Attunga

by Peter Wood

  Twice more the group stopped to marvel at the great profusion of life, and then as they entered the extension area, the water abruptly cleared and almost all sign of life and growth disappeared. This section was the extra 30 kilometres of new reach that Sonic wanted to assess. Apart from being the watery equivalent of a desert with regards to food, it was technically ready for dolphins and everyone was hoping he would give it the okay. The water was clean and pure and there was an abundance of features specially designed for dolphin interest and enjoyment.

  The food problem was well under control as the fish-substitute developed for the crisis period had been surprisingly well received by the Attunga dolphins. They called it half-food because it lacked the hunting element, but some of the younger dolphins had started playing chasing games with chunks of the protein held in their beaks, and that had caught on as a kind of substitute hunt.

  Whether the incoming dolphins would cope with the lack of any apparent life was the big question and there was much discussion about whether they would all leave the extension area and congregate where the marine life was. Calen took great delight in teasing Sonic about being a can of sardines and Sonic took even greater delight in retorting that he had the old saying wrong.

  For nearly an hour they explored, following Sonic’s lead, stopping to check out a maze of underground reefs and then again at the edge of the reach to examine the beginning of a seagrass bed. At first glance it looked like a featureless expanse of grey sediment with here and there a faint tinge of green, but when Thom beckoned everyone to look closely, hundreds of tiny buds became apparent, some of the slightly more advanced ones showing the beginnings of green growth. In another week the sediment would disappear beneath a thin carpet of plant life and not long after that a wide range of secondary plant species would be introduced among the monoculture.

  Sonic nudged himself between Calen and Thom to see what everyone was looking at and they both automatically rested their arms over his back. Wirrin saw a smile develop behind Gulara’s facemask at the intimacy behind the unthinking gesture.

  Back at the surface Sonic snugged into the special cradle built for him at the back of Calen’s skimmer and the group went on a high-speed trip to the end of the extension and back. Sonic could manage just over 30 kilometres per hour for short bursts but with the greater lengths of the Warrakan reaches the innovation allowed the group to travel at 60 kilometres per hour on the skimmers.

  ‘What do you think?’ asked Calen.

  ‘If we set up food stations in the extension it will be a great place for them to explore. They will enjoy that.’

  That was good news. The extension reach had Sonic’s approval.

  ‘Only feed them in the extension area you mean?’

  ‘Yes. It will stop them crowding into the living water.’

  ***

  ‘Hey, Thom, the pilot of the security ship was impressed with the way you handled it today.’

  ‘I know. I didn’t expect him to say that. He’s really friendly and he’s going to take me for two hours tomorrow instead of my normal training course with EdCom.’

  ‘What? On the ship, or with the simulators?’

  ‘On the ship, but with simulators controlling the display.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘It means I fly the real ship in lots of different situations. He might tell me to lock into position with a slowly spinning asteroid and the asteroid appears on the screen as if it’s really there.’

  ‘And if you crash into it you try again till you get it right?’

  ‘Eventually. First I’d have to do all the necessary things as if I’d really crashed.’

  ‘Do you think you’ll crash?’

  ‘Of course. That’s the whole idea. He’ll set harder and harder problems till I just can’t cope. I’ll learn more in two hours than weeks of ordinary piloting that way.’

  ‘How’s that any different to an ordinary simulator?’

  ‘Totally different. Any actions I give the ship are really happening. If I take it up to 15G then it’s really accelerating that fast.’

  ‘Isn’t this stuff meant to be for really advanced pilots?’

  ‘It’s incredible, Calen. I should be training for two more years minimum before I get access to a ship like the Comet, but Sonic and Turaku organised it and it’s all happening.’

  ‘Do you think that pilot will be going with us on the Comet?’

  ‘He’d better. If he’s been chosen for the security ship he’s probably the best pilot on Attunga. What did you think of Yajala?’

  ‘I liked him.’

