The Whales of Veros

    Dawn broke over the western shoreline. The first crimson sun was rising. Sven stared over the glittering sea, lost in thought.

“Good morning,” a sudden voice broke Sven’s trance. Sven turned around.

“Hello Richard,” said Sven, “Think we’ll go ashore today?”

“No doubt in my mind,” replied Richard.

The two shared a quiet chuckle. Of course they would not go ashore today or any other day. There was no shore on this planet. Veros was a completely ocean world.

“How long have you been on this rig, by the way?” asked Richard.

Sven beamed, “Nearly six months. I’m out on the next transport.”

“Lucky sod,” Richard said with a smile, “I still have 3 months to go. Well, thirty-four hours till the next shift. What do you want to do?”

Veros had a grueling seventy-two hour night and day cycle. As a result the work night was long and difficult.

“You mean besides sleep?” said Sven, “I was thinking of attending to some other basic human needs.”

“Meet you in the mess hall?”

“See you there.”

Sven made his way down to the lower deck of the Shangrock. The Shangrock was one of the largest ships in the galaxy and even after six months Sven would still get lost from time to time. He went through the grub line and received his dinner of some unnamed squid-like creature that inhabited Veros. The flavor was decent but the texture was rubbery. Still, Sven was glad it was not freeze dried protein blocks again.

After dinner with Richard, Sven made his way back to his cabin. It was rather Spartan containing nothing more than a bed and a few personal belongings but at least it was private. Sven looked out his window that was below sea-level. A few of the same creatures he had for dinner darted past the window. Sven laid down in his bed and let his mind wander.

Sven had been apprehensive about taking this job. Being one of the many poor on his home planet of Karin, it had been several generations since anyone in his family could afford transportation off-world. Karin may have been a slum-world but it was all he knew. Sven finally decided to take the job when he grew tired of watching his little sister, Nadia, go hungry. So he packed his bag and left Karin for the first time in his twenty-three years. He missed Nadia and his mother very much but was comforted by the fact that they were well fed now with the money he was sending home.

Their fathers were spacers who came to Karin for the only reason the affluent ever come to Karin: prostitutes. Their mother had been a prostitute to earn a meager living for a good number of years but now she was getting too old to attract any clientele. The last few years had been extremely hard on Sven’s family. Sven and Nadia would scavenge through the abandoned ancient cities of Karin to make enough money to eat. Finding anything of value was rare though, the cities of old had been picked through hundreds of times by people like Sven. Nadia had recently turned eleven and said to Sven, “Don't worry, I can earn our money now.” That statement solidified Sven’s decision to take this job.

Men Sven’s age were becoming a rare sight on Karin since the recruiter from Manserto showed up on their planet. The recruiter became impatient when he had to explain to Sven three times what they did. Sven was not a dullard but the concept was so foreign to him.

“You capture animals?” He had asked.

“In a nutshell, yes,” replied the recruiter

“And then you eat them?”

“Heavens no! We ship them out to zoos all across the galaxy.”

“What’s a zoo?”

“A place where rich people go to look at animals.”

Sven blinked, “Is it really that boring to be rich?”

    Sven’s contract was nearly up now. In a week a transport would take him home to Karin with enough money to live comfortably for another six months before he had to ship out again. As he drifted off to sleep, Sven tried to imagine what Nadia would look like now after six months of full meals. Perhaps she has chubby cheeks now with a healthy rose tint.

A sudden knock at the door snapped Sven out of his slumber.

“Wake up!” boomed Richard, “You're going to be late.”

Sven hurriedly got dressed and made his way to the upper deck. One sun had already disappeared over the horizon and the other was nearly gone. In the twilight he could see flashes of blue light in the water fade to green.  The ship veered in the direction of the flashing lights.

“To your stations men,” yelled the foreman, “It's a big group. I expect at least one capture.”

As they approached the blue and green lights ceased replaced by red flashes. The whales sounded their alarm.

“They've seen us,” the foreman said.

The spotter up on his perch selected a target and pointed it out. Sven was always surprised how quickly the Shangrock could move despite its size. They pulled up alongside their prey and matched speed.

“Quickly!” commanded the foreman, “Before it goes to deeper water.”

Sven turned a crank and the massive net swiveled over the side of the boat.  He pulled the release and it plummeted into the ocean. Sven saw the horn glowing blood red breach the surface. The whale stuck its head out and took a deep breath.

“Go now!” Sven barked, “She's about to dive.”

The Shangrock increased speed and the net moved under the majestic beast. Sven pulled a lever and the net rapidly ascended. The crew steadied themselves as the ship slowed suddenly under the weight of the gargantuan creature. The ship lurched as the net raised the whale. Soon she was eye level with Sven. He could see fear in her deep blue eye. Sven gently pet her side. The whale let out a pleading cry. With all the water on her it was impossible to be sure but Sven could have sworn he saw tears come from that eye the size of his fist. She had the same color eyes as his little sister.

“Shh,” whispered Sven, “it's alright. I'll call you Nadia.”

Sven stepped back as the net swiveled around and deposited Nadia into a massive movable tank. It was barely big enough to accommodate the creature, Sven had voiced concerns about this but he had been assured that the animal would have ample room to swim at the zoo. The tank quickly filled with warm ocean water.

“Good work,” said the foreman.

Sven heard a rushing of water and turned to see a whale jump clear out of the water and ram the side of the ship. The ship shuddered. Sven lost his footing and fell face first into the guardrail. He felt several points in his jaw snap and dropped onto his back. After a moment Sven rose to his feet. Everyone was transfixed on him.

“I'm okay,” Sven tried to say but his mouth would not form the words. He felt warm blood dribble down his chin and flow down his throat. The pain in his jaw swelled. Sven felt as if the Shangrock were swaying violently yet everyone staring at him stood perfectly still. Sven slowly dropped to his knees and steadied himself with his hands. The world around him dimmed and faded to black.