if the baleens are insane, then they can't organize well enough to mount those same at- tacks. Contradiction. d.a.m.n!"

While Cora still felt no particular fondness for the little scientist, that didn't prevent her from sympathiz- ing with him on the professional level. She fully shared his frustration. "At least we have a beginning now."

A violent splash sounded beneath them. Wenkosee- mansa was battering the water with his tail to get their attention.

"Distant brrotherrs and sisterrs relay thhis newws:

the neww hummans commeeee."

"Distant?"

"Fearred wwe much the rretum of the Mad Ones,"