Startide Rising (The Uplift Saga, #2) - David Brin Page 0,133

and swayed.

Keepiru took seven breaths then descended again. Down below was where the battle would be settled.

Phantoms swam through the open channels. A false echo seemed to present an opening directly to the north, the direction Keepiru had been trying to lead the chase, but on careful examination he concluded it was an illusion.

Another such fake passage earlier had fooled him until, at the last moment, he had swerved away, too late to keep from slamming into the vine-covered verge of a metal-mound. Battered, he had fought free of the tangle just in time to escape a ramming. K’tha-Jon’s giant muzzle missed him by inches. As he fled, Keepiru was struck by a grazing bolt from the laser rifle. It had seared a hot burn into his left side, hurting like bloody hell. Only his greater maneuverability had enabled him to escape that time, to find a refuge and ride out waves of pain.

He could probably elude the pseudo-Orca in time. But time was not on his side. K’tha-Jon had dedicated himself to a ritual hunt and spared no thought for anything beyond it. He did not plan to return to civilization. All he had to do was prevent Keepiru from reporting back, and trust Ignacio Metz to protect his birthright back on Earth.

Keepiru, though, had responsibilities. And Streaker wouldn’t wait for him if she got a chance to flee.

Still, he thought. Am I really trying all that hard to get away?

He frowned and shook his head. Two hours ago he had been almost sure he had lost K’tha-Jon. Instead of making good his escape, he had turned around, under some rationalization he couldn’t even remember now, until he picked up the giant’s sound-scent again. His enemy felt him, too. In moments the hunt-scream pealed forth, and the mutant was after him again.

Why did I do that?

An idea glimmered for a moment … the truth … But Keepiru thrust it aside. K’tha-Jon was coming. He barely noticed the thrill of adrenaline that overcame the pain of his bruises and burns.

The illusions vanished like an unraveling bank of fog, dissolving into constituent clicks and whispers. In a swirl of powerful fluke strokes, the giant entered the channel below Keepiru. The white countershading of the sport’s belly showed against the gloom as K’tha-Jon rose for air, then swam past Keepiru’s niche, casting pulse-beams of search sonar in front of him.

Keepiru waited until the monster had passed, then rose to the surface himself. He blew softly five times, then sank without moving a fin.

The monster was ten meters away. Keepiru made no sound as K’tha-Jon ascended and blew again. But as the Stenos descended, Keepiru aimed a tight burst of clicks to carom off two metal-mounds across the channel.

The semi-Orca swerved quickly and dashed to Keepiru’s left, passing almost beneath him, chasing the illusion.

Like a diving missile, Keepiru dropped, nose first, toward his enemy.

The hunter’s senses were incredible, for all of Keepiru’s unnatural quiet. K’tha-Jon heard something behind him and swiveled like a dervish to come upright in the water, half facing Keepiru.

The angle was suddenly wrong for a ramming or raking. The laser rifle swung toward him, and the giant jaws. To abort and flee would invite a total blast!

Keepiru had a sudden flash of memory. He remembered his tactics instructor at the academy, lecturing about the benefits of surprise.

“… It’s the one unique weapon in our arsenal, as sentient Earthlings, that others cannot duplicate.…”

Keepiru accelerated, and pulled up in front of K’tha-Jon, coming belly to belly with the astonished creature. He grinned.

* Who can deny

An attentive suitor—

* Let’s dance! *

Keepiru’s harness whined, and the three waldo-arms snapped out to grab K’tha-Jon’s and lock them into place.

The stunned ex-bosun screamed in rage and snapped his jaws at Keepiru, but he couldn’t bend far enough. He tried to lash out with his massive flukes, but Keepiru’s tail flexed back and forth with his adversary’s in perfect rhythm.

Keepiru felt an erection begin, and encouraged it. In adolescent erotic play between young male dolphins the dominant one usually took the male role. He prodded K’tha-Jon, and elicited a howl of dismay.

The giant writhed and shook. He bucked and kicked, then sped off in a random direction, filling the waters with his ululation. Keepiru held on tightly, knowing what K’tha-Jon’s next tactic would be.

The semi-Orca sped slantwise toward a steep-sided metal-mound. Keepiru held still until K’tha-Jon was just about to slam into the wall, with him in between. Suddenly he arched, and swung his weight to