He looked out the window to see that they had turned into a very crowded and busy port. Without too much difficulty, his driver found the designated dock and as he pulled in, Evan saw a portly figure step gingerly from the side of the Oceanus onto the cement pier.
Evan exited the backseat before his chauffeur could open the door and he was met by the eccentric television executive. With true Italian gusto, the man bypassed Evan’s outstretched hand and grabbed his shoulders. His hearty bear hug was followed with a kiss on both cheeks. “Dr. Gaddes, a pleasure to meet you!” Only the hint of an accent colored his speech. “I have been looking forward to meeting such a direct man as yourself. I never thought to sell my beauty, but you are a difficult man to say no to.”
Evan endured the niceties and eventually signatures were applied to contracts and the deal was finalized. He had acquired the ownership of a very powerful personal submarine.
Curious, the older man eyed him. “An instructor will meet you tomorrow to begin your briefing. Treat her well, my friend, and she will take care of you. Take her for granted and she is not so forgiving.”
Evan scowled. “I will remember that.”
“I do not think you are looking for treasure, so what could it be that makes you hurry so?”
Evan shot him one of his “looks” and the Italian shrugged his shoulders philosophically and slapped him on the back. “Ah well, no problem. Good luck with whatever you intend. Arrivederci!” With a grand salute and one last look at the Oceanus, he was gone.
Evan stood on the deserted pier, feeling as though there was more he should be doing. However, a freighter had been lined up to take him and the Oceanus back to Santorini as soon as he gave the go-ahead. There was nothing left but to find a room in a nearby hotel and sleep like the dead.
Outside the confines of their biosphere, Mer-An and Kyla swam through crystal seas. They wanted to gather fresh seaweed in order to prepare a special dish with which to surprise Daria. They glided toward the kelp beds when a familiar family of very playful bottle-nosed dolphins swam by and convinced them that a game of swim and seek would be a wonderful diversion before they began their harvest.
Mer-An and Kyla were excited to join Shaka, the father; Oomi, the gentle mother; and Tashi, a mischievous baby boy who had joined the world just a few months earlier, in their spontaneous celebration of fun.
Players disappeared in all directions as Shaka assumed the role of pursuer. Thought-forms of laughter and jibes echoed through the water and jarred Shaka to begin his pursuit in earnest. While he focused his swimming prowess on Kyla, Oomi made certain that her baby was safe with Mer-An and then soared out of sight. Mer-An and Tashi slipped through the deep when Mer-An was pummeled by an exultant thought-form.
“HIDE WITH MEEEEE!”
She choked back her laughter. “Tashi, you need not yell…I can hear you…” She slowed her speed and signaled the young dolphin. “Lead the way…”
Tashi struggled to pass her with all the strength in his little body. In a final burst of effort, he took the lead. He veered sharply to the left, but Mer-An stayed right behind him. She knew he was headed for a huge coral outcropping in a nearby reef. Everyone was well aware it was his favorite place to hide.
“No one ever finds me here, Mer-An…”
“I know, Tashi, this is the BEST place…”
They darted behind the reef and curved into a small cave that the young dolphin had happened upon in one of his previous games. Tashi beamed with delight as he snuggled close to Mer-An.
“We have to be quiet…”
Mer-An smiled at his irrepressible joy, however, Oomi had entrusted him to her safe-keeping. “I know, sweetest, but tell me if you need to go up for air…”
She could tell he tried to quiet his riotous mind. The youngest member of the dolphin family nodded his head, eyes wide and on guard for his dad. Unable to contain his excitement, Tashi thought-whispered. “Where did my Mama go?”
“She was heading for the kelp beds…shhhh…” Mer-An placed her finger over Tashi’s nose to signal their need for absolute silence.
A shadow flickered overhead and the figure of Shaka slid by. Tashi wriggled with the sheer suspense of it all as an ethereal voice wound teasingly through their minds.
“Taaash, son, where are yoooouuuu?”
Mer-An could feel the baby’s excitement climb. So far he hadn’t been able to finish a game because he would become too agitated to hold still and he would burst forth in a tornado of bubbles and chortles. “Daddeeee, you didn’t see meee!”
However, this time he waited and Shaka swam on.
