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selves. A blue whale is not a cloud, to be mistaken for one. This is a truth-thing, Kinehahtoh." "A trruth-thhat-is-not," the oldster agreed, shudder- ing. That quiver was ancient cetacean behavior, Cora knew. Not a reaction acquired from contact with man- kind. "Though arre you knnown to us as one whho speaks the trruth, Samm Matarrorreva, this one and the brrothen-s and ssisterrs would not believe had not wwe hearrd it frrom two of ourr own. Would thhat I could will it not truth, yet what is, is, and cannot be wished awayyy." "Then you understand our need to learn the cause behind this," Mataroreva said, "as we would yours if whole pods of the orca had been killed." "Wwe underrstand, though it makes ourr hearrts fall to thhe ooze of the Deeep Places. Whhat would you havve us doooo?" "We must ask the why of this terrible thing of one who was part of it." Kinehahtoh did not reply, lay Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html waiting. "To do so, we must have the help of the orca so we do not risk the peace between man and Cetacea." Still the old male did not speak. Finally he did so, choosing his words slowly and carefully. "One whho has beeen parrtnerr to so vicious a thhing may not wish to talk of it." Even in translation, the orca sounded distinctly troubled. Mataroreva took a long breath before responding. "That is why we must make this request of you. We cannot forcibly restrain a baleen to question it, as you well know. But if the pack assembled here were to gather tight around a single whale, as they have around this ship, there would be no fight." "It could be inten-preted as a prowocation to suchh, a brreach of the peace, a challenge to the CACHALOT 209 Covenant!. Not forr a thousand yearrs has orrca tasted of baleeen. Wwe cannot rriskk the Covenantttt." "I'm not asking you to," Mataroreva said quickly, Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html before Kinehahtoh could set himself irrevocably against the idea. "There are fifty of the orca here. If so many were to surround a solitary bull, for example, what could be the result? The baleen thinks slowly. I suspect it would simply float in one place until the multiple obstruction was removed." "I doo not knnow," the leader of the pack replied. "Not forr centurries has such a confrrontation taken plaaace." "Just my point," Mataroreva pressed on. "The re- sult wouldn't be anger. It would be confusion. The restraining need last only long enough for us to ask a few critical questions. By the time the baleen could make up its lumbering mind that it might possibly be threatened, maybe we'll have our answers and can leave it in peace. No one is being asked to fight anyone." "A thousand yearrs of Covenant," Kinehahtoh murmured solemnly. "A thousand yearrs of peace ammong the Cetacea." "The Cetacea as well as man are confronted with an unprecedented crisis," Mataroreva argued. "If men Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html who do not understand the ways of Cachalot leam that the baleens are responsible, even indirectly, for the destruction, a greater threat to the Covenant will arise than any single confrontation could ever create." He did not add that since the cetaceans were fully protected, the trouble would more likely be between men. "Will I askk the otherrsss," the old orca decided at last. His great head smashed into the water as he turned and vanished. Latehoht went with him. Mataroreva clarified the discussion for Hwoshien, who had waited ^patiently nearby. Long minutes passed and still no sign of returning orcas. Cora wan- 210 CACHALOT dered to stand next to Mataroreva and watch the sea. "What do you think they'll do, Sam?" He didn't try to conceal his worry. "I don't know. As far as they're concerned, I've just made a danger- ous request. It remains to be seen whether or not that will outweigh the threat posed by whatever is driving their larger relatives to madness." Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html "But they've already saved our lives once." He smiled faintly. "Killing bad humans is a very [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |