Diamond Sharks
science fiction short, 6000 words. Available for purchase at AnthologyBuilder.
It's a great job with great pay, you just can't be totally human to get it.

Publication history

Excerpt

“The giant undulating diamond shape of the manta whale drifted slowly into my field of vision. Its body was shaped like a zeppelin, with two equilateral triangular wings extending to either side that it used to propel itself. Its tail end supported two whale-like flukes that served to steer as far as I could tell, and it had two rows of long low fins on its back that I couldn’t begin to guess the purpose of. There was some kind of shifting grid pattern etched onto its back, and tiny creatures crawled chaotically along this grid as the manta whale made its slow way against the trench current.
    It was only when the manta whale swam under the mating couple I had spotted that I realized the sheer size of the creature. The two whale-sized creatures fitted easily onto the manta whale’s back. Then the manta whale came into proper focus and I recognized the grid pattern. It was one of the giant nets I had seen in the central company cave. The nets were attached to the dorsal fins and provided hand- and footholds for the diamond sharks. But that meant that the tiny creatures I’d seen were fellow diamond sharks.
    The beautiful, majestic sea monster I saw floating beneath me was larger than the space ship that had brought me to Oceana.”

Reviews
  • The Fix reviewed Leading Edge Magazine, Issue 55 (2008-08-01):
    “[...] Floris Kleijne offers a riveting story with “Diamond Sharks”. [...] This story of self-discovery is presented in a beautiful setting, nicely complemented by the illustrations of Michael Madder.”
    Read the full review here.
     

History