Tashi peeked out of the deep twilight and saw that the coast was clear. Mer-An knew that he was filled with pride for his newfound ability to hold still longer than he ever had. She hugged his soft, streamlined body before he flicked himself into the open blue and let loose with every spin and flip in his fledgling repertoire.
Thrilled by his new tricks, she stopped to enjoy the pure exuberance that poured from the whirling baby. With his advance toward the surface, Mer-An knew that he was in need of air. With a huge smile on his beautiful face, Tashi swam backwards to show off. He drifted upwards and sang a very loud, off-key dolphin song. He sang with such abandon that neither of them heard the approaching vessel.
Mer-An felt the vibrations before she saw the boat. She screamed a warning to Tashi and pushed her formidable swimming powers to their utmost. As hard as she tried, everything shuddered into slow motion. She could see that the young dolphin and the sea craft were on a collision course. The propeller slashing its way through crystal waters turned deadly.
Inch by torturous inch, Mer-An charged through the currents in a supreme effort to reach Tashi before the relentless propeller ripped through his delicate life. Mer-An heard the others answer her scream but she knew they couldn’t help. They were too far away.
Tashi slowed his ascent, but he needed air and so he kept rising toward the surface. He was confused by the sudden commotion, and she knew that he thought they had switched to a game of chase when he smiled and rolled over to put on a lightning display of speed.
Mer-An cried with the effort as she exploded upward. Flying to cover the baby, she used the last of her strength to push him out of harm’s way. She was aware of all motion as it slammed into real time, but the last thing she remembered was the propeller as it slammed into her.
Chaos erupted along with Mer-An’s blood. Kyla tore through the water in a furious effort to reach her friend. Mer-An floated unconscious, and the precious life force pumped from her in ever-darkening clouds.
Tashi thrashed about and tried to push her lifeless form to the surface. With each new gush of blood, his raw panic could be felt as his shrieks raked through their minds. “Mer-An! Mer-An!”
Kyla and the dolphins converged upon Tashi and Mer-An. Kyla’s mind was in shambles and her body shook so hard that she could barely function. She had never witnessed such trauma, and she almost succumbed to the blind terror that hovered on the edge of her mind. But Shaka’s calm reassurance steadied her and helped soothe the anguish of his son. “Tash, son, peace, be still…Kyla and I will help Mer-An…”
Oomi used her body to gentle her son to the surface. “Tashi…you need air, come…you can help Mer-An by staying safe yourself…”
Mother and son swam out of sight and Kyla willed her bioskin to cover the form of her inanimate friend. She prayed that her ‘skin would temporarily staunch the awful flow of blood, but as she stared at the horrific wound, it seemed to mock her meager attempt to help. She was terrified. She looked up at Shaka. “If I don’t get her back…”
Shaka’s firm command cut through her despair. “Enough! We can do this…no more thought…”
Together, they pushed-pulled the inert body as gently as possible toward the biosphere. Kyla was aware that Tashi and his mother watched from above, and she felt his fear when his frightened voice reverberated through her.
“Mommie?”
T
he question hung. Shaka and Kyla worked desperately to get Mer-An into the biosphere. At last, Oomi’s hopeful reply flowed through Kyla’s mind.
“Sweetest, Kyla will take Mer-An to Na-Kai and she will help her…”
Although Kyla knew that Oomi’s quiet assurance was an attempt to calm her baby’s fears, she was afraid that even Na-Kai’s abilities wouldn’t be enough. She had never seen such a hurt, and an unsettling conflict arose to tear at her heart. Relief that Oomi’s firstborn remained untouched was at war with a deepening dread that the woman who had saved his life would be no more.
“Na-Kai…Mer-An’s hurt…I am frightened…she may no longer be with us!”
Kyla’s grief ripped through everyone’s thoughts. Immediately, Ni-Cio helped Na-Kai and Daria rise from their prepared lunch. He guided them through the halls while Na-Kai sent her steady response. “Kyla, quiet yourself…I must hear Mer-An…”
Na-Kai signaled Ni-Cio to halt. She closed her eyes, and Ni-Cio knew that she was probing Mer-An’s body for damage. Her audible gasp galvanized him. He took Na-Kai’s arm and hurried her toward the entrance chamber. The Healer spoke with an urgency that Ni-Cio had never heard before. “The heartbeat is there, but it is so slow as to be almost undetectable. Daria, follow my lead precisely, but remember, pitch your voice an octave lower than mine.”
