Maelstrom

CHAPTER 15

RONAN CHANGED COURSE, deciding it wasn't a good idea to attack a pod of killer whales even to save his sister. Instead, he dived deep, thinking to intercept whatever it was rising from the ocean floor. If it was an additional threat, well, at least he'd have done something before making a sealburger of himself. Sky followed, peering inquisitively into the incredibly turbulent murk directly in front of them. Then the whirling cone swallowed the otter. Ronan followed half a length behind. Once inside it, there was nothing to see but a strange glow illuminating its midst.

They looked up, where the whales had been.

No Murel! Sky said. Then, No whales.

He was right. Light from the surface suddenly replaced the hunting shadows looming above them. Something else was there for a moment, blocking part of the view, but they couldn't tell what it was except for more whirling debris and bubbles. No blood, though. No…scraps.

Ronan was startled from that gruesome thought by something gyrating past them, almost taking the fur from his skin as it whirled wildly toward the ocean floor.

Below, the faint glow brightening the murk had turned into a spinning column of clean water beaming with light as if from fire at its core.

A speck of darkness was silhouetted against it.

Murel? he called.

Sky's reactions were quicker. That looks like fun, Murel! Otters like fun! Watch out! Here comes Sky!

The otter streaked past in a brown blur and plunged into the center of the column.

Hey, wait! Ronan protested, and not to be outdone by the daredevil otter, plunged after him, diving ever downward. The light blinded him as the spinning water sucked him into its vortex.

MUREL? SIS? YOU okay? At some point while whirling around in the waterspout,

Ronan had lost consciousness. He awoke lying next to his sister on a hard surface.

He had the feeling they were enclosed, and when he sent a sonar probe, it told him he and Murel were surrounded by walls. Not sea grotto, but real walls, like the ones in their cabin.

Ro? Her thought-voice was shaky and scared. Am I-did the whales bite off a very big piece of me? It doesn't hurt yet.

The sonar probe had revealed an entire seal lying next to him, not a maimed one, so he felt safe saying, I don't think the whales even touched you. This weird underwater waterspout typhoon thingy pulled you out from under them. I dived in after you.

Thanks.

No problem, really, any time. I'm glad we were in seal form, though, because if we'd been human I'd have wet my pants.

You're not the only one! She stirred, sat up. Where are we?

I dunno, but not to worry, Da is on his way.

How?

I called him. Guess he wasn't too far off when he heard me. Or maybe he heard you first. Anyway, all we have to do is sit tight and wait. He'll find us.

I just wish I knew where we were.

He rose too and began to explore their confinement. Small, maybe ten by ten, bare.

And it felt made. Like man-made, only what man would make something down here? He'd read about shipwrecks and sunken vessels on other planets, but

Petaybee had yet to develop an active shipping industry.

Petaybee…well sure.

Duh, he said. The planet saved us. It didn't want the whales to eat you so it made this waterspout that sucked us into it.

And into a room? Murel was exploring too. Is there a door?

Do we want to know what's behind it if there is?

As they spoke, one of the walls grew lighter and brighter. It also became transparent, and soon it popped out of existence altogether. A tall sleek presence stood in its place, one fish in its mouth and one in each front paw.

Are you hungry? it asked.

Who are you? both of them asked. But just then Sky scampered in front of the larger creature, which actually looked like an exceptionally big otter.

She's one of the deep sea otters, Sky told them. His paws each held a sea urchin and he still seemed to be chewing. They made the waterspout for Murel so the whales couldn't eat her.

Thanks, Murel told the big otter. I bet you, uh, folks are getting tired of saving selkies. First our da and now us.

Yeah, Ronan added, we're glad to see you're okay. We were afraid the volcano got you.

Deep sea otters like volcanoes, said the deep sea otter, sounding a lot like Sky, except somehow more feminine. We like living under them.

Must get hot, Ronan said.

