by Warren Fahy
“Ooohkaaay,” Hender sighed ecstatically.
Nell laughed.
The other hendros each opened their own stalls without as sistance, turned on the water with only minor fumbling, and stepped in.
“Wow, they catch on fast!” Geoffrey said. He noticed his hands were shaking. Even as a scientist, especially as a scientist, he still felt a religious awe in the hendros’ presence. Just seeing their alien heads pop over the shower stalls at each other, tittering and chirping, was a revelation of the humbling power of life that could create fantasies in reality and invest such disparate matter with a divine spark. He realized Nell was watching him. He shrugged, speechless.
“I know,” she murmured.
Andy came in with a stack of towels.
“Just in time!” Nell said. “They’re actually taking showers!”
“WOOO-WAH!” one of the hendros squealed, and the shower door nearest Geoffrey burst open as the creature leaped out, dancing and dripping. Geoffrey reached in and adjusted the knob to bring the temperature down.
“There, that’s better. OK now!” He nodded as the hendro’s color slowly turned from fiery red back to soothing greens and blues. The hendro reached into the stall and twisted the knob with one hand back and forth, feeling the water with five symmetrical fingers. Then it warbled a descending scale of strange consonants. Hender answered with a rising scale from his shower stall. The blue hendro then stepped back inside and closed the door with a soft click.
“I hope they leave some hot water,” Geoffrey said. “I could use a shower, too.”
“All I want to do is to get out of these wet clothes,” Nell said. “And then sleep for a week. Andy, can you take care of them from here? You can give them each a room in the starboard pontoon.”
“Sure, Nell. Where are you going?”
“Shopping,” she replied. “Come on, Geoffrey.”
He raised his eyebrows but said nothing as he followed her down the corridor to a large room forward of the gym.
It was the largest walk-in closet Geoffrey had ever seen. Rows of clothes arranged by sex and by size hung from long racks stretching the length of the room.
“These should fit.” She tossed him some jeans and a T-shirt. “Underwear and socks there.” She pointed at a tall stack of shelves near the door.
“Incredible.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, pulling some khaki slacks off a hanger. She took another T-shirt like Geoffrey’s and some panties and socks from a drawer. “That should do it. Now let’s take that shower.”
Geoffrey snagged some briefs from the shelf and backed away from the door as she turned off the light and closed it behind her.
“There are a few advantages to being on a floating television studio,” she told him.
“Is there enough water for so many showers?” Geoffrey said, hurrying behind her.
“Sure. There’s a desalinization plant on board. Three thousand gallons a day.”
“Amazing. I plan to use two thousand of them right now.”
When they returned to the gym, the hendros were out of the showers, each holding a pair of towels in random hands as they uncertainly watched Andy pantomime drying his back. A few tried to copy his motions before dropping the towels and giving a quivering twist up and down their bodies that sent a spray of water in every direction. “OK, that’ll work!” Andy said. “Oh, hey, guys.”
“Hey Andy.”
Zero came in the door with a fresh camera and memory stick. “Did I miss much?”
“They just took showers,” Nell reported.
“Oh wow.”
“OK, Hender,” Andy said. “Let’s take a tour! I’ll take them to their rooms, Nell.”
“Where are we putting them up?”
“In the starboard pontoon.”
“Oh, yeah. I’ll come with you,” Zero told Andy. “You coming, Nell?”
“We got to get out of these clothes. We’ll catch up.”
Andy looked at Geoffrey for a moment and back at Nell. “Sure.” He smiled and shook Geoffrey’s hand. “I never thanked you, Binswanger. So… thanks.” Andy looked at Nell and grinned, nodding his head as he left. “Follow me, Hender!”
The hendros followed Hender and Andy, and Zero tailed them all down the passageway, camera to eye.
Nell closed the door to the gym.
“Now, I figure the best way to do this is we can take our clothes off in the shower stalls, then I can leave first to get dressed and you can come out after.”
“Yeah, that works,” nodded Geoffrey, glad to have a game plan.
They put their fresh clothes on the benches in front of the lockers and then pulled their shoes and socks off.
Nell looked at her single old beat up Adidas, the other having fallen into the sea. “My favorite tennies,” she mourned.
“Sorry. Keeping your foot from becoming a spiger snack seemed more important. Any shoes on board?”
“Oh, yeah. We’ll pick some out after we’re done.”
They walked toward the showers feeling giddy as teenagers for some reason. Both silently reminded themselves that they were mature and trustworthy adults. Level-headed and mature scientists. He took the shower in the far right corner and she took the one next to it.
They turned on the showers and started draping their seawater-soaked clothes over the dividers.
“Is there any shampoo over there?” she asked.
“Uh, yes.”
His arm came over the stall with a bottle of red Suave shampoo.
“Thanks.”
She touched his hand as she grabbed it and quickly started humming as she started washing her hair.
“You’re getting out first, right?”
“Right.” She lathered up and then rinsed off, trying to forget that they were both naked. “Need the shampoo?”
“No, I got it.”
She stepped out of the stall and grabbed her towel. “OK, I’m going to the locker.”
“OK, I’m not looking.”
She wrapped the towel around her waist and walked with her back to him. As she quickly turned the corner into the locker area and started drying herself off, she was thinking about Geoffrey and sex and sex with Geoffrey and keeping her eyes resolutely on the photographs taped to the lockers. As she straightened to dry her hair, she noticed the laughing snapshots of the obnoxious Jesse, and beautiful Dawn, and ever-polite Glyn, and bragging Dante and the others, and tears spilled without warning from her eyes. She sank down on the bench and brought a hand to her face as she quietly sobbed.
“Nell.” The warbling clarinet-like voice startled her. She looked up to see Hender in the middle of the gym, rubbing his chin with one hand and cocking his head.
She tugged on her towel but was sitting on it and had to stand up to pull it around herself. Hender was creeping forward the whole time, his eyes scanning her up and down and sideways.
“Hello, Hender!”
“Nell,” Hender warbled softly, moving gently closer.
She backed away and Hender stopped, turning his head to look at the photos on the locker doors. He reached his hands out to touch Glyn, Dawn, Jesse, and the others who had died when they landed on the island twenty-four days ago. He touched Dante’s picture with recognition. He turned his head to her and his eyes withdrew under his furry lids. “Nell thank you.”
Hender softly padded out of the room on six feet, his head down.
She sniffled and stared after him. Then she rubbed the tears from her eyes, dropped the towel, and reached for her panties.
“Here I come!” Geoffrey warned, rounding the corner.
“Oh, I’m not dressed yet!” Nell yelped.
“Oh!” Geoffrey lifted his hands in surprise and his towel fell from around his waist.
With a speed that astonished even him, Geoffrey hurtled back around the corner. They doubled over, helpless with laughter.
“OK, get dressed, woman! How long do you take, anyway!” he howled.
“I’m doing it!” she snort
ed, throwing her towel in his direction. “Put a towel on!”
10:17 P.M.
Nell and Geoffrey, who had managed to get dressed without further incident and choose shoes from the garish collection of sneakers provided by SeaLife’s generous sponsors, entered the bridge with Samir and Andy.
Thatcher watched them climbing the stairs to the bridge and he followed, slipping in after them.
Warburton, Captain Sol, and Marcello were already there and in a troubled mood.
“The hendros are all tucked into their own private quarters,” Andy reported. “They definitely prefer to be alone. When Samir and I showed them how to use the toilet, I think they fell in love.”
“They definitely like peanut butter,” Samir said.
“And shrimp,” Andy said.
“We’ve got to check in on them.” Nell looked at Geoffrey, who nodded.
“Copey isn’t leaving Hender’s side. Somehow he found Hender’s room.”
“Is that where that dog went?” asked Marcello. “He wolfed down the steak Cook gave him and then took off like a shot.”
“Where’s Cynthea?” Captain Sol asked.
“She’s with Zero, I think.”
Warburton and the captain shared a look.
“We were just trying to make a plan,” Captain Sol told them.
