Page 26 - Fables volume 2

“Yes.” A junior trepang felt he should be the bearer of bad tidings.
“We cannot stop them, Lord of the Seven Seas: they are falling from
the sky into the water.”
“I see.” Leviathan ruminated. “Ah, if only Ziz hadn’t been caught
in an eruption: he would scourge the heavens of these upstarts. And
poor Behemoth, choked to death with the rest of the megafauna after
that comet strike. He could lay waste to their land bases, if he were
here; pound them into the dust and mud! Well, I’ll have to handle it
myself. In all three domains. Now, you trepangs: listen carefully!”
The crowd of loyal sea cucumbers inched closer.
“You say they are spying on their enemies’ watercraft? Then their
enemies must be doing the same. And they can attack from the air
and sea? But they haven’t gone after each other on the ground—that
means they are scared to a stand-off. Perhaps in time they would give
up the confrontation. I will not wait for that uncertain outcome.
Even if they did disarm, they would continue to poke around the
bottom of the ocean, piercing the planet with plowshares instead of
slicing their citizens with swords. Then I should have to intervene
directly to end their interference, and face the same problem again.
Better to stamp it out now.”
He uncoiled another head from its resting place under two others
and reviewed the troops. Leviathan was pleased.
“This is the plan. Learn the acoustic signature each of these
adversaries expects from the opposing fleet and note the ports in
which those warships are berthed. Then mimic that sound as you
pass by their sensors toward the two homelands—simultaneously,
creating the illusion that both sides are undertaking a sneak attack.
Any denial of the existence of such an armada would not be credible.
One will launch a pre-emptive attack, triggering a response from its
enemy. They will destroy each other on the land, in the air and under
the sea. Our tranquility will be preserved for eons. Now, go!”
As the mob dispersed into orderly battalions under senior trepang
leadership, Leviathan stretched for a few furlongs, returned to the
comfortable position in which his bulk was best supported, yawned
cavernously and went back to sleep.

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