the unexpected upward pull of the object. With a sudden burst of power, she fought against it, then immediately stopped moving upward, the glowing thing becoming immobile in her grasp. Furiously she crushed it in her beak, spilling only a bitter fluid, then released the inedible object and swam back toward her wounded sister.
Many more in the shoal had already descended upon the dying female and had managed to tear away much of her flesh. The one-eyed female turned to pursue another group that had detached from the shoal and was headed rapidly to the surface, following another glowing object.
As she neared the surface, something large that had entered the water was dragged down past her, obscured by a writhing huddle of her brethren. Prey. But her attention quickly was diverted by another large, heavy object that created a sharp vibration as it entered the water a moment later.
She moved upward toward the source of the vibration. She immediately sensed that the object was prey, familiar prey, something she had fed on before. Her instincts told her that this creature and the other that had just been swarmed by the mass of her kin were food.
She turned her body slightly to fix her single eye on the prey and assess its defenses. Through the darting members of the shoal, she sensed that the large creature swimming down toward her in the darkening water was nearly her size and weight, but moved clumsily, slowly in the water. It must be dead or dying, and was therefore likely incapable of defending itself. As she closed to within a body length of the prey, she saw its two eyes fixed on her own.
Suddenly the prey moved faster than it had before, thrusting its head toward the surface and thrashing its lower half, its two legs propelling its thick body toward the surface.
The large female felt her nerves tingle as her senses heightened and her muscular body tightened, her flesh changing from a mottled pink to crimson red in the dark water. She twisted her body to direct her weaponry toward the fleeing prey and darted upward, lashing out with two longer tentacles to ensnare it.
But she was not the first to attack. Another large female—the badly scarred sister she recognized by the missing fin tip—rushed ahead of her and caught the slow creature as its head broke the surface of the water.
They rapidly towed the quarry back under, then pulled it tightly into them, engulfing it in their many powerful arms. The two sisters gripped its body tightly, dragging and pulling with powerful bursts of water from their siphons. They moved away from the surface, toward the deep. The prey was thrashing violently, jabbing and striking at them, but they sensed no injury or pain.
Together they pulled the creature farther down. Others from the shoal approached and latched on to its thrashing body; several gripped its leg, another its torso next to the one-eyed female, yet another affixing itself to its face. Drawing the prey tightly against her as she held her position on her own patch of flesh, the large female dug her sharp beak into the creature’s side through its loose outer skin. Underneath the sheath of fibrous, inedible fabric her beak met with warm, bloody flesh, rich with fat, and she bit further into its belly.
With a few powerful spasms, the prey finally gave up its fight and yielded to the shoal. The hungry mob, gathered tightly into an enormous ball around the dying animal, drifted slowly down into the blackness as it fed.
C HAPTER 13
S turman pressed his thighs against the handrail to maintain balance in the slow Pacific swells, then groaned with satisfaction as he sent an arc of piss off the bow of his boat. As the stream entered the water, the ocean magically lit up around it in a swirling, turquoise glow.
“Let there be light.” Sturman let out a loud, drunken belch. “Hey, Pop, check this out.”
Steve Black walked over, beer in hand. “Fuck me! Glowing shrimp! Why don’t you go swimming with ’em,
Many more in the shoal had already descended upon the dying female and had managed to tear away much of her flesh. The one-eyed female turned to pursue another group that had detached from the shoal and was headed rapidly to the surface, following another glowing object.
As she neared the surface, something large that had entered the water was dragged down past her, obscured by a writhing huddle of her brethren. Prey. But her attention quickly was diverted by another large, heavy object that created a sharp vibration as it entered the water a moment later.
She moved upward toward the source of the vibration. She immediately sensed that the object was prey, familiar prey, something she had fed on before. Her instincts told her that this creature and the other that had just been swarmed by the mass of her kin were food.
She turned her body slightly to fix her single eye on the prey and assess its defenses. Through the darting members of the shoal, she sensed that the large creature swimming down toward her in the darkening water was nearly her size and weight, but moved clumsily, slowly in the water. It must be dead or dying, and was therefore likely incapable of defending itself. As she closed to within a body length of the prey, she saw its two eyes fixed on her own.
Suddenly the prey moved faster than it had before, thrusting its head toward the surface and thrashing its lower half, its two legs propelling its thick body toward the surface.
The large female felt her nerves tingle as her senses heightened and her muscular body tightened, her flesh changing from a mottled pink to crimson red in the dark water. She twisted her body to direct her weaponry toward the fleeing prey and darted upward, lashing out with two longer tentacles to ensnare it.
But she was not the first to attack. Another large female—the badly scarred sister she recognized by the missing fin tip—rushed ahead of her and caught the slow creature as its head broke the surface of the water.
They rapidly towed the quarry back under, then pulled it tightly into them, engulfing it in their many powerful arms. The two sisters gripped its body tightly, dragging and pulling with powerful bursts of water from their siphons. They moved away from the surface, toward the deep. The prey was thrashing violently, jabbing and striking at them, but they sensed no injury or pain.
Together they pulled the creature farther down. Others from the shoal approached and latched on to its thrashing body; several gripped its leg, another its torso next to the one-eyed female, yet another affixing itself to its face. Drawing the prey tightly against her as she held her position on her own patch of flesh, the large female dug her sharp beak into the creature’s side through its loose outer skin. Underneath the sheath of fibrous, inedible fabric her beak met with warm, bloody flesh, rich with fat, and she bit further into its belly.
With a few powerful spasms, the prey finally gave up its fight and yielded to the shoal. The hungry mob, gathered tightly into an enormous ball around the dying animal, drifted slowly down into the blackness as it fed.
C HAPTER 13
S turman pressed his thighs against the handrail to maintain balance in the slow Pacific swells, then groaned with satisfaction as he sent an arc of piss off the bow of his boat. As the stream entered the water, the ocean magically lit up around it in a swirling, turquoise glow.
“Let there be light.” Sturman let out a loud, drunken belch. “Hey, Pop, check this out.”
Steve Black walked over, beer in hand. “Fuck me! Glowing shrimp! Why don’t you go swimming with ’em,
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