Maelstrom

by Anne McCaffrey

  Well, you live in a city with a force field, for one thing, Murel said. Normal otters don’t tend to do that. Of course, the other otters, Sky included, were funny and active, playful and curious, and Kushtaka displayed no more of those qualities than an iceberg.

  But had we not saved you and allowed you to see our habitat, you would not have known? she asked. Her whiskers drooped. She was downcast at having been found out, and seemed to consider it a personal failure of some sort.

  No, and your point is taken, Murel responded quickly. We’re really, really grateful to you for saving us, and our father too, so we know you’re good, of course. But why do you want to keep your presence and what you really are such a big secret? I’m guessing you must be some other sentient species from some other world, but there are lots of people here now who’ve lived on other worlds. If Petaybee doesn’t care that you’re here, we sure don’t.

  And neither will anybody else, Ronan added, as reassuringly as if Kushtaka had been abducted from the sea by a giant waterspout and deposited in their shielded fortress instead of the other way around. You’re safe, really.

  We never doubted it, Kushtaka said coldly. However, we prefer our privacy and discretion to wider exposure to the land population—particularly humanoids.

  I guess we can understand that, Murel said.

  During this part of the discussion, Sky, oblivious to so much conversation when there were things to explore, darted off to poke into one hole after another.

  Now he returned, followed by a smaller version of Kushtaka.

  Mother, this strange little fellow came into my den. What is he doing here and why are you talking to these seals? the small deep sea otter asked in a girlish mind-voice, suggesting to Murel that this was a daughter otter.

  Tikka, this is colony business, Kushtaka said sternly. These are not simple seals. They are the children of that other seal we pulled in during the eruption. They were the ones who came for him and insisted that we release him. They say that they and their father can transform into human form.

  Really? They have another form? Like us? Can I see? Tikka asked, addressing the last question to the twins with more of the otter enthusiasm they had come to expect of Sky and his relatives.

  Sorry. We can’t do it in the water, Murel told her. We’re seals as long as we’re wet. How about you? What is your other form?

  Kushtaka bristled at Murel’s friendly interest. Tikka, however, answered immediately. She suddenly slipped out of her otter skin as if it were only a wrap. Inside of it her skin was a smooth translucent gold, with an inner light that cast soft pastel colors over her. Like them, she had a head and a trunk, but four arms ending in long web-fingered hands and four legs ending in flippers. Her eyes were huge, blue green and somewhat prominent. From the middle of her forehead and extending down her back, a delicate fin waved and floated like a solid sheaf of gleaming hair.

  Wow! Murel said. You’re beautiful!

  Tikka, change back this instant! Kushtaka demanded.

  But why, Mother? You heard them. They like how we look in this form. And I like being able to use more than two legs and two arms at a time. Otter form is so inconvenient that way.

  You know we must be discreet for the good of all. Your brother was supposed to be watching you. Where is he?

  He wanted to see the humanoids and that new species that just arrived. They were on the sursurvu.

  The what? Murel asked.

  One of our surface surveillance viewscreens, Kushtaka told her. We are constantly studying this world around us, so of course we have sensors of all sorts to help us monitor our surroundings. That is how we realized your father and then you were in danger. It is also how we observed the sea otters enough to see that they are sociable, curious, and clannish, and would respond well to our presence if they were told we were distantly related.

  Tikka jiggled all eight limbs impatiently during her mother’s explanation, then said, Mother, Jeel was highly impressed by the new species. He liked their teeth. I did not. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such ferocious-looking fish before. But he wants to inspect them more closely.

  I hope you mean he’s just zooming in with your device from here inside the dome, Ronan said anxiously. He wouldn’t be likely to go outside, would he? Your people don’t ever leave here, do you?

  Of course we do, Tikka replied. That’s how we met the otters and learned to be deep sea otters. It would be way too boring to be cooped up here all the time. Besides, we’re supposed to be exploring and learning about new species, right, Mother?

  Your brother went outside the colony without telling me? Kushtaka demanded, whiskers bristling.

