Part 36 (2/2)
the blue cephalopods began a stately pirouette about her fingertips, twisting and somersaulting with gravity- defying grace. Another b.u.mped against her faceplate, making her jerk instinctively. But it was a soft, powder-puff collision. She stared into septuple alien eyes, cat-slitted and rich purple, trying to bridge a chasm of intelligence and evolution. Blankly, the dis- appointed creature drifted away with a hypnotic wave of its tentacles.
Treading water easily, she remained above the bot- tom, below the surface. There was no sky above, no ground below. She was adrift in a sea of stars. She had to force herself to think of the proximity of sharp hexalate blades which could rip gelsuit or airflow headpiece. In such light, devoid of reference points, one could easily become disoriented and swim into the reef wall.
Despite such dangers, she found herself wis.h.i.+ng she could slip free of the suit skin to swim naked and clean in the dark water, convoyed by gently bobbing blue and red lights.
She held up both hands now, watched as a dozen males teased and courted her fingers. She moved her hands up and down and the ellipsoidal forms matched her movements exactly, never pausing in their gener- ative ballet. I'm a conductor, a conductor of life, she thought in wonder. She crossed her arms, and the hopeless suitors again changed their dance to mimic her motion. Bodies tumbled and spun, stubby fins pro- ducing astonis.h.i.+ng agility in the water. Two opposing tentacles were always held stiffly out to the creature's sides, acting as stabilizers.
Wondering how they would react, she brought her two hands together, forming a single, larger yellow ma.s.s. Would they fight, or freeze in confusion at the unexpected merger?
The did neither. Instead, the obsessed dozen van-
156 CACHALOT.
ished with appalling speed. She blinked, wondering if her vision was at fault. Not only were her suitors gone, they all were gone, as if they had never been there.
Thirty thousand azure and vermilion globes had dis- appeared as if cut off by the turning of a single bio- logical switch.
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' or several long, horrifying moments she was ut- terly alone, suspended in black limbo save for the penetrating beam of her hand light.
Then she made out other swimming, yellow forms and their individual hand beams.
”What was that?” she inquired of everyone in gen- eral and no one in particular via her mask broadcast unit. ”What happened?”
”Where did they go?” Rachael asked, sounding con- cerned.
”Did we frighten them?” Merced appeared on her right. The five figures came together.
”Dawn, I thought you said that there are no large predators in here.” Predators did seem a likely ex- planation for the cephalopods' reaction. They would douse their lights and scatter for shelter.
”I don't think there are, Cora.” The girl sounded curious, not defensive, which was why Cora was in- clined to believe her.
They were interrupted by a flash of dull light from overhead. Cora wasn't the only one who experienced an instant of panic before the explanation reached them in the form of a low rumble of thunder, muted by the water.
”Lightning,” she muttered. ”Could that scare them?”
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”It's possible,” Dawn agreed. ”I'm not enough of a specialist to be able to say.”
”Possible perhaps.” Cora recognized Merced's thoughtful tone. ”But why should other light startle them that way, when they generate such an immense display themselves? Maybe that particular wave- length? ...”
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