Journey Beyond the Sea - 4. Chapter 4

In Jem's dreams, he was once again on the dark, narrow bridge from the Marksman game. The tentacled creature had hauled itself up onto the deck of the bridge, and was turning to attack Nico, who was unaware of the creature's presence behind him. Jem knew what was coming, the replay too keenly sharp within his memory for doubt. There was only one small difference this time, one tiny change that made his next move even more of an imperative.

This time they were not avatars. This time it was really the two of them, flesh and blood. Alive.

Jem whirled, and fired, and once again saw the creature die before it could grab Nico. And once again he felt himself grabbed from behind, heard the crunch of breaking bone--

Only this time he felt a pain, that coursed throughout his body like fire. He gasped at the power of it...and woke up.

A strange sound was playing in the darkened cabin, a high-pitched stridulation reminiscent of a barter-bug's mating call. Jem blinked his eyes, taking a moment to remember where he was. The lights came up then, and Moira Hata's serene voice filled the cabin: "Attention. Sonar contact. Will all crew please report to their stations. Attention..."

Nico took a breath and squeezed Jem, and opened his eyes. "It's an alert, Jem!"

Their bodies were entangled from sleep, but they managed to get themselves apart, and Nico slid out of the bunk. He started for their clothing, laid out on Jem's bunk in preparation for just this possible moment, paused then, and turned back to Jem, smiling. "You were wonderful," he whispered.

Jem grinned, and leaned forward and kissed the other boy. "So were you."

Nico grinned, his eyes bright with pleasure, and Jem followed him from the bunk. They went for their clothing then, quickly donning their one-piece thermal suits, and then pulling on their working clothing over them. Jem sat on the bunk and pulled on his thermal socks, and then his boots, and quickly closed the fasteners. Nico was already grabbing his parka, and Jem went for his now, too. In scarcely more than a minute, they were out of the cabin and heading for the main deck, pulling on their work gloves as they went.

Others were moving about, too, and they met Mya at the weather door to the main deck. Her face looked slightly sparkly beneath the thin film of her polar mask, and she grinned, obviously pleased at the speed of their response. "Face masks, gentlemen. The night air is frigid."

Jem stuck a gloved hand into the right pocket of his parka, and unsealed the little pocket within. Through the tactile sensors of his gloves, he could feel the slightly rubbery ball inside. He withdrew it and held it up, and it opened in his hand into a thin, flat, wispish sheet. He pushed it against his face, and felt it take hold. It immediately conformed to his features, except for a small, almost invisible bubble at the end of his nose. The mask was permeable to air, but thermally opaque. The tiny bubble before his nostrils was warmed by energy from his own body heat, and raised the temperature of each inhalation to a level he could comfortably take into his lungs.

They emerged onto the deck of Vespris, and looked around. The work lights were up, and it was as bright as morning there. Nico turned and squeezed Jem's arm one last time, and the boys grinned at each other. And then Nico split off with Mya to head for the starboard shotsman's station. Jem cut left, and headed for the port station.

Til Majors was already there, and the display was up, showing various colors marching about within. Til nodded at him and pointed at the display, where one red circle was moving quickly to and fro within a small cloud of green dots. "Our orx is after glowfish."

Jem nodded, remembering reading about the night-hunting glowfish, which used bio-luminescent lures to attract prey. Only in this case, it had attracted the wrong kind of company. The orx appeared to be sweeping back and forth through the school of glowfish, and the rapidly diminishing green dots were indicative of the great beast's skill as a hunter.

"It's unaware of us?" Jem asked.

"Appears so. Under sail, Vespris is a quiet stalker. Without the sun out to paint us against the surface, we are even harder to detect."

Benteen had a tidally-locked moon, almost as large as the one that circled Old Earth. But its core was larger and more active than the moon of the mother world, and the surface of the satellite still ran with periodic volcanic flows. The resulting landscape was mostly dark and non-reflective. The sunlight it bounced to the planet was insufficient in strength to penetrate Benteen's perpetual northern cloud cover, and the only pictures of the moon that Jem had ever seen had been taken from the clearer skies down by the equator.

But it served them well here not to have a watching moon, outlining Vespris against the surface and making its approach more visible from below.

"Step up here, Jem. Since this is the first possible catch of the voyage, and we need it, Mya and I will do the actual hunt. I want you to observe, and feel free to ask questions."

Jem nodded, expecting no more and no less. The primary goal of the voyage was the hunt. Two average orx would pay for the trip to sea. Anything after that was pure profit.

On the bridge of Vespris, Master Terpin had taken the con. He announced this in a quiet voice over the com, and Til acknowledged. He then cut in the connected com, and Mya's and Nico's voices came into the circuit. Mya was just telling Nico the same basic thing that Til had just told him: profits first, training second.

In the display, the orx was still moving back and forth, methodically decimating the school of glowfish. And then, quite suddenly, the much diminished green cloud of dots seemed to explode, as the members of the school took off in different directions. The effect within the display was startling, and Jem leaned closer, giving a small gasp of astonishment.

"Every fish for himself now," Til said. "Most school fish will stick together until it's apparent that doing so will be fatal to the group."

"They don't have much to fight back with, against a predator that size."

