Chapter Twenty-Two

The Humming

Two months passed. Piper saw nothing of Buffer. The young bull spent a good deal of time off by himself, although within the proper limits now. Except for Drill sessions, which had become very spirited between him and QuickFin, few of the Pod cared to associate with him. But there were a number of the younger fighters, particularly some of the females, who had been impressed with his notorious daring. Often they sought him out when he went for romps in the waves, and they would ask to hear tales of his exploits. That made Commodore RamStrong leery. He did not want his younger Squad members trying to emulate Buffer’s reckless daring. They were naïve and impressionable. Such zeal had to be contained. The time of the Great Invasion would soon be upon them. RamStrong felt sure of it.

His Fury Squad had already tasted the exultation of battle and conquest in a number of open-sea skirmishes with the Blue Snag-Tooth. And they longed more and more for the all-out war they once had dreaded. If they were to prevail, and set a course for other clans to follow, it had to be done through discipline, not foolhardy heroics.

****

Then came the day when Piper heard it. She had been bounding through the waves out near the BreakWaters, as far as her two watch-guards had allowed, when she heard a steady hum from far off.

It was a Floater, and a fair-sized one, at that. She scanned its locale—the beams inside the melon of her forehead shooting out, finding their mark, and seeping back in through the tissues of her lower jaw. They formed a picture in her mind of the craft’s bulk as it stealthily approached the OutZones. It was not far from where the Basker had been slain so long ago. Piper did not know why, but this Floater’s low rumble filled her with foreboding. It was not an exceptionally large craft—much smaller than the ones that gave off the strong bow waves she used to enjoy tumbling in until LoFin had cautioned her against it.

Then suddenly she became aware of another sound—one she had failed to notice at first. Piper ignored the ominous purr now of the approaching vessel and picked up on the fluttering and splashing of many GillFins instead. Hordes of them. “And many times the Killer Imps come in their Hunter-Floaters, following the great swarms of GillFins, knowing the WhistlingFin will soon come for a rich feast. Then they strike!” She fearfully recalled SlugFlukes’ cautioning. Piper saw again his mottled old face, heard the coarse rumble of his voice once more as she remembered his tale of the evil Humunz’ sly tactics.

She gave out a cry of horror! “It’s them…it’s them!” Piper wailed to her two watch-guards as she streaked over to where the pair eyed each other, puzzled at this seeming abrupt return of her madness. They both froze as she banged into them recklessly, shouting all the time—“Send for the Thane! It’s the Doom…our Doom!”

The watch-guard Whistlers both shook, narrow faces wagging sideways in discomfort. Then one of them, Prowler, took command. “Stay here!” barked Prowler to the other, SlickFin. “Try to calm her. I’ll go and get the Thane.”

Prowler thrashed her flukes several urgent strokes and was off, leaving a nervous SlickFin behind with Piper. And Piper rambled on as SlickFin nodded and softly agreed with the wide-eyed youngster, whose panicky chatter had been reduced to an eerie babble the watch-guard could not at all comprehend.

****

Thane SilverFlukes came immediately. He was grieved at the apparent reemergence of Piper’s madness. But she calmed upon his arrival. Acting on her urgent pleas, SilverFlukes agreed to order the entire Pod to avoid the Floater that had just trudged into the OutZones. This caused some annoyance, because the wild splashing there told of superb hunting awaiting them. Abandoning so fine a delicacy seemed a great waste. But they would humor Piper and wait…hoping that these tasty GillFins gathered so close by would remain there until the Pod could finally feast on them. They would wait, though. Not even Commodore RamStrong cared to witness another of Piper’s insane outbursts.

****

Piper and Thane SilverFlukes were alone at the Council Cliff. She had been very emphatic in insisting that the Commodore and the Elders not be included in their talk.

“Do you think I am mad, Thane SilverFlukes?” asked Piper candidly.

