by Caney, Mark
Sky called a farewell back. He watched the old dolphin for a moment as he swam away across the sand and disappeared into the distance. Then he noticed a curious thing: although the sunlight was bright, One Eye had not seemed to cast any shadow. He shook his head, he must have imagined it. He turned and made off at speed towards his old clan, feeling as though he carried a heavy, cold stone in his chest.
Chapter 48
“One Cleaner ate two tuna
Two tuna ate three jacks.
Three jacks ate four crabs
Four crabs ate one Cleaner.”
- Children’s jumping song
Dusk swam away from Storm and the Guardians, still struggling to stop herself from shaking. She had never been so afraid in her life. When she had heard Storm’s distant signature call, she had rushed out of the cave without a word to Deneb. Storm was not yet in sight but had to be very close. She had muttered to Rock, ‘Excellent: he told me just what we wanted. Now: no word of this to anyone.’ Then she had swum quickly in the direction from which Storm should come. She met him almost immediately, but she had gone just far enough to be out of sight of the forbidden cave. He had been suspicious at first, but she had flattered him and been flirtatious, and then, best of all, she had told him that in three nights’ time the position of the planets would be right to unlock several important songs. This caught his attention. She had realised that he was especially interested in data concerning prey quotas or those containing the number and usual migration routes of other species of dolphins, so she subtly emphasised the presence of all of these in her elaboration.
All the time she was desperate to get away, to get help, but she had to play his game, to win his confidence. At last, she made her escape and now she could fly back to her clan. She had to warn the Council; they had to rescue Deneb Rising and stop the Guardians’ plan. Her greatest fear was that one of the two guards would mention her visit to the cave to Storm. She was hoping that their awe of him would make them unlikely to do this, but the thought still terrified her.
She swam as fast as she could, following the coast north then west towards the bay where her clan were still staying. She made frequent, long leaps so that she could see how much further she still had to swim. It seemed to take so long. All the time she was thinking about Deneb. A horrible dread started to creep into the corners of her mind. She had often talked to Storm about the goings on in her clan. She remembered talking about the Gathering and what would happen there, it had seemed natural and harmless to do so. Had she given the Guardians the information they needed to kidnap Deneb? Had she brought pain to another of her friends? She screwed up her eyes in pain. If only Sky could be here now.
Finally, she was approaching the bay. She would go straight to someone from the Council to explain and then they would do something. Deneb could still be saved. Then she heard someone up ahead of her using echolocation. A single dolphin, coming this way. Who would be coming so far in this direction alone?
She took a chance: ‘It is I, Fades Into Dusk!’
The echolocation stopped abruptly. There was a long pause, then, ‘And it is I, Green Wave Falling!’
He appeared from the blue. She felt a wave of relief. ‘Jeii, I am so glad to see you. There is an emergency — the Guardians have captured Deneb, they are going to kill him, he is in a tiny cave, he can’t breathe, the Guardians will kill him and…’
‘Stop! Slow down! Have you seen Deneb Rising?’
‘Yes, I spoke with him and he told me their plans. We must go to the clan now and get help!’
‘Wait, wait. First you need to calm down and tell me all you know.’
‘Can’t we go now? Oh, Jeii, I am so afraid of what will happen. When were the Xenthos supposed to bring Deneb back to the meeting point?’
‘Tomorrow at noon, so don’t worry, we have some time yet till then. Now, I need you to tell me everything so that I can properly brief the Council. You cannot possibly access all your memories of important events in your current state, so I am going to help you regress into a memory access trance.’
‘But Jeii, there is no time!’
‘There is time and in any case you can enter the trance while we swim. Now stay alongside me. Yes, like that. Keep me on your left and stay alongside me. Good, keep swimming. Now, you must have no distractions. Do not use sonar anymore — good. Now close your eyes.’
‘My eyes too? How will I see where I am going?’
‘I will guide you. It is important that you have your mind as clear as possible if we are to access your deepest memories. I will keep talking to you, helping you to lower your consciousness so that we can access all of your memories of relevant events. Use my voice to keep your station; it is all you should focus on.’
She swam on with her eyes closed, following the sound of his voice. It felt very strange at first. Swimming blind was nothing new; that often happened if the water was murky or if it was dark. But not using her echolocation was disorientating. She heard him use his very occasionally, but mostly he must be using his eyes. She guessed this would be so that he did not distract her. His voice became slow and rhythmic. He kept up a constant monologue, telling her to relax, to withdraw from her consciousness of her surroundings; to turn her mind into itself. He extended the times between their breaths, letting her just brush the surface to take a deep breath before descending just below the surface again. She had to focus her mind’s eye inward, taking herself back in time, back to when she first met the Guardians, remember everything, every word, every sight, every sound. All the time they were swimming, swimming, swimming. Her tail beating up and down at a constant rhythm, but her heart rate slowing as he counted out its pace for her in his low, reassuring voice.
She began to relax. He had been right, now she would remember everything. Swimming this way had let her focus on her memories, once she had put her trust in his voice, it had been easy to reach back into her sub-consciousness. Now she was there, following Green Wave’s gentle voice, she was going back at the first time she had ever seen Storm Before Darkness, back to the first time…Green Wave’s calming voice abruptly stopped in mid sentence.
