struggled as the large female drew it toward her powerful maw and violently gnashed into its side, removing a tremendous hunk of flesh. The thin bones in the fish easily snapped inside the great beak, and blood poured from the gaping wound as the fish’s life slipped away.
Around the members of the shoal, thick, silvery fishes with vivid yellow tails and white underbellies were clearly visible to their large eyes. The pulses of light generated by the shoal confused the school of fast, powerful prey as they overtook it.
The aggressors rapidly changed colors as they attacked, their skin turning bright reds and purples instead of their usual pale white. Frequently, they emitted the green-cast bursts of bioluminescent light when they were most excited, for the fish they attacked now were not the smaller fish they had been feeding upon for days, but instead a larger, more dangerous prey that could sustain the shoal with the nourishment it needed to survive and grow. But to attack these fish was to do battle.
Larger than the quarry and greatly outnumbering it, the shoal quickly began to overtake the prey. The shoal attacked in squads, surrounding the school of broad, silvery fish and engulfing its terrified members. Soon all that remained in the black water were the drifting, inedible remains of the fish.
Yet there was not enough food.
The largest females had eaten much of the meaty fish, but had lost some of the flesh to other ravenous members of the shoal. Their hunger remained. As they propelled themselves slowly through the bloodied water, they searched for something larger than the floating bits of tissue around them. The shoal parted in front of them momentarily, and ahead they saw something else. Something that excited them, caused them to again become aggressive and single-minded of purpose.
Ahead of them was a small, glowing object.
This was like the bioluminescent light of the lanternfishes on which they had always preyed. The one-eyed female moved toward the glowing green object, and saw as she approached that there was not just one, but several glowing objects near her in the water. All were moving erratically, as if wounded. She began to pivot in the water to direct her weaponry toward the prey. The small glowing lights had immediately attracted the attention of most of the shoal and now, as she spun her great bulk to overtake the prey, a smaller, faster member of the shoal hurtled past her toward one of the glowing objects. In an instant, the prey began rising rapidly toward the surface, meaning to escape her smaller sister’s grasp. It could not. Her sister lashed out and seized the glowing object, drawing it in.
Then her sister began to struggle.
The smaller object was somehow drawing her up with it, toward the surface, and she was now desperately emitting powerful jets of water, struggling to free herself.
The larger, one-eyed female no longer focused on the glowing object. She now began to focus on her struggling sister.
The large female sensed that her sister was incapable of escaping the object she had seized. She was defenseless, with the dangerous parts of her body still wrapped tightly around her prize, and the soft, unprotected flesh covering the rest of her body exposed.
Focusing on her sister’s flanks with her one remaining dark eye, the enormous female rushed forward and clasped her vulnerable sister in a tight embrace.
And bit into her.
C HAPTER 12
“I ’ve got one, Dad!”
John Whittaker’s twelve-year-old niece leaned back, bracing her hip against the gunwale and pulling hard on the fishing pole. Something had just taken her line. From the looks of it, something big.
“All right, Megan!” John shouted. He watched as Megan’s dad, his older brother, put his own rod in a holder on the side and rushed over to help her. Megan was struggling to control the powerful fish that had just struck her jig. John’s niece was a tomboy, and strong for her age, but out here there were some
Around the members of the shoal, thick, silvery fishes with vivid yellow tails and white underbellies were clearly visible to their large eyes. The pulses of light generated by the shoal confused the school of fast, powerful prey as they overtook it.
The aggressors rapidly changed colors as they attacked, their skin turning bright reds and purples instead of their usual pale white. Frequently, they emitted the green-cast bursts of bioluminescent light when they were most excited, for the fish they attacked now were not the smaller fish they had been feeding upon for days, but instead a larger, more dangerous prey that could sustain the shoal with the nourishment it needed to survive and grow. But to attack these fish was to do battle.
Larger than the quarry and greatly outnumbering it, the shoal quickly began to overtake the prey. The shoal attacked in squads, surrounding the school of broad, silvery fish and engulfing its terrified members. Soon all that remained in the black water were the drifting, inedible remains of the fish.
Yet there was not enough food.
The largest females had eaten much of the meaty fish, but had lost some of the flesh to other ravenous members of the shoal. Their hunger remained. As they propelled themselves slowly through the bloodied water, they searched for something larger than the floating bits of tissue around them. The shoal parted in front of them momentarily, and ahead they saw something else. Something that excited them, caused them to again become aggressive and single-minded of purpose.
Ahead of them was a small, glowing object.
This was like the bioluminescent light of the lanternfishes on which they had always preyed. The one-eyed female moved toward the glowing green object, and saw as she approached that there was not just one, but several glowing objects near her in the water. All were moving erratically, as if wounded. She began to pivot in the water to direct her weaponry toward the prey. The small glowing lights had immediately attracted the attention of most of the shoal and now, as she spun her great bulk to overtake the prey, a smaller, faster member of the shoal hurtled past her toward one of the glowing objects. In an instant, the prey began rising rapidly toward the surface, meaning to escape her smaller sister’s grasp. It could not. Her sister lashed out and seized the glowing object, drawing it in.
Then her sister began to struggle.
The smaller object was somehow drawing her up with it, toward the surface, and she was now desperately emitting powerful jets of water, struggling to free herself.
The larger, one-eyed female no longer focused on the glowing object. She now began to focus on her struggling sister.
The large female sensed that her sister was incapable of escaping the object she had seized. She was defenseless, with the dangerous parts of her body still wrapped tightly around her prize, and the soft, unprotected flesh covering the rest of her body exposed.
Focusing on her sister’s flanks with her one remaining dark eye, the enormous female rushed forward and clasped her vulnerable sister in a tight embrace.
And bit into her.
C HAPTER 12
“I ’ve got one, Dad!”
John Whittaker’s twelve-year-old niece leaned back, bracing her hip against the gunwale and pulling hard on the fishing pole. Something had just taken her line. From the looks of it, something big.
“All right, Megan!” John shouted. He watched as Megan’s dad, his older brother, put his own rod in a holder on the side and rushed over to help her. Megan was struggling to control the powerful fish that had just struck her jig. John’s niece was a tomboy, and strong for her age, but out here there were some
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