  Jeel could tell you were busy with your guests, Mother, and didn’t want to interrupt, Tikka told her.

  They would be the sharks that we were telling you about, Kushtaka, Ronan said. They eat anything and anybody in their path, and these ones have been cooped up and hungry for a long time.

  What’s the quickest way out of here? Murel asked. We’ll go fetch him back for you.

  I will call him, Kushtaka said.

  It’s better if we go, Ronan tried to insist. Like we told you, the sharks know us and they won’t hurt us. Truthfully, he was not all that sure how long shark gratitude lasted. But surely the shark-people refugees would have come with their aumakuas so they’d help control them if necessary.

  Also, Murel said, picking up his train of thought even though it was a bit buried for anyone else to catch, there’ll be humanoids with the sharks probably and they know us already. We could help hide Jeel so they wouldn’t find out about your colony.

  Very well, Kushtaka agreed reluctantly. But first we must clear your minds of this place.

  How can we help get Jeel back here if you do that? Ronan protested.

  He knows the way. If you must stay with him to protect him, you can follow him.

  Okay, but hurry up. He’s really in danger, honest, Murel said.

  It is not a process that can be hurried, Kushtaka replied stubbornly.

  Then for his sake let us go now. We won’t tell. We promise. We didn’t tell before. You can wipe our memories when we get back if you want to, but if I were you, I wouldn’t. You need somebody to warn you about dangerous stuff like this.

  Kushtaka finally agreed. This is not according to our protocol, and I will have to answer to our security team for the breach. However, since the situation is an urgent one, I hope they will understand my unilateral decision to compromise. One of you may go to bring Jeel back, but the other one must stay here until Jeel is safely returned. To save more time, we will locate Jeel in the sursurvu so you can find him more quickly and bring him back. Your small companion otter may remain here too, for his own safety.

  While Murel and Ronan argued about who would go and who would stay behind, Kushtaka beckoned them to follow. Thrusting her paws to her sides, she kicked her legs in a smooth undulation, and shot upward. She led them into a domed room at the top of the invisible dome enclosing the city.

  Tikka, who had not bothered returning to otter form, took Sky’s paw by the end of one of her beautiful web-fingered tentacles, and asked, Do you like to slide? See that building over there? It has a spiral slide all the way from the top of the dome down to the sea floor. He ran around her in excited circles as she led him away.

  The room was surrounded by what seemed to be open sea, and for a moment the twins thought Kushtaka had changed her mind and led them to freedom. However, when she said Scan, the seascape outside changed so rapidly it felt as if the room were moving, racing in circles toward the surface.

  As more light filtered through the water from the sunlit day above, the sharks prowled into view, swimming back and forth beside and behind the hull of a medium-sized boat. Periodically one or more of the sharks dived to scoop up a mouthful of fish, though it looked as if they’d prefer to bite something larger instead. Murel thought the off-limits prey—seal, human, and otter—would remain off-limits only as long as the sharks
knew they were being watched.

  Then the scene outside the room—though it seemed to be the room itself—swung around to the outside of the sharks and the boat, scanning it first near the surface, then back down again.

  A sleek brown shape that looked amazingly small in the vastness of the sea was pumping its way toward the boat and the sharks.

  There! Murel said. That’s him, right? Call him back now!

  He’s out of range, Kushtaka said, frantically scanning from the sharks and the boat to her son and back again.

  Can’t you send your beam thing to get him? Murel asked. Jeel was already so close to the sharks that she doubted she could save him.

  By the time we reset the beam, you could be there, Kushtaka said.

  I’ll go, Ronan said. Lead the way.

  No, Kushtaka said. The female will go. It is well known that females among your species—both of them—are more ruthless fighters in defense of young—or in this case, my young. My son is the one in jeopardy because your species, of whom I gather your father is a leader, brought this peril to us. Therefore your father’s son will stand surety for Jeel’s return.

