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diff --git a/42901-8.txt b/42901-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 63b6da0..0000000 --- a/42901-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6315 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Creatures of the Abyss, by Murray Leinster - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Creatures of the Abyss - -Author: Murray Leinster - -Release Date: June 9, 2013 [EBook #42901] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CREATURES OF THE ABYSS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - Creatures of the Abyss - - By Murray Leinster - - [Transcriber Note: Extensive research did not uncover any evidence - that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - A BERKLEY MEDALLION BOOK - published by - THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING CORPORATION - - COPYRIGHT © 1961, BY MURRAY LEINSTER - - _Published by arrangement with - the author_ - - BERKLEY EDITION, AUGUST, 1961 - - _BERKLEY MEDALLION BOOKS are published by - Berkley Publishing Corporation - 101 Fifth Avenue, New York 3, N. Y._ - - Printed in the United States of America - - - - -_One_ - - -The moment arrived when Terry Holt realized that he was simply holding -the bag for Jimenez y Cía.--Jimenez and Company--in the city of Manila. -He wasn't getting anywhere, himself. So, painfully, he prepared to wind -up the company's affairs and his own, and start over. It seemed -appropriate to take inventory, consult the police--they'd been both -amiable and co-operative--and then make new plans. But first it would be -a good idea to go somewhere else for a while, until the problem -presented by _La Rubia_ and radar and fish and _orejas de ellos_ had -been settled. He was at work on the inventory when the door opened, the -warning-bell tinkled, and the girl came into the shop. - -He looked up with a wary eye, glancing over the partition separating the -workshop area in which the merchandise sold by Jimenez y Cía. was -assembled. There were certain people he felt should not come into the -shop. The police agreed with him. He was prepared to throw out anybody -who came either to demand that he build something or else, or to demand -that he not build it or else. In such forcible ejections he would be -backed by the authorities of the city and the Philippine Republic. - -But this customer was a girl. She was a pretty girl. She was pleasantly -tanned. Her make-up, if she wore any, looked natural, and she carried a -sizable parcel under her arm. She turned to close the door behind her. -She was definitely from the United States. So Terry said in English, -"Good afternoon. Can I do something for you?" - -She looked relieved. - -"Ah! We can talk English," she said gratefully. "I was afraid I'd have -trouble. I do have trouble with Spanish." - -Terry came out from behind the partition marking off the workshop. The -shop was seventeen feet wide and its larger expanse of plate glass said, -"_Jimenez y Cía._" in large letters. Terry's now-vanished partner -Jimenez had liked to see his name in large print. Under the name was the -line "_Especialidades Electrónicas y Físicas._" This was Terry's angle. -He assembled specialties in the line of electronics and modern physics. -Jimenez had sold them, not wisely but too well. At the bottom corner of -the window there was a modest statement: "_Orejas de Ellos_," which -meant nothing to anybody but certain commercial fishermen, all of whom -would deny it. - -The girl looked dubiously about her. The front of the shop displayed two -glaringly white electric washing machines, four electric refrigerators, -and two deep-freeze cabinets. - -"But I'm not sure this is the right shop," she said. "I'm not looking -for iceboxes." - -"They're window-dressing," said Terry. "My former business associate -tried to run an appliance shop. But the people who buy such things in -Manila only want the latest models. He got stuck with these from last -year. So we do--I did do--_especialidades electrónicas y físicas_. But -I'm shutting up shop. What are you looking for?" - -The shop was in an appropriate place for its former products. Outside on -the Calle Enero there were places where one could buy sea food in -quantity, mother-of-pearl, pitch, coir rope, bêche-de-mer, copra, fuel -oil, Diesel repair-parts and edible birds' nests. _Especialidades_ -fitted in. But though it was certainly respectable enough, this -neighborhood wasn't exactly where one would have expected to find a girl -like this shopping for what a girl like this would shop for. - -"I'm looking," she explained, "for somebody to make up a special device, -probably electronic, for my father's boat." - -"Ah!" said Terry regretfully. "That's my line exactly, as is evidenced -in Spanish on the window and in Tagalog, Malay and Chinese on cards you -can read through the glass. But I'm suspending operations for a while. -What kind of special device? Radar--No. I doubt you'd want _orejas de -ellos_...." - -"What are they?" - -"Submarine ears," said Terry. "For fishing boats. The name is no clue at -all. They pick up underwater sounds, enabling one to hear surf a long -way off. Which may be useful. And some fish make noises and the -fishermen use these ears to eavesdrop on them and catch them. You -wouldn't be interested in anything of that sort!" - -The girl brightened visibly. - -"But I am! Something very much like it, at any rate. Take a look at this -and see what my father wants to have made." - -She put her parcel on a deep-freeze unit and pulled off its paper -covering. The object inside was a sort of curved paddle with a handle at -one end. It was about three feet long, made of a light-colored fibrous -wood, and on the convex part of its curvature it was deeply carved in -peculiar transverse ridges. - -"A fish-driving paddle," she explained. "From Alua." - -He looked it over. He knew vaguely that Alua was an island somewhere -near Bohol. - -"Naturally a fish-driving paddle is used to drive fish," she said. -"To--herd them, you might say. People go out in shallow water and form a -line. Then they whack paddles like these on the surface of the water. -Fish try to get away from the sound and the people herd them where they -want them--into fish-traps, usually. I've tried this, while wearing a -bathing suit. It makes your skin tingle--smart, rather. It's a sort of -pins-and-needles sensation. Fish would swim away from an underwater -noise like that!" - -Terry examined the carving. - -"Well?" - -"Of course we think there's something special about the noise these -paddles make. Maybe a special wave-form?" - -"Possibly," he admitted. "But--" - -"We want something else to do the same trick on a bigger scale. -Directional, if possible. Not a paddle, of course. Better. Bigger. -Stronger. Continuous. We want to drive fish and this paddle's limited in -its effect." - -"Why drive fish?" asked Terry. - -"Why not?" asked the girl. She watched his face. - -He frowned a little, considering the problem the girl posed. - -"Oh, _ellos_ might object," he said absently. - -"Who?" - -"_Ellos_," he repeated. "It's a superstition. The word means 'they' or -'them.' Things under the ocean who listen to the fish and the -fishermen." - -"You're not serious." It was a statement. - -"No," he admitted, still eying the paddle. "But the modern, businesslike -fishermen who buy submarine ears for sound business reasons call them -_orejas de ellos_ and everybody knows what they mean, even in the -modernized fishing fleet." - -"Which," said the girl, "Jimenez y Cía. has had a big hand in -modernizing. That's why I came to you. Your name is Terry Holt, I think. -An American Navy Captain said you could make what my father wants." - -Terry nodded suddenly to himself. - -"What you want," he said abruptly, "might be done with a tape-recorder, -a submarine ear, and an underwater horn. You'd make a tape-recording of -what these whackings sound like under water, edit the tape to make the -whackings practically continuous, and then play the tape through an -underwater horn to reproduce the sounds at will. That should do the -trick." - -"Good! How soon can you do it?" she asked. - -"I'm afraid not at all," said Terry. "I find I've been a little too -efficient in updating the fishing fleet. I'm leaving the city for the -city's good." - -She looked at him inquiringly. - -"No," he assured her. "The police haven't asked me to leave. They're -glad I'm going, but they're cordial enough and it's agreed that I'll -come back when somebody else finds out how _La Rubia_ catches her fish." - -"_La Rubia?_" - -"_The Redhead_," he told her. "It's the name of a fishing boat. She's -found some place where fish practically fight to get into her nets. For -months, now, she's come back from every trip loaded down gunwale-deep. -And she makes her trips fast! Naturally the other fishermen want to get -in on the party." - -"So?" - -"The bonanza voyages," Terry explained, "started immediately after _La -Rubia_ had submarine ears installed. Immediately all the other boats -installed them. My former partner sold them faster than I could assemble -them. And nobody regrets them. They do increase the catches. But they -don't match _La Rubia_. She's making a mint of money! She's found some -place or she has some trick that loads her down deep every time she puts -out to sea." - -The girl made an interrogative sound. - -"The other fishermen think it's a place," Terry added, "so they ganged -up on her. Two months back, when she sailed, the entire fishing fleet -trailed her. They stuck to her closer than brothers. So she sailed -around for a solid week and never put a net overboard. Then she came -back to Manila--empty. They were furious. The price of fish had gone -sky-high in their absence. They went to sea to make some money -regardless. When they got back they found _La Rubia_ had sailed after -they left, got back before they returned--and she was just loaded with -fish, and the market was back to normal. There was bad feeling. There -were fights. Some fishermen landed in the hospital and some in jail." - -A motor truck rolled by on the street outside the shop of the now -moribund Jimenez y Cía. The girl automatically turned her eyes to the -source of the noise. Then she looked back at Terry. - -"And then my erstwhile associate Jimenez had a brainstorm," said Terry -ruefully. "He sold the skipper of _La Rubia_ on the idea of short-range -radar. I built a set for him. It was good for possibly twenty miles. So -_La Rubia_ sailed in the dark of the moon with fifty fishing boats -swearing violent oaths that they'd follow her to hell-and-gone. When -night fell _La Rubia_ put out her lights, used her radar to locate the -other boats who couldn't see her, and sneaked out from their midst. She -came back loaded down with fish. There were more fights and more men in -the hospital and in jail. Some of _La Rubia's_ men boasted that they'd -used radar to dodge their rivals. And that's how the police got -interested in me." - -The girl had listened interestedly. - -"Why?" - -"Oh, Jimenez began to take orders for radar from other fishing boat -owners. If _La Rubia_ could dodge them by radar, they could trail her by -radar even in the dark. So the skipper and crew of _La Rubia_ promised -blood-curdling things as Jimenez's fate if he delivered a radar set to -anybody else. Then the skippers and crews of other boats made even more -blood-curdling threats if he didn't deliver radar to them. So Jimenez -ran away, leaving me to hold the bag." - -The girl nodded. - -"And therefore," said Terry, "I'm shutting up shop. I'll turn the -inventory over to the police and go off somewhere until someone learns -where _La Rubia_ gets her fish. When things calm down again, I'll come -back and start up business once more--without Jimenez. I'll probably -stick to electric-eye doors, burglar alarms, closed-circuit television -systems and things like that. Then I might make this underwater -broadcasting device, if your father still wants it. I'd better not now." - -"We heard about your problem," said the girl. "Almost exactly the way -you just explained it." - -Terry stared. Then he said politely, "Oh. You did?" - -"Yes, I thought--" - -"Then you knew," said Terry more politely still, "that I was leaving -town and couldn't make the gadget you want? You knew it before you came -here?" - -"Why," said the girl, "your plans seemed to fit in very nicely with -ours. We've got a sixty-five-foot schooner and we're sailing around. My -father wants something like--what you described. So since you want -to--well--travel around for a time, why not come on board our boat and -make the thing we want there? We'll land you anywhere you like when it's -finished." - -"Thanks," said Terry with very great politeness indeed. "I think I made -a fool of myself, explaining. You knew it all beforehand. I'm afraid I -bored you horribly. You probably even know that Jimenez took all the -funds when he ran away." - -She hesitated, and then said, "Y-yes. We thought--" - -"That I should have trouble raising steamer-fare to any place at all," -he said without cordiality. "And I will. You had that information too, -didn't you?" - -"Please!" she said with distress. "You make it sound--" - -"Did you have any idea what I'd charge to assemble the device you want?" - -"If you'll name a price." - -Terry named one. He was angry. The sum was far from a small one. It was, -in fact, exorbitant. But he felt that he'd made a fool of himself, -responding to her encouragement by telling her things she already knew. - -She opened her purse and peeled off bills. She put them down. - -"I'll leave the paddle with you," she said crisply. "Our boat is the -_Esperance_. You'll find it...." She named the anchorage, which was that -of Manila's most expensive yacht club. "There's a launch which will -bring you out whenever you're ready to sail. It would be nice if you -could sail tomorrow--and nicer if you could come aboard today." - -She nodded in friendly fashion, opened the door--the bell jangled--and -went out. - -Terry blinked. Then he swore and snatched up the pile of bills. Two -fluttered to the floor and he lost time picking them up. He went out -after her, the money in his hand. - -He saw a taxicab door close behind her, three or four doors down the -street. Instantly the cab was in mad career away. The taxicabs of Manila -are driven by a special breed of chauffeurs. It is said that they are -all escaped lunatics with homicidal tendencies. The cab went roaring -down the Calle Enero's cluttered length and turned the corner. - -Terry went back to the shop. He swore again. He looked at the money in -his hand. It totalled exactly the excessive amount he'd named as the -price of an electronic fish-driving unit, including an underwater horn. - -"The devil!" he said angrily. - -He felt the special indignation some men feel when they are in -difficulties which their pride requires them to surmount by themselves, -and somebody tries to help. The indignation is the greater as they see -less chance of success on their own. - -Terry's situation was offensive to him because he shouldn't be in this -kind of situation at all, or rather, his troubles were not foreseeable -by the most competent of graduate electronic engineers. He'd trained for -the work he'd undertaken. He'd prepared himself for competence. At -graduation he'd encountered the representatives of at least three large -corporations who were snapping up engineers as soon as they left the -cloistered halls of learning. Terry'd asked how many men were employed -in the category he'd fit in. When one representative boasted that ten -thousand such engineers were on his company's payroll, Terry declined at -once. He wanted to accomplish something himself, not as part of a team -of some thousands of members. The smaller the organization, the better -one's chance for personal satisfaction. He wouldn't make as much money, -but-- - -It was a matter of simple logic. If he was better off with a really -small company, he'd be best off on his own. And he'd nearly managed it. -He'd worked only with Jimenez. Jimenez was the sales organization. Terry -was the production staff. In Manila there was certainly room for special -electronic equipment--_especialidades electrónicas y físicas_. He should -have had an excellent chance to build up a good business. Starting -small, even without capital, he'd confidently expected to be going -strong within months. There were taxi fleets to be equipped with -short-wave radio. There were burglar alarms to be designed and -installed, and all sorts of setups to be engineered. And these things -were still in demand. His expectations had a solid foundation. Nobody -could have anticipated the disaster caused by _La Rubia's_ phenomenal -success in commercial fishery. It was even irrational for it to be a -disaster to Terry. But it was. - -More immediately, though, he was indignant because this girl had known -all about him when she came into the shop. She'd probably even known -about his gimmicking a standard-design submarine listening device so it -was really good and really directional. But she'd let him talk, asking -seemingly interested questions, when she knew the whole business -beforehand. And at the end she'd done a most infuriating thing by paying -him in advance for something he'd refused to do, thereby forcing him -into the obligation to do it. - -He fretted. He needed the money. But he objected to being tricked. He -went back to the probably senseless business of taking an inventory. -Time passed. Nothing happened. Nobody came to the shop. The police had -been firm about _La Rubia_ crewmen calling on Terry to make threats. -They'd been equally firm about other people calling to make -counterthreats. No casual customers entered. Two hours went by. - -At four o'clock the door opened--with the sound of its tinkling -bell--and Police Captain Felicio Horta came in. - -"_Buenas tardes_," he said cordially. - -Terry grunted at him. - -"I hear," said Horta, "that you leave Manila." - -Terry asked evenly, "Is that a way of asking me to hurry up and do it?" - -"_Pero no! Por supuesto no!_" protested Horta. "But it is said that you -have new and definite plans." - -"What do you know about them?" demanded Terry. - -Police Captain Horta said pleasantly, "Officially, nothing. Privately, -that you will aid some _ricos americanos_ to do experiments -in--_oceanografía_? Some study of oceanic things. That you regret having -agreed to do so. That you consider changing your mind. That you are -angry." - -The girl, of course, could have inferred all this from his angry charge -out of the shop with the money in his hand, too late to stop her -taxicab. But Terry snapped, "Now, who the devil told you that?" - -Police Captain Horta shrugged. - -"One hears. I hope it is not true." - -"That what's not true? That I leave? Or that I don't?" - -"I hope," said Horta benignly, "that you do as you please. I am not on -duty at the moment. I have my car. I offer myself to chauffeur you if -there is any place you wish to go--to a steamer or anywhere else. If -you do not wish to go anywhere, I will take my leave. With no pre ... -prejudice," he finished. "We have been friendly. I hope we remain so." - -Terry stared at him estimatingly. Police Captain Horta was a reasonable -and honest man. He knew that Terry had contributed to matters giving the -police some trouble, but he knew it was accidental on Terry's part. He -would hold no grudge. - -"Just why," asked Terry measuredly, "did you come here to offer to drive -me somewhere? Is there any special reason to want me to get out of -town?" - -"That is not it," said Horta. "It could be wished that you would--take a -certain course of action. Yes. But not because you would be absent from -here. It is because you would be present at a special other place. The -matter connects with _La Rubia_, but in a manner you could not possibly -guess. Yet you are wholly a free agent. You will do as you please. I -would like to make it--convenient. That is all." - -He paused. Terry stared at him, frowning. Horta tried again. - -"Let us say that I have much interest in _oceanografía_. I would like to -see certain research carried on." - -"Being, I'm sure, especially interested in fish-driving," said Terry -skeptically. "You sound as if you were acting unofficially to get -something done that officially you can't talk about." - -Horta smiled warmly at him. - -"That," he pronounced, "is a logical conclusion." - -"What's the object of the--research, if that's what it is? And why pick -me?" - -Horta shrugged and did not answer. - -"Why not tell me?" - -"_Amigo_," said Horta, "I would like nothing better than to tell you. I -would be interested to see your reception of the idea. But it would be -fatal. You would think me cr-azy. And also more important persons. But -especially me." - -It was Terry's turn to shrug his shoulders. He hesitated for a long -moment. If Horta had tried to apply pressure, he'd have turned obstinate -on the instant. But there was no pressure. First the girl and now Horta -tried to lure him with mystery and assurance of interest in high places. - -"And _La Rubia's_ involved in the secret?" demanded Terry. - -"Innocently," said Horta promptly. "As you are." - -"Thank you for faith in my innocence," said Terry with irony. "All -right. If I'm involved, I'm involved. I'll try to devolve out of being -involved by playing along." - -He turned to the workshop space at the back of the store. He found boxes -to pack his working tools and the considerable stock of small parts -needed to make such things as burglar alarms, submarine ears and the -assorted electronic devices modern business finds increasingly -necessary. He began to pack them. Surprisingly, Horta helped. Any man of -Spanish blood is apt to be sensitive about manual labor. If he has an -official position his sensitiveness is apt to be extreme. But Horta not -only helped pack the boxes with Terry's stock of parts; he helped carry -them to his car outside. He helped to load them. - -Terry turned the key in the door and handed it to him, with the nearly -complete inventory of the shop's contents. - -"Jimenez having run away, I leave the shop in your hands," he observed. - -Horta put the key and document away. He started the motor of his car and -drove along the Calle Enero. He drove with surprising moderation for a -police officer authorized to ignore traffic rules on occasion. Presently -the dock-area of Manila was left behind, and then the rest of the -commercial district, and then for a time the car tooled along wide -streets past the impressive residences of the wealthy. Some of the -architecture was remarkable. A little further, and the harbor--the -bay--appeared again. The car entered the grounds of Manila's swankiest -yacht club. The design of the clubhouse was astounding. The car stopped -by the small-boat pier. There were two men waiting there. Without being -given any orders, they accepted the parcels Horta handed out. Also -without orders, they carried them out to the float. They loaded them -into the brass-trimmed motor tender which waited there. - -"They knew we were coming," said Terry shortly. "Would I have been -brought anyhow?" - -"_Pero no_," said Horta. "But there are telephones. When we left the -shop, one was used." - -The men who'd carried out the parcels vanished. Terry and Horta stepped -aboard. The tender cast off and headed out into the harbor. There was a -Philippine gunboat and a mine-layer and an American flattop in plain -view. There were tankers and tramp steamers and a vast array of smaller -craft at anchor. A seemingly top-heavy steamer ploughed across oily -water two miles distant. The tender headed for a trim sixty-five-foot -schooner anchored a mile from shore. It grew larger and seemed more trim -as the tender approached it. - -The smaller boat passed under the larger one's stern, and the name -_Esperance_ showed plainly. On the starboard side a boat boom projected. -The tender ran deftly up and a man in a sweat shirt and duck trousers -snubbed the line. He said cheerfully, "How do you do, Mr. Holt?" Then he -nodded to Horta. "Good to see you, Captain." He offered his hand as -Terry straightened up on deck. "My name's Davis. We'll have your stuff -aboard right away." - -Two young men in dungarees and with crew cuts appeared and took over the -motley lot of cartons that Terry and Horta had made ready. - -"Have you everything you need?" asked Davis anxiously. "Would some extra -stuff be useful?" - -"I could do with a few items," said Terry, stiffly. - -He had quickly developed an acute dislike for the patent attempt to -induce him to join the _Esperance_. He had no reason for his objection, -save that he had not been informed about the task he was urged to -undertake. - -"Also," he added abruptly, "Captain Horta didn't think to stop at my -hotel so I could get my baggage." - -"Write a list of what you want," suggested Davis. "I'm sure something -can be done about your baggage. Make the list complete. If something's -left over, it won't matter. There's a desk in the cabin for you to write -at." He turned to Horta. "Captain, what's the news about _La Rubia_?" - -"She sailed again yesterday," said Horta ruefully. "She was followed by -many other boats. And now there is a moon. It rises late, but it rises. -Many sailors will be watching her from mastheads. It is said that all -the night glasses in Manila have been bought by fishermen...." - -His voice died away as Terry went down the companion ladder. Belowdecks -was attractive. There was no ostentation, but the décor was obviously -expensive. There were armchairs, electric lamps, a desk, and shelves -filled with books--two or three on electronics and a highly -controversial one on marine monsters and sea serpents. There were some -on anthropology. On skin diving. On astronomy. Two thick volumes on -abyssal fish. There was a shelf of fiction and other shelves of -reference books for navigation, radio and Diesel maintenance and repair. -There were obvious reasons for these last, but no reason that could be -imagined for two books on the solar planets. - -Terry sat at the desk and compiled a list of electronic parts that he -was sure wouldn't be available in Manila. He was annoyed as he realized -afresh the smoothness of the operation that had brought him to the -_Esperance_. He found satisfaction in asking for some multi-element -vacuum tubes that simply couldn't be had except on special order from -the manufacturers back in the United States. But it took time to think -of them. - -When he went abovedecks, half an hour later, he had listed just six -electronic components. The tender was gone, and Horta with it. Davis -greeted Terry as cordially as before. - -"The tender's left," said Terry with restraint. "Here's my list." - -Davis did not even glance at it, but beckoned to one of the crew-cut -young men who'd unloaded the tender. - -"This is Nick Alden," he said to Terry. "He's one of the gang. See about -this list, Nick." - -The crew-cut young man put out his hand and Terry shook it. It seemed -expected. He went forward with the list and vanished down the forecastle -ladder. Davis looked at his watch. - -"Five-thirty," he observed. "A drink might not be a bad thing." - -He went below, and Terry surveyed the _Esperance_. She had the look of a -pleasure craft, but was built along the lines of something more -reliable. There was an unusual power winch amidships, with an -extraordinarily large reel. Next to it there was a heavy spar by which -to swing something outboard. There were two boats, well stowed against -heavy weather, and a number of often-omitted bits of equipment, so that -the schooner was not convincing as the hobby of a mere yachtsman. - -Then Terry saw the brass-trimmed tender heading out from the yacht-club -float again. Foam spread out from its bow. A figure in it waved. Terry -recognized the girl who'd come into the shop of Jimenez y Cía. She was -smiling, and as the launch came nearer it seemed to Terry that there was -triumph in her smile. He bristled. Then he saw some parcels in the bow -of the tender. Next to the parcels--and he unbelievingly suspected what -they were--he suddenly recognized something else: his suitcases and -steamer-trunk. In order to sail with the _Esperance_ he need not go -ashore to get his belongings. They were brought to him. He became -totally convinced that these people had assumed he'd do what they wanted -him to, without consulting him. He rebelled. Immediately. Any time other -people took for granted that they could make plans for him, he would -become obstinate. When he was in a fix--and now he was practically -stranded in Manila with a need to go elsewhere for a time and no money -with which to do it--he was especially touchy. He found himself scowling -and angry, and the more angry because what was required of him would -have been very convenient if there'd been no attempt to inveigle him -into it. - -The launch came around the _Esperance's_ stern. Davis came from below -with two glasses. The girl said cheerfully, "Howdo! We've got your extra -items. All of them. And your baggage." - -Terry said curtly, "How did my list get ashore?" - -"Nick phoned it," said Davis. "By short-wave." - -"And where the devil did you find the stuff I named?" - -"That," said Davis, "is part of the mystery you don't like." - -"Right!" said Terry grimly. "I don't like it. I don't think I'll play. -I'll go ashore in the tender." - -"Hold it!" said Davis. But he was speaking to the operator of the -tender. The crew-cut Nick was in the act of handing up the first piece -of baggage. Davis waved it back. "I'm sorry," he said to Terry. "We'll -stay at anchor here. If you change your mind, the tender will bring you -out any time." - -Terry brought out the sheaf of bills the girl had left in the shop of -the vanished Jimenez. He held them out to the girl. She put her hands -behind her back and shook her head. - -"We put you to trouble," she said pleasantly, "and we haven't been frank -with you. That's to make up for it." - -"I won't accept it," said Terry stiffly. "I insist." - -"We won't have it back," said Davis. "And we insist!" - -Terry felt idiotic. There was enough of a breeze to make it impractical -simply to put the batch of bank notes down. They'd blow away. The girl -looked at him regretfully. - -"I'm truly sorry," she said. "I planned the way we went after you. You -are exactly the person we're sure to need. We decided to try to get you -to join us. We couldn't explain. So we asked what you were like. And -you're not the sort of person who can be hired to do what he's told and -no questions asked. Captain Horta said you were a gentleman. So since we -couldn't ask you to volunteer blindly--though I think you would -volunteer if you knew what we're about to do--we tried to make you come -for the adventure of it. It didn't work. I'm sorry." - -Terry had the singular conviction that she told the exact truth. And she -was a very pretty girl, but she wasn't using her looks to persuade him. -She spoke as one person to another. He unwillingly found himself -mollified. - -"Look!" he said vexedly. "I was leaving Manila. I need to be away for a -while. I am coming back. I can do any crazy thing I want for some weeks, -or even a couple of months. But I don't like to be pushed around! I -don't like--" - -The girl smiled suddenly. - -"All right, I'll keep the money." - -The girl smiled more widely and said, "Mr. Holt, we are off on a cruise. -We'll put in at various ports from time to time. We think you would fit -into our party. We invite you to come on this cruise as our guest. You -can be helpful or not, as you please. And we will _not_ try to pay you -for anything!" - -Davis nodded. Terry frowned. Then he spoke painfully. - -"I have a gift for making a fool of myself," he said ruefully. "When -it's put that way, fine! I'll come along. But I reserve the right to -make guesses." - -"That's good!" said Davis warmly. "If you do find out what we won't tell -you, you'll see why we didn't." - -He waved to Nick and the tender operator. The parcels came onto the -_Esperance's_ deck. His baggage followed. He picked up one of the new -cardboard parcels and examined its markings. - -"This," he said more ruefully still, "has me stymied. I'd have sworn you -couldn't get one of these special tubes nearer than Schenectady, New -York. But you found one in Manila in minutes! How did you do it?" - -The girl laughed. - -"Terribly simple!" she said. "We'll tell you. But not until we're under -way, or you might be so disgusted with the simplicity of it that you'd -want to go ashore again." - - - - -_Two_ - - -The edge of the sun touched the horizon and sank below it, out of sight. -There were magnificent tints in the sky, and the gently rippling harbor -water reflected them in innumerable swirlings of color. The _Esperance_ -swayed very slightly and very gracefully on the low swells. In minutes -two of the dungareed members of the ship's company got the anchor up -with professional efficiency. One of them went below, and the -_Esperance's_ engine began to rumble. Davis casually took the wheel, and -the small yacht began to move toward the open sea while Nick played a -salt-water hose on the anchor before lashing it fast. The brief twilight -of the tropics transformed itself swiftly into night. Lights winked and -glittered ashore and on the water. - -Terry felt more than a little absurd. The girl said pleasantly, at his -side, "My name's Deirdre, in case you don't know." - -"Mine's Terry, but you do know." - -"Naturally!" she said briskly. "I should explain that I'm the ship's -cook, and the boys forward aren't professional sailors, and my father -isn't--" - -"Isn't in this business for money," said Terry. "It's strictly for -something else. And I don't think it's buried treasure or anything like -that." - -"Nothing so sensible," she agreed. "Now, if you want to join a watch, -you'll do it. If you don't, you won't. The port cabin, the little one, -is yours. You are our guest. If you want anything, ask for it. I'm going -below to cook dinner." - -She left him. He surveyed the deck again, and presently went back to -where Davis sat nonchalantly by the _Esperance's_ wheel. Davis nodded. - -"Now that you've, well, joined up," he said meditatively, "I've been -trying to think how to, well, justify all the mystery. Part of it was -Deirdre's idea. She thought it would make our proposition more -interesting, so you'd be more likely to take it up. But when I think -about explaining, I bog down immediately." - -Terry sat down. The _Esperance_ drove on. Her bow lifted and dipped and -lifted and dipped. The water was no longer nearly smooth. There was the -beginning of a land breeze. - -"There's _La Rubia_," said Davis uncomfortably. "You outfitted her with -underwater ears and a radar, at least. Was there anything else?" - -"No," said Terry curtly. "Nothing else." - -"She catches the devil of a lot of fish," said Davis. He frowned. "Some -of them you might call very queer fish. You haven't heard anything about -that?" - -"No," said Terry. "Nothing." - -"I think, then," said Davis, "that I'd better not expose myself to -scorn. I'd like to be able to read her skipper's mind, though. But it's -possible he simply thinks he's lucky. And it's possible he's right." - -Terry waited. Davis puffed on his pipe. Then he said abruptly, "Anyhow -you're a good man at making gadgets. We'll let it go at that, for the -time being." - -The sea became less and less smooth. There were little slapping sounds -of waves against the yacht's bow. The muted rumble of her engine was not -intrusive. The breeze increased. Davis gave a definite impression of -having said all he intended to say for the time being. Terry stirred. - -"You want me to