Return to Earth

by Brad Stucki

  “Hang on a second,” Javin said to Sauros, “I’m going to be under a while to test the gills, to make sure I know how to breathe under water. Don’t be nervous if I don’t come up for a while.”

  The look on Sauros’ face was worth it. Javin smiled and raised his arms and straightened his legs allowing himself to drop beneath the surface. As soon as his head was below water, Javin held himself motionless. He thought with the buoyancy he had earlier he would have to move his arms to stay underneath the water. That wasn’t the case. Instead he seemed to hover right where he’d stopped. He thought about this. Then moved his arms pushing himself deeper into the water. It seemed with the barest flick and thinking about going deeper, he did. And then paused again. This was odd. This is not what he had expected. Then an another unbidden thought came to his mind. The Archway must have changed him internally, and like a fish, maybe he had an internal bladder that automatically regulated depths? It must be. Then another thought occurred to Javin. He opened his eyes. He could see quite clearly.

  “This shouldn’t be,” he said to himself. Then he focused on a faint difference in his eyes. A slight film had come down over his eyes like a separate eyelid that was transparent, which allowed him to see clearly underwater. This was another adjustment made as they had come through the portal.

  Well, now time to try the gills, Javin thought. How do I do this? With the question came a memory of standing in front of a glass window looking in at a large fish aquarium. In his mind’s eye he observed the motion of the fish’s mouth and gills. The mouth was open, moving slowly up and down circulating water through the gills at its neck.

  Here goes, Javin thought. He opened his mouth. Immediately, a valve closed in the back of his throat preventing water from flowing down into his lungs. Javin moved his mouth up and down. He felt the gills on his neck start to moisten and water flow in and out with his mouth moving up and down, creating a small current. He had been holding his breath and now he noticed he still wasn’t ‘breathing’ through his lungs but found he didn’t need to. The sensation was . . . He couldn’t describe it. His body didn’t feel starved for air, yet he wasn’t breathing - at least not in the natural sense - or the above water sense. He was breathing like a fish and his gills were working. This is cool, Javin thought. He looked around. The water was clear, visibility was . . . Well he couldn’t tell how far he could see. There was nothing to impede his view so didn’t have any sense of distance. Then he looked down. In the depths he could make out the floor of the ocean. He could distinguish plants, swaying fronds, rocks, and yes, fish of a sort, all different sizes and colors, interspersed with the sandy bottom. And another image came into his mind. Off a place called the Bahamas, a glass bottom boat, rock formations, plants, corals, fishes, different varieties and colors. Javin shook his head, his hair swaying in the water.

  I guess this is how we’ll move forward, Javin thought. Better surface and help Sauros give this a try. He looked up, surprised to see he was about 10 feet below the surface. He had been hovering there stable, not drifting. Immediately upon thinking about of reaching the surface, he started to rise. Javin then realized he had unconsciously been moving his mouth up and down continuing to circulate the water. It had become natural. He wondered what would happen as he approached the surface. Would he choke on the water left in his throat just when he surfaced?

  Just then he surfaced. With a cough, Javin expelled the water and the valve in his throat opened and the lungs expelled the air that had been remaining. He started breathing again and felt the transparent eyelids slide back up.

  “That was weird”, Javin said, swimming to the shore. He reached up a hand and Sauros pulled him on to the ledge.

  Chapter 9

  Standing on the bank, Javin quickly explained the principles and procedures of breathing through his gills. He further explained how to move up and down in the water, saying it would happen naturally with little motion. Sauros nodded with each point. He understood. Javin was amazed. Sauros seemed unperturbed by the thought of jumping into the water, breathing in a way he had never done before, then swimming below the surface to their destination.

  “Does anything bother you?” Javin asked.

  “Yes,” Sauros said. “I’m bothered we are not moving toward our destination. I’m bothered Nemesis has not yet been caught and punished for what he has done. I’m not bothered by jumping into water. I have seen you do it. I know it is possible. I know I can do it as well.” Then Sauros raised his lips and stretched his mouth into a crude smile displaying his canine teeth.