In spite of being grateful to the deep sea otters, Murel couldn't help feeling this tall creature was in disguise and mimicking Sky. She was an otter impersonator, Murel was sure. The so-called deep sea otters who had rescued Da hadn't talked like Sky at all. And though they never showed themselves, they didn't "feel" like otters.

Besides, otters were mammals, and it wasn't scientifically possible for real otters to survive totally immersed in water all the time, not to mention under volcanoes.

Your father is well? the otter asked. Most unotterly again. The otters she knew, Sky included, always assumed everyone and everything was well until clearly proven not to be.

He's looking for us, Ronan told her. He'll be here soon and can thank you for saving him and us as well.

Have a fish, she said, again proffering the ones in her paws.

Thanks again, Murel said, and snapped it down. She'd been through quite a bit and, otter impersonator or not, she needed to keep up her strength.

You may go out to him when he comes for you, but for now you seals must stay with deep sea otters, she said, most of her speech again sounding unotterly. Then she added, Whales, you know.

Murel's skin shivered all down the length of her spine. I know, she said, accepting a second fish that had somehow appeared in the paw when the first one vanished.

Are we inside your city now? Didn't it get destroyed during the eruption?

No. Our city is designed to withstand the living force of the planet. To us and our habitat, volcanoes give life. And yes, you are safe in our city now.

She means their den, Sky said. The concept of a city was still not one he understood. Kilcoole was the biggest settlement on the northern pole of Petaybee and it was still little more than a Nakatira-cube-enhanced village. It is a big den.

Hundreds of holes. These deep sea otters are very big, so they cannot all fit in one hole.

Though the twins hadn't felt as if they were floating inside the room, it occurred to them that they were still in the depths of the sea and that water-or something similar-was all around them. It was very clear. All they had to do was to think about swimming and they could swim instead of staying on the floor. What was that all about?

The tall otter, who stood on her hind paws during their conversation, stepped aside, inviting them to leave their temporary harbor.

They were in the strange city they had seen only from the outside before. The multicolored lights streaming from the top of the tallest buildings to the bottom of those at sea floor level were less apparent inside, where you could only see a few at a time, glowing first in one place then another. They looked more random than they had from outside the protective bubble that cloaked the city in what seemed to be a protective force field. The first time the twins had seen it, Ronan tried to swim into the city from several angles but hadn't been able to get inside. Our security system, the tall otter explained, picking up his thought.

I didn't realize otters had them, Ronan said.

Most do not. You are bright youngsters. It will not have escaped your notice that we are rather more evolved than other varieties of otters.

What is evolved? Sky asked.

More developed, Murel told him, unsure how to further explain it with images he would understand. Like living in cities instead of regular dens.

Regular dens are nice, Sky said, puzzled. Otters can build new ones when they get messy or filled with water or if we want to go somewhere else.

But although making dens is natural for river and sky otters, Murel said, these otters use things that are not exactly natural.

Hah! Sky said. Sky otters fly in sky machines that are not exactly natural, and they still swim, walk, run, and slide. Sky otters are evolved too.

And evolving more all the time, Murel agreed. Besides, sky otters are real and I think this is all a dream. Ronan and I used to share dreams when we were little.

This can't be happening. Some of those other big otters are walking around the city and some of them are swimming. It doesn't make any sense. I fell asleep in the water and then I dreamed the orcas were after me and that this big waterspout pulled me away from them at the last minute and I thought I woke up, but I'm still dreaming, really.

If I'm in the dream too, Ronan replied, you're not going to believe me if I tell you this seems to be pretty real to me.

It is good that you feel that way, their hostess said. You will remember none of this when you return to the surface, so it will be much like a dream that way.

I didn't realize otters dreamed, Murel said.

Not to be left out, Sky said, Sky otters dream! then asked, What is dream?

Stories you see after you're asleep, Murel said.

Oh, yes, sky otters do that. So do river otters. I do not know about the sea otter cousins but if river otters dream, sky otters dream, and deep sea otters dream, then sea otters must dream too.

Ronan asked the tall otter, Do you have a name? And why do your people-otters, I mean-like living near volcanoes so much?