build a gadget," he said. "To drive fish. Would you want -to give me some details?" - -Davis considered. A few drops of spray came over the _Esperance's_ side. - -"N-o-o-o," said Davis. "Not just yet. There's a possibility it will fit -in. I'd like you to make one, and maybe it will fit in somewhere. But -_La Rubia's_ the best angle we've got so far. There is one gadget I'd -give a lot to have! You know, a depth-finder. It sends a pulse of sound -down to the bottom and times the echo coming back. Very much like radar, -in a way. Both send out a pulse and time its return." - -Terry nodded. There was no mystery about depth-finders or radars. - -"We've got a depth-finder on board," said Davis. "If I sail a straight -course and keep the depth-finder running, I can make a profile of the -sea bottom under me. If I had a row of ships doing the same thing, we -could get profiles and have a relief map of the bottom." - -"That's right," agreed Terry. - -"What I'd give a lot for," said Davis, "would be a depth-finder that -would send spot-pulses, like radar does. Aimed sound-pulses. And an -arrangement made so it could scan the ocean bottom like radar scans the -sky. One boat could make a graph of the bottom in depths and heights, -mapping even hummocks and hills underwater. Could something like that be -done?" - -"Probably," Terry told him. "It might take a good deal of doing, -though." - -"I wish you'd think about it," said Davis. "I know a place where I'd -like to use such a thing. It's in the Luzon Deep. I really would like to -have a detailed picture of the bottom at a certain spot there!" - -Terry said nothing. He'd been made angry, then mollified, and now he -felt tempted to grow angry again. There was nothing definite in what was -wanted of him, after elaborate machinations to get him aboard the -_Esperance_. He was disappointed. - -"Good breeze," said Davis in a different voice. "We might as well hoist -sail and cut off the engine. Take the wheel?" - -Terry took the wheel. Davis went forward. Four dungareed figures came up -out of the forecastle. The sails went up and filled. The engine stopped. -The motion of the boat changed. More spray came aboard, but the movement -was steadier. Davis came back and took the wheel once more. - -"I think," he said, "that we're acting in a way to--hm--be annoying. I -ought to lay my cards on the table. But I can't. For one thing, I -haven't drawn a full hand yet. For another, there are some things you'll -have to find out for yourself, in a situation like this." - -"Such as--" - -"Well," said Davis with a sudden dogged air, "take those _orejas de -ellos_, for an example. _Ellos_ are supposed to be some sort of beings -at the bottom of the sea who listen to fish and fishermen. It's a -superstition pure and simple. Suppose I said I was investigating the -possibility that there were such--beings. You'd think I was crazy, -wouldn't you?" - -Terry shrugged. - -"What I am interested in," said Davis, "has enough credit behind it for -me to get some pretty rare electronic parts from the flattop in harbor -back yonder. Nick called them by short-wave, they sent the parts ashore -and gave them to Deirdre, and she brought them out to you." - -Terry blinked. Then he realized. Of course, that was where just about -any imaginable component for electronic devices would be found--in the -electronics stores of a flattop! They needed to have such things at -hand. They'd carry them in store. Davis said drily, "They wouldn't -supply parts to a civilian who was investigating imaginary gods or -devils. So what I'm bothered with isn't a superstition. Right?" - -"Y-yes," agreed Terry. - -It was true. The Navy would not stretch regulations for a crackpot -civilian. It was not likely, either, that Horta would have implied so -definitely that the Philippine Government wanted somebody with Terry's -qualifications to go for a cruise on the _Esperance_. - -Deirdre put her head up through the after-cabin hatch. - -"Dinner is served," she said cheerfully. - -"The wheel," said Davis to Terry. - -He went forward. All four of the non-professional seamen came with him -when he returned. - -"This is the rest of the gang," said Davis. "You met Nick. The others -are Tony Drake, Jug Bell, and Doug Holmes." He made an embracing gesture -as they shook hands in turn. "Harvard, Princeton, Yale--and Nick's -M.I.T. It's your turn at the wheel, Tony." - -One of the four took over. The others filed below after Davis and Terry. -Terry was silent. Davis had wanted to show that he was being -informative, and yet he'd said exactly nothing about the interests or -the purpose of the _Esperance's_ complement. - -Dinner in the after-cabin was almost as confusing to Terry. Seen at -close range across a table, the four dungareed young men could not -possibly be anything but college undergraduates. They were respectful to -Davis as an older man and they tended to be a little cagey about Terry, -because he was slightly older than themselves but not an honorary -contemporary. They plainly regarded Deirdre with the warmest possible -approval. - -Conversation began, at first cryptic but suddenly only preposterous. -There was an argument about the supposed intelligence of porpoises, -based on recent studies of their brain structure. Tony observed -profoundly that without an opposable thumb intelligence could not lead -to artefacts, and hence no culture and no great effective intelligence -was possible. Jug denied the meaningfulness of brain structure as an -indication of intellect. Intellect would be useless to a creature which -could neither make nor use a tool. Doug argued hotly that the point was -absurd. He pointed to spastic children once rated as morons but actually -having high I.Q.'s. They had intellects, though they had been useless -because of their inability to communicate. But Nick asserted that -without tools they'd have nothing to talk about but food, danger, and -who went where with whom for what. All of which, he observed, needed no -brains. - -Davis listened amusedly. Deirdre threw in the suggestion that without -hands or tools an intelligent creature could compose poetry, and Jug -protested that that was nothing to use a brain for--and the talk turned -into a violent argument about poetry. Doug insisted vehemently that the -finest possible intellects were required for the composition and -appreciation of true poetry. Then Davis said, "Tony's still at the -wheel." - -The argument died down and the crew-cuts devoted themselves to eating, -so one of them could get through and relieve him. - -Afterward, Davis settled down below to a delicate short-wave tuning -process to get music from an improbable distance. Deirdre served Tony -his meal and talked with him while he ate it. Terry went abovedecks and -paced back and forth as the _Esperance_ sailed on through the night. - -He couldn't make out anything at all about the crew or the purpose -behind the _Esperance's_ chosen task and purpose. He felt dubious about -the whole business. Like most technically-minded men, he could become -absorbed in a problem, especially if it was a device difficult to design -or a design that somehow didn't work. Such things fascinated him. But -the _Esperance's_ crew was not concerned with a problem like that. There -was no pattern in their talk or behavior to match the way a technical -mind would go about finding a solution. The problem was bafflingly -vague, yet there _was_ one. - -_La Rubia_ was an element in it. Possibly Davis' wistful mention of a -partial map of the bottom of the Luzon Deep fitted in somewhere. Davis -had spoken of _orejas de ellos_ with some familiarity, but certainly no -Navy ship would cooperate in the investigation of a fisherman's -superstition in which even fishermen didn't believe any longer. The -Philippine fishing fleet was modern and efficient. Fishermen used -submarine ears without superstitious fears, and if they referred to -imaginary _ellos_ it was as an American would say "knock on wood," with -no actual belief that it meant anything. - -Whatever the _Esperance's_ purpose was, there was nothing mystical about -it--not if a flattop parted with rare and expensive specialized vacuum -tubes to try to help, and the police department of Manila urged Terry -tactfully--through Horta--to join the yacht, and no less than a Navy -Captain had named him as someone to be recruited. - -Deirdre came abovedecks and replaced Tony at the wheel. The _Esperance_ -sailed on. A last-quarter moon was now shining low on the eastern -horizon. It seemed larger and nearer to the earth than when seen from -more temperate climes. The wake of the yacht glowed in the moonlight. - -The wide expanse of canvas made stark contrast between its moonlit top -and its shadow on the deck. The only illumination on the ship was the -binnacle lights and the red and green running lights. Deirdre kept the -_Esperance_ on course. - -Terry went up to where she sat, beside the wheel. - -"I've been making guesses," he told her. "Your father.... I believe that -his curiosity has been aroused by something, and he's resolved to track -it down. I strongly suspect that at some time or another he's gotten -bored with making money and decided to have some fun." - -Deirdre nodded. - -"Very good! Almost completely true. But what he's interested in is a -good deal more important than fun." - -Terry nodded in his turn. - -"I suspected that too. And it's rather likely that you've got a -volunteer crew instead of a professional one because these young men -consider it a fascinating adventure into the absurd, and because they'll -keep their mouths shut if something turns out to be classified -information." - -"My father's doing this strictly on his own!" said Deirdre quickly. -"There's nothing official about it. There isn't any classified -information about it. This is a private affair from the beginning!" - -"But in the end it may turn out to be something else," said Terry. - -"Y-yes. We don't know, though. It's impossible to know! -It's--ridiculous!" - -"And my explanation for your being so mysterious with me is that you and -your father insist that I find out everything for myself because I'd -think it foolish if you told me." - -Deirdre did not answer for a moment. There was a movement behind Terry, -and Davis came on deck. - -"That was good music!" he said pleasedly. "You missed some very -interesting sounds, Deirdre! You too, Holt." - -"He's decided," said Deirdre, "that we're a little bit ashamed of our -enterprise and won't tell him about it for fear he'll simply laugh at -us." - -Terry protested, "Not at all! Nothing like that!" - -"When some forty-odd people have been killed by something inexplicable -at one time that we know of," said Davis, "--and we don't know how many -others have been killed at other times, or may be killed by it in the -future--I don't think that's a laughing matter." - -He surveyed what should be the direction of the land. A light showed -there and vanished, then came on again and vanished. A minute later it -showed and disappeared, then came on again twice. It was very far away. -Davis said in a different tone, "We can change course now, Deirdre. You -know the new one." - -The _Esperance's_ bowsprit forsook the star at which it had been aiming. -It swung to another. Davis moved about, adjusting the sheets alone. On -the new heading the yacht heeled over a little more and the water -rushing past her hull had a different sound. The sky seemed larger and -more remote than it ever appears from a city. The yacht's wake streamed -behind her in a trail of bluish brightness. Even the moon was strange. -It had the cold enormousness of something very near and menacing. It -looked as close as when seen through a telescope of moderate power. - -The _Esperance_ seemed very lonely on the immense waste of waters. - -Next morning, of course, the sense of loneliness was gone. There was -neither land nor any ship in sight, but gulls fluttered and squawked -overhead, and the waves seemed to leap and gambol in the sunshine. Just -before the foremast a metal plate in the decking had been lifted up, and -a new, stubby, extensible mast rose almost as high as the crosstrees. A -tiny basket-like object rotated monotonously at its upper end. It was a -radar-bowl, and somehow it was not unusual, except in the manner in -which it was mounted. Yet, such a collapsible radar mast was reasonable -on a sailing yacht with many lines aloft that could be fouled. Anyhow, -the radar was concerned with human affairs, and so it was company. - -The housekeeping work on the boat was in progress. Doug and Jug scrubbed -the deck. The other crew-cuts gave signs of industry from time to time, -appearing and vanishing. Davis smoked tranquilly at the wheel. Terry -felt useless, as well as puzzled. - -"Can I do anything?" he asked awkwardly. - -"You're your own boss," said Davis. - -"Then I might as well see what can be done about that submarine -noisemaker." - -"If you feel like it," said Davis, "fine!" - -But he did not urge. Terry waited a moment. There was a sort of -contagion of purposefulness in this eccentric small group on the -_Esperance_. They had something they were trying to do, and it seemed -important to them. But Terry was an outsider and would remain one until -he became active in their joint effort. - -He got out his equipment and materials and spread them out. There was no -need to build a recorder, since there was one among the supplies. The -rest wouldn't be unduly difficult. He established a working space and -set systematically to work. The task he'd accepted was essentially -simple. A submarine ear was to pick up underwater sounds. He had to -modify a microphone and enclose it in a water-tight housing, with -certain special features that would make it highly directional. The -recorder would take the pick-up and register it on magnetic tape, while -playing it for simultaneous listening. Then he had to assemble a -machine for playing back the taped sounds under water. That required a -unit for a submarine horn, to broadcast the amplified sound. It isn't -difficult to make a sound under water. One can knock two stones together -under the surface and a swimmer can hear it a mile or more away. But a -horn to reproduce specific sounds is more difficult to build. It needs -extra power. A sound-truck in a city, competing with all the traffic -noises, will turn no more than fifteen watts of electricity into noise. -But much more power would be needed to produce a similar volume under -water. - -Terry modified the mike into a submarine ear--an _orejas de ellos_. Then -he began to assemble an audio amplifier to build up the volume of the -sounds already taped for re-use under the sea. He had the parts. It was -mostly just finicky labor. He sat cross-legged in the sunshine, not far -from the _Esperance's_ unusual winch. - -Nick came up from below and went aft. He spoke to Davis. Terry couldn't -hear what was said, but Davis gave orders. - -The _Esperance_ heeled over; away, away over. The four crew-cuts -adjusted the sheets for maximum effect of the sails on the new direction -of motion. The yacht seemed to tear through the water like a racing -boat. Terry had to rescue some of his smaller parts which started for -the scuppers. He looked up. Deirdre said cheerfully, "Our radar picked -up a boat that's probably _La Rubia_ on the way back to Manila. We don't -want her to see us." - -Terry blinked. - -"Why?" - -"We're going to take a look at the spot where we think she catches her -fish," said Deirdre. "It's strange enough that she catches so many, but -what's even stranger is the kind of fish she catches at times." - -"How?" - -Deirdre shrugged. Then she said irrelevantly, "_La Rubia's_ skipper -would like to have the only radar in the world, as you've reason to -know, and he doesn't think of radars, except his own and possible -competitors. But there are lots of others. We're probably a blip on -somebody's radar-screen right now. In fact, we're supposed to be. So -when my father got interested in _La Rubia_ and her--catches, he was -able to have somebody notice where she goes every time she slips away -from the fishing fleet. And so he was told. It was all quite unofficial, -of course." - -Terry bent over his task again while the _Esperance_ sped along over the -off-shore swells. There was no land in sight anywhere. An albatross -glided overhead for a time, as if inspecting the _Esperance_ as a -possible source of food. When Terry looked for it later it was gone. -Once there was a flurry in many wave-flanks, and a small school of -flying fish darted out of the sea with hazy, beating fins, and dived -back into the sea many yards from where they started. - -But nothing of any consequence happened anywhere. Terry fitted and -soldered and tested. By noon he had a rather powerful audio amplifying -unit, set up to magnify any sound the tape-recorder fed into it. Deirdre -prepared a meal. The galley of the _Esperance_ was admirably supplied -with all kinds of food. After the noon meal the yacht changed course -again to a line which would intersect her original morning course at -some point. - -Terry found himself fuming. He'd set to work to make something that -Davis apparently wanted, but his most elementary questions still ran -against a blank refusal to answer. Both Davis and Deirdre had spoken of -oddities in the catches of _La Rubia_. There could not possibly be any -reason for them to refuse to tell him what they were. Terry worked -himself into irritability, recalling how he volunteered to come on the -_Esperance_ but not thinking that he would be treated as someone who -wasn't allowed to know what everybody else aboard most certainly did. - -In the afternoon there was guitar music down in the forecastle, and Doug -came out and settled himself on the bowsprit with a book of poetry. -Presently Nick sat down close by Terry and watched interestedly as he -put mysterious-looking electronic elements together into -incomprehensible groups. When he had finished, Terry did not admire his -handiwork. The noisemaking unit came last. The electrical part had to be -enclosed, water-tight, with a diaphragm exposed to the water on one -side and its working parts protected from all moisture on the other. The -device looked cobbled, but it worked, and made monstrous sounds in the -air. - -Now he plugged the submarine ear into the recorder. He dropped it -overside and taped the random noises of the sea: the washings of sea -water against the _Esperance's_ hull, frequent splashings, and very -faint, chirping noises from who-knew-what. - -"Watch the volume, will you?" Terry pointed out the Indication that -should not be exceeded. Nick nodded. "I'm going to whack the paddle -overside and see what we get in the way of noise." - -Nick hesitated. Then he said uneasily, "Wait a minute." - -He went aft to Davis, apparently somnolent at the wheel. Deirdre joined -the two of them in a seemingly very serious discussion. Then she walked -over to Terry. - -"I hate to say it," she told him with evident concern, "but my father -thinks it would be wiser to try out the paddle in shallow water. Do you -mind?" - -"Yes," snapped Terry. "I do mind, since I'm not allowed to know the -reason for that or anything else." - -He put away his tools and the unused parts. He pointed to the machines -he had already built. - -"This is what your father wanted, I think. After it's tested I'll ask -you to put me ashore." - -He went below, where he fretted to himself. But no one came, either to -inform him of Davis' reasons, or to tell him to do as he pleased. He -felt like a child who isn't allowed to play with other children; who is -arbitrarily excluded from the purpose and the excitement of his fellows. -Thinking in such terms did not make him feel any better. His irritation -increased. The _Esperance_ was engaged in an enterprise that these -people considered very much worth doing. He'd joined them to accomplish -it, and they wouldn't tell him what it was. He hadn't the temperament to -be content with just following blindly. And somehow the fact that -Deirdre was aboard and a participant in the secret made his exclusion an -insult. - -He felt about Deirdre that urgent concern that a man may feel about one -or two, or at most three girls during his whole lifetime. It wasn't a -romantic interest, at this stage, but he wanted to look well in her -eyes, and he was enormously interested in anything she said and did. If -he left the _Esperance_ and ceased to know her, he knew he'd be nagged -at by the feeling that he'd made a very bad mistake. He didn't want to -stop knowing her. But he refused to be patronized. - -He saw an open book on the after-cabin table and glanced restlessly at -it. There were three or four photographs and a newspaper clipping stuck -into its pages. The book itself dealt with physics at post-graduate -levels--which meant that it included a good deal about electronics. - -Still fuming, Terry glanced at the pictures. The first was of a -spherical object made of transparent plastic and probably of small size. -It had a number of metallic elements clearly visible through the -transparent case. It looked as if it might be an electronic device -itself, but there was no sign of lead-in contacts, and the parts inside -made no sense at all. The second and third photographs were of a similar -yet slightly different object. The fourth photograph was a picture of -what looked like ocean water, taken from a plane. The horizon showed in -one corner. The center of the picture was an irregularly-shaped mass of -white. On close examination it appeared to be foam. But it looked as if -it were piled up in masses above the surface. If the water around it was -ocean--and it was--and the visible crest-lines were of waves--and they -were--that heap of foam must have been hundreds of yards in diameter and -piled many feet high on the surface. Foam does not form in such masses -in the open sea. It would not last if it did. - -On the margin of this picture a date had been inked--three days -before--and a position in degrees of latitude and longitude. - -Terry turned to the chart rack. He pulled out a chart and looked up the -position. Someone had made a pencil-dot there. It was close to Thrawn -Island, on the very brink of the Luzon Deep, that incredible submarine -chasm in which the entire Himalayan chain could be sunk without showing -a single pinnacle above the surface. - -He went back to the clipping. It was dated Manila, two years earlier. It -was an obviously skeptical article on a report made by the crewmen of a -sailing ship that stopped by Manila. Sailing ships are rare enough in -modern times. This ship reported that she had sighted another of her own -kind at sea. The two ships altered course to speak to each other. And -the one which came into Manila declared that when the other vessel was -no more than two miles away, white foam suddenly appeared on the sea -just in front of her. A geyser of unsubstantial white stuff spouted up -and spread, shooting up about thirty feet on the water. The bow of the -other sailing ship entered the foam patch. And suddenly her bow tilted -downward, her masts swayed forward, and the entire ship vanished into -the white stuff, exactly as if she had sailed over a precipice. She did -not sink. She dropped. She "fell" under water--under the foam--her sails -still spread. One instant she sailed proudly. The next instant she was -gone. - -The position of such an incredible happening was roughly given. It was -almost exactly the same as the position written on the photograph of -foam taken from the air. At the margin of the Luzon Deep. - -Terry found that his indignation had evaporated. The reason for it still -remained, but now he wanted to know more about this happening and about -the spheres of plastic with those deftly designed but enigmatic -inclusions. The plastic objects had a purpose. He wanted to know what. -And the news clipping.... - -Having announced crossly that he would ask to be set ashore as soon as -the fish-driving unit was tested, he was ashamed to take it back. He -stayed below, now angry at himself again. Nobody came below. Deirdre did -not descend to cook. Night fell. Well after nightfall he heard movements -on deck, and presently a voice which sounded oddly distant. The -_Esperance's_ course changed abruptly. The quality of her motion altered -once more. - -He went abovedecks. Twilight was long over, but the moon was not yet up. -Here and there a wave-tip frothed, and blue luminescence appeared. Here -and there a streak of dim blue light could be seen under water, where -some fish darted. But those dartings were rare. Despite the yacht's -shining wake and the curling wave-tips, the sea was darker than usual. - -Nick's voice came from aloft, faint and eerie and seeming to come from -the stars. - -"... farther to port.... Two points ..." - -Terry could see the masthead weaving and swaying against the stars, with -a small dark silhouette clinging to it: Nick. The yacht began to swing. -On one bearing she pounded heavily. The seas could hit her squarely, and -they did. Figures moved swiftly about the deck, loosening sheets or -tightening them. Nick's voice again, from overhead. - -"Stea-a-a-dy!" - -The _Esperance_ ceased to turn. Rushing, pounding water sprayed in the -air. The waves splashed upon the hull of the yacht, which was sweeping -along on a quartering wind. - -For a while no one talked. Tony stood at the wheel, with Davis nearby, -by the binnacle light. Terry could see Davis glancing into the binnacle, -then gazing at the horizon ahead, and then aloft, where Nick seemed to -swing among low-hanging stars. - -"Ri-i-i-ght!" he called from high overhead. "Steady as she goes." - -The _Esperance_ sailed on, over the surging seas. Waves came out of -nowhere, leaped beside the yacht and then went by--to nowhere. It was -hard to believe that the yacht actually moved forward. She seemed to -stay perpetually in the one spot. But there was a winding, sinuous wake, -and there was froth under her forefoot. - -Then a vague brightness appeared on the sea, at the limit of vision. It -spread out more widely as the _Esperance_ approached. Presently it was -clearly visible. - -Dead ahead, the beam of the headlight suddenly revealed an incredible -spectacle. Until then there had been just a few flashes in the water, -where some fish darted away from the yacht's bulk. But here the entire -surface of the water shone with thousands and thousands of fish. They -were packed in a sharply delimited circle about a mile wide. When the -_Esperance_ got close enough, she hauled up into the wind to look. - -From a spot fifty yards ahead, the sea was alive with a million frantic -dartings of swimming things. They were crowded, packed almost -fin-to-fin. And it was not a surface phenomenon only. From the yacht's -deck the streaks of light were visible deep down, as far as the clear -water would let them be seen. They formed a column of glittering chaos. -The vast circle, to an indefinite depth, was packed solid with agitated -fish. At that edge of brightness the thronging creatures were splashing -in a mad frenzy. Solid shining shapes leaped crazily from the water. -Some leaped again and again, until they reached the spot where the -flashes were thickest, and got lost in the multitude of their fellows. A -few escaped to the darker surrounding sea. They seemed to run away in -stark terror. But those were only a few. The greatest mass of fish -milled crazily inside the circle. There were even porpoises, darting -about as if frightened beyond all normal behavior, not even trying to -feed on the equally fear-maddened creatures all about them. - - - - -_Three_ - - -Terry stared incredulously. Someone moved beside him. It was Davis. He -spoke in a dry voice. - -"I would think," he said detachedly, "that _La Rubia_ could catch a -boatload of fish in that water with a single haul of her nets. Certainly -with two." - -Terry turned his head. - -"But what is it? What makes these fish gather like this?" - -"An interesting question," said Davis. "We'll try to find out how it -happens. Even more interesting, I'd like to know why." - -He moved away along the deck. Terry went close to the side rail. A few -minutes later the startling glare of one of the side searchlights smote -upon the water away from the incredible scene. It moved slowly back and -forth. Where the light struck, the sea seemed totally commonplace. No -fish could be seen. Then the white beam swept here and there in jerky -leapings. There was nothing unusual on the surface, nothing beyond the -limit of brightness, where the sea turned dark. - -Deirdre said at Terry's side, "We didn't really expect this! I'm going -to get a sample of the water, Terry. Want to help?" - -She ignored his haughty withdrawal of the afternoon, and he could not -stand on his dignity in the presence of such an incredible phenomenon. -She got a water bucket from the nearby rack. A wave sprung up as she -tried to fill the bucket overside. It touched her hand and she cried -out. Terry jerked her back by the shoulder. The bucket bumped against -the _Esperance's_ side, hanging on the line attached to the rail. - -"What's the matter?" - -"It stung! The water stung! Like a nettle!" Shaking a little, Deirdre -rubbed her wet hand with the other. "It doesn't hurt now, but it was -like a stinging nettle--or an electric shock!" - -Terry hauled in the bucket and set it down. He leaned far over the rail. -He plunged his hand into a lifting pinnacle of the sea. Instantly, his -skin felt as if pricked by ten thousand needles. But his muscles did not -contract as they would in an electric shock. The sensation was on the -surface of his skin alone. - -He shook his head impatiently. He put his finger in the bucket he'd -lifted to the deck. There was no unusual sensation. He dipped overside -again. Again acute and startling hurt, from the mere contact with the -water. - -Deirdre still rubbed her hand. She said in a queer, surprised voice, - -"Like pins and needles. It's like--like the fish-driving paddle! But -worse! Much worse!" - -Terry looked again at the sea glittering with the swarms of fish in -hopeless, panicked agitation, confined in a specific narrow compass by -something unguessable. The searchlight continued to flick here and -there. The _Esperance_ drifted away from the edge of brightness. Terry -put his hand overside once more, and once more he felt the stinging, -nettle-like sensation. He got a fresh bucket of water from overside. On -deck, there was no strange sensation when he dipped his hand in it. - -The searchlight went out abruptly and only a faint and quickly dimming -reddish glow came from it. That too died. - -Davis' voice gave orders. Terry said sharply, "Wait a minute!" He began -to explain about the stinging of the water. But then he said, "Deirdre, -you tell him! I'm going to put a submarine ear overboard. At the least -we'll get fish noises on a new scale. But I've got an idea ... don't -sail into the bright circle yet." - -He got out the submarine ear and the recorder he'd made ready that -afternoon. He started the recorder. Then he trailed the microphone -overside. The sounds would be heard live through the speaker and they -would be taped at the same time. At first, a blaring, confused sound -came through. Terry turned down the volume. - -He heard gruntings and chirpings and rustlings. Fish made those -noises--not all fish, but certain species. These shrill, squeaking -noises were the protests of frightened porpoises. But under and through -all other sounds, a steady, unvarying hum could be easily detected. -Terry had never heard anything quite like it. Its pitch was the same as -that of a sixty-cycle frequency, but its tone quality was somehow -sardonic and snarling. The word that came into Terry's mind was "nasty." -Yes, it was a nasty sound. One didn't like it. One would want to get -away from it. In the air the same unpleasant sensation is produced by -noises that make one's flesh crawl. - -Terry straightened up from where the recorder played upon the wet deck. -Davis and Deirdre had come to listen, in the strange darkness under the -sails of the _Esperance_. - -"I've got a sort of hunch," said Terry slowly. "Let's sail across the -bright patch. I'll record the sea noises all the way. I've a feeling -that that hum means something." - -"It's not what you'd call an ordinary sound," said Davis. - -He raised his voice. One of the crew-cuts was at the schooner's wheel. -He spun it. The sails filled, and the rattling of flapping canvas died -away. The _Esperance_ gathered way and moved swiftly from the glittering -circle, came about, and sailed again toward the shining area. She got -closer and closer to the boundary. - -The recorder continued to give out the confused and frightened noises of -the sea creatures, but under and through their sounds there remained the -nasty and sardonic hum. It grew louder and more unpleasant--much louder -in proportion to the fish sounds. At the very boundary of the bright -space it was loudest of all. - -But as the yacht went on, the hum dimmed. At the very center of the -circle where the glitterings were brightest, the humming sound was -overwhelmed by the submarine tumult of senseless fish voices. Terry -dipped his hand here. The tingling was almost tolerable, but not quite. - -Davis hauled more buckets of water to the deck. In two of them he found -some fish, so dense was the finny multitude. Then the yacht neared the -farthest limit of the bright circle. The hum from the recording -instrument grew progressively louder. Again, at the very edge of the -shining water, it was loudest. - -The _Esperance_ sailed across the live boundary and into the dark sea. -As the boat went on, the sound dimmed.... - -"Definitely loudest," said Terry absorbedly, "at the edge of the circle -of fish. At the line the fish couldn't cross to escape. It is if there -were an electric fence in the sea. It felt like that, too. But there -isn't any fence." - -Davis asked evenly, "Question: what holds them crowded?" - -Terry said again, groping in his mind, "They act like fish in a closing -net. I've seen something like this once, when a purse-seine was hauled. -Those fish were frantic because they couldn't get away. Just like -these." - -"Why can't they get away?" asked Davis grimly. "We haven't seen anything -holding them." - -"But we heard something," pointed out Deirdre. "The hum. That may be -what closes them in." - -Her father made a grunting noise. "We'll see about that." - -He moved away, back to the stern. In moments, the _Esperance_ was -beating upwind. Presently, she headed back toward her previous position, -but outside the brightness. Terry could see dark silhouettes moving -about near the yacht's wheel. Then he saw another brightness at the -eastern horizon, but that was in the sky. Almost as soon as he noticed -it, the moon peered over the edge of the world, and climbed slowly to -full view, and then swam up among the lower-hanging stars. - -Immediately, the look of the sea was different. The waves no longer -seemed to race the darkness with only star glitters on their flanks. The -figures at the _Esperance's_ stern were now quite distinct in the -moonlight. - -"You said a very sensible thing, Deirdre," said Terry. "I thought of the -fish-driving paddle and its effects, but I was ashamed to mention it. I -thought it would sound foolish. But when you said it, it didn't." - -"I have a talent," said Deirdre, "for making foolish things sound -sensible. Or perhaps the reverse. I'm going to say a sensible thing now. -We haven't had dinner. I'm going to fix something to eat." - -"You won't get anybody to go belowdecks right now!" said Terry. - -"I thought of that," she told him. "Sandwiches." - -She went below. Terry continued to watch, while figures at