  Wirrin had thought about this a lot and had looked forward to meeting the Warrakan AI.

  ‘You can’t really think about him as a character, Calen. The personality he uses with his holo can be whoever he wants.’

  ‘I know that. I like the one he used today though. He didn’t have the same serious, important kind of feel that Turaku has.’

  Wirrin laughed.

  ‘That’s because you think he’s good looking.’

  ‘Do not! How can a bunch of fancy electrons be good-looking?’

  Thom picked up on the slightly too rapid denial, and a happy tussle developed while Calen was accused of deserting the trio for Sonic, and now deserting Sonic for the ‘bunch of fancy electrons’.

  ‘Witchetty wankers!’

  ‘Yajala’s probably more important than Turaku when you think about it, Calen.’

  ‘Wirrin, a minute ago AIs didn’t have personalities. Now you’re saying one is more important than another?’

  ‘It’s complicated isn’t it? I was thinking that Yajala has a much bigger area of control than Turaku because Warrakan’s nearly eight times as big as Attunga.

  ‘He’ll be in charge of a lot more dolphins than Turaku.’

  ‘Only for a while, Thom. When our new Attunga level is ready they’ll bring a lot of dolphins back here.’

  ‘More moving. The dolphins will face a lot of changes with all these things going on. Hey, if Yajala’s in charge on Warrakan what happens with Turaku?’

  ‘What do you mean? He’ll keep working with dolphins on Attunga.’

  ‘Yes, but they won’t be our dolphins. When the reaches are ready they’re transferring across to Warrakan.’

  Calen shook his head.

  ‘Not any more. When they found out about Attunga’s big new reaches some of them decided to stay.’

  ‘I didn’t know that. How come?’ said Thom. Wirrin hadn’t known either.

  ‘The pod leaders worked it out between them because some of the dolphins want to stay here when Warrakan leaves for Alpha Centauri. Four of our pods are staying and they’ll move to the level six reaches as soon as they’re ready.’

  ‘Four? That means only five pods for Warrakan. Is that enough?’

  ‘No, but it soon will be. Burilda says there’ll be a lot more dolphin births after the new reaches start working properly. She thinks there could be eleven or twelve pods by the time Warrakan leaves, and at least eight in the Attunga reaches.’

  They were talking about the enhanced dolphins. Of course there would be many more than that when Earth dolphins arrived.

  That was becoming more and more certain with each passing day as the campaign against unnatural dolphins hadn’t eased and the latest report from Monkey Mia said the wall of protection was in full operation again with over three thousand dolphins being protected and more on the way.

  ‘Are the Earth dolphins going to be separate?’

  ‘No, why should they? Dolphins love meeting each other.’

  ‘They’ll interbreed, Calen. Won’t that affect the enhancement program?’

  ‘What? Oh no, that’s all worked out. I asked Burilda about that ages ago and the enhanced pods won’t change much because their males will dominate the Earth males. They’re so clever they’ll outmanoeuvre them easily.’

  ‘But won’t they take over in the pods from Earth as well?’

  ‘The
y’ll have a great time because the Earth females will be so attracted to them, but they won’t take over. There won’t be enough of them for one thing, and pod structures are also too strong to change rapidly.’

  ‘When did you find out this stuff? All we have to do nowadays is blink and we’re left behind.’

  ‘I know. Um, about a week ago. Burilda was telling me how the rangers will all be having extended training.’

  ***

  ‘Hello, Wirrin,’ the doctor said, glancing up. ‘Your life has been rather busy since your last visit.’

  ‘Um … Yes.’

  ‘Well it must be. The notation on your file now matches Calen’s and I’m not to encroach on your time with any new commitments.’

  ‘New? You’ve got something new for me?’

  ‘We’ll talk about that at your next visit, or whenever it’s appropriate. How have you been managing your exercises since we last spoke?’

  ‘Really well. I finished the reading course and I can cope with nearly two and a half hours of memory storage before it starts to get to me.’