She crashed into the net at full speed. She opened her eyes in horror and tried to twist free. The fine, almost transparent fibres, wound around her tail flukes and fins like a thousand tentacles. The net was slackly hanging across a gully. Above her in the net she saw the partly decomposed body of a young turtle. That could be her! She looked around desperately, then saw Green Wave watching her from a short distance. He seemed oddly calm. ‘Help me, Jeii, I’m trapped!’
He said nothing but continued to watch her carefully. She suddenly realised that he had done this deliberately. He had led her into this trap. She felt as though she was going to vomit. ‘Why Jeii? Why?’
He said nothing but continued to watch her dispassionately. She needed air. She swam for the surface. As she neared the silver layer, the silken strands tightened, anchored as they were to the bottom. She was not going to make it! She came to a stop with her blowhole just below the life-giving surface. The net strands held her firm. ‘I can make one more effort and just make it,’ she thought, but then caught sight of Green Wave again, his eyes fixed on her. It suddenly came to her why he was waiting. She made a pretence of trying yet failing to reach the surface, then sank back again, tired and shaken. He turned as though to leave.
‘Jeii, you’ll kill me! What of the Way now?’
He span around, his eyes angry. ‘I have never killed any zeta! You will die now because of this Walker device, not because of me!’
‘But why? To help the Guardians?’
‘The Ka-Tse are doomed unless something is done. The fools in the Council cannot see it! The time is coming for a new order. We must still follow the Way, but it was written for the Ka-Tse, not those lesser zetii.’ He paused, and looked down at the sand for a moment. ‘I do have pity for you, but you have been a foolish meddler, trying to swim with two clans and being true to neither. Now you have a li
ttle while to think on that. Know at least that your death will ensure that the rightful zetii will survive the coming maelstrom.’ Just then the red sun emerged from behind a cloud, weakly illuminating her. He looked up at it and his eyes smiled grimly. ‘See; Senx shows his face for you one last time. Say your farewells.’ He turned again and swam off into the blue.
Once he disappeared, Dusk swam desperately for the surface. If she finned as hard as she could she could just clear her blowhole and take a breath. She sank again and struggled desperately against the net; it just seemed to bind her more tightly, tangling around her jaw too. She stopped herself, her self-control as brittle as thin ice. She tried once again to breathe. She finned with all her strength and just made it. She let herself fall back again, her heart beating fast. How long would she be able to keep this up? Not long. This was how she was going to die. She would cling to life as long as she could though. She would use all her training to eke out each lungful of air. She hung in the net. The slight swell rocked her back and forth. The empty eye sockets of the turtle stared at her mockingly. She hated herself but so much wanted to live.
What had she done with her life? She had become obsessed with Storm, a zeta who led a clan that believed that killing other zetii was right. She had caused Deneb Rising to be captured and soon to be killed. His death would then cause open conflict between the zetii so that the Guardians’ twisted logic could work its evil. And Sky. Poor, loyal Sky, who had tried to help her, and had taken her punishment. He would spend the rest of his life alone and despised, as good as dead. She wished she could have had the chance to ask his forgiveness, to let him know that she was grateful for what he had tried to do.
She looked up at the shimmering image of the setting sun; far above the taunting surface, up in the beautiful, distant air. With a growing pain in her heart she thought, ‘So this is how I am to die.’
She fought her way up to take another breath then sank back exhausted. She gazed hopelessly around her. As the sun finally came clear from the clouds the Shades about her changed from ambivalent messages into clearer ones, taking on first one meaning then another, then finally crystallising: Fulfilment…Separation… Justice.
‘So there is a reason. This is what I deserve.’
Chapter 49
“The first duty is to your lovers and families;
the ultimate is to your clan and to Ocean.”
- The Prime Mother in “Times and Places” (from the Albatross Alone collection of plays).
Sky swam through the night, across the great, inky black depths between the islands and the mainland. It was a long swim and he had time to think. His mind wandered back over his days with One Eye, over the often cryptic conversations they had together. Sky had often found it hard to understand the old dolphin’s meaning and in the beginning had assumed that there simply wasn’t any in many cases. Now, he wasn’t so sure. Very often One Eye’s words seemed to contain layers of meaning, and Sky had the feeling that he had often been trying to educate him in an oblique way, or trying to develop him in some manner. And One Eye’s parting words seemed to imply that he thought that Sky had changed: had grown into something better.
Sky had gone to Forlorn Island because he had felt that he had some duty to perform. He had not really had any clear idea what that was, he had just read it from the Shades that day and it had felt right. One Eye seemed to recognise the truth in it, and had ended up saying he was ready to perform that duty. More, that he must do it. He supposed he should try to find a clan where he might meet another Aligner who would train him. But what clan would accept an exile? Now that he knew the final fate of his father, he no longer had the powerful need to find him. Instead he felt empty. Should he be doing something more with his life?
