From the Depths

by S. J. Sanders

  With a few more strokes of her oar, she slid over the spot where she was certain that the vessel had dove into the sea. Setting her oar once more over her thighs, she leaned forward with a delicate balance, cautious to not pitch over the side of the canoe and glanced down into the water.

  Her heart sank. There wasn’t even the slightest glimmer anymore within the water, and no clue at all as to what the vessel had been—and it had been a vessel of some sort, of that she was certain. The blue water below her looked just like the water anywhere else, the murky depths concealing their secrets far beyond what her eyes would ever be able to see. It didn’t stop her from peering into the water.

  Tilting her head, she leaned forward a bit more and squinted. There was something moving around, the light reflecting a pearly hue just below her. What was that? It was big, but not like anything she’d ever seen. It certainly didn’t look like any of the monstrosities that the fishermen would drag from the depths. Whatever it was, it seemed curious about her too since it lingered for quite a while, circling her canoe.

  The luminous, pearly color brightened, and her breath stilled with excitement. Was it emerging?

  It stilled, tendrils fanning out around it… and what looked like an enormous, sail-like fin at the end of its tail. The fin curled up almost invitingly. She puzzled over it, unable to see what it was clearly. The canoe wobbled beneath her and she braced herself, suddenly afraid of being pitched into the water with it. Although the creature wasn’t acting aggressive and was unknown, fear surged within her and she sat down on the carved-out bench of her canoe.

  She looked back over the side and sighed in disappointment. Whatever it was, it was now gone. She waited to see if it would come back, but when it didn’t, she turned back and began to make her way home.

  Chapter Four

  Ji’wa drifted on a current just above the colonial dome anchored into the seabed, his eyes scanning over it, looking for any sign of problems. To his relief, it appeared to be secure and the dome itself was fully operational. Touching the comm device at his throat, he communicated with his team scouting the area.

  “The colonizer has successfully anchored and settled as far as I can tell. Report your findings,” he intoned into it. Talking normally was impossible when submerged, but the comm picked up the vibrations of his song and transferred it accurately to anyone receiving it.

  Just below him, a sirei with brilliant pinkish bio-luminous markings glided over the sea floor as a brilliant scarlet fin flashed.

  “The stone is different from anything recorded from Sirenx but appears to be a durable foundation,” Ger’se, his second-in-command, commented as he skimmed the rocks.

  “There are hydrothermal vents seven chori away. That may be what made the colonizer choose this location. The water temperature around them is warm and there is a variety of lifeforms living around it. We would plant seral forests and tangi gardens nearby without interrupting the local wildlife. Within the next season, we would have crops as well as a protective zone around the colony,” Ik’ma interjected pleasantly.

  Ji’wa smiled in satisfaction as the reports came flooding in. Even En’il was excitedly reporting nutrient levels that superseded his expectations. He’d been alarmed by the sighs of tech surrounding the planet at their approach. A sentient indigenous species with technological capability, though inferior to that of the sirei, was worrisome, yet it seemed to be confined to large landmasses. He had to admit that this planet was everything they dreamed of. In the distance, he could see the beginning upslope rock formations that indicated the presence of an island and smiled.

  With a flick of his finger against his comm, he opened a channel directly to Ger’se. “Approve opening the vents. Let our people out of the dome but caution them to stay nearby for safety reasons while we familiarize ourselves with our new home.”

  “Yes, Ji’wa’sa. I will see to it immediately.” He paused. “Should we send an exploratory team out to look for an island habitat?”

  “Not at this time. I am going to the surface to make some preliminary observations. I believe there is an island nearby, but I want to get a look before we organize a team.”

  Silence.

  “You do know that is considered reckless and unauthorized for members of command. Technically speaking, you are supposed to be supervising from inside the dome, not out here with us,” Ger’se said.

  “I am aware. I am also very much aware that this command was foisted on me in direct lineage from my sire. You and I both know I never wanted it, and in truth given my failure to even find a mate, I shouldn’t be in this position without an heir. My father should have named a mated male his successor. Now that I have the opportunity to do something, I refuse to sit idly while others do it.”

  “Very well,” Ger’se grumbled. “What should I tell the command council if they comm?”

  Ji’wa made a dismissive click in the back of his throat and shrugged, though the male couldn’t see him. “I don’t care. Tell them that I ate something that disagreed with me and am currently indisposed.”

  “Really? You want to go with that?” his friend asked. “You want word to circulate among the pods that the first day on New Sirenx, you were stuck in the sanitation pod?”

  “I don’t particularly care what they think. We are no longer confined in ship with disapproving elders and the command. The council is far away in the prime dome, and I can outswim the Li’lal’fa elders.”

  Ger’se chuckled. “I still think you are crazy, but your order is noted. All the same, I will try to come up with something better if I can.”

  Ji’wa smiled in response and turned away from the glowing dome of their city, his attention drawn to the sunlit waters above.

  With a flick of his tail, he flattened his dorsal fin along his back and propelled toward the surface with the long fin that swept up his tail. The pink bio-luminous lights along his body dulled as the water brightened from the sunlight pouring into the upper strata. Although they got sunlight at their dome, a necessity for sirei health, it was nothing as bright as the sun as he neared the surface. His eyes nearly ached with it, his pupils slitting in response.

