Dolphin Way: Rise of the Guardians

by Caney, Mark

  ‘So, today the Shades foretold a situation of decay, then some kind of reunion, a meeting with familiar things, probably a lot of them. It must mean the coming Gathering! And then something unknown but somehow frightening happens and there’s some sort of conflict and separation!

  ‘Moonlight, that is just one interpretation; an experienced reader of the Shades might come up with something quite different from what we saw.’

  She shook her head vehemently. ‘No, that must be what it meant, it was so clear. Something bad is happening to us. My mother said as much, after those two zetii died so strangely…’

  Sky interrupted her. ‘I think that’s enough about that. Talk to Silent Waters about what the Shades meant when she has a moment,’ he said eventually, ‘she is able to interpret them far better than me. And don’t look so sad, it’s just the colours of the water in the end. Now, lessons are over for today.’

  They made their farewells and departed. Sky was left confused. Should he have emphasised a logical approach and argued against Moonlight’s interpretation of the Shades? What if the Shades really did foretell the future?

  He looked down. The clear blue water fell far into the darkening depths, overlain with wavering shafts of light. A Separation or Dispute. Of Great Import.

  Chapter 15

  “The heavens hold all knowledge”

  - Traditional

  Sky found the other three Novices waiting for Green Wave Falling around midday. Sky stayed nearby, half listening, still going over his own near disastrous lesson in his mind. At first they spoke of Wakes Softly, tried again to guess what had happened. At last Deneb said, ‘Well one thing is certain. I’m going to tell my mother what Wakes told Sky and me.’ He went on to tell Dusk and Muddy of Wakes’ story, how she had seen an older dolphin listening to the Starwriters and then meet another dolphin secretly. Eventually, they lapsed into an awkward silence, which Muddy eventually tried to lighten by relating his experiences that morning with the second echelon class. Sky lost track of the account for a while, busy with his own concerns, then focussed again as Muddy became more agitated.

  ‘Then Pebbles kept asking me “But how exactly do Starwriters remember all that stuff, Jeii?” and of course I had to bluff it and say things like, “well that is too advanced for our current lesson”, but I really have no idea! It was awful!’

  ‘Well we don’t remember it exactly,’ Dusk said. ‘It would be impossible to order it all in your mind properly. It is often fairly meaningless stuff you know; just data.’

  ‘And that is why you somehow tie the data to astronomical events, right?’ Muddy asked.

  ‘We use astronomical events because they are so reliable and precise. Some Dreamweavers have experimented with other repeatable events like tidal movements, coral spawning and even volcanic eruptions to entrain information, but they are only suitable for imprecise, more generic data…’

  ‘Hold on,’ an exasperated Muddy interrupted, ‘never mind all the exceptions to the rule, how do the basics work? How can I explain this to a class?’

  Dusk closed her eyes and thought for a moment. ‘Well, try putting it like this. We have all this information to record somehow, ranging from the findings of the greatest Seekers in history to dull data about prey stocks, Council resolutions and so on. It would be impossible to remember so much information reliably, especially when some of it may not be accessed for perhaps centuries at a time. So, the Dreamweavers entrain the data with cosmic episodes.’

  ‘Oh, they “entrain the data with cosmic episodes”, do they?’ repeated Muddy stonily. ‘That is not an explanation!’

  ‘Alright, alright; let me think for a moment.’ Dusk shot to the surface and leapt high, falling back through the mirror of the surface with barely a splash. Sky watched her leap and noticed again how beautifully sleek and muscular her body was as she effortlessly swam back down to them.

  ‘We wait for a specific event in the night sky, such as the passage of a planet over the constellation of the Cleaner, for example. The Starwriters who will be recording have to be in the seventh level of consciousness in preparation for the event, so everything must be timed perfectly. The Dreamweaver who is in charge of the recording then starts the song she has composed for that session’.

  ‘Does the Dreamweaver sing alone?’ Muddy asked.

  ‘Not always; for more complex, multiple layers of data, other Starwriters may help her with the harmonies that entrain additional information. They won’t be in the Seventh Level of course, so they’re not actually recording.’

