By Arnold Marmor
Lots of strange things happen at sea. But
this was a new twist, a fish that really wasn't
a fish at all. So the question, who hooked what?
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy
December 1954
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Off Key West in the Florida Strait, with the bucking of the motorlaunch under the seat of my pants, and a rod and reel in my hands, Icould relax. I mean really relax. Sometimes a cool current from theGulf of Mexico would engulf me and it would be like something a mandreams about. Alone, under a blue sky, with one's thoughts. And thenthe thoughts would vanish as that familiar tug on the line meant astruggle was coming up. A battle between man and fish.
I love deep sea fishing. I was on a vacation with nothing to do butrelax. Oh, there were women, all right. But one gets tired of women.But not fishing.
So here I was, this bright sunny afternoon, in my motor launch, whenthat tug on my line made me sit erect, and my brain became alert. Youhave to think clearly. You have to know when to let out line and whento pull in line. When the fish got tired you could tell. It all comesthrough experience.
From the pull of the line I thought I'd hooked a sailfish.
I reeled in fast, then started letting out line. But the line didn'tget taut. It was loose. At first I thought I'd lost it.
And then it climbed into the launch.
I got up fast and made ready to dive overboard.
"Hold on, fella," it said. "Don't get into a panic."
I stared at it. It was about four feet tall, with scales and two thickstubs that was supposed to be tails. It stood on its tails and blinkedenormous eyes at me.
"The creature from the black lagoon," I said.
"To you I'm a creature," he said. "To me you're a creature."
"What kind of a fish are you?"
"I'm not a fish. I'm a Grenarian."
"You mean you eat vegetables?"
"I'm from the planet Grenaria."
"Look," I said. "You want this boat? Keep it. I'm off for Tampa. It'sabout time I took up drinking."
"You hate me."
"No, I don't. Honest. I'm just not used to these things."
"It happens all the time. What you don't understand you hate."
"But I don't. Honest. And where did you learn to talk?"
"I learned English from a professor. He understood my plight and triedto help. He was fishing the same as you when I caught hold of his lineand we met."
"What happened to him?"
"He went back to tell his colleagues. I never saw him again."
"He's probably in the booby hatch," I said.
"What's that?"
"Where I'll be if I ever tell anyone this."
"This is a cruel world," he said. "By the way my name is Hrodes."
"And mine is Carol Engelholtz. Now that the formalities are over, whatthe hell are you doing here?"
"My orders were to make contact with this solar system. My ship is atthe bottom of the sea. I have to be near water or die. And every time Itry to make contact I'm left alone on a craft of this sort."
"You mean they jump overboard?"
"That's exactly what I mean."
"You're from another galaxy?"
"Yes. My planet is covered with water. Your planet is the best one inthis system which has water on it. That's why I'm here."
"But you're not in water now."
"My gills can still absorb it. As long as I'm near it."
"Well, what do you want me to do?"
"I want to meet someone with responsibility."
"I wouldn't be able to get anyone to come out here with a story likethat. They wouldn't believe m