  He stilled as a shadow passed overhead. Something long and narrow. Was it a predator?

  He slowed, the webbing between his toes and fingers catching the water as he spread the digits. Very slowly, he swept his tail from side to side, propelling him in a gradual ascent as he circled around it. He was certain that at any moment it would lower its large head and attempt to snatch him out of the water, but it didn’t move, so he allowed himself to drift closer.

  As he came within range of the creature, he got a better look at it and laughed. It wasn’t an animal at all! It was roughin texture like prisk wood and intentionally shaped as if it were something crafted by a being possessing intellect. He eyed it with appreciation as he drifted closer. On a generational ship, he hadn’t had the opportunity to see many things carved out of wood. He had one heirloom from his sire, no bigger than his palm, that depicted a mythical creature in repose.

  He wondered if it was possibly a floating kafal set upon the seas to honor a deity. Such were the traditions of his people. The kafals were suspended on long cable tethers to the underwater cities and the island nations before their sun became too unbearable to sustain life on the surface. They served the dual purpose of honoring the sun goddess I’dura and collecting solar power by the collection orbs attached to it.

  He was almost within range of it when a face, distorted by the moving surface water, peered over the side and looked down at it. He stilled in fascination. It wasn’t a kafal… It was some kind of primitive vessel. That would have to mean that the native species were indeed wholly land-based if they required such things. His kind had built such vessels to travel over larger islands, so he understood the concept behind it well. Still, to see one with his own eyes that was fashioned by another species was a marvel to him—but no more than the creature staring down toward him.

 
Its face was scrunched peculiarly, its nose oddly narrow and pointed as it extended off a face that was almost similar to that of a sirein in shape. Just an ugly sirein. Even the head filaments were similar, despite the lack of horns and bio-luminescent markings. Then again, he reasoned that a land-dwelling species might have never developed such traits.

  It leaned forward even more, and he ventured closer. Just one more chori and he would be close enough to reach out and touch it. He was tempted to sing to it. Would it respond?

  In a quick movement, it disappeared, and he stilled, his tail fanning out to its widest sail to keep him steady. Perhaps he was scaring it?

  He sank down to a lower depth, his eyes never leaving it. He thought he saw the creature peer over the side again, but he couldn’t be certain now at the distance between them. He jerked in surprise when an odd-shaped piece of wood stabbed into the water and perked with interest as the vessel began to move forward. That flat rounded end was obviously meant to imitate a fin to help it glide over the water.

  How delightfully primitive!

  With a swish of is tail, he darted forward through the water, following after it swiftly. Whoever occupied the vessel had to dwell on the island. That thought dismayed him, since his people needed the rocky land. Dwelling beneath the seas exclusively caused too many health complications. He would need to determine how big the island was and if there was a significant enough population to be problematic. A small population on a large island could allow sirei to claim a small hidden portion without the other species even being aware of their presence. Especially if they lived by such primitive means.

  He found it curious since they had seen plenty of signs of tech, but it was possible that those who lived out in the waters didn’t have access to the same. It was all conjecture, but he was mentally stimulated in a way he hadn’t been since his youth before he’d been forced to assume the mantle of his father’s responsibilities and put aside his own interests.

  He surfaced just behind a tall, narrow rock jutting out of the water, his eyes widening at the sight. The vessel was nearly to the beach, too far away from him to get a clear view of its passenger, but his eyes widened as he took in the island and he breathed a single word.

  “Osh’na’la’meh’na!”

  It was paradise! The very house of the mother of the fertile soil, Osh’na’la.

  The circle of jagged stones broke through the waves, providing a natural harbor of calm waters. The shallows were the ideal spawning ground, and just beyond them soft sandy white beaches and cliffs where they could dig out homes. Just beyond the cliffs, he could see a hint of greenery peeking through. Vegetation!

  He scanned the cliffs and beach. He couldn’t tell from that angle just how big the island was, but he saw no signs of civilization. His eyes tracked to the simple vessel as the creature hopped out. He trilled with excitement. Even its basic body shape was similar to his own species, despite being frightfully dull in color and lacking a tail. The similarities were astounding! It also looked like it was alone.

  He frowned in sympathy for the creature as he watched it pull its vessel up the beach. It had no help and no one to speak to. It must have been a lonely life without a pod. He didn’t even see signs of a mate.

  Ji’wa glanced quickly around to make sure he wasn’t being observed and dove into the warm water of the shallows. He sang a few notes of pleasure as the water washed over him. He imagined younglings diving playfully in the safety of the calm water. Emotion pinched his heart as he acknowledged that none of those younglings would be his. In the thirty-eight calculated orbitals since his birth, he had plenty of time to meet every female sirei on the ship a multitude of times since reaching sexual maturity, and not one of them caused his sex to prime and mature.

  Banishing such depressing thoughts, he surfaced once again and swam up to the beach. Water slid off him as he stood, placing his feet on the soft sandy bottom. The creature hadn’t noticed him yet… no, not creature. It was too similar to sirei to be anything other than a person regardless of how different. Even the clothing covering it was unique.

