[BatRay]

I must have smoked too many ropes, I told myself. I cast another disbelieving glance, and sure enough, thar she blows! (the whale I mean). Incredibly, I was calm. The deep blue welcomed me, and I continued to sink. In a way, we were brethren, the whale and I. Both of us had faced death at the hands of really weird people. From the looks of things, though, the whale had come out on top in his encounter. How would it end with me?

The great white whale cruised up alongside me and regarded me with a fathomless dark eye. The wooden leg pointed accusingly at me, and I felt a tickle in my brain. Then a voice said to me without speaking, "This peg leg is really irritating. Ever had a piece of food stuck between your teeth and you desperately needed floss? This is a hundred times worse, because I have no hands! Remove it from my teeth and I will take you safely back to the surface. If you refuse, I will eat you."

This was a problem. Which was preferable? Should I comply, relieve this creature of its suffering, and return to the hairy embrace of GP Girl and death by whale? Or, should I accept my fate and be eaten by a whale, which would probably happen anyway?