by Jay Aspen
‘Severin!’ I reach for the first-aid pack in one of the pockets of my body-shield, hoping the cut on his head is the worst of it, wishing I’d paid more attention in first-aid classes.
Strong hands are pulling me away and for a few moments I try to fight them off. Then someone’s arms circle me and pin my hands to my sides.
14
‘Stay calm, Hannik. The emergency crew is here now.’
I turn to see one of the Webdancers from the gestalt-gathering. Behind him, armed and well-equipped Rhangarians are running into the devastated hall, checking on casualties and carrying them away.
Someone is bending over Severin, sweeping a quantum over his face and neck. He suddenly turns his face aside and pushes the device away, trying to sit up.
‘What happened?’
‘Their rearguard blew up the exit tunnel so the others could get away with the replicator,’ answers Aluna, listening in to patrol reports on her miraculously undamaged com. A couple of medics help her to her feet while checking her with a quantum-scan at the same time.
Saroyan walks over to us, unhurt but apologetic.
‘I’m sorry, Hannik. Please forgive me. What I did was most unethical.’
‘Sorry for what? You saved our lives!’ I clasp her hand gratefully.
‘It is forbidden to take over the mind of another without their permission.’
‘Um, Saroyan, I think this counts as exempt circumstances. You have advance permission to save my life like that any time in the future if you get the chance. How did you know it was about to explode?’
Saroyan shrugs helplessly. ‘I am not sure, but sometimes I pick up on someone’s thoughts even at a distance if there is a strong emotional outburst with it. I think the rearguard with the detonator knew she was going to die in the blast and I caught her flash of fear and determination just before she keyed it to detonate.’
Two of the emergency medics discover that Saroyan hasn’t been checked and start quantum-scanning her despite her protests that she’s unharmed.
Severin is back on his feet, brushing rock fragments out of his clothes and blood out of his eyes.
‘Looks like Merkaan generosity ran to a good pile of the latest quantum devices as well as a replicator. The government has really been working hard at keeping the Rhangarians onside.’ He stops when he looks at me. ‘Hannik? What’s up?’
I brush away the tears. ‘For a minute I thought you’d been killed. I couldn’t bear it if...’
‘Just a few cuts and bruises.’ He takes my hand. ‘Now you know how I feel every time you rush into danger and barely survive.’
I try to smile, but the fear of losing him is still too strong. He slips his arm round my shoulders while a determined emergency medic applies a quantum to the cut on the side of his head.
‘Hannik, it’s all right. You helped save Aluna’s life, and mine. Feel happy about that.’
I lean close to him, feeling reassured by his strong arms around me and longing for all the tension and danger to be over so we can spend time together without dancing with death every day.
It is not to be. As soon as my immediate worries about Severin start to fade, that intense silent warning from Saroyan that just saved our lives comes back into my mind. Those desperate last moments of the enemy rearguard’s life will haunt my dreams forever.
But there’s something else. I search my memory until I find it.
‘Saroyan, I picked up a fragment of another detail you passed on in your warning. The rearguard was also thinking about gas... if only they would flood Rhangaran with gas sooner than planned then she wouldn’t have to die... do you remember anything?’
Saroyan frowns, trying to remember. ‘I was so focused on warning everyone, it blotted out everything else. Maybe. I can’t be sure. Do you think they plan to capture all of us with sleeping gas?’ She looks round at Aluna. ‘Would it be possible from the cave they are in now?’
‘Maybe,’ is all Aluna says before barking orders into her com. I listen, impressed by the efficiency with which she is assigning different teams to guard all exits from the underwater cave and evacuate this section of the island. Other teams are sent to search for any cracks through which gas might leak into living quarters.
I still feel I’m missing an essential piece of information. ‘What about the other islands? It would be too complicated to try to knock every Rhangarian out with gas in order to capture them.’
Aluna shakes her head. ‘There are very few people on the smaller islands, just a few farmers and fishermen. If they capture everyone on the main island it will be easy to round up the others.’
