The Neptune Promise

by Polly Holyoke

  :We have to get in close and start cutting that net,: I say, :but will her mom let us? She almost smashed the men’s kayaks. I really don’t want her smashing us.:

  Mariah streaks up to me, Tisi close at her side. :just two of you should approach the calf until her mother understands you mean no harm. if she allows it, more of you can come.:

  :All right.: I turn to my patrol and outline Mariah’s plan to the others. When I finish, I look at Dai.

  :Will you come with me? I’m not going to order you, but you’re the strongest member of this patrol and our fastest swimmer.:

  :Which means I can get out of there quicker if mama whale gets mad at us,: Dai says with some of his old arrogance. :Yeah, I’ll do it.:

  I think I like cocky Dai better than distant Dai, but it’s a tough call some days.

  :I swim fast, too,: Tobin speaks up, his green eyes full of concern for me. :Patrol leaders don’t always have to assign themselves the most dangerous job, you know.:

  I pause for a moment to make sure my choice is sound. :I swim quickly, my dolphin handling skills are better than yours, and I’m a stronger telepath which may help me communicate with the whales. Dai and I are the best choices for this job. If we want to save that calf, we don’t have time to argue.:

  Tobin still doesn’t look happy with my decision, but I’m grateful when he doesn’t challenge me again.

  :Are you honestly going to try talking to those whales?: Lena asks.

  :It can’t hurt to try,: I reply. :If the mother does let us help the calf, we all may have to pitch in to cut that net, so be ready.:

  I call Sokya, and she appears by my side. :Stay close and be ready to tow me out of here if that mother gets mad at us.:

  :I am much faster than a whale,: Sokya says smugly.

  :I hope you don’t have to prove it in the next few minutes,: I say, my stomach starting to twist.

  :Good luck,: Ree and the others call after us as Dai and I kick closer to the entangled calf.

  Suddenly, a whale the size of a small ship appears out of the murk. Its huge head is crusted with barnacles. My heart races as the mammoth creature surges past us. A second later, I’m spun upside down, and all I can see are bubbles as I fight against crazy currents.

  chapter two

  I struggle to regain my bearings. We must have been hit by the slipstream created by the whale’s passing and its massive tail. I strain my eyes, afraid more upset mother whales are bearing down on us. For now, no more appear out of the cloudy green water.

  :Whoa, that was some serious power there,: Dai says, sounding much less confident all of a sudden. :You all right?:

  :Yeah, but I feel like I just got rolled by a killer wave,: I say, still breathing hard.

  Mariah swims up on the other side of us. :I have tried to tell the old one we mean her calf no harm, but she is scared and very angry. you must go slowly, now.:

  Sokya leads us closer to the calf. My ears fill with the groans and creaking vocalizations of the agitated mothers. Occasionally the frightened calf gives a high-pitched squeal.

  A huge, dark shape looms out of the gloom again, and a whale blocks our way. My whole body vibrates from her bass groan of warning. I swallow hard as I stare at her massive head. I’ve never been this close to a humpback in the water, and I’m realizing just how enormous they are, and how puny we are.

  I take in a deep breath. My pulse pounding, I edge closer and hover where she can see me. Her pupil narrows as she studies me. I try to broadcast feelings of calm and send her an image of us cutting the net and setting her calf free. I’m hoping she might be able to read my visual message the way my own dolphins can.

  With another low grumble, slowly she shifts out of our way. Did she receive my image and understand it? I feel her watching our every move. When Sokya and Ton dart toward the calf, the whale groans again and blocks their way with her head.

  :I think she wants you to help the calf without us,: Mariah says.

  So much for having Sokya there as my emergency backup plan.

  :I will come quickly if you need me,: she assures me.

  :Right,: I say, trying to sound confident. I glance at Dai. His face is pale but he stays right at my side as we swim slowly toward the calf. Engulfed in the folds of the heavy black net, the calf strains to keep her head near the surface. A cable stretches from the underside of the net and disappears into the dark waters below.

  :See if you can free that cable,: I say to Dai, :and I’ll work on the net.:

  :All right. Be careful,: he says. With a flick of his travel fins, he dives for the bottom.

