Humanx - Cachalot Part 50

213.

XIV.

Peaceforcers and prisoners, catcherfoil and factory ship, all were soon cruising back toward Mou'anui and a distant justice. Hwoshien and the others boarded the peaceforcer suprafoil and followed in the wake of the searching pack.

Several days and nights of beautiful weather and dull sailing ensued. Working in tandem with the so- phisticated tracking equipment on board, the orcas located first one solitary whale, then a second. The first turned out to be a humpback,- the other a minke.

Neither knew (or claimed to know) anything about the attacks on the floating towns. They were allowed to depart before they grew aware they had been re- strained.

On the sixth day Wenkoseemansa split the water in his haste to report that half the pack had encircled an- other baleen and urged it to the surface. Their reluc- tant quarry was already confused and irritable. It would be best for all concerned if the humans were to

hurry.

As Mataroreva and his companions checked out their translating equipment, the suprafoil swung around and sped toward the section of ocean specified

by Wenkoseemansa.

Before very long the gentle rise of a small island

broke the horizon. As they drew nearer, the island 212.

developed a modest geyser, whereupon it was clear to all on the slowing ship that the island was solid with- out being land.

Over thirty-five meters in length and weighing well over a hundred tons, the sulfur-bottom, or blue whale, lay at the surface and considered his unprecedented situation. He looked quite ma.s.sive enough to Cora to fight off all fifty orcas, even if for some reason they elected to contest such a battle. A nervous twitch of that enormous tail would make a metal patty of the ship.

He was barely moving in the water. While Cora couldn't make out the tiny eye through distance and sea, she supposed it to be rapidly scanning its sur- roundings with considerable unease. The encirclement by the orca pack could only be interpreted by the creature as a potentially threatening gesture. It was up to Cora and her companions to obtain the an- swers to their questions before the solitary bull de- cided the threat was anything other than potential.

When the suprafoil coasted alongside, taking care to approach the living mountain from near the head and not the dangerous tail, he shifted with ponderous uncertainty. Initial conversation was opened by the orcas. The cetacean-to-cetacean conversation was strange to Cora's ears, even in translation. In compari- son with the rapid speech of the orcas, the blue's was turgid and slow.

Wenkoseemansa asked most of the questions, swim- ming right up to the gigantic, striated jaw, which dwarfed his entire sleek body.

Meanwhile, Cora fiddled with her translator, strug- gling to bring sense out of cetacean chaos. Each species had its own whistles, its private clicks and col- loquial howls. The translators converted the blue's chatter into a kind of stupefied pidgin that sounded unintentionally comical.

"You Great Brother know attacks on human-town,

214 CACHALOT.

.on human-people?" Wenkoseemansa seemed to be asking. "All human-people their-kind killed and gone away. Great Brother savvy?"

There was no response. Hwoshien spoke around the pickup of his own translator. "Another blank.

Is it possible all the whales who partic.i.p.ated in the attack on Vai'oire have already fled this region?"

"Gone to another town, maybe?" Merced wondered worriedly. No one felt like commenting on that omi- nous possibility.

But the baleen finally answered. The reply was made with a.s.surance, though with typically maddening slowness. "This One Great Brother savvy Little Cousin query. This One Great Brother aware muchly of attack on human-towns. This One Great Brother much sad at death of human-people, yes, muchly much."

"You One partic.i.p.ate in attack?" Wenkoseemansa inquired carefully, his muscles tensed in expectation.

"You One help kill?"

"This One partic.i.p.ate," the blue said with appalling coldness, not to mention an obvious indifference to whatever the little knot of listening humans might choose to do. But while the whale's tone as conveyed by the translator contained no empathy, neither was it bellicose. Some of the crew shifted nervously at their stations. The helmsman's fingers tightened around Scanning screens on the suprafoil showed the tiny dots the controls.

Yet the blue did not move, remained peacefully if uncomfortably in the center of the hemisphere of orcas. He's so calm, Cora thought in admiration. Does he know we could kill or severely wound him? The energy cannon at the bow was purposely not aimed at the baleen, but it was manned. It could be adjusted to fire over and down in an instant.

Maybe he has even now sent out a distress call to the hundreds of others who partic.i.p.ated in the attack

CACHALOT.

215.

on Vai'oire, Cora thought. That's absurd, she cor- rected herself. Any such call would have been inter- cepted and reported by the orcas, if not by the detection equipment on the ship.

"What for, Great Brother, you kill human-people?"

Mataroreva asked, taking over the process of question- ing from Wenkoseemansa. "Human-people Great One's friends. No attack, no threaten. Great One's self or children. What for Great One and Cousins do such terrible-bad thing?"

Slowly, with unexpected pain, the sulfur-bottom replied, "This Great One don't know. Subject hard to consider."

The orcas could not frown, but Cora received the same impression from the puzzled chatter that circu- lated among them.

"But you did partic.i.p.ate?"

"This One did."

"Did kill?"

"Did kill," the blue agonized. "Don't know why.

This One no know. No inner-sawy why This One attack. Hard think-back."

"Something-someone convince you attack?" Mata- roreva pressed. "What say?"

"No savvy."

"Great One attack-kill human-people, what cause Great One do so? Who tell Great Ones do so? Try savvy." Mataroreva stared over the railing as if he could will the great whale to answer.

"Savvy . . . hard is. Hard think-back. Dark waters.

No can straight savvy." He shook his head slightly.

Sudden swells rocked the suprafoil, and those on board grabbed for support. "Hard think-back. Mind hurt bad. No sense makes." Again the head twitched and the entire body shuddered, throwing water over the low deck of the nearby ship. Clearly the immense creature was becoming frustrated and upset. "No can remember!"

216.

CACHALOT.

The whale spun and the foil threatened to capsize In the water the orcas fought hard to hold their posi- tions against the powerful swell. Cora hung on tight to the rail with one arm and wrestled to reduce the vol- ume on her translator. The blue's voice was growing deafening.

"Attack-kill-no like! No choice but. Had to do.

Ordered to do. Think-back hurts! Leave now This

One!"

Up went the great flukes, like some huge gray bird.

Down went the head as the whale arched his back.

of the orcas sprinting out of the way as the mult.i.ton bull plunged rapidly and unhesitatingly for the silence of the depths.