‘So what now?’
‘We go to the dolphin pool.’ Aluna strides out of the wrecked replicator station by the entrance through which we arrived only minutes ago. I follow, telling Olewala and Saroyan that we would appreciate a little more information. Aluna is too focused on directing her scattered teams to be much help.
Olewala fills the knowledge gap.
‘We only use shuttles occasionally, for long distance travel to the Eden coast or Merkaan. For Webdancer ocean patrols we ride dolphins. Or just for pleasure, because the dolphins are always swimming into the pool and urging us to come out and play.’
He’s forced to break off as we descend a spiral rock-stair so narrow we have to go in single file. Severin and I follow him into a vast cave with a broad flat expanse of rock bordering an underground seawater pool. On the far side a wide natural arch leads to the open sea, the distant sunlight scattering rainbows in the white foam of a reef.
My eyes move quickly to the inhabitants of the pool, illuminated by hundreds of tiny underwater led-lights set in the sparkling depths of it. Huge dolphins are leaping and plunging in the clear green water before swimming towards the rock ledge and bobbing their heads invitingly at the wetsuit-clad figures standing there. Then I notice several of the dolphins further out in the waves already have riders clinging to their backs as they leap and dive.
‘How...’
I turn to Olewala in amazement. He unhitches a pack from a row of hooks on the rock wall and hands it to me.
‘You’ll need one of these rider-breather kits. The attunement technique is similar to predator entrancement, except that the dolphin isn’t trying to eat you. They just want to play, but they can be a bit boisterous with it so you will need to focus. Watch out for their tails. You’ll have a few minutes to practice while Aluna gets her militia teams briefed. The only thing is...’
He breaks off, frowning. ‘Maybe you should sit this one out.’
‘What! Miss out on dolphin-dancing? No chance!’ I’m already gazing longingly at the lithe creatures cavorting in the clear green water.
‘Oh, do not worry, you can try that part. The white spray you can see at the entrance is a protective reef. The dolphins have learned how to leap over it to get in but sharks cannot get past it. Quite safe in here. But out there it is dangerous...’ Olewala reaches out to take the kit back from me but I clasp it to my chest and hop nimbly out of his way. He frowns impatiently.
‘Hannik, the thing is, if we are going into battle, we have to transfer from dolphins to sharks. They are bigger and fiercer and don’t need to keep coming up for air the way dolphins do. And they will be trying to eat you while you try to get them saddled. Or if you fall off after you’ve started.’
I’m not letting go of this one.
‘Olewala, I learned enough in summoning training sessions already to know that divers rely on sonar code to communicate and you can’t use much detail with it. I’ll stay close to Saroyan and follow her thoughts. You can’t refuse now you’ve seen the advantage we have on fast communication. It might make all the difference once we’re out there. Think of it as a sort of crash course in shark management?’
He gives a resigned groan. ‘I can’t argue with that in the middle of this emergency. Chaos knows what I’m going to say to your father.’
I can’t hide the mischievous grin.
&nb
sp; ‘Don’t worry, I’ll tell him I snuck into the water when you weren’t looking. Now. Show me how to get this kit sorted.’
Saroyan intervenes, trying to reassure the worried sensei.
‘I’ll take Hannik through the set-up. The Webdancers could use your experience right now in their preparation.’
Without waiting for him to leave she helps herself to another bag of rider equipment. ‘Hannik, just focus on me and I think you’ll find it easy to get into one of these things.’
I pause for a moment until the attunement sharpens before turning my focus to Saroyan. Now I can follow her movements even when looking away to check details on my own gear, my hands guided by her embodied learning that would otherwise take me weeks to acquire.
Severin seems to be managing his own gear without the link, maybe because he’s used to handling specialist equipment.
It takes me a few moments of pulling and smoothing to get the grey-green speckled wetsuit to fit snugly over my body, perfectly matching the dolphins frolicking in the pool. I expected the gloves to make my hands bulky and clumsy but the fingers are of a much thinner and softer fabric than the rest of the protective skin.
