That's a bit more difficult, the alpha whale said. Sean could feel the whole pod, spurred by their keen instinct for survival in the face of a massively mucked-up situation, giving thought to his inquiry.
Did you for instance notice the sea turtles swimming after my son? Sean asked, probing.
Well, no, we wouldn't have noticed those, would we? Bitfin replied. We were circling at the time, you see. Using the sonar to confuse the prey-I mean, your calf, not that we knew she was your calf, as we said. By the way, she has teeth.
Very sharp indeed.
What Bitfin means to say, a whale thought-form that was distinctly feminine interjected, is that our attention was directed inward, toward your calf and each other. I did not see turtles or another seal or an otter, just that bubbly whirlpool thing before Bitfin's tail blocked my view.
What was that? the alpha whale, eager to get to the bottom of this and leading the pod away, asked. I was up near the surface. Seemed a bit turbulent there for a bubble or two, and next thing I knew, we were all bumping into each other and the seal was nowhere to be seen or heard.
I couldn't tell, Bitfin said with true regret. You see, I opened my mouth to bite, and you know how it is when you open wide, you can't see the morsel anymore. You sense them, feel them there, but you don't see them. She was there, she was trying to get away, I open me gob, but when I bit down I nearly break a tooth gnashing them against each other. There was a tickling at my chin, a feeling something was whirling.
The whirlpool thing, another female said. I was down below Bitfin and could barely see the prey-sorry, the calf-as it was, but I saw a bit of flipper. Then all of a sudden there was nothing but whirly water in my face and we were scattering. I did - She hesitated, then continued more tentatively, I did get the feeling that there was something inside the water. And of course, that might have been the calf, mightn't it? Almost had to have been, come to think of it. Still, it seemed to me there was something larger there, something not afraid to come into a pod of us in feeding frenzy. I think we were right to scatter when we did.
Sean could not decide if this was good news or bad.
CHAPTER 15
RONAN CHANGED COURSE, deciding it wasn't a good idea to attack a pod of killer whales even to save his sister. Instead, he dived deep, thinking to intercept whatever it was rising from the ocean floor. If it was an additional threat, well, at least he'd have done something before making a sealburger of himself. Sky followed, peering inquisitively into the incredibly turbulent murk directly in front of them. Then the whirling cone swallowed the otter. Ronan followed half a length behind. Once inside it, there was nothing to see but a strange glow illuminating its midst.
They looked up, where the whales had been.
No Murel! Sky said. Then, No whales.
He was right. Light from the surface suddenly replaced the hunting shadows looming above them. Something else was there for a moment, blocking part of the view, but they couldn't tell what it was except for more whirling debris and bubbles. No blood, though. No…scraps.
Ronan was startled from that gruesome thought by something gyrating past them, almost taking the fur from his skin as it whirled wildly toward the ocean floor.
Below, the faint glow brightening the murk had turned into a spinning column of clean water beaming with light as if from fire at its core.
A speck of darkness was silhouetted against it.
Murel? he called.
Sky's reactions were quicker. That looks like fun, Murel! Otters like fun! Watch out! Here comes Sky!
The otter streaked past in a brown blur and plunged into the center of the column.
Hey, wait! Ronan protested, and not to be outdone by the daredevil otter, plunged after him, diving ever downward. The light blinded him as the spinning water sucked him into its vortex.
MUREL? SIS? YOU okay? At some point while whirling around in the waterspout,
Ronan had lost consciousness. He awoke lying next to his sister on a hard surface.
He had the feeling they were enclosed, and when he sent a sonar probe, it told him he and Murel were surrounded by walls. Not sea grotto, but real walls, like the ones in their cabin.
Ro? Her thought-voice was shaky and scared. Am I-did the whales bite off a very big piece of me? It doesn't hurt yet.
The sonar probe had revealed an entire seal lying next to him, not a maimed one, so he felt safe saying, I don't think the whales even touched you. This weird underwater waterspout typhoon thingy pulled you out from under them. I dived in after you.
Thanks.
No problem, really, any time. I'm glad we were in seal form, though, because if we'd been human I'd have wet my pants.
You're not the only one! She stirred, sat up. Where are we?
I dunno, but not to worry, Da is on his way.
How?
I called him. Guess he wasn't too far off when he heard me. Or maybe he heard you first. Anyway, all we have to do is sit tight and wait. He'll find us.
I just wish I knew where we were.
He rose too and began to explore their confinement. Small, maybe ten by ten, bare.
And it felt made. Like man-made, only what man would make something down here? He'd read about shipwrecks and sunken vessels on other planets, but
Petaybee had yet to develop an active shipping industry.
Petaybee…well sure.
Duh, he said. The planet saved us. It didn't want the whales to eat you so it made this waterspout that sucked us into it.
And into a room? Murel was exploring too. Is there a door?
Do we want to know what's behind it if there is?
As they spoke, one of the walls grew lighter and brighter. It also became transparent, and soon it popped out of existence altogether. A tall sleek presence stood in its place, one fish in its mouth and one in each front paw.
Are you hungry? it asked.
Who are you? both of them asked. But just then Sky scampered in front of the larger creature, which actually looked like an exceptionally big otter.
She's one of the deep sea otters, Sky told them. His paws each held a sea urchin and he still seemed to be chewing. They made the waterspout for Murel so the whales couldn't eat her.
Thanks, Murel told the big otter. I bet you, uh, folks are getting tired of saving selkies. First our da and now us.
Yeah, Ronan added, we're glad to see you're okay. We were afraid the volcano got you.
Deep sea otters like volcanoes, said the deep sea otter, sounding a lot like Sky, except somehow more feminine. We like living under them.
Must get hot, Ronan said.
In spite of being grateful to the deep sea otters, Murel couldn't help feeling this tall creature was in disguise and mimicking Sky. She was an otter impersonator, Murel was sure. The so-called deep sea otters who had rescued Da hadn't talked like Sky at all. And though they never showed themselves, they didn't "feel" like otters.
Besides, otters were mammals, and it wasn't scientifically possible for real otters to survive totally immersed in water all the time, not to mention under volcanoes.
Your father is well? the otter asked. Most unotterly again. The otters she knew, Sky included, always assumed everyone and everything was well until clearly proven not to be.
He's looking for us, Ronan told her. He'll be here soon and can thank you for saving him and us as well.
Have a fish, she said, again proffering the ones in her paws.
Thanks again, Murel said, and snapped it down. She'd been through quite a bit and, otter impersonator or not, she needed to keep up her strength.
You may go out to him when he comes for you, but for now you seals must stay with deep sea otters, she said, most of her speech again sounding unotterly. Then she added, Whales, you know.