Ahab-2
Unapproved breach detected in Humboldt County, CA, was opened to the frequency for CFAD 'Ahab-2', by autotunes linked to known ecoterrorist groups, in effort to "join the struggle of our cetecean siblings across the infinite ocean of the universe". Recommend against allocation of rescue resources under Protocol-DA.
Mr. Gonzales, through his attorney, claims the mail archives were tampered with. PAIN representatives insist there is no 'Protocol-DA' and no effort is spared when trying to assist those who enter unsafe breaches, regardless of their motivation for doing so. While it is true no recovery mission was sent in this case, it was due, as the actual decision process records show, to the timelag between breach entry and when PAIN was informed of the incident, combined with the documented levels of risk on CFAD Ahab-2 for waterborne operations, produced a virtually nonexistent chance of success and a near-certain loss of the rescue team as well as the targets.
Summary
Sometime around 1730, the whales (mostly sperm, blue, humpback, and right, along with orcas and dolphins) decided they had had enough. Pods began acting in a coordinated fashion to attack, and sink, any human craft sailing more than a mile or so from the coast. These strikes used complex tactics and coordination among multiple species, and showed signs of communication over long distances. Large groups of multiple species began to appear in unusual habitats, actively pursuing human shipping, even where there had been little or no whaling activity. Ocean travel became increasingly dangerous, leading to fewer ships, which in turn meant the attackers had the numbers to target an ever-larger percentage of them.The tactics used were sophisticated and deliberate. Fast, agile species smashed rudders to limit mobility, then larger whales would ram the vessels from blind spots. One whale would surface to draw any fire, then two more would attack from the opposite side. Some of the largest would "breach and fall" to crush a ship. Others reversed this, rising from below to strike at the weakest points. Humans falling into the water, or fleeing in lifeboats, were generally shown no mercy.
These details were known only from occasional sources, such as the one ship in a flotilla to pull away and evade destruction, or the rare ship which successfully repelled an attack (and was near enough to a harbor to avoid a second wave (pun intended). The few reliable eyewitness accounts are typically conflated with rumor, speculation, and tall tales.
The Flotilla of '62
In 1760, Thomas Hutchinson, after over three years with virtually no contact with England, ordered the construction of a fleet of oversized, over-armed vessels, determined to 'break through this beastial blockade that seeks to cut Man off from his rightful dominion of the seas'. It launched in August of 1762, with the best crews available, and with armament and construction designed to counter what was known of whale tactics.Less than an hour after launch, the fleet ran aground on an artificial reef of jagged rock, built surreptitiously by the ceteceans. As the lead craft tried to turn back, those behind it were flanked by ambushers. Signal flags and shouted commands conflicted with each other, and the well-planned attacks and defenses, intended for the open sea (and after some time to drill and practice in shallower, generally 'safe', waters) degenerated into chaos. Watching from shore, the governor ordered rescue boats to launch, commandeering fishing boats and coastline-hugging cargo ships (often over great objection)... none of which survived to reach the rapidly-sinking fleet. This bungling, and the effective non-existence of English authority, led to an early American revolution in 1770 (though whether King George III even knew it had happened is debatable).
Present Day
It's 1811, and the oceans remain effectively closed. Florida, Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica (the latter two having overthrown their colonial governments and existed as independent nations for some time) are joined in a loose confederation. The nation of United America (somewhat hyperbolic, as it controls only the eastern seaboard to the Appalachias), is stable enough. Slavery formally ended in its territory in 1780. Technological growth, typically fueled by the exchange of ideas and economic competition, has slowed but not stopped; TL 5 can be pegged to about 1800 locally.
The breach point opens in Boston, and the most frustrating thing to explorers is the near-total lack of news from anywhere else in the world. Every few months, someone tries to cross the Atlantic, but nothing is ever heard back from them. No ships have arrived from Europe or Africa in decades.
For a month, Ahab-2 was classed as open for study pursuant to resources, with few restrictions beyond the usual. Stories of its whale armadas and local lurid fiction of the horrible beasts were popular on Baseline, enough to provide funding for more scientific speculation. The mystery of how and why the ceteceans on Ahab-2, whose historical records pre-1730 show no signs of being different from Baseline whales, was Breach's main concern.
Then, quite accidently, came the answer, and the order to shut off exploration of the world.
Just as the discovery of mana-rich alternates enable some BREACH agents to discover they were, in fact, latent spellcasters, worlds where psychic powers work have the same effect. A new BREACH recruit had spent about two days getting used to a Boston without electricity, toilets, or wi-fi, when she began hearing "ghosts". Knowing that such things might well be possible (BREACH agents are taught not to assume they know all there is about a world based on a few days or weeks there), she started taking careful note, and concentrated on "listening" to the voices. Slowly, the idle fragments of words and half-heard whispers in the dark coalesced into a terrifying conclusion that sent her running back to the breach point as fast as a stolen horse could carry her.
The 'ghosts" were the whales, which had formed a powerful psionic gestalt under the control of a single mutant mind. And it had felt someone "spying" on them, and had begun to seek it. Wisely, she did not wait to find out what would happen if it did.
While BREACH has pulled back, the world's frequency had not been hidden previously. Absent official observers, two distinct groups of Baseliners formed their own plans:
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