  Murel shot a triumphant “So there!” look at her brother. It nearly masked her fear of returning to waters where other large predators had almost killed her a short time before.

  Ronan would have argued, but there was no time. Jeel was on his way to be shark bait. If one of them—and Kushtaka had decided on Murel—didn’t get the silly git back before he became a shark snack, Ronan didn’t want to think what Kushtaka and her people might do.

  Suddenly four of the big otter aliens appeared beside him, each taking hold of one of his flippers in one of their clawed paws as they carried him back down into the city.

  Don’t worry, Ro, Murel called after him, putting into her thought much more confidence than she felt. I’ll be back with Jeel in no time.

  Kushtaka guided her beyond the domed room, which looked solid from the outside, to a point somewhat higher where the sea enveloped the city. Then she dropped her otter form, revealing herself to be a larger version of her daughter. She waved a tentacle in front of her and then beckoned Murel forward. Murel felt a little resistance, as if she were penetrating some kind of membrane, then with a slight pop she was free in the cold salt water. Although the interior of the city dome had felt similar to the seawater, now that she was outside the enclosure the difference was marked. Although the water near the volcano was warmer than that closer to shore, it was still much chillier than inside the dome. Nor had the dome smelled as strongly of sulfur as the water out here did, despite the fact that the dome was near enough to a volcanic vent to draw energy from it.

  She swam away quickly, her torso undulating and her back flippers propelling her toward the surface. She feared the sharks might not remain on the surface, but reckoned that as long as their people were with them, the predators would probably stay somewhat close to the boat.

  Her sonar picked up the Manos and the hull of the boat as she had seen in the sursurvu. On board, the shark people and the crew that brought the sharks to the sea would be watching. Da too no doubt. She thought to send him a message, but then she’d be breaking her promise and probably putting Ro in danger. Besides, there wasn’t any time. She had to reach Jeel before the sharks did.

  Her sonar didn’t pick up any deep sea otters anywhere, or other otters, for that matter. Just sharks, the boat, and millions of terrified sea creatures who had no idea what was gobbling them up like popcorn.

  MUREL SWAM UP toward the volcano, where the boat with the shark people was heading, with Jeel closing in. Her sonar search soon picked him up. However, she found the sharks as well. They seemed to have detected him and were diving to investigate. They were faster swimmers than she was.

  She called to him, Jeel! Jeel, you need to go back to the city. These animals are dangerous. Don’t go near them, they’ll eat you.

  She felt the alien—otter? boy? he felt like a boy in her mind—turn from the sharks to her. Who are you? he asked with curiosity as acute as a real otter’s.

  Murel. I’m one of the seal people your mother rescued. She sent me to get you, to warn you about the sharks. Come with me now. Hurry!

  Why didn’t she come herself? he asked. She would have if I was really in danger.

  The sharks won’t hurt me, but your people are fair game for them.

  Why would they eat me and not you? he asked skeptically.

  Please just come and stop asking so many questions. There’s no time to argue. Look over your shoulder. See those shadows? They’re closing in on you. Come here to me where I can protect you.

  Instead he backed away, though he did look over his shoulder.

  By now Murel didn’t need sonar to tell that the sharks were almost upon them. She could see the white of their teeth. Dive! she cried. To me, to me!

  He looked around for her instead. She swam up toward him as hard as she could, but he couldn’t see her yet, and otters had no sonar. He saw the sharks, though, bearing down on him.

  She drove herself toward them with powerful thrusts of her tail and pulls of her flippers. No! Manos, no! she tried to command them, but she might as well have been addressing empty water. That is not prey. He’s a—

  But they were between her and Jeel. She heard his thoughts, sensibly terrified at last. Then she heard his last water-strangled cry, the like of which she had never heard before and hoped never to hear again.

  White teeth gnashed and the sea darkened with a deep blue stain that was Jeel’s alien blood. She felt him, heard him, saw him no more.

  She swam forward and was surrounded by sharks. They still looked horrible and hungry but she was too angry and appalled to be afraid. You ate him! she cried. I told you not to but you ate him anyway!

