“Throw it into the water.”
Aille did as he was bid, then turned back to the harpoon mount. Oppuk watched, deeply envious. This youngster had it all before him, having not yet made mistakes that would derail his career and strand him with no prospect of further advancement or mating.
It would be pleasant, very pleasant indeed, to destroy this one. His prospects, if not his life itself. Something to look forward to.
* * *
Caitlin made herself climb the metal steps back up onto the deck finally. It was close below, almost claustrophobic, and she decided she would rather know what was going on than hide down there, tossed about the small cabin like a salad.
Banle was making herself scarce for the moment. Caitlin was grateful at least for that.
The trawler cut across the waves toward the cape that separated the bay from the open sea. Out past its protection, the sky was a dark-gray and she thought she could see a veil of heavier rain in the distance. This was not a day for pleasure boating, she thought, but then there was nothing pleasurable about this trip. You only had to catch a glimpse of their aerial escort to know that, three tiny Jao scout ships that skimmed in and out of the low-hanging clouds, like flat stones skipping across water.
The two Makah guides stood on the prow of the Samsumaru, their long black hair tied back, their dark eyes intent on the horizon. They came from a whale-hunting tribe and saw nothing wrong with this venture, whether it involved humans or Jao. According to tribal tradition, whales were their rightful prey and had been as long as anyone could remember.
There was no use appealing to them, so she didn’t even try. The sheer weight of her own helplessness, of humanity’s helplessness, was crushing. If only there were something she could do!
“You are distressed,” Aille said over her shoulder.
She turned, surprised. She had not heard him come up behind her. “Yes,” she said, her shoulders assuming obedient-acquiescence. This close, she could smell his wet nap, an alien scent, subtly different from Banle’s, but not unpleasing. “But matters will progress as you Jao wish. That is the nature of conquest, is it not?”
He said nothing in response, simply leaned over the rail and watched with her as the cape’s narrow spit of land grew ever larger. His profile was dark today, his nap turned dark-gold by the rain, but his black eyes crawled with green.
She wondered, as she had many times before, what biochemistry explained the way Jao eyes changed color so constantly and vividly. It was the most frightening thing about the beings, even more than their size and brute strength. When their eyes flickered so, they seemed like sorcerers—or demons. She could almost see the thoughts moving through his mind as the trawler headed for the gap on the north leading to the open sea. See them, not make them out. They were alien thoughts, whatever they were.
An hour later, they were plowing through larger waves that broke across the bow and drenched them repeatedly in cold spray. Despite her raincoat, Caitlin was soaked, but still she remained on deck. She had to stay, she told herself, so she could bear witness later. The whale’s passing should not go unremarked.
One of the Makah guides suddenly cried out, lowered his binoculars and pointed to the north. After a moment, the ship heeled over obediently, then wallowed in the troughs between waves and lost speed. Caitlin grabbed for the rail, slipped and went to her hands and knees, scraping them raw as she fought to keep from being dashed against the rail. Arms seized her waist from behind and hauled her back.
“Why aren’t you wearing a life vest?” a male voice said in her ear.
Gasping, she twisted just enough to look up. “General Kralik! I didn’t know you were aboard.”
A thin smile flashed across his normally serious face. “You’d best get below, ma’am,” he said. “Else you might be swept overboard and we’d have to waste time hunting you instead of that dangerous whale.” He held her a moment longer, his arms solid and reassuring, then released her and stepped back.