  My heart lurches when I stare into the eye of the frantic calf. Even without using my telepathy I can sense she’s hurting and terrified.

  :Sweetheart, we’re here to help.: Gently I touch her side and try to broadcast feelings of calm and reassurance, but it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed. She’s so tangled in black strands, I can’t decide which part to cut first. I start with a line that seems to be holding the top part of the net together. The rope is thick, but my dive knife is sharp, and soon the line parts. The net relaxes a little, but the next line I need to cut runs within a foot of the calf’s eye. I move cautiously toward her head.

  When I reach out with my knife, the mother lunges toward me, and I freeze. She could crush me in a heartbeat against her baby. I stare at her, willing her to understand that I have to do this. Grumbling, she backs off again. My hands are shaking as I set to work sawing through the second line. The moment the last strand parts, several feet of net fall away from her, and the calf manages to fight her way to the surface to breathe. One flipper, her back and her tail remain tangled in the section weighted down by the cable.

  :How’s it going down there?: I ask Dai.

  :She’s putting too much tension on the cable for me to be able to shift it,: he replies, his mental tone strained. :She needs to raise her head and lower her back.:

  I gaze at the frightened calf. How can I possibly get her to raise her head? I bow and raise my head and shoulders, hoping she might mimic me the way the dolphins do, but she just stares at me helplessly.

  Then I remember when our pod played with some humpback calves during our long journey from the Southern Sector to Safety Harbor. Several times the playful calves tried to copy the dolphins’ spins and rolls.

  :Hey, Sokya and Mariah, can you come a little closer and bob your heads where she can see you?:

  Moments later, all three of us are bobbing and ducking like crazy. The calf watches us, and I imagine how puzzled she must feel. I try sending her a visual image of her raising her head. Then she does it!

  :You’re brilliant, sweetheart,: I call out to her, even though she can’t understand my words. But I hope she’ll sense the warm feelings I’m trying to send to her.

  :That helped,: Dai reports, :but it’s still not free. Get her to do it again.:

  :Are you all right down there?: I just picked up a flash of pain from Dai, but then he closed his mind to me.

  :I’m fine,: he says tightly. :Just try to convince her to move again.:

  I dip my head and shoulders, and again the calf tries to follow me.

  :Got it!: Dai cries.

  The calf struggles to the surface and takes a long breath. She’s still tangled in the net, but at least she’s no longer in immediate danger of drowning. I’m relieved when she doesn’t try to swim away.

  Dai appears beside me and studies the layers of net still wrapped around her. :Guess we have some more work to do.:

  I glance at him, wondering about his flash of pain I sensed, but he seems to be okay. Together the two of us pull and cut sections of the net away from the calf. It’s such slow going that after a few minutes, I reach out to Mariah.

  :Please see if the mother will let the others join us now. This will go much faster if the whole patrol can help.:

  As Mariah flashes away, I ask Tobin and the rest to follow her back to the calf. In the meantime, I send another visual image to the big ma
ma whale hovering nearby, this time of the six of us working carefully to set her baby free. I wince when I notice a terrible, deep, round scar high on the mother’s side. It looks like someone harpooned her. No wonder she doesn’t trust humans.

  When Mariah returns with the rest of the patrol clustered behind her, the mother humpback makes a high crooning noise and actually retreats several feet. I take that as an encouraging sign and wave my friends forward. Once the six of us set to work, we make better progress. The dolphins help, too, pulling and tugging at portions of the net when we ask them. Soon half of the net hangs below the calf. I worry she might bolt before we’re done, but she seems to understand that we are helping her.

  Finally, Tobin cuts through a line wrapped around the baby’s belly and the whole net slides away from her. My patrol cheers. I ask the dolphins to drag the net to shore where the Kwawaka’wakw will likely recycle parts of it and safely dispose of the rest.

  The calf flicks its tail once as if to make sure it truly is free and races to its mother. My patrol gathers around me, and we watch the mother and calf nuzzle each other so tenderly that my throat tightens up. Then the calf begins to nurse.