  Not me, said a Mano who she identified as the one they had first met. I didn’t get so much as a nibble. There wasn’t enough to go around. He wasn’t apologizing. He was complaining. It’s not like it was a seal or an otter.

  It was an otter. A deep sea otter, she told him.

  I didn’t notice any of those bringing fish to our tank. Just the brown slinky ones like your friend. Besides, it was feeding frenzy. Everybody knows you don’t stop a Mano in feeding frenzy. We haven’t had enough to eat for a long time so don’t gripe when we eat something that isn’t taboo or we might forget what is and eat you so we don’t have to listen to you.

  Two Honus swam past the sharks to flank her. Nothing hostile, just there.

  It is futile to argue with Manos, the Honus told her. And foolish.

  She knew that they were right, but she would almost as soon stay with the sharks as return to face Kushtaka. The colony leader would have been watching on the sursurvu. Kushtaka would have seen her fail and Jeel swimming into the jaws of the sharks. How would Murel ever explain why she couldn’t save Jeel when she’d promised that she would? How would she convince Kushtaka to release Ronan anyway?

  She swam slowly back to the domed city, weary from her hard swim and sadder than she had ever been. The Honus swam escort for a time and then she asked them to go away, so Kushtaka would know she hadn’t betrayed the colony to anyone.

  The sea trembled as it had during the quake when Petaybee was birthing the volcanic island. It shook, the water even more violently agitated than it had been during the shark attack or when the orcas hunted her.

  As if she were a bit of flotsam instead of a strong swimming sea creature, Murel felt herself caught and flung round and round so fast she could not see and could not use her sonar. But she felt it when something solid shot past her toward the surface, and felt a void yawning beneath her.

  CHAPTER 16

  SEAN AND YANA kept searching for their children. He returned to the sea. She used Marmie’s best sensors to probe for some sign of two young seals and an otter. The Honus remained near the volcano, agreeing that it was making a very fine home for them, a comfortable one in keeping with the home in the memories that lay buried inside
their ancient heads.

  On board the barge and tug were several of the Mano’aumakua clan, chief among them their matriarch, Puna. Sean had found her fascinating, but Sinead didn’t have much time for her. The old woman’s smile, in spite of sporting few teeth, showed a strong family resemblance to her aumakuas.

  Even though Puna was new to the planet and hadn’t even been to a welcoming latchkay yet, she was trying to run things her way. It didn’t seem to hurt anything since most of the Petaybeans simply pretended they didn’t understand if she told them to do something they hadn’t already intended to do, but it was irritating.

  Once the sharks were released, the tug followed them out to sea, so the people aboard could see where they were to live.

  The tall black cone bezeled in black lava rose from the sea as the boat chopped across the waves. An escort of diving, surfacing, circling, and feeding sharks played around it. Sinead couldn’t help feeling as if she were to be the main course at a shark picnic. Bears, moose, wolves, and all manner of other wild things held no terrors for her and few mysteries, but the sharks gave her the willies. The sea was Sean’s element and he could have it, as far as she was concerned. She used to feel left out that when their grandfather messed about with their DNA, Sean was apparently the successful experiment while she comprised a control group of one. But she was glad now to be more or less normal. It made her life less complicated. She didn’t know if her partner, Aisling, could handle a woman friend who grew fur and needed to go for a swim below the ice pack periodically. Now, if Grandfather had made it so she could turn into a wolf occasionally, that might have been different.

  Ah well, she had enough on her plate as it was.

  Puna grinned maternally at her seagoing relatives. “They like it here. It is a good place.”

  Sinead nodded but privately thought it had been a good place before, but the other creatures were probably thinking the neighborhood had gone to hell now.

  She watched three of the sharks dive and saw that they were converging on some hapless prey, but she couldn’t see what it was, despite the clarity of the waters. She felt sorry for it, whatever it was. She was a bit surprised when a few moments later the water on the surface was dyed a deep indigo.