the stern of -the schooner went through an involved process of visual measurement. It -was not simple to determine the dimensions of a patch of shimmering -light flashes from a boat in motion. But presently, Davis came toward -him. - -"It's thirteen hundred yards across," he told Terry. "Plus or minus -twenty." - -"I didn't expect all this," Davis said, frowning. "I've been making -guesses and hoping fervently that I was wrong. And I have been, but each -time the proof that I was wrong has led to new guesses, and I'm afraid -to think those guesses may be right." - -"I can't begin to guess yet," said Terry. - -"You will!" Davis assured him. "You will! You try to add up things.... A -half-mile-wide patch of foam that piles up thirty feet above the -sea...." - -"And into which," Terry interrupted, "a sailing ship does not sink but -drops out of sight as if there were a hole in the sea." - -Davis turned sharply toward him. - -"There were some photographs and a newspaper clipping on the cabin -table," explained Terry. "I suspected they might have been put there for -me to see." - -"Deirdre, perhaps," said Davis. "She's resolved to involve you in this. -You've got scruples, so she suspects you of having brains. Yes. You'll -add those things up. You'll include the remarkable success of a fishing -boat named _La Rubia_ and the fact that she sometimes brings in very -strange fish ... And then you'll add ..." - -His eyes flickered aloft. A shooting star streaked across one-third of -the sky leaving a trail of light behind it. Then it went out. - -"You'll even be tempted," said Davis, "to include something like that in -your guesses! And then you'll try to come up with a total for the lot. -Then you'll be as troubled as I am." - -He paused a moment. - -"You said you wanted to be put ashore as soon as the gadget you made -today was tested. I hope you've changed your mind, or will. That -tape-recording may mean something to somebody. We wouldn't have heard -that very singular noise but for you." - -"I withdraw the business of going ashore," said Terry uncomfortably. -"I'm going to ask another question. What are those little spheres that I -saw in the photographs on the cabin table? Were they found fastened to -the fish?" - -"So I'm told," said Davis. "They are made of plastic. One was on a fish -caught by a chief petty officer of the United States Navy. Four have -been found on fish brought into the market by _La Rubia_. They could -conceivably be a joke, but it's very elaborate! Somebody tried to cut -one open and it burst to hell-and-gone. Terrific pressure inside. The -metal parts inside were iridium. The others haven't been cut open. -They're--" Davis' tone was dry. "They're being studied." - -A figure came out of the forecastle and walked aft. It was Nick. He -stopped to say, "I called Manila and got a loran fix on us. We're right -at the place _La Rubia_ heads for every time she sneaks away from the -rest of the fishing fleet. It seems that she hauls her nets yonder." - -He nodded toward the circular area of luminosity on the sea. "It looks -smaller than when I went below deck." - -Davis stared. He seemed to stiffen. - -"It does. We'll make sure." - -He went aft. Deirdre came up with sandwiches. Terry took the tray from -her and followed her toward the others. - -"Cigars, cigarettes, candy, sandwiches?" she asked cheerfully. - -Davis was back at the task of measuring the angle subtended by the patch -of shining sea, and then closely estimating its distance from the -_Esperance_. He said, "It _is_ smaller. Eleven hundred yards, now." - -"When _La Rubia_ was here today," said Terry, "it might have been a -couple of miles across. Even that would be a terrific concentration of -fish! They're not all at the surface." - -Davis said with impatience, seemingly directed against himself, "It's -narrowed two hundred yards in the past half-hour. It must be tending -toward something! There has to be a conclusion to it! Something must be -about to happen!" - -Deirdre said slowly, "If it's the equivalent of a seine being hauled, -with a hum instead of a net, what's going to happen when it's time for -the fish to be boated?" - -Davis ignored her for a moment. Then he said irritably, "Everyone seems -to have more brains than I do! Tony, break out those gun-cameras. Nick, -get back and report if the bright spot's getting any smaller. I wish you -weren't here, Deirdre!" - -The two crew-cuts moved to obey. Terry, alone, had no specific duty -assigned to him on the yacht, unless tending to the recorder was it. He -bent over the instrument which was playing in the air anything that a -trailing microphone picked up under water. He raised the volume a -trifle. He could still hear the singular noises of the agitated fish -mixed in with the thin, strangely offensive humming sound. He heard -small thumpings, and realized that they were the footfalls of his -companions on the deck of the _Esperance_, transmitted to the water. He -heard ... - -Tony came abovedecks with an armful of mysterious-looking objects which -could not be seen quite clearly in the slanting moonlight. He put two of -them down by the wheel and passed out the others. He silently left one -for Terry and another for Deirdre, while Terry adjusted tone and volume -on the recorder for maximum clarity. - -"What are those?" asked Terry. - -"Cameras," said Deirdre. "Mounted on rifle stocks, with flashbulbs in -the reflectors. You aim, pull the trigger, and the shutter opens as the -flashbulb goes off. So you get a picture of whatever you aim at, night -or day." - -"Why ..." - -"There was a time when my father thought they might be useful," said -Deirdre. "Then it looked like they wouldn't. Now it looks like they -may." - -Terry was tempted to say, "Useful for what?" But Davis' vague talk of -unpleasant wrong guesses which led to even less pleasant ones had -already been an admission that no convincing answer could be given him. -Davis came over to him. - -"This has me worried," he said in a frustrated tone of indecision. "We -must be near the end of some process that I didn't suspect, and the -conclusion of which I can't guess. I don't know what it is, and I don't -know what it's for. I only know what it's tied in with." - -Terry said absorbedly, "Two or three times I've picked up some new kinds -of sounds. You might call them mooing noises. They're very faint, as if -they were far away, and there are long intervals between them. I don't -think they come from the surface." - -Davis made an irresolute gesture. He seemed to hesitate over something -he was inclined to accept. Deirdre protested before he could speak. "I -don't think what you're thinking is right!" she said firmly. "Not a bit -of it! Whatever happens will be connected with the fish. _La Rubia_ has -been around this sort of thing over and over again! We haven't been -running the engine and we haven't been making any specific noises in the -water to arouse curiosity! If anything were going to happen to us, it -would have happened to _La Rubia_ before now! It would be ridiculous to -run away just because I'm on board!" - -Terry, bent intently over the recorder, suddenly felt a cold chill run -up and down his spine. His mind told him it was ridiculous to associate -distant mooing sounds, underwater, with a completely unprecedented, -frantic gathering of fish into one small area, and come up with the -thought that something monstrous and plaintive was coming blindly to -feed upon fellow creatures of the sea. There was nothing to justify the -thought. It was out of all reason. But his spine crawled, just the same. - -"The circle's only eight hundred yards across, now," said Davis, -uneasily. "The fish can't crowd together any closer! But Doug went -overboard with diving goggles, and he says there's a column of -brightness as far down as he can make out." - -Terry looked up. - -"He went overboard? Didn't he tingle?" - -"He said it was like baby nettles all over," Davis protested, as if it -were someone's fault. "But he didn't sting after he came out. It must -be ..." - -A mooing sound came out of the recorder. It was fainter than the other -sounds and very far away. It must have been of terrific volume where it -originated. It lasted for many seconds, then stopped. - -"I should have been recording," said Terry. "That sound comes up about -every five minutes. I'll catch it next time." - -Davis went away, as if he wanted to miss the noise and the decision it -would force upon him. Yet Terry told himself obstinately that there was -no reason to connect the mooing sound with the crazed fish herd half a -mile away. But somehow he couldn't help thinking there might be a -connection. - -The ship's clock sounded seven bells. Deirdre said, "The brightness is -really smaller now!" The patch of flashes was no more than half its -original size. Terry pressed the recording button and straightened up to -look more closely. Right then Deirdre said sharply, "Listen!" - -Something new and quite unlike the mooing noise now came out of the -recorder. - -"Get your father," commanded Terry. "Something's coming from somewhere!" - -Deirdre ran across the heaving deck. Terry shifted position so he could -manipulate the microphone hanging over the yacht's side into the water. -Davis arrived. His voice was suddenly strained and grim. "Something's -coming?" he demanded. "Can you hear any engine noise?" - -"Listen to it," said Terry. "I'm trying to get its bearing." - -He turned the wire by which the submarine ear hung from the rail. The -chirpings and squealings and squeakings changed volume as the microphone -turned. But the new sound, of something rushing at high speed through -the water--that did not change. Terry rotated the mike through a full -circle. The fish noises dwindled to almost nothing, and then increased -again. The volume of the steady hum changed with them. But the rushing -sound remained steady. Rather, it grew in loudness, as if approaching. -But the directional microphone didn't register any difference, whether -it received sound from the north, east, south, or west. - -It was a booming sound. It was a rushing sound. It was the sound of an -object moving at terrific speed through the water. There was no engine -noise, but something thrust furiously through the sea, and the sound -grew louder and louder. - -"It's not coming from any compass course," said Terry shortly. "How deep -is the water here?" - -"We're just over the edge of the Luzon Deep," said Davis. "Four thousand -fathoms. Five. Maybe six." - -"Then it can only be coming from one direction," said Terry. "It's -coming from below. And it's coming up." - -For three heartbeats Davis stood perfectly still. Then he said, with -extreme grimness, "Since you mention it, that would be where it's coming -from." - -He turned away and shouted a few orders. The crewmen scurried swiftly. -The yacht's head fell away from the wind. Terry listened again to the -rushing sound. There seemed to be regular throbbings in it, but still no -engine noise. It was a steady drone. - -"Bazooka shells ought to discourage anything," Davis said in an icy -voice. "If it attacks, let go at it. But try to use the gun-cameras -first." - -The _Esperance_ rolled and wallowed. Her bows lifted and fell. Her sails -were black against the starry sky overhead. Two of the crew-cuts settled -themselves at the starboard rail. They had long tubes in their hands, -tubes whose details could not be seen. The wind hummed and thuttered in -the rigging. Reef-points pattered. Near the port rail the recorder -poured out the amplified sounds its microphone picked up from the sea. -The sound of the coming thing became louder than all the other noises -combined. It was literally a booming noise. The water started to bubble -furiously as it parted to let something rise to the surface from -unthinkable depths. - -Doug put two magazine-rifles beside Terry and Deirdre, then he moved -away. Deirdre had a clumsy object in her hands. It had a rifle-stock and -a trigger. What should have been the barrel was huge--six inches or more -in diameter--but very short. That was the flashbulb reflector. The -actual camera was small and on top, like a sight. - -"We'll aim these at anything we see," said Deirdre composedly, "and pull -the trigger. Then we'll pick up the real rifles and see if we must -shoot. Is that all right?" - -She faced the shining patch of ocean. Davis and the crew-cut at the -wheel faced that way. Tony and Jug stood with the clumsy tubes of -bazookas facing the same direction. Doug had taken a post forward, with -a camera-gun and a magazine rifle. He had the camera in hand, to use -first. - -It seemed that hours passed, but it must have been just a few minutes. -Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be taking place anywhere. The moon -now shone down from a sky in which a few thin wisps of cloud glowed -among the stars. Sharp-peaked waves came from one horizon and sped -busily toward the other. The yacht pitched and rolled, its company -strangely armed and expectant. The recorder gave out a droning, booming, -rushing sound which grew louder with ever-increasing rapidity. Now the -sound reached a climax. - -From the very center of the glinting circle of sea, there was a -monstrous splashing sound. A phosphorescent column rose furiously from -the waves. It leaped. Water fell back and ... something soared into the -air. Sharp, stabbing flashes of almost intolerably white light flared -up. The gun-cameras fired their flashbulbs without a sound. - -It was then that Terry saw it--in mid-air. He swung the gun-camera, and -a flash from another gun showed him that he would miss. He jerked the -gun to bear and pulled the trigger. The flash illuminated _it_ vividly. -Then night again. - -It was torpedo-shaped and excessively slender but very long. It could -have been a living thing, frozen by the instantaneous flash. It could -have been something made of metal. It leaped a full fifty feet clear of -the waves and then tumbled back into the ocean with a colossal splash. -Then there was silence, except for the sounds of the sea. Terry had the -magazine-rifle still in his hands. Tony and Jug waited with their -bazookas ready. It occurred to Terry that yachts are not customarily -armed with bazookas. - -"That--wasn't a whale," said Deirdre unsteadily. - -The recorder bellowed suddenly. It was the hum that had been heard -before: the nasty, sixty-cycle hum that surrounded the captive fish. But -it was ten, twenty, fifty times as loud as before. - -The fish in the bright-sea area went mad. The entire surface whipped -itself to spray, as fish leaped frenziedly to get out of the water, -which stung and burned where it touched. - -Then, very strangely, the splashing stopped. The brightness of the sea -decreased. A while later the enormous snarling sound was noticeably less -loud than it had been at that first horrible moment. - -The wind blew. The waves raced. The _Esperance's_ bow lifted and dipped. -The noise from the loudspeaker system--the noise from the sea--decreased -even more. One could hear the squeakings and chitterings of fish again. -But they were very much fainter. Presently the humming was no louder -than before the strange apparition. By that time the fish-sound had died -away altogether. The nearer normal noises remained. The hum was -receding. Downward. - -Davis came to Terry, where he stood by the recording instrument. - -"The fish have gone," he said in a flat voice, "they've gone away. They -didn't scatter. We'd have seen it. Do you realize where they went?" - -Terry nodded. - -"Straight down. Do you want to hear an impossible explanation?" - -"I've thought of several," said Davis. - -Doug came and picked up the gun-cameras that Terry and Deirdre had used -and went away with them. - -"There's a kind of sound," said Terry, "that fish don't like. They won't -go where it is. They try to get away from it." - -Deirdre said quietly, "I would too, if I were swimming." - -"Sound," said Terry, "in water as in air, can be reflected and directed, -just as light can be. A megaphone turns out one's voice in a cone of -noise, like a reflector on a light. It should be possible to project it. -One can project a hollow cone of light. Why not a hollow cone of sound, -in water?" - -Davis said with an unconvincingly ironic and skeptical air, "Indeed, why -not?" - -"If such a thing were done," said Terry, "then when the cone of sound -was turned on, the fish inside it would be captured as if by a conical -net. They couldn't swim through the walls of sound. And then one can -imagine the cone made smaller; the walls drawn closer together. The fish -would be crowded together in what was increasingly like a vertical, -conical net, but with walls of unbearable noise instead of cord. It -would be as if the sea were electrified and the fish were shocked when -they tried to pass a given spot." - -"Preposterous, of course," said Davis. But his tone was not at all -unbelieving. - -"Then suppose something were sent up to the top of the cone, and it -projected some kind of a cover of sound on the top of the cone and -imprisoned the fish with a lid of sound they couldn't endure. And then -suppose that thing sank into the water again. The fish couldn't swim -through the walls of noise around them. They couldn't swim through the -lid of sound above them. They'd have to swim downward, just as if a hood -were closing on them from above." - -"Very neat," said Davis. "But of course you don't believe anything of -the sort." - -"I can't imagine what would produce that sound in that way and send up a -cork of sound to take the fish below. And I can't imagine why it would -be done. So I can't say I believe it." - -Davis said slowly, "I think we begin to understand each other. We'll -stay as close to this place as we can until dawn, when we will find -nothing to show that anything out of the ordinary happened here." - -"Still less," said Terry, "to hint at its meaning. I've been doing sums -in my head. That bright water was almost solid with fish. I'd say there -was at least a pound of fish to every cubic foot of sea." - -"An underestimate," said Davis judicially. - -"When the bright patch was a thousand yards across--and it was even -more--there'd have been four hundred tons of fish in the top three-foot -layer." - -Davis seemed to start. But it was true. Terry added, "The water was -clear. We could see that the packing went on down a long way. Say fifty -yards at least." - -"Y-yes," agreed Davis. "All of that." - -"So in the top fifty yards, at one time, there were at least twenty -thousand tons of fish gathered together. Probably very much more. What -_La Rubia_ carried away couldn't be noticed. All those thousands of tons -of fish were pushed straight down. Tell me," said Terry, "what would be -the point in all those fish being dragged to the bottom? I can't ask who -or what did it, or even why. I'm asking, what results from it?" - -Davis grunted. - -"My mind stalls on who or what and why. And I'd rather not mention my -guesses. I.... No!" - -He moved abruptly away. - -The _Esperance_ remained under sail near the patch of sea that had -glittered earlier and now looked exactly like any other square mile of -ocean. The recorder verified the position by giving out, faintly, the -same unpleasant humming noise, either louder or fainter. A soft warm -wind blew across the waters. The land was somewhere below the horizon. -The reel of recorder-tape ran out. It was notable that there were very -few fish sounds to be heard, now. Very few. But the hum continued. - -Toward morning it stopped abruptly. Then there was nothing out of the -ordinary to be observed anywhere. - -The sun rose in magnificent colorings. The sky was clear of clouds. -Again the waves looked like living, leaping, joyous things. Gulls were -squawking. - -Doug came up from belowdecks. He carried some photographic prints in his -hand. He'd developed and printed what the gun-cameras had photographed -when the mysterious object, or beast, leaped clear of the sea. There -were seven different pictures. Four showed flashbulb-lighted sections of -empty ocean. One showed a column of sea water rising at fantastic height -from the sea. Another one showed the edge of something at the very edge -of the film. - -The seventh picture Terry recognized. It was what he'd seen when the -flashbulb of his gun-camera went off. The focus was not sharp. But it -was neither a whale nor a blackfish--not even a small one--nor was it a -shark. It was not a squid. It was not even a giant manta. The picture -was a blurry representation of something unreal made for an unimaginable -purpose, under abnormal conditions. - -Deirdre looked at it over his shoulder. It could be a living creature. -It could be ... anything. - -"You said you didn't like mysteries," commented Deirdre. "Are you sorry -you came?" - - - - -_Four_ - - -The next morning the _Esperance_ headed southeast over a sunlit sea. -First, of course, the crew examined the sea's surface for miles around. -As expected, there was nothing remarkable to be observed. Davis did -point out that there were no fish jumping, which was an indication that -there were not as many fish as usual in this part of the ocean. But it -was hard to be sure. There is no normal number of times when fish will -be seen to jump. They usually jump to escape larger fish that want to -eat them. The number is pure chance. But there seemed to be almost no -jumps at all this morning. - -It was not discussed at length, however. All the ship's company was -curiously reluctant to refer to the events of the previous night. In -broad daylight, a detached review was simply impractical. With gulls -squawking all about, with seas glinting in the sunshine, with decks to -be washed and breakfast to be eaten, and commonplace, routine -ship-keeping to be done, the adventure of the patch of shining sea -seemed highly improbable. Terry felt that it couldn't really have -happened. To discuss it seriously would be like a daylight ghost tale. -One was unable to believe it in daylight. It was better ignored. - -Terry, though, did get out his tools to make a minor modification in the -underwater microphone. It had been designed to be directional, so that -the sound of surf or fish could be located by turning the mike, but he -hadn't been able to point it vertically downward, and last night that -had been the key direction--right under the yacht's keel. So now he -improvised gimbals for the microphone, and a mounting for it similar to -that of a compass, so it could tilt in any desired direction, as well as -turn. - -Which, of course, was a tacit admission that something peculiar had -happened. Presently, Deirdre came and watched him. - -"What's that for?" she asked, when he fitted the gimbals in place. - -He told her. She said hesitantly, "Yesterday, when I asked you not to -try the paddle until we got to shallow water, you got angry and said -you'd ask to be put ashore. We're headed for Barca now. Someone there is -building something for my father, the same thing I had asked you to -build--a fish-driving instrument. If you still want to go, you can get a -bus from there to Manila. But I hope you have changed your mind." - -"I have," said Terry dourly. "I told your father so. I was irritated -because I couldn't get any answers to the questions I asked. Now I've -got some questions your father wants answers to. And I'm going to try to -find them out." - -Deirdre sighed, perhaps in relief. - -"I put some pictures and a clipping in a book on the cabin table," she -said. "Did you see them?" - -He nodded. - -"What did you think?" - -"That you put them for me to see," he said. - -"It was to make you realize that we can't answer every question, which -you know now." - -"I still think you could answer a few more than you have," he observed. -"But let it go. Is the Barca harbor shallow?" - -"Ten, fifteen feet at low tide," she informed him. "We're having a sort -of dredge made there. Something to go down into the sea, take pictures, -get samples of the bottom, and then come up again. There's an -oceanographic ship due in Manila shortly, by the way. It will have a -bathyscaphe on board. Maybe that will help find out some answers." Then -she said uncomfortably, "I have a feeling the bathyscaphe isn't ... -safe." - -He glanced up. - -"_Ellos?_" He grinned as she looked sharply at him. Then he said, "This -dredge: isn't it pretty ambitious for a boat this size to try to dredge -some thousands of fathoms down?" - -"It's a free dredge," she said. "It will sink by itself and come up by -itself. There's no cable. What are you doing now?" - -He'd put away the submarine microphone he'd just altered and was now -taking out the still untested underwater horn. - -"I'm going to try to make this directional, too," he said. "In fact, I'm -going to try to make it project sound in a beam shaped like a fan. A -hollow cone may come later." - -She was silent. The _Esperance_ sailed on. - -"Ever talk to the skipper of _La Rubia_?" he asked presently. - -She shook her head. - -"You should. He's a stupendous, self-confident liar," said Terry. "He -lies automatically. Gratuitously. A completely amiable man, but he can't -tell the truth without stopping to think." - -"We found that out," said Deirdre. "I didn't. Someone else." - -"Is this another censored subject, or can I ask what happened?" - -"I'd better see about lunch," said Deirdre quickly. - -She got up and left. Terry shrugged. The day before yesterday, or even -yesterday, he'd have been indignant. But then he'd known these people -had secrets in which he had no share. Today he was beginning to share -those secrets, and he had fabulously nonsensical material on which to -work on his own. He had strange ideas about the event of last night. He -did not quite believe them, but he thought he had devised some ways to -see how much of truth they contained, if any. Deirdre could keep her -secrets, so long as he did not have to disclose his own wildly -imaginative ideas. - -The routine of the yacht went on. It was in a way a very casual routine. -Davis gave orders when the need arose, but there was no formal -discipline; there was co-operation. Terry heard one of the crew-cuts ask -Deirdre a question using her first name. It would have been highly -improbable in a paid crew, but it was reasonable enough in a volunteer -expedition. He heard Deirdre say, "Why don't you ask him?" - -The crew-cut, Tony, came to the part of the deck where Terry worked. - -"We got into an argument," he said without preface. "We were talking -about that ... 'whale' last night." - -Terry nodded. The use of the term "whale" was a deliberate pretense that -the previous night's events were natural and normal. - -"How fast do you think it was traveling when it broached?" asked Tony. -"I know a whale can jump clear of the water. I've seen it in the movies. -But that one jumped awfully high!" - -"I hadn't tried to estimate it," said Terry. - -"You've got a tape of the noise," said Tony. "Could you time the -interval between the sound when it left the water, and the splash when -it fell back?" - -"Mmm. Yes," said Terry. He looked up. "Of course." - -"It would be interesting to do it," said Tony, semicasually. Then he -added hastily, "I've read somewhere that whales have been clocked at -pretty high speeds. If we can find out how long its leap lasted, we -could know how fast it was going." - -Terry considered for a moment, and then got out the recorder. He played -the tape for a moment, and skipped forward to later parts of the record -until he came to the place where the unpleasant humming sound was loud, -and finally reached the beginning of the rushing noise. That, in turn, -had preceded the leap of the object photographed by the gun-cameras. - -Terry glanced at his watch when the rushing started. He timed the period -of ascent of the noise, while it grew louder and louder and became a -booming sound, which was at its loudest the instant before it ceased. At -that moment the mysterious object had leaped out of the sea. The splash -of its re-entry came long seconds later. - -Tony timed the leap. When the splash came he made his calculations -absorbedly, while Terry switched off the recorder. - -"It would take the same amount of time going up as it does coming down," -said Tony, scribbling numbers. "Since we know how fast things fall, when -we know how long they fall we can tell how fast they were traveling when -they landed, and therefore when they leaped." - -He multiplied and divided. - -"Sixty miles an hour, roughly," he pronounced. "The whale was going -sixty miles an hour straight up when it left the water! What can swim -that fast?" - -"That's your question," said Terry. "Here's one of mine. We heard it -coming for five minutes ten seconds. How deep is the water where we -were?" - -"About forty-five hundred fathoms." - -"If we assume that it came from the bottom, it must have been traveling -at least sixty miles an hour when it broke surface," said Terry. - -"But can a whale swim sixty miles an hour?" - -"No," said Terry. - -Tony hesitated, opened his mouth, closed it, and went away. - -Terry returned to the changing of the submarine horn. Sound has its own -tricks underwater. If you know something about them you can produce some -remarkable results. A deliberately made underwater signal can be heard -through an unbelievable number of thousands of miles of seawater. But, -except through a yet untested fish-driving paddle, Terry had never heard -of fish being herded by sound. Still, fish can be stunned or killed by -concussions. They have been known to be made unconscious by the noise -of a very near submarine bell. It wasn't unreasonable that a specific -loud noise could make a barrier no fish would try to cross. But there -were still some parts of last night's events that did not fit into any -rational explanation. - -Davis came over to Terry. - -"I think," he said, "that we may have missed a lot of information by not -having submarine ears before. There may have been all sorts of noises we -could have heard." - -"Possibly," agreed Terry. - -"We're more or less in the position of savages faced with phenomena they -don't understand," said Davis vexedly. "The simple problems of savages -range from what produces thunder to what makes people die of disease. -Savages come up with ideas of gods or devils doing such things for -reasons of their own. We can't accept ideas of that sort, of course!" - -"No," agreed Terry, "we can't." - -"But what happened last night," said Davis, "is almost as mysterious to -us as thunder to a savage. A savage would blame it on devils or -whatnot." - -"Or on _ellos_," said Terry. - -"He'd imagine a personality behind it, yes," said Davis. "He does things -because he wants to, so he thinks all natural phenomena occur because -somebody wants them to. He has no idea of natural law, so he tries to -imagine what kind of person--what kind of god or devil--does the things -he notices. It's a natural way to think." - -"Very likely," admitted Terry. "But the point?" - -"Is that we mustn't fall into a savage's way of thinking about last -night's affair." - -Terry said, "I couldn't agree with you more. But just what are you -driving at?" - -"There's a dredge being made for me in Barca. I'm afraid you may suspect -that I'm trying to--stir up something with it. To poke something we -_know_ is somewhere but can't identify. I didn't want you to try the -fish-paddle in deep water, that's true. But...." - -"You're explaining," said Terry, "that you didn't want me to whack a -fish-driving paddle overside in deep water." - -Davis hesitated, and then nodded. - -"The phenomena you're interested in are under water?" - -"Yes," said Davis. "They are in the Luzon Deep area." - -"Then, to be co-operative, I'll test this contrivance in ten to fifteen -feet of water in the Barca harbor. And I will not get temperamental -about your suggestions that I should not mess up your deep-water -inquiries." - -"Thanks," said Davis. - -He went forward to meet Nick, just coming abovedecks with a slip of -paper in his hand. It occurred to Terry, suddenly, that somebody went -below down the forecastle hatch just about every hour on the hour. They -must be in short-wave communication with Manila. It had been mentioned -last night--a loran fix on the _Esperance's_ position. There were -apparently frequent reports to somebody somewhere. - -The afternoon went by. A tree-lined shore appeared to the eastward just -when the gaudy colorings of a beautiful sunset filled all the western -sky. The _Esperance_ changed course and followed the coast line, some -miles out. Night fell. The yacht sailed with a fine smooth motion over -the ocean swells. - -After dinner Davis was below, fiddling with the knobs to pick up -short-wave music from San Francisco, and the muted sound of an argument -came occasionally from the forecastle where the four crew-cuts resided. -Terry and Deirdre went on deck. - -"My father," said Deirdre, "says you understand each other better, now. -He doesn't think you're going to feel offended with us, and he's really -pleased. He says your mind doesn't work like his, but you come to more -or less the same conclusions, which makes it likely the conclusions are -right." - -Terry grimaced. - -"My conclusion," he observed, "is that I haven't enough facts yet to -come to any conclusion." - -"Of course!" said Deirdre. "Just like my father!" - -They sat in silence. It was not exactly a tranquil stillness. It was -pleasant enough to be here on the slanting deck of a beautiful yacht, -driving competently through dark seas under a canopy of stars. But now -Terry realized he was constantly aware of Deirdre. He liked her. But -he'd liked other people, male and female, without being continually -conscious of their existence. Girls are usually more conscious of such -things than men. At least ninety-nine per cent of the time, a man does -not modify his behavior because of the age, sex, and marital status of -the people he comes in contact with. It isn't relevant to most of what -he says and does. But a girl frequently modifies her actions in just -such circumstances. Deirdre was well aware of the slightly uneasy, -extremely interested state of Terry's mind. There was silence for a long -time. Then a shooting star went across the sky. It went out. - -"Would you like to hear something really wild?" asked Deirdre, ruefully. -"That shooting star, just then. It used to be true that more -meteorites--shooting stars--had fallen and been recovered in Kansas than -any other place in the world. But it would be ridiculous to think they -aimed for Kansas, wouldn't it?" - -Terry nodded, not following at all. - -"At Thrawn Island," said Deirdre, "since the satellite-tracking station -has been built, space-radars have picked up more bolides--big -meteors--coming in to fall in the Luzon Deep than ever in Kansas or -anywhere else. I think my father frets over that, simply because he's so -concerned about the Luzon Deep." - -Terry heard himself saying irrelevantly, "I'd like to ask you a few -strictly personal questions, Deirdre. What's your favorite food? What -music do you like? Where would you like best to live? When...." - -Deirdre turned her head to smile at him. - -"I've been wondering," she said, "if you thought of me only as a fellow -researcher or whether you'd noticed that I'm a person, too. Hmmmmm. -There's a restaurant in Manila where they still cut their steaks along -the muscle instead of across it, but where they make some unheard-of -dishes. That place has some of my favorite foods. And...." - -"Next time we're in Manila we'll try it," said Terry. "Now, I know a -place...." - -The _Esperance_ went on. Presently, the moon rose and moonlight glinted -on the waves while the stars looked cynically down on the small yacht -upon the sea. And two people talked