Til thrust out his bottom lip. "Glowfish have a whip with a toxic ball on the end, that they can deliver with considerable force. It works well against enemies their own size; but against something as large as an orx, even an entire school can't win. The orx have a hide at least twelve centimeters thick. The toxin mars it, but doesn't come close to penetrating it."

Jem nodded, watching as the orx took off after a much smaller group of glowfish moving off in the same basic direction. Vespris turned slightly and followed, closing the distance. Til gave a low whistle, watching the display. "This one is really focused on his hunt. If we get a little closer, we'll be able to spear him straight up, without a lot of pursuit games."

Jem watched, entranced, as the orx pursued its dinner, and they pursued the orx. Ahead of them in the display, a small gray hexagon appeared, and then another, and then a line of them, stretching across the display.

"Is that pack ice?" Jem asked, trying to remember what hexagons meant to the sonar.

"Yes." Til frowned now. "Quite a field of it, too. We want to get this hunt over with before we get there, and this fellow decides to take a dive under it."

The distance between the ship and the orx continued to diminish. So far, the creature was dead ahead of them, as Vespris followed. But the orx did dance side to side as it pursued the glowfish, putting it slightly to starboard first, and then slightly to port next. When attack range was reached, the station on the side the orx happened to be at the moment was going to get the shot. Jem hoped it would be their side, but understood that it didn't really matter.

And then something astonishing happened: another red circle appeared beyond the orx they were chasing, far ahead of them, near the pack ice, at the limit of the sonar's present close-in active scan.

"Hello," Til said, smiling. "We have some more company coming. This might be a break-even hunt after all."

Master Terpin's voice issued from the com: "I'll be damned, but it looks as if our first orx is going to lead us straight to a second one. Til, Mya, whichever of you spears the first one, I'm going to then turn Vespris to give the opposite station a shot at the second one. Be ready."

Til acknowledged, and then Mya. Above them, there was a faint whir as the sails were trimmed to reduce speed. The distance to the first orx steadied now, closing no further as Master Terpin let the distance between the two orx close. Moira had first detected the original orx on the long-range array, but now they had closed to where the targeting array was in use. The sonar used by Vespris was a best-fit compromise between frequency and mass attenuation coefficient, providing the maximum penetration power in ocean water denser than Old Earth had boasted, while still operating at a frequency that was not detectable by the very ocean life they hunted.

Under the right conditions, their active array could detect orx at better than twenty kilometers, though about half that was the accepted norm. The targeting array was for close hunting, a low-frequency, passive sonar array, which could home in on the distinctive signature sound of an orx's water jet with great accuracy. The targeting array was limited in accuracy to about two kilometers, and that meant that the second orx would soon be close enough for a realistic hunt to ensue.

Jem and Til stood silently, watching as the range decreased between the two orx, until Til finally shook his head. "Damn strange, if you ask me. Vespris produces a definite sound signature as she moves through the water. It's not much to our ears, but to sea life, it's easily detectable. That neither of these orx have heard us yet seems strange.

"Could they be hearing us, and just not reacting?" Jem asked.

Til looked at him. "Why? Why would they not react? They might not know what they're hearing, but that alone is enough for them to be wary." Til looked back into the display, and shook his head. "These two act like they're deaf."

The distance continued to close between the two orx. They heard the whirring above them again as the master put on more sail, and Vespris began to close again on the nearest orx. Still, neither beast deviated from its route through the sea.

The remaining cloud of glowfish suddenly split, and arrowed out in all directions. The orx in pursuit wavered a moment, and then went to the right, chasing after the largest remaining group. Til gave an exasperated huff of air, and leaned closer to the display. "Coming to you, Mya!"

"I've got him," her voice came back.

Jem was watching the distance counter between Vespris and the orx, even as the ship turned slightly to follow the new course. It was dropping rapidly, and still the orx seemed unaware of them. Jem could feel the excitement building within him, and glanced up at the dark sails overhead - scarcely visible, even taut with their loads of cold night air - and then turned his eyes across the brightly-lit deck to where Mya and Nico stood at their stations.The numbers in the display continued to roll down, and then reached the magic distance and turned from blue to green. At the same time the indicators for starboard drogues lit as Mya dispatched a dozen of the devices after the orx. The travel time was mere seconds, and the drogues had barely started registering hits when all four starboard main indicators lit. Mya had fired the capture lances!

Til and Jem both watched silently as the numbers for the lances wound down with absolute certainty; and then all four showed hits. The starboard station lit again as shockers went out, and thirty seconds later it was all over with. The orx was dead in the water, sinking slowly, and then coming to a stop as the capture lines grew taut. And then, they were reeling the beast in, ready to be harvested.

Jem simply shook his head. "That was so fast! I had no idea it would go like that!"

Til turned and frowned at him. "Jem, I don't think I've ever seen a catch go that quickly. It's not the norm, believe me."

Jem stared at the man. "It's not?" But then he knew it to be true. The video notes he had seen in the manuals of Old Kebin Styles had shown vigorous and lengthy pursuits of animals determined not to be captured. With this orx, they had simply come up to it and grabbed it, without a chase of any kind at all.

Til shook his head. "Not only that, but look at the other orx. It's still coming right at us, and it's coming for the port side." He grinned then, the professional in him unable not to show some glee at the way things were going. "I don't believe it, but it looks like we're going to bag two at once, and without even a chase!"

