38

As you carry along Tamru and Flynn, a series of sonar blasts start up. You pause to listen. "What's that?" Flynn asks. "Is that a tidal—?" You hold up a hand to shush him as you listen to the message of the whale song: "ARRIVED. We have arrived. We will be surfacing, and then we will join you at the celebration."

You relay the message for Flynn's benefit.

"Oh wow, that was sonar?" he says. "You'll have to teach me how to interpret the long-range codes." He pauses. "I know we were headed back, but do you think we could go see the whales? I'm really interested in being able to actually talk to a whale, and I'll be honest, I'm not much for parties."

Tamru rolls his eyes. "Well, you're eager," he says. "They probably want to talk to you, too, but they're not going to be happy about humans going near the surface of the water. They're very strict about their rules. You won't get on their good side if you break those rules."

"Oh, well, never mind then," Flynn says, deflated. "I guess I'll just see them later."

You hesitate. Tamru's right that the whales are sticklers, but then, this seems really important to Flynn. And maybe the whales won't really mind all that much, since Flynn helped return the Orb and all.