Part 47 (1/2)

he explained. ”Brrotherrs and sisterrs patrrol much distance away in watch forr thhem. But it is good newws thhey giwe nowww.”

Cora was angry that she hadn't thought to suggest such a lookout, consoled herself with the knowledge that her thoughts never took a military bent. Some- where behind all this, she thought furiously, lay minds as cold as they were efficient. It was harder to believe them cetacean than human.

Another vessel soon hove into sight: a long, sleek suprafoil. It was considerably larger than the ruined craft they waited on or the long-since sunken one that had carried them out from Mou'anui a short eternity ago.

They made preparations to meet it, moving the in-

200 .

jured catchers.h.i.+p alongside the catamaran. None of Hazaribagh's crew appeared to challenge them. They remained huddled below, mindful of Mataroreva's threat to unleash the orca pack against them a last

time. S The four anxious researchers and single survivor ( waited on the empty deck of the factory s.h.i.+p to greet

their rescuers.

Moving quickly up the ladder and the first man on deck from the larger foil was Yu Hwos.h.i.+en, not the least embarra.s.sed at revealing most of his elderly form in a pair of swim briefs. His eyes swept the deck, not- ing the absence of any but the five survivors.

Somehow the absence of clothing on an individual Cora had come to think of as the epitome of dignity was more shocking than expected. Divested of his black uniform of office, he was at once more and less human than he had seemed back on Mou'anui.

A host of armed, grim men and women followed him onto the deck. Cora recognized none of them, but they greeted Sam with a mixture of relief and defer- ence. He directed them across the s.h.i.+p. The number of peaceforcers was sizable. No doubt additional as- sistance had been brought in for this rescue from other

sections of Cachalot.

While Sam was directing the counting and record- ing of the factory s.h.i.+p's sullen, disgruntled crew,

Hwos.h.i.+en joined the other survivors. His attention

went first to the one person among them he had not

yet met.

”What of the town?” he asked Dawn simply.

She shook her head.

”You are the only survivor?”

”And that only because I wasn't in the town at the time it was attacked.” She gestured limply to Cora and the others. ”I was on the reef, guiding these peo- ple.”

201.

”We know the first cause now,” Cora said. Hwo- s.h.i.+en turned to her. ”It's been baleen whales all along, at every town. They attack in military formations, as if they've been drilling for such a.s.saults all their lives, and after each attack they disperse and disappear.”

”But we still have no idea why they're doing this,”

Merced picked up for her, ”or if they're doing so on their own or under the direction of someone else.”

Hwos.h.i.+en put both hands behind his back, wan- dered to the railing that had not been flattened by whale weight. ”Another town,” he finally rumbled.

”Another population lost, more financial disruption and distress.” He looked back at them. ”The baleens are responsible, you say? That's bad. Very bad. We had already been told as much, but I wanted to be certain. Transmissions can be garbled and-” He stopped, breathed deeply. ”Not that I doubted the source of the information, but I wanted to hear it di- rectly from you.”

”How could you have been? . . .” Rachael looked surprised at her mother's forgetfulness. ”Oh, of course.

Latehoht and Wenkoseemansa told you.”

”The pair of orcas who operate with Sam, yes.