Vespris had slowed as Master Terpin stowed the fore and aft sail. The ship moved towards the speared orx on one sail, even as the capture lines drew in the carcass. But Jem's eyes were now on the distance to the second orx, still blindly coming at them. The numbers wound down a little more slowly than had the counters for the orx they chased; but in only a moment the digits in the display changed from blue to green, and Til poked his finger through the glowing square that launched the drogues. The mount nearest to Jem hissed violently, and his eyes caught the briefest flash of something - many somethings, rather - departing at unbelievable speed.

In only moments the drogues had impacted the target orx. It briefly churned the water, wavering this way and that in the display; and then there was a larger, more powerful hiss, and the four capture lances left their barrels. It happened so quickly that Jem only caught a blur of motion, and he lifted his eyes to the sea just in time to catch the brief white flares of the four capture lance's rocket drives as they fired into action beneath the waves.

And then they were gone.

These flights were accompanied by a fierce hum as the capture lines wound off their frictionless spools, and the very air itself sang against Jem's polar mask. The excitement of the moment was stirring, and Jem's eyes locked on the travel indicators for the lances within the display as they moved with amazing speed towards the orx. He leaned forward, holding his breath, as the numbers reached zero.

Impact! The indicators for all four turned green, and then Til was poking at the icon for the shockers. Off they went with yet another hiss, and moments later they were reeling in a second orx. There was a further whirr from overhead as the last sail was stowed, and Vespris slowed now, moving only with the current, as the two beasts were reeled in.

"I almost don't believe it," Til said, shaking his head. "If every hunt went like this one, this job would become dull."

Jem grinned. "But we got two! Isn't that cause for celebration?"

"Well done, both stations," Master Terpin's voice interrupted, from the con. "That was the easiest two catches I think I've made in my entire career."

"You don't think there was something odd about this?" Til immediately demanded.

For a moment the com was silent. Then: "I do, but I am not refusing the gift of a good catch. Still, you and Mya take extra care as you bring these two in. I want them examined carefully before we bring them aboard."

Til looked at Jem. "Hear that? More good advice."

Jem thought so, too.

The huge beasts were reeled in, and soon there was a giant orx carcass nestled against the hull beneath each row of harpoon guns. Deera Stanper arrived on deck then, and came to Til's station and looked overboard. The hull lights had been lit by then, and the gray and white carcass was easy enough to see in the illuminated sea.

"Nice," the woman said, smiling at Til and Jem. "Thirteen to fourteen tons, is my guess."

Til laughed. "Strain gauges said just under fourteen. How you can tell just with a glance is amazing."

Deera shrugged, and gave them a mock-wise look. "Twenty years of hard experience, you know." But then she laughed. "And, I'm a lucky guesser, I suppose."

She crossed the deck to the other side, and looked over the starboard rail, and then they heard her over the connected com announce that the orx moored there was in the same range.

That was followed by Mya's laugh. "My strain recorder said just over fourteen tons."

"So two nice ones, anyway," Deera returned. "Good job."

The woman went forward of the hunting mounts and drew out her pad, brought up a screen, and touched it with a fingertip. The deck ahead of her emitted a small groan, and then a substantial length of it split into two, rolling back to each side to uncover the access to the catch room below.

"Can I go and watch?" Jem said then, grinning in excitement.

Til nodded, trying not to smile at the look on Jem's face. "Be my guest. I've seen this part more times than I care to tell, but it will be interesting for you your first time. Just come on back if you hear a sonar contact alarm."

Jem laughed. "Will do."

As he turned to go, he saw Kel MacAfee on deck, following behind a long automated cart with a small crane at the front, loaded with two new cylinders of ammo for the used catch guns. He would simply replace each head with a fresh one, and take the used ones below to reload them. This was faster and safer than loading fresh ammo on deck, and it didn't matter if both Til and Mya had only expended a few rounds each to make their catches. The rule was to reload immediately, lest some series of events follow where ammunition might become critical.

Jem waved at the man and grinned, and Kel smiled and waved back. "Good shooting, mates!"

Jem gave a thumbs up, and then started forward, mindful of the areas closest to the rail, where spray from the sea had formed ice in places. The sure-foot coating on the main deck of Vespris was heated to keep it clear of ice, but the edges by the rails tended to still ice up a little when it was very cold. Seeing it there now only made him grateful for his polar mask, without which he would probably be frostbitten by now.

As he neared the broad opening in the deck, he spied Nico coming the same way from the other side of the ship. The other boy grinned at him and waved, and Jem felt a warm sensation inside as he returned both gestures. They met up at the ship's centerline, just before the yawning opening, and paused for a moment, still grinning at each other.

"Was that amazing, or what?" Nico said, his eyes bright with excitement in the sharp lighting from overhead. "I couldn't believe how quickly that went!"

Jem nodded. "Til said it was really unusual, though. For a catch to go so easily, I mean."

"I heard him on the com," Nico said, lowering his voice. "Mya had just opened her mouth to say something to me when Til said that, and then she just nodded and pointed at the com." He leaned closer. "Even Master Terpin said it was unusual. What do you think is going on?"

Jem laughed. "You're asking me? I'm as new at this as you are!"

Nico came a little closer, and bumped up against him. "I know. You're just so bright and observant, I thought maybe you'd thought of something I hadn't."

Jem laughed, looked quickly around them, and then grabbed Nico's hand and squeezed it. "Don't start now. We're still working."