You may call me Kushtaka, she said. We live near volcanoes for the power of their life force, for the food they provide, and because we have always done so.

Kushtaka? Murel asked. But that's the name for- She decided against finishing the thought. Kushtaka was an archaic word brought to Petaybee by Eskimo and

Indian ancestors who believed there were whole communities of otters, called

Kushtaka, that could steal souls. If she had been in human form at that time, looking into this Kushtaka's cool appraising gaze would have sent goose bumps up her arms.

Yes? Kushtaka asked.

Er-it's another name we have for otters. Not specific otters, I mean, just otters in general. I thought deep sea otters, since you seem quite different from your smaller cousins, might be called something different. But then, you're the first one we've ever met so we have no way of knowing really.

She was aware that she was chattering on and on, her thoughts tumbling over each other to keep her real thoughts and fears from surfacing. She wanted to ask a lot of things, but she was afraid if she did and learned the answers to her questions, the deep sea otters wouldn't let her and Ronan leave. But then, well, Kushtaka had said they were going to wipe out the visitors' memories of this place. That was probably what had happened to Da's memories when they took care of him. Murel continued to feel very strongly that whatever these creatures were, they were not otters,

Petaybean or any other kind. She wanted to ask why they were pretending to be, but that was rude since it amounted to calling them liars.

You use geothermals to power all of this? Ronan asked, looking around at the towering spires, the spiraling towers, the domes, the thousands rather than hundreds of what certainly seemed to be entrances or doorways. Glancing back, he saw that the room they had been in, the one in which the wall had dissolved rather than a door opening, also appeared to have a hole-shaped doorway, which seemed odd. Many of the doorways seemed open to lots of traffic, with other large otters swimming or walking around the city, some carrying food items, some carrying other less easily identifiable objects.

Where do you live, Kushtaka? Murel asked. Although she didn't trust this creature, she felt they needed to make friends with her. After all, her folk had saved Da and now them. They certainly couldn't be evil. Do you have- She started to think "a mate," but then remembered that sea otters had casual mating habits so she continued, Any young still at home?

I have two young still living with me, she said. I did have a mate but he met with an accident and was killed. I do not intend to take another. Deep sea otters have their own mating customs, different from our smaller cousins.

Do deep sea otters ever mate with sky otters? Sky wanted to know. I have not mated yet, but soon I will need to do that and there are no other sky otters. I am the only one. Deep sea otters look interesting.

Kushtaka had no answer for a moment, then replied thoughtfully and with what

Murel thought was a hint of humor, You are small, we are large. It would not work.

Maybe a small deep sea otter? Sky suggested, undaunted, but then he swam forward and dived into another hole and said, Come and see this, river seals! Deep sea otters have strange hunting habits!

With assent from Kushtaka, they followed their friend into a chamber that had no ceiling and no floor but a flexible device floating in the middle. It was aimed downward, toward a broad rift in the sea's floor. Deep within it a volcanic vent emitted a cherry-red glow, but Murel thought that might be several leagues beneath them. Between them and the cherry glow, the rift blossomed with all sorts of plant and animal life.

Like a frog whipping out its tongue to catch a fly, the device shot forth a beam of light. Water wrapped around the beam, creating a waterspout, a concentrated whirlpool. The practical reason for this, when it wasn't being used for rescuing selkies, became clear when it swirled back into the room with its waters full of shellfish, seaweed, and the sort of plant life they had seen before near the undersea volcanoes.

You use that to hunt? Murel said.

As you see, Kushtaka replied.

Don't you ever leave your city for anything, then?

Occasionally, when it seems safe.

Oh! The sharks. I almost forgot. The reason we came here was to try to find you, once the sea otters told us you were still around. You see, some new people are coming and they brought the sea turtles with them, but their relatives also brought along sharks. I'm afraid they might eat you if they catch you, so we wanted to warn you about them.

What are sharks? Kushtaka asked, exactly mimicking the way Sky had asked the meaning of "dream."

