As Uyakh fled from the whaling ship, Cormac and Melusine both watched as harpoons attached to ropes were hurled at the great fish. Instinctively, Cormac drew his brand and swam towards the harpoons. Severing them from the ropes, he made sure that the tools of murderers were lost to the Deep.
Turning his attention to the ship itself, Cormac swam to the Surface, all while Melusine called for him not to. Upon seeing the whalers on the ship, Abenaki by name, he could not help but feel as if he had encountered a modern Pequod. Amongst the harpooners he could see a modern Queequeg, a modern Tashtego, a modern Daggoo, but curiously there was no modern Fedallah, but yet there was a man, an old man of European descent who must have been the modern Captain Ahab.
All of the ship's crew stared, half-horrified and half-interested. They knew not what to make of Cormac, yet still the modern Captain Ahab called out: "What are ye, boy?" His voice was deep and mellow and his speech slow.
Proudly, Cormac proclaimed while waving his brand: "A Child of the Storm, kinsman of Ronemun and defender of sea beasts against murderous brutes like you!"
Upon hearing Ronemun's appellation, the crew began to murmur in fear. The modern Captain Ahab on the other hand, merely asked: "Can ye come aboard, lad?"
"Not for long, sir!" Cormac answered. "I may only be outside of the water for five minutes and I am not sure I may trust you."
"I am Captain Abimelech, boy, and I give you my word that no harm shall come to you!"
Looking down into the water where Melusine waited below, he saw her pleading eyes, asking him to come back down to her. He would, in just a moment. Looking once more to Captain Abimelech, Cormac said: "Alright, I'll come up!" After a rope ladder was dropped down the side of the ship, Cormac climbed up. Upon seeing that Captain Abimelech was missing a leg, he inquired: "How did you lose your leg, Captain?"
Captain Abimelech, a man of sixty-one years who stood at a height of six feet and two inches, answered: "Lost it in the Posey War back in '23." So, he was an American and wherefore not? Had Captain Ahab not been an American? His head was balding and his hair greying. Due to the heavy winter coat that Captain Abimelech was wearing, Cormac had no way of knowing the man's build, though he looked somewhere between fat and muscular. "Do ye feel no cold, boy?"
"I do not, sir." Cormac answered. "What are you doing all the way out here?"
"We are after Black Beauty." Captain Abimelech stated.
With a deadpan expression, Cormac commented: "Then you must make port and go to a bookstore." He had heard of a great black sperm whale with a white star upon his brow and a white fin that brought Anna Sewell's stallion to mind. He was known to be a gentle beast that only attacked when provoked and travelled the oceans, resulting in the location of him being difficult. With all seriousness, he then said: "That poor creature you and your men sought to kill was not him and Black Beauty has never done anyone any harm unless they sought to do him harm."
"We recognize that creature was not Black Beauty." Stated Captain Abimelech with a nod. "And that is why we wish to kill it. Bringing that to port will bring us more fame and recognition than bringing in the head and fin of Black Beauty."
"Captain Ahab sought Moby Dick for vengeance's sake, but you are worse, Captain Abimelech!" And with that Cormac returned to the Deep, with the Captain of the Modern Pequod keeping his eyes on him until he was out of sight.
Cormac had no way of knowing if he would ever see Captain Abimelech again, but the most that he knew was that such men were dangerous. They could not be trusted. To the Young Egan's thinking, they would continue on their way to Pacifica and never see Captain Abimelech and his Modern Pequod ever again.
Alas, that was not the case. As he and Melusine continued on their way, they always saw the Abenaki in the distance behind them. Wherefore? Were they still after Uyakh? Had they resumed their search for Black Beauty and were only going in the same direction or were they after Cormac now? If so, it was well that Melusine had not come to the Surface. She would have been seen as well and then the Abenaki's crew would have had their sights on her in addition to Cormac.
What did they even intend to do to Cormac if they were after him? Put him on display like some sideshow attraction? Killing him would be no good, so he would probably be kept alive in a tank until the end. What a nightmarish thought.
"Cormac, they are whalers, not fishers." Melusine told him. "They don't have nets, they have harpoons. They have no way to take us alive."
"Then by all means, let us hope that Captain Abimelech does not tell any fishing ships about me." Said Cormac. "I should have listened to you, Melusine. I should have just ignored them."
"Well, now you know better next time." Said Melusine with a smile.
Cormac could only half-heartedly return the smile. Melusine may have assured him that the Abenaki had no way to capture them, but what were they doing then?