Nico squeezed back, and then turned and pulled Jem into motion. "Let's go, before we miss something."

An elevator had appeared at one corner of the deck opening, bearing a dozen of Deera's 'helpers'. These drones were about a meter tall, and each was possessed of a variety of gripping arms and mobile tools on its globular surface, some of them quite wicked looking in appearance. But the machines were nothing compared to what followed them up from the opening - a large, segmented arm, whirring faintly as the hydraulics that drove it unfolded it into the cold night air. At the end of the arm was a massive, eight-fingered claw, which could open widely enough to encircle the greatest orx that ever lived, and pluck it from the sea. The great arm shone in the work lights with the same opalescent luster that the hunting mounts displayed, the same one shared by the hull of Vespris, herself. Ironwood, up to almost any job imaginable.

The dozen drones split into two groups of six, and immediately made for the hunting mounts on either side of the ship. Jem and Nico followed the group to the starboard side, and watched as the six drones formed a line at the hunting head used to spear and reel in the orx. The first one raised an arm and closed a ring at its end around one of the capture lines. And then it hoisted itself up, and slid over the rail!

The next five performed an identical maneuver, and Jem and Nico moved to the rail to watch what was happening below.

The six drones were now on the hide of the orx, which Jem estimated to be fifteen meters in length. Two of the drones set about removing the orx's snorkel, while the other four spilt into pairs and began removing the tentacles, located just behind the head. Tiny flashes, a bright blue in color, reached their eyes as the cutting lasers neatly trimmed off the sizable appendages. Two of the tentacles were visible, draped down the sides of the carcass, while the other two were below the water. The two drones concerned with them used pneumatic guns to fire anchoring lines into the carcass, and quickly lowered themselves into the water and submerged.

"They just drop that stuff into the sea," Nico said, shaking his head. "The tentacles. Seems a waste."

Jem shrugged. "They'd be rough eating. We call them tentacles, but they're actually arms. Tentacles, like on the Jezzeree that hunt near the equator, are longer, and only have suckers at the ends. Arms are stronger, have suckers all the way down the inside, and these have that sharp lance at the end. Orx simply suck small prey directly into their mouths. Anything of size, they spear, and then wrap them in the arms and bring them to their mouths." He gave a small shudder. "I wouldn't want to fall into the sea from the deck when orx are around."

Nico stared at him. "I don't think I'd ever read that, about the tentacles being arms, Jem." He smiled then. "You know some interesting things."

Jem felt his face warm beneath his polar mask. "I didn't mean to sound like a know-it-all. I read my godfather's manuals, and they describe the orx in great detail."

Nico patted his shoulder, smiling. "It wasn't a complaint."

Jem grinned, and leaned against Nico, and the two of them went back to watching as the drones processed the orx. They made quick work of removing the appendages, and then moved fairly rapidly back and forth, inspecting the carcass. They could see the two drones in the water performing the same task as the ones above, accompanied by bright lights beneath the calm sea. And then one light went out, and one of the drones reappeared, pulling itself up its stay line, and joined the others on the top of the carcass.

But one drone seemed to have paused beneath the water.

They heard footsteps behind them, and Deera came up to the rail.

"Something amiss?" Nico asked, prompted by the frown on the woman's face.

She was looking at an image on her pad. "I don't know." She frowned at the screen. "Master Terpin, are you seeing this?"

"Yes. Do you know what it is?"

Deera gave a small laugh. "I was hoping that you did."

They heard a grunt over the com. "It doesn't resemble anything I'm familiar with. Perhaps an old injury? Or maybe a cyst of some kind?"

Jem leaned over and looked at the image on Deera's pad. It showed a bulbous green shape attached to the gray hide of the orx at the beast's head. It was hard to determine the thing's size with nothing to compare it to, but Jem sensed that it was larger than it looked on the display, even larger than his own head. He leaned closer, pointing at a strange projection, distorted somewhat by the water, that protruded from near the center of the green mass.

"What's that?"

"It looks like a drogue lance," Deera returned. "See the line? The chute itself must be hanging down out of sight of the drone's optic sensor."

"My judgment as well," Master Terpin said. "It looks like the drogue lance speared whatever this is, and pinned it to the hide of the orx."

"So it could have been something it picked up in the water before it hit the orx?"

"I would say not. If the drogue lance hit something that large during its trajectory, it would have been deflected. And even if it was not, I cannot see the lance then impacting with sufficient force to pin this...thing...to the orx."

"Maybe it was very close to the orx when it happened," Nico wondered aloud.

Deera's frown deepened. "No...I think Master Terpin is correct. Whatever this thing is, it was already in place upon the orx's hide when the drogue lance hit."

Master Terpin cleared his throat. "What's your judgment, Deera. Is it safe to bring the orx aboard?"

"Wait one. Drone three?"

"Yes?"

"Can you determine the consistency of this object?"

One of the drone's arms appeared in the picture, and a grasping finger gently prodded the bulbous object, then laid upon it. "It appears to be organic in nature. The outer skin is resilient but flexible. I would say that this was a living creature, now expired."

"You're sure it's dead?"

"I can detect none of the neural energy that accompanies life."

"It's dead, whatever it is," Deera announced to the com.

