Part 44 (1/2)
When the baleens noticed us, they vanished. Our so- narizer patterned them before they all got out of range. We noted fifty, and more had probably fled be- fore we arrived. If they hadn't run as soon as we appeared, we'd have been the ones doing the running,
I tell you.
”That was the first and last time we saw any whales near the towns. We found no survivors.” Dawn said nothing this time. ”Nor any bodies. It puzzled us greatly. Our first thought was to beam in notification of the disaster, but”-he spread his hands-”to what end? As I said, there were no survivors. And there was a great deal of very valuable material floating around our s.h.i.+p, preparing to sink or drift off into the sunset. What could we do but recover what was avail- able? The ancient laws of salvage apply.
”After that, we tried to plot the location of towns which seemed near unusually large concentrations of baleen whales. We also learned that the attacks al- ways took place under cover of storms.”
”Just baleens?” Cora asked.
”We never saw any toothed whales,” Hazaribagh informed her. ”Most curious, I tell you.. You would suspect them the most likely of all the Cetacea to plan and carry out such an attack.
”I want you to know also that we always searched for survivors, but never did we find any. At War- mouth, other vessels arrived before us. Vai'oire makes four out of five for us, however. A good percentage of prediction. Salvage is far more lucrative than gathering fish or molluskan products. We have several off-world buyers who are pleased to purchase our offerings,
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whether they be cargo the towns were storing prep- aratory to s.h.i.+pment or valuable electronics, or even personal effects. We are not discriminating, I tell you.”
”If you're not controlling the cetaceans, then who is?” she wondered aloud.
”Why must anyone be controlling them?” Ha- zaribagh asked. Perhaps no scientist this one, but an astute observer of life. ”Why can't they be controlling themselves?”
”Baleens are incapable of such concerted action,”
Mataroreva insisted.
The factory manager turned on him. ”How do we know that? How much do we really know about the Cetacea beyond what they choose to tell us? Abilities may mature in a thousand years. Simply because a man does not talk is no indication he is an idiot. He may simply be a noncommunicative genius.”
”Only one thing prevents you from receiving abso- lution,” Cora stated. ”You knew! You knew from the start that whales were responsible. If that informa- tion had been communicated to Administration on Mou'anui, then Vai'oire, Warmouth, and the others might have survived, knowing precisely what to expect.
But you couldn't do that.”
”Of course we couldn't,” Hazaribagh admitted. ”I don't see how you can hold us accountable for the nondistribution of knowledge. We've harmed no one.
There's nothing criminal in opportunism, I tell you.
If we had found survivors, now that would have pre- sented us with a problem. But we never encountered any... until now.”
He tapped the sharp edge of his chin with the rim of the cold gla.s.s. Ice clinked within. ”Now there are five of you. A situation I hoped I would never have to deal with.” He paced in front of them, gesturing with hand and gla.s.s. ”You see, this has become an extraor- dinarily profitable operation for us. One I am loath to relinquish.”
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CACHALOT.
CACHALOT.
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It took considerable courage for Cora to say, ”By withholding this information, you become guilty of
murder by oversight.”
The accusation did not upset Hazaribagh. ”Oh, I doubt that a Church court would convict us on that.
If I were to let you go freely, however, it could com- plicate things for us by leading, as you say, to the prevention of such unfortunate incidents in the future.