by Caney, Mark
‘At first there was only infinite space. Unimaginably cold and dark like the deepest reaches of the sea. Yet empty. No living creature, no plants, no rock, no water. The void waited an eternity of time until the darkness exploded into a million stars, flung outwards like shining sand grains to light the endless night. These stars passed through the icy nothingness, each one bearing its message of light and the promise of life. One such star was Senx. He burned and raged, swelling with fire then subsiding as he learnt to control his power. A number of great, cold stones drifted towards him, drawn by his magnificence and blinding light. Yet they were soon repelled by his great heat and so chose instead to circle him endlessly and to bathe in his light, each in their own path, at their own chosen distance from him.
The third of these stones twisted in agony for countless centuries. Great mountains were thrown up upon it and destroyed again. Rivers of fire scoured its surface. Slowly its torments subsided and the stone began to cool. With the cooling came the first drop of rain; and that most precious substance in the universe: water. The rain fell without rest while the stone spun around and around Senx, countless, countless times. The water fell into the deep cracks of the stone and cooled its fire. As the rain fell, the water rose and gradually great seas filled and their shorelines edged up across the lifeless ground.
The third stone changed. Senx saw the clouds slowly part to reveal that one of his attendants had put aside the drab mantle of its fellows and was now a shining, liquid blue orb. The stone had become Ocean and Senx delighted in her beauty. Ocean continued her slow dance around Senx and he was entranced by her radiance. Dancing together so for an eternity they could do nothing but become lovers. Across the coldness of space he planted light, his seed, into the sea, her womb.
Mother Ocean spilled forth life. The first of her children were tiny, simple things but they grew and changed. Because they were the first and dearest to her they followed her teachings closely and adapted themselves to enjoy her gifts. Ocean’s children were small and slow at first but they learnt to swim and to hunt and to think. The fruits of Ocean’s coupling with Senx were so bountiful that they filled the sea and spilled onto the land so that it too began to flower and became green with life.
After a long time and many changes came a new creature; smooth skinned, warm blooded, sharp of eye and mind. The first two were T’ret, a sleek, fast, female, and her strong and proud brother Den-tew-ron. They were as bright with life as stars and Ocean saw them and was glad. They spoke to each other, swam, sang, leapt to the sky and revelled in the beauty of the Universal.
As they became more independent, the siblings spent much of their time playing in the shallow waters. They were fascinated with the newly fertile land which held so much promise. When they reached the Age of Decision, they chose to leave their birthing place and to climb from the waters. At first this was hard, as they had to accept the great burden of gravity against which land dwellers must struggle their whole lives.
For many millennia they were enthralled with the exploration of the land, which, although small compared to the vastness of Ocean’s waters, held many secrets. They saw the multitude of forms from the simple to the complex, but still they were the most quick minded of all that was there. Over time they became proud and vain and believed themselves to be superior to nature’s other forms. One day, Den-tew-ron said, “We are so much above these simple things, sister; let us bend this world to our needs.”
They spent an age on their plans, saying this valley shall be filled with water, this lake will be emptied, this plant will be made stronger, this creature will perish. Then, just before they were about to begin their scheme, T’ret was sleeping alone at the edge of the sea and had a dream.
T’ret dreamt that Senx came to her, terrible in his power, and spoke. “Are you so intoxicated with your power that you have lost sight of the Universal? Observe!”
And T’ret dreamt that Senx lifted her up high and changed the flow of the river of time so that she could see the world that she and Den-tew-ron had envisioned come into being: slowly at first, then, gradually faster and faster. The first scenes were happy enough; as they had imagined, the less pleasing creatures, or those they saw no purpose for, soon faded from the face of Ocean. New lakes grew, flooding areas of the land. Those things that they discarded were flushed into the sea and swallowed from sight, that land which they had decreed must be cleared of vegetation was burned and the essence of those things on it were carried as black smoke into the air and seemed to vanish.
But the time-river flowed more swiftly, and, as rivers do when they must flow swiftly, time lost its calmness and became violent and turbulent. T’ret watched in horror as their fine plans became undone; those creatures they had thought of as beautiful soon had nothing to eat and must tear each other apart. Black, acid rain fell from the skies and the great forests began to decay. As they failed to turn the light of Senx into life-giving oxygen, other creatures began to suffer. Birds fell from the sky; other animals dug holes into the ground where they could live out their last days in anguish and watch their young die before their eyes. And all this time all the debris of the land’s destruction washed into the sea and those that dwelt there choked upon the filth.
The time-river flowed faster still and T’ret watched the images of she and her brother becoming mad with their power. They destroyed the remaining forests, raped the seas of life and covered the green earth with a cold, grey, liquid stone which hardened and sealed out life. Their descendants multiplied like a mould across the face of Ocean, out of all control. Soon there was not enough food, not enough water, not enough air. In the last scenes, barely visible in a blur, they made weapons of stupendous power that let them destroy the remaining living; millions at a time.
At last, T’ret could bear no more, “Enough!” she cried, “Please, Senx, I will not see any more. We are wrong to be here — let my brother and I go back into the sea and we will forgo these plans!”