"So I heard," Master Terpin replied, sounding thoughtful. "Bring the orx aboard, Deera. Treat that thing on its hide as a contaminant, though, until we know more about it." The Master grunted. "I want to get that other animal aboard quickly, too. We're drifting towards some major pack ice, and I want to get moving again."

"Yes, sir." Deera nodded.

The light beneath the surface went out, and the drone in the water joined its companions atop the orx carcass. One by one, they grasped one of the capture lines, and pulled themselves hand-over-hand back to the railing, and dropped onto the deck.

"Thanks, fellas," Deera said, grinning at them. "Wait just a minute and pull the capture lances for me, and then you can go back below."

The drones turned as one, and headed back to the elevator. They arrayed themselves along the edge of the opening in the deck, and then went immobile, waiting.

"Isn't AI wonderful?" Deera said. "I'd hate to have to climb down on an orx and do that work myself."

"You're not waterproof like they are, for one thing," Jem said, smiling.

"You're right about that. I also can't defend myself against getting eaten by all the other things that swim in the sea here." Deera gave a little shudder. "I like my work, but I have limits to what I will do. Getting into the water is not on my list."

Jem had to agree with that. One of the reasons ships were made from ironwood was the sheer indestructibility of the material. To have a ship sink from under you in the seas of Benteen meant you either had to gain access to a lifeboat in a hurry before you went under, or you were simply done. The average life expectancy of an unprotected human in the water was less than three minutes.

Deera went back to her pad and touched the controls, and the giant crane leaned forward and opened its great, padded claws. The arm went over the side, deftly circled the claws around the orx carcass, closed them, and lifted. The orx rose out of the water easily, the hydraulics that actuated the arm scarcely sounding any louder under the load. The arm drew back, raising the orx, and then leaned back and lowered the beast to the deck at the edge of the opening to the catch room below.

Jem stared at the dead creature, looking odd now minus its snorkel and tentacle arms, and still hung with limp drogue shoots at the end of their lines, and felt a pang of sadness. He sometimes felt the same way when he and his dad brought down a siffle or ustric. Killing was not something anyone could possibly enjoy. It was a necessity for survival, and not a thing to be proud of. He was always conscious of the sharp, dark gap between life and death, and of the fact that whatever he had hunted had carried that unique spark of life, in touch with the world, until he had ended that awareness by action.

Jem sighed, putting the thoughts away, and let his eyes move over the great beast, looking for the green blob attached to the dead orx's head. He spotted it then, and nodded to himself on his guess as to its size. It looked slightly larger than the size of a human head.

"Weird looking thing, isn't it?" he said, staring.

Nico and Deera both nodded, and the woman raised her pad and spoke to it. "Master Terpin, I'd like to have that biologist...Miss Frees...look at this with me, if you don't mind."

"I agree. I've already informed her."

The drones came awake then, and swarmed up onto the body, moving deftly between the big fingers of the claw. The capture lances were still driven deep into the hide; but a simple command from Deera's pad and those devices withdrew the barbs that made them so hard to remove. The drones pulled them from the flesh, and carried them back to the deck. The orx was now free to be delivered below for processing.

Deera waved at Mya, and told her she could have her capture lances back. The drones carried them back towards the hunting station, while Mya activated the reels and gently drew in the lines as the drones approached. The lances would be washed and disinfected, inspected and refueled, and refitted into the barrels for further use, providing all were in good shape.

Mya waved at Nico, smiling. "Got some work for you."

Nico grinned at Jem, patting his arm. "Here comes the drudge part. See you later."

Jem smiled after him, happily imagining later.

Deera nodded at the drones as they once again assembled in a line by the elevator. "Good going. We'll put this one on the first inspection table, okay? Keep an eye on it for me until I get there. I need to get this other animal aboard quickly."

"Understood," one of the drones said, and the six of them crowded onto the elevator and disappeared below. The crane arm again lifted the orx, then bent back almost onto itself and slid belowdecks, taking the orx with it.

Deera grinned at Jem. "Let's go and have a look at the other one, shall we?"

They crossed the deck back to Til's station. While they had been working on the first orx, the second squad of drones had divested the next orx of its snorkel and tentacle arms. The inspection of the carcass went quickly, while Deera monitored it on her pad. But no odd-looking green lump was found on this second orx.

"Come on back," she ordered the drones, and soon the six of them were standing again by the opening to the catch room.

Behind Jem, there was a chirruping sound from the catch display, that indicated another sonar hit on an orx. Jem felt a thrill run through him. A third orx! This would put the voyage into the green now, which was good for everyone's profit sharing. Would this be another unusual, easy catch?

Jem let his eyes dart towards the display, but Til was already on it. Jem turned back as the giant crane arm brought their own orx aboard and set it on the deck by the open hatchway. The drones immediately boarded it and removed the four capture lances, and then brought them towards the catch head.

Jem looked back at Til, expecting him to be watching the drones, and to start reeling in the lines. But the man was watching the display, his eyes narrowed, his mouth slightly open.

"Til? You need to reel in the lines."

Above his head, there was a whirr, followed by a series of clicks, and Jem knew that the sails - stowed at idle until now - had just had their covers closed, as if for rough weather. This seemed an odd move, if they were going to pursue yet another orx, but Jem wasn't certain how they were going to proceed, and trusted that Master Terpin knew best.