‘Just mind your fingers when you’re near a shark,’ warns Saroyan. ‘The thicker body-fabric gives you some protection from their teeth and it tastes bad. I wouldn’t rely on it though. Especially if you’re wounded and bleeding.’
‘Hmph.’ I’m beginning to wonder if this adventure is such a good idea after all, now I’m thinking about it properly. Then I have to concentrate as Saroyan flicks one foot at a time to test the retractable fins on the wetsuit. Mine seem to work reliably, so we move on to the rebreather unit, slim tubes set on the inner sides of the face mask.
I mirror Saroyan’s finger movements, checking valves on the air filter, noticing I’m able to understand instinctively how each part works. The initial familiarity comes from the connection with Saroyan, but I can feel the curious urge of my gestalt kicking in and exploring the mechanical connections in a way I’ve not experienced before.
It’s fascinating! Every piece has a logical purpose within the whole instead of the usual incomprehensible and meaningless collection of bits which has always been my previous experience with tec.
A mental nudge from Saroyan reminds me to focus as she moves on to the next stage. I follow her lead to shrug into the slender, streamlined power-pack that forms itself onto the shape of my back. It’s similar to the flat-pack Severin gave me in Merkaan with the wide straps pulling around to fasten at the front like body-shield.
I slip on the eye-mask, wiggling it until the bio-gel fixes it firmly round my eyes. Then I fit the main mask with its rebreather function over the lower part of my face, wincing a little with the strange sensations as the gel shapes and seals itself around the edges.
Saroyan’s words arrive in my head once more.
You get used to it. The mask needs to be in two separate parts so your breath doesn’t mist up the part you’re trying to see through. Breathe normally. The rebreather function automatically splits carbon dioxide to replenish oxygen inside your mask. You have enough energy-chemical reserve in the pack to stay down for twenty hours if you have to. And you’ll need this.
She passes me a harpoon gun. The size of the spear gives an alarming indication of the deadly adversaries we’ll be confronting. I copy her action as she slips her own gun into the sleeve on the side of her power pack.
When she picks up the harness and grasps it in her right hand I follow suit, knowing there’s no point asking for an explanation of what I’ll have to do next with the harness. I’ll just have to follow my mentor’s lead.
Saroyan dives into the rippling green-lit water of the ocean pool.
15
I plunge into the cool water and look around in wonder. The flickering green world around me suddenly fills with lithe grey-speckled bodies as dolphins compete for my attention. They seem much bigger now I’m in the water with them, their length at least four times my own height from nose to tail fin.
They seem to be enjoying the rough and tumble of shoving each other out of the way in their eagerness to be first in line for my attention and I sense instinctively that I need to stay well clear of those powerful fins.
Saroyan swims into view and I catch a strong sense of how I should be using my flippered feet. I try a few somersaults until physical skill catches up with mind-learning.
The sonar receiver in the mask squeaks and clicks with sonar messages translating as ‘Well .. done .. Hannik!’
Saroyan is teaching me sonar language as we go along. It feels scary but exhilarating to be learning this way, rather like being pushed off a tall cliff as a method for learning to how dive and swim.
Now comes the real challenge. I watch and feel Saroyan going through the first stages of attuning with her nearest dolphin. As the connection strengthens, the others seem to accept defeat and swim away in search of another human to play with. Some of them swell the eager crowd gathered around me.
I try not to feel intimidated. It really won’t help my concentration.
I focus on the dolphin in front of me, its head swaying a little in the water as it watches me. My senses flow into the graceful rippling of its body, steadying my position with flipper-like movements of my hands, keeping my feet together as I imitate its every move. Slowly, the empathy-based attunement grows stronger and deeper as I adapt skills I’ve already used with wildcats to merge with a very different mammal.
As I touch the life-force of this wild creature, the cool flow of ocean current washes over my skin as if the protective wetsuit is melting away, leaving me naked in the water. Dolphin awareness sharpens, memories of leaping through salt spray with the others and the shiver of fear and excitement as the pod flees the attack of hunting sharks, fins and tails thrashing the waves.