  Javin chuckled and slapped his friend on the arm. “I see you are trying to make a joke. I can tell by your smile."

  "I am trying to be a more agreeable companion”. Sauros said. "You are always, as you say, cracking jokes. So I figured I would learn this."

  "Very well.” Javin said, “You are making progress. Besides I don’t know of anybody who will tell you to your face that you’re not being funny.”

  Sauros tilted his head wondering at what Javin meant. Then, Javin smiled again, knowing Sauros was being ironic even with his gesture, for certainly he could tell Javin was poking fun at him through their bond.

  “You’ve laughed at me enough,” Javin said. “I'll jump in, you follow. It will take some time to get used to breathing under water and swimming. That’s the word for moving through the water,” Javin said demonstrating by moving his arms, “and then we will seek our next destination.”

  Javin suited action to words and again dove into the water. It felt refreshing, like something in his body craved the moisture now. Again, part of the adjustment he had received no doubt. He heard and felt a splashed next to him. He turned around and surfaced, seeing Sauros’ head above the rippling water. Javin could tell his arms were moving, his legs slightly paddling keeping himself afloat. Javin didn’t say anything. He knew Sauros knew what to do and was giving his friend time to test the underwater breathing on his own.

  Sauros’ eyes closed in concentration. Then at once Sauros lifted his arms above his head and sank beneath the surface. Javin quickly followed, opened his eyes and opened his mouth and began breathing. It was much easier the second time. Sauros was hovering in the water about five feet below the surface. Javin was across from him several arms lengths away, observing, ready to help if necessary. Javin realized he had experience with swimming even though he didn't remember it.

  Sauros’ eyes opened at this point, staring at Javin who waved, gave him a thumbs up. Javin pointed to his jaw with his mouth opening and closing. Sauros followed suit opening his mouth and then convulsively moving his jaw up and down like it was strange to him to be doing so. At first it was jerky. Sauros’ muscle tensed, then started to relax and his jaw movement equalized.

  Javin then concentrated and switched his hands slightly and moved up several feet. Sauros was watching him, and imitated doing the same thing. Javin nodded and again gave him a thumbs up. Then switched his hands again in the opposite direction and drifted down this time about 10 feet, testing for himself, the internal depth that he could reach. For some reason, Javin thought his ears should feel pressure. Then realized that because his mouth was open and moving, the pressure on his ears was already equalizing through the motion of the water flowing through his mouth and gills.

  Sauros had followed him down to the depth and was again hovering across. Javin wanted to tell him what to do next with swimming but realized he wouldn’t be able to speak underwater. The valve in his throat prevented air from escaping and going across his vocal cords. So he would have to pantomime what Sauros would be doing in regards to “swimming”.

  Javin held up one finger to get Sauros’ attention. Then Javin demonstrated in slow motion, the swimming motion. Arm over arm, kicking his feet as paddles, propelling himself through the water. He opened his hand so the webs between his fingers and toes would be used to maximum effect. He stopped after several strokes and swam back to Sauros, who was waiting in the water.

  Sauros
looked across at Javin when he stopped, then nodded. Sauros started the motions with his arms and kicking with his feet in an excellent first attempt. After all, Sauros was a gifted warrior, very coordinated and strong. He swam out several strokes, propelling himself much further than Javin and stopped, hovering in the water, turning to face Javin. Then, he swam back. This time his movements smoother, learning quickly to propel himself forward. He came to a stop in front of Javin and waited, expectantly. Javin nodded, gave a thumbs up. He guessed they were ready to proceed.

  Chapter 10

  Sauros quickly got the hang of swimming. The next logical step was to be on their way. Javin hung motionless in the water, allowing his senses, those tuned in with the Crystal in his breast, seeking for the direction to point the way they should swim.

  There.