He turned then and walked back over to stand beside Til before the display. "Til? You need to reel in --"

Jem broke off then, seeing what the man was looking at.

Ahead of them in the display were the gray hexagonal icons that represented pack ice, now much closer and even more numerous than before. Three red circles now hovered before the ice, and even as Jem watched, he saw more red circles emerging from among the ice. One...two...four...and then the red circles multiplied so quickly that Jem simply gaped.

"Are they all orx?" he finally breathed, not believing his eyes.

"Yes." Til sounded subdued, too, watching as the red circles grew in numbers, even as the lead ones moved towards Vespris. "Almost a hundred of them now, and still coming."

Jem turned his head back towards their captured orx. It was just disappearing below, and as he watched, the crane arm bent double and disappeared. The deck vibrated, and the mammoth rolling doors began to close. They seemed almost hurried in their movements, and momentarily met and sealed with a solid thump.

He turned his eyes back to the display. The red circles had blended into a red wave now, still emerging from the pack ice, and the lead orx seemed to be separating out into a crescent shape, with two arms spread widely, almost as if the beasts intended to encircle the ship.

Vespris trembled briefly, and Jem felt her steam turbines spin up to speed deep within her belly. The ship shuddered, and then started forward powerfully, and went immediately into a turn. But she was bow-on to the approaching orx, and in order to turn about would actually need to move towards them. Master Terpin placed the rudder full over, and Vespris had a tight turning radius for a vessel her size; but still the maneuver caused the distance between the ship and the orx to shrink alarmingly.

"Go, go," Til whispered.

"What's happening?" Jem asked, almost afraid to raise his own voice, lest the approaching orx somehow hear him.

The man looked at him, his eyes wide. "I don't know. I've never seen anything like this. But all I can think of now is Chregar."

Jem gasped. "You think we're being attacked?"

"I think something nasty is going to happen, if we don't outrun these orx."

Jem straightened and turned, and gazed across the deck at the other shotsman's station. Nico's head was also up, his eyes turned Jem's way. Their gazes met for a moment, and then the other boy raised a hand and formed it into a fist. There might be a fight coming!

Jem nodded, and raised his own hand, and clenched his fingers into a fist. I know!

Nico grinned at him and gave him the thumb's up. Jem returned the gesture, and for a long moment the two boys gazed at each other.

But...Jem could not keep his eyes from the display. The two arms of the orx front were drawing together, and Vespris was now squarely in the middle of them. The ship had reached the innermost arc of its turn, however, and was on its way back out again. The arm of orx to their starboard side was losing ground, while the arm to port was gaining it. Jem held his breath, watching the display as that nearer red wave approached, as the span in the display that indicated simple, barren ocean, narrowed to almost nothing.

There was the thunk of an impact against the hull of Vespris, and then several more. Something whipped above the display and over, and slammed against the deck behind them. Jem turned to find the lanced end of an orx tentacle squirming across the deck. It drew back, encountered one of the hunting mounts, and quickly curled around it and tightened.

And suddenly there was an orx on deck, with them - or most of one, anyway, as the back end of the creature still hung over the side. A huge black eye turned towards them, and Jem was startled to see then that there was another of the big green bulbs attached to this orx's head. Another tentacle pulled from beneath the beast and flicked towards them, and Til grabbed Jem and thrust the two of them apart forcefully. Jem stumbled and nearly fell, but waved his arms for balance and fell to a squat, keeping his feet beneath him.

The lance passed between them, through the place where they had been standing, and smashed into the display, caromed off of it and hit the deck. Jem slapped his quick release holster, and had his sidearm in hand in a second. He aimed it at that great eye and pulled the trigger, and a stream of pinhead explosive projectiles erupted from the end of the barrel. The eye and the flesh around it disintegrated, and Jem let the stream move up to catch the green bulb on the head, instinctively knowing it was somehow important. It also vanished in a spray of blood and gore, and the orx simply collapsed to the deck and lay still.

Another tentacle smacked the display from behind, and Til jumped back, going for his own sidearm. The display went out; and Jem could see clearly through the transparent arc as the tentacle flexed, and popped over the top with incredible force. The lance went straight for Til, who was already diving to the deck, and the sharp tip passed harmlessly over him...but the tentacle did not. A writhing flex in it caught Til squarely on the back and smashed him violently to the deck.

Jem yelled, running forward, and stretched his arm across the top of the display, aiming his sidearm at another great eye, and unloaded even more ammo from his pistol. But then there was a flash from behind him, and the eye and the head suddenly fused into a charred blob. Another flash, and a giant crater appeared in the head of the orx, which immediately collapsed to the deck.

And then Jem felt hands on him, and turned his head to find Nico there, pulling him back from the display. Mya was bent protectively over Til, her sidearm out and moving, and Jem closed his eyes as a series of flashes lit fore and aft of them. A high-pitched sound reached his ears, sounding somehow enraged and frustrated all at the same time, and only diminished as the flashes continued, mounting, until all Jem could see through his closed eyelids was blue fire.

And then, it simply stopped.

Jem opened his eyes. He was down on his knees on the deck. Nico was behind him, his arms wrapped protectively around Jem, his chin on Jem's shoulder. Jem turned his head, and one of Nico's eyes opened. The eye turned to look at him. "Is it safe to come out yet?"