comfortably and absorbedly about -things nobody else would have thought very interesting. - -When Terry turned in for the night he realized pleasantly that he was -very glad he'd let himself be persuaded to join the _Esperance's_ -company. - -Dawn came. Terry was already on deck when the _Esperance_ threaded her -way into a small harbor. There were palm trees along the shore, and -there was a Philippine town with edifices ranging from burnt brick to -stucco to mere nipa huts on its outskirts. Two-man fishing boats were -making their way out from the shore on which they'd been beached. From -somewhere came the staccato, back-firing noise of an old -automobile-engine being warmed up for the day's work. It would -undoubtedly be the bus for Manila. But it was not thinkable that Terry -should take it, now. - -The yacht dropped anchor and lay indolently at rest while her crew -breakfasted and the morning deck routine was being performed. Then -Deirdre appeared in shore-going clothes of extreme femininity. Davis too -was dressed otherwise than as usual. - -"We're going ashore to the shipyard," he told Terry. "If you'd like to -come--" - -"I've something to do here," said Terry. - -Two of the crew-cuts got a boat overside and headed it for the shore. -Terry got out the recorder and the submarine ear and horn. He set up his -apparatus for a test. Tony came from belowdecks and watched. Then he -came closer. - -"If I can help," he said tentatively. - -"You can," Terry told him. "But let's listen to what the fish are -saying, first." - -He dropped over the submarine ear and started the recorder to play what -it picked up, but without recording it. Sounds from underwater came out -of the speakers. The slappings of tiny harbor-waves against the yacht's -planking; the chunking, rhythmic sound of oars from a fishing boat which -was rowing after the half-dozen that had gone out earlier; grunting -sounds. Those were fish. - -Terry listened critically, and Tony with interest. Then Terry brought -out the fish-driving paddle. He turned on the tape, now, to have a -record of the sound the paddle made. - -"Whack this on the water," he suggested, "and we'll hear how it sounds." - -Tony went down the ladder and gave the water surface a few resounding -whacks. There were tiny, violent swirlings. For thirty or forty feet -from the _Esperance's_ side there were isolated, minute turmoils in the -water. Three or four fish actually leaped clear of the surface. - -"Not bad!" said Tony. "Shall I whack some more?" - -Terry reeled back a few feet of the tape which contained the whacking -sounds. He re-played them, listening critically as before. Tony had -returned to the deck. The whackings, as heard underwater, were not -merely impacts. There was a resonance to them. Almost a hum. Rather -grimly, Terry substituted this tape-reel with the recording he'd made -the night before. He started the instrument and found the exact spot -where the object from the depths had fallen back into the sea. He -stopped the recorder right there. He hauled up the submarine ear and -plugged in the horn to the audio-amplifier, as yet untested, which -should multiply the volume of sound from the tape. Then he put the horn -overside. - -He switched on the recorder again. The tape-reel began to spin. The -sound went out underwater from the horn. Underwater it was much louder -than when it had been received by the _Esperance's_ microphone. Here it -was confined by the surface above and the harbor-bottom beneath. It must -have been the equivalent of a loud shout in a closed room--only worse. - -The fish in the harbor of Barca went mad. All the harbor-surface turned -to spray. Creatures of all sizes leaped crazily above the surface, their -fins flapping, only to leap again, more frantically still, when they -fell back. A totally unsuspected school of very small flying fish -flashed upward in such frenzied haste that some tried to climb too -steeply and fell back and instantly flung themselves into the air again. - -Terry turned off the playing recorder. The disorder at the top of the -water ceased immediately. But he heard shrill outcries. Children had -been wading at the edge of the shore. They stampeded for solid ground, -shrieking. Where their feet and legs had been underwater they felt as if -a million pins and needles had pricked them. - -Something flapped heavily on the _Esperance's_ deck. Tony went to see. -It was a three-pound fish which had leaped clear of the water and over -the yacht's rail to the deck. - -Tony threw it back into the water. - -"I guess there's not much doubt," he said painfully. - -"Of what?" demanded Terry. - -"Of what ... I had guessed," said Tony. - -"And what did you guess?" - -Tony hesitated. - -"I guess," he said unhappily, "that I'd better not say." - -He watched with a startled, uneasy expression on his face as Tony put -the apparatus away. - -Time passed. Davis and Deirdre had been ashore over an hour. Then Terry -saw the small boat leave the shore and approach. It came deftly -alongside, the two passengers climbed up to the deck, and all four -crew-cuts hauled the boat back inboard and lashed it fast. - -"Our dredge isn't ready yet," said Davis. "It looks good, but there'll -be a delay of a few days." - -Deirdre examined Terry's expression. - -"Something's happened. What?" - -Terry told her. Davis listened. Tony added what he'd seen, including the -fish that had leaped high enough out of the water to land on the -_Esperance's_ deck. - -"After the fact," said Davis, "I can see how it could happen. But...." -He hesitated for a long time and then said, "This is another case where -I've been making guesses and hoping I was wrong. And like the others, -proof that my early guess was wrong makes another guess necessary. And I -dislike the later guess much more than the first." - -He moved restlessly. - -"I'm glad you only tried it once, here," he said unhappily. "We're due -up at Thrawn Island anyhow. You can work this trick out in the lagoon up -there. If there's no reaction to the dredge when we try it, we can try -this. But it might be a very violent poke at something we don't quite -believe in. I'd rather try a gentle poke first." - -He turned away. In minutes Nick was belowdecks starting the yacht's -engine, two others of the crew-cuts were hauling up the anchor, and the -fourth was at the wheel. Without haste, but with celerity, the -_Esperance_ headed for the harbor-mouth and the open sea. - -They had their midday meal heading north by west. Late in the afternoon -Deirdre found occasion to talk to Terry about Thrawn Island. - -"It's the China Sea tracking station for satellites," she told him. -"Some of the staff are friends of my father's. It's right on the edge of -the Luzon Deep, and the island's actually an underwater mountain that -just barely protrudes above the surface. There are some hills, a coral -reef and a lagoon. It's also terrifically steep, and you can use the -fish-driving device as much as you please without startling any Filipino -fishermen." - -"You've been there before," said Terry. - -"Oh, yes! I told you a fish wearing a plastic object was caught in the -lagoon there. That was when the station was being built. The men at the -tracking station fish in the lagoon for fun, and now they're naturally -watching out for more ... oddities." - -The _Esperance_ sailed on. The crew-cuts went about their various chores -and talked endlessly, among themselves and with Deirdre, when she joined -in. Terry felt useless. He trailed the submarine ear overboard and set -the recorder to work as an amplifier only. At low volume it played the -sounds of things below. He kept half an ear cocked toward it for the -mooing sound he'd picked up at the place where the ocean glittered. He -heard it again now, and again found it difficult to imagine any cause -for it. The sounds uttered by noisemaking fish are usually produced in -their swim-bladders. The purpose of fish cries is as obscure as the -reason for some insect stridulations, or the song of many birds. But a -long-continued fish noise would involve a swim-bladder of large size. At -great depths, if a considerable cavity were filled with gas, under -pressures running into tons to the square inch.... Terry could not -quite believe it. - -He did not hear the mooing sound any more, as the yacht went on its way. -Other underwater sounds became commonplace, and he tended not to hear -them. From the deck around him, though, he heard arguments about wave -mechanics, prospects in the World Series, the virtues of Dixieland jazz, -ichthyology, Copeland's contribution to modern music, the possibility of -life on other planets, and kindred topics. The crew-cuts were taking -their summer vacations as able seamen on board the _Esperance_, but they -had as many and as voluble opinions as any other undergraduates. They -aired them on each other. - -The afternoon passed. Night fell, and dinner was a session of learned -discussion of different subjects, always vehemently argued. Later Terry -took the yacht's wheel, Deirdre sat comfortably nearby, and they -discussed matters suitable to their more mature status. They were much -less intellectual than the crew-cuts. In a few days they developed an -interest in each other, but each of them believed this was just a very -pleasant friendship. - -Eventually, the moon rose. It was close to midnight when Nick bobbed -belowdecks and came up with a report that they'd been picked up by the -Thrawn Island radar and were proceeding exactly on course. Half an hour -later a tiny light appeared at the edge of the sea. The _Esperance_ -headed for it, and presently there were breakers to port and starboard, -the engine rumbled, down below, and the yacht lifted and fell more -violently than ordinary. Then once more she was in glassy-smooth water; -the air was very heavy with the smell of green vegetation. Certain -rectangles of light became visible. They were the windows of the Thrawn -Island satellite-tracking installation. - -The _Esperance's_ sails were lowered and she moved toward the lights on -engine power only. There was no movement ashore, though Nick had talked -with the island on short-wave. - -After a little while the searchlight was put in operation and began to -reach out like a pencil of brilliant white light. It darted here and -there and found a wharf reaching out from the shore to deep water. The -_Esperance_ floated toward it, her engine barely turning over. There was -still no sign of activity, except for the lighted windows. - -The engine stopped, then reversed, and the yacht drifted gently until it -contacted the wharfs snubber-pilings. Jug and Tony jumped ashore with -lines to fasten the yacht. Still no sign of life. - -"Queer," said Davis, staring ashore. "They knew we were coming!" - -A moving light suddenly appeared in the sky. A fireball, which is an -unusually lurid type of shooting star. It came over the tree-tops and -crossed the zenith, leaving a trail of light behind it. It went on and -on, seemingly slowing down, which meant that it was descending from a -very high altitude. Its brilliance became more and more intense, then it -dimmed. At this point the fireball seemed to plunge downward. Then its -flame went out and only a faint, dull-red speck in motion could be seen. - -It plunged down beyond the trees on the far side of the lagoon. Or so it -seemed. Actually, it might have plunged into the sea, miles away. Then -there was a faint noise which was something between a rumble and a hiss. -The sound went back across the sky along the path the fireball had -followed. It died away. - -There was silence. Shooting stars as bright as this one are rare. Most -meteors are very small, but they are visible because of the attrition -produced by their falling bodies in the atmosphere that sets them on -fire. They usually appear at around a seventy-mile height, but -frequently they are vaporized before they have descended more than -thirty miles. Sometimes they explode in mid-air and strew the earth with -fragments. Sometimes they strike ground, leaving monstrous craters where -they have fallen. Most meteors fall in the sea. But a meteor has to be -at least down to twenty miles from sea level before its sound can be -heard. - -Someone came out of a building and moved toward the wharf, an electric -lantern bobbing in his hand. Halfway out to the yacht he called, -"Davis?" - -"Yes," said Davis. "What's happened?" - -"Nothing," said the man ashore. "We were watching for that bolide. It -was picked up by space radar a couple of hours ago, but then we figured -it to land farther on than it did." - -It was an educated voice, a scholarly voice. - -"Big?" asked Davis as the light drew nearer. - -"We've seen them bigger, but not much." The man with the lantern reached -the end of the wharf. "Glad to see you. We've got some fish for you, by -the way. We caught them in the lagoon. They're waiting for you in the -deep-freeze. There's a _Macrourus violaceus_, if we read the books -right, and a _Gonostoma polypus_. They match the pictures, anyhow. What -do you make of that?" - -"You haven't got them!" said Davis incredulously. "You can't have them! -I'm no fish specialist, but those are abyssal fish! They can only be -caught at a depth of two or more miles!" - -"We caught 'em," said the man cheerfully, "on a hook and line, in the -lagoon, at night. Come ashore! Everybody'll be glad to see you." - -Davis protested, "I won't believe you've got that kind of fish until I -see them!" - -The man with the lantern stepped down to the yacht's deck. - -"All you've got to do is look in the mess hall deep-freeze. The cook's -complaining that they take up space. Nobody wants to find out if they're -good to eat. Most unwholesome-looking creatures! And how are you, young -lady?" he asked Deirdre. "We've missed you. Tony, Nick, Jug...." - -Deirdre introduced Terry. - -"Ha!" said the man. "They got you enlisted, eh? They were talking about -it a month ago. You've solved the problem by now, I daresay. Including -how these very queer fish happen to be in our lagoon instead of miles -down in the Luzon Deep. When you find time, tell me!" - -"I'll try," said Terry reservedly. - -The man went down into the after-cabin and Davis followed him. Deirdre -said amusedly: - -"Dr. Morton's a dear! Don't take him seriously, Terry! He loves to -tease. He'll hound you to tell him how deep-sea fish got up here and -into a shallow lagoon. Please don't mind!" - -"I won't," said Terry. "I'll tell him tomorrow, I think. I believe now I -know how it happened, but I want to check it first." - - - - -_Five_ - - -When Terry awoke, next morning, the reflections of sunlight on water -came in through the porthole of his cabin. He watched the shimmering -contortions of the light spots on the wall. His thoughts went instantly -back to the subject they'd dwelt on before he went to sleep. The man -with the spectacles--Dr. Morton, but his doctorate was in astronomy -instead of medicine--had said that Deirdre and his father had discussed -enlisting him in the _Esperance's_ company a month ago. Deirdre'd come -into the shop of Jimenez y Cía. only four days before. Some of the delay -could have been caused by time spent in simple sailing from one place to -another, mostly on wholly futile errands. They'd gotten a fish-driving -paddle at Alua. That'd take some days of sailing each way. Apparently, -they'd been fumbling at some vague idea of trying to find out what would -produce the facts they'd noted. 'Very queer fish,' Davis had said of -some of the catches _La Rubia_ had made. The abyssal fish mentioned last -night would be very queer fish to catch in a lagoon. Yes.... - -He lay still, surveying other aspects of the situation. Davis had called -on an aircraft carrier for electronic items, and the _Esperance_ was in -constant touch with somebody by short-wave radio. It might be the same -carrier. The Manila police department was on very cordial terms with -Davis, and the staff of a satellite-tracking installation saved odd -specimens of fish for him. - -The _Esperance's_ enterprise was plainly not a brand-new adventure. It -had been carried on for some time. They had had technical aid of the -very highest caliber, but they hadn't gotten anywhere yet. It did -appear that Terry had added a minor specialty to the arsenal of -investigative techniques. Without the data gathered on recorder-tape, -their idea of the events of two nights before would be very different. -The sea would have seemed very bright, then the glowing area would have -been noted to have grown smaller, and something resembling a whale would -have been seen leaping high above the water. Then the brightness would -have faded out. It would have been mysterious enough, but an entire -aspect of the phenomenon would have gone unnoticed. There was still no -answer to any of the far-reaching questions Terry had asked himself, but -most of them had never been asked before. Sea noises had proved to be -closely connected to whatever had to be found out. What was known about -them was due to his findings. He'd established a new frame of reference. - -And he'd discovered the solution of a minor problem before the problem -was even stated. He had only to prove it. Then, of course, there would -be other problems arising from it. - -He got up, put on swimming trunks, and duck trousers over them. He -slipped into a sweat shirt and went upon deck. Deirdre hailed him. - -"Good morning! Everybody's over at the tracking station, arguing about -the bolide that went over last night. According to the radar, it plunged -into the sea, miles and miles away." - -"What should it have done?" asked Terry. "I'm not familiar with -meteorites. Are they planning to dive for it?" - -"Hardly!" Deirdre laughed. "It landed in the Luzon Deep." She waved a -hand in an inclusive gesture. "This island's on the brink of it. A -bathyscaphe might go down there--in fact, I think it's scheduled; you -know, the one I said was coming to Manila on the oceanographic ship? A -bathyscaphe can go that deep, but it's not likely to hunt for -meteorites." - -"Ah," said Terry judicially. "Then what difference does it make where it -hit?" - -"It didn't fall the way it should have," said Deirdre. "It was spotted -by space radar away out, and they tried to compute its path, but they -figured it wrong. Now they're trying to make it come out right by -allowing for the effect of the earth's magnetic field on a metal -meteorite. They're arguing and waving equations at each other." - -"Let them," said Terry. "I have trouble enough with fish. Do you think I -could borrow a boat?" - -"We've always been able to," said Deirdre. Then she added, "I've kept -your breakfast hot. While you eat it I'll get a boat." - -She went below, and instants later was up again. - -"I have a feeling," she said, "that something interesting is going to -happen. I'll be back." - -She swung lightly to the wharf and headed for land. Terry went below, to -find his breakfast laid out on the cabin table. He settled down to it, -but first pulled a book from the shelves. It was a volume on -oceanography, and its pages showed that it had often been referred to. -He found the Luzon Deep described. Its area was relatively small, a mere -ninety-mile-long chasm in the sea-bed. But it was second only to the -Mindanao Deep in its soundings, and a close second at that. Its maximum -depth was measured at twenty-seven thousand feet. Over five miles. There -was a mention of Thrawn Island as being on the very edge of the Deep. -According to the book, the island was the peak of one of the most -precipitous and tallest submarine mountains in the world. Three miles -from where Thrawn Island lay, there were soundings of twenty-eight -thousand feet and upward. This depth extended as a trench.... - -The staccato roaring of an outboard motor sounded some distance away. It -bellowed toward the yacht, swung about, and cut off. Terry gulped down -his coffee and went abovedecks, just as Deirdre was fastening the small -craft alongside the yacht. - -"Taxi?" she asked amiably. "I got the boat. Where to?" - -Terry swung down and took the steering grip. He headed the boat away. -There was a box for bait, a few fishing lines, and even two highly -professional fish-spears on board. Fishing was not necessarily a -sedentary pastime here. - -"We try the lagoon entrance," he said. "I've an idea. I noticed -something last night, when we came in." - -"Do you want to brief me?" - -"I'd rather not," he admitted. - -Deirdre shrugged without resentment. The little craft went sturdily -toward the passageway to the open sea. She formed an arrowhead of waves -as she moved. She neared the points of land at the ends of the coral -formation enclosing the lagoon. Thrawn Island was not an atoll. But the -beaches were made of snow-white coral sand. Outside there was clear -water for a space and then a reef on which the seas broke. - -Terry headed the boat toward the open sea. Almost immediately after, -there was nothing but the reef and the sea between the boat and the -horizon. He slowed the boat almost to a stop, well within the reef's -tumult. She swayed and rolled on the surging water. - -"Stay here," he commanded. "I want to swim out and back." - -He pulled the sweat shirt over his head. He jumped overboard, leaving -Deirdre in charge of the boat. - -The world looked strange to him when waves rolled by higher than his -head. A few times the sky narrowed to the space between wave-crests. -Other times he was lifted upon a wave-peak, and the sky was illimitably -high and large, and the breaking seas on the nearby reef merely roared -and grumbled to themselves. - -He swam out, away from the land. Suddenly his body began to tingle. He -stopped and paddled, analyzing the sensation. One side of his body felt -as if the most minute of electric currents entered his skin. It was not -an unpleasant sensation. Deirdre, in the small boat, was fifty yards -behind, watching him. As he swam on, the tingling grew stronger. He -dived. The tingling did not vary with depth. He came up, and he was -farther out than he'd realized. - -He suddenly knew that he'd been incautious. There are currents which -flow in and out of lagoons. A barrier of reef affects them, too. Terry -found himself swimming in an outward-bound current, which pushed him out -and away from the island. - -Within seconds the sensation in his body changed from a mere tingling -to torment. For a moment it was just very much stronger and slightly -painful, but a moment later it felt as if he swam among flames. It was -unbearable. His muscles were not contracted, as if by an electric shock, -but he couldn't control their reflexes. He found himself splashing -crazily, trying to fight his way out of the anguish which engulfed him. - -He went under. His body had taken complete control over his mind, and he -found himself swimming frantically, underwater. He couldn't reach the -surface. His body tried to escape the intolerable agony in which it was -immersed but couldn't. - -He heard a roaring sound, but it meant nothing. The roaring grew louder. -Finally, he did break surface for a few seconds, and he gasped horribly, -but then he went under. The roaring grew thunderous, and he broke -surface again.... - -Something seized his flailing arm and pulled him up. The arm ceased to -experience the horrible sensation of being in boiling oil. His hand -recognized a gunwale. He swarmed up the solid object with hands helping -him, and found himself in the boat, gasping and shivering, and cringing -at the bare memory of the suffering he'd undergone. - -Deirdre stared at him, frightened. She swung the boat's bow shoreward. -The outboard motor roared, and the boat raced past the gap in the reef -and rushed toward the lagoon opening. - -"Are you all right? What happened? You were swimming and suddenly...." - -He swallowed. His hands quivered. He shook his head and then said -unsteadily, "I meant to ... check the reason those queer fish stay in -the lagoon. I thought that if they belonged in the depths and were -somehow carried out of them, they would try to get back. I found out!" - -He felt an unreasonable relief when the lagoon entrance was behind the -boat. The glassy water was reassuring. The _Esperance_ looked like -safety itself. - -"I think I know how they got here, now," he added. "We underestimated -what we're trying to understand. I'll be all right in a minute." - -It was less than a minute before he shook himself and managed to grin -wryly at Deirdre. - -"Was there a hum in the water?" asked Deirdre, still staring at him. "I -thought I heard it on the bottom of the boat. Was that the trouble?" - -"Yes. I wouldn't call it a hum," Terry admitted. "Not any longer. Now I -know what a slow fire feels like." - -"You frightened me," said Deirdre, "the way you splashed...." - -"I heard the humming sound," said Terry, "last night when the yacht came -up to the island. We were perhaps a half-mile off-shore. It was very -faint, but I had the amplifier turned down low. The hum was at its -loudest just before we passed the reef, but nobody else noticed. When -Dr. Morton said there were abyssal fish in the lagoon, I knew why they'd -be there. I made a guess at what might drive them there. I went to find -out if I was right. I found out!" - -"The hum?" asked Deirdre again. When he nodded, she said: "What are you -going to do now? What do you think makes the hum?" - -"I'm trying hard not to guess what makes the hum," Terry told her. -"Insufficient data. I need more. I think I'll ask what other odd -phenomena have turned up in this neighborhood. Foam-patches on the sea? -I can't imagine a connection, but still...." - -He swung the little boat alongside the docked _Esperance_ and held out -his hand to help Deirdre to the dock. His hand was wholly steady again. -She accepted the help. - -"We'll go to the tracking station?" - -"Yes. Everybody seems to be there," said Terry. - -They heard a babble of voices coming from the satellite-tracking -station. As they approached the buildings, Terry looked around. Off at -one side there was the very peculiar aerial system by which tiny -artificial moons circling the earth could be detected by their own -signals. Minute spheres and cylinders and spiky objects and -foolish-looking paddle-wheels, whirling in their man-appointed rounds, -sent down signals with powers of mere fractions of a watt. This system -of aerials picked up those miniature broadcasts and extracted -remarkable amounts of information from them. It was possible to -determine the satellites' distance more accurately, by a comparison of -phase-changes in their signals, than if steel tape measures were -stretched up to make physical contact with them. The accuracy was of the -order of inches at hundreds of miles. Floating where the stars were -bright and unwinking lights against blackness and the sun was a disk -with writhing arms of fire, the small objects sent back information that -men had never possessed before and did not wholly know what to do with -now that they did. And there were other objects in the heavens, too. -There were satellites which no longer signaled back to earth. Some had -their equipment worn out. Some objects were satellites which had failed -to function from the beginning. Some were mysteries. - -The bolide of the night before was a mystery. As Terry and Deirdre -entered the wide verandah of the recreation building for the station's -personnel, they heard Dr. Morton protesting, "But that's out of the -question! I agree that we never know any more about what the Russians -throw out to space than what we find out for ourselves. That's true! But -this wasn't a terrestrial object! If it was a satellite that wasn't -launched right, it had to be sent up from Russian territory. It wasn't. -That's positive! If we assume it was a satellite that had already made -several orbital turns, we must admit it would be an impossible shift in -apogee for it to come down at the angle it did!" - -Deirdre and Terry sat down as someone else said hotly, "Our observations -were wrong. They had to be! The earth's magnetic field couldn't affect -the speed of an object _outside_ the atmosphere! Our observations say it -slowed down. It couldn't!" - -Davis lifted a hand in greeting. The argument stopped for a moment. -Deirdre was known, but Terry had to be introduced. He was sitting beside -a bald young man who explained in a low tone, as the argument resumed. -"They're having fun. They argued for days when our radar picked up an -empty second stage in orbit. They're still ready to dispute for hours -about a supposed retrograde satellite that was spotted last year, was -watched for four turns, and then disappeared. Beer?" - -"Too early," said Terry. "Thanks just the same." - -Davis said earnestly, at the other side of the room, "I'd feel a lot -better if that thing last night hadn't splashed where it did." - -"The bolide," said a voice humorously, "is a free animal." - -The discussion went on. Terry saw Deirdre talking to a middle-aged woman -with a splendid sun-tan and a placid expression on her face. Doug and -Tony sat watchfully on the side lines, listening. Doug had been offered, -and had accepted, a sandwich. He ate it methodically. - -Terry had a sudden feeling of unreality. Less than half an hour before -he'd been in torment and, but for Deirdre, on his way to death. On the -_Esperance_ there'd been so much that was absorbing in the way of fish -behavior that he'd forgotten some people were interested in other -things. Here a dozen people squabbled over the behavior of a meteorite. -Nothing could be of less consequence to the outside world. But in the -outside world, people argued about baseball, or golf, or politics.... - -Doug excused himself and slipped outside. Terry joined him there a -little later. Doug was smoking a cigarette, looking at the sky and the -palms. - -"Pretty heavy discussion," said Terry. - -"It's over my head," said Doug. "I got lonesome. It made me think of my -girl. She likes to talk like this. That's why ..." - -He stopped. - -"Is there an aqualung outfit on the _Esperance_?" asked Terry. - -"Sure! Two or three of them. Mr. Davis had an idea they'd be useful. -Used one of them last week to look at the _Esperance's_ bottom-planks. -Why?" - -"I'd like to poke around the bottom of the lagoon a little," said Terry, -with unconscious grimness. "Would you help?" - -"Sure!" said Doug. - -They went back to the _Esperance_. Doug got out two aqualung outfits. -They checked the valves and tanks and connections. Doug brought out two -spring guns. In half an hour they were in the outboard, headed for what -Doug said was the deepest part of the lagoon. - -Arrived there, Terry tested the water with his finger and then went -overside. Instead of a spring gun, he used one of the fish spears that -seemed to be standard equipment for fishing, here. Doug stayed in the -boat to watch. - -Terry'd guessed that what he looked for would be in the deepest part of -the lagoon. He was right. Within half an hour he'd speared five fish of -types that had no business being within two thousand fathoms of the -surface. He ignored the lagoon's normal inhabitants. He picked on fish -of a dark-red color, which is predominant in the depths but not -elsewhere. When the fish had extremely small eyes or extremely large -ones, he hunted them determinedly, knowing they were deep-sea fish. He -caught five, which was a good haul, even considering his previous -suspicions. - -Doug inspected the catch as the outboard went back to the yacht. Terry -replaced his spear under the gunwale. - -"They're queer fish," observed Doug. "I wouldn't want to eat them." - -"Neither would I," agreed Terry. "But I feel a certain sympathy for -them. I think we've shared an experience." - -He did. Fish so far from their normal environment would not have -migrated unless they'd been forced to. So these fish must have been -driven up from the blissful utter blackness of the abyss, which was -their habitat. He had a vivid memory of the kind of urging they'd -received, because of his recent swim outside the reef opening. That was -the experience he believed they shared. - -He got his catch onto the _Esperance's_ deck and found some sharp knives -in the galley, while Doug put the aqualungs away. When Doug came -abovedecks again, he looked distastefully at the work Terry had -undertaken. - -"Do you like to do that sort of thing?" he asked. - -"Hardly!" said Terry. "But I want to get it done." - -Doug watched for a moment or two. - -"I'm pretty keen about poetry. Sometimes I feel I've got to sweat over -a poem that I need to get written. It's hard work. There's no real sense -to it. But I feel it's got to be done. I guess that's the way you feel -now." - -"Perhaps," said Terry. - -It wouldn't have occurred to him to liken the writing of verses to the -dissection of dead deep-sea fish, but Doug had a point. He went away -presently, and Terry completed the highly unpleasant task. He had just -finished flushing the deck clean when Deirdre came back from the -tracking station. He was already at work on the recorder when she -stepped onto the deck. - -"You didn't stay," said Deirdre. "I was waiting for a chance to tell my -father about the hum outside the lagoon, but he was as deep in the -meteor argument as any of them. I still haven't told him." - -"There's something else to tell him now," Terry remarked. "I went down -with an aqualung. Doug was standing by," he added at her gesture of -protest, "and speared some fish that don't belong here. I've dissected -them. Their swim bladders had been very skillfully punctured, so if they -went or were driven into lesser pressure, they'd leak instead of -bursting. That's how they survived coming up from the depths. But the -main thing is this." - -He held out a small plastic object in his hand. It was about an inch in -diameter and two in length, and there were inclusions in the clear -material. There were plates and threads of metal. They had that look of -mysterious purpose that highly-developed technical devices have. - -"This was fastened to the fin of a fish that belongs as far down as a -fish can go," he said. "I've found out one of its purposes. When it is -in the water, it makes a sound more acute than a whistle every time -another sound strikes it. Try that on your piano!" - -Deirdre stared. - -"I'm saying," he repeated, "that it takes in one sound and gives out -another. It's ... it could be a relay. What is that for? What's it all -about? What does it mean? And I ask just those questions because I don't -dare ask who and why!" - -"What ... what will you do?" asked Deirdre absurdly. - -"I've no idea," Terry told her. "I've got a feeling that the wise thing -to do would be to settle down somewhere and buy a shop, and forget all -this. If I don't think about it, maybe it'll go away." - -"I'll get my father and see what he says." - -"Tell him," commanded Terry, "that I want to try out my fish-driving -horn. I'd like to have witnesses. If this foolishness has to be reported -to somebody, we need evidence of the facts. I want to drive fish and see -how many deep-sea ones there are in this lagoon, and how many of them -have spy-devices on them." - -Deirdre turned away. Then she turned back. - -"Spy-dev--" - -"I slipped," said Terry. "I shouldn't have said that. Forget it. Just -tell your father I have an extremely urgent impulse to drive fish, and -would he come and help." - -Deirdre looked at him strangely, and went onto the wharf to search for -her father. - -Terry paced back and forth on the _Esperance's_ deck. In a few minutes -Davis and the crew-cuts appeared with Deirdre. But they were not alone. -Straggling behind them came nearly all the personnel of the tracking -station. There would be somebody on official duty, of course. But here -was the bespectacled Dr. Morton; the bald