Deluge

RO! MUREL SENT her thoughts and her sonar after her brother as far and as loudly as she could for as long as she could, but although he answered at first, and her sonar found his shape in the water, she could no longer hear him, no longer find him. She swam out beyond Kai’s reach but then had to dive and swim in the opposite direction from that of the boat that had captured Ronan. Fortunately, neither that boat nor the other vessel they had spotted near the squid trough seemed to be equipped with complex tracking devices. And why should they? Other than the squid, there were no large animals in this ocean, and there didn’t seem to be a lot of marine traffic either. Her own sonar was apparently more sophisticated than what the boats used.

She was much farther from shore than she wanted to be by the time her sonar no longer detected the boat-or her brother.

She thought he might be unconscious now, since he didn’t answer, but she kept trying. But when she finally did hear another thought-voice, it wasn’t Ronan’s.

Murel river seal? It’s me, your friend, Sky. Why are you calling Ronan river seal? Is he not with you? Is he hiding? Are you playing a game? Can I play too?

Sky? We thought-we didn’t know what happened to you. Are you okay?

I am good. The cat is also good, now that she is not drowned. She said she was good at swimming, but she is not an otter so she rides in the boat with the men. But she likes hiding and seeking. I do not know if she knows how to count hundreds, but she is very clever. Not as clever as an otter, but very clever for a cat.

What boat? What men? Do you mean the ship’s cat, Zuzu, from the Piaf?

Yes! Sky said. Where is Ronan river seal hiding?

He’s not hiding, Sky. He’s been taken, netted.

We were netted, Murel, Sky said. It was not bad. They scooped us into a big net and put us down on the boat and then the man with the eel fingers touched the cat’s chest over and over and almost ate her, but not really, it was more like grooming. Very strange. But then she got up and washed. That is the reason she is not swimming now.

Sky drew nearer while telling her this, and she swam closer to him. Her sonar “saw” his image at last.

Over here, Sky, but dive and I’ll meet you underwater.

But if I dive, the men will not know where to bring the boat and Zuzu to find me.

That’s the general idea, Murel told him, too weary to keep the impatience from her thoughts.

But they are good men. Their boat smells bad but they are good. They fixed the cat.

Just because people are nice to cats and otters doesn’t mean they’ll be nice to river seals, Sky. I have to keep hidden from these men.

Hah! We are playing hide and seek again! the otter replied. The cat and I played hide and seek too, with the cat’s human female, Adrienne, and the nice human female from the ship, Marmie. The bad men had them, but the cat and I hid and sent them a scent warning and they left. Then a good man came for the females.

Were Marmie and Adrienne okay? Are you saying they escaped?

Mostly escaped. But maybe only hiding from the bad men.

All of Murel’s impatience with the otter and some of her tiredness vanished. That’s good news, Sky.

You did good. You and the cat showed a lot of ingenuity and courage to help them.

No, Sky said. We didn’t show them anything. But we loosed a strong scent message on them and they smelled that and ran away! Scent messages are like swimming. Cats do it, but not as good as otters.

Sky?

Murel heard an anxious and somewhat nasal thought-tone calling her friend.

Mon ami, you are lost. Where are you?

I am playing hide and seek. Murel river seal and I are hiding from the boat.

But why? Mon capitaine demonstrates great anxiety on your behalf. Everywhere he searches for you.

That is the point of hide and seek, cat, Sky pointed out.

Zuzu, those men are trying to capture or kill my brother and me, Murel told the cat.

Nonsense! Zuzu said. They are purrfectly pleasant men, if a bit smelly. They are very kind. They feed the local sea creatures with refuse from the prison.

Is that the boat that picked you up? The one that dumps the bodies of the dead prisoners into the squid canyon?

Ah! So that is the smell. The dead prisoners you refer to-no one we know, I trust?

Not so far.

What is a squid canyon? Sky and Zuzu asked together.

It’s a deep abyss in the sea where squid live.

And squid are what? Zuzu asked.

Remember the sharks?

How could I forget? Sky asked with a quiver of his whiskers.

They’re like sharks, only with lots of arms.

Hmph. More than four seems excessive, Zuzu said.

Murel told them about the squid attack and got so involved in the story she didn’t realize she was surfacing for air as she communicated. The surfacing, unless there was some reason to do it sooner or later, was almost reflexive.