Jem laughed, both in relief and disbelief. "I don't know." He looked around them then, and spied Til on the deck, with Mya bent over him. "Let me up."

Nico also looked, and grunted, and both boys got to their feet. Jem still had his sidearm in hand, and turned his head quickly, looking for new dangers. The display was out, and so he could not determine if the orx were still after them. But he could see two dead orx on the deck, and another, in pieces, draped over the side, still holding onto a mount with a dead tentacle. But nothing moved anywhere else, and Jem let his breath out slowly, and lowered his pistol.

He went and squatted next to Mya. "Is he hurt?"

She looked up at him and nodded. "I think so. He's unconscious." Her jaw set in a grim line as she looked at the nearby orx tentacle. "He could have been killed."

They heard running feet then, and Moira Hata and Kel MacAfee appeared, followed closely by a powered gurney.

"We're away from them," Kel reassured, patting Jem on the shoulder. He smiled. "Pretty good with that sidearm, aren't you?"

Jem looked at Nico and smiled, thinking about the games of Marksman they'd been playing. "I've had a lot of practice lately."

Mya jumped up and Moira took her place, withdrawing a scanner from the pouch now belted around her waist and laying it tenderly against the back of Til's head. She pulled out her pad and watched as a series of displays came and went, and then retrieved the scanner and placed it back in the pouch.

"He's stable, but we need to get him to the dispensary now."

She got up, and motioned to the gurney, which rolled up alongside Til. It was scarcely higher from the deck than Til was himself, and had a low wall around the rim. Even as they watched, the transport section began to fill with a pink foam.

"Okay," Moira said then. "Mya, you and I will each take a shoulder and arm. Jem, you and Nico each take a leg. Kel, I want you to grab the bottom of Til's coat and lift his middle when we all lift the corners. We want to try to keep his body straight. Got it?"

They positioned themselves, and on Moira's mark, everyone lifted. The gurney scooted itself beneath Til as soon as he was high enough, and then he was immediately lowered into the foam. It oozed up then, all round Til's circumference, rising above his sides and covering his entire body. It was breathable, and would ensure that enough oxygen reached his bloodstream. It would also gently immobilize him, and keep him unconscious until Moira wanted to wake him.

They stepped back, and the gurney began to rise, coming up on a double scissors-like affair, until the covered form of Til Majors was at waist height. Moira nodded, checked some readouts now visible along the sides of the frame, and patted the side of the gurney. "Still stable. Go ahead and take him to the dispensary." She turned to Kel. "Would you go with the gurney?"

"Sure thing. And I'll stay until you get there."

Kel and the gurney moved off. Moira stepped back and ran her eyes over Jem, and then Nico, and then Mya. "Anybody else hurt?"

Jem did not feel hurt. He gazed after the gurney, wondering if that might be him now, had Til not thrust them apart when the orx attacked. He looked at Moira. "Shouldn't you go with him?"

She nodded patiently. "As soon as I know no one else has injuries."

"I'm fine," Jem said.

"Me, too," Nico agreed.

Moira turned to Mya, who just shook her head. "Physically? I'm well." She turned and looked at the dead orx, and shook her head. "Professionally? I'll never be the same."

Moira grunted. "Not just you, Mya." She turned, and hustled off after Kel and the gurney.

Nico looked at Mya. "You think this is what happened to Chregar? Only with that attack, the orx were successful?"

"I don't know. It does lend some credence to the idea that that ship was attacked."

Jem remembered something then, and turned to look at the first fallen orx. "That one there had one of those odd green things on its head, just like the orx you reeled in. I shot it, and the moment it was destroyed, the orx dropped like it was dead."

Mya's eyebrows went up, and she turned and carefully approached the huge beast. Jem and Nico followed. Nico leaned up against Jem, and when Jem looked at him, the other boy smiled. "I saw you go after both those orx. I'll bet you're the first guy to kill two orx with a sidearm."

Jem whistled. "Man, I never want to have to do that again!"

They paused before the orx, and Jem pointed to where the green bulb had been. The base of it was still there, against the orx's hide, but the rest had been obliterated. Mya leaned closer to look at it, and squinted. She patted her pockets, and produced a folding pocket knife. She opened the blade, and gingerly pushed the point between the base of the green bulb and the tough skin of the orx, and pried gently, as if seeing if she could separate them.

"Oh...look at this."

Jem and Nico both leaned forward, staring. Underneath the edge of the green base, Jem could see tiny filaments of flesh, that seemed to have some kind of grip on the orx's hide.

"Is it holding on that way?" he asked.

Mya bent even closer, and squinted. "It...it looks to me like these weird tendrils pierce the hide of the orx." She withdrew the knife blade, and moved it to a different spot, and again pried upwards. "I think this entire base is attached this way."

Jem took a step back and looked at the dead orx. "That's the head. Isn't there bone right underneath that?"

The shotsman nodded. "The braincase, actually." Mya stepped back, and shook her head. "Something funny about this."

She turned then and went to the display, and waved a hand before the black orb that usually activated it. But nothing happened. Mya frowned, and pointed at them, and started back across the deck. "Come on back to the other station."

They crossed to the starboard hunt display, which was still active. Jem was relieved to see that the sea immediately behind them was now clear of orx. "Good thing this is a fast ship."

Mya smiled at him. "Never been an orx born that can outrun three good steam turbines."

