Attunga

by Peter Wood

  ‘That same tree? Over one hundred years ago?’

  ‘That tree has been there for more than six hundred years, Thom. It’s a river red gum and since it’s being well looked after it could be there for another six hundred.’

  ‘And a willy-willy is some kind of wind?’

  ‘Willy-willies are mischievous spirits that fly around the country pulling up trees and making clouds of dust.’

  That was Gulara speaking and the look on her face meant she was remembering them herself.

  ‘When we were children we also called them devils … dust devils. They are really whirlwinds, like mini tornadoes or cyclones … Call one up, Wirrin.’

  A whirling cloud of dust and leaves appeared. Well, there was no real dust, leaves or moving air, but the holo was very impressive.

  ‘That must have been scary.’

  ‘No, it was exciting. I remember watching it dance away from me, out over the water, and wondering if it was alive.’

  Wirrin had a picture in his mind of a wide-eyed dark little face and wiry little arms clinging to the tree, but couldn’t fill in the rest of the picture.

  ‘What did you wear?’

  ‘Why do you ask?’

  Feeling slightly awkward Wirrin said, ‘With the tree right there I could see you in my mind hanging on to that big lumpy part. I imagined you wearing shorts like we did at that age and it didn’t look right.’

  ‘That lumpy part is called a burl and I hung on tight. Sometimes I did wear shorts; sometimes I wore nothing at all.’

  While the boys digested this, Akama turned to Gulara. ‘Did you live traditionally in your own country?’

  ‘Not until I was fourteen and decided it was important, and then it was every year but I was so busy I could only manage a short time.’

  ‘You understand what we mean by traditional living don’t you, Wirrin?’

  ‘Yes, we learnt about it in heritage studies but it’s different for different areas isn’t it?’

  Akama nodded.

  ‘My parents took it very seriously and when we stayed at Gnardune Pool we lived as close to the old ways as we could, hunting for natural food, learning our country, and taking our part in the Dreamtime.’

  ‘Natural food? You mean growing in the ground?’

  ‘And running round on top of it. I was very good at catching goannas.’

  ‘You ate real animals?’

  Thom was expressing the amazement of the whole trio. No-one on Attunga ate animals and any form of meat was grown directly in a protein factory.

  ‘It was quite normal then, Thom, though respect for sentience was becoming more prevalent because of Second Level organics. One of my favourites was a big juicy moth larva, which used to burrow in the roots of acacia plants. They were called witchetty grubs and we ate them live as well as cooked.’

  ‘Live?’

  ‘Don’t look so aghast, Calen. You’re quite used to the idea.’

  ‘I am?’

  ‘Does it worry you when Sonic eats his food alive? I’m sure you don’t think twice about it.’

  Akama was right.

  ‘Turn your holo off, Wirrin, and I’ll share something with you to make your image of me in the tree more accurate.’

  Akama’s holo took over and showed a boy racing across red sand, running in the shallows with an exuberant spray of water leaping from every step, then sprawling head-first as the pool suddenly deepened. The view zoomed in to catch a gasp for breath, a shake of the head, and happy laughter, before cutting off abruptly when a handful of wet, red sand came flying towards the camera.

  Another scene appeared in the old 2D medium, with Akama standing by a fire burning real wood, glowing with pleasure as he held up a dead goanna.

  ‘I was so proud when I caught that fella that my father said we had to have a record. Watch how we cooked him.’

  Wirrin knew from the heritage courses that food had been cooked like this in the past, but seeing Akama actually doing it made it real. He glanced at Calen to see his reaction to the dead goanna.

  He looked strange … and so did Thom. They were sharing glances, looking from the little Akama to Akama now, to Wirrin and then back to the scene as the goanna was prepared over the fire. Wirrin too began to feel strange because he always had a good idea what the other two were thinking. Thom whispered something to Calen then turned to Akama.

  ‘Are you playing a trick on us?’

  Wirrin’s puzzlement turned to shock. Thom must have gone crazy to question Akama like that. And Calen too. He seemed to be in full agreement.

