Breathing through his regulator, he tested movement. His arms shifted, but pressure held firm, as though the whale intentionally pinned him. He half expected to be forced deeper, into the cavern of a throat, but the rational part of his brain told him a whale’s throat was too narrow to swallow a human being. Why was he here at all?
Above, the pod’s movement grew erratic. The crew tracked them with binoculars, watching colossal shapes dip and rise like black hills. Each spout of spray teased hope. “He must still be alive,” whispered a student. No one answered, afraid their words might collapse under the weight of uncertainty.