young man who'd offered Terry -beer; and the installation cook; a typist, and specialists in radar and -other abstruse subjects. - -Deirdre said, "I told them about the fish-driving business and they want -to see. They stopped arguing about last night's bolide to take ringside -seats. All right?" - -Terry shrugged. He had the recorder already set up. He'd taken a section -of the tape made where the sea was bright, at the place where the -loudest of the unpleasant humming noise was recorded. He'd made a loop -of it so it would play over and over. - -He played the much-amplified sound through the underwater horn held in -the air. The result was a raucous bellowing noise. He lowered it into -the water. The horn touched the surface and went under. - -Instantly, the fish of the lagoon seemed to go crazy. All the surface -broke and writhed and splashed. There was an incredible number of fish. -Terry turned the horn on one side. In this way, not all the water was -filled with the intolerable noise, but only a net-like beam of it raced -across the water. Within that line the fish continued to leap -frenziedly. The rest of the lagoon suddenly quieted down. In a little -while the beam's space, also, grew quiet. But that was because the fish -that had been previously caught in it had escaped. - -"I'm afraid," said Terry, "that this isn't going to be very -entertaining. I'm going to sweep the beam across the lagoon, pushing the -fish ahead of it, until I should have them all in one small area." - -It was curious that he felt uncomfortable as he set about his task. But -he'd experienced the sensation this sound produced. And it was not very -pleasant. - -He turned the beam around, slightly. Again, there were sudden -splashings. They died away. He turned the beam again. It was a nasty, -snarling vibration in the water. So far as fish were concerned, it was -more like a wall than a net, because not even the tiniest living -creature could penetrate it. Not only fish fled before it. Shrimps and -crabs and all types of crustaceans jerked and crawled and swam ahead of -its motion. Jellyfish writhed when it touched them. Sea cucumbers -contorted themselves. Everything that lived in the lagoon and could swim -or crawl or writhe moved before the invisible barrier. Presently, the -effect of crowding could be seen, and fish began to leap out of water. - -"This is a great advance in civilization," said Dr. Morton. "Men -invented guns and destroyed the buffalo and the passenger pigeon! You -may have made it possible to depopulate the sea!" - -Terry did not answer. The morning sun shone brightly, a gentle breeze -made ripplings on the lagoon, the palms waved their fronds in languid -gestures, and the surf could be heard booming and splashing on the outer -reef. And about two dozen people stood on the wharf or on the -_Esperance's_ deck and watched a spliced section of recorder-tape go -through and through a recorder, which was set to make a sound underwater -that could not be heard by the people above. - -The fish of the lagoon had crowded themselves into a minor embayment of -the shore. There were innumerable leapings there. - -"There should be plenty of fish collected now," said Terry -distastefully. "I certainly can't herd them ashore." - -The outboard boat pushed away from the yacht, its motor roaring. It -reached the area in which the water seemed to seethe and surge with the -motion of densely-crowded swimming creatures. The people in the boat -examined the surrounding water, then the boat came back at top speed. - -"They're there!" called Davis. "And thick enough to walk on! I clearly -saw some freaks that must come up from the bottom! We want to collect -them!" - -"I speared five just now," Terry told him, "and one of them was wearing -this." - -He held up the plastic object he'd found. There was silence for a -moment. Then Dr. Morton said briskly, "We'll want fish spears. We'll -take all the boats and go after some more of these piscatory oddities. -Who's best with a spear?" - -Davis would go. He could use the two fish spears that were standard -equipment for the outboard. The staff of the tracking station scattered -to launch other boats. Only Terry and Deirdre remained on the -_Esperance_. It was necessary for someone to stand by the recorder. - -Boats moved away across the water. One stout member of the island's -staff trudged along the shore. - -"You're driving them," said Deirdre. "You are right." - -"I wish I weren't," said Terry. - -"Why?" - -"You know how these weird fish got here," he said impatiently. "They -were driven here. You know how they've been kept here. I experienced -that! I told you why they didn't die when they came up from thousands of -fathoms! Now, what's the only possible purpose for their being here? Put -it more scientifically! What is the consequence of these happenings, so -that to some biological entity it would be a favorable happening?" His -tone was sardonic, at the end. - -"I don't know." - -"I hope I don't either," said Terry dourly. - -He was in no amiable mood. He'd made too many guesses like those Davis -had mentioned. He was beginning to have less and less hope that they -were untrue. Each new development made any imaginable cause of these -events just so much more appalling to think about. - -In an hour, three boats came back from the small bay into which all the -fish of the lagoon had been crowded. Terry turned off the underwater -horn. A stout man walked slowly along the shore with a heavy burden of -known edible fish. He was the island's cook, and he had speared them -from the beach. The boats, altogether, had speared and captured not less -than sixty specimens of fish normally found only many thousand feet -below the ocean's surface. Upon inspection, all of them were found to -have deftly punctured swim bladders, punctured with so slender a barb -that the opening would close by itself, except when serving for the -release of intolerably expanding gas. - -Before noon, seven more plastic objects had been found among the -deep-sea fish. Three seemed identical to the one Terry had found. Two -others were identical to each other but of a different kind, and the -last two were of two different types altogether. Only those like the one -tested by Terry seemed sensitive to sounds, which they changed into -other sounds at a twenty-thousand-cycle frequency, or higher. The rest -did nothing that could be detected. - -During the afternoon, news came to distract the absorption of the -tracking station staff in the lagoon's fish. The short-wave operator -came running to the wharf, waving a written message. The deck of the -_Esperance_ was not a pretty sight, just then, with the dissection that -had been taking place on it. Jug was beginning to flush the debris -overside. - -The short-wave operator arrived. Dr. Morton read the message. He raised -his voice. - -"Here's a fancy one!" he told the assembled company. "Space-radar's -picked up a new object coming in from nowhere. It will probably orbit -once before it hits the air and burns. By the line of motion it should -pass nearly overhead here. We're alerted to get it under observation -and watch it!" He waved the message in a large gesture. "We've got to -get ourselves set up! The argument on the path of last night's bolide -and why it fell where it did is again in order. We'll see what we can do -about computing the fall-point of this!" - -He headed for the shore. The staff followed, babbling. Somebody's -mathematics would be verified, and with it his views on the possible -effects of terrestrial magnetism on objects approaching the earth. - -"We ought to get these plastic things to Manila," Davis said slowly. -"They need to be compared to others. But I think we'll wait and see this -bolide first." - -A heated argument started in the tracking station staff. From Dr. Morton -downward, almost to the station's cook, the most varied predictions were -made. The official computation from Washington, made from the observed -course and height and speed, predicted that the bolide would land -somewhere in the South Pacific. Dr. Morton predicted a fall in the China -Sea, within a certain precisely stated number of miles from Thrawn -Island. Other predictions varied. - -At exactly fourteen minutes after eight--a time way ahead of the -official schedule but exactly as Dr. Morton had predicted--the bolide -passed overhead. It was an amazing spectacle. It left a trail of flame -behind, across thirty degrees of sky. It went on and on.... - -Less than ten minutes later the short-wave radio informed the island -that the shooting star had been seen to fall in the sea. It had been -observed by a plane which was then circling over the area in which the -_Esperance_ had encountered the circle of shining sea. The plane was -there to see if the phenomenon would occur again. It didn't. - -But the plane saw the bolide as it struck the sea, and huge masses of -steam and spray arose. The bolide was not white-hot, then, as when it -passed over Thrawn Island. It was barely of dull-red brightness. It hit -the sea and sank, leaving steam behind. - -The water was forty-five hundred fathoms deep at that point. - - - - -_Six_ - - -Fourteen hours later the _Esperance_ made ready to sail from Thrawn -Island. Her purpose was to carry the plastic objects to Manila, where -they would be turned over to specialized laboratories to be studied. -Five such objects had been found before: one in the Thrawn Island -lagoon, while the satellite-tracking station was under construction, and -four attached to exotic fish brought to market by the commercial fishing -boat _La Rubia_. Now there were eight more, of four different kinds. To -the laboratories would go Terry's observation that one kind of these -objects absorbed sound at audible frequencies and retransmitted it at -much higher ones, but only under water. All this was very interesting -and very puzzling. - -But a serious disturbance had arisen at the tracking station. - -Dr. Morton came to the _Esperance_ before her departure. He had a -problem. He'd predicted to the minute, and almost to the mile, the -landing of the bolide of the night before. That was the first accurate -prediction of the kind in history. But his forecast stood alone in its -precision. Nobody else had even come near being right. Now he was being -insistently queried by astronomers the world over. They wanted to know -how he'd done it. In particular, they wanted to know how he'd figured -that the bolide would lose just so many feet per second velocity, -neither more nor less, in a three-quarter orbit around the world. Nobody -else had such a figure in his equation for the landing spot. Dr. Morton -had. His prediction had been exact. Where did he get that necessary but -inexplicable figure? - -He beckoned Davis and Terry to go below with him, in the _Esperance's_ -after cabin. Terry hesitated. - -"You may as well hear my troubles," said Morton vexedly. "You're largely -responsible for them." - -Terry followed uneasily. He didn't see how Dr. Morton could hold them -responsible. He had guarded his own guesses about the _Esperance's_ -discoveries against even the slightest expression. He couldn't let -himself believe in their correctness, but he was appalled at the -inadequacy of all other explanations of past events. - -"In sixteen months," said Morton annoyedly, down below, "we've spotted -six bolides coming in to land in the Luzon Deep. That's out of all -reason! Of course, it could be a mathematical series of wildly unlikely -coincidences, such as probability says may happen sometimes. Up to last -night that seemed to be a possible explanation." - -Davis nodded. His expression was odd. - -"But now," said Morton somehow indignantly, "that's ruled out! It's -ruled out by last night's bolide, and yesterday's fishing experiment, -and that business of the shining sea, plus those damned plastic gadgets -and deep sea fish thriving in shallow water! There's no reasonable -explanation for such things, and they're not mere coincidences!" - -"I'm afraid," admitted Davis, "that they're not." - -"The obvious explanation," said Morton doggedly, "I refuse to name or -consider. But nevertheless the question is not whether a theory or an -explanation is unlikely or not. The question is whether it's true!" - -Davis nodded. Terry had to agree. But the way people are trained in -modern times puts a great emphasis on reason, often at the expense of -fact. Terry felt the customary civilized reluctance to accept a -statistically improbable idea. - -"I'm on a spot," fumed Morton. "I calculated that the damned bolide -would slow after it went into orbit around the earth. I calculated that -it would slow exactly so much. Do you want to know how I figured how -much it should slow down? I'll tell you! I calculated exactly how much -it would have to slow to be able to fall into the Luzon Deep! It did -slow. It did fall there. But how am I going to explain that to -Washington?" - -Terry suddenly felt a warm sympathy for Morton. It is bad enough to -dispute with oneself when something incredible happens. But Dr. Morton -had gone out on a limb. He'd been caught psychologically naked telling -the truth, and now he was asked to explain it. And he couldn't. - -"This thing has got to come to a head!" he said angrily. "Sooner or -later they'll find out that I don't calculate where it'll land by its -behavior in space but by its landing spot! Davis, you've talked about -stirring something up. For Heaven's sake, do it! You may save my -reputation! And you...." - -"I'll try to think of something," said Davis reservedly. - -"I've got to have proof that my suspicions are right or wrong before I'm -ruined. I know what you're planning to do. Do it! Is there anything that -can be done here to help?" - -Davis spread out his hands helplessly. But Terry said, "Yes. Send a boat -every so often to listen at the gap in the reef. Put an oar overboard -and put your ear to the handle. You should hear the underwater hum, if -it's still there. It was there this morning." - -Morton looked at him suspiciously. - -"Why check on it? Should it change?" - -"Perhaps," said Terry. "We've speared most of the deep-sea fish in the -lagoon. Maybe we've interfered with ... the reports from the plastic -objects, telling what was happening up here. There may be a reaction. If -so, most likely the humming will stop, and after a longer or shorter -time begin again. And then, if my guess is right, there'll be more -deep-sea creatures in the lagoon." - -"Ha," said Morton. "I think you and I have the same kind of delusions! -All right. I'll see that that's done. You two do the rest." - -He went abovedecks. When Terry got on deck, Dr. Morton's angular figure -was already marching along the wharf to the shore. - -There was no ceremony of departure. The _Esperance_ cast off and her -engine started. She moved toward the lagoon entrance under power only, -but her sails were hoisted as she floated on, and Jug Bell was trimming -the jib when she cleared the opening to the sea. - -The humming in the water was still audible to the submarine ear, close -to the land. It occurred to Terry to take a bearing on the source of the -sound, noting both the compass direction and the vertical angle from -the reef. If his vertical-angle reading was accurate, a line from the -reef to the source of the sound would touch the bottom at twenty-seven -thousand feet down, between four and five miles away. - -The _Esperance_ sailed on. The humming duly faded away. Terry left the -recorder picking up undersea sounds, without recording them. It relayed -the underwater sounds to the people on deck. It was in Terry's mind to -keep at least half an ear cocked to it, in case the mooing sounds, heard -and recorded elsewhere, should come again. - -They did not. The _Esperance_ went methodically on her way, headed south -by east, under sail. A slowly swaying horizon of unbroken sea was all -about. There was nothing in the least unusual or mysterious to be seen -anywhere. - -Presently, Terry found himself in conversation with Deirdre, and the -world seemed so blatantly normal that their talk dodged all unusual -trends. They talked about their childhoods, about things they had done -and places they had seen. - -At about four in the afternoon Nick bellowed, "_Thar she blows!_" in a -fine attempt at proper whaling ship style, and all the _Esperance's_ -company joined to watch a spouting far ahead. The yacht changed course a -little, and presently reached a pod of sperm whales at the surface. The -huge dark bodies moved leisurely through the water. Jud displayed great -erudition on the subject and explained in detail how their spouting -proved them to be sperm whales. Deirdre pointed out a baby whale close -beside a larger one. - -They sailed on, leaving the whales behind. The crew-cuts, inevitably, -argued about them. They canvassed all the information and misinformation -they possessed and came up with a heated discussion about whales, how -they can swim down to the enormous depths without suffering from the -bends on rising again. Then the conversation turned to the food they -eat. Whalers, in the old days, had found snouts of squids and undigested -sections of squids' tentacles in the stomachs of harpooned sperm whales. -There were reports of sections of tentacles four feet thick, implying a -startling total size, all of which proved that the whales had been at -the bottom of the ocean, where such gigantic squids can be found. These -were the reports of reliable whaling skippers. Certainly the scars made -by the tentacular arms of huge squids, indicating battle, have been -found on the skin of sperm whales, and there have been reports of -battles on the surface between whales and squids of sizes most -naturalists would be unwilling to certify. In such cases it was assumed -that the squids had been attacked at the bottom of the sea and had -followed the whale to the surface when it came up in need of air. -Certainly only an enormous squid would be able to sustain a battle with -a whale. - -Terry listened to the discussion. Everybody had his own opinion. - -"You'd never settle the argument, unless you could put a camera and a -flash gun on a whale and get an instrument-report from it." - -Which was not a new idea, of course. But it was curious that the thought -of sending self-reporting instruments down to the bottom of the sea had -been suggested by his own suspicion that similar instruments had been -sent up from below. Sounding lines had been lowered with thermometers -and nets and sampling machines. Core-takers had been dropped to get -samplings of abyssal mud. But tethered instrumentation is never more -than so useful. - -Deirdre said something. Terry realized that she'd repeated it. He'd -become absorbed in the possibilities of instrument-reporting from the -surface to the depths and back again. - -"You're not listening," protested Deirdre. "I'm talking about the -bathyscaphe that ought to be in Manila any day now." - -"I'm trying to picture myself going down in a bathyscaphe," said Terry -hastily. "I don't think I'd like it." - -A bathyscaphe is a metal sphere with walls and windows of enormous -thickness, hung from a metal balloon filled with gasoline for flotation. -It is lowered to appalling depths with the help of heavy ballast, and is -equipped with electric motors for independent motion. It carries -powerful electric reflectors which allow as much as thirty or forty feet -of visibility. It rises to the surface again when its ballast is -dumped. There are only three such undersea exploring devices in the -whole world. - -"I'm not at all sure you wouldn't like it," said Deirdre. - -Terry scowled at his own thoughts. There are opinions a man holds firmly -without ever being aware of them, unless they are challenged, and if -that happens, he is deeply suspicious of the challenge because it -suggests that his opinion needs to be re-examined. Terry had been -gathering scraps of information here, and unquestionable items there, -resisting a conclusion all the while. - -It seemed fantastic to think that the plastic objects carried by -deep-sea fish out of their natural environment were actually man-made -instruments--telemetering apparatus closely comparable to the devices -used to transmit information from outer space. It was wildly imaginative -to suppose that they transmitted information from the water surface to -the depths of the ocean; that fish had been driven up from the abyss in -order to report what went on at the surface. Report to whom? It was the -most fantastic of fantasies to think that there was curiosity, in the -Luzon Deep, about the manners and customs of the inhabitants of the -surface waters and of those areas not covered by the sea. - -But Terry stopped short. There were limits to the ideas he would allow -his brain to think about. - -Deirdre walked away, and he assured himself he never thought of anything -so ridiculous as the conclusions he had just reached. Presently, dinner -was served, and Terry painstakingly acted like a perfectly rational -person. After dinner Davis, as usual, settled himself down to enjoy a -program of symphonic music from San Francisco, many thousands of miles -away. And Deirdre vanished from sight again. - -Later on Terry found himself alone on the _Esperance's_ deck, except for -Nick at the wheel--a mere dark figure seen only by the light of the -binnacle lamp. There was a diffused, faint glow coming from the -after-cabin hatch. Up forward, one of the crew-cuts plucked a guitar, -and Terry could imagine Doug dourly trying to read poetry despite the -noise. The sails were black against the sky. The deck was darker than -the sea. - -Terry's guesses haunted him. He assured himself that he did not -entertain them even for an instant. They were absurd! A part of his mind -argued speciously that if they were absurd there was no reason not to -test them. If he was afraid to try, it would imply that at least part of -him believed them. - -He picked up one of the plastic objects, and moved the recorder close to -the lee rail. It still transmitted faithfully, at minimum volume, the -washing of the waves as heard from beneath, and occasional small sounds -from living creatures, generally far away in the sea. Heeled over as the -_Esperance_ was, his hand could reach down into the rushing waters -overside. - -He came to a resolution. He felt foolish, but by now he was determined -to try an experiment. Tiny light-blue sparks flashed where the water -raced past the yacht's planking. When he dipped his hand, water piled up -against his wrist and a streak of brightness trailed away behind. - -He tapped the plastic object against the hull. One tap, two taps, three -taps, four taps. Then five, six, seven, eight. He went back to one. One -tap, two, and three and four. Five and six and seven and eight. - -The recorder gave out the tappings the underwater microphone had picked -up. It seemed to Terry that the loudspeaker struggled to emit the -shrillest imaginable sounds in strict synchrony with the tappings. - -Then Deirdre's voice came quietly, very near. - -"I don't think," she said evenly, "that that's a fair thing to do." - -He'd been bent over the rail in an awkward position. He straightened up, -guiltily. - -"I know it's nonsense, but I was ... ashamed to admit ..." - -"To admit," Deirdre concluded for him, "that by tapping numbers with a -plastic spy-device, you hoped to say to whom it might concern that we've -found a communicator, and we know what it is, and we're trying to get in -touch with the intelligent creatures who made it." - -To hear his own self-denied guesses spoken aloud was appalling. Terry -instantly disbelieved them entirely. - -"It's ridiculous, of course," he protested. "It's childish...." - -"But it could be true," said Deirdre. "And, if true, it could be -dangerous. Suppose whatever put those plastic gadgets on the fish -doesn't want to be communicated with? Suppose it feels that it should -defend the secret of its existence by killing those who suspect it? I -wasn't spying on you," she added. "I heard the tappings down below." - -Then she was gone. He saw the interruption in the light from the -after-cabin hatch as she went below. - -He was suddenly filled with horror at the idea that if his guesses did -prove to be right, he might have endangered Deirdre. And then he ceased -to feel foolish. He felt like a criminal instead. - -For a long, long time he listened with desperate intensity to the -recorder, lest he hear some reply to his signals. - -But no answer came. The sounds from undersea remained utterly -commonplace. - -When morning arrived he was in a state of desperate gloom. At breakfast -Deirdre acted as if she considered the incident closed. And, such being -the nature of men, Terry felt worse than before. - -He was not wholly at ease again, even when that afternoon the -_Esperance_ sailed in past Cavite and Corregidor and into Manila Bay. A -new ship was at anchor in the harbor. It was a stubby, stocky ship which -Davis regarded with interest. - -"That's the _Pelorus_," he told Terry as the yacht passed within a mile, -on the way to her former anchorage. "She's the hydrographic ship with -the bathyscaphe on board. We'll visit her. I'll get Nick to call her on -short-wave." - -He went forward, where Nick was making ready to drop the anchor. Davis -took over the chore, and Nick went below. - -"Are you going ashore?" asked Deirdre. - -Terry shrugged. "I've no reason to." - -She looked relieved. "Then you'll stay with the _Esperance_ -until--things are settled one way or another? I mean, you're really -enlisted?" - -"Until there are no more ways left for me to blunder," said Terry -distastefully. "I'm about through the list, though." - -"Not at all!" protested Deirdre. "Tapping numbers was really a very good -idea. I was horrible! I scolded because you'd kept it a secret from me. -I'd have been proud if I'd thought of it first!" - -Nick came back and spoke to Davis. Davis came aft. - -"The _Pelorus_ will send a boat as soon as we've anchored," he told -them. "They've heard something and want to see the plastic objects." - -"I'd like the long end of a bet that they don't believe in them, or us," -Terry said abruptly. "They're established authorities on the ocean -bottom. They know a lot. They probably know so much they can't really -believe there's anything more to know than what they're busy finding out -now." - -Davis shook his head. He was confident. The _Esperance_ anchored, almost -exactly where she'd been when Terry first came on board. Within half an -hour a boat arrived from the _Pelorus_. Terry repeated his refusal to go -along. Deirdre went along with her father. - -They came back a little over an hour later. At first Davis was almost -speechless with fury. Then he told Terry, choking on his rage, -"According to them, the plastic objects are a hoax. The hum is a school -of fish. We aren't trained observers. At Thrawn Island they're -astronomers and they simply don't know anything about biology. And we -should realize that it's starkly impossible for intelligence to develop -where the oxygen supply is limited. It's unthinkable that abyssal fish -should have their swim bladders punctured so they won't explode from -release of pressure when they come to the surface. Those in the lagoon -aren't abyssal fish, just unfamiliar species!" - -"Well?" Terry asked. - -"Oh, they're going to make a bathyscaphe dive!" said Davis as angrily as -before. "As a matter of courtesy to somebody--not us. They'll make it -where we found fish packed in a circle. That happens to be the deepest -part of the Luzon Deep, in any case. They don't object to our sending -our dredge down first. They will be politely interested if it comes back -up." - -"I," announced Deirdre, "I am so mad I could spit!" - -"There's no use in our staying here," said Davis, seething. "Our dredge -should be ready. We'll go up to Barca and tow it to the point we want to -send it down." - -He ordered Nick to get ready to lift anchor. - -"One question," Terry said finally. "Did you mention the bolides?" - -"No!" snapped Davis. "Would I want them to think I was crazy?" - -He stamped away. - -The _Esperance_ put to sea again. She sailed north along the coast. At -dinner everybody was quiet. It was the only meal, since Terry's joining, -that had not been enlivened by an elaborate argument on some subject or -other. Davis was still in an abominable mood. He knew it, and held -himself to silence. - -Later, Terry and Deirdre talked together. They refrained tacitly from -speaking of marine biology or any reasons for tapping plastic objects -against the _Esperance's_ hull. They discussed only trivia, but somehow -Terry found any subject absorbing, when he was with Deirdre. - -After a while she went below, and he stayed abovedecks, smoking. The -moon had not yet risen when he turned in. - -They sailed into the small harbor of Barca at ten in the morning. By -twelve, local boatmen had towed out an ungainly object some thirty-two -feet long. They tethered it to bitts at the _Esperance's_ stern. By one -o'clock they had loaded on her deck a large, folded sack of sailcloth -and half a dozen specially-cast concrete blocks with eyed iron rods -cemented in them. At half-past one Deirdre, who had gone ashore in one -of the yacht's own boats, came back with innumerable supplies she'd -bought. At two o'clock the _Esperance_ went out to sea again. - -The towed object was a construction around a central wooden spar with an -iron tube at its top end and half a dozen lesser spars linked loosely to -its bottom. A mass of fishnet was fastened to the smaller spars and -heavy ropes were holding the spars and the net in place during its tow. -There was a hook for attaching the main spar to the concrete sinkers. - -"It opens like an umbrella," explained Deirdre. "We'll hoist it upright -barely out of the water, and fasten on the weights. The canvas bag fits -on that iron pipe. When you let it go, it sinks like an umbrella that's -tightly closed, but when it touches bottom the weights spread it out and -an explosive charge automatically goes off in that iron tube. It's -special explosive. The gas it makes inflates the canvas bag, which can't -burn underwater, and that floats the whole thing back up with the ribs -of the umbrella stretched out and spreading the net between them. It -should catch anything it encounters as it rises. As the pressure lowers, -the excess gas can escape through a relief-valve. This dredge is -experimental. If it works, it can be modified to do lots of things." - -"Such as poking at things we don't believe in," said Terry drily. "That -explosion ought to stir up anything in its neighborhood. It'll be much -more disturbing and audible than a few light taps against the -_Esperance's_ hull!" - -Deirdre grinned ruefully and did not answer. - -The bulky tow slowed the yacht. She did not reach the position of the -fish-filled circle until after nightfall, and it was necessary to have -plenty of light by which to locate the inflated bag when it came to the -surface, so nothing could be tried until the following morning. A short -while before daybreak, lights appeared at the horizon. Red and green -sidelights, and white central lights. It was a steamer. It came closer -and closer. Presently, it turned and headed upwind and went dead slow, -barely keeping steerage. It was the _Pelorus_. - -Dawn arrived in a golden radiance which thrust aside the night. The -_Pelorus_ shone brightly in the first rays of the sun. A large object -was hoisted out of her hold. Its shape was that of a gravid goldfish, -with a smaller sphere hanging beneath it. It went overside, slowly, and -there it floated, rolling wildly on the waves. For a very long time -nothing seemed to happen. Then the water-level of the float sank a -little. It was being filled with gasoline, which is lighter than water -and practically incompressible. - -On the _Esperance_, the tow had been pulled alongside and the yacht's -powerful winch hauled it upright. The yacht heeled over from the weight. -The crew-cuts fastened the canvas sack in place, and Davis loaded the -explosive charge into the iron tube. The crew-cuts cleared the nets. -This preliminary operation seemed promising, and it was quite likely -that the dredge would operate as it was designed to do. - -The _Pelorus_ whistled impatiently. Nick abandoned his job and went -below to the short-wave set. He returned shortly after. - -"The _Pelorus_ says she'll be ready to send the bathyscaphe down for a -test dive in two hours," he reported. "She says she will object if our -gadget is floating free at the time, on the chance that it might -interfere with the bathyscaphe. She asks if you can send our dredge down -right away and get it over with." - -"Tell them yes," said Davis. "In five minutes." - -He compressed his lips. The _Esperance's_ device, though clumsy, was -fundamentally simple. Five minutes later the top of the central spar was -level with the water. "Cut away," said Davis. - -Doug slashed the single rope holding the dredge. It sank immediately. - -The recorder gave off the sound of waves. Occasionally, very -occasionally, a chirping or a grunt could be heard. Twenty minutes. -Thirty. - -There was a "crump!" from the loudspeaker which reported underwater -events. The sound seemed to come from very far below. Even a small -amount of explosive makes a very considerable concussion when it goes -off so far down, and the shock travels in all directions instead of -merely upward. The recorder picked up that concussion as a deep-bass -sound. - -The sun shone. The wind increased. Waves marched in serried ranks from -here to there. - -A long, long time later the inflated canvas bag came up and was floating -on top of the waves. The _Pelorus_ whistled. Nick went below. A few -minutes later he came up again to report. - -"The _Pelorus_ says not to cast our dredge adrift. They're sending the -bathyscaphe down unmanned, to test all apparatus before a manned dive. -They don't want any debris in the sea." - -"Tell them we send them a kiss," snapped Davis, "and they needn't -worry!" - -The _Esperance_ approached the floating bag. Jug swung out on the -lifting boom and hooked it. The winch hauled it out of the water. The -concrete weights were gone. What the nets had captured was not pretty to -see. A dead fish with foliated appendages had come up from far below, to -judge by what its unpunctured swim bladder had done to it in -uncontrolled expansion. Davis said curtly it was _Linophrine arborifer_, -belonging two thousand fathoms below. An angry-looking creature, -similarly dead, was _Opisthoproctus grimaldi_. It belonged deeper than -the other. There were other specimens. A _genostoma_ of a species the -books didn't picture; a _Myctophum_; and various other creatures, mostly -as grotesque as their scientific names. All were abyssal fish. They had -died while rising from a pressure of several tons per square inch to -surface-pressure only. - -"It worked," said Davis curtly. "I almost wish it hadn't. Let it down -into the water again. We'll jettison it when the _Pelorus_ gives us -permission." - -Time passed. More time. Still more. The bathyscaphe was now in the -water, practically awash. Only a small conning tower showed above the -waves. Men swarmed around it. - -There came a query from the _Pelorus_. The _Esperance_ gave assurance -that the deep-sea dredge had returned to the surface and would be kept -there. - -The bathyscaphe was allowed to sink. - -The recorder on the yacht began to pick up deep-toned mooing sounds from -the depths. - -Presently, the mooing sounds ceased. - -Two hours later, waves broke over an object completely awash on the -ocean. The _Pelorus_ steamed cautiously toward it. Boats went down from -her sides and surrounded the float. - -After a long