"Sure looks like it boss."
I waved my arm up above my head to Keturah and the other whale riders. Keturah waved back and dove into the water from off Dimbo's back. The other divers jumped free of their whales into the water in like fashion.
The whales submerged downward into the crystal clear water with us. It was awe-inspiring and somewhat terrifying to be in the presence of so many big monsters as there were congregated in a small patch of water.
Never could I ever have imagined that I would experience anything to compare with this underwater scene I was experiencing. It was both odd and awe inspiring to witness the interplay going on between the gigantic whales and their tiny human counterparts.
These whales ate dinosaurs for breakfast and yet they seemed as eager as puppies to heed the instruction of their riders. I credited Keturah the most for the success of what was happening.
She more than any of the other whale people seemed best able to communicate with the whales or at least Dimbo. She showed him what was needed and he went through the motions of lining up. The water suddenly danced with squeaks and pinging noises delivered at high frequency as Dimbo conveyed what to do to the other whales who soon followed in like order and took their positions.
The whales turned away from the larger of the ironclads and waited patiently at the bottom of the lagoon with their bellies rubbing the seafloor as they waited on their riders. Teams of divers pulled the heavy ropes out from beneath the hull and swam past the bulk of the resting whales to hook the loops of the rope ends over the tusks of the whales. Through it all the whales remained still their big eyes moving only, as they curiously took in the scene.
With the ropes all in place Keturah signaled Dimbo and once again the water vibrated with percussionary clicks and warbles. In unison the whales all began to rise.
They didn't launch into their burdens, but rather they eased their way there as the ropes grew taunt with tension. Once tension was achieved then they began to work hard at the game of tug-of-war.
There were two whales per rope only they were on opposite ends and facing away from each other with the ship in between. There were fifteen such pairs of whales with two solitary whales tied off at the forward prow and one at the rudder.
The ironclad began to rise ponderously, as the whales chugged relentlessly upward toward the surface of the lagoon. It was hard to see anything because of all the stirred up sediment and the perfusion of bubbles in the water.