Fragment by Craig Russell

Author:Craig Russell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781771871129
Publisher: Thistledown Press
Published: 2016-09-01T00:00:00+00:00

Ring

The past three days have been a time of peace and rest for Ring.

He has allowed the Eastern Current to help him keep up with the Fragment. He has drifted, quietly feeding on krill, and although his jaw still aches from the battle, his mouth is healing.

Once each day and once each night he dives to the base of the ice wall and sends forth the warning. He will continue this task until enough days have passed for the night-sky light to have gone dim and returned to full brightness again. That should give enough warning.

Tonight’s moon is a vague circle of light. He tries to call Milk-Eye and the others. There’s no reply. The terror has sent them north. When the moon’s cycle is over he’ll go looking for them.

The creak and grind of the Fragment is unending but the ocean he swims in, behind the giant iceberg, lacks most of the usual sounds of life. He’s heard no other whales since the Killer pack’s departure. No seal’s bark or penguin’s squawk. It’s restful, but it’s boring and lonely.

So when the crazy song comes, it garners his full attention.

It’s Blue, but the whale who sings it has lost his mind. The transitions are jagged, absent any glissando, as though the singer has a damaged throat. The order is confused and anti-lyrical.

The gist seems to be “Blues. Swim here.” Followed by a sound map of the ocean centred near where he is currently swimming.

The song, if you can call it that, is like baby-talk. It comes from a place near the centre of that map, but a tonal shift tells Ring that the singer is remarkably deep — swimming below the warm/cold water layer, where Blues seldom dive.

He sings a more natural version back in the direction of the crazy Blue to acknowledge the call and adds to the end of the song the ring of bubbles Mother chose as his name.

All right crazy one, he says to himself, I’m coming to see you.

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