time the _Pelorus_ got alongside and men quickly fastened -the huge buoy to the ship. Then the down-wind sea changed its -appearance. A reek of gasoline reached the _Esperance_. - -"Something happened," said Davis dourly. "They're dumping the -gasoline--not even pumping it aboard. Let's get out of the stink." - -The _Esperance_ beat to windward. The _Pelorus_ began to lift something -large and ungainly out of the water. The _Esperance_ went down-wind to -take a look at it. - -The yacht went past no more than fifty yards away, just as the -bathyscaphe left the water and swung clear. - -The bathyscaphe's conning-tower was gone. It had been torn away by brute -force. The three-inch-thick steel globe.... Half of it was gone. The -rest was crushed. The sphere, which had been designed to resist a -crushing pressure of ten tons per square inch, had been ripped in half! -It had been bitten through. Bitten! - -There was no comment by anybody on the _Esperance_. - -Half a mile from the oceanographic ship, Davis said in a peculiarly flat -voice, "Cut away the dredge. We won't try to use it again." - -Someone slashed the inflated canvas bag. It collapsed. Somebody cut away -a rope. The free dredge sank, slowly. It would never come up again. - -The _Esperance_ changed course. She headed north by west. There was -still no conversation at all. The yacht seemed to tiptoe away from the -scene of the bathyscaphe's destruction. - -A long time later, Deirdre said tentatively, "Have you been making -guesses, Terry?" - -"Guesses, yes," he admitted. - -"Such as?" - -"Your father denied that the dredge was designed to stir up whatever -gathered the fish together and then carried them down to the bottom of -the sea. I was right there with him in the denial, but that's what we -intended, just the same. We said we didn't believe there was anything -there, so it couldn't do any harm to poke it. We poked, all right! Our -dredge, and then the bathyscaphe...." - -"But what ..." - -"And a bolide fell right there a couple of nights ago," said Terry -irrelevantly. "I wonder what the entity on the ocean-bottom thought of -the bolide. Hm." He paused. "I wonder, too, what the bolide thought of -what it found down there. Is that too crazy for a sane man to think, -Deirdre?" - -She shook her head. - -"Why is my father working on this business?" she asked. "And why are the -boys helping, and why do radar stations tell us what they find out, and -why did the Philippine Government ask the _Pelorus_ to make a -bathyscaphe dive at just that spot?" - -Terry blinked at her. - -"Too crazy for official notice, eh?" he said, "but too dangerous not to -check up on! Is it absolutely certain that the bolides are bolides?" - -"No." - -"Thanks," said Terry. He pursed his lips as if to whistle. "I've been -thinking of this thing as a puzzle. But it isn't. I'm very much afraid -it's a threat!" He paused. "Y-y-es. I've just made a new guess. It adds -everything together. I do hope it's wrong, Deirdre! I've got cold chills -running up and down my spine!" - - - - -_Seven_ - - -As the _Esperance_ sailed northward, she looked almost unreal. From a -distance she might have been an artist's picture of an imaginary yacht -heeled over in the wind, sailing splendidly over a non-existent ocean. -The sky was a speckless blue, the sun was high. - -But she was real enough, and the China Sea around her was genuine, and -what had taken place where the _Pelorus_ lay now hull-down, stowing a -ruined bathyscaphe in her hold, had unquestionably taken place. - -Something monstrous and terrible was hidden in the dark abyss below the -yacht. The ferocity of its attack on the bathyscaphe was daunting. And -ferocity has always, somehow, a suggestion of madness about it. But the -humming sound in the sea was not the product of madness. It was a -technical achievement. And plastic objects with metal inclusions.... - -Davis joined Deirdre and Terry. Before Davis could speak she said, "I -can't imagine any guess that will add everything together, Terry." - -Davis made a jerky gesture. - -"Today's business is beyond all reason," he said unhappily, "and if -there ever was an understatement, that's it! If there can be any -conceivable motive for the plastic objects, which the _Pelorus dismisses -as hoaxes, the motive is to use them to find out_ something about -surface conditions; that is, for surface conditions to be reported back. -And that's not easy to imagine. But try to think of something easier! -And yet, such mindless ferocity as attacked the bathyscaphe ... that -wouldn't be curious about the surface!" - -"No-o-o-o," agreed Terry. "It wouldn't. But we'd set off a bomb down -below to stir things up. A couple of hours later the bathyscaphe went -down. A stupid and merely ferocious thing of the depths wouldn't -associate a bomb that exploded with a bathyscaphe that came down two -hours later. It took intelligence to make the association of two falling -objects with danger." - -Deirdre beamed suddenly. - -"Of course! That's it! Go on!" - -"Curiosity implies intelligence," said Terry carefully, "and -intelligence is a substitute for teeth or claws. We don't assume that -the fish that carry the plastic gadgets made them. Why assume that -whatever attacked the bathyscaphe did it of its own accord? We believe -that something else makes the deep-sea fish come up into the Thrawn -Island lagoon, don't we? Or do we?" - -"We pretend we don't," said Deirdre. - -Davis nodded reluctantly. - -"Yes, we pretend we don't," he agreed. "But if intelligence is involved, -I find myself getting frightened! We humans are always terrified of -strange types of intelligence, anyhow. If it's intelligence that isn't -human ..." - -Nick came up from below. - -"Thrawn Island calling," he reported. "They say the hum at the lagoon -opening stopped for some forty-odd hours and then started again. They -ask if we're coming. I said we were on the way. They're standing by. -Anything we should tell them?" - -"We'll get there some time after sunset," said Davis. "And maybe you -should tell them about the _Pelorus_ and the bathyscaphe." - -Nick grinned briefly. "I did. And the guy on Thrawn Island said 'Hooray' -and then explained that he said that because he couldn't think of -anything that fitted the idea of something biting holes in three-inch -steel." He added, "I can't think of a proper comment, either." - -"We'll get to Thrawn Island after sunset," repeated Davis. "Then we'll -see what we find in the lagoon--if anything." - -Nick started back toward the bow. He stopped. - -"Oh, yes! It wasn't a scientific guy talking, just the short-wave -operator. The science staff is all busy. He said they heard an hour ago -that another possible bolide's been spotted by a space-radar back in the -US. It was picked up farther out than one's ever been spotted before. -Five thousand miles high." - -Davis nodded without comment. Nick went forward and disappeared below. - -A school of porpoises appeared astern. They caught up with the -_Esperance_. They went rocketing past, leaping exuberantly for no reason -whatever. They cut across the yacht's bow and zestfully played around -her two or three times, then went on, toward a faraway horizon. They -managed somehow to give the impression of creatures who have done -something they consider important. - -"It's said," said Terry, "that porpoises have brains as good as men's. I -wish I could get one or two to talk! They might answer everything! I'm -getting obsessed by this infernal business!" - -"I've been at it for months," said Davis. "In the past week, though, -with you on board, I have found out more things I don't understand than -I believed existed!" - -He walked away. Deirdre smiled at Terry. - -"My father paid you a tribute," she said. "I think we've been wasting -time, you and I. We do a lot of talking to each other, but we haven't -been applying our massive brains to matters of real importance." - -"Such as what?" asked Terry dourly. - -"Foam," said Deirdre. "Big masses of foam seen to be floating on the -sea. Always over the Luzon Deep. Photographed by a plane less than a -month ago. Reported by fishermen much more often than you'd suspect. At -least once a ship sailed into a foam-patch and dropped out of sight, -exactly as if there were a hole in the sea there. Let's talk about -that." - -They settled down on the after-cabin roof and began a discussion on the -foam-patches, for which there was no hint of an explanation. Then -Deirdre mentioned that when she was a little girl she'd always been -fascinated by the sight of her father shaving. The foam--the -lather--entranced her. And somehow that led to something else, and that -to something else still. A full hour later they were talking enjoyably -about matters of no conceivable relationship to large patches of foam -seen floating on the ocean's surface where the water was forty-five -hundred fathoms deep. - -Davis came to a halt beside them. - -"Morton's just been talking to me from Thrawn Island," he said abruptly. -"He's very much upset. It's about that prospective bolide that was -spotted from Palomar. It's been right there for two hours." - -Terry waited. - -"Morton," said Davis, "would like us to try to photograph it when it -comes in, back where the _Pelorus_ was this morning." - -Terry stared. Shooting stars are not rare. On an average summer night -anybody can see at least three in an hour's watch of any one quarter of -the sky. Bolides are a rare kind of shooting star. Still, many people -have seen one or two in their lifetime. But nobody plans ahead of time -to observe a bolide, and still less does anybody ever plan in advance to -watch a meteorite arrive on the earth's surface, whether on land or sea. -It is simply not thinkable. - -"We'll go back and try," said Davis. He seemed embarrassed. "Morton says -there's no sense to it at all, and that if we do get photographs they'll -be considered fakes. He's really wrought up. But he asked if I thought I -could get a plane out from Manila to watch it fall--if it comes. I'm -going to try that too." He added, more embarrassed still, "Of course -nobody'd pay attention if I explained why the plane should go there. -I'll have to say that I'm just looking for something else peculiar to -happen at that spot. The _Pelorus_ must have already reported that one -peculiar thing has happened." - -Terry opened his mouth, and closed it again. Davis went away. - -"You had an idea," said Deirdre accusingly. "What?" - -"I was thinking of Horta," said Terry. "Police Captain Horta. A very -honest man with no scientific knowledge at all. Nobody with a scientific -education would pay any attention, but I could get him to tell a few -others who know as little as he does, and if the damned thing does turn -up, there'll be proof it was foretold. If it doesn't arrive--" Terry -shrugged, "I've no scientific reputation to lose." - -"Wonderful!" said Deirdre warmly. "But you wouldn't have proposed it but -for me! I'll put things in motion!" - -She vanished. Within minutes the _Esperance_ came about in a wide -semicircle and headed in the direction from which she had just come. -Deirdre stayed out of sight for a long while. When she came up it was to -tell Terry that Nick was calling on the short-wave set. He'd raised the -flattop in Manila Bay. The flattop had raised the shore. Telephone calls -were being made to here and there and everywhere to get Horta to a -short-wave station to take a call from Terry. - -It was near sunset when the complicated call was ready and Horta's voice -came into a pair of headphones Terry was wearing in the _Esperance's_ -radio room. - -"I need," said Terry slowly, "to have a number of people in Manila know -now of something that's going to happen out at sea tonight. They'll be -needed to testify that they knew of the prediction before the event. Can -you arrange it?" - -"_Por supuesto_," said Horta's voice cheerfully. "Are we not _amigos_? -What is the prediction and who should know?" - -"The prediction," said Terry doggedly, anticipating disbelief and -protest, "is that at twelve minutes after nine o'clock tonight a large -meteorite will fall into the sea where--hmm--where _La Rubia_ catches -her fish. No, you'd better not locate it that way. I'll give you the -position." - -Davis, standing by, wrote the position in latitude and longitude and -handed it to him. He read it into the transmitter. - -"Have you got it?" he demanded. "Is it written down?" - -"Ah, yes," said Horta tranquilly. "I will see that they make a -memorandum of the matter. Shall I tell three or four persons, or more? I -have news for you also. Jimenez...." - -"Look here!" said Terry sharply. "I want this thing to be past all -doubt! Everybody who's ever been worried about _La Rubia_ should know -about this! There should be no possible doubt about it! But there should -be disbelief, so people who don't believe will try to verify that it -didn't happen, so they can crow over the people who thought it would, or -might." - -"Ah!" said Horta. "You wish you stick out the neck! It is serious! Now -tell me again!" - -"At twelve minutes after nine tonight," said Terry doggedly, "A shooting -star will fall into the sea at...." He named the latitude and longitude -Davis had given him. "That is where _La Rubia_ catches her fish." - -"A shooting star will fall there?" protested Horta. "But who knows where -they fall?" - -"You do," said Terry. "This one, anyhow. Now, will you see that a number -of people know about it?" - -"It is cr-azy!" objected Horta. Then he said, "I will do it." - -The short-wave call ended, with Horta too much disturbed to refer again -to Jimenez. - -By sunset Doug had gotten out the gun-cameras. Doug held an impromptu -class on deck, showing the other crew-cuts exactly how to aim the -cameras and expose the films, and what button to press to change film -automatically between shots. He was unhappy because he did not know how -bright the object to be photographed would be, for his lens-settings. He -was even more unhappy because the bolide might travel at practically any -angular velocity, so he didn't know how to set the shutters. But the -focus would be infinity, and if he used the fastest possible film, he -could stop most motion with a hundredth second exposure. - -Instead of reaching Thrawn Island shortly after sunset, then, the -_Esperance_ was back above the place where the dredge had been dropped -and the bathyscaphe wrecked. The _Pelorus_ was gone. The people on board -that ship must have been very upset. The bathyscaphe had cost more money -than is usually allotted to most scientific researchers, and now it was -smashed. How would they justify themselves? They could hardly blame the -_Esperance_. - -The yacht sailed in a closed pattern over this area of the Luzon Deep. -Deirdre served dinner on deck. Stars shone down almost instantly after a -sunset of unusual magnificence, even for the China Sea. Tony brought his -guitar aft, and a contagious feeling of exhilaration spread about the -_Esperance_ and an improvised party took place on deck. Maybe the mood -for festivity arose from the realization that at least nine-tenths of -the world's population would have graded them as lunatics, had it known -their project for the evening. - -It would have been unjust, of course. Terry reflected that it had not -been their idea to make an appointment with a shooting star. They were -doing it out of some sort of professional courtesy, "from one set of -crackpots to another," Terry phrased it in his own mind. It was a wild -attempt to secure proof of the starkly impossible. So there was chatter, -singing, and some dancing. The high spot was perhaps the time when Jug -bashfully serenaded the rigging and the stars above it with howling -melodies he'd learned in college. - -Eventually, Nick went down to the short-wave set. Doug passed out the -gun-cameras again, after checking each one. Nick popped his head out of -the hatch. - -"Dr. Morton's been calling like crazy," he reported. "The bolide's made -four orbital turns, coming in all the while. It ought to touch the -atmosphere next time around. ETO is nine-twelve-seventeen-seconds. I -told him we're all set." - -His head disappeared. - -"Don't forget!" Doug said anxiously. "The cameras will feel like -shotguns but don't lead your target! And don't forget to press the -film-changer!" - -Terry lifted his gun-camera experimentally. It did feel like a shotgun. -And then, suddenly, he disbelieved everything: the purpose of the -_Esperance's_ original investigation; the phenomena that had been -observed; the guesses that had been made. It was pure insanity! He felt -a quick impatience with himself for becoming entangled in anything so -ridiculous. - -Deirdre leaned toward him and whispered forlornly, "Terry! It's -dreadful! I've just had an attack of common sense! What are we doing -here? We're crazy!" - -He put his hand consolingly over hers. The act was unpremeditated and -the sensation was startling. He found that they were staring at each -other intently in the starlight. - -"I think ..." said Terry, unsteadily, "that it's very sensible to be -crazy. We've got to ... talk this over." - -Deirdre smiled at him shakily. - -"Y-yes, we will." - -Then Davis pointed out positions for the camera operators. The bolide's -course should be three hundred fifty degrees, not quite on a north-south -line. It might land short of, or beyond, the _Esperance_. Or it might -pass many miles to the east or west. Dr. Morton needed as many pictures -of it against recognizable stars as could possibly be secured. - -Suddenly, there was a faint, dull rumbling in the heavens. It grew -louder. Presently, cruising lights appeared in the sky. They maintained -a fixed relationship to each other. They looked like moving stars, -flying in formation from star-cluster to star-cluster. - -Nick popped abovedecks again. - -"The planes just called us," he reported. "They've just had a Loran -position-check and they're on the mark. They've got orders to observe -any unusual phenomena occurring around nine-twelve P.M., Manila time. -Using civilian terminology, it sounds like they're saying the Philippine -Government asked them to come out and take a look." - -"It's five after nine now," said Davis. - -The _Esperance_ headed into the wind. Her bow rose and fell. Waves -washed past, and roarings trundled about under the stars overhead, and -very tiny lights moved in a compact group across the firmament. - -Time passed. - -At twenty-two seconds after nine-twelve--which is to say at twenty-one -hours, twelve minutes, twenty-two seconds--a light appeared in the sky -from the north. It grew steadily brighter. It suddenly flared very -brightly indeed, then dimmed, and continued to rise above the horizon. -Seconds later it flared again, very briefly. - -Terry found himself aiming the gun-camera. He pulled trigger and changed -film and pulled trigger and changed film. - -The bright light ceased to climb. It grew steadily brighter and -brighter, and then it flared for the third time--Terry's mind asked -skeptically, 'Braking rockets?'--and the light was so intense that the -cracks in the yacht's deck-planking could be seen. Then the extra -brilliance vanished, and suddenly the moving light was no longer white, -but reddish. - -Terry aimed again and fired the gun-camera. - -The light passed almost directly overhead. Terry had the impression that -he felt its heat upon his skin. - -It plunged into the sea two miles beyond the _Esperance_. The shock-wave -caused by the impact tapped on the yacht's side-planking a few seconds -later. Starlight shone upon a plume of steam. - -Then there was nothing but the noise of the circling planes above. Then -a sound, as of thunder. It disappeared northward. It was the sound of -the bolide's passage, arriving after the object itself had dived into -the sea. - -The people on the _Esperance_ were dumfounded. Nick went below and came -up again a few minutes latter. - -"The planes were calling," he reported. "They say they noted the unusual -phenomenon. They ask if they should stay around for something else." - -"I think," said Davis caustically, "that that's all that's scheduled -just now. Tell them so." - -The _Esperance_ went on steadily again, a trifle west of north. Davis -was below, talking via radio to Dr. Morton at the satellite tracking -base. - -Terry and Deirdre went to look for a place where they could talk over -something privately. It was of enormous importance to them, but it was -not connected with fish or meteorites or plastic objects or anything at -all but the two of them. And to them the yacht seemed crowded with -people, even though there was nobody else abovedecks but one of the -crew-cuts at the wheel. - -When the _Esperance_ entered the lagoon the next morning, though, their -private talk had evidently come to a satisfactory conclusion. Deirdre -smiled at Terry without any reason whatever, and he looked at once smug -and embarrassed and uneasy, as if he possessed a new status to which he -was still unaccustomed. - -The recorder, trailing a submarine ear overboard, had duly reported the -presence of the hum in the water, just outside the lagoon. It had not -been operating for forty hours or thereabouts. During that time the fish -inside could go out of the lagoon, if they chose. And other fish could -come in. Terry said suddenly, as the yacht went under power toward the -tracking station wharf, "Suppose there was a cone of noise just outside -the lagoon, and the flanks of the submarine mountain under us were -included in the cone? And suppose the cone grew smaller, like the other -one. What would happen?" - -Deirdre shook her head, smiling at him. - -"The fish," said Terry, "could escape into the lagoon." - -"Probably," agreed Deirdre. - -"And if fish could be driven downward along a certain path," said Terry, -"the way we saw it happen, why, fish could be driven up in a certain -path, too." - -"Obviously," said Deirdre. - -"So if something wanted to replace the fish in the lagoon, or to add to -their number, why, it would puncture their swim bladders far, far down, -and then drive them up to the surface and into the lagoon, and then keep -the noise going to keep them inside." - -"Is this a new idea?" asked Deirdre. - -"N-n-o," admitted Terry. "I've had it for some time." - -"So," said Deirdre, "have I." - -The _Esperance's_ engine stopped, and she floated to gentle contact with -the wharf. Members of the tracking station staff made the yacht fast. -With others, Dr. Morton came on board. His expression was the picture of -unrelieved gloom. - -"I'm in a nice spot!" he told Davis. "I predicted a second bolide -correctly! I had to use a different retardation factor to make the math -come out right. Now I'm asked to explain that! How can I tell them I -knew where it would fall, and only had to compute when?" - -"Come below and look at the pictures we got," said Davis. - -They disappeared down the after-cabin hatch. Terry knew about the -pictures. Doug had developed them with sweating care, developing each -negative separately and adjusting the development-time to the varying -exposures of the bright object. - -There was a total of twenty reasonably good pictures of the bolide, from -its first appearance to its plunge into the ocean, two miles from the -_Esperance_. Doug had enlarged some of them. There were distinct -star-patterns in most. In nearly all, though, the object was more or -less blurred by its own motion. In those taken when it flared most -brightly, the blurriness was especially marked. There was only one -picture of professional, if accidental, quality, and it was the least -convincing of all. It showed the fore-part of a conical shape traveling -point-first. Nobody would conceivably believe that it was a meteorite. -It looked artificial. - -Terry and Deirdre, as it happened, stayed on deck. The people of the -tracking station made a babbling uproar. It appeared that the most -important event in history, as history was viewed on Thrawn Island, had -taken place the night before. It was revealed--Terry had not suspected -his own success--that in asking Horta to see that there was -foreknowledge of a meteoric fall, Terry had arranged for the matter to -be taken immediately to high Philippine Government officials. The -American flattop, at their request, had sent planes to the place of the -fall, with orders which were enigmatic only until the descending object -appeared. Then every man in every plane knew that he'd been sent there -to see it. - -So there could be no question but that Dr. Morton had predicted it. That -meant that he knew more about meteoric objects than anybody else in the -world. What he had to say was of vast importance, and Thrawn Island -shared in his achievement. But it was a strictly professional triumph. -The news would not break in the newspapers. No ordinary reader would -believe in it. And nobody anywhere would believe in Morton's knowledge -of the place of the fall before he began to calculate. - -Terry observed that the people of Thrawn Island were definitely no -longer interested in fish. They'd kept their eyes open for oddities -because a deep-sea fish with a plastic object attached had been caught -in the lagoon a long while before. They'd been intensely interested when -Terry herded all the lagoon fish into one small inner bay, and they -speared sixty fish that had no business being at the surface. They'd -found eight more plastic objects. Such things had been interesting, if -not important. But now the head of the Thrawn Island staff had computed -the place and time of arrival of a meteoric mass from space! And he did -it when that mass was five thousand miles out! From a professional -standpoint, this was stupendous! They tried to make Terry see how -important it was. - -Davis and Morton came up from below. They headed for the shore. The -crew-cuts trailed off to the land with most of the visitors. Only -Deirdre and Terry remained on the yacht, with a mere short-wave operator -from the island. - -"We're going to have a fancy lunch, with champagne and speeches," the -operator said hopefully. "You'll come?" - -"Naturally!" said Terry. "But first we're going swimming. We haven't had -a chance to be overboard since the last time we were here." - -"We'll be back in time for lunch," Deirdre assured the operator, "but -swimming here is so wonderful! We've been talking about it for days!" - -She went below to change. The operator shrugged. After a further attempt -to interest Terry in the celebration of an astronomical first, he went -ashore. Terry went with him to get the outboard motorboat he and Deirdre -had used before. He was already wearing swimming trunks. - -A little later the small boat putt-putted away from the _Esperance_ upon -the glassy-rippled waters of the lagoon. - -There was a very great tranquillity everywhere. The booming roar of the -surf came from unseen rollers on the reef outside. Seabirds squawked. -Palms along the edge of the lagoon waved their fronds very, very gently. - -"How far will you go before we swim?" asked Deirdre. "All the lagoon's -perfect. One place is as good as another." - -He cut off the motor. - -"Hmmm. There's a deep place yonder," he observed. "That's where I went -with the aqualung and speared the freak fish. Stay away from it." - -She jumped over in a clean dive. He joined her in the water. She came -up, blowing bubbles. - -"All right, Terry. What are your troubles?" - -"That bolide bothers me," he told her. "It had a specific destination! -It was meant to hit the water over the Luzon Deep!" - -She dived again. This time Terry followed her. The underwater world was -beautifully bright, with ripplings making everything seem to shimmer -because of the changing light. When they came up again Deirdre said, -"Funny!" - -"It had a purpose!" insisted Terry. "There were others before it, and -they had a purpose too! That's not funny!" - -"I didn't mean that," said Deirdre. "I meant ... just now, under the -water.... What's that?" - -There was a swirling at the surface, some tens of yards away. It was not -the curling eddy made by a fish about to break surface. It was too big a -disturbance for that. It looked as if something stirred, barely -submerged, but something very large. Terry, staring, thought of a -porpoise cavorting just below the ripples. Or perhaps a shark. But -sharks and porpoises are too small to have made this eddying. It -reappeared. - -"Get in the boat!" snapped Terry. "Quick!" - -While she climbed in he let himself sink, his eyes open. There was a -clouding of the water underneath, where the surface-disturbance had -been. It was mud from the bottom which had been stirred up. He could see -nothing clearly through it, though nearby and around him he could easily -see the colorings of coral and fan sponges, and he could see small fish -darting here and there. - -He broke surface. Deirdre bent anxiously over the gunwale. - -"What is it?" - -"I don't know," he said curtly. "But give me a fish spear." - -"You won't...." - -"I just want to have something in my hand," he told her impatiently, -"while I look." - -He took the spear she handed him, and sank once more. Again something -moved in the deeper part of the lagoon. It was a fretful motion, as if a -creature or creatures tried to burrow away from the light shining -through the water. Whatever moved, a thick cloud of debris from the -bottom floated all the way up to the surface. - -Terry came up for air. - -"There's something queer there," he said shortly. "I don't know what." - -He went under and swam cautiously nearer to the disturbance. He was -within a few feet of the curling cloud of obscurity when something like -a gigantic worm came out of it. Or maybe it was like an elephant's -trunk, only no elephant ever had a trunk so huge. It was a dull and -glistening writhing object. Its end was rounded. The tip of the -worm-like thing must have been a foot in diameter, and it came out of -the mud cloud for four feet, then six, then, fifteen feet. It thickened -only slightly in that length. It groped blindly in the brightness. - -Terry swam back quickly, and the object reared up and made a groping -sweep through the clear water. Some peculiar white disks suddenly -appeared on the underside of the long tentacle. They looked like -sucker-disks, able to grip anything at all. The monstrous tentacle -fumbled for Terry, as if guided by the pressure-waves his movements -generated. - -Terry froze. Deirdre moved in the boat almost directly overhead. -Something clanked in the boat and he heard it. The boat was probably -rocking, making the pressure-waves that a creature from the abyss would -depend upon for guidance where eyes would not serve at all. - -The thick, bulging tentacle reached toward the sound at the surface, now -ignoring Terry, though he was nearer. He was still. The white -sucker-disks on its under side had several rings of a horny, tooth-like -substance at their rims. The smallest were about four inches wide. The -fumbling object felt blindly in the water. Deirdre stirred again in the -boat. The visible portion of the groping monstrosity was already longer -than the boat. The whole creature would be enormous! If this groping arm -rested upon the gunwale of the boat, it could easily swamp it. - -It groped for the boat, coming horribly out of a cloud of mud. It -reached out. In another instant it would touch.... - -Terry plunged his fish spear into the worm. It jerked violently. There -were enormous thrashings. Other similar white-disked arms thrust into -view, fumbling somehow angrily for the creature--Terry--which had dared -to attack it. - -He darted for the surface. Something unspeakably horrible touched him, -but it was the smooth and not the suckered side of the groping worm. -Terry's head was now above water. He grasped the gunwale to pull himself -in, in a fever of haste. But the thing that had touched him before came -back. It grazed his leg, for just a second. Where it touched, his flesh -burned like fire. - -"Start ... motor!" gasped Terry. "Get away!" - -Something touched the stern-board of the boat. Deirdre pulled the -starter of the motor. - -"Get in!" she said tensely. "Quickly!" - -She saw him, straining every muscle by pure, agonized instinct against -the irresistible force of whatever clung to his skin. The horrible -tentacle stretched, and part of its length took a new grip. It crawled -upon him.... Deirdre saw the look on his face. - -She snatched up the second spear and stabbed past him, into the crawling -beast. There was a most violent jerking. She stabbed again. She panted. -She gasped. She stabbed and stabbed, sobbing with fear and horror. And -Terry tumbled in over the gunwale, released. As soon as he fell onto the -floor-boards he painfully dragged himself toward the motor at the stern. -Something bumped the boat underneath. Terry pulled the starter and the -motor suddenly roared. But the boat didn't start immediately, and it -jerked once more. The whirling propeller-blades had touched one of the -groping tentacles and cut it. Tumult arose. - -The boat surged into motion and Terry, with clenched teeth, sent it into -a crazy, skidding turn to avoid a surface swirl, and then another -frantic swerve when something showed momentarily above the surface. The -boat zig-zagged along. A grisly, writhing object rose above the water, -flailing, a fish-spear sticking in it. The small, skimming boat dodged -and twisted at its topmost speed.... It suddenly straightened out and -almost flew across the water toward the land. - - - - -_Eight_ - - -Echoes of the outboard's roaring motor came back from the trunks of palm -trees that lined the lagoon's shore as the tiny boat raced across the -water. Deirdre was ashen-white. She turned her eyes from the water, and -they fell on the round raw places on Terry's leg where the sucker-disks -had bruised it horribly. She shuddered. She still had the sensation of -being pursued by the monster. Back where Deirdre's spear had finally -liberated Terry, startled and convulsive motions continued, followed by -a final gigantic splash. Terry drove the boat on at top speed. - -The monster sank again in the spot where the lagoon was deepest. It had -come from depths where there was no light; from an abyss where blackness -was absolute. Now, having lost its victim, it returned peevishly to such -darkness as it could secure. - -Terry said curtly, as the small boat raced for the _Esperance_ and the -wharf, "That creature was driven up from the Luzon Deep into the lagoon -to replace the gadget-carrying fish we speared!" - -Deirdre stammered a little. - -"Your l-leg.... You're bleeding...." - -"I'm pretty well skinned in a couple of places," he said shortly. -"That's all." - -"Could it be poisonous?" - -"Poison," said Terry, "is a weapon for the weak. This thing's not weak! -I'm all right. And I'm lucky!" - -"I'd have jumped over with my spear, if ..." - -"Idiot!" said Terry gently. "Never think of such a thing! Never! Never!" - -"I wouldn't want to l-live--" - -A new reverberating quality came into the echoes from the shore. The -pilings of the wharf were nearby, now. They multiplied the sounds they -returned. The _Esperance_ loomed up. Terry cut off the motor, the little -boat drifted to contact, and Deirdre scrambled to the yacht's deck, and -then took the bow line and fastened it. This was absurdly commonplace. -It was exactly what would have been done on the return from any usual -ride. - -"Go tell the others what we found," said Terry. "I'm going to see if -there's more than one of those things around." - -"Not ..." - -"No," he assured her. "I'm only going to use the fish-driving horn." - -Deirdre looked at him in distress. - -"Be careful! Please!" She kissed him suddenly, scrambled to the wharf, -and set off at a run toward the shore. Terry stared hungrily after her. -They'd come