by Brian Tissot
Her thoughts drifted back to the day on Colossus. Was that yesterday? That was an awesome wave, and I’ve got to show the world! She felt a tugging at her heart as she remembered the fate of Dina and her crewmates. But damn, everyone’s dead. Now I’m alone, stranded, 12 light years from Earth. She chuckled out loud, trying to lighten her dark mood. “OK, Byron, 11.46 light years from Earth. But they should come looking for me, right? I mean when were they supposed to hear from us?” Her stomach lurched as she remembered Milo’s vow of secrecy. “Nobody knows where we are—where I am—except Cutten.” Great.
She pulled her emergency breather off her neck and conducted a quick inventory of her belongings. In her backpack, there was a whistle and an underwater flashlight, a small knife, some drinking water and snacks, a locator beacon, which she pulled out and activated, and a small notebook and pencil. These were all her material possessions, along with the Lycra suit and booties she wore. She opened the water and took a small drink. “Better save this until I can find more water. Is the water even drinkable on this planet?” She realized she didn’t know, but decided it didn’t matter; she had to drink whatever she could find.
The beach held nothing but white sand in both directions: no boards, no debris, and no people except for the small jumble of rocks. She carefully bounced over to check out the rocks and saw a yellow-orange coating composed of a multilayered cement-like covering of surprising diversity, including small branched forms and prostrate fern-like clusters. Sage grabbed an edge of one, and it broke off. It was brittle and smelled like damp earth with a sharp, mustardy scent. “It looks like a lichen,” she said. Her loud voice surprising her as she realized she was talking to herself. But she continued as it felt better to talk than to be silent. “But it’s…stiff and calcified. These are probably the source of the sand—lichen beaches. Huh! On Earth, lichens are a symbiosis between algae and fungi. They live together on sunlight and decaying organic matter.” She took a small bite, but spat it out. “Oh, yuck. Not edible.”
After exploring the boulders, she lay down on the sand to rest her bruised body. She was startled by a loud screeching noise and witnessed a fireball streaking across the sky with a long white tail. She cried out as it disappeared over the ocean’s horizon. “Shit. A meteorite. A big one! I wonder if it will create a tsunami.”
Not wanting to find out, she hopped over to the water’s edge and stared across the inland sea at a faint line of volcanoes in the hazy distance. She felt exposed as the island had no high ground to escape from a tsunami. Looking across the inland sea, she estimated the mainland was only a few miles. I’ll swim to higher ground.
As she stepped to the edge of the water, she noticed large round white objects filling the bay. Entering the water she saw smaller versions at her feet. She picked one up but immediately screamed and dropped it. “Ouch! That sucker stung me.”
The white pancake-sized object looked just like a scyphozoan—a jellyfish—on Earth. But it was just a thin sheet of tissue with no tentacles or obvious mouth. Glancing offshore, she realized the bay was filled with the creatures, some of them up to 20 feet wide. With resignation, she shook her head. “I’d hate to find out what their sting feels like! So much for swimming across.”
The water started receding from the bay. “Shit, a tsunami is coming!” She bounced with large strides to the highest point of the island atop the jumble of boulders, perhaps 15 feet above sea level. “Not good. I need to get to higher ground.” She looked around for somewhere, anywhere, else to run to. The brown creatures had disappeared from the beach. They know something’s coming.
The island to the north had a much higher rocky mound, perhaps 100 feet high. The two islands were separated by a wide channel, now a fast-moving river, but as the water receded further offshore, she noticed that the channel was emptying, and she saw a clear path forming to the next island. Climbing down, she started bunny-hopping to the next island when she heard a roar offshore and saw a large wave heading her way. Moving at full speed, she carefully crossed the wet mud, then stepped onto the rocky mound of the next island and began climbing to the top. As she did, she looked back and watched in horror as a large wave pushed water up the beach she had just traversed. Not quite keeping her panic at bay, she slipped and fell several times, but eventually reached the top of the island and looked below as additional waves rushed in, each one pushing the sea level higher and higher. To her relief, after a few hours and six waves, the water stopped 20 feet below her, then began to recede. Looking back, she saw the island where she had landed was completely underwater. Damn, I’ve got to get off these low islands.