Mean! Sky answered immediately. And dangerous. Sharks are very mean with huge teeth and they always want to eat you.

And yet you escaped to warn us? Kushtaka said, sounding as if the idea that they would do so was an entirely alien concept to her.

They won't eat us, Ronan said, more confidently than he felt. We saved them from dying of starvation on another world.

And they acknowledge this, these mean sharks? Do you think them trustworthy?

No way! Murel said. When Kushtaka looked puzzled, she tried to explain.

Trustworthy is not the term I'd use for them if I happened to meet them in the open sea, but that's not the case. We helped them and they know if they hurt us, they and their people might suffer.

Their people? Kushtaka asked.

Murel tried to explain. These sharks are special to some of the people who are coming, like we said. They're sort of clan totem animals-the people think they have the spirits of their ancestors living in them and are here to protect and help them. That's what the Honus, the sea turtles, are too. They're the aumakuas of some of the other people.

Sky piped up again. The aumakua of river seals is the sky otter-me! Except this otter is not the ancestor-that means father's father, to you deep sea otters who do not understand two-legged terms as well as this otter-of these river seals or even a blood relative. I hope to be the ancestor of many river otters soon, but Ke-ola's people think I am the aumakua because I am good friends with the river seals and we help and protect each other.

It was a lengthy speech for Sky. It seemed to Murel he was learning quickly about their world and thought concepts. Well, why not? Otters were not stupid animals by any means. And Sky was particularly smart.

You speak of two-leggeds as if standing on two legs means human, Kushtaka said.

Deep sea otters stand on two legs.

But you have otter legs-the right amount, Sky said. And your hind paws are flippered like those of the sea otter cousins. You cannot be real two-leggeds like Murel and Ronan.

What do you mean? They do not have legs at all. They have flippers.

Not always, Murel said. We are not the regular kind of seals. We're selkies, like our father.

That means as soon as we dry off we turn into people with two legs and two arms, Ronan explained helpfully. Most of our lives we've been stuck on dry land or in space-you know what space is?

We know, Kushtaka told him without hesitation.

This otter is a space otter as well as a sky otter, Sky told her proudly. I am the first otter in space!

Not precisely, Kushtaka replied, half to herself. Sky didn't catch her thought. He was preoccupied with a fish from the catch inside the hunting chamber and looked over at Ronan with an amiable expression consisting of wide eyes and chewing.

Murel, intrigued by the big otter's remark, pretended she hadn't understood it either. She was beginning to have suspicions, however-how could she not? So, how did you come to be deep sea otters? she asked, seemingly conversationally.

Are your species one of Petaybee's adaptive mutations-originally the regular kind of otters but for some reason specially adapted to live underwater and near volcanoes?

Mutations? No, we are not mutants, Kushtaka said with a hint of indignation.

No, no, Murel said hastily, I didn't mean anything bad by that. We're mutations ourselves-almost everybody on Petaybee is. The planet does it, see, so we can live here. Our grandfather and great-grandfather and our father too helped decide which original plants and animals belonged on Petaybee, but then a lot of those changed, so they could survive. Usually it takes a long time but on Petaybee it happens really fast. Take our mother, for instance. She came here when she was grown up and had traveled in space her whole life, but now that she's been here a while, Petaybee has changed her so that she can't go offplanet anymore.

We can only go because we're still kids, Ronan added. The change doesn't happen until you're past puberty.

Kushtaka displayed no interest in that explanation at all. Instead she repeated, We are not mutants.

Murel decided finally to be direct and say what was on her mind. You're not really otters either, are you? she asked.

Not always, Kushtaka admitted.

And let me guess, Ronan said, having shared his sister's doubts about the deep sea otters almost since they first met Kushtaka. You haven't always lived on Petaybee either, have you?

Always is an inexact term, Kushtaka replied.

I think this is the part where we ask to be taken to your leader, Ronan said.

I am the leader, Kushtaka said, then added curiously, Our otter shape has worked well for us until now. Other otters accept us as otters. What makes you think otherwise?

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.