  Sunny, who loves photography and art, takes several pictures with her underwater camera.

  :I guess we’re done here,: I say.

  :The calf is bleeding from where the lines cut into her skin,: Tobin says worriedly. :I hope orcas don’t get her.:

  :At least she’s with a loyal pod,: I point out. :The other mothers wouldn’t leave her while she was so entangled. Hopefully they’ll keep looking after her while she heals.:

  I lead the others toward the mouth of the cove, but I pause when three adult whales appear out of the cloudy water. Majestically, they lower their heads and emit gentle squeals and crooning sounds.

  :I think they’re trying to thank you,: Lena says in a hushed tone.

  :I think they’re trying to thank us,: I reply.

  We wave, Sunny takes another picture, and the mothers swim away. I surface to check in with Hemasaka before we leave the cove. Tsukwani is with him now, and I smile at them both.

  “The calf is free and nursing,” I tell them. “By the way, the mother has a deep, round scar on her side.”

  “If she was harpooned, that would explain why she wouldn’t let us in close,” Hemasaka says. “I’ve freed two entangled humpbacks that obviously wanted our help, but this big lady wasn’t letting us anywhere near her baby.”

  “I wish we could be sure they’ll stay away from those whalers.”

  “We’ll keep an eye on them,” Tsukwani promises me, “and if they turn south, we’ll bring out a power boat and herd them north.”

  “You and your friends did a good thing today, dolphin girl,” Hemasaka says with a smile.

  Warmed by his words, I dive to share them with my companions. Tobin is busy bandaging Dai’s hands. Ton, Dai’s big dolphin, hovers nearby and appears to be watching Tobin’s every move.

  :Oh, Dai, what happened?: With a guilty start, I remember the flash of pain I sensed before he blocked me.

  Dai just shrugs and looks away.

  :That cable was sharp and he had to grip it pretty hard to move it,: Tobin answers for him. :It shredded the skin of his palms.:

  I stare at the bandages that cover his hands. :You should have told me you were hurt,: I say to Dai. So much for being aware of the welfare of everyone on my patrol.

  :At the time you were a little occupied talking to a large, upset whale,: Dai counters.

  :Vival would say this is what you get for not wearing your gloves,: Lena teases him.

  Vival is the head of our Sea Ranger program, and she’s all about her rangers following rules and using the proper equipment.

  :She probably isn’t going to be muy thrilled that we risked rescuing a whale, either,: Ree says glumly. :I don’t think she’ll see that as proper patrol business.:

  :I can handle Vival.: I say with more confidence than I feel. I’ve gotten to know Vival better this past year at Safety Harbor, but sometimes she still scares me.

  :At least we have a great story to tell the rest of the Sea Rangers tonight in the mess cave.: Lena brightens at the thought.

  As Tobin finishes putting his med gear away, I call the dolphins and organize our patrol for the trip back home. I keep Dai in the middle of our travel formation and ask Ree, a capable fighter, to swim sweep just in case sharks pick up the scent of blood from his hands.

  :I hope your hands don’t hurt too much,: I say on a private send to Dai.

  :They hurt worse after he smeared his slimy ointment all over my palms.: Dai shoots Tobin a dark look. He and Tobin have never been friends.

  I must be looking stricken because Dai adds, :I heal so fast, though, they should be fine again in a few days.:

  Neptune kids do heal fast, but we still feel pain when we’re injured.

  :I’m sorry you got hurt helping me.:

  :Don’t be. It was worth it,: Dai says with a smile lighting his chocolate brown eyes. :That little whale was such a fighter. I’m glad we gave her a chance to grow up.:

  I swim forward to take up my position at point. Dai’s words warm me during the long swim back to our colony. With Mariah and the rest of her pod surrounding us, we watch constantly for hungry sharks and for surface boats. Late in the afternoon, I finally spot the shimmering bubble wall that protects Safety Harbor.

  I draw in a deep breath. Despite what I said to Ree, I’m not looking forward to telling Vival about the risks we took rescuing a humpback whale calf today.

  chapter three

  As we kick our way through the barrier that surrounds our colony and keeps out predators and scavenger fish, small silvery bubbles tickle my cheeks and fill my vision.