  Javin felt it. He opened his eyes and pointed in the direction. He sensed Sauros feeling outward a moment, then nodded. They both began to swim in the direction of their feelings.

  They didn’t push themselves because they didn’t know how far they would have to swim. They maintained a depth about half way between the surface and the bottom, which they could easily see. Javin estimated the total depth at about 75 feet. There didn’t seem to be a lot of variation to the ocean floor. It was mostly white sand with occasional rock and coral formations. There was an abundance of varied fish. Javin looked at the rock and coral formations, expecting other forms of life. 'Octopus,' the word sprang into his mind along with the image of a squishy 8-tentacled creature, but he didn't see anything like that.

  There didn’t seem to be any specific current. Just the general undulation of the water motion. Occasionally they would stop and rest, hovering at depth and allowing their muscles to recover. They both quickly learned to optimize propelling themselves through the water and to vary their strokes allowing different sets of muscles to work at different times. Still it was tiring. Much more tiring that walking would have been.

  They had been swimming for several hours as Javin gauged time. The light of day overhead seemed to be dimming. Javin wasn’t quite sure what they would do if the distance they were going would be much further. They could certainly drink the water, he was sure, but unless they were willing to catch some of the fish and eat raw, they had no food. And how would they sleep?

  Javin figured at the end of this stretch of swimming they should probably surface and discuss it. But then Javin’s eyes caught hold upon a faint glow in the distance ahead. It lay in the direction they were headed. He paused, hovering in the water. Sauros stopped beside him. Javin pointed. Sauros nodded. He had noticed it too. Javin could feel it through their bond. It gave him an idea.

  Javin pointed to his head and then to his breast. Then thought hard that they should rest here before making the final stretch to the glow ahead. After all, they didn’t know what to expect once they arrived. He didn’t want to be completely fatigued from swimming and need strength to fight. Javin felt a reluctant feeling of agreement from Sauros who added to it with a nod of his head. He had understood.

  They hovered in the water, resting. Javin and Sauros conversed mentally, discovering their bond allowed them to communicate pretty well non-verbally. Javin was amazed. Although they'd been able to do this after a fashion before coming to this world, it seemed it was much stronger now. It was as if through thoughts and gestures, they could make each other understand pretty much anything they were saying - all without words.

  After a time, Sauros touched Javin on the arm, pointed forward and began to swim. Javin followed. The glow had seemed distant but they hadn’t made out anything which could have caused it. As they swam closer, greater definition of the sea floor began to emerge. Across the horizon there seemed to be a difference in the ocean floor, like there was an ending. It appeared there was a low, narrow ridge of dark rock that went from as far as they could see on one side, stretching as far they could see on the other. Javin realized it must be a sea floor boundary of some sort. They were approaching a large and broad declivity in the ocean floor.

  Javin paused again in the water. Sauros, noticing him stopping, came back and hovered next to him.

  It had just occurred to Javin that they didn’t want to approach any cliff in the ocean at a height where they could easily be seen. A term in the back of his mind came forward, Sky Lining. Of course, that occurred on dry land when one stood on the side of a mountain on the horizon, easily visible for miles around. Javin realized if they approached at this height above the seafloor, they too, would be visible from long distance. Sauros was staring at Javin as he pondered these thoughts. Javin felt the connection and felt Sauros understanding his thoughts and small mannerisms.

  This is handy, Javin thought. Then pointed down to the seafloor. They should hug the bottom as they approached the cliff. It was clear the glow emanated from beyond the cliff, off from the height down into the declivity.

  Again, something in the back of Javin’s mind made him worry about the pressure of the water at greater depth. As they thought about going lower, his body suited action to thought with little locomotion. And together he and Sauros descended to hover just above the seafloor. It was a bit darker at this depth. Javin still felt no ill-effects from the greater depth. They must have been adjusted coming through the Portal for the conditions they found themselves in. He marveled again at the technology of the Ancients, the creators of the Portals, and for their Grand Plan to move all the sentient species in the galaxy to safety - if they could pull it off.

