Part 45 (2/2)

wis.h.!.+”

”Of course you will. You can't bring weapons to

bear between the hulls unless you open the service bays-which would promptly fill up with large, unwel- come visitors. You're stuck, Hazaribagh. You'll last less than most once you're all in the water.”

”I will not beg for myself, but as for my people-”

”Uh-huh.” He turned to the railing. ”Cora, you tell

them.”

She leaned over the side, adjusted her mask to

make certain she was speaking into her translator pickup. Several strange orcas waited in the water below. They looked up alertly when she spoke.

”Tell your companions they've done well enough.

Stop the attack.” She looked back toward Sam.

He addressed the transmitter. ”Throw all your weapons over the side, Hazaribagh. You can worry about salvaging them later.” He p.r.o.nounced the word ”salvage” in a particularly unpleasant manner.

Splashes began immediately, dotting the surface around the a.s.sailed factory s.h.i.+p.

”Fine,” Mataroreva told his distant listeners. ”Now all of you sit tight. I don't want to see anyone on deck.

You can drink yourselves into a stupor, commiserate in groups, make love, do anything you want. But don't try to start your engines or I'll have you sunk.

And once you're down in the water, I don't think I could keep control of my friends.”

”As you wish.”

Minutes later a cetacean call sounded near the bow. ”Samm! Samm!” All whale voices sounded much alike, but this one's pitch and phrasing Cora had learned to recognize. The voice was that of a happy Latehoht.

195.

Mataroreva jogged out of the battered cabin, shouted a hasty ”Take over!” and jumped over the side.

Latehoht swam delighted circles around him and he around her. He kicked water in her face and she spit it playfully back at him. Wenkoseemansa floated lazily nearby.

”Frriends comme behind ussss,” he offered, noticing an intent Cora staring over the railing at the male- whale waterplay.

”I guessed as much,” she murmured. ”I didn't think you'd return with only cetacean help. Sam worried that you might not have escaped.” She watched as the subject of her thoughts let out a whoop. Latehoht had slipped her tail beneath him, and the gentle flip that resulted sent him soaring through the warm after- noon air.

”What the h.e.l.l happened?”

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