  ‘No tricks, Thom. That’s me when I was ten years old.’

  Thom and Calen exchanged another look which said they wanted to believe him but couldn’t.

  ‘But … ’

  Trying to work out what was going on, Wirrin looked at the others. Burilda was puzzled, Gulara knew something, and Akama was smiling.

  ‘Yes, Thom, we do look similar, but keep watching and the differences will stand out.’

  The scene changed again and the younger Akama went running by, wearing a dark blue shirt and loose white shorts. This setting was somewhere away from Gnardune Pool, a beautiful green grassy area laid out for athletic events, with hundreds and hundreds of people watching. The camera panned across the lithe figures.

  ‘I was thirteen then.’

  Wirrin stared in bewilderment as he watched himself run in a place where he’d never been, in a time when he hadn’t existed. He stared intently at the figure.

  ‘That is amazing. You and Wirrin look different, but you still run the same way.’

  Calen looked back and forth between Wirrin and Akama with a funny grin on his face. He said later that he was wondering if Wirrin was going to look like Akama in another hundred years.

  ‘I loved running … are you happy with your mind image now, Wirrin?’

  Wirrin recalled the image and then nodded.

  ‘Was leaving your clothes off part of the tradition?’

  ‘It was for our family and particularly for children. We tried to match the old ways as closely as possible.’

  ‘Which did you like best? The old way or ordinary living?’

  ‘When I was little the old way was a special yearly holiday and it was never long enough. As a teen I stopped thinking in terms of which was better and thought of them rather as different facets of my life. Tell me what—’

  Whatever Akama was about to ask was interrupted when blue lights started flashing and everyone whirled to the big screen, where a large air transport was landing at Shark Bay. Everyone watched, engrossed, as a number of cargo bays opened and freight containers started moving on their anti-grav-fields, lightly and purposefully, towards the gathered fleet of aircraft and watercraft. Two minutes later everything was on the move, the air vessels heading westwards across the peninsula towards the outer limits of the bay, and the watercraft going in all directions on the eastern waters.

  ‘They’re in a hurry. What’s happening with those skimmers?’

  As if on call a section of the screen zoomed in on five skimmers gathered round one of the freight containers. Modules were clamped to each skimmer which accelerated away.

  ‘Those are for the home dolphins. It should only take a few minutes to reach them.’

  One of the skimmers stopped and Wirrin wished there was some way to look at it closely. It must be near a dolphin. A blue light flashed on the big screen and Turaku’s holo shimmered into view.

  ‘Greetings, Honoured One. The first protective picobots are about to make contact.’

  ‘Thank you, Turaku. Do we have a time frame for full protection?’

  ‘The target dolphins and others in the inner bay will all be reached within five minutes, the dolphins in the Western Bay within eleven minutes and all dolphins in the outer zone within nineteen minutes. We’ll display the contacts for you as they happen.’

  The window with the dolphin markers expanded to almost full-screen, and standing out was one blue marker
.

  ‘First contact. A dolphin named Squeak.’

  Calen waved his arms in a gesture of triumph and the room lit up with smiles.

  ‘Is there a lag between contact with the dolphins and the picobots becoming effective?’

  ‘Yes, depending on what part of the body the mini-drone attaches to, there is a lag of between twenty-one and twenty-seven seconds.’

  While Akama and Turaku were talking, four more markers, all near the marine station, changed from yellow to blue. Wirrin looked at the number of yellow markers and the blue didn’t look very impressive at all. Another blue dot winked on and another dolphin was protected. Calen, along with everyone else, was staring at the screen as if hypnotised, watching and wondering where the next blue marker would light up. There were exclamations as six or seven more yellows changed to blue, and then everyone looked to Turaku when a green marker started moving away from the marine station.

  ‘The air transport is moving to the outer boundaries of the bay to monitor the capture drones.’

  ‘Capture drones? There were no capture drones in my warning report.’

  ‘They didn’t exist when your report was issued, Honoured One. With the strong link to K74 I had to cover the possibility that a modified form of their surveillance drones might be used for a stealth approach so I provided the Australian security AIs with a counter design. They were released as part of the airdrop and each dolphin now has a guardian.’