  Sirei also wore clothing; however, they only wore the loose ankle length robe while in the dome as a decorative statement. This being seemed to wear clothing more functionally like some other land-based species that he knew of that dwelled in the cosmos as a means to provide protection from the elements and, in some cases, to preserve modesty. A strange concept to his people but one they accepted nonetheless.

  This being’s clothes were in a bad state. The fabric looked like it might have once been decent but needed to be replaced long ago. Barely held together with rough stitches, it made his finer sensibilities curl with disgust beneath the rush of sympathy that flooded him. Perhaps he could bring it some clothing from their storage? That might make it amenable to the presence of his pod. Perhaps even offering assistance in labor. It seemed weary as it hunched forward over its vessel and panted. With the wind blowing from behind him, he couldn’t catch scent of it, but he suspected it was filthy and exhausted.

  He stilled as it turned in profile to him. He was certain that any moment it would face him and react with hostility, but it didn’t. It didn’t even notice him. Its face in profile was more attractive than it had appeared from under water. The face still bore the same noticeable similarities to his species, but this time it was smooth rather than scrunched up hideously. The nose was still odd but seemed to fit its features, the lips full and the ears rounded rather than finned. He wondered at how dull its senses were as he watched it raise weary arms in a long stretch, pulling the fabric taut over its shapely chest.

  His attention sharpened. Its shapely chest? He stared at the shape of a pair of recognizable round breasts thrust forward. It was a lone female. He spun around warily, his dorsal fin on his back lifting with agitation. There had to be a male around somewhere. No pod would allow a female to live alone and unprotected. He couldn’t imagine a species so similar to his own in appearance being so callous toward their females that males wouldn’t be around to offer their protection.

  The breeze shifted, casting a tantalizing scent his way. It teased his scent receptors and he let out a loud hiss of interest as he closed his eyes in ecstasy. The scent intrigued something deep within him. He dropped into a crouch, all of his fins flaring so that the sharp spiked ends were exposed to any possible threat when a sudden scream split the air.

  From his peripheral vision, he caught the piece of wood sailing at his head but not in time to avoid it. It hit him with enough force to send him sprawling forward in the sand. Coughing and spitting out the tiny grains, he glanced up to see the female running to the safety of the cliffs and away from him. He watched in bewilderment until the humor of the situation caught up to him and then laughed. The female had acted much like an accosted sirei female when spied upon by an unwanted male. He should be thankful that the little female wasn’t as savage, or he probably would have suffered from more than a knock on the head and a bruised ego.

  He watched her depart with a smile. His father had once tried to advise him that sometimes the way around a difficult female was through an earnest gesture. Apparently, that had been how he won his mate after she refused his suit after he matured for her. The situation was different, but he still felt spurred on to act anyway.

  He would do something for the little female and see if that would pave the way for any chance of communication between them.

  First, he would have to see En’il about a translator. It had been enough time since they’d encounter another race that they hadn’t needed to do a fresh implant in a great number of revolutions. His generation hadn’t even been fitted with them since his parents’ generation considered them unnecessary while they were scouting for a serviceable world. He would require one now for himself, and one for the little female.

  Turning on his heel, he dove back into the water and snapped his tail fin open to propel back toward the dome city. He resolved not to be gone long. A fire burned within him
that he knew wouldn’t be sated. He wouldn’t tell anyone of the island yet. He wouldn’t send out an exploratory team. He didn’t want anyone interfering with the female.

  Chapter Five

  Terra crept back down the beach. It had been four days since she’d encountered the creature. Four days since she dared to descend from the cliff. She stayed inside with her rations of smoked fish, peering down suspiciously at the shore, and every day she saw it emerge from the water and scan the beach and cliffs as if searching. She shivered with the knowledge that it was looking for her. To what purpose, she didn’t know… All she knew was that the thing could easily kill her without even trying.

  It was, however, obvious what it was. It had appeared the very day after that odd ship had gone into the ocean. It had to be a species from another world, and it had followed her canoe all the way back to her island.

  When she was little, her mother had told her stories of a race of people who descended from the stars and had attempted to save humanity during the cataclysm. None of the Earth leaders were willing to agree to abide by the laws of the visitors and so the human species were left to die on their ravished world. Less than a third of the human population survived, and while there had been some recovery since, their species still shuffled along woefully, unable to adapt to their changed world.

  Now there were aliens again, but it hadn’t come bringing any message. It had looked at her possessively. Like it wanted to conquer her or devour her… maybe both for all she knew. And, unlike their last visitors, it wasn’t inhumanely beautiful as her mother recounted. It was only vaguely humanoid in appearance and more terrifying than appealing.

  Though well over seven feet tall and the color of the winter moon, it possessed a somewhat human face and musculature that resembled some of the divers she knew in her youth, when viewed at a distance. Unfortunately, it had been close enough that first day that there was no way she could mistake it for an exceptionally tall, pale man. Its humanoid face had a wide, flattened nose with vents that cut ridges into its face running from its nose to the outward edge of its sharp cheekbones, where it brought her vision to long, pointed ears edged with a strange frill that gave them a fin-like appearance.