Ocean: The Sea Warriors

by Brian Herbert

  Alicia waded into the water and swam underneath the line of sea creatures. Then, around a half mile beyond them, she formed a vee-wave and pointed it back at them, standing on the rear of it as it gathered speed quickly. Ahead of her, the animals looked at her with large, inquisitive eyes as she neared them. They did not move, except to bob gently in the water on natural waves.

  Selecting a place between a whale and a cow-like dugong that were face to face, she managed to nudge each of them aside and then increase the distance between them as the wave surged forward. Then she slowed the wave and used strong lateral pressure on each side in an attempt to keep the animals apart. For a minute she thought this might be successful, but gradually she felt tremendous strength pushing against the sides of her vee-wave as the leviathans pressed against it. It was a losing battle for her, and finally she found herself between the huge faces of the whale and the rotund dugong, but the creatures did not hurt her. With the wave defeated, they allowed her to slip back into the water and swim away.

  Alicia made five more attempts, and each time the result was similar, no matter where she tried to break through. Then it occurred to her that she might use a water wedge in coordination with military ships going forward on each side, but she didn’t think she wanted to work closely with the U.S. Navy, and knew Kimo wouldn’t like the idea either.

  When she waded ashore, she found Admiral Turner standing with Kimo. She shook her head. “I can’t break through,” she said. “The animals are extremely strong individually, and in a group they are much more so. You’ve seen that yourself, Admiral, the way they manhandle your ships.”

  “We have other options,” the tall, impeccably-dressed officer said. “And you know what they are.”

  “Give us more time,” Kimo said. “I’m sure we can come up with something.”

  Turner scowled. “Radar reports show that more large creatures are arriving all the time, throughout the islands. They’re coming from all over the world, from every ocean.”

  “The world is all one ocean,” Kimo said.

  “I’m speaking of oceans on the map—the seven oceans, the seven seas.”

  “We’re sorry this is happening,” Kimo said. “If I’d known things would go wrong like this, I never would have ordered the operations against the beaches in the first place.”

  “Reopening Pearl Harbor is an important matter of national security,” Turner said, “and this blockage constitutes a terrorist act against the United States of America. For all we know, you’re faking your efforts to break through.”

  “We’re not faking anything,” Kimo insisted. “Everything we’ve told you is the truth. We don’t want the blockade any more than you do.”

  “Give us your rogue member then, and we’ll interrogate him … or her.”

  Kimo shook his head. “That person—that hybrid—is a highly sensitive individual, and you could create more harm than good in the interrogation process. I’ll continue to work with that person instead, to see if we can get the situation reversed.”

  Rage moved across the Admiral’s narrow face, and he stalked off. Alicia saw him talking to his officers, issuing commands, and Governor Churchill nodding in agreement, with his long gray ponytail lifting in the wind.

  In the midst of the Sea Warriors, Kimo and Alicia found Gwyneth, with Dirk Avondale talking to her, still trying to get her to change her mind. “Now they’re threatening to use military force,” Kimo said to the teenager. “You’ve got to end the blockade! One way or another, it’s going to be ended. This situation cannot endure.”

  She shook her head stubbornly, then walked down to the edge of the water and gazed out at the line of mammoth creatures ringing the island. With other warriors gathered around her, she said, “The U.S. military is going to regret it if they try to break through again. The government is going to regret it.”

  Alicia and Kimo shook their heads in dismay, and he said, “I’m going to Moanna for help.” Alicia offered to accompany him, but he asked her to remain behind and manage the Sea Warriors.

  Kimo dove deep, using his innate sense of direction in the sea to swim directly to the region where Moanna had always been. Ever since his childhood, since his earliest memories, he had always been able to locate her.

  As he descended from the warm, sunlit upper waters into the colder, darker abyss, he soon saw the ruby-red glow of the Sea Goddess, an illumination that rose from the seabed this time and formed a new route for him to follow. On the rare occasions when this occurred, he knew it was a message from her that she had moved from her previous location—and this time she had shifted to the west in a deep ocean trench.

  He swam through the curvature of red light as if it were a stream in the ocean, leading him through the winding trench. Presently the illumination brightened and widened, and he saw the ruby radiance of her underwater presence. It was not as bright as usual, but at first this gave him no concern, because she often changed the intensity of her glow. In the past he’d thought it might have something to do with her moods, or with her cycles of rest.

  Often when he’d neared her previously, she’d brightened and enclosed him in the warmth of her radiation, making him feel as if she were welcoming and embracing him. This time, however, she remained much dimmer than usual.

  He swam closer, noted an unprecedented lack of warmth in the water around her, and this worried him. “Moanna,” he said over their molecular connection. “I have questions for you. As you may already know, Gwyneth summoned whales and other large sea creatures, and caused them to create barricades around several Hawaiian islands, preventing the passage of boats and ships. Now she refuses to break up the formations.”

  Moanna’s voice barely rose to a level he could hear, and did not carry its customary, faint echo afterward. “You must work this out for yourself.”

  “It’s important for us to regain control over the animals. It’s creating huge political problems, and is going to lead to violence by human military forces.”

