Part 65 (2/2)

Far below danced vast spherical forms that pulsed and glowed. They were akin to planets in their shape and motion, yet they orbited not a sun but a common thought. They conversed in a manner incomprehensi- ble to man or cetacean, conversed in a manner fash- ioned by darkness, shaped by pressure and isolation.

They were discussing the development of a new kind of specialized internal polyp, much as any manufac- turer might discuss an addition to his plant.

They knew it would take time. That could not be helped. They would work and wait, until the new polyp was ready to perform its function. Until then there would be enforced tolerance of Those Above.

Afterward ... afterward, they would see.

Having thus decided upon a biologic course of ac- tion, the CunsnuC commenced an addition to the in- ventory of their minds.

Above and far distant floated a life-form that thought in a manner incomprehensible to man or CunsnuC. Lumpjaw, whose water name was DeMalthiAzur-of-the-Maizeen and who was elder among his people, had slipped away from them to think quietly on portentous matters. And to consider.

More men would come, and the free-thinking

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CACHALOT.

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stretches of sea would shrink still further. Not that he felt they would break the laws (at least not right away), but mankind had displayed a disconcerting tendency throughout his history to circ.u.mvent them.

And the men of today were not the men of tomorrow.

Who could tell what changes they might propose?

Then there was the matter of the CunsnuC. Their control over the baleen had demonstrated a disturbing capacity for dangerous mischief. In the sanctuary of their Deeps they might concoct further trouble for the Cetacea.

DeMalthiAzur-of-the-Maizeen let pa.s.s the catodon- ian equivalent of a sigh. Why must existence be so complicated, he mused, when all one desired from life was time to think? Of the men he had no worry, for the cousins the orca would stay near them, professing friends.h.i.+p for them and dislike for the catodon, and report whatever they were about. Smartest of all was the catodon, he thought, but cleverest was the orca.

The CunsnuC were more of a problem, and were likely to present the greater problem for all that they were confined to their abyssal home. So the people of the sea had much progress to make, out of sight of humanxkind and CunsnuC, out of sight of even their ma.s.sive but slow-thinking relatives the baleen.

Perhaps that progress would be part of the Great Journey. Perhaps it would const.i.tute only a digression.

But it was necessary to insure preservation of the peace.

Time, the old whale thought. Never enough time.

So much wasted time. But it was vital, this digression.

Of all the creatures of Earth, only man had mastered the ability to travel through environments hostile to his kind. That was ever his great advantage. That, and manipulative digits. The Cetacea had only their minds. They could not match the simian flexibility of man, nor the mental approaches of the CunsnuC.

Oh, well. Perhaps in time. For now, the Cetacea,

led by the catodons, would have to find another path, would have to improve the path they had chosen to insure their survival and their way of life.

It was time to practice, he thought. Straining his enormous brain and nervous system, DeMalthiAzur- of-the-Maizeen made the s.h.i.+ft.

How strange it makes the world look, he mused.

There was much new to think about, much that might be learned to surprise both man and CunsnuC when the time came. The effort was easier this time, grew simpler with each successful s.h.i.+ft.

Better to return now to the pod, to think with them.

Thinking alone cleared the brain but became lifeless and dull all too soon. He longed for the mental com- panions.h.i.+p and the joint progress made while sharing the Great Journey. He levitated a little more, regard- ing the water below and the startled icthyomiths that soared in his shadow.

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