  ‘But why a planet? Why the Cleaner’s constellation?’ pleaded Muddy.

  ‘Those are just examples, fish-brain!’ said Dusk. ‘Any event will do as long as one part of the universe is moving in a unique way in relation to another. That is why events like the lunar eclipses are so useful to us. We even have some songs that have been passed on from generation to generation of Starwriters that mean nothing until a particular comet comes by every hundred years or so and allows us to get the data out again.’

  Deneb stirred at last, as Muddy had obviously hoped he would. ‘That bit is extraordinary. I watched part of a Starwriter song once. They were reading from the sky at a time near the equinox when the moon was passing some star I think. A Dreamweaver chanted this strange song without words and the Starwriters stared at the moon through the whole thing for an age. When they came back to near consciousness they just poured out information — ancient stuff, from the First Millennium I think it was.’

  ‘Exactly,’ Dusk said. ‘Once the information is woven into a song we sort of absorb it into our subconscious. We say that we dream it in. I can’t consciously access the information I’ve taken in as a Starwriter. The only way to get it out is to see exactly the right alignment of stars or whatever at the same time as you hear the unlocking song. For more complex information the Starwriters sometimes enter into a form of shared consciousness so no single one of them may have understandable data – but I can’t do that yet.’

  ‘Isn’t that what the Calculators do too?’ Deneb asked. ‘Somehow they are able to link their thinking together so that they can handle more complex computations. I suppose they speak to each other somehow, but if you watch them it seems they are just chanting together in a trance.’

  ‘Something like that, I really don’t understand how they do it. And it’s no good asking them, they’re mostly very strange to talk to. Anyway, enough about all that, it’s too much like being back at the Academy. Sky, what have you done to yourself?’ She stared at the fresh wound on Sky’s underside.

  ‘Oh, it’s nothing really. I was stupid; I made a jump near the shore and landed on some rock.’

  ‘Really? You are not usually that clumsy. So, how did your lesson go today?

  Sky related his dive and Bellatrix’s narrow escape. The others listened in silence.

  “That’s really not good,’ Deneb said. ‘Bellatrix is Last To Speak’s daughter. I hope he doesn’t get to hear about this.’

  Sky had forgotten that Last To Speak was Bellatrix’s father. He remembered how aggressive he had been to him when the rumours had started about Sky’s father. ‘Do you think he’ll do anything about it?’

  ‘I hope not. He might try and twist things to make you look bad. I guess we can only wait and see.’

  Muddy tried to comfort him. ‘Sky, these things happen. The younger ones can black out suddenly sometimes. That’s why they have to make their first deeper dives under supervision. You did the right thing: you saw her problem and you brought her up. Everything was fine in the end.’

  ‘But I didn’t see her fast enough. I wasn’t concentrating properly. If I had been, I might have seen the signs and…’

  Dusk interrupted him gently. ‘Sky, you are always so hard on yourself. How did the lesson end up? Did they learn anything about the Shades?’

  ‘Well, they are a bright group, especially little Lost In Moonlight. But the Shades foretold gloomy events, and she seems to take them v
ery seriously’.

  ‘What did they say?’

  ‘Essentially, that there would be some kind of important meeting followed by conflict with everything set on a background of decay or danger.’

  ‘Danger!’ Dusk said. ‘Well, that fits with what happened to Born and Wakes. And the meeting would be the Gathering, and the conflict might be the debates about the lack of food and why it’s happening.’

  Muddy broke in: ‘That’s what the Guardians are using to recruit new members to them. That the Za-Hana or the Xenthos are stealing our food and we have to take action against them; even kill if need be.’

  ‘That will do!’ A stern voice broke in. The Novices spun around to see an elderly dolphin behind them staring at them icily. Both his voice and his stiff posture carried authority. His body carried a number of old scars but, most noticeably, the tip of his dorsal fin was missing from an old wound, making it look oddly stunted.

  ‘Greetings, Green Wave Falling-Jeii,’ they intoned penitently.