“Any ideas?” Geoffrey asked. He wore an orange SeaLife T-shirt.
“That wasn’t exactly the answer we were looking for,” Warburton said.
“Sorry. By the way, my name is Geoffrey Binswanger.”
“Welcome aboard, young man.” Captain Sol shook his hand, firmly, glancing from Nell to the handsome scientist curiously. “Hello, Mr. Redmond, you don’t have to skulk around back there. Come and join the conversation.”
Nell and Geoffrey turned to see Thatcher in the doorway, his face flushing red. He waved weakly at the others.
“As I was saying to Carl,” the captain continued, “I don’t like keeping secrets from the Navy.”
“We’re being hailed, Captain,” Warburton reported. “This is Trident, over?”
“Trident, we can see that you’re at safe distance now. We have been instructed by the President to let you know that you can proceed to port without further restrictions. Copy?”
“Very well, Enterprise. Thanks for the escort.”
“No problem, Trident. Just part of the Navy’s job. Please proceed to Pearl Harbor for final inspection and debriefing. Good working with you. Enterprise over and out.”
Everyone sighed loudly in relief as Warburton clicked off the radio.
Thatcher cleared his throat. “Now what?”
“We have to phone the President,” Captain Sol decided. “He has to know about our guests.”
“When the Navy gets a little farther away,” Nell pleaded.
“They’ll be in this vicinity for a while,” the Captain reminded her grimly. “They’re nuking an island ten hours from now.”
“How can we call the President?” Thatcher asked.
Warburton pointed to a phone charging in its cradle on the wall. “Satellite phone. Just dial zero and the country code.”
“What’s the country code for the United States?” Thatcher asked.
“One.”
“Hmm. That figures.”
“Can we trust the President?”
“We have to, I think, Andy,” Geoffrey told him.
“It’s a risk,” Nell warned.
“Either the President or the Army deliberately left us behind on that island!”
Nell’s face went pale. “We don’t know that, Andy.”
“It’s less of a risk than not calling him,” Captain Sol argued. “We’ll get a little breathing room between us and the Pacific Fleet first, and then call in the morning. In ten hours, a nuclear bomb is going off and I intend to be far away.”
“Will we be safe?” Nell asked.
“The Navy said nine miles is the minimum safe distance, and we should reach that in another twenty minutes, so we’ll be OK, but I’d rather get as much distance between my ship and that island as possible. I suggest everyone grab a little shuteye in the meantime. Tomorrow will be a full day.”
“Captain,” Thatcher said, “how would one go about getting something to eat on this boat?”
“Ship,” Captain Sol corrected. “Nell, could you show Mr. Redmond the galley?”
“It’s ‘Doctor,’” Thatcher said.
“Eh?”
“Dr. Redmond.”
“Oh…”
“I’m starving,” Nell interjected. “How about you, Geoffrey?”
“Yeah, I’m hungrier than a spiger.”
She laughed. “This way, you two.”
10:34 P.M.
In the mess, they sat at a table, Nell and Geoffrey eating tuna fish sandwiches and Thatcher nibbling at a veggie burger with pickles.
“So, Thatcher, do you still think we made the wrong decision?” Nell asked.
“The question is moot,” Thatcher grunted, wiping his mustache with a napkin.
“But do you?” she persisted.
“As Geoffrey says, everyone’s wrong sometimes. Eh, Bins-wanger? The Redmond Principle is obviously in error. Intelligent life is not destined to destroy its own ecosystem. You win some, you lose some. It’s playing the game that counts.”
“That’s mighty big of you, Thatcher,” said Geoffrey.
“Why, thank you, Geoffrey.” The zoologist inclined his head.
“Yes, I thought you might still be harboring some resentment.” Nell reached for a pickle.
“Never! It is clear that we have just saved a species of life whose intelligence is at least as advanced as our own.”
“We’re not out of the woods yet. There’s no telling what will happen when we let the President know what we saved. Out here in the middle of nowhere, they could make up any cover story they wanted. But if we don’t tell them, and they catch us smuggling, we stand even less of a chance.”