Even as they raced to the entry pool, Na-Kai began the healing. Ni-Cio heard the odd tones and the singsong quality of her voice echo around and ahead of them and he knew that for Mer-An, it would be as if she had physically received an anesthetic.
Ni-Cio helped Na-Kai and Daria into the pool area. Others stood ready, and as Na-Kai pointed out positions, they quickly gathered around. No one spoke, but the tension mounted as each second created a mirror of endlessness. Daria stood next to her mentor, and though she pitched her voice lower, she sang in tandem with Na-Kai so that she could exert her untried talents without interfering in the healing efforts. Their unearthly tones continued unabated as they awaited Kyla’s arrival.
Suddenly, Ni-Cio heard Aris’s anxious voice as his footsteps pounded toward the pool. Ni-Cio crossed the deck and grabbed his friend as he entered the chamber. He held his friend back from the water’s edge, but Aris’s wild, guilt-ridden thoughts roared through his mind. “It is my fault! By the gods, it should have been me…”
Aris struggled to break Ni-Cio’s iron grasp but Ni-Cio wrestled him towards the portal with a stern warning, “Aris…hear me…you do not help like this…”
“Let me go…I have to see her!”
Ni-Cio pushed his friend out of the room and willed the portal door to materialize behind them. His whisper was fierce, “Aris, you cannot see Mer-An! Na-Kai and Daria need to stay focused so they can help her, your interference will only make it worse!”
All at once, Aris’s energy left him along with his strength to stand. He sank to the floor and when he looked up, Ni-Cio could see his heart in his eyes. “I love her, Ni-Cio, and I have never told her.”
Ni-Cio wanted to run from his friend’s desolation. In all their years together, he had never seen him like this. Aris sucked in a ragged breath and lowered his gaze. “I always thought there was time, and I enjoyed ignoring her because it made her chase me even more.”
Ni-Cio knew that Aris wanted more than anything to be loved, and he coughed to clear the lump that had formed in his throat. He knelt beside his friend as he continued his heartbroken confession.
“She wanted me to go with her today to get...I don’t even remember. I teased her, telling her that I had man’s work to do and that I did not have time for her fun and games. Gods, Ni-Cio, if I had just gone with her, this would not have happened.” Aris bent forward as though he had been gut punched and great shudders ran through his body.
Ni-Cio didn’t know what he could do to comfort him, so he just leaned over and wrapped his arms around him. He held him until he felt Aris’s grief begin to subside.
Aris fell back against the wall and closed his eyes. Silent for the space of several heartbeats, when he spoke, his voice quivered with resignation. “I cannot feel her.” He opened his eyes, stared at nothing and repeated, “I cannot feel her.”
Aris’s vibrant coloring faded to a dull gray. Ni-Cio rose to his knees and grabbed Aris’s shoulders. He shook him hard enough to get his attention. “Aris! You do not need to feel her! If there was no hope, do you think Na-Kai would expend the effort to try to heal her?”
A glimmer of acknowledgment stirred within Aris. Ni-Cio shook him again. “Daria is there as well, and though she is but beginning to realize her talents, she can help reinforce our Healer. Do not give up on Mer-An!”
Aris’s color slowly started to return and Ni-Cio relaxed his hold. He dropped down next to his friend and shook his head. “I tell you this, my oldest and dearest friend, if Mer-An has the tenacity to keep chasing after you, then she has more willpower in one finger than I have in my entire being. She will come through this. Now, whether she continues to pursue you, that is something else altogether.”
He put his arm around Aris, trying to lighten the mood. “For the life of me, I can’t see why she would even bother.”
Aris didn’t rise to the bait, but the ghost of a smile played over his frightened face. He gestured toward the closed room with his chin. “Go back in, Ni-Cio. She will need you. I will be right here. But you must promise me, if things get worse, you will let me come to her.”
All lightness gone, Ni-Cio stared into Aris’s sad eyes. “Things will not get worse.”
