Part 25 (1/2)

”All Humans, All Whales, Die All Too Soon, Be- fore The Great Mysteries Can Be Explained, The

107.

Great Questions Answered. Those Who Perished On Thy Floating Towns Would Have Perished Soon Enough. Why Waste Time Trying To Learn The Cause Of Their Pa.s.sing? We Work For The Ends Of Thought. No Time To Waste.”

”Do youu nott underrrstandd?”

Cora looked down and to the left of the balancing sperm whale. A black and white head peered up the cliff of Lumpjaw's side, unimpressed by the vast ma.s.s hovering near it.

”Whhen willl you slome to, thhat all liffe and all the questions of liffe, hummman as welll as cetacean, arre interrelated.

Thhat all quesstions that so concerrn catodon allso concerrn mann. Thhat we arre tied togethher on this worrld byy ourr alienness to it.”

Lumpjaw slid down into the water, keeping his eyes above the surface. ”Ah, Small Cousin, Is It Indeed, Then The Porpoise Who Is The Greater Because He Has Sense Enough Only To Play With Man And Not To Deal With Him? What, Then, Would The Orca Choose To Do? Have Hands And Feet And Walk About On Land?”

There was a splash in front of the great catodon's gnarled forehead as another shape slid whippet-fast past it.

”Ayye, arre you grreaterr in weight and lengthh.

Thhat does nott mean you knnoww the wayyy forr yourrselves anyy morre than you do for alll. Do nott attempt to speakk forr us, to coddle orr tease us,”

Wenkoseemansa warned, ”forr you did nott act so superriorr lo those manyy centurries ago on Earrthh, and you arre no morre superriorr noww. We choosse onlly to rrelate to mankindd. Nott to becomme as menn.”

Cora moved to stand close to Sam. ”I thought

108 .

you just said that cetaceans don't fight among them- selves.”

”Only verbally,” he explained. ”Some bad feelings

between catodon and orca have always existed, though they're among the most closely related of all the whales. I guess it goes back to the ancient times on Terra, when the orca packs would eat any great whale they could kill. Just because the orca no longer eats the catodon doesn't mean they've grown to love one another. Respect, yes. They won't fight physically, but they're not the best of friends. Don't forget that they're

cetaceans together, though.”

”Enough Of This!” the irritated old whale roared.

”Enough Time Wasted! We Shall Not Help Thee,” he told Cora. ”Not Because We Wish To Hinder Thee.

Understand That.” He let out a long, modulated whis- tle. In a wonderful demonstration of the unity of thought the old male had talked about, three hundred ma.s.sive backs arched as one. Enormous flukes came up, filled the surface with a temporary forest of gray- brown flowers, and dipped into the ocean with hardly a ripple as the herd vanished beneath the

waves.

In seconds it was as if they had never been more

than a dream.

VIII.

No

to violence marred their pa.s.sing. They were sim- ply gone.

”Simultaneous sounding,” Cora murmured.