From her upbringing in Hawaii, Sage knew tsunamis could last for many hours, so she explored the top of the rocky bank, watching as the water receded and returned several more times. Looking to the north, she could see the next island was even bigger, and she could barely make out a higher one beyond that. She knew she would have to head that way, but since more waves were possible, she decided to spend the night on top of the rocky bluff first. She watched the sunset surrounded by comet tails with an occasional meteor streaking across the sky. As dark settled in, the small moon, Lona, rose in the eastern sky and the inland sea lit up with a sea of bioluminescent jellies, creating a tapestry of glowing patches in the black water. Sage tried to relax and enjoy the sights. Soon the stars emerged, and she saw the sky of the Procyon system from Thalassa for the first time. She was stunned by its beauty, and for a short time, she forgot her predicament.
The Milky Way filled the sky with countless stars. Again, she recognized some familiar constellations, but others were strangely different. “Hey!” Sage said to the sky. “I see you, Orion, just like at home. Hi, Big Dipper? There you are, but you’re a bit warped. Weird. And Hōkūleʻa, Arcturus, yes, I see you too. Will you guide me home like you did for the ancient Hawaiians?”
Hours later, unable to sleep, she saw a bright object rise on the eastern horizon and illuminate the island like a tiny sun. “You’re Procyon’s white dwarf.” And later that night another bright star appeared. Except it wasn’t shimmering like a star. “Who are you?” she asked. Then shaking her head. “I guess I should have listened more to Byron’s lectures.” Her voice trailed off as she remembered Dina and her teammates and the rapid change in her life. Just yesterday they were making history, discovering complex life and surfing giant waves and preparing for the news broadcast of the century. Now, everyone was dead, and she was stranded on a remote planet far from home. And no one will know what I’ve done, shit. I’ll never get to reclaim my fame.
She recalled Byron talking about finding our home sun in the constellation Aquila after they entered the Procyon system. “Search for Altair; it’s close to that.” Looking straight up, Sage searched for a few minutes then spoke in a quiet voice when she recognized Sol. “I see you, sun. That’s home, where my ‘ohana is.”
Throughout the night, meteor trails streaked across the sky. Most were short, but several large ones disappeared over the horizon, reminding her of the precariousness of her situation on the small island. Tomorrow, she thought, before she finally dozed off, I’ll find a way off this island, to higher ground and, somehow, back to the Duke.
Chapter 15.
Discoveries
Sage awoke in the night to low, whistling sounds coming from the water. Sitting up, she noticed a brown head in the surf, watching her. She blinked, and it was gone. Smiling to herself, she went back to sleep.
At dawn, she scanned the beach from the high rocky point. Despite being stiff from her surfing ordeal, she climbed down and moved along the empty beach toward the north end. Finally becoming accustomed to Thalassa’s low gravity, she used a combination of a bouncing gait to walk, and bunny hops to run, down the long beach.
Last night, her mind was wild with ideas about how to get off the island, motivated by her fear of tsunamis and her desire to share her giant tube ride on the holoscreen. She recalled the day
they entered the Procyon system, and she saw a huge asteroid field light up on Byron’s screen. “Not to worry,” he had said. “They rarely hit the planet.” Then at the briefing when they arrived, “…collisions…only occur every few years or so.” Shit!
Now, stranded on a low-elevation island on an ocean planet, the memory gave her newfound anxieties, and she was frantic to find higher ground. A slightly bigger meteorite and she’d be toast.
An hour later, she reached the north end of the island and looked across a deep channel over a hundred feet wide at a larger and more massive island several hundred feet higher on the other side. That’s better. But her heart sank as a strong current raged between the two islands, filled with pancake-like jelly critters rushing into the surf and filling the offshore waters with jellies, and pieces of jellies, in all directions. Disappointed, she said, “I guess I won’t be crossing that channel.” She wondered if she could cross at a low tide, like she’d done when the other channel had emptied. But did the tides here follow the same patterns as on Earth, relative to the position of the sun and the moon? She began to log the time of the tides, based on the height of the sun, and the date and position of Lona in her notebook. She remembered that Thalassa’s days were only 18 hours long, so she recorded both the Thalassian and Earth dates to keep the tides straight in her head.