  Moanna dimmed even more, and murmured in a voice that sounded fatigued, “This is a human-caused problem. It is why the Sea Warriors were formed in the first place, to deal with human-caused problems.”

  “But Gwyneth caused it, and she is a transformed person, a Sea Warrior.”

  “Gwyneth did not cause the problem. The problem exists because the U.S. military thinks it owns the seas around Hawaii, which it does not.”

  “But Gwyneth has stirred things up. She’s trying to do things too fast, without considering the terrible consequences.”

  No response came.

  Kimo tried several times to get Moanna to say more, but she refused. She had gone silent on him before, and it always meant he was supposed to leave. This time, he did that, but he worried about her as he swam back to rejoin the Sea Warriors at the entrance to Pearl Harbor.

  A number of military ships had been out to sea when the blockade began, and now they approached the living sea barrier from outside it, while additional ships again approached from Pearl Harbor. On the beach, Dirk Avondale identified two destroyers and a guided-missile cruiser approaching from the harbor, along with a nuclear submarine and another cruiser coming from the other direction.

  “They’re going to need to do something to keep from hitting themselves in a crossfire,” he said.

  Hearing aircraft, Alicia saw fighter jets taking off from Hickam Air Force Base, along with ominous-looking black helicopters with missiles attached to their fuselages. Abruptly, the sub and cruiser on the outside of the barrier line changed course and headed west, while the other three warships continued forward.

  Four helicopters flew over Pearl Harbor and then turned back, speeding in a side-by-side formation toward the line of sea creatures, while the warships from the harbor continued their advance., in the same direction.

  “Attack helicopters with laser-guided missiles,” Dirk said. “I don’t like this.”

  Though Alicia and her companions were standing off to one side of th
e center of action, and the Admiral and Governor were still on the shore not far away, she felt vulnerable here. But as she thought more about this, she realized that she didn’t care as much about herself as she did about the whales and their companions. She murmured a prayer for the creatures of the ocean who were really her brethren now, because Moanna had christened her as one of them.

  The ‘copters launched missiles simultaneously, and they sped toward the point in the line where Alicia had attempted to break through. The weapons made hissing sounds, like snakes in the sky, and struck their mark with terrible force, tearing hideous holes in a sperm whale and sunfish, and creating towers of bloody water over them.

  More missiles were fired on each side of that, killing more creatures, and the three warships surged forward. Just when it looked as if they were going to break through, however, a school of blue whales—the largest mammals on the planet—appeared from the sea and reinforced the line, pushing the ships back and forcing them sideways. Then additional sea creatures swam tightly around the ships, so that they were boxed in, and could not move in any direction.

  “A clever tactic,” Dirk said. “The creatures sacrificed their lives but gained an advantage of position. Now the military can’t fire on that area, or they’ll hit their own ships. I fear it’s only a temporary advantage, however.”

  More whales, along with large sunfish and long-necked plesiosaurs, surged in from deep water where they had been waiting, and gathered around the vessels. Blood ran in the water, and huge, sickening chunks of body parts floated briefly before sinking. All the while, more and more large-bodied sea creatures kept appearing, to replace those who had been killed.

  “The Navy and Air Force aren’t going to take this sitting down,” Dirk said. “I’m afraid this is only going to get worse.”

  Almost before he had the words out of his mouth, the submarine partially submerged itself, so that only the top of its conning tower could be seen, and it headed toward another portion of the barrier. Before it could reach the barrier, however, or fire any missiles, it was surrounded by plesiosaurs, whale sharks, and blimplike dugongs. The animals used their combined body mass to force the sub to change course, and pushed it several hundred yards out to sea. The sub dove, but the animals dove with it. Finally, the sub surfaced again and floated on the waves, surrounded by a mass of large-bodied sea creatures.

  Just then, sailors on the decks of the trapped guided-missile cruiser and destroyers fired rifles at the creatures, and hurled explosives at them, causing more blood to flow, but not freeing their ships.

  Alicia heard Fuji Namoto comment on how gallant the whales and other creatures were, like non-violent protesters who kept putting their bodies in harm’s way, despite the risk of being injured or killed. Alicia considered rushing out there herself, and calling for Sea Warrior volunteers to do the same, no matter the danger.

  But first she turned to Gwyneth, and demanded, “You’ve got to do something to stop the slaughter!”

  Looking very alarmed, the diminutive teenager nodded and finally said, “All right. I agree that this can’t continue.”

  She dove into the water and swam toward the line of marine animals, on this side of the ones that were surrounding the naval vessels and preventing them from breaking free. Alicia saw her swimming next to one of the largest blue whales, touching the scarred side of the creature, while seeming to be talking to it. Like a battlefield commander, Gwyneth did this all along the line for a ways, making close contact with dozens of animals of different species. While she was doing this, the gunfire and explosions ceased, as it was obvious that they were of no avail against the immense power of nature arrayed against the naval force.