  ‘Two and a half? I’m impressed. That’s an extra half-hour in just a week.’

  ‘I still drop out when things distract me.’

  ‘We’ve discussed that and it’s not an issue.’

  ‘I know, but it is annoying.’

  ‘Well, you shouldn’t let yourself think like that.’

  Wirrin felt the slightest flush of embarrassment. The doctor was reminding him, with friendly authority, that they had indeed discussed and agreed on the best mental outlook to encourage progress. Wirrin gave himself a token slap on the wrist as acknowledgement and they both smiled.

  ‘All right. Let’s do your check-up. After everything was so good last time I know there won’t be any problems, but we need to be sure.’

  Wirrin relaxed on the bench, felt the usual moment of dizziness, then realised the doctor was nodding his satisfaction.

  ‘Tickety-boo!’

  Tickety-boo? What on Earth did that mean?

  ‘All is well.’

  He’d have to remember to try it on Sonic. ‘Doctor, you should meet Sonic. He’s always coming up with antiquated sayings like that.’

  The doctor stared, parted his lips as if to say something, then obviously changed his mind. ‘How do you keep so fit, Wirrin? With your life so busy it must be difficult.’

  ‘That’s because of Sonic. We’re in the water every day with him and all the swimming keeps us fit. Calen spends hours with him and you should see how strong he is … Why don’t you come to our place for a visit? We could make sure it’s a time when Sonic’s there so you could talk with him.’

  The doctor looked almost stunned.

  ‘Surely you can’t do that? Sonic is too important to have strangers dropping in for a casual visit. There’s hardly a person on Attunga who wouldn’t give their eye teeth to meet him.’

  Wirrin had to smile at the idea of people giving their teeth to meet Sonic.

  ‘An expression of eagerness’ the doctor said, and this time he wasn’t checking Wirrin’s facility with retinal imaging.

  ‘Of course we can and Sonic loves meeting people. He’s taking us to a nursery at the other end of level four tomorrow, and the day after that he’s going to a new EdCom centre on Warrakan. You should come this evening otherwise it might be weeks before things are even slightly normal.’

  In a couple of moments it was arranged and Wirrin was enjoying the doctor’s slightly nonplussed look.

  ‘Well, Wirrin, I’m feeling slightly out of my depth at the moment. What do I need to know about meeting a dolphin?’

  ‘Nothing. We’ll have the translators on so it’s easy to talk. Does getting into the water worry you?’

  ‘Not at all. I swim regularly.’

  ‘Good. Bring a pair of shorts because we all get in our pool when Sonic’s there.’

  ‘You have a pool of your own? Big enough for a dolphin?’

  ‘We’re spoilt aren’t we, but we have to because it’s Sonic’s home as much as ours … I rushed things for you because we’re leaving Attunga in four days and I’m not sure when we’ll be back. Probably another four or five days.’

  ‘Leaving? Oh, to Warrakan?’

  ‘No, to Earth.’

  ‘Earth? I don’t understand. That would be five or six weeks, not four or five days.’

  Wirrin remembered his own amazement when he’d learned the length of the trip.

  ‘There’s trouble coming for the human associated dolphins on Earth and Sonic told the Witness Council and the AIs that he needs to be there to help them and the special ship they’re building for him is so advanced it only takes a bit over a day to get there.’

  Wirrin explained everything before leaving for an afternoon of study at EdCom.

  ***

  ‘This is incredible.’ Standing in the control deck of the Comet was a different experience to looking at a holo of the same thing. It really brought home the way the Comet had been designed as much for dolphins as humans.

  At the moment the display was showing the main centre at Monkey Mia, and Sonic had just changed the view of the completed grav-field to a representation of the number of dolphins spread through the surrounding waters. From the bank of controls at the edge of his special pool it was possible for Sonic to take charge of the Comet as easily as any human. He didn’t have the knowledge and training for full control of course, but several simulator sessions had made him familiar with information access.