When he saw that Aris needed more, Ni-Cio swallowed hard and nodded. “Should Mer-An falter, I will make certain that you have time with her.”
Their wait neared its unavoidable conclusion, and Na-Kai clasped Daria’s hand. The Most Sovereign Healer did not let her healing tones diminish by so much as a breath as she encouraged Daria. “You do well, child…I know your fear…just follow my movements…everything you do will only serve to enhance what I must do…”
Daria responded with a gentle squeeze of her palm but she continued, unabated, to vocalize the peculiar chordal structure that Na-Kai had taught her. The Healer was heartened. She knew that Daria was frightened, but saw that neither her voice nor her thoughts wavered or lost projection.
Ni-Cio re-entered the room and stood next to Na-Kai. She was grateful for his warmth, but she was glad when he moved next to Daria. She knew that his nearness helped strengthen her.
Everyone strained to see the lights of the biosphere. Suddenly, they heard Kyla.
“We are here…”
The lights of the craft broke through the tunnel and the pool glowed yellow-green as the vessel surged to the surface. Drilled in rescue procedures, everyone knew their job so that movements were certain, well timed, and performed without hesitation. As the canopy dematerialized, Ni-Cio and Rogert pulled the buoyant machine onto a docking station.
No one talked and not one thought was exchanged. Kyla stepped from the craft and stood to one side while the men lifted Mer-An’s body to a prepared pallet. Her bioskin slipped away and Na-Kai began the healing, with Mer-An unimpeded by any clothing.
The Healer bent forward and placed her hands over the gaping wound. Every motion and every sound that she performed was mimicked by Daria in perfect synchronization. As they worked, Na-Kai felt a change filter through the room. The severity of Mer-An’s injuries were such that doubts began to assail everyone’s faith in her extraordinary abilities. In their collective memory, there was no time when she had taken so long to heal someone.
One by one, their hopes plummeted to fear. They waited for some sign that their Healer could bring Mer-An back. Na-Kai tried to ignore the dread that pervaded the others, but she felt her own flicker of doubt. She clamped down on the negative feeling, refusing to let herself be led. She lowered her head and intensified her exertions. The laceration still would not close, and Mer-An’s breathing slowed until it stopped altogether.
Ni-Cio turned to summon Aris, when Roger
t grabbed his arm and whispered. “Look!”
Na-Kai watched, fascinated. Daria placed the palms of her hands over the tops of the Healer’s, compelling Na-Kai to follow her lead. The young Healer brought both sets of hands up and closed them in a semblance of the prayer pose. Still anchoring Na-Kai’s hands between hers, she pointed their fingers downward. To Na-Kai’s surprise, it was if their combined energy had been injected with tremendous force and focus.
Daria elevated her tonality to match Na-Kai, chord for chord, structure for structure, note for note. Na-Kai watched, and by agonizing degrees, Mer-An’s skin began to close. Membrane attached to membrane, blood vessel adhered to blood vessel and severed nerve endings sought their mates as bone knitted to bone.
The temperature in the room rose with the heat that poured off Na-Kai and Daria. A wisp of smoke drifted from Mer-An’s body, and the smell of cauterized flesh spread through the air. Na-Kai and Daria continued their work and the deathly whiteness that pervaded Mer-An’s form lessened.
Gradually, the wound closed and Mer-An’s breath, though still quite slow, took on a deeper, more regular rhythm. Spirits lifted when a tinge of pink seeped into Mer-An’s skin, signifying the return of blood flowing through her veins.
Na-Kai continued to administer the healing anesthetic, but was able to relax her thought-forms to a lesser intensity. She was exhausted, but when Daria’s hands dropped from hers and the weight of her small body sagged against the pallet, Na-Kai could not keep the fear from her voice. “Ni-Cio, take her! The effort has taxed her beyond her limits!”
The Atlantean rushed to Daria’s side and lowered her to the floor. Na-Kai looked down. “Mer-An is not yet safe, and I cannot remove my hands. Rogert, get Aris to help you. Take Mer-An to my quarters so that I can attend her. Ni-Cio, see to Daria. The very moment I can release Mer-An, I will come to your chambers. I fear for Daria’s safety.”
Tides of Change Page 12