SilverFlukes was not prepared for that. The rolling silver muscles of his back and tail slapped the water, swooping gracefully up and down. Piper looked soft and petite near the hulking Clan leader. She had not grown beyond her six-foot-long two hundred pounds of compact muscle, but the Thane could see the strength that lurked inside that small frame. She was a beautiful creature…and had she been a little older, he knew he would have viewed her in much the same way he eyed some of the ripened vixens of the Clan. He did not want to lie to her.

“I think…the Open Sea and some of its unknowns have affected you, yes,” he answered evenly. “But do understand this, Piper. Not everything you’ve said has been dismissed by me. I only wanted to wait for you to regain…that is, before pressing you any further on what you first said at the Gathering.”

Piper was pleased yet saddened that Thane SilverFlukes thought she had been so “affected” by her time in Exile. But at least he had been honest with her. She would just have to be careful in what she said here, and how she presented it to him. Anything that might sound far-fetched would have to be left out entirely. She decided there would be no further mention of the Black Waters or the Great Sea Lord again. Too much was at stake here. They were closer to their Doom than any might have imagined.

“Thane SilverFlukes, do you believe what I said about the Killer Imps? And do you accept my tale of the GhostFin…that he and I did watch the slaughter of the Jumping Whistlers?” Piper rolled her body coyly as she spoke. She knew how she appealed to the males of the Pod—and SilverFlukes was a male like any other, regardless how regal. He wasn’t born that differently. Piper was prepared to do anything to convince him of the terrible danger now stalking them.

“It doesn’t mean that I did not believe you before, Piper,” he said awkwardly as they broke the surface for a breath. They stayed above the waves, taking in the cool mist of the gray afternoon. “I just found the tale you told us difficult to accept…not unbelievable. I really could not question if it happened the way you had said, because you’ve never struck me as one who would deliberately lie. You certainly sounded as though you believed all you said. Eh, that is…”

Oh, yes, the ‘Mad Whistler,’ Piper thought, annoyed.

SilverFlukes’ head tilted to one side; but unlike Commodore RamStrong, who always looked ragged and cross when his head tilted in that way, the Thane appeared very majestic and wise.

“Piper,” he began quietly, “for myself, it is more a matter of trying to decide exactly what you told us that I find most believable.”

“Thane SilverFlukes, doubt most of what I said at that Gathering, if you must—but believe me about the Killer Imps,” she implored. Piper rubbed up against the Thane the way she used to stroke Buffer. She understood exactly what she was doing…though she also knew this magnificent Whistler would have to decide what he ultimately felt was best for the Pod. So many times in the past, SilverFlukes had given way to the Commodore’s wishes. But it was he who was Thane, not RamStrong. And she would do all she could to remind him of that.

“I know you want to believe me, Thane,” Piper said soothingly.

“Well, there you are right, Piper,” said SilverFlukes, again awkward in his tone. “To be truthful, I have thought more on this matter of Killer Imps than you might realize,” he admitted. “And your tales of the HunterKin were not unlike those that have been told in our own Lore. And yes, the Land Dwellers are indeed a mysterious lot; they take GillFins and Snag-Tooth from the sea and rarely put anything back. I have often wondered why that is so.”

The Thane paused, the cross marks of his regal brow knitting pensively. “Who is to say now there is not some evil breed of Humunz that might do the same with the WhistlingFin? And for what purpose? Why would this SlugFlukes have told you that they murdered his clan?”

SilverFlukes regarded Piper warmly, his coin gray face radiating in the faint glow of the sun as it emerged from behind a mountain of clouds for a sneak peek at the sea. “I do not believe you could have made up such a tale as the old GhostFin told you.”

Piper felt her heart jump!

“That is why you are Thane,” she chimed. And despite herself, Piper nuzzled him softly with her beak. She did not fail to notice the bristle of pleasure that rippled through SilverFlukes.

“And now, good Piper,” said the Thane, hefting himself up, somewhat embarrassed by the sensation he’d just felt, “let us go have a look at this Floater.”