The rhythmic undulations of my body merge with the movement of water, slow soundwaves of dolphin song, right on the edge of human hearing. It’s powerful and hypnotic, demanding expression in the joy of swimming. Soon we’re dancing together in the water, two sea creatures connected in a harmony of movement, circling and diving as the staccato clicking of the dolphin’s sonar bursts onto the earpieces of my mask.
He likes you!
Saroyan’s thoughts mingle with the clicking until I feel I can translate at least a few fractions of dolphin language.
Come on, come on, let’s get out there and play...
Then Saroyan’s sonar clicks into my earpiece.
‘Harness .. protocol .. step .. one.’
That definitely isn’t dolphin vocabulary! I part watch, part sense as I follow Saroyan’s example. I swim round to the dolphin’s left side, grab the pectoral flipper with my left hand, flex my knees and grip the flipper with my feet. I sense that the creature knows this movement from previous riders and leans in towards me to make my next task easier. I lunge forward with my right hand, slip the harness loop over its head and pull the long cord back to anchor it over the dorsal fin. The sensor-elastic webbing closes snug over the dolphin’s smooth skin as I clip my waistband onto the head loop and stretch my legs down, toes hooked under the pectoral flippers.
Saroyan glides in front of me, comfortably astride her own dolphin.
Beautifully done! Now you lean side to side, using your balance to guide your mount in the direction you want to go.
She sets off, lying close on the dolphin’s back as it surges through the water in a great circle around the edge of the pool. As we pass the sunlit waves near the reef I look round to see how Severin is doing. Without the advantage of Saroyan’s inner guidance he’s having to learn rider-technique by trial and error but I’m impressed by how quickly he’s adjusting with each mistake.
We complete the circuit and the rock shelf where we first started comes into view. I can see Aluna striding purposefully across the smooth floor towards the water’s edge and follow Saroyan towards her, anxiously hoping there hasn’t been a change of plan and I’m go
ing to be recalled after all.
As it turns out, the recall is for Severin, not me.
Aluna drops to one knee to bring her eye level closer to the three of us as we rein in our dolphins and push back our face masks to hear her better.
‘Severin! Ollie mentioned you’re a better pilot than any of ours. We don’t use our salvaged and repaired recons often enough to give them much practice. Will you take the one you arrived in and lead the three pilots we have ready to go?’
Severin gives a despairing glance in my direction, clearly wanting to stay close and keep an eye on me. I lean across to give him a playful nudge.
‘Go on with you. You’re a tec expert. Much better chance of saving me if you’re piloting a shuttle than if you’re stuck on the back of a shark!’
Aluna shoves a spare rider-breather kit into his hands.
‘Here. You’ll need one of these in case your rig gets smashed and you end up in the water. Follow your co-pilot to the hangar.’ She turns to collect her own rider gear. Severin gives a baffled shrug, slips the harness off his dolphin and follows the waiting pilot back towards the entrance.
I catch a pang of acute dolphin-disappointment before his abandoned mount gives a watery kind of shrug and swims off to find someone else to play with.
Saroyan turns to me. ‘You sure about going beyond the reef? I’m sorry but there’s no time for more training. All the riders are in the water now.’
I look round to see that every dolphin from the pool now has a rider, all streaming towards the mouth of the cave, a wild cloud of bubbles trailing out behind. Even Severin’s hopeful is being harnessed by Aluna, the last of the ocean-militia to enter the water.
The powerful dolphin-energy is too alluring for me to let go so soon.
‘I’ll be fine! I have to do this!’
Saroyan gives an encouraging salute and turns her dolphin, heading for the reef. I follow, delighted with the easy rapport I can feel with the creature beneath me as it swims. Its eagerness to play makes it scarcely necessary to issue instructions, although I notice Saroyan swerving in behind me, keeping a watchful eye for my mistakes.