  They swam towards the ridgeline, the glow ahead growing brighter and broader. They swam more slowly until they approached the edge, hugging the ocean floor, moving around rock and coral formations and ignoring the curious fish who started to swim about them, especially Sauros with his fur-covered body, and the hair follicles of his great mane waving in the water gracefully.

  As they neared the edge and looked over the rocky lined precipice, they both were astonished, and could feel each other’s astonishment through their bond. Beyond the cliff, the seafloor had dropped off another 1000 feet at least. That new depth spread as far as the eye could see, but that wasn’t what gave them a sense of wonder.

  Directly beneath them spread out a large grouping of enormous underwater domes.

  Chapter 11

  In the deep sea valley were five immense domes, all interconnected with tubes that ran from one to the other in a network. The domes themselves were broad and almost as tall as the cliff from which Javin and Sauros observed. The domes were opaque. Light emanated from within but they couldn't make out anything inside.

  Javin had the impression this was an underwater city. It was hard to determine the size of the domes until they looked down at the base of the closest, and could make out tiny figures swimming around the outside near the sea floor. The glow of the domes made silhouette outlines of the tiny figures. There was something familiar about the creatures. They were humanoid but very adept at moving around in the water. And they were so small against the size of the dome wall, it confirmed Javin's thought that this must indeed be a city holding 1,000's of these creatures.

  He felt a nudge on his arm and turned to Sauros and concentrated on receiving what Sauros was sending.

  “Now What?” Seemed to be the question. That indeed was the question. Then Sauros pointed down into the valley to the nearest dome where they'd seen the tiny figures swimming around. “Shall we proceed?”

  “Ever moving forward, my friend,” Javin thought back, nodded his head and pushed off the rock escarpment they had hidden behind. Hugging close against the sea-cliff wall, they started moving down into the deeper sea valley. Javin could feel the increase in pressure, and also noted the water getting cooler the deeper they went.

  Javin could feel his body adjusting. He watched Sauros, noting through his 'feelings' Sauros noticing his body making the adjustments as well, though he didn't quite understand what was happening as much as Javin.

  We truly are a strange companionship, Javin mused a
s they arrived at the bottom of the sea cliff. The terrain in front of them was the same as what they'd passed through on the higher plateau, so they could approach closer to the dome pretty much unseen if they kept behind the rock and coral formations that were interspersed across the landscape. The only problem was curious fish still tended to gather around them, inspecting these new denizens of their domain.

  Javin didn't know if they'd been seen as they made their way down the sea wall, but that question was immediately answered as there was a flurry of movement and they found themselves confronted by a host of the beings they'd noticed swimming around the outside of the nearest dome.

  At closer inspection Javin definitely felt he had encountered these creatures before. It bothered him immensely. There was a certain dread that pervaded his soul, but for the life of him, he couldn't bring forth any memory to tell him why he felt as he did, though he knew there must be something there.

  Toads! The name came to Javin's mind. Though there was no memory he could associate with the word, and the feeling of dread he couldn't shake. He and Sauros were hovering just above the sea floor not far from the sea wall they had just descended. They were surrounded in a semi-circle of beings. The Toads had a slight resemblance to the name and visual aspects of a real 'toad' that had come into Javin's mind. The creatures stood as tall as Sauros, at well over six feet in height, though much more slender and sinuous in frame with elongated hands and feet, with webbed appendages used to propel them easily and quickly through the water.

  Their heads were broad and oval shaped with wispy gills on either side of their abbreviated necks. They wore no clothing except for briefs about their loins and a belt that affixed various tools and implements. The breast of each was a lighter shade from the dark, mottled green on the rest of their bodies, which would afford them natural camouflage at the bottom of the ocean environment. Like a manta ray or sting ray, Javin thought, with a dark or mottled backside and light underside.