Looking offshore she could see the jellies dissipating into the ocean, so she came up with the idea of swimming out and around the jelly-filled channel to the next island. Jumping in, she easily swam beyond the surf and into deep water. As she did, she heard an ethereal sound followed by a huge splash offshore. She watched with apprehension as a massive round tail disappeared below the surface. Whatever it was, she reasoned, it was huge and something she hadn’t seen in the submersible. It could be harmless, or it could be another predator like a mantis squid. She turned around and headed back to shore. Not worth the risk. As she swam in, a small swell approached and she quickly caught the wave, stuck out her arms, and skated down the wave’s face, sliding several seconds along the breaking wave before it keeled over, dumping her onto the smooth sandy bottom covered with fronds. Woo-hoo! She caught a few more waves, which reminded her of surfing in Hilo and provided a welcome diversion from her situation.
Staring at the rocky hill, she decided to survey the area and climbed up to carefully explore the jumble of rocks. Cool air in a dark space behind several large boulders caught her attention, so she squeezed between the rocks and discovered a cave receding into the darkness. Turning on her laser light, she examined the walls as she wandered into the deep cave. Cool! It’s just like a lava tube back home.
The floor dropped away into another cave below her, which she followed. After descending through several caves, she could hear water. Turning a corner, she dropped another level and saw the cave disappear into a hole filled with dark water.
Shining her light, she could see the water rising and dropping. “Well, that’s interesting,” she said as she tasted it. “Salty. It’s connected to the ocean.” But as she turned to head back, she saw water dripping from the cave roof. Touching it with her finger, she tasted it. “Fresh water, awesome.”
After drinking the ice-cold spring water and splashing it on her face, a strange light caught her eye. The walls of the ocean-filled cave were glowing with a mosaic of luminescent colors. She turned off her flashlight and watched as a complex web of colors emerged from the darkness. Tiny star-like specks of light floated around, some blinking off and on, reminding her of the dinoflagellates that lit up Earth’s oceans during red tides. When she turned to head back, the walls of the cave were glowing. “It’s all covered with bioluminescent organisms!” Adjusting to the dim light, she navigated out of the caves without her flashlight.
Emerging into the sunlight, she laid down on the sand to warm up and heard splashing in the surf. Schools of small pika, an inch or so in length, were swimming through small fronds in the shallow water, occasionally erupting on the surface. Offshore a wave came in, and before it broke, she saw larger pika swimming in the glassy swell chased by a brown shadow. That’s one of those creatures!
Although she was anxious to find a way off the island, she was intrigued by the creatures. Watching the pika also caught her interest, so she walked into the water and waded into the waves, where she saw schools spinning gracefully through small fronds.
As she followed them into deeper water, she learned more about the creatures and their habitat. For one, the pika offshore were different than the ones in the shallow surf. Although they looked superficially similar, the inshore species were smaller, gray with dark spots while the offshore species—the same ones they had seen in the sub—were larger with a uniform dark-gray color and white underbelly, plus they had larger cirri around their pores. Clearly, there are several species.
Swimming underwater, Sage heard clicking sounds and felt her skin crawl. She was being watched! Surfacing, she saw a small brown head drop beneath the water a few feet away. This creature was similar to the one she had seen on the beach, but smaller, probably four feet long, and it was following her. Unbelievable, she thought to herself as she backed away. These animals are watching me.
Sage dove underwater to get another look but became fearful as the sharp-mouthed creature approached her then stopped. They watched each other for a minute until shyness gave way to curiosity. A shudder ran down her spine as she realized she was interacting with an intelligent mammal-like creature, the first on another planet. But instead of fear she felt…fascination. This creature was unique, and she was picking up an unusual vibe as she listened to the strange clicking and song-like sounds it made underwater as it turned its head while looking at her. Whatever it was, she was excited at the discovery and had lost her hesitation at being near the creature. It turned and swam away. All right, enough of that. Time to move on.