Senx said, “You may go back to the sea, but Den-tew-ron wishes to stay and continue with your plans.”
“No, he will not!” cried T’ret, “show him what you have shown me and he will not!”
And Senx said, “I have.”’
Cloud Passing paused for a long time, his eyes closed, his head bent down. In the silver moonlight, no one moved.
Slowly, he raised his head and half opened his eyes.
‘So it came to be. T’ret left the land and returned to the sea forever. From her sprang the zetii, and they chose to live in harmony with Ocean and to keep the balance of the Cycle of Life.
Soon Den-tew-ron and his new kin forgot the zetii; they forgot everything under the sea. They believed themselves masters of all Ocean, and they wielded their power with the carelessness of a child.
It was left to the zetii to live in harmony with Ocean. They shall inherit what remains when the sons and daughters of Den-tew-ron have done their worst. They must keep Ocean safe and their path shall be the Way.’
Chapter 21
“Life is too short: live it to the full!
Our lives’ values are but the sum of our experiences.”
- Saturn Over Antares (12,415-12,438 post Great Alluvium)
Sky and Muddy made their way across the north-eastern curve of the bay towards one of the children’s races. Some of Muddy’s students were taking part and he wanted to be there to support them. They swam between the large coral heads that protruded from the sand, each surrounded by a swarm of brightly coloured fish. Of these, the small, golden Anthias shone especially brilliantly in the morning light. As they approached each head, the fish simultaneously dived into the crevices of the coral, each swarm of colour vanishing almost instantly — like a flame blown out.
Suddenly, the two friends became aware of a commotion approaching them; at first the sound of male voices, obviously swimming fast:
‘Come on Venus, choose me — you don’t want those two, look: they can barely keep up!’
‘Don
’t listen to him! He is almost finished now — see how often he has to breathe, he can barely dive he’s so fat!’
Then four young adults shot into view from the blue. Three males were in amorous pursuit of a beautiful female. Sky did not recognise her; she must be from one of the other clans. He noticed that she seemed to be keeping her distance from her would be suitors for now at least. She moved quickly but with an easy grace. She had an almost metallic blue-grey skin and unusually dark, intelligent eyes which suddenly locked with his own. He stared back, trying to think of something clever to say.
She came to a sudden stop beside Sky and Muddy and turned on her pursuers. They rushed up, the third of them, who had not yet spoken, blurting out:
‘Darling, choose me, I am more worthy of your beauty than these bottom-dwellers. I may not sprint quite as fast as them, but watch me jump! Many call me Lightning because of my great leaps!’
She turned and spoke to the three of them for the first time.
‘Alright: let’s see you all jump then.’
The three males preened themselves excitedly, at last getting some attention from this lovely creature.
‘Shall we jump in turn, or all at once so that you can see who’s highest?’
‘All at once please. And make it high: I expect to see you vanish from view.’
The three lined up excitedly, then, after a count, they shot towards the surface and leapt high into the air. As they flew upwards through the surface, she moved quickly over to Sky and stared hard at him.
‘I went that way,’ she said intently, tilting her head. Then she darted in the opposite direction behind the nearest coral head.
Just then, the three heroes came crashing back through the surface in a chaos of bubbles, each making whoops of victory. They milled about as the bubbles cleared and then stopped in confusion, with only Muddy and Sky in view.
Muddy glanced behind the coral head where the exotic female could only be seen by Sky and him. She was still staring meaningfully at Sky who seemed mesmerised.
‘Where’d she go?’ Lightning demanded.
Sky stammered, ‘Well, she…’
Muddy rolled his eyes. ‘She went that way!’ he cried. ‘Quick follow me, and we’ll catch her!’ To Sky he muttered, ‘What I do for you…’ and shot off, the three jumpers in hot pursuit.
The female slowly emerged from the coral and peered after them.
‘Shame,’ she said, ‘plenty of muscles, short on brains’.
She turned. ‘I liked your chubby friend though. And you are…’
‘Touches The Sky,’ he replied at last. ‘My clan is hosting the Gathering.’
She still stared at him with those disconcerting dark eyes. ‘And I am Venus In Mist, of the Western Red Mountains Clan.’
‘So your clan call you Venus?’
‘Only those who don’t know me well. Those I really like call me Mist.’
‘Well,’ Sky began formally, ‘it’s my pleasure to meet you here, Venus In Mist…’
Her eyes gave a small smile. ‘You can call me Mist.’
They spoke for some time. She told him about her clan, which, like Sky’s, was one of the few large enough to have an Academy. She had recently finished her training as a Starwriter and was to take part in some of the Starwriters’ songs at the Gathering.
She was clearly very intelligent but Sky noticed that even when they were speaking about serious things, her eyes often seemed to be smiling — was she mocking him? She was very self-confident and had a direct way of coming to the point that was both alarming and disarming at the same time. He was fascinated by her and realised that he had only once before found a female so interesting and — yes, he suddenly recognised the feeling for what it was now — attractive. It suddenly came to him what his feelings for Dusk must be; he wanted her physically — was it love? He had repressed the emotion because Dusk had been so cool to him this last year; he had to protect his heart. And he had only come to recognise it because some of those feelings were now coming to him again; because of this girl, Venus In Mist, with the direct way of talking and those extraordinary dark eyes.