  Perhaps half an hour passed with Gwyneth in the water, continuing to go from animal to animal, but Alicia saw no change in the floating, living barricade. Finally, Gwyneth swam back to shore and walked slowly toward the waiting Sea Warriors. “They moved against the Navy ships on their own, and they’re not responding to me anymore. I can’t get any of them to move an inch. I can’t even stop the new arrivals from coming in, from all over the world. Something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.” She hung her head.

  This was indeed a calamity. Gwyneth had started something she could not reverse, and more of the largest creatures in the ocean were headed this way, galvanized into action by the Sea Warriors. To make matters worse, the U.S. Government had a right-wing president, a southerner named Fillmore Vanness—and against such a stubborn, militaristic foe, Alicia feared that all of the creatures in the sea barriers would be killed. It reminded her of the large number of deaths that occurred when whales and dolphins sometimes grounded themselves, either committing suicide or losing their bearings, but this was on a much bigger scale than anything that had ever occurred in history.

  In the ranks of the Sea Warriors, no one had any plausible idea of what any of them could do to change the situation. So many things had already been tried. Now in desperation, some of the members proposed risking their own lives by throwing themselves directly into the line of fire from the Navy, as Alicia was considering doing herself.

  “I forbid any of you to do that,” Kimo said, shaking his head. “This is not a time for foolish, individual heroics. We need to preserve each of your talents for the sake of the entire ocean. Moanna did not transform you to lose you in suicide missions.”

  Jarred by the talk of suicide, Alicia hesitated, and then said, “Maybe I can make stronger waves, but I’m sure it will take time to make them strong enough, the way the sea creatures keep sending in reinforcements. I think we should do something else to begin with, something to deal with our public relations problem.”

  “Such as?”

  “Rescue the seamen on those warships. We tell Admiral Turner what we want to do, and then swim under the sea barricade and board the ships. We can rescue the seamen one at a time, after fitting them with breathing tanks. There are more than two hundred of us, so we can rescue that many at a time, with each Sea Warrior swimming underwater with a seaman.”

  “It’s worth a try,” Dirk said. “Wait here.”

  He strode over to Governor Churchill, who was walking up to the parking area with one of his aides, where the Navy brass were already getting into their staff cars. Alicia watched as the two men talked. They looked stiff and businesslike, but at least they didn’t seem to be yelling at each other.

  When Dirk returned, he said, “I told the Governor your idea, and he expressed his gratitude.”

  “That’s good. So we can begin the operation?”

  “Not yet. He said he’d call Admiral Turner and see if something can be set up. He also said that everyone is very upset about the trapped ships. They’re calling it a mass kidnapping of naval personnel.”

  “And are they blaming us for that?” Kimo asked.

  “Who else?” Dirk said. “One thing more. Assuming we can’t clear the channels, we may need to defend the animals against attacks.”

  “But how?” Alicia asked.

  He smiled bitterly. “I don’t know. My experience leading fish for military purposes is limited to Navy dolphins. I’ve been thinking about it, though. Marine animals are highly evolved and specialized in order to survive in the ocean, and despite their independent and clever defensive maneuverings against the warships, they do not understand how to fight—at least not in any form of coordinated attack. I have a number of military contacts from my years of service, and maybe we can enlist some of them for strategic and tactical advice We need a think tank.”

  “Put out feelers,” Kimo said. “But we only want people we can trust, people who believe in our cause.”

  “I understand.”

  ***

  Chapter 17

  When Preston Ellsworth drove on the Wanaao Road the next morning, he tried to avoid the largest and most notorious potholes, the ones that bore ominous names such as “Sinkhole” or “Lake Wanaao.” Like other drivers who frequented this road, he had memorized the worst bumps and se
ctions of rough, washboard roadway, and was resigned to the fact that the problem areas would not be repaired for a long time—if ever. Many of the locals liked it that way, saying the rutted, uneven surface kept tourists to a minimum, but he felt exactly the opposite and would prefer a well-paved thoroughfare to bring hotel guests in and out as smoothly as possible. Some of his regulars joked about the condition of the road, but they always did so in an endearing tone, as did the locals.

  With a spectacular view of the ocean on one side, and small, metal-roofed homes and fruit stands on the other, he passed the stand that used to be run by Kimo Pohaku, and was now being operated by Billie Hama, a young Hawaiian who once worked as a part-time clerk for Preston at the market he owned in town. A weathered sign read, “FRESH FRUIT.” The old man always thought with irritation about the Pohakus every time he drove by.

  The road ran past a macadamia nut farm owned by a famous Olympic athlete, and a large mango grove. With the side window down, he smelled overripe mangoes that were scattered at the side of the road. It had rained the night before, and the deeper potholes still had water in them, and the ground had darker, richer shades of brown than usual. It was warm and humid, with a slight breeze rippling the trees, and the sun starting to peek around puffy rain clouds.

  This SUV was not that old and didn’t have many miles on it—less than 25,000. But it handled like a much older car, and rattled along like a teenager’s jalopy. Painted silver, it looked older than its years, too, with rust spots on the body from the salt air, and rusted parts in the fuel system and on the undercarriage of the vehicle. He sighed in resignation. It was one of the prices of living in paradise—or what used to be paradise, before it came under attack from the sea.