to a highly personal decision the night before on the -_Esperance_, but it still seemed unbelievable to him that Deirdre felt -about him the way he felt about her. - -He went forward to set up the fish-driving combination. One part of him -thought vividly of Deirdre. The other faced the consequences that might -follow if the bolides were not bolides, and if the plastic gadgets and -the nasty-sounding underwater hums were products of an intelligence -which could make bolides change their velocity in space; which made them -fall in the Luzon Deep in the China Sea and nowhere else. - -He set up the recorder with its loop of fish-driving hum. He put the -horn overboard, carefully oriented to spread its sound through all the -enclosed shallow water of the lagoon. He turned the extra amplifier to -maximum output, to increase the effectiveness of the noise, and turned -on the apparatus. - -The glassy look of the lagoon-water vanished immediately. Fish leaped -crazily everywhere, from half-inch midgets to lean-flanked predators a -yard and more in length. There was no square foot in all the shallows -where a creature didn't struggle to escape the sensation of pins and -needles all over its body. And these pins and needles pricked deep. - -Flying-fish soared crazily, and they were the most fortunate because so -long as they flew, the tormenting water-sound did not reach them. But -many of them landed on the beach, and even among the palms. - -In the spot where blind and snakelike arms had tried to destroy Terry -and Deirdre, the lashing and swirling was of a different kind. Something -there used enormous strength to offer battle to a noise. The water was -whipped to froth. Twice Terry saw those rope-like arms rise above the -water and flail it. - -This particular sort of tumult, however, appeared only in one spot. So -there was only one such creature in the lagoon. - -When Davis and the others came down from the tracking station, Terry -turned off the horn. He was applying soothing ointment to the raw flesh -of his leg. - -"There's a monstrous creature out there," he said evenly when a -white-faced Davis demanded information. "Heaven knows how big it is, but -it's something like a huge squid. It may be the kind that sperm whales -feed on, down in the depths." - -Others from the tracking station arrived, panting. - -"Oh! I'm tired of being conservative!" added Terry fiercely. "I'm going -to say what all of us think! There's something intelligent down at the -bottom of the sea, five miles down!" - -He glared challengingly around him. - -"Who doesn't believe that?" he demanded. "Well, the reporting gadgets -don't report any more. We killed the fish that carried them. So that -whatever-it-is down on the sea-bed has very cleverly sent up something -we ignorant savages wouldn't dare to meddle with! We would be terrified. -But we'll show _it_ what men are like!" - -Dr. Morton said gently, "Perhaps we should notify the _Pelorus_. The -biologists on board there...." - -"No!" said Terry grimly. "I have a private quarrel with this monster. It -might have killed Deirdre! And Davis already tried to tell those -biologists something! Tell them about this, and they'll want proofs they -wouldn't look at anyhow. We'll handle this ourselves! It's too important -for them!" - -"Much too important," said Deirdre firmly. "The shooting stars aren't -shooting stars and there's something down in the depths just like Terry -says. He's right that we can't consider sharing our world with--beings -that come down from the sky, even if they only want our oceans and don't -care about the land. He says that we wouldn't get along with creatures -that know more than we do, and we would especially resent any space -ships coming uninvited to start colonies on our world while we're not -advanced enough to stop them! If that's what they're doing, they have to -be fought from the very first instant to the very last moment there's -one of them hiding in our seas! Terry's right!" - -"I haven't heard him say any of those things, young lady," said Morton -drily, "but they're true. And I don't like the idea of a sea monster -being in the lagoon anyhow. Especially one that tries to kill people. -Still, fighting it...." - -"There are a couple of bazookas on the _Esperance_," said Terry sharply. -He looked at Davis. "If you're willing to risk the yacht, we can drive -the beast aground, or at least to shallow water, with the submarine -horn. Then the bazookas should be able to destroy it. Will you take the -risk?" - -"Of course you'll use the _Esperance_," said Davis. "Of course!" - -"Then I'll want," said Terry, unconsciously taking command, "somebody at -the engine and somebody at the wheel. I'll run the horn. But, frankly, -if that monster lays one sucker-arm on the _Esperance_, it may be -good-bye. Any volunteers?" - -In minutes the _Esperance_, her engine rumbling, pulled away from the -dock. She had on board all her original company except Deirdre--firmly -left ashore by her father and Terry--and in addition she carried Dr. -Morton and the most enthusiastic amateur photographer of the tracking -station staff. He was shaky but resolute, and was hanging about with an -imposing array of cameras, for both still and motion pictures. The -_Esperance's_ sails were furled and she went into battle under bare -poles. Davis was busy manufacturing improvised hand grenades for himself -and Morton. - -The sun was nearly overhead. Terry asked Morton questions about the -lagoon. They finally chose a minor inlet as the place to which the -creature must be driven, if possible. There it could be immobilized by -the intolerable sound from the recorder. There it could be destroyed. - -"I wonder," said Morton wryly, "if I can present a dead giant squid as -part of the explanation for my computed orbits for the last two -bolides!" - -The _Esperance_ moved steadily toward the place where Terry had nearly -been killed. - -The enterprise was risky. The _Esperance_ was sixty-five feet long. The -creature it was to attack was much larger, and if one of its kind had -crushed the bathyscaphe, it had sufficient strength and ferocity to make -a battle cruiser a much more suitable antagonist. But the true folly of -the effort was its purpose. - -It all started when a fishing boat--_La Rubia_--went to sea and caught -remarkable quantities of fish, of which four specimens had had plastic -artefacts fastened to them. Then Terry began checking on certain noises -he heard in the sea which provoked an incomprehensible crowding of -millions of fish into a small area, from which they swam down to depths -where they could not survive. Now the killing of this squid was supposed -to cast a light on the mystery of the nine bolides which had fallen into -a particular part of the ocean. - -Terry had the undersea horn turned vertically so that it would transmit -a blade of sound wherever he aimed it, instead of spreading all through -the lagoon. He turned it on. - -The water before the _Esperance_ suddenly speckled and splashed from the -maddened leaps of fish of every possible size. He turned it off. He -aimed it where the ripples showed the presence of something huge beneath -the surface. He turned it on again. - -There were convulsive writhings. A long tentacle emerged briefly and -then splashed under again. The writhings continued. Terry adjusted his -aim. Crazy leapings of smaller creatures showed the line of the -sound-beam, as tracer-bullets show the paths of bullets from a machine -gun. He cut off the sound for an instant and turned it on again at full -volume, pointed where the monster must be. There was explosive tumult -underwater. Huge arms flailed above the surface. But once again the -creature fled. - -The _Esperance_ followed slowly, now. The monster had reacted to the -stinging sound-beam as if cowed. But it was a deep-sea creature. It did -not know how to move when squeezed into a shallow water which hampered -its movements. It seemed frightened to discover itself trapped between -the lagoon-bottom and the surface. And it was dazzled by the brightness -to which it had been driven. Left unattacked, even for an instant, it -tried to burrow away from the light, and again it made a dense cloud of -mud from the bottom. Then it became quiet, as if hiding. - -Grimly, Terry lanced it with the painful noise. The water frothed. -Monstrous tentacles appeared and disappeared, and once part of the -creature's body itself emerged. It was cornered into a minor inlet, and -there the water grew more shallow and the monster did not want to go to -where its motions would be even more confined. - -It seemed to flow into the deepest part of the miniature bay. It was as -if it felt certain of a haven there. When the tormenting noise-beam -struck again, the abyssal monster flung itself about crazily. A -terrible, frustrated rage filled it. Its arms fumbled here and there, -above water and below. It hauled itself upright so that a part of its -torpedo-shaped body broke through the surface. The monster was mad with -fury. It plunged toward the _Esperance_, not swimming now, but crawling -with all its eight legs in water too shallow to submerge it. Its effort -was desperate. It lifted everything from the water, and splashed -everything down again, all the while crawling toward its enemy. - -Terry saw Nick and Jug steady the aim of their bazookas. Davis ran -toward the bow with hand grenades. The huge squid came crawling, and -with every foot of advance the pain-noise grew more unendurable. -Suddenly the creature uttered a mooing cry and retreated. The cry was -like the mooing noise Terry had picked up from the depths. - -It went aground. It struggled to climb ashore, to do anything to escape -its tormentors. It foamed and splashed.... - -Despairing, it turned to face its tormentors. Its body reared almost -entirely out of the water, now. It sagged flabbily. It reeled as its -arms strained. Its eyes rose above the surface, blinded by the light. -They were huge eyes. Squids alone, among the invertebrates, have eyes -like those of land beasts. They flamed demoniac hatred. A beak appeared, -not unlike a parrot's, but capable of rending steel plates. The beak -opened and closed with clicking sounds that were singularly horrifying. -It snapped at the yacht, which was beyond reach. One of the tentacles -wrenched violently at something. It gave. The arm rose above the water. -A thorny mass of branched coral flew through the air and splashed close -beside the _Esperance_. - -"Shoot!" said Terry, somehow sickened. "Dammit, shoot!" - -Nick and Tony aimed closely. The bazookas made their peculiar, -inadequate sounds. The bazooka-shells, like small rocket-missiles, sped -through the short distance. They struck. Their shaped charges detonated, -again with inadequate loudness. They did not explode in a fashion to -tear the creature to bits. Instead, they sent lancing flames a thousand -times more deadly than bullets into the squid's flesh. - -It fought insanely. It uttered shrill cries. Its arms tore at its own -wounds, at the water, at the lagoon-bed as if it would rend and shatter -all the universe in its rage. - -The bazookas fired again and again. - -It was the eighth missile from the bazooka which ended the battle. Then -the enormous body went limp. Its horny beak ceased to try to crush all -creation. But the long, thick, sucker-disked arms thrashed aimlessly for -a long time. Even when they ceased to throw themselves about, they -quivered and rippled for a considerable period more. And when it seemed -that all life had left the gigantic beast, and the men from the -satellite-tracking station stepped on the monstrous body, it suddenly -jerked once more, in a last attempt to murder. - -The squid's body, without the tentacles, was thirty-five feet long. The -largest squid, the Atlantic variety, captured before had a mantle no -longer than twenty feet. That relatively familiar creature, -_Architeuthis princeps_, came to a maximum total length of fifty-two -feet. Counting the two longest arms of this one, it reached eighty. It -could not possibly swim in water less than six yards deep. It did not -belong in a coral lagoon, but it was there. - -It was close to sunset when the last tremors of the great mass of flesh -were stilled. Terry was in no mood for eating, afterward. He skipped the -evening meal altogether, and paced up and down the veranda of the dining -hall, at the satellite-tracking station. Inside, there was a clatter of -dishes and a humming of voices. Outside, there was a soft, warm, starlit -night. The surf boomed on the reef outside the lagoon. - -Deirdre came out and walked quickly into Terry's arms. She kissed him -and then drew back. - -"Darling!" she said softly. Her voice changed. "How is your leg? Does it -still hurt?" - -"It's nothing to worry about," said Terry. "I'm worried about something -else. Two things, in fact." - -"Name one!" said Deirdre, smiling. - -"I'd like to get married soon," said Terry ruefully. - -"To whom?" she asked, jokingly. - -"But I have to have a business or an income first. I think, though, that -with a little hard work I can start up my _especialidades electrónicas y -físicas_ again, and if you don't mind skimping a little ..." - -"I'll adore it," said Deirdre enthusiastically. "What else would I -want? What's the other thing you worry about?" - -"That monster," said Terry with some grimness. - -"Pouf!" said Deirdre. "You've killed it!" - -"I don't mean that one," said Terry more grimly. "I mean the one that -sent it. I wish I knew what it is and what it intends to do!" - -"You've already found out more than anybody else even dared to guess!" -she protested. - -"But not enough. We've stirred it up. It sent small fish in the lagoon -here and elsewhere to report back to it. We can't guess what the fish -reported, but we know some of it was about human beings. Whatever is -down at the bottom of the sea must be interested in men. Remember? It -made a patch of foam that swallowed up one ship and all its crew. It's -interested in men, all right!" - -"True, but...." - -"We dropped the dredge, which implied that we were interested in it. The -bathyscaphe indicated more interest on our part. To discourage that -interest--or perhaps in self-defense--it wrecked the bathyscaphe." - -"It, Terry?" asked Deirdre. "Or _ellos_, they?" - -"They," he corrected himself coldly. "We killed the fish that were -reporting men's doings from here. That was insolence on our part. So the -hum at the lagoon entrance went off and, after two nights, started -again--and then this huge squid was found in the lagoon. It should have -been able to defend itself against us. It was sent up here because it -was capable of defending itself! But we've killed it just the same. So -now what will come up out of the depths? And what will it do?" - -Deirdre said firmly, "You'll be ready for it when it comes!" - -"Maybe," said Terry. "Your father once mentioned an instrument he'd like -to have to take a relief map of the ocean bottom. Changed around a -little, it might be something we need very badly indeed. The horn we've -got is good, but not good enough. I'll talk to the electronics men -here." - -There was a noise of scraping chairs, inside the dining hall. People -came out, talking cheerfully. There was much to talk about on Thrawn -Island today. The killing of a giant squid had been preceded by a -specific guess that linked it to meteoric falls in the Luzon Deep. -Logically, the excitement had grown. - -Terry found his electronics specialists, and explained to them the type -of apparatus he was interested in. He asked if it was included in the -island's technical stores. He wanted to assemble something capable of -emitting underwater noises of special quality and unprecedented power. -There is not much power involved in sound through the air. A cornet -player manages with much effort to convert four-tenths of a watt of -power into music. A public-address system for a large area may give out -fifteen watts of noise. Terry described a device which could use a small -amount of power, serving as a sonar or a depth-finding unit, and then, -with the throw of a switch, turn kilowatts into vibrations underneath -the sea. If powerful and shrill enough, such vibrations could be lethal. - -A technical argument ensued. Terry's demands were toned down to fit the -equipment at hand. Then three men went with him to the island's -workshop. They took off their coats and set to work. - -Three hours later someone noticed an unknown vessel making its way into -the lagoon. She was stubby and small, and had short thick masts with -heavy booms tilted up at steep angles. Her Diesel engines boomed -hollowly, louder than the surf. As she entered the lagoon, a searchlight -winked on and flicked here and there. It finally found the wharf where -the _Esperance_ was moored. - -Men of the tracking station staff went down to the wharf to meet the -small row boat that was now coming ashore. - -A short, stout, irate fishing boat skipper waved his arms and shouted -angrily. What had _los americanos_ done to keep _La Rubia_ from catching -fish? Why had they changed the arrangement by which the starving wives -and children of _La Rubia's_ crew were fed? He would protest to the -Philippine Government! He would expose the villainy of _los americanos_ -to the world! He demanded that now, instantly, the original state of -affairs be restored! - -A fish leaped out of the water nearby. Where it leaped, and where it -fell back, bright specks of luminosity appeared. Even the ripples of the -splashes glowed faintly as they spread outward. The skipper of _La -Rubia_ stared. And now the people of the island realized that the look -of the water was not altogether commonplace. Little bluish flames under -the surface showed that many fish darted there. There were more fish -than usual in the lagoon. Many more. The lagoon had suddenly become a -fine place to catch fish. Some care would be needed, of course. There -were doubtless coral heads in plenty. But still ... - -The skipper of _La Rubia_ abruptly returned to his fury and his -protests. _La Rubia_ had gone to the place where she always found fish. -Always! There was a humming in the water there, and fish were to be -found in quantity. But yesterday the American ship had been there, and -also this very yacht! _La Rubia_ stayed out of sight lest the -_americanos_ learn her fishing secrets. But it was useless. When the two -American ships were gone, there was no longer a humming in the sea and -no more fish for the crew of _La Rubia_ to capture for their hungry -wives and children. And therefore he, Capitán Saavedra, demanded that -the _americanos_ restore the previous state of affairs. - -Davis would have intervened, but the chubby skipper erupted into wilder -and more theatrical accusations still. - -Let them not deny what they had done! Fish were always to be found where -there was a humming in the sea that _las orejas de ellos_ heard and -reported to him. But that humming was not in its former place. It was -here! At the entrance of the lagoon! The fish were here, also! _Los -americanos_ had moved the fish so the crewmen of _La Rubia_ could not -feed their wives and children. _Los americanos_ wished to take all the -fish for themselves! But fish were the property of all men, especially -fishermen with starving wives and children. So he, Capitán Saavedra, -would fish in this lagoon, and he defied anyone to stop him. - -"Certainly," said Terry. "_Seguramente!_" He added in Spanish: "We'll -lend you a short-wave contact with Manila to make any complaints you -please. I'm sure all the other fishing boats will be glad to hear where -you've been catching fish, and where you've found the fish have moved -to! Calm yourself, Capitán, and help yourself to the fish of the lagoon, -and any time you want to call Manila we'll arrange it!" - -He moved away. He went back to the electronics shop, while Morton and -Davis and the others talked encouragingly to Capitán Saavedra. Presently -they suggested that he accept their hospitality, and the Capitán and his -oarsmen went up to the dining hall, where they were served dinner, and a -more friendly mood developed. In time the Capitán said happily that he -would wait till sunrise to lower his nets, because he didn't want to -risk losing them on the coral heads. A few drinks later the Capitán -boasted about his own system of fishing, as practised by _La Rubia_. The -starving condition of his crew's wives and children ceased to be -mentioned. - -In the presence of so accomplished a liar, nobody of the tracking -station staff mentioned a giant squid hauled partly, but only partly, -out of the water. They suspected that he would not believe it. They were -sure that he would top their real feat by an imaginary one. So the four -crew-cuts listened politely, and fed him more drinks, and learned much. - -In the workshop the most unlikely device Terry'd described took form. In -effect, it was an underwater horn which was much more powerful than it -looked. Submerged, and with power from a group of amplifiers in -parallel, it would create a tremendous volume of underwater noise. That -sound would run through a tube shaped like a gun-barrel. It would travel -in a straight line, spreading only a little. - -The same projection tube could also send out the tentative -beep-beep-beep of sonar gear, or the peculiar noise a depth-finder -makes. So the instrument could search out a distance or find a target, -and then fling at it a beam of humming torment equal to bullets from a -machine gun. - -It would have taken Terry, alone, a long time to build. But he had -three assistants, two of whom were very competent. By dawn, they had it -ready to be mounted upon the _Esperance_. It was placed hanging from the -bow, mounted on gimbals, so that it could point in any direction. It was -firmly fixed to the yacht's planking. - -There was plenty of activity on _La Rubia_, too, at daybreak. That squat -and capable fishing boat prepared to harvest the fish in the lagoon. She -got her nets over. She essayed to haul them. Some got caught on the -coral heads rising from the lagoon's bottom toward the surface. Capitán -Saavedra swore, and untangled them. He tried again. Again coral heads -baulked the enterprise. The nets tore. - -A helicopter came rattling into view from the south. It grew in size and -loudness, and presently hovered over the tracking station. Then it made -a wide, deliberate circuit of the lagoon. At the inlet where the squid -lay almost entirely in the water--but fastened by ropes lest it drift -away--above that spot, the helicopter hovered for a long time. It must -have been taking photographs. Presently, it lowered one man by a line to -the ground. Obviously, the man could not endure any delay in getting at -so desirable a biological specimen. Then the helicopter went droning and -rattling to the tracking station, and landed with an air of weariness. - -_La Rubia_ continued to try to catch fish. They were here in plenty. But -the coral heads were everywhere. Nets tore. Ropes parted. Capitán -Saavedra waved his arms and swore. - -The _Esperance_ rumbled and circled away from the wharf, and headed for -the lagoon entrance. The singular contrivance built during the night was -in place at her bow. She passed _La Rubia_, on whose deck men -frantically mended nets. - -The _Esperance_ passed between the small capes and the first of the -ocean swells raised her bow and rocked her. She proceeded beyond the -reef. The bottom of the sea dropped out of sight. Terry switched on the -submarine ear and listened. The humming sound was to be expected here. - -It had stopped. It was present yesterday, and even during the night, -when _La Rubia_ came into the lagoon. But now the sea held no sound -other than the multitudinous random noises of fish and the washing, -roaring, booming of the surf. - -Deirdre was aboard, of course. She watched Terry's face. He turned to -the new instrument, and then dropped his hand. - -"I think," he said carefully to Davis, "that I'd like to make a sort of -sweep out to sea. It's just possible we'll find the hum farther out." - -Deirdre said quickly, "I think I know what you're up to. You want to -survey a large area of the ocean while something comes up. Then you can -direct that "something" to the lagoon mouth by using your sound device, -so the ... whatever-it-is has to take refuge in the lagoon. Since we've -killed the squid...." - -"That's it," said Terry. "Something like that happened when we speared -the fish. The squid took their place. Now we've killed the squid. Just -possibly...." - -They found the humming sound in the water four miles off-shore. They -traced it through part of a circle. If something were being driven -upward, it could not pass through that wall of humming sound. - -"That proves your point," Davis said. "Now what?" - -Without realizing it, he'd yielded direction of the enterprise to Terry, -who had unconsciously assumed it. - -"Let's go back to the island," said Terry thoughtfully. "I've got a -crazy idea--really crazy! I want to be where we can duck into shallow -water when we try the new projector." - -The _Esperance_ swung about and headed back toward the island. The sea -and the distant island looked comfortingly normal and beautiful in the -sunshine. Under so blue a sky it did not seem reasonable to worry about -anything. Events or schemes at the bottom of the sea seemed certainly -the last things to be likely to matter to anyone. - -Terry had the _Esperance_ almost between the reefs before he tried the -new contrivance. If it worked, it should be possible to make a relief -map of the ocean bottom with every height and depth on the sea-bed -plotted with precision. - -He started to operate the new instrument. First he traced the steep -descent from the flanks of the submarine mountain whose tip was Thrawn -Island. He traced them down to the abyss which was the Luzon Deep. Then -he began to trace the ocean bottom at its extreme depth, on what should -have been submarine plains at the foot of the submerged mountain. The -instrument began to give extraordinary readings. The bottom, in a -certain spot, read forty-five hundred fathoms down. But suddenly there -was a reading of twenty-five hundred. There was a huge obstruction, -twelve thousand feet above the bottom of the sea, more than twenty -thousand feet below the surface. The instrument scanned the area. -Something else was found eighteen hundred fathoms up. These were objects -of enormous size, floating, or perhaps swimming in the blackness. They -were not whales. Whales are air-breathers. They cannot stay too long in -deep waters, motionless between the top and the bottom of the sea. - -The instrument picked up more and more such objects. Some were -twenty-five hundred fathoms from the bottom, and two thousand from the -surface. Some were twenty-two hundred up, and twenty-three hundred down. -There were eighteen hundred-fathom readings, and twenty-one, and -twenty-four, and nineteen. The readings were of objects bigger than -whales. They rose very slowly, and appeared to rest, then rose some -more, and rested.... - -Blank faces turned to Terry. He licked his lips and looked for Deirdre. -Then he said evenly, "We go into the lagoon. And if we come out -again--if!--we leave Deirdre ashore, unless these readings have been -cleared up. There are chances I'm not willing to take." - -The _Esperance_ headed in. It was not possible for the new instrument to -tell what the large objects were. They could be monstrous living -creatures, perhaps squids, and one could only guess that their errand -was to deal with the surface-creatures--men--who speared fish and giant -squids and set off explosions in the Luzon Deep. - -Or the rising objects could be, say, bolides which had dived into the -Deep from outer space and were now coming to the surface to make sure -that the natives of the earth did not again disturb the depths taken -over by beings from another planet. - - - - -_Nine_ - - -The sun rose high in the sky as the _Esperance_ returned to the wharf. -Davis went ashore and held lengthy conversations with Manila by -short-wave radio. The biologists essayed to investigate the squid. _La -Rubia_ still attempted to catch fish. All efforts seemed to tend toward -frustration. - -When Terry walked over to see his victim at close range, he found the -biologists balked by the mere huge size of the squid. There were -literally tens of tons of flesh to be handled. Squid have no backbone, -but a modified internal shell is important to biologists for study. The -biologists wanted it. The gills needed to be examined, and their -position under the mantle noted, and their filaments counted. The -nervous system of the huge creature must have its oddities. But the -actual preservation of the squid was out of the question. The mere -handling of so large an object was an engineering problem. - -Terry consulted the frenziedly swearing Capitán Saavedra, who was ready -to weep with sheer rage as he contemplated torn nets, and fish he could -not capture. Squids were an article of commerce. Terry took the Capitán -to view this one. His crew would help the biologists get at the -scientifically important items, and for reward they would have the rest -of the giant--more than they could load upon _La Rubia_. This would make -their voyage profitable, and the Capitán would have the opportunity to -tell the most stupendous story of his capture and killing of the giant. -With the evidence he'd have, people might believe him. - -Presently, the crewmen of _La Rubia_ clambered over the monster, huge -knives at work under the direction of the men from Manila. There was -bitter dispute with the tracking station cook, who objected to the use -of his refrigeration space to freeze biological material before it was -sent to Manila by helicopter. - -In mid-afternoon the _Esperance_ left the lagoon again. The -sonar-depth-finder probed the depths delicately. The objects in mid-sea, -it appeared, had been rising steadily. Their previous position had -averaged twenty-five hundred fathoms deep. They were now less than two -thousand fathoms down, and there were many of them. Unfortunately, the -_Esperance_ was not a steady enough platform for the instrument. But a -fairly accurate calculation was made, and if the unidentified objects -continued their ascent at their present rate, they would surface not -long after sunrise. Then what? - -Increasingly urgent queries came by short-wave, asking for Dr. Morton's -explanation of how he had computed the landing place and time of the -latest bolide. His accuracy was not disputed. But astronomers and -physicists wanted to be able to do it themselves. How had he done it? - -Terry came upon him sitting gloomily before a cup of coffee in the -tracking station. Davis was there too. - -"I wish I hadn't done it," Morton confided. "It's one of those things -that shouldn't happen. It's bad enough to have a giant squid to account -for. They tell me it's a new species, by the way. Never found or even -described before. One of the _Pelorus_ men tells me it's an immature -specimen, too. It's not full-grown! What will a grown-up one be like?" - -"I have a hunch we'll find out when those submerged giants reach the -surface," said Davis unhappily. - -Terry said, "The one we killed couldn't get out of the water. I wonder -if the adult forms can walk over the land!" - -Davis stared. "Should we send Deirdre to safety on the _Esperance_?" - -"Safety?" asked Terry. "On a boat? When a mass of bubbles from undersea -could provoke such a turmoil in the water that no ship could stay -afloat? That's how one ship disappeared. It might be the _Esperance's_ -turn next. Who knows?" Then he added, "There's no limit to the size of a -swimming creature!" - -A bald-headed member of the tracking station staff walked in. He -carried an object of clear plastic. It was a foot and a half long, about -six inches in diameter. There was an infinite complexity of metallic -parts enclosed in the plastic. - -"I caught one of the fishermen making off with this," he said in a flat -voice. "It was fastened to one of the squid's shorter arms. The -fishermen didn't want to give it up. The skipper claimed it as -treasure-trove." - -He put it down on the table. Davis, Terry and Morton looked at it. Then -Morton shrugged his shoulders, almost up to his ears. - -"The intelligent being that made it," said Davis, "apparently came down -from the sky in a bolide. That's easier to believe than that a submarine -civilization of earthly origin lives down in the depths. But why would -anybody prefer the bottom of the sea to--anywhere else on earth? Where -would such a creature come from?" - -Deirdre walked in and stood by the table, watching Terry's face. The -bald-headed man said, "I could believe some pretty strange things, but -you can't make me believe that a creature can develop intelligence -without plenty of oxygen. There's not much free oxygen at the bottom of -the sea." - -"But there's something intelligent down there," said Davis doggedly. "If -it has to have free oxygen, you've only raised the question of where it -gets it. Maybe it brings it." - -Deirdre shook her head. "Foam," she said. - -The four men stared at her. Then Terry said sharply, "That's it! On the -_Esperance_ there's a picture of a huge mass of foam on the sea. A ship -dropped right out of sight right into it. Deirdre found the answer! -Something down below needs free oxygen. In quantity. Why not get it from -the water? What to do with the hydrogen that is left? Let it loose! -It'll come to the surface, make a foam-patch...." - -Dr. Morton said with a sort of mirthless geniality, "I add a stroke of -pure genius! Davis just asked what would be the origin of a creature -which preferred the depths of the sea to any other place on earth. -What's to be found down there that's missing everywhere else? Cold? No. -Moisture? No. Just two things! Darkness and pressure! At the bottom of -the Luzon Deep the pressure is over seven tons to the square inch. -There's no light--I repeat, none--below three hundred fathoms. Down at -the sea-bottom it's black, black, black! Now, where in the universe -could there be creatures capable of riding down here in a bolide, and in -need of an environment like that?" - -Terry shook his head. He remembered seeing a book on the solar planets, -in the after-cabin of the _Esperance_. He hadn't read it. The others on -the yacht must have. - -"How about Jupiter?" asked Deirdre. "The gravity's four times the -earth's, and the atmosphere is thousands of miles thick. The pressure at -the surface should be tons to the square inch." - -Morton nodded. With the same false geniality he added, "And there'll be -no light. Sunlight will never get through that muggy thick atmosphere! -So we consider ourselves to be rational beings and guess that the -bolides come from Jupiter! But I must admit that the last bolide was -headed inward toward the sun, and from the general direction of Jupiter. -So-o-o-o, do we warn the world that creatures from Jupiter are -descending in space ships and are settling down under water, at a depth -of forty-five hundred fathoms? Like hell we do!" - -He got up and walked abruptly away. - -"I ..." said the bald-headed man, shaking his head incredulously, "will -put this gadget away and go back to carve some more squid." - -"I'll talk to Manila," said Davis drearily. "Something is coming up from -below. There shouldn't be any ships allowed to come this way until we -find out what's happening." - -Deirdre smiled at Terry, now that they were alone. - -"Have you anything very important to do just now?" - -He shook his head. - -"If the things that are coming up are--space ships, we can't fight them. -If they're anything else, they can't very well fight us. If we wanted to -attack something at the bottom of the sea we'd have to fumble at the -job. We wouldn't know where to begin. So maybe, if a submarine power -wants to attack at the surface of the sea, it may find it difficult, -too." - -He frowned. Deirdre said, "Let's go look at the sea and think things -over!" - -She very formally took his arm and they walked out. Presently, they -stood on the white coral beach on the outer shore, and talked. Terry's -mind came back, now and then, to how inadequate his previous guesses -about the impending menace had been. It seemed now that the menace must -be much worse than he had imagined. But there were many things he wanted -to say to Deirdre. - -As they talked, they were disturbed. The helicopter, which had left -before noon loaded down with biological material for Manila, was -approaching again. It landed by the tracking station. Then they were -alone again. - -When night fell, they were astonished at how quickly time had passed. -They went back to the station. The helicopter was on the ground. The -biologists had stopped their work, exhausted but very excited by their -discovery of a new species of squid, of which an immature specimen -measured eighty feet. It had offered extremely interesting phylogenic -material for the Cephalopoda in general. The photographs they'd taken -were invaluable, from a scientific viewpoint. - -The crew of _La Rubia_ had returned to their boat. The _Esperance_ had -been out beyond the reef once more. The unidentified objects were still -rising. They had risen to less than a thousand fathoms from the surface, -well before sundown. At this same rate of rise, they should reach the -surface some time after midnight. What would happen after that? - -"What will happen depends," said Terry, "on how accurate their -information about us is. It depends on their instruments, really. I -suspect their ideas about us are weird. I find I haven't any ideas about -them." - -At dinner, Davis said worriedly, "I talked to Manila. The mine layer -that was in the Bay left harbor yesterday. The flattop picked it up by -radio and they're both going to come on here tomorrow. I had to talk -about the foam. They weren't impressed. The squid does impress them, but -the foam--no. I hate," he said indignantly, "to try to convince people -of things I couldn't possibly be convinced of myself!" - -They talked leisurely. Somebody mentioned _La Rubia_. It had been more -or less expected that her skipper would turn up for drinks and -conversation again. But he hadn't. The conversation turned to the -plastic objects. They might or might not pick up sounds. It was not -likely they'd respond to light. Certainly, complete images would be -meaningless to creatures who had evolved in blackness and without a -sense of sight. They might respond to pressure-waves, such as are known -to be picked up by fish when something struggles in the water, even -though man-made instruments have not yet detected them. They might -furnish data of a sensory kind that is meaningless to humans, as -pictures would be to Jovians. _If_ there were such things.... - -"Why argue only for Jupiter?" asked Deirdre. "Venus is supposed to be -mostly ocean. There could be abyssal life there." - -The crew-cuts joined in the argument, but tentatively, because there -were many experts present. - -Midnight came. The open sea outside the reef showed nothing unusual. The -waves glittered palely at their tips. There were little flashings in the -water where an occasional surface fish darted. The stars shone. The moon -was not yet risen. - -Two o'clock came. The _Esperance_ people were divided. Terry and Davis -were too apprehensive to sleep. Deirdre'd gone confidently to the yacht -to turn in. The crew-cuts slept peacefully, too. Davis said uneasily, -"I've got a feeling that the ... objects are at the surface, or very -close to it, but that they simply aren't showing themselves. I think -they're lying in ambush. The squid that was killed must have had trouble -getting into the lagoon. They probably won't try to get the big ones in. -They'll wait...." - -Terry shook his head. - -"We killed that little one--save the mark!