“Who are ‘they’?” Thatcher asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t know,” Geoffrey admitted. “The President. The Navy. The Trilateral Commission, the Bilderbergers, the Priory of Sion.
Does it matter? If this ship were lost at sea, how would anyone be the wiser?”
Thatcher smiled. “A calculated risk.” He took the last bite of his burger. “Well, kids, I’m an old man in need of a soft bed. It’s been a long day.”
“Did they give you a nice cabin?” Nell asked.
“Yes, thank you, my dear.” Thatcher rose from his chair.
“Good night,” Geoffrey said.
“Good night,” Thatcher bowed his head and smiled. Then he left them.
“Well that sandwich hit the spot,” Geoffrey remarked, after a moment.
“Nothing but the best,” Nell said. “Dolphin-safe.”
“Let’s check in on the hendros.”
“You read my mind, Dr. Binswanger.”
11:01 P.M.
Nell led Geoffrey down the corridors below deck to the starboard pontoon, where they spotted Cynthea and Zero outside one of the cabins.
“Where’s Hender?” Nell asked.
“In there,” Cynthea pointed, sourly.
“Andy just kicked us out,” Zero told them.
“Why?” Geoffrey said.
“He says Hender’s sleepy.”
Nell laughed and tapped on the hatch. “Hi, Andy, it’s Nell! Can Geoffrey and I say good night to Hender?”
“Sure, come on in!”
Cynthea frowned.
The door opened a crack. “Just no more filming, OK? Don’t let Cynthea in.”
Nell smiled at him through the crack. “OK. Sorry, Cynthea.”
Andy admitted Nell and Geoffrey into the room.
Hender was hopping on the bed as Copepod jumped up onto the mattress and back down again, barking excitedly. Then Hender stepped down from the bed and reached his upper arms out toward them, nodding happily.
“Hello, Hende
r,” Nell said, taking one of his hands as Geoffrey took another. “OK?”
“OK, Nell! Hello, Geoffrey!”
Geoffrey laughed. “Hello, Hender!”
“Have they eaten anything, Andy?” Nell asked.
“Yeah, the cook boiled three bags of frozen shrimp. They loved them. So did Copepod. They let him eat from the same tray with them.”
Nell laughed. “Do they really seem all right? Do they need anything?”
“Yeah, they’re OK, Nell.”
“That’s great,” Geoffrey said, watching Copepod chase himself through Hender’s legs. “OK, Hender? Yes?”
“Yes, Geoffrey. OK. Thank you thank you thank you!”
Copepod ran to Nell.
“Copey, sweetheart, you OK, too?” She smiled as she kneeled and took his licks, scratching his shoulder blades. The little dog moaned in ecstasy.
“Copey good,” Hender piped.
“Copey won’t leave Hender’s side,” Andy confirmed. “Talk about a dog whisperer. He could have his own TV series.”
“Maybe he will!” Nell smiled. “What about the others? How are they?”
“They’re asleep already. They showered, ate, used the toilets, and conked out as soon as they got to their rooms.”
“Wow!” Geoffrey grinned. “OK, good night, Hender. Goodbye. OK?”
Nell reached out and gave Hender a full hug and whispered next to his head. “Safety, Hender. Safety now!” Even as she said it she wondered if she could keep that promise.
“Safety, Nell,” Hender echoed softly, his fur effulging warm colors where she touched his back.
Geoffrey watched, gasping at Hender’s display, as she pulled back.
“Good-bye, Geoffrey and Nell,” Hender nodded. “OK, sleep, right?”
“Yes, sleep! Right!” Nell saluted.
“Good night,” Geoffrey waved.
“Good night, good night, good night!” purred Hender, saluting and waving with four hands.
11:14 P.M.
“He catches on awfully quick,” Nell whispered after they had shut the hatch of Hender’s cabin.
“My God.” Geoffrey shook his head. He yawned, and he realized suddenly that thirty-one hours had passed since he’d last had a decent night’s sleep. “Uh, where exactly would one go to grab some shuteye on this ship, Nell?”