He spent a long time turning the problem over in his mind and gradually started to get a clearer answer. The zetii had to face the fact that the Way was not enough for them any more. The dynamics of Ocean had changed somehow. But the extreme views of the Guardians were wrong too, and that was an immediate problem. They had to be stopped somehow. And then? They still would have to change, and try to find out what was changing them. Sky was sure that the Walkers were largely to blame for creating the underlying problems that they were facing. Did they know? He hoped that they did not. If they were causing all this destruction and were aware of the consequences then they were a truly frightening force. He could not imagine that any intelligent beings would continue to destroy their environment while knowing what was happening. So they must be unaware, or at least unaware of the severity of their actions. So, should the zetii try to stop them or try to tell them somehow? He doubted that that was even possible. Still, all these things would have to wait. Right now he had an immediate problem to deal with, and if he got that wrong none of this would matter anyway.
The sun slowly rose on his right in a clear sky and he made out the low line of the land ahead of him. There was little wind, but the gentle deep ocean swell was running towards the land, helping his progress a little. He aimed for the nearest part of the coast, and as the sun eased its way high enough that its rays could penetrate the water, he made out the first hint of the seabed rising below him. Then the first real sign of life: a pair of gigantic Manta Rays passed majestically below him, their great wings slowly rising and falling in silent unison.
The seabed rose quickly as he came closer to the shore. He thought he recognised the area: if he followed the coast to the east now he should reach the bay where the clan had been resident when he left. He turned and continued swimming towards the sun, keeping the fringing reef close on his left. He was tired, very tired, but his mind kept turning over possibilities. Trevally Outpaced had said that the day of the rendezvous with Deneb Rising never changed. But Sky was sure that Deneb had told him that the meeting had been brought forward a day. He had said that Green Wave Falling had told him that. Was this just a simple mistake, or was the Ka-Tse Grand Council being deliberately deceptive? He could not believe that. It was also hard for him to imagine that the Xenthos were lying. He had looked into the eyes of Trevally Outpaced as he had spoken and Sky was sure that the envoy believed that what he had said was true. Sky was so sure that something was wrong that he was now on his way to speak to his old clan, in spite of his banishment. He did not know if anyone would listen to him or even acknowledge his presence, but he felt he had to try.
He swam on, and on his next leap, recognised a feature up ahead. There was the little islet just off the shore that lay just to the south-west of the clan’s bay. He remembered that two moons ago he had seen a Walker’s net there, draped between the mainland and the island. It seemed a lifetime ago now. As he got closer, he decided to make a detour around the island rather than risk swimming into the net if it was still there. He soon was able to detect the islet with echolocation and soon after to see it underwater. He followed the outer coral wall of the islet and then cut across back to the shore. Just then he thought he heard a faint voice. Yes, there it was again, coming from the gap between the mainland and the island.
He really wanted to get to the clan as soon as possible, but it had sounded like a cry for help, so he reluctantly turned and swam back towards the gap.
Sky made out the net with sonar before he could see it. He recognised that there was something large in the net: a Cleaner perhaps? No, it must be a zeta — this was where the voice had come from, someone was trapped in the net! He came close enough to see the shape now. He announced himself: ‘It is I, Touches The Sky!’
The trapped dolphin twitched and then spoke, her voice weak: ‘Sky! I thought I would never see you again. Oh Sky, I’m so afraid, and I can’t breathe properly.’
He looked at her, stunned. The net was completely tangled about her body, leaving her just able to move her tail. After the effort of speaking, she struggled to surface for air. She could only just reach the surface with her blowhole when she swam as hard as she could, then she sank back down, close to complete exhaustion.
He mo
ved closer. ‘Let me help you.’
‘No! Be careful or you will get caught too!’
He ignored her and moved in to grasp a section of the net with his jaws and yanked at it. It seemed to make matters worse. He tried to bite through the strands but it was impossible. Dolphins’ teeth were never designed for cutting, just grasping prey, and the strands simply lodged between them. Twice he almost became entangled himself but just managed to struggle free.
‘Sky stop, please stop! You can’t get me out on your own.’
‘Then at least I can help you to get to the surface. Try now.’
She swam weakly upwards; Sky pushed her from below, taking care not to entangle himself. With his help she was able to breathe much more easily. He helped her to take several breaths in this way until she had recovered enough to speak properly.
‘Listen Sky, you have to go back to the clan and warn them. Something terrible is about to happen.’
She told him about the Guardians’ intention to create conflict between the Ka-Tse and other species of dolphins, how they planned to fake the murder of Deneb Rising later that day, making it look as though the Xenthos had been responsible. She told him about Green Wave Falling, how he was helping the Guardians and how he had made her swim into the net, and then left her, sure that she was about to die.
‘So you must go, and quickly. Stop Storm somehow! He is dominating the Guardians and he’s gone mad. You need to kill him if need be — without him the Guardian clan will fall apart.’
Sky shook his head. ‘No, Dusk. Killing is their way and it is wrong.’
‘We may not be able to keep the luxury of high morals anymore, Sky. Look, they must be taking Deneb from the cave to the meeting point very soon. You have to stop them killing him!’
‘I want to — of course I do — but if I leave you here you won’t make it! You are already exhausted; you barely have the strength to make it to the surface!’