--and its death was probably -reported in some fashion. So maybe they'll use the big ones on the -surface as bait for another kind of weapon. Foam, for example. We know -how a ship simply dropped out of sight, as if into a hole." - -"I know!" said Davis drearily. "I told the flattop about that. But I -don't think they really believe it." - -At two-thirty Davis and Terry went down to the yacht. They stood on the -deck. They kept watch by mere instinct. There was no activity anywhere. -Faint noises were coming from _La Rubia_. Maybe her crew was repacking -the hastily loaded masses of squid-flesh. The last-quarter moon rose at -long last, and shone upon the glassy-rippled water of the lagoon. -Star-images danced beside its reflection. - -A little after three, quite abruptly, the Diesels of _La Rubia_ rumbled -and boomed. The dark silhouette of the ship headed across the lagoon -toward its opening. Terry swore. - -"She lifted her anchor without making a noise," he said angrily. "Her -skipper wants to get to Manila with his catch before it spoils! -Damnation! I told him not to leave without warning. Anything could be -waiting outside!" - -He raced for the shore and the outboard motorboat. Davis shouted down -the forecastle and pelted after him. Terry had the outboard in the water -by the time Davis arrived. He jumped in and pulled the starter. The -motor caught. - -The outboard went rushing across the water. Its wake was a brilliant -bluish luminescence. - -The booming of the Diesels grew louder. Capitán Saavedra thought he had -put over a fast one on _los americanos_, who had moved the fish from -where he regularly captured them in vast quantities and gathered them in -a lagoon where his nets tore. They had given him most of a monster -squid, true, but they had reserved certain parts for themselves. They -were undoubtedly the most valuable parts. So when labor officially -ceased at sundown, _La Rubia's_ skipper only pretended to accept the -idea. In the last hour his crew had quietly completed loading _La Rubia_ -with squid. They'd been carefully silent. They'd lifted anchor without -noise. Now _La Rubia_ headed for the lagoon entrance, heavy in the water -but with precise information about what coral heads needed to be dodged. -She had on board a cargo history had no parallel for. Her skipper -expected to be rewarded with fame, as well as cash. - -When the outboard motor rushed toward _La Rubia_, Capitán Saavedra -zestfully gave his engines full throttle. When the racketing, roaring -motorboat arrived beside his ship, and Terry shouted to him to stop, he -chuckled and drove on. In fact, he left _La Rubia's_ pilot-house to wave -cheerfully at the two men. They frantically ran close and shouted to him -above the rat-tat-tatting of their own motor and the rumble of his -Diesels. - -_La Rubia_ reached the lagoon entrance with the smaller boat close at -her side, and Terry still shouting. - -But Capitán Saavedra did not believe. Maybe he did not understand. -Certainly he did not obey. Ocean swells lifted and tossed the motorboat. -It became necessary to slow down, for safety. But _La Rubia_ went -grandly on, into the open sea. - -"We can't force him to stop," said Davis in a despairing voice. "He -won't. I only hope we're wrong, and he gets through!" - -The outboard stayed where it was, and swells tossed it haphazardly. _La -Rubia_ switched on her navigation lights. She drove zestfully to the -southward. She sailed on, dwindling in size, as the drone of her Diesels -diminished in volume. - -Looking back, Terry saw the _Esperance_ approaching from the lagoon, -dark figures on her deck. Terry shouted, cries answered him, and the -_Esperance_ came to a stop as the motorboat drew alongside. - -Terry and Davis scrambled to her deck while one of the crew-cuts led the -smaller boat astern and tethered it. - -"We're safe enough here," Terry said bitterly, "and since you've come, -we can stay and watch if anything happens. If only she keeps on -going...." - -But _La Rubia_ did not. Her lights showed that she had changed course. -She changed course again. Her masthead light began to waver from side to -side. She wallowed in such a way that it was clear she was neither on -course nor in motion any longer. - -Nobody gave orders, but the _Esperance's_ engine roared. The action from -this point on became an automatic and quick response to an emergency. - -The schooner-yacht plunged ahead at top speed. Terry switched on the -recorder and the ultrapowerful sound projector. Davis bent over the -searchlight. Two of the crew-cuts readied the bazookas. - -Suddenly, a flare went off on _La Rubia's_ deck. Her stubby masts and -spars became startlingly bright. Screams came across the waves, even -above the growling of the surf and above the noise of the _Esperance's_ -engine. - -The flare shot through the air. It arched in a high parabola, bright in -the sky, and fell into the sea. Another flare was ignited. - -The _Esperance's_ searchlight flicked on. A long pencil of light reached -across the waves as she raced on. More screamings were heard. Another -flare burned. It arched overside. The _Esperance_ plunged on, -shouldering aside the heavier waves of open water. - -A half-mile. A quarter-mile. _La Rubia_ wallowed crazily, and more -shrieks came from her deck. Then the fishing boat seemed to swing. -Beyond her, a conical, glistening and utterly horrifying monster -emerged, a mere few yards from her rail. Enormous eyes glittered in the -searchlight rays. A monstrous tentacle with a row of innumerable -sucker-disks reached over the stern of _La Rubia_. - -Another flare swept from the fishing boat's deck in the direction of the -giant squid. It fell upon wetted, shining flesh. The monster jerked, and -_La Rubia_ was shaken from stem to stern. Hurriedly, Terry pressed the -power-feed button, and the sound projector was on. Its effect was -instantaneous. The monster began to writhe convulsively. It was -gigantic. It was twice, three times the size of the squid captured in -the lagoon. Terry heard his own voice cry out, "Bazookas! Use 'em! Use -'em!" - -Flaring rocket missiles sped toward the giant. Davis flung one of the -hand grenades he'd manufactured. The yacht plunged on toward the -clutched, half-sunk fishing boat. The hand grenade exploded against the -monster's flesh. Simultaneously, the bazooka-missiles hit their target -and flung living, incandescent flame deep into the creature's body. -Those flames would melt steel. They bored deeply into the squid, and -they were infinitely more damaging than bullets. - -The creature leaped from the water, as chunks of its flesh exploded. It -was a mountainous horror risen from the sea. As it leaped, it had -squirted the inky substance which is the squid's ultimate weapon of -defense. But, unlike small squid, this beast of the depths squirted -phosphorescent ink. - -The beast splashed back into the sea, and the wave of its descent swept -over the deck of _La Rubia_. The fishing boat nearly capsized. But the -monster had not escaped the anguish of its wounds. It fought the injured -spots as though an enemy still gnawed there. It was a struggling madness -in the sea. - -The _Esperance_ swung to approach the half-sunken trawler, and Terry -kept the searchlight on the turmoil. The beast knew panic. It was -wounded, and the abyss is not a place where the weak or wounded can long -survive. Its fellows would be coming.... - -They did. Something enormous moved swiftly under the sea toward the -wounded monster. It could be seen by the phosphorescence its motion -created, as it approached the surface. There was a jar, a jolt. Some -part of it actually touched the _Esperance's_ keel. The huge monster -moved ahead, but a trailing tentacle flicked up to what it had touched a -moment before. - -The ugly tentacle trailed over the yacht's rail. The rail shattered. The -forecastle hatch was wiped out. The bowsprit became mere debris which -dangled foolishly from the standing rigging. - -The _Esperance_ bucked wildly at this fleeting contact. Nick fired a -bazooka-shell, but it missed. Holding fast, Davis flung a grenade. It -detonated uselessly. It was then that Deirdre screamed. - -Terry froze for an instant. There had simply been no time for him to -think that Deirdre might be aboard. It was inexcusable, but nothing -could be done now. - -Tony had been knocked overside by the shock of the contact with the -giant, and was swimming desperately trying to follow the yacht and climb -back on board. Terry flashed the searchlight about. He found Tony, -splashing. The _Esperance_ swung in her own length while Terry kept the -searchlight beam focused. More shrieks came from _La Rubia_. Davis threw -a rope and Tony caught it. They hauled him aboard, and the _Esperance_ -turned again to pluck away the trawler's crewmen. - -There were unbelievable splashings off to port. Terry flung the -lightbeam in that direction. It fell upon unimaginable conflict. The -monster that had passed under the yacht now battled the wounded squid. -They fought on the surface, horribly. A maze of intertwining tentacles -glistened in the light, and their revolting bodies appeared now and -again as the battered creature fought to protect itself, and the other -to devour. Other enormous squids came hurrying to the scene. They flung -themselves into the gruesome fight, tearing at the dying monster and at -each other. There were still others on the way.... - -The sea resounded with desperate mooing sounds. - -The _Esperance_ bumped against _La Rubia_. Frantic, hysterically -frightened men clambered up from the deck of the sinking trawler to the -yacht. As soon as they were aboard they implored their rescuers to head -for land, immediately. - -"Get 'em all off!" bellowed Terry, in command by simple virtue of having -clear ideas of what had to be done. "Get 'em all off!" - -The stout skipper of _La Rubia_ jumped over the yacht's rail. Without -orders, the yacht's engine bellowed. The _Esperance_ turned toward the -shore, which now seemed very far away. - -Something splashed to starboard. The sea glowed all around it. Terry -poured the pain-sound exactly in that direction. The monster went into -convulsions. The yacht swerved away to keep its distance. She raced on, -past the spot where the giant flailed its tentacles insanely about. It -mooed. - -The _Esperance_ raced at full speed toward the island. About a mile -ahead, the surf roared and foamed on the coral reef almost awash. - -Back at the scene of the battle of monsters, there was a sudden break in -the conflict. One of the wounded giants broke free. It may have been the -one the _Esperance_ had first attacked; perhaps it was another, which -might have been partly devoured while still fighting. - -In any case, one of them broke loose and fled, with the hellish pack -after it. It is the instinct of squids, if injured, to try to find some -submarine cavern in which to hide. The monster dived, and the others -pursued it. There was no opening in the reef barrier--not underwater. -But there was an opening on the surface. The crippled beast had to find -a refuge, or be torn to bits. It may have been guided by instinct, or -perhaps the current flowing into or out of the lagoon furnished the -clue. In any case, the fleeing creature darted crazily into the channel -used by the _Esperance_ for passage. For a little way, it proceeded -underwater. Then it grounded itself. Hopelessly. - -And the pursuing pack arrived. - -The sight from the _Esperance's_ deck was straight out of the worst -possible nightmare. Glistening serpentine tentacles writhed and flailed -the seas. They tore the swells to froth. The pursuers had flung -themselves savagely upon the helpless one. The gap in the reef was -closed by the battling giants. They slavered. They gripped. They tore. -They rent each other.... - -Terry saw a tentacle as thick as a barrel which had been haggled half -through and dangled futilely as its stump still tried to fight. - -And more giants came. Terry shouted, and the _Esperance_ turned. He -could see large patches of phosphorescence under the surface. And -suddenly, he noticed that a few of them had swerved toward the -_Esperance_. As they approached the sound-horn stung them. They went -into convulsive struggling, as the sound played upon them, and they -passed the _Esperance_ by. - -Davis found Terry beside the sound-weapon's controls watching the sea -with desperate intensity. - -"Listen," said Davis fiercely, "we're out at sea and we can't get back -into the lagoon! We'd better get away from here!" - -"Across deep water?" demanded Terry. "That dangerous foam can come up -from deep water, but maybe not from shallow water. We've got to stay -close to the reef until the flattop comes and bombs these creatures--if -it will ever come!" - -Davis made a helpless gesture. Terry said crisply, "Get the 'copter to -hang over the reef and report on the fighting there. Tell it to report -to the flattop. They may not believe us, but they may send a plane -anyway. And if the ships come, they'll have to believe about the foam! -Tell them to listen for it underwater. They've got sonar gear." - -Davis stumbled away. Presently, the dark figure of Nick lowered himself -through what had been the forecastle hatch. Davis followed him. - -Deirdre came over to Terry. - -"Terry ..." - -"I'm going to beat in the heads," said Terry, "of those idiots who came -after your father and me without throwing you on the wharf first!" - -"They'd have wasted precious time," said Deirdre calmly. "I wouldn't -have let them. Do you think I want to be ashore when you ..." - -There was the faintest of palings of the horizon to the east. Terry said -grimly, "I'm going to try to find a passage through the surf, to get you -ashore. I'm keeping the _Esperance_ in shallow water--inside the -hundred-fathom line--but I don't trust it. Certainly I don't trust a -ship to make you safer!" - -"It's going to be daybreak soon," she protested. "Then...." - -"Then we won't be able to see what goes on underwater," he told her. -"Those ... creatures down below are smart!" - -There was a racketing, rumbling roar from the island. A light rose above -the tree-tops. Presently a parachute-flare lit up. Then there was -another, as if the men in the helicopter did not believe what they saw -the first time. - -"Terry," said Deirdre shakily, "I'm ... glad we found each other, no -matter what happens...." - -Davis came up from below. - -"The flattop's only a few miles away. They're now proceeding at top -speed. The mine layer's following. They'll be here by sunrise." - - * * * * * - -Far away to the east, some brightness entered into the paling of the -sky. A drab, colorless light spread over the sea. The ocean was a dark, -slate blue. Swells flattened abruptly about a quarter-mile away. Terry -aimed the sound-weapon and pressed the button. Something gigantic -started up, and the top of a huge squid's mantle pierced the surface. -The giant leaped convulsively, high above the water, save for trailing -tentacles. It was larger than a whale. It fell back into the sea with a -loud splash, and moved away quickly. - -Color came into the sky. The sun's upper rim appeared. Flecks of gold -spread upon the sea. - -Far, far away at the horizon a dark speck appeared. As the sun climbed -up over the edge of the world, the speck turned golden. There was a mist -of smoke above it. A plane took off from the ship. Another plane -followed. - -Fighter planes flashed toward the island. One of them zoomed sharply, -like a bird astonished at something it has seen below. It whirled and -came back over that spot. There was the rasping whine of a machine gun. -Something like a giant snake reared up and fell back again. And now more -planes appeared. - -Sunrise was suddenly complete. Terry stared out over the sea. And he -could not believe his eyes, accustomed as he was to the highly unlikely, -now. Giant squids were afloat at the surface. He saw one here, and -another there, and another, and another.... They were emerging by tens, -by scores. - -"They've been sent up," said Terry very grimly, "by an entity that -didn't evolve on the earth. They're ... domesticated, in a way. They're -watchdogs for whatever arrives in bolides that fall in the Luzon Deep. -They are the reason for the shining circle of sea from which thousands -of tons of living fish were drawn down into the abyss. The -creatures--the ... _ellos_ who listen to what fish and fishermen -say--they keep these things as domestic animals. And they have to feed -them. Those mooings were the ... cries of these things waiting to be -fed. Try to imagine that, Deirdre! In the blackness of the pit, in the -abyss at the bottom of the sea...." - -A tentacle broke surface. Terry swung the sound-beam. A mantle reared -above the waves. A bazooka-shell hit it. Something huge and stupid and -monstrous fought the impalpable thing that hurt it.... - -Davis approached. - -"These," he said absurdly, "aren't the creatures who made the plastic -objects. Maybe we ought to try to open communication with their masters. -Why should we fight? If we prove we can defend ourselves...." - -"I suspect," said Terry, "that all intelligent beings think the same -way, intelligently. If we landed on another planet, on some part of that -planet that the natives didn't use but we could, it wouldn't be sensible -for those natives to welcome us! Trade with us, perhaps. But let us -settle down, no!" - -There was a bomb explosion out at sea. A plane had dropped a -hundred-pound bomb on a monster at the surface. The flattop was now -distinct. Golden, almost horizontal sunlight struck upon it. Off to the -west a plane dived steeply, something dropped from it, and the plane -levelled off. A three-hundred-foot fountain erupted from the surface. -Then there came absolute proof that intelligence lay behind all this. It -was not human intelligence, to be sure. Men are tool-using creatures -nowadays. They imagine robots for fighting, and nowadays they make them, -but many centuries ago men ceased to try to use animals as combatants in -war. - -The creatures under the sea had not. They'd send up giant squids to do -battle with men, as men once sent elephants against the Macedonian army. -It was naïve. But the generals, the tacticians, the strategists of the -Deep did not remain wedded to the one weapon. Already, they saw that -beasts could be fought by men. So their instruments of battle changed. -Doubtless, orders were given, and five miles under the sea -something--something men could not have duplicated--began the -transformation of seawater into gas, in quantities past imagining. Tiny, -tiny bubbles were produced by some unguessable engine, and rose toward -the surface, in a steady stream. At the bottom they were under a -pressure of tons to the square inch. But the pressure lessened as they -rose, and as they rose they swelled. A bubble which was pinhead-size at -the sea-bed grew to be the size of a basketball a half-mile up, and -would have been the size of a house a mile up, except that then it -separated into smaller ones. They rose and rose and expanded and -separated. Five miles up from their origin, at little more than -atmospheric pressure, they made a rising column of insubstantiality. At -the surface they became foam. But under the foam there was more foam, -and under that still more. A ship sailing from normal ocean water into -such airy stuff would drop like a stone into the miles-long cone of -semi-nothingness. Nothing solid could float there. Nothing substantial -could rest its weight upon such rushing thistledown. - -And the first of the bubble-weapons appeared at the surface in the form -of a patch of foam. Its source--and hence the place of its -appearance--could be moved. It could be shifted under any ship, though -there would be a time-interval, always, before the foam at the surface -was exactly above the gas-generating engine below. It could be moved to -anticipate the movements of a ship. But there was always that time-lag. - -The _Esperance_ headed back toward the heap of monsters at the break in -the reef. Other giant squids emerged and joined the pack. A plane came -over and bombed it. The _Esperance_ turned away. The mine layer from -Manila appeared at the horizon. The flattop made a sudden violent turn, -and more foam appeared upon the water. It curled and writhed and piled -up to be ten--twenty--thirty yards in height. - -The flattop fired a shell into it. There was a gigantic flash and flame, -and for an instant there was no foam, but only peculiarly pock-marked -ocean surface, instantly covered by more foam which piled up as before. - -"Gas," said Terry grimly. "Hydrogen. You guessed right, Deirdre!" - -Now the flattop shot off plane after plane, as if they were projectiles. -They swung in the air and flew low to drop bombs in the now wabbling, -moving, sweeping patch of white stuff. It was a huge discoloration of -the ocean surface. It was almost in diameter as the flattop's length. -Now the carrier dodged it warily. - -There were dull concussions everywhere. Giant squids writhed in -death-agonies. White foam-patches appeared here and there--but somehow -haphazardly--as if fumbling for the ships. One patch swept close to _La -Rubia_, and that small derelict seemed to tremble. And then the fishing -boat touched the very edge of the white stuff, and was engulfed in it. -She vanished instantly, as if she had fallen into a hole in the sea. -When the foam-patch passed on, the sea was empty. - -The effect of the foam, actually, was that of a gigantic, slavering, -blind gullet straining to devour. It moved erratically over the surface. -Terry called to Deirdre, "Have Nick tell the flattop that the foam only -comes up from deep water. If they can get inside the hundred-fathom -curve they're safe! Maybe even five hundred. Maybe more. But the foam -only comes up from deep water!" - -The mine layer came on from the horizon at topmost speed. Apparently, -they had received warning from the carrier, because the ship suddenly -began to zig-zag. The carrier itself adopted the unpredictable -change-of-course system which had been originally designed to frustrate -submarines lying in wait. Both ships adopted it just in time. A ravening -area of foam appeared directly before the mine layer's bow just as she -turned aside. The mine layer dumped a mine. Terry saw it go overboard. -But it would have five miles to sink before it hit bottom. - -Terry called Davis and jerkily explained that the mines would have to be -armed when they went overboard--set so that they would explode when they -hit bottom. He explained that depth-bombs might be useful against -squids, but if they went off at a fixed depth they would be harmless -against the enemy which deployed the squids. - -The carrier, in the middle of a ninety-degree zig-zag turn, found her -bow projecting into a foam-patch. The bow sank deep. The carrier's -propellers were out of the water as her bow pointed downward. Had the -foam stayed still for two seconds, the carrier would have slid into the -column of gigantic ascending bubbles and plunged to destruction. But the -foam swerved sidewise. - -The carrier escaped, and was infinitely cautious after that. She made -short, swift, unpredictable dashes this way and that.... Her -anti-aircraft guns rumbled and rattled at things upon the surface. -Presently, her depth-finder discovered an underwater extension of the -island's mountain-foundation, and the ship took refuge where the water -was less than a hundred fathoms deep. There she lay, shooting off planes -and retrieving them, her guns flashing at whatever targets appeared. - -Twice, as it happened, snaky, monstrous arms flung themselves up and -heaved at the flattop as if the giant squids hoped to overturn even an -aircraft carrier by their weight. But those arms were blasted to -nothingness. The only damage they did was that a twenty-foot section of -tentacle--writhing independently on the flight-deck--broke the -landing-gear of a returning plane which collided with it. - -The mine layer ploughed across the sea. From time to time she heaved -something overboard. Nothing seemed to happen. But each mine was, -nevertheless, so adjusted that it could explode any time it touched -something underwater. They did not allow the usual time so that the mine -layer could get away. The mine layer had ample time, because the mines -had to go slowly spinning down five long miles to the bottom of the -Luzon Deep. - -Twenty mines went down before the first one detonated. The concussion -was felt on the _Esperance_, twenty-seven thousand feet up and in -shallow water. Then another, and another, and another. The mine layer -continued to sow her destructive seed. Far behind her, a monstrous -spouting of gas and spume rose up hundreds of feet. There was another -concussion, and another.... - -The _Esperance_ quivered, and Terry said grimly to Deirdre, "We set off -five pounds of explosive down the Deep, and the bathyscaphe returned all -smashed. What will the creature do now? I wish we could get some mines -down to the bottom there!" - -Davis came up, beaming--but shaking. - -"The carrier's sending some planes down to drop eggs at the spot where -the fish were dragged down!" he said zestfully. - -Gigantic, terrifying masses of gas leaped skyward where the gases -released by the exploding mines finally reached the surface. The mine -layer zig-zagged, and dropped a mine. She zig-zagged again, and dropped -another. Presently, she took refuge beside the carrier. The _Esperance_ -drove over and came to a stop between the two armed vessels. Someone -shouted down by megaphone from the carrier's deck, "What happened to -you? What hit your bowsprit?" - -Terry shouted back, "You shot those beasts. We've been wrestling with -'em!" - -An enormous eruption of gas.... Then the underwater ear began to emit an -unprecedented sound. It was a rushing sound, but it was only vaguely -like the noise of whatever had come up from the depths last Tuesday -night. This was powerful beyond imagining. - -"Something's coming up!" roared Terry. "Better alert for a real fight -now!" - -Deirdre said with a little gasp, "The real creatures are coming up! -Terry! The ... things that come in the bolides...." - -He said savagely, "They've been shaken up badly by the concussions -underwater. They resented five pounds of explosive! There's been four -hundred pounds in every mine! If they try to fight after what they've -taken down below...." - -The rushing sound from underwater was a loud, throbbing hum which had no -relationship with the humming sound that drove fish. Two spoutings of -gas from mine-explosions shot up. There were more concussions in the -water. - -Then something broke surface. It was huge, and looked like a rocket. It -leaped. No, it dashed upward, toward the sky. It flashed skyward, -accelerating as it rose. Something else broke the surface and headed for -the heavens. This one was globular. - -There were dull concussions coming from far underwater, and more rockets -broke surface and shot skyward. - -Anti-aircraft guns were fired. Shell-bursts came close, but not close -enough. Not less than twenty enormous rockets leaped out of the water -and shot up toward the sky. Some observers claimed there were more than -thirty. Down to southward, where the bathyscaphe had been crushed, the -planes that were dropping mines reported that four other objects broke -loose from the ocean and fled for empty space at speeds too great to be -estimated. - -Terry looked suddenly astonished. - -"But ... of course!" he told Deirdre. "When you need high pressure, of -course you've got a weakness. You can't take concussions! Anything -underwater is completely vulnerable to bombs! Whatever was down there -has found out that the natives--we aborigines--have a weapon they can't -face. Primitive stuff. Explosives! Chemical explosives! And creatures -that can travel between planets and undoubtedly have atomic power -and--who knows what else--can't fight back if we drop submarine mines on -them!" - -A last object broke surface and hurtled skyward. Behind it, deep, deep -down, there was a titanic explosion. - -"Ah!" said Terry. "That was a time-bomb! They've gone home for good!" - - * * * * * - -A task force of a private yacht, a fishing boat, a satellite-tracking -station, an airplane carrier and a mine layer had driven off an invasion -of earth. But the public could not be told that the earth had been -invaded. The people who had been involved in this secret adventure had -to be satisfied with the realization that they had saved mankind. - -After a jubilant dinner Terry and Deirdre sat in the veranda. - -Davis came out. He blinked at the night. - -"Deirdre? Terry?" - -"Here," said Terry. - -Davis joined them. They had drawn apart a little. - -"Good news by short-wave," said Davis. "Those rockets were picked up by -radar. They divided into two groups. One headed sunward. The other -headed for deep space. My guess is Venus for one group and Jupiter for -the other. They couldn't have come from Mars. But they've gone home. -Both groups." - -Terry paused, and then said wryly, "Two races! Some of the bolides were -bullet-shaped and some were globular. That figures. But two races -capable of space travel and both in our own solar system!" - -Davis grimaced. "We've been talking about it. Our guess is that the -Venus race developed in deep water, and therefore at high pressure. And -anything that developed on the solid surface of Jupiter would also be -accustomed to extremely high pressure." - -Terry nodded. He was not exactly absorbed in what Davis had to say. But -he said suddenly, "I make a guess. They didn't want to start a colony -here. The sea-bottom here is too cold to be comfortable for the beings -from Venus, and far too hot to suit those from Jupiter. But both needed -terrific pressure. In order to keep contact with each other, in order to -do business, they could have set up a trading post here. To meet and -trade. Neither one could take over the earth. When you think of it, we -couldn't take over Venus or Jupiter! Maybe that's the answer!" - -"Eh?" said Davis. - -"We won't have to fight as planets," said Terry, "when we have -space-ships like they do. We couldn't gain anything by fighting. All we -can gain by is trade. They'll be pleased. It must have been horribly -inconvenient to have to set up a trading post here on earth. There were -always the natives, you know. Lately, they've noticed that we've been -getting restless. We have been. I imagine that now they'll wait for us -to make space-ships and start up interplanetary trade." - -Davis said, "Very true. There's going to be the devil of a mess, though. -Morton will still have to explain the accuracy of his prediction about -the bolides' landings. I suspect he'll be censured for assuming anything -as unlikely as the truth has turned out to be." - -Terry did not answer. Deirdre was saying something, and he did not hear -at all. - -"There are still loose ends," added Davis. "For instance, how do you -suppose they controlled those squids down below? What did they use for -eyesight? How the devil would Jovians and Venusians agree on a meeting -place in our oceans?" - -Terry answered what Deirdre'd said. She smiled at him. They'd forgotten -that Davis was there. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Creatures of the Abyss, by Murray Leinster - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CREATURES OF THE ABYSS *** - -***** This file should be named 42901-8.txt or 42901-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/9/0/42901/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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