  ‘Greetings, class. It seems your minds are far too open. Guardians! Killing! Muddy River Mouth, do you learn nothing! You know very well that the Way expressly forbids the killing of other creatures except for food, and that therefore includes the Za-Hana and the Xenthos. They may not be of our species or speak our tongue, but they are still zetii. They breathe air as we do and their tails parallel the sea surface as ours do. This is sacrilege!’

  Muddy looked crestfallen.

  ‘But I was only repeating what others have said, Green Wave Falling-Jeii.’

  ‘Which others precisely?’ Green Wave demanded pedantically, his eyes burning.

  ‘Well, um, North Wind said it openly just a few days ago.’

  ‘And North Wind would do well to take his ideas to some other clan before he suffers banishment from this one! There is a zeta heading for exile if ever I saw one.’

  He glared at them all.

  ‘May I remind you that you are supposedly Novices seeking oneness with Ocean! You cannot deviate from the Way in any detail: it has been our path throughout history and it forbids such thoughts. I am particularly surprised at you taking part in this, Deneb Rising. What would Silent Waters say?’

  ‘My mother has always encouraged free thought, Jeii,’ Deneb answered, meeting his disapproving stare with a steady gaze.

  ‘Does she now? Well, there will be a chance for all of you to express your free thoughts later today. You will all come with me to meet the Prime Mother and explain yourselves this half postnoon! Now, we move on to our lesson for today. The mind must control the body; only then can it control itself! We will begin with cardiac control. You will dive to the seabed below us and I will begin to count. Synchronise your heartbeats with my voice. I will slow my counting and you are to keep your heartbeats in pace. Take a breath and join me at the bottom. No one surfaces without my permission. Let us see if we can expunge these base thoughts with a little suffering.’

  Chapter 16

  “To be remembered as great we must recognise when to begin the new and when to end the old.”

  - The ‘Seer’ Stone Eyes (13,222 -13,264 post Great Alluvium)

  They approached the still form of the elderly dolphin that lay on a small patch of seagrass. Green Wave signalled the four Novices to wait by a rocky outcrop that protruded from the sand close by. He moved closer to her and sank to the seabed a little way from her, apparently to wait for her to end her meditation.

  Sky watched her carefully. Silent Waters was the nearest thing to a mother he had had for most of his life but he still shared much of the reverence that most of the clan had for her. Now she was lying motionless on the grass, her half-closed eyes fixed on a small hole under an isolated rock. Sky could just make out that there was a small octopus at the entrance of the hole, its eyes fixed on hers. Green Wave continued to wait respectfully.

  A single Parrotfish approached the outcrop beside the four Novices, its brilliant blue and green body flashing brightly against the dull brown of the rock. It eyed their still forms warily and seemed to decide that they were no threat at present. The Parrotfish inspected the desultory coral cover of the rock and selected one section of low growth. It darted forward and snapped off some stony coral polyps with a loud crunch. Fragments of limestone rained down from it as it continued its patrol of the rock.

  At last Silent Waters roused herself slightly and spoke. Sky, who was the nearest of the four Novices, could just hear her.

  ‘Greetings, Green Wave Falling.’

  ‘Greetings, Prime Mother. Were you about to eat?’

  ‘No, not at all; I do not eat these creatures, they remind me too much of some of our fellows.’

  Green Wave nodded slightly, as though he was unsure as to whether or not this may be a joke. She continued on, her gaze still fixed on the octopus.

  ‘They are clearly highly intelligent, yet each one has no thoughts beyond the survival of itself and perhaps its young. No concerns for conservation of Ocean’s resources, no concept of the Right to Life, of ethical behaviour. Why do we alone carry these burdens?’

  ‘We act in accordance of the Way,’ he replied stiffly, ‘The zetii were chosen to act as guardians of Ocean.’

  ‘Ah, yes, guardians. But not the Guardians.’

  Sky thought Green Wave Falling looked uncomfortable at this, but he continued, his voice in a low tone. Sky could still make out what was said though. ‘The so-called Guardians are an abomination of course. They are corrupt and flout the laws of the Way.’