  Wirrin thought back to Turaku’s earlier information about the drones watching Attunga and Warrakan and felt really pleased. If any drones came near Shark Bay they wouldn’t have a hope. Akama continued to question Turaku.

  ‘What is the nature of the defence these guardians provide?’

  ‘They can disable or destroy.’

  ‘And is there any chance they might be eluded?’

  ‘Yes, if a guardian encounters enough attackers, some will get past. The inoculation process should guard against that.’

  ‘And when is the destroy capability deployed?’

  ‘When the disable and capture function can’t cope.’

  ‘I understand. We need information.’

  ‘Destruction could also involve a release of pollution.’

  ‘Is it possible to see one of these guardians?’

  The view on the big screen changed. A dolphin cruised through the clear water followed closely by a sleek tubular shape. It appeared to be roughly half a metre in length, much smaller than Wirrin was expecting.

  ‘This is one of the home dolphins and as you can see she’s adjusted to the presence of the guardian already. In the first few minutes the dolphins showed great interest in their new companions but that waned very quickly. Some of the younger dolphins are still treating them as playthings and trying hiding games but the rest mostly ignore them. The guardian sensors are linked to the surveillance devices, as well as being independent, and they’ll stay on guard for as long as is necessary.’

  ‘Why are we so certain this attack will come from the ocean, Turaku?’

  ‘There is no absolute certainty but the probability is very high.’

  The screen changed and showed three dolphins swimming at speed with three attendant guardians, then changed again to a group of two adults and a baby. Everyone watched while Turaku explained the workings of the drones. The overview map with the dolphin markers returned and Calen chuckled when he saw that there were now more blue markers than yellow.

  ‘Tell me about your life as a trio.’

  Wirrin was surprised by Akama’s sudden change of topic, thought for a moment, then paused as Thom said, ‘We love it.’

  ‘That’s obvious, Thom. I’m really asking about how you are received in the community and any problems you foresee for yourselves.’

  ‘We haven’t had any problems.’

  Akama nodded. Wirrin wondered what he was thinking.

  ‘What about Sonic and the other dolphins? You’re the only trio they’ve ever had contact with.’

  Calen responded. ‘They know we’re called a trio and what it means, but it’s not unusual to them because dolphins spend most of their life in similar groups, especially male dolphins, who bond for life. They mostly think of us as a pod and Sonic even says he’s part of ours, which makes us feel good.’

  ‘Extraordinary, and quite wonderful. Burilda, what is the dolphin protocol for meeting with strangers?’

  ‘Protocol? I don’t know if they have one. They’re always happy to meet people when we introduce them, but if they decide they’re not interested they just swim away.’

  ‘Is it difficult to meet Sonic?’

  ‘Very. His life is so busy it’s hard even for our staff to have much time with him.’

  ‘I see. ’

  ‘Burilda, he would talk to Akama. We’ll just tell him to.’

  Burilda looked horrified and then embarrassed.

  ‘Honoured One, I thought you meant strangers in general. We can take you to Sonic anywhere, any time.’

  ‘And he’ll love to meet you. I know he will,’ Calen said eagerly.

  ‘I’ll have to hope he doesn’t swim away from me.’ Akama smiled and Wirrin felt it was completely genuine. He was certainly easy to talk to. Turaku held up one hand for attention.

  ‘I’m trying to contact him now.’

  ‘You can do that when he’s underwater?’

  ‘Of course. I’m always able to contact him. Underwater I use an audio signal and when he surfaces I manifest as a hologram … He says he is eager to meet you.’

  ‘Right now?’

  Akama looked startled and Wirrin loved it. Trust Sonic to surprise the most important person on all Attunga.

  ‘If you wish. I can arrange a holographic conference in six minutes but Sonic would prefer a physical meeting … at Calen’s living space … in twenty minutes.’

  ‘Whatever Sonic wants, Sonic gets.’

