Maelstrom by Anne McCaffrey Page A

were in his family and he had not understood the question, so they asked if it was one otter or maybe a small group of otters or hundreds of otters. Sky usually reported any group larger than two or three to be hundreds.
    The canal was more torturous than previous ones, choked not only with tangles of roots, but also littered with chunks of earth and stone that had fallen from above. The twins followed Sky as long as they could in seal form, but then the water ran out for creatures of their size and they had to flip themselves dry and put on their dry suits while they and Ke-ola, hunched over under the low tunnel ceiling, waded through the shallow water, following Sky and the Honu.
    At last they rounded a bend and saw torchlight and a shelf of rock extending from the streamlet to the side of a cavernous root canal.
    In the flickering of the torchlight, the twins saw a small band of people—not hundreds.
    And from above them they heard rumbling. Ronan and Murel could smell the fear and hopelessness emanating from the people as their eyes fearfully searched the sides and roof of the cave while rocks and dirt rained down on them.

CHAPTER 9
    T HE RUMBLING INCREASED, then stopped.
    Ke-ola waded toward the people and spoke quickly to them. The ones nearest him looked startled. Being intent on the quake, they hadn’t seen or heard the small rescue party until then.
    Many of the adults were older people, though there were a few younger women and a great many children. One old woman, nearly as big as Ke-ola, stepped up to their friend and made loud demands the twins could not understand.
    The Honu did, though.
She wishes to know if the Manos still live, and Ke-ola tells her they are well,
the turtle explained.
    Ronan’s human throat emitted a sealish bark of frustration.
Everybody is just fine, but we aren’t going to be much longer if we don’t find a way out soon.
    True,
the Honu replied as once more the tunnel trembled, the water sloshed, and the dirt and rocks showered them.
So it is a good thing the diggers are above us now.
    “Are these people the only survivors or do we need to look for more?” Murel asked Ke-ola, even though she didn’t think she wanted to hear the answer if it was not the one she wished for.
    “This is all,” Ke-ola answered. “Two compounds were completely obliterated when the first meteors fell. The Manos warned the people, but those far from the water didn’t know of the warning until it was too late.”
    “So we can go now?” she asked. She felt very selfish. These people had lost everything, even relatives, and she was only uncomfortable and tired. But it was enough for her. She wanted to go home.
    When the diggers poked through the root-woven ceiling and soil and the first victim was carried to the surface in a sling attached to a rope, she thought it was all over.
    But the old woman who had first addressed Ke-ola wasn’t letting them off that easily and demanded something of him in their own language.
    He tried to urge her to go up in the sling. She shook her head, and Murel thought it was because she was afraid the rope wouldn’t hold her. “It’s very strong,” Murel told the elder soothingly in Standard.
    The woman answered her in the same language. “Strong for you, missy, strong for me, but how will it carry the Manos?”
    “The Manos?” Ronan asked. “Why would it carry the Manos?”
    Ke-ola tapped his forehead with the heel of his hand. “Of course, how could I be so stupid? The Manos will have to come too. These people cannot leave their aumakuas behind any more than we would leave the Honus.”
    “But they’re going to have to,” Murel said. “I don’t think the tanks will hold all the Honus and the Manos too. There’s not enough water.”
    “Couldn’t Madame make more tanks?” Ke-ola asked.
    “And put them where?” Murel said. “Besides, it’s not that easy. Adrienne said they already had to reinforce the lounge deck to hold the tank that’s there now. I