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concerns by bypassing the expensive orbital factories. So there has always
been dislike between the people of the ships and the citizens who inhabit the
floating towns."
Cora speared a forkful of a delicate white meat, chewed as she spoke.
"Wouldn't they be easily discovered? Wouldn't a sudden rise in some ship's
production be noticed?"
Mataroreva shook his head. "They don't have to ship off-world via
Mou'anui or any of the other atoll bases. A shuttle could put down anywhere on
Cachalot and take off fully loaded with refined goods or raw materials."
"Expensive," Hwoshien commented, "but with the produce and booty of an
entire town to pay for it, such an operation would be immediately profitable.
Eliminating the populations involved would be the best way of covering such
piracy.
"Economically it is feasible. One would think the inherent danger would
override such potential profits, but there are people who do not think such
things through very clearly, to whom murder and destruction require little in
the way of rationalization.
"Actually, we have been questioning the ship folk intensively. But you
must understand that the existing rivalry precludes our making any overt
accusations without irrefutable facts to back them up. We can't afford to
alienate a large segment of the populace by accusing it of something none of
its number may be responsible for. Off-world agencies may be involved. The
AAnn, for instance, would enjoy watching and abetting chaos on any
Commonwealth world.
"But as I have said, that is not your problem. Specify what equipment you
wish, and Sam will have it drawn from government stores or billed to the local
Commonwealth account. The question of personal financial recompense was
settled, I believe, prior to your departure for Cachalot."
"You say you want to try to keep our purpose here a secret?" Rachael
asked.
"You will be treated as visiting specialists engaged in typical
commercial exploration. Escorts for such visitors are not uncommon, so Sam's
presence among you should not be remarked on." He stared down at his plate.
"This destruction must stop. It is bad for living, and bad for business."
They ate on in silence, finished with a dessert that Mataroreva informed
them had been produced from the jellied insides of a round creature about the
size of his fist. The substance was coated with poisonous spines and had to be
properly treated prior to serving or it could kill instantly. The treatment
was effective, however, and there were no known deaths attributable to
consumption of the delicacy. If he was trying to tease Cora, he had picked the
wrong person. She had eaten far more bizarre products from several oceans. The
transparent gelatin was cool and had a flavor like pomegranate.
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The graphic description made Rachael queasy, though. Cora finished her
daughter's plate as well as her own. She was just downing the last spoonful of
her second helping when Merced asked quietly, "What about the whales?"
- "What about the whales, Mr. Merced?" Hwoshien was puffing contentedly
on another scent-stick.
"They're intelligent, they have no love of mankind. Couldn't they destroy
a town?"
"Sure they could," Mataroreva yelled, "but why should they!" Aware of the
effect of his violent reaction on Cora and Rachael, he lapsed into his usual
boyish tone. But what the announcement of his profession had begun, his
unexpected violence concluded. For better or worse, the mantle of innocence
Cora had bestowed on him had vanished forever.
"They could," he said more calmly, "if they had a reason to, and if they
could organize sufficiently. Remember that every floating town is protected
against inimical local life-forms. Each has sophisticated warning systems and
large underwater needlers which operate automatically in tandem when anything
comes too close.
"There are leviathans in Cachalot's ocean larger than the largest whale
that ever lived. The town needlers are quite capable of frying even a mallost.
"What's a mallost?"
"Something I hope you never see, Rachael." Hwoshien answered with such
intensity that she subsided. "As Sam says, one could make short work of a
whale, but it couldn't get within tentacle-throwing range of even a small
town.
"A whole pod of whales working in perfect unison might destroy a town,
but they do not think that way. For one thing, nothing like competition exists
between the cetaceans and the towns. By and large, the townspeople are after
varieties of local life the whales have no interest in. The plankton the towns
take and strain for a few types doesn't make a dent in the cope-pod
population. There is more plankton on this world than a million times as many
baleen whales could ever consume. The baleens are the largest of the Cetacea,
and also the dumbest. The toothed whales, which are more capable of
considering such an attack, don't eat plankton."
"And they're either openly friendly," Mataroreva continued, "or
indifferent to us, as I explained before. Unless they're bothered, and then
their reactions have always been direct and personal. They've shown no
interest one way or the other in the towns. They go after the togluts and the
large teleosts.
"While they travel in herds, the catodons, largest of the toothed whales,
have nothing resembling military guile. They've no experience in organized
warfare-there are simply too many factors against it." He added an
afterthought, "I suppose you have to consider every possibility. That's what
you're here for. I just don't think the whales fit the requirements we've
established for our mysterious cause."
He leaned back in his chair and toyed with his own second helping of
dessert, uncomfortably aware of the reaction his initial outburst had
produced.
Cora pushed back her chair, delicately dabbed at her lips with a napkin,
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and forced a smile as she spoke request to Hwoshien. "Thanks for the delicious
meal. We'll start work in a couple of days, as soon as we've had a chance to
become a bit more acclimated."
"Very well." Hwoshien rose and shook hands with her. "I bid you all a
good evening."
Mataroreva escorted them out of the mess.
"Isn't there some other way to return to our quarters without going
through all these corridors?" Cora asked.
"You mean, Cora-doors?" She winced. They turned right, exited the
structure.
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