  It sounded like a quote. Wirrin did a quick search in retinal mode. Yes, an old song from three centuries ago. He’d listen to it later. Akama was looking very pleased.

  ‘We can monitor the Earth transmissions from anywhere. Wirrin, are we welcome in your country?’

  Now Wirrin was startled, and touched. Akama was formally asking to be invited into their home.

  ‘Always, Honoured One.’

  Somehow the formal reply felt right. Turaku disappeared. No doubt he’d reappear when something major happened. The overview of Shark Bay had returned to the screen and Wirrin noted most of the markers were now blue.

  ***

  Normally they’d jump on their skimmers and be home in a couple of minutes, but that was hardly appropriate for Akama. Gulara took the lead and they travelled via TransCom.

  ‘This is wonderful. I would love to live by the water,’ Akama said, standing by the pool and looking out to the reach via the display wall.

  This wall was one of the features the planning assistant had insisted on, not that they needed any persuasion, and its default setting was the view across the water outside.

  ‘Sonic swims right here, in this pool?’ Akama turned to the ranger.

  ‘Nearly every day. It’s like a base for him.’

  ‘And is this where we’ll meet when he arrives?’

  ‘I presume so. The equipment needed for full contact is all installed here.’

  ‘Should I be in the water?’

  ‘Only if you want to. He can see and speak to you perfectly where you are now.’

  ‘What do you think, Calen?’

  ‘Burilda is right but I think Sonic would like the water better.’

  The ranger nodded her agreement.

  ‘Yes, and since I asked for the meeting it’s appropriate too. Wirrin, we’re closely matched physically. What do you wear in the water?’

  ‘Um, ordinary dolphinarium water shorts.’

  Akama kept looking at him as Wirrin worked out it was a request.

  ‘I’ll find some.’

  ‘Thanks. I’ll come with you
.’

  What? Oh, so he’d have somewhere to change. Wirrin led the way to the sleeping area, found a clean pair of shorts and handed them over.

  ‘This is exciting, Wirrin. Speaking with a dolphin will be a new experience for me. Is there anything I should know?’

  Akama started to disrobe and Wirrin felt he should leave, but couldn’t because he’d been asked for advice. What to say?

  ‘Not really. Sonic is very easy to talk to. He’s curious about nearly everything and he makes you smile. You’ll understand as soon as you meet him. He loves a joke, though sometimes we don’t understand why he laughs at something, and when he explains it we still don’t understand.’

  ‘Dolphins laugh?’

  ‘Not really. It’s a kind of dolphin equivalent that Sonic introduced to match the strange sounds we make.’

  ‘Sonic taught the other dolphins a sound they’d never used before?’

  ‘They don’t use it much, but it’s starting to spread. Puck and Flute use it the most.’

  ‘That’s extraordinary. He’s bringing new ideas to our dolphins.’

  Akama finished changing and they moved back to the pool. Everyone was looking at the holo of the Shark Bay area, where there were no yellow markers to be seen. Akama looked to Gulara.

  ‘The last yellow markers just changed to blue – a group of wild dolphins to the south of Shark Bay in the Indian Ocean – and every dolphin in the extended area has now been inoculated.’

  ‘Wonderful. So now we play the waiting game.’

  Another old saying? Akama used them even more than Gulara. Well, at 119 years that wasn’t surprising. Wirrin added it to the list of things to check later. He was, at the moment, too busy surveying the host of blue markers, but then movement on the reach caught everyone’s attention. Five or six dorsal fins appeared and disappeared in an irregular pattern as their owners momentarily surfaced for air.

  ‘Is that Sonic?’

  ‘No,’ said Calen, ‘they’re not even dolphins from his pod.’

  Wirrin zoomed the display wall so everyone could see better. He wasn’t as good at recognising the dolphins but his own method of checking the fins verified what Calen said. The trio exchanged glances.

  ‘Sonic is out there, further away to the left. I checked the database.’ Burilda glanced at the boys. If he was out there why hadn’t he come in? He hadn’t been very far away when they left the dolphinarium. Akama picked up on their looks.