Colony by Benjamin Cross (ready player one ebook .TXT) 📗

others. “This one I call Grandfather because I think that he may be the oldest.”

Callum watched as the creature turned on its side as it glided past the canoe and examined him with one eye. “How can you tell how old he is?”

“It is simple. They turn paler as they grow older, and you can see his colour is very light. Also I know that he is male because usually the females do not have a tusk. Some of them do, but it is shorter. I have also seen him tusking. Look.”

A short distance from the side of the canoe, several of the larger animals had congregated. They were busy grinding their tusks together, high above the water.

“They look as if they’re sword-fighting,” Callum said.

“This is tusking. The males rub their tusks together like this. Nobody knows why, but it is probably a way to decide who is in charge and attract a mate.”

“So they’re sizing each other up? My tusk’s bigger than yours?”

“Yes, this is what they do. This is how I know that Grandfather is a male, because I see him do this often.”

“He must have a complex,” Callum said.

After staying with the pods for a while longer, they continued northwards. The current had driven them to within fifty metres or so of the shore, so they moved back out to sea and held their course. Several of the younger narwhals continued to follow alongside them before turning as one and heading back to the safety of their family.

“We can head back also, whenever you like,” Darya called to him.

“I’ll be okay for a while yet,” Callum replied. “I thought you were mad when you suggested this, but I think I’m getting the hang of it.”

“You are doing very well, solnishko. If you are feeling strong then we can go and see the bird colony at Svayataya?”

“Okay,” he replied. “Svayataya it is.”

Soon the shoreline began morphing into the northern cliffs. A succession of coves bore their way inland. Seals lolled on the outcrops and the tooth-like headlands were interspersed with pocket beaches and pebble shores, strewn with silver driftwood. Beyond, the Hjalmar Ridge towered over the coast, the ever-present peaks standing guard at the island’s heart.

On one of the beaches, something had caught the attention of a couple of dozen gulls. Some of them scuffled over it, while others circled patiently above them on the breeze.

“What do you suppose it is?” Callum asked.

“The birds are little auks,” Darya replied. “I am trying to see what they are feeding on.”

Callum looked around to see that she was already examining the shore through a pair of expensive-looking lightweight binoculars.

“Anything?”

“At first I thought it was a dead seal,” she said.

“That’s what I thought.”

“But actually,” she stared intently into the eye-pieces, “I think it may be a bear.”

She handed him the binoculars.

The birds themselves were black on top with white underbellies, and through their strobe of wings he could make out nothing more than the odd flash of yellow-white. When he looked back, there was an ominous expression on Darya’s face. Her lips were pursed, almost pouting.

“You want to check it out, don’t you?”

She flashed him an embarrassed grin. “It would be very useful for me to take some photographs and a few measurements. I have only seen one of these animals so far this season, and he was far away. It is not very often that I have willing subject.”

“Do you mean me or the bear?”

“If you would like not to stop then we can carry on.”

He sighed. “Okay, but you owe me.”

She leant forward and kissed gently at the side of his mouth. “This is down payment.”

6

As they approached the shoreline, the seabed got shallower and shallower until their paddling gave way to punting and the gentle surf finally eased the canoe up onto the beach. The gulls took off and hovered at a respectful height as they arrived at the carcass.

It lay on its side, soggy and bloated. The ribcage had been picked open by the gulls and a horrific smell emanated from the stomach. It was the first time Callum had ever seen a polar bear outside of the zoo. Dead, desiccating, with its tongue lolling out, it was not exactly the way he’d imagined.

“You’re not going to touch it, are you?” he asked, trying his best not to gag.

“Unfortunately I must. But it is okay.” She slung her rucksack off and delved into it, withdrawing a box of single-use hygiene gloves and a tape measure.

“I love it when a girl comes prepared.”

With a roll of her eyes, she pulled on a pair of the gloves and handed another pair to him.

He stared at them and then at her.

“It will be a lot faster if you can help me with some measurements, please.” She produced a small Dictaphone and attached it to her lapel. “Then we can get away from this horrible stink as soon as possible.”

Her argument was compelling. They set to work taking measurements, Darya dictating a record of them and presumably any other observations. They measured the limbs, head and paws. Darya then forced back the creature’s jowl to examine the gums and teeth. As she came to measure across the chest area, she stopped suddenly to inspect a number of holes made by the probing of the gulls’ beaks.

“They were making quite a meal of him,” Callum said.

“It is her,” she replied, “and…” she hesitated, digging her fingers into the neatly circular wounds one after another, “…this was not the gulls.”

“What was it then?”

She turned and looked at him, her eyes suddenly aflame. “Somebody has shot this animal. She died recently, no more than a few weeks.”

“But there’s been nobody else on the island. Only us and the security forces.”

“Her tissues are swollen,” Darya continued, ignoring him. “Whoever shot her must have put her body into the sea afterwards and now it has come back to shore. Look, the fish have nibbled at her tongue.” She knelt back down and re-examined the bear’s head,