  :I always feel like I’m swimming through a can of soda when we cross through this,: Sunny says brightly as she reaches out and tries to catch a particularly big bubble.

  We enter Safety Harbor’s main inlet which is a long, narrow channel lined with caves and coves. I smile as we swim past steep rock walls carpeted with scarlet corals, feathery pink sea fans and white sponges. Beyond the girls’ and boys’ dorm caves, we enter the wide cavern that serves as the Sea Rangers’ headquarters. As I kick off my travel fins and rack my spear gun, I’m relieved that Vival’s not around.

  The others leave to hang out with friends, but I have to stay to file our patrol report. Even though I’m tired and hungry enough to eat a whole king salmon, I make my way to one of the keyboards and screens set into the cave wall. I key in an account of our patrol and our efforts to save the humpback calf.

  Soon, I pick up irritation radiating from someone behind me. I glance back to see Vival is reading the report over my shoulder through her scuba mask. A stern woman with short gray hair, Vival was an army officer for many years before she volunteered to join my father’s helper staff. She frowns as she reads what I’ve written.

  “You took quite a risk just to help some marine life,” she says. I hear her words clearly through tiny earbuds we all wear. “Your main job on patrol is to watch out for threats to our security. Humpback whales hardly constitute a danger to this colony or a worthwhile use of Sea Ranger time.”

  I’m not sure Vival’s ever forgiven me or my Southern Sector friends for bending her equipment rules on our first Sea Ranger Simulated Patrol Challenge. Still, she keeps assigning me to lead patrols, which means I must be doing something right.

  I turn to face her. At our last Sea Ranger meeting, you did say we should try to keep improving our relations with the Kwawaka’wakw, I key into the computer on my wrist. My words will appear on a screen inside her mask. It’s an awkward way to communicate, but most of the helper staff at Safety Harbor aren’t telepaths. Hemasaka asked us to help the whales, and he was very pleased we succeeded.

  “That’s the only worthwhile outcome of this patrol. Those whales could have crushed or crippled every one of you.”

  Our dolphin partners never would have let that happen, but
there was some risk, which is why only Dai and I approached the whales at the start. I force myself to hold her gaze after I key in my reply.

  “You report he was injured. Why wasn’t Dai Kuron wearing his gloves?”

  Because he’s Dai, I want to retort, but I manage not to key those words into my wrist pad. Instead I type, I have discussed Dai’s injury with him, and I think he realizes now he should have been wearing his gloves.

  “Very well,” she says and swims away to talk to Janni, the head of another Sea Ranger patrol that’s just arrived.

  I let go a long breath and turn back to the computer to finish my report. There was a second worthwhile outcome from our patrol today, but I doubt Vival will believe it. I’m almost certain I was communicating with the mother humpback and her calf, at least on a very basic level. That’s news I’m eager to share with our marine biologists.

  By the time I finish my report, I’m starving and head to the mess cave for dinner. I pass through a line where Neptune kids supervised by an adult helper in scuba gear hand out white containers of food. Then I join a group of my old friends from the Southern Sector and several of Dai’s friends from Atlantea.

  Dai is looking a little strained, and I send him a sympathetic smile. Because both Dai and I are strong hereditary telepaths, mealtimes in the mess cave can be rough for us. Three hundred kids between the ages of ten and sixteen all sharing stories of their day create an intense babble of psychic noise.

  I let Ree and Lena tell everyone about our humpback rescue while we dig into a delicious supper of king salmon and wakame mash.

  After they finish their story, Kalli, a slim, black girl with a warm smile, looks at me and shakes her head. :So now you’re into rescuing whales. The legend of Nere Hanson keeps growing.:

  I make a face at her. :Our whole patrol rescued that calf, and Dai was the one who got his hands chewed up in the process.:

  Penn looks thoughtful. :Maybe we need to design some sort of lightweight saw or clippers you Sea Rangers can add to your equipment. A cutting tool could have saved your hands today.: