Attunga

by Peter Wood

  Everyone was excited; there was no doubt about that. All the dolphin companions and rangers had been gearing up for the big move for the last few days and last night Sonic had been so exuberant they’d spent most of his visit laughing at his antics. Wirrin and Thom were almost as excited as Calen.

  ‘Calen, what exactly are we doing? We can’t go to all the reaches. There wouldn’t be enough time.’

  ‘You remember Martin? We’re going with him and his pod. They’re part of the largest group and Sonic is leading them through the interconnects.’

  There was a flurry of movement at the access way as Sonic, Puck and Flute darted into the pool.

  Calen dived straight in.

  ***

  ‘Hurry, Thom. You must fly the Comet like a lightning bolt for us.’

  The expedition was underway after a skimmer trip with three excited dolphins leaping and porpoising all the way to the dolphinarium where the transport modules were waiting to take them to the Comet. The trip to Warrakan might seem long, but Thom explained that because of K74 surveillance drones he had a 4G limit, which meant he couldn’t go as fast as lightning. Besides, they still faced another trip in the transporters and then a short trip accompanied by skimmers to the rendezvous point.

  The reach was alive with activity, skimmers darting everywhere and dolphins sounding in all directions. People were waving as they passed. Sonic leapt from the water with a call of greeting then powered towards a whole convoy of skimmers and a great crowd of dolphins. Twenty pods in this group were travelling together to their new reaches, all with their associated humans and various other dolphinarium people.

  Akama raised an arm in greeting, his shock of white hair unmistakable. Sonic erupted into the air in front of him then darted off amongst the surrounding dolphin pods.

  ‘What’s he doing?’

  ‘He’s called the pod leaders together to meet Akama.’

  Twenty dolphins, following Sonic, approached Akama and ranged in front of him for a moment while the air filled with the chittering clicks and whistles of their greetings.

  Akama made the special wave back then, pointing, set his skimmer in motion. Dolphins and humans followed, twenty-six skimmers and just over four hundred dolphins starting on their journey, some of them travelling up to 10 kilometres, crossing three reaches and then traversing the interconnects between them and some of them finishing their journey when they reached the second and third reach. They could have been moved with transport modules, especially with the baby dolphins and their mothers, but the dolphins preferred to make the journey themselves.

  Because of confusion amongst the pods, Burilda and Sonic had decided against the original idea of a staged move to the four completed reaches and then a further dispersal after another two months when the next twenty-four reaches came online. All the dolphins had been kept in the original Warrakan reach for an extra month while nutrient levels had been carefully stimulated to speed up the readiness of the extra reaches. This way all the dolphins would be moving to their permanent home reach at the same time.

  Well, not all. The 2900 who were bound for Freedom and Uranus were still there, four hundred for another week and the rest for just over two weeks before the big trip on the Comet.

  Thom eased his skimmer close to Wirrin and Calen. ‘Wombats, Calen! You were right. This is more exciting than I expected. It feels like we’re heading off on a quest.’

  That would be right. Thom loved quests, and in early days, when they’d had more time for themselves, had often designed quests for the three of them at their favourite virtual reality centre.

  ‘It does doesn’t it. Except it’s for real.’ Wirrin thought it would be an interesting quest if it involved an army of four hundred dolphins and the leader of a whole habitat.

  ‘Do you think the dolphins will be spooked when they go through the interconnects?’

  ‘Of course not, Thom. Sonic will tell them it’s all right and they’ll go straight in.’

  The interconnects linked the reaches and the first one was visible a couple of hundred metres away. As they approached the dolphins bunched into a tight group then stopped at the entrance.

  Sonic leapt into the air, four hundred dolphins copied him, then they all powered ahead and entered. Calen laughed.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Sonic’s playing games with them and getting them even more excited.’

  ‘Being a drama queen you mean!’

  Thom knew this term because Sonic had used it on him several times recently. ‘I think you might be right.’

  Akama and Burilda moved close to ask Calen what was going on.

  ‘Nothing really. Sonic just made the interconnect into a game and they’re racing through to see what’s at the other end.’

  The interconnect was 6 metres wide and 50 metres long, opening to the adjoining reach. Wirrin watched the crowd of sleek forms just beneath the surface rushing along with the skimmers to the open water. Their arrival was marked by another mass leap and, spirits raised by the exuberance of the aerial forms, the trio let out their own excited yells. Burilda, Martin and many of the other pod companions joined in with a cheer. Smiling, Akama came alongside and asked Calen what was happening next.

  ‘We’ll have to take it slow and steady for the young dolphins. There have been five babies born in the last six weeks, and they’ll be exhausted otherwise. If there are any more racing and leaping games we’ll probably need to have some rest periods, but their mothers will let us know when that’s needed. After two more interconnects the pods will disperse through the reach with their companions and start exploring and working out where their home territories will be. Martin’s pod is the biggest and most influential and we’ll be travelling with them for as long as we feel like it.’

  ‘All day I hope. I’ve been looking forward to this ever since Sonic invited me along, and I’ve set all other matters aside.’

  Sonic appeared and said something to Calen who answered and looked at Akama.

  ‘Sonic hopes it’s all day too and he’d like to have a talk with you later when there’s a quiet time. At the moment he wants you to follow him.’

  Akama gave a smile of pleasure and acknowledgement and set off with Calen as Sonic moved further into open water.

  The dolphins milled and churned for a moment until Sonic communicated what he wanted, and then a similar ceremony to Akama’s first dolphin meeting began. Once again it was moving and Wirrin could see the companions and dolphinarium staff staring in wonder.

  The final greeting was exchanged, but this time it was different. Something else was happening. The main body of dolphins stayed in a loose arc, while a small group approached Akama and Calen. From 20 metres away Wirrin caught a glimpse of a little body next to the bigger ones. A baby?

  Calen interpreted for the dolphins, and Akama nodded and gestured. Suddenly both Calen and Akama donned their underwater masks and slipped into the water.

  ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘I don’t know. Calen told us nothing about this.’

  Thom’s questioning look to Burilda received a shrug.

  ‘It must be important with four hundred dolphins lined up like that.’

  ‘The big dolphin is from my pod. She’s Peggy’s sister Janey, and the little fellow is her new baby,’ Martin said.

  ‘Was Peggy’s treatment successful?’

  ‘It certainly was, Wirrin. She’s got more energy than she knows what to do with now.’

  That sounded like a story for the telling but it would have to wait. Akama and Calen were climbing back onto the skimmers. The dolphins started moving and with a wave of his arm Akama signalled everyone to follow. Wirrin and Thom closed the gap, wondering what he would say.

  ‘Every time I’m with dolphins they touch my heartstrings. I’ve just met my namesake and he’s accompanying me till we get to his home reach.’

  Calen nodded happily. ‘Janey and Peggy and the pod leader asked Sonic if naming the baby after a human l
eader would be a good thing to do and he told them to ask. We just went for an underwater meeting.’

  The convoy of humans and dolphins made its way steadily towards the next interconnect, Akama smiling at everyone and watching little ‘Akama’ forging his way close by. He wasn’t really accompanying Akama. His mum, Janey, was doing that and he was sticking close to her, but it had the same result.

  Word spread and a constant rotation of companions and rangers approached to view the procession within a procession: the leaders of Martin’s dolphin pod, the little fellow and Sonic, all swimming along with Akama.

  ‘I’m amazed they would do that. They’re not enhanced and it seems quite an advanced concept to me.’

  Wirrin had brought his skimmer next to Martin to hear the Peggy story.

  ‘I don’t think it’s that difficult, Martin. They’ve had six months of interaction with Sonic and Calen, and the idea of human names must be familiar by now. They’ve done lots of unexpected things after all Sonic’s games and challenges.’

  ‘They certainly have. We hardly recognise them as the same group we left Earth with. Sonic and Calen reacting directly with them is the main cause I would say.’