In actuality, the turbines were coupled to generators, which powered the three enormous electric motors that turned the six-bladed screws that drove Vespris through the water. Each prop wore a boss vortex diffuser, which reduced cavitation and increased propeller efficiency, while significantly reducing the prop's acoustic signature. Vespris was quiet under power, but not so quiet that the sea life could not hear her coming for several kilometers before she got there. Only under sail power could she hope to get close enough to hunt.

But under drive from her propellers, there was nothing in the ocean that could catch them.

Mya leaned towards the display. "Master Terpin?"

There was a moment's silence, and then a grunt. "Sorry, Mya. I did not mean to ignore the three of you. I've been talking with both Moira about Til's condition, and Deera and Nita about the orx we have down in the catch room."

Mya nodded. "How is Til?"

"Several broken ribs, a broken collar bone, a broken wrist, a broken nose, and a small fracture to the back of his skull. He will need time to recover, but at least he will recover fully."

Once, in the early days of the colony effort, citizens of Benteen had still had access to Earth medical technology in all its glory. But like many other examples of technology from the homeworld, some of the most complex medical equipment could not be maintained by the colony's own technological base once contact with Earth had been lost. Miracle machines that had healed even severe injuries in a single day were no longer available. Yet, even so, the medical technology available to Moira was far from primitive. Injuries like Til's could be expected to be completely healed in ten day's time, barring complications.

Mya blew out a relieved breath of air. "That's wonderful to hear." She turned to look at Jem. "Jem just showed me that the orx he killed beside the starboard station had one of those strange things on its hide, just like the orx I caught. I looked at what's left of it, and it appears to be attached to the orx by a myriad of tiny tendrils of some sort."

"Are the three of you well?" Master Terpin asked. It seemed a strange response to the information Mya had just given, and the three of them looked at each other questioningly.

"Um, we all appear to be fine," Mya returned.

The master grunted again. "Good. Listen, you three. We are not in a position to speculate just yet. Nita Frees is examining the orx that you caught, Mya, and especially that odd green thing attached to it. I've asked Deera to come back to the deck. I want the three of you to assist her in examining the orx on deck. We may as well take them below and harvest them, since we've gone to all the trouble to kill them. Can you do that?"

Mya's eyes narrowed, but she nodded. "Yes."

"Thank you." Master Terpin's voice sounded absolutely calm, as if he was discussing what they were going to have for dinner later. "For the time being we will continue to head south for another fifty kilometers, and then cut west and come north again. I do not intend to give up the hunt just yet. I have informed the harbormaster at Nocksic Bay of what has transpired here. They will be warning all ships at sea to be alert to attack."

"You intend to continue with the hunt?" Mya asked, sounding amazed.

They heard the master give out a small sigh. "We have a storage capacity for ten orx, Mya. We have two certain catches thus far, and three probables laying on our deck. Our ability to hunt has not been affected. The people at home need every bit of meat we can bring back to ensure that we all can eat for the duration of the winter. What would be the point of heading back now?"

Mya shook her head in disbelief. "We could be attacked again."

"I don't think so. It is apparent now that the two orx we initially captured were used to lure us to within attack range of the massed orx hiding in the pack ice. That is not the sort of trick I will fall for twice. As long as we stay in the open sea, we stand a good chance of encountering more orx. And very little chance of being attacked. Our sonar array will detect any large group long before they can come close enough to repeat such aggressive actions."

Mya looked amazed. "I just...well, this attack is just such a shock. And after the news about Chregar, I'm surprised everyone at sea isn't going to head for home."

"No." Master Terpin's voice sounded firm. "Something odd is going on, yes. We don't know what it is, only that it is new and dangerous. We certainly won't learn more about it by heading home. Our mission now becomes twofold: hunt for food, and investigate this new matter, and see what we can learn."

Mya looked thoughtful at that; but then she waved a hand across the deck. "We'll be hunting with only one station. The display is out of commission on the port side, not to mention Til Majors."

"I have sent Mila to take care of the display. She should be there even as we speak."

Mya turned and looked, and nodded. "She's there. That still does nothing for Til."

Jem felt a sudden thrill run through him, and his mouth opened and spoke even before the new thought was complete. "We can watch the port station," he volunteered.

Mya turned to stare at him. Jem turned to Nico, whose eyes had widened at Jem's statement. "You and I." Jem quickly turned back to the display. "We're not Til Majors, but we can at least do together what is needed to perform a hunt."

There was a soft chuckle from the com. "Jem, I am starting to consider you to be a prescient sort. First the idea with the lasers - which I will say may have saved your own hide out there today - and now you are taking words from my mouth even before I get to say them."

Jem's thrill deepened. "You were going to suggest that Nico and I play as shotsman until Til can come back?"

"Exactly. Mya, don't you think that's entirely feasible?"

The woman looked at the boys, and suddenly smiled. "Actually, it's not a bad idea at all. These two are pretty good. Til and I have already agreed on that much. They may catch something, and they may not. But either way, the experience will be good for them, and they are a far better option than a completely unmanned station."

"Then the matter is settled." Master Terpin sounded pleased. "It was good fortune that you found me that day at the inn, Jem-lad."

Jem smiled. He let his eyes stray to Nico, whose own smile went deep into his eyes. "Yes, sir. I'm very happy about it, too."

And for more reasons than one!