The coastguard vessel closed in, radios buzzing between ships. A plan began to form—lure the whales closer with bait, force them to the surface, and possibly open their mouths. The strategy was experimental at best and desperate at its worst. Yet it was the only idea they could come up with to bring Nathaniel back.
Nathaniel shifted again, this time noticing subtle vibrations pulsing through the whale’s body. They weren’t random. They carried rhythm, deliberate, resonant like the whale songs he’d studied. Only now the notes vibrated through his ribs instead of echoing across recordings. He realized, shivering, that these calls couldn’t be meant for him.