  ‘What did you mean before about Peggy’s energy?’

  ‘Well, she was always a dominant force in the pod but now she’s so active the pod leader often follows her lead. I expect her to take over after her next birth.’

  ‘So her treatment was clearly a success.’

  ‘Oh yes. There was never any doubt about that. According to the doctors she’s expected to live for at least another eighty years.’

  ‘She’s pregnant?’

  ‘Not yet. That’s been held off, but she will be soon.’

  ‘Held off?’

  ‘Yes, Wirrin, but now that the reach is established the enhancement processes will start and any new conceptions will be part of the first stage. Peggy could very well be one of the first.’

  ‘I see. I suppose they had to hold off because of her treatment?’

  ‘No. It wasn’t just her. All conceptions were suppressed till the medical and support infrastructure for each of the new reaches was ready.’ Martin laughed. ‘There’s going to be a great deal of action and excitement in about a week’s time.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘The males all had their libido repressed too. They had to, to keep them with their pods, and when they revert to normalcy there will be many more available females than usual.’

  Wirrin understood the need to keep the pods together. Male dolphins would search everywhere when the imperative was on them and the crowded reach of five thousand dolphins would have been chaotic with half of them ranging willy-nilly.

  ‘So there could be a big influx of babies in twelve months’ time?’

  ‘Definitely: four from our pod, and most other pods should have two or three.’

  A quick scan told Wirrin that on today’s big shift there were 163 pods moving to a home reach, meaning there could be close to four hundred dolphin births in just over a year. With somewhat of a shock he realised this would almost double the number of enhanced dolphins. The new ones wouldn’t reach Attunga levels for generations but this was an enormous boost to the enhancement program.

  ‘That’s amazing. I didn’t realise how quickly the population would grow with so many dolphins.’

  ‘It will be faster than is natural for Earth too, because the babies and young ones won’t be subject to the usual predation and undetected illnesses. In ten years it will be a population explosion and we’ll need every reach we can get.’

  That was completely wrong and Wirrin turned sharply.

  ‘Martin, I don’t know where you get that idea. In ten years there will be thousands of reaches. There are already six complete Warrakan levels set aside for dolphins and if the reaches are similar to the current ones there’ll be enough space for … Hang on while I work it out … Wombats! It comes to over seven thousand reaches. It won’t be quite that many because I know there are plans for specialised reaches, but the planning is way ahead of the dolphin growth.’

  ‘Seven thousand? Can that be right?’

  ‘It was the last time I looked at the plans. I must admit I haven’t checked for a while, but if there’s been any change it would only be a speed-up. Yajala! What’s the current situation with new reaches?’

  Startled, Martin swerved slightly when a holo skimmer with the form of Yajala in control shimmered into view between them.

  ‘Our construction plans are proceeding smoothly. Fifty-seven reaches have been seeded with bio-organics and will be self-sustaining within seven months. A further 119 will have purified water introduced within the next two months, and hollowing and construction is already underway for 327 reaches. The complete level of 974 reaches will be functioning in twenty months and all six levels will be working within five years. Report concluded and your humble servant signing off, sir!’ He snapped his hand to his brow and shimmered rapidly to nothing, leaving Wirrin chuckling at Martin’s nonplussed look.

  ‘Don’t take any notice of him. He’s got a wonky sense of humour and he acts like that to entertain both of us.’

  ‘Wirrin, he said nine hundred reaches functioning in twenty months? That’s, well, it’s unbelievable.’

  If Wirrin hadn’t been familiar with the ability of the picofactories to speed up their production he would have agreed totally. As it was he decided to find time in the next few days to bring himself up to date with all the reach plans.

  Thom dropped back from Calen and Akama. ‘What was that about? Calen said we weren’t expecting to meet Yajala till after the last interconnect.’

  ‘I asked him for some information and instead of his usual trick of using my retinal image he turned himself on. We were talking about reaches and he says the whole level will be finished in less than two years.’