‘Sky, you haven’t heard a word I just said, have you?’
‘Sorry, I was thinking about something else for a moment — tell me again — please?’
‘I was saying that I’ve promised to help one of our clan’s females give birth today. It will be my first time to act as a birthing partner on my own,’ she added proudly.
‘Does the mother think that the baby is coming?’ Sky asked.
‘She was pretty sure it was this morning. I scanned her and it’s in the right position, so yes — we’re fairly certain.’ She fixed him again with one of those deep eyes. ‘I know — come with me.’
‘Me? At a birth? I don’t think that would be…’
‘Nonsense! What is it with you males about babies? You’re all so squeamish! You won’t be able to be close to the mother in any case. But you can watch from a distance if you like.’
She tilted her head and watched him with a quizzical expression and an amused look that was barely suppressed.
Sky had the uneasy feeling that she was testing him somehow, and found himself agreeing.
‘Good! Follow me then.’ And off she went, Sky following, wondering what in Ocean he was doing.
They soon came to where the mother was waiting with others of their clan. She was in pain already; the first waves of labour were passing through her body.
Venus In Mist took the mother to a quiet spot in the shallows, Sky followed reluctantly at a distance. Then Mist came over to him and said,
‘Wait here and keep quiet. I have told her you are my friend and she is quite happy for you to watch; just don’t interfere.’
She left him before he could reply. Mist moved close to the mother and pointed her head at the side of her belly, then directed it along her body. Sky could hear the distinctive frequency of the sonar that she was directing to see inside the mother, using the reflected sound to identify the position of the baby.
‘Is he alright?’ the mother gasped.
‘He… he’s in the right position; he is going to come out tail first, which is good of course. You can start pushing soon now.’
‘Hurts so much already, can’t bear it.’
‘Remember your pain control exercises. I’ll help you. Now: take your pain and enclose it, keep it inside yourself but separate from yourself. You don’t need to rush; your baby has waited a year to come out, he can wait a few more hours. I’ll talk you through the pain.’
Mist continued on, her voice dropping to a rhythmic murmur that Sky could barely hear, but he recognised much of it from the pain containment exercises he had learned at the Academy.
‘Feel your pain, see your pain. Look and see what colour it is and where it’s living in your body. Wrap it up in liquid crystal. Let the crystal harden into a container to hold your pain. See the pain you feel through the crystal walls.
Now separate the pain from your mind. It’s still there in your body, you can still see it, it still hurts, but it hurts alone, it does not hurt you. Watch it burn in a crystal of ice — the pain is still there but you don’t have to feel it. Leave it to burn out its fire in your belly, safe in its crystal, but don’t let the hurt reach your mind. Keep it locked in its crystal, watch the pain, it won’t hurt you as it’s far away now, and so deep in that cool crystal.’
The mother had it under control now and had a tranquil expression on her face although strong contractions rippled along her belly more and more frequently.
‘Leave me to swim for a while my dear,’ she said to Mist, I’m fine for the moment. She swam with slow, rhythmic beats of her tail; back and forth; back and forth; taking regular breaths at the surface; a distant look in her eyes.
Mist left her and swam to Sky’s side.
‘What happens next?’ he asked.
‘Soon she will give birth, and then she will have to snap the umbilical cord with a sharp twist of
her body. In case she can’t, I will bite through it for her. Then her baby will usually try to swim up to take his first breath, but if he is too weak the mother or I will help him up, until he can do it alone.’
Sky saw Mist watching the mother intently, a look of concern in her eyes.
‘Is something wrong?’ he asked.
‘Sky, I don’t know. When I scanned her I couldn’t see any sign of life from it — should be moving a bit by now — probably just my inexperience.’
‘I’m sure it’ll be fine, you’re doing such a great job helping her. Go back to her now, she needs you.’
Her eyes gave a little smile and she went back to the mother, who was taking breaths more frequently now, and spending more time near the surface.
Sky watched them for hours like this. Mist was constantly at the mother’s side, offering encouragement or soothing her, helping her with the pain control litany. He marvelled at Mist’s patience and strength and at the endurance of the mother who was clearly having a difficult birth. It was not until almost sunset that the baby, a male calf, was finally born.
Chapter 22
“The young squander their youth, the old their wisdom.”
- Clouds Reveal Menkar (8,633 - ? post Great Alluvium)
‘These are perverse times.’ Silent Waters looked around the elders who had come to the Grand Council meeting. Nearly eighty of them had come here on this third day of the Gathering. They were almost exclusively dolphins in the later part of their lives, one or two chosen from each clan because of their experience and wisdom. Only the Dune Coast Clan had its full Council present, as was the custom for the host clan. All the dolphins were arranged in a loose circle, mostly upright with their tails occasionally gently stirring the sandy bottom. The sea surface was slightly ruffled by an onshore breeze and sunlight dappled the delegates with dancing rays of light. Sky held his place in the circle, uncomfortably aware that he was the youngest and most inexperienced by far.