Walking back to the channel, she observed several animals swimming in the surf, including the one she had seen up close. They were no longer hiding from her. She saw that each one had distinctive markings from the size and location of their black spots. As they followed her down the beach, they swam gracefully through the surf, emerging with pika in their mouths. They make it look easy.
She spent the rest of the day staring at the channel, hoping it would narrow with the tide and thinking about other options to get across. There’s nothing to build a boat, the white things are everywhere, and I see large splashes offshore from the tail ends of huge animals. It’s like this place is conspiring to keep me here. But I’ve gotta keep moving!
She finished the last of her meager snacks that night and woke up at dawn feeling hungry. Following the creature’s example, she dashed into a shallow pool of water and tried to grab the small pika schooling among the fronds. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she waited patiently in the shallow surf for a pika school to approach then jumped in and emerged with a handful of the slimy animals. At first, she stared in disgust at the small wiggling creatures in her hand, but realizing she had few alternatives, put one in her mouth and began chewing. After a few seconds, she smiled and spoke to one of the brown creatures watching her from the surf. “Good grinds, brah! Kinda like parrotfish. They’d be perfect with a little shoyu!” She laughed, then threw another one in her mouth. “If you can live on these, so can I.” But it doesn’t matter. I’ve got to get back up to the Duke.
As the days passed, her anxiety grew, and she continued to watch the north channel for an opportunity to escape to the next island. Although the channel appeared to be getting narrower each day, it was still too wide and full of jellies. While she impatiently waited, she continued to make more discoveries.
With a small group of the brown creatures following her, she explored a small rocky reef in the surf that extended into deeper water. The reef was bare except for patches of a yellow carpet-like coating. However, under the occasional hole or rare boulder, she saw small versions of the yellow marble sponges, b
uilt from a few flagellated balls. As she slowly moved offshore, circled by the creatures, she could see the bare reef extending into the water past 100-foot depths. Remembering the lush biota on the Bulge, she was perplexed by the pattern. There are tons of things in the water. Shouldn’t the bottom be covered with marine life? Maybe the whole planet followed the pattern they’d seen in the submersible—bare to 300 feet, then transitioning into a rich, life-covered reef at deeper depths. The mystery behind the change felt ominous, and she knew she was missing something.
Popping on her breather, which had fully recharged in the sun, she swam down to look at the bare reef. Lichen-like crusts were everywhere, and she saw mounds of white and yellow sediment and an occasional bluish anemone-like creature with small mouths and tentacles, like the ones she had seen on the Bulge. Curious, she reached out to touch one of the anemone’s tentacles when a school of pika swam around her. In a flash, a brown animal appeared at her side and pushed Sage away as one of the “anemones” swiftly extended a long worm-like body into the water column. As she watched, it reached out several feet and grabbed a swimming pika with six long, sharp claws that emerged from the small mouths and dragged it back into its lair. Shit, that’s no anemone. It’s more like a bobbit worm! I’m not on Earth anymore. Then, looking at the creature next to her, she marveled at her intelligence and compassion. Wow, she saved me.
Despite her harrowing experience, she pushed farther offshore until she heard a cacophony of clicking sounds. It was a mixture of equally-spaced clicks interrupted by a more rapid set of clicks, an occasional whistle, and part of a high-pitched song. Sage knew that the clicking sounds were used in echolocation by toothed whales and dolphins to locate prey, primarily large squid and schools of fish. These highly evolved animals on Earth listen to the echoes of the returned sounds to identify objects. But the songs, she remembered, were limited to baleen whales. She remembered hearing recordings of humpback whale songs, but these were at a higher pitch. Whatever these creatures were, they appeared to have evolved a similar way to navigate and communicate underwater, just like cetaceans on Earth. The very thought made her shiver.