  Wirrin and Calen were smiling at this latest in Thom’s series of exclamations as Turaku guided them through different sections of the Comet. It was the first day the Comet was ready for humans and dolphins. After seeing the transport pools, each designed for a full pod of dolphins, the control section for the advanced picofactory, the living quarters for humans, the medical facility and the docking ports for the Earth dolphins, they were now in the main control area where they’d spend most of the time on the journey.

  It really was incredible, and Thom was expressing Wirrin and Calen’s feelings quite admirably.

  Wirrin hadn’t realised how big and diverse this control centre would be and seeing thirty or forty people in different areas around the room was another wake up to the significance of the Comet.

  ‘Look at all those dolphins. How up to date is this information?’

  ‘Current apart from the transmission time lag. It’s flowing directly and non-stop from Earth.’

  ‘And which Turaku are we talking to? Comet-Turaku or our usual Turaku?’

  It sounded so strange. Every head turned to Thom, and then to Turaku to see what he’d say.

  ‘Your usual Turaku, Thom. The changes all happen tomorrow and you’ll meet my extension then.’

  ‘What will you do? I mean will he look like you? That would be very confusing if you’re both here at the same time?’

  ‘The new aspect will look like a comet. Show them, Turaku.’

  Turaku’s holo melted then morphed to a stylised comet with a fiery tail, and the trio gawked as pieces peeled from the main body then flared to incandescence and disappeared. There was a great burst of dolphin laughter from Sonic and Turaku’s normal image returned. Wirrin was impressed with how instantly Turaku had gone along with Sonic’s trick, but then he did watch every micro-second of Sonic’s life, so it wasn’t really surprising that he had a good understanding of Sonic’s sense of humour.

  ‘Oh no! Teaching Turaku your fish jokes. More suffering for us.’

  Sonic gave an emphatic nod and Thom jumped just a moment too late to evade the expertly directed jet of water. Calling Sonic a fish was a friendly insult which always brought a reaction. Wirrin was surprised that Thom hadn’t been more wary.

  No, he’d thought Sonic wouldn’t do anything because the situation was more formal than usual. Thom spluttered, wiped his face, wrung some of the water from his drenched shirt and looked round at all the amused expressions.

  ‘Next time I’m in the
water I’ll pound you into a blob of jelly.’

  There were surprised looks from some of the onlookers who had no experience of the nonsense that went on when the trio and Sonic were in a muck-around mood. Sonic just laughed.

  ‘Come and explore the passageways with me.’

  ‘Now? I haven’t got my water gear.’ Thom meant the dolphinarium water shorts and facemask they used when they were out in the reaches.

  ‘You don’t wear it at home.’

  Thom glanced round then after a quick shrug, stripped, dived in, and disappeared, under tow, through the exit to one of the waterways.

  Gulara laughed. ‘So much for the jelly pounding threat.’

  ‘Thom only acts tough to make Sonic laugh. It’s one of their games.’

  ‘Why has Sonic taken him off exploring when we’re finding out about the ship?’

  ‘Who knows? That’s just Sonic’s way, Gulara.’

  Turaku indicated a seat by a console and motioned Wirrin to sit in it. ‘This is a high access Information Station, which has been specially tailored to extend your capabilities.’

  An InfoStation was an InfoStation as far as Wirrin was concerned. He used them everywhere, at EdCom, at the dolphinarium, and his own good one at home, so he wondered what specially tailored could mean.

  ‘We’ll leave you to familiarise yourself.’

  ‘Integration and introduction module.’

  It was quite a jolt for Wirrin to have his retinal mode involuntarily activated. It had happened a couple of times when the doctor and technicians were testing at the implant facility but this time it must be Turaku … Or maybe it was this InfoStation? Wirrin switched transparency in but everyone was moving away so he returned to full retinal mode and for over an hour immersed himself in the module.