  ‘Laws? What about the spirit of it?’ She raised herself from the seabed and turned to look at him full on. He shifted slightly under her clear, quizzical gaze.

  ‘I do not concern myself with trying to divine the spirit of the Way,’ he replied evasively. ‘The histories we have provide clear enough guidance’.

  Silent Waters replied, but as she did so the Parrotfish took two more mouthfuls of coral with loud crunches. Sky stared at it in annoyance and only heard her completing her point:

  ‘…have never seen Ocean as sick as we see her now. Forces beyond all experience are at work. Perhaps new interpretations should be considered. You know that some will be saying as much at the Gathering.’

  ‘The Way has served the Ka-Tse and other zeta species well through the millennia,’ Green Wave replied obstinately. ‘We cannot deviate from its teachings.’

  ‘I am not suggesting deviation,’ she smiled, ‘but we must listen to these new ideas and consider the spirit of the Way as well as the histories. The Way did not spring into being instantly. The first guidance was created by the wise zetii of the ancient times and over the ages other wise zetii supplemented that knowledge, adding more interpretations and advice. Just because words are ancient does not make them infallible. The wise ones of old could not foresee every possibility, nor should we presume that the ancients had a monopoly on wisdom. The ones who monitor such things for us…’

  Another explosive crunch beside Sky’s head drowned her out. In exasperation, Sky opened his eyes wide at the Parrotfish and made a small snapping gesture at it. The little fish darted away but then stopped. Somehow it seemed to sense that Sky could not move at present. It came back to its feeding spot, and, while eyeing Sky, took another loud bite. Sky could not help but imagine it had a smug expression in its eye as it did so.

  Green Wave had apparently redirected the conversation in the meantime, and was now talking about the Novices.

  ‘…your son amongst them, talking about heretical things, even zeta killing zeta.’

  ‘Indeed? And what did you do?’

  ‘I castigated them of course. It is wholly inappropriate for them to be speaking that way, especially your son. He may well be leading the clan one day!’

  ‘Perhaps there may be value in talking to them about it. In my experience, true belief comes from understanding, not received dogma. I see you have brought them here, let me speak to them.’

  She swam over to the Novices accompanied by a stern faced Gree
n Wave Falling.

  ‘First, let me say how sad I was to learn of Wakes Softly’s death. We are trying to find out what happened, of course, and if we learn more we will tell you. I am deeply disturbed that we have had two seemingly unnatural deaths so close together, and if you think of anything that might explain them you must tell me at once. But now you are here because your teacher tells me that you have made statements that contradicted the tenets of the Way. Muddy River Mouth, is this true?’

  ‘Prime Mother, we were only discussing the things that everyone speaks about these days: the lack of hunting and why it is happening. I just repeated what they say the Guardians believe.’

  Green Wave snorted. ‘You see Prime Mother! Shameless! Advocating their beliefs is forbidden!’

  She nodded slightly towards him. ‘Yes, thank you for reminding us of what is forbidden, Green Wave Falling-Jeii. And it seems to me that the key expression here is advocating. Agreeing with the ideas of the Guardians may be a reason for exile but discussing them is not. Do you agree with them, Muddy?’

  ‘Absolutely not, Prime Mother!’

  ‘I am glad to hear it.’ She looked each of the others in the eye. Deneb looked back steadily; Dusk smiled slightly and looked away. She last looked at Sky. He found it hard to hold that look; it seemed to see straight through the lens of his eye and into the back reaches of his mind. He wondered if Cloud Passing would have told her about his experience with the Guardians. Then she spoke again. ‘Your first lesson tomorrow should take the form of a debate, I think. Each of you can explain one of the tenets of Guardian belief as you understand them and defend it as best you can. The others can apply counter arguments. Green Wave Falling will act as moderator.’

  Green Wave Falling said nothing, but Sky thought he looked deeply unhappy with this outcome. Silent Waters changed the subject: ‘It is useful that you are here in another respect though. A Council Meeting is about to begin. I have received a nomination for a replacement Voice which I have accepted. Councillor Green Wave Falling: Touches The Sky is our new Voice of Youth.’