|
|
|
|
|
|
Amazon.com, 
Amazon.co.uk, 
Amazon.de or 
Amazon.ca
|
|
 The Blue Narwhale  (60 ratings)by Roger Born Page 2 of 3 Narwhal were nearly extinct. All the larger whales already were. He hunted
them, not for just the bounty, but because these were the best Prey of all.
They were oh, so elusive, and uncannily smart! They could almost sense when
they were being hunted. If provoked, they would turn on a small boat to
protect their mates and young. But he knew, watching the image on his
screen, that this one would be no match for this vessel, or him!
Steadily now, delicately, he played the RPM of his engines against the sea. He would not just rush in, but he would creep in, like a wolf, toward his Prey. "Are you closer now?" Her again! "Yes. I see my Prey up ahead. I am advancing very slowly, so as not to loose it." He said. "Yes. That is best. To prolong the Hunt. I find so few any more to hunt at all. How very lucky you are!" She said through his headset. She understood! He warmed to her. Should he share this with her? Two of them would be more certain of success. "No! The Hunt is mine! I wish to share it with no one!" He made no reply to her. "Won't you tell me where to find food?" She asked. He was growing tired of her speaking in this code! He waited a long time to say anything. He concentrated completely on his Prey. The Blue Narwhal was going to the West now. "I cannot see you to tell you where to come." He finally said. The silence was somehow sad. It was almost as if she was in mourning over the lack of Prey. How well he knew that feeling! "Go right and then left. Perhaps we can see each other." He said at last. "I have been doing so! I have also been sending signals for my position. Why have you not responded?" She replied. He was utterly shocked by this! Was she broadcasting on radio? That was almost a criminal act to someone locked into illegal activity! Did she want the authorities to find her? "I was not listening for you." He replied tersely. Then he added, "You should be more careful. You wouldn't want your prey to hear you, or those who would prey on you!" "Yes. I have been hunted before! Those horrible monsters, who would hunt me down and destroy me! Why don't they leave us alone?" She almost wept that last part. He could hear it in her voice, --or maybe in his conscience. He had no answer for that. Monsters? He knew that those men who searched for Hunters like him were bureaucrats and nothing more. All those men cared about was upholding the Law. They could never understand him or his kind. She obviously had a much closer experience with them than he had. "Are you closer now?" She asked again. "Yes! They are unaware of me!" He exulted. "Tell me as you Hunt. I want to experience it with you!" She begged. He carefully guided his ship within firing range, but he wanted a cleaner kill, so he knew he would have to move much closer. His prey moved to Starboard. Silently he followed. The Narwhal was still unaware of him. How he loved the stealth technology of this old ship! The name he gave his ship was going to have meaning tonight! Again, all that existed in his universe was the image on the screen in front of him, and the sounds of the sea that came from far below as he listened intently through his headset. "Talk to me! I am so famished for the lack of finding food!" She begged again. "I am in range. I am still undetected. It will be very soon now!" He was now whispering, barely breathing, not wanting to break the Hunt with a careless noise. "Soon you will eat! Then you will come and find me?" She whispered. "What?" He was again completely startled at her speech! "We must be together! We must mate, after you have spent your lust on the Hunt, you will find more for me!" She whispered again. He imagined her voice to be throaty, sultry! Yet through his headset, her words were somehow strangely disembodied. They showed almost no emotion. Her words were simply facts, flatly stated. Somehow, something was being lost in her transmission, or in his reception of it. Briefly, at her words, he lost his concentration. Was she telling him the truth? Was she trying to throw him off with a ploy? He filed away the single fact that he must find her after the Hunt was done. Again, savagely, he tore his thoughts away from her once more, and got into the position to fire! He was totally silent these last remaining seconds. Again nothing else existed but the Hunter and his Prey! Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001 Roger Born, sffworld.com. All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the author. The author has submitted the work in accordance with and in agreement with the following Submission Guidelines. |
Copyright © 1999 - 2004 sffworld.com