  ‘That’s fast. They must be ramping up for some reason.’

  The next interconnect was very short and opened to the drama and chaos of dolphins leaping with excitement and pleasure.

  For the second time there were cheers and calls as everyone joined in the mood of the moment. Wirrin moved close to Calen, Akama and Thom, then nearly fell off his skimmer when Sonic arced into the air right in front of him.

  Akama laughed with delight.

  ‘Little Brother, you react so quickly to his antics. If he did that to me I would be in the water before I could think.’

  ‘Not really. I am used to it, but he could have me in the water in a flash if he really wanted to.’

  As if to prove the point the back section of the skimmer was jolted sideways, and Wirrin overbalanced.

  ‘Wirrin has butter feet.’

  Wirrin knew that was something to do with being clumsy but he was too busy catching his breath and grabbing for a cheeky dolphin to check, so he made do with tweaking Sonic’s dorsal fin.

  ‘Come and say hello to Akama while he is resting.’ Sonic’s voice sounded from the nearest translator and something in the inflection indicated he was talking about the newly named ‘Akama’, so Wirrin retrieved his breathing mask and dived in.

  Little Akama was hardly resting. At the moment he was vigorously suckling from his mum, and Wirrin stayed at a discrete distance, waiting till he finished. A sound from Sonic caught his attention and then the little pair of eyes focused on Wirrin. At least that was Wirrin’s impression and it seemed to be borne out when the little creature approached and gave him a soft nudge, then did the same to Sonic before scooting back to the comfort of his mother. Another nudge, familiar this time, meant it was time to return to the surface.

  ‘He is an historic baby.’

  Not quite sure of Sonic’s meaning, Wirrin waited for any elaboration.

  Akama asked directly, ‘In what way, Sonic?’

  ‘He is the last Earth dolphin on Warrakan. New babies will be different.’

  Thoughts whirled through Wirrin’s mind at this announcement. It was certainly true, u
nless there were some other dramas requiring another rescue mission to Earth, and that was unlikely according to Turaku. Had the dolphins made a special connection? It would be just like Sonic to link Attunga’s oldest Earth-born human with the youngest dolphin.

  ‘He will be a symbol of our legacy. Honoured One, may I ask for some of your time? I wish to share thoughts with you.’

  Wirrin was struck by a certain formality in Sonic’s tone and he watched carefully as Akama responded in kind.

  ‘The honour is mine. My time is yours and I eagerly look for any occasion when we can meet.’

  Sonic spoke rapidly, and Calen, from not far away, nodded in reply.

  ‘One occasion is now, while the young ones rest. I will race you to the information marker.’

  Sonic darted off and Wirrin pointed after him. ‘He wants to meet you alone at that red buoy.’

  Akama was already moving, and catching sight of the buoy, set his skimmer into power mode. With only 200 metres he wouldn’t be able to make up Sonic’s lead, but he was certainly having a try.

  Wirrin called to Calen. ‘All I could understand was something about fish. The rest was too fast.’

  ‘Yes, I have to tell the leaders to take their pods exploring and hunting in the seagrass while the little dolphins have a rest. He and Akama will be back when they’re ready.’

  Calen zipped off. There was a great flurry of motion and excitement at the prospect of real fish, then all sign of dolphins vanished except for the fins of the mothers guarding their young ones. The humans gathered and, clicking their skimmers together in groups of four or five for greater stability, used the time for a snack from their storage compartments and a chat.

  ‘What are they talking about? Did they say?’ Calen asked.

  ‘No, Akama didn’t act like he knew, but Sonic made it seem important when he asked.’

  When he finished eating, Wirrin freed his skimmer and guided it very slowly to where he could watch little Akama, who was either suckling or resting against Janey.

  When Sonic and Akama returned, the six pods making this reach their home came milling around for a farewell and then the journey resumed. The last stretch was almost 3 kilometres and the group moved steadily. It felt slower and Wirrin wondered if the mothers had passed on a message that their young ones were tiring.