He thought about all the times they had spent together, the time he had rescued her and the time he had shared his secret with her. He could smell her and feel her touch and hear her voice, and the memory was almost painful to him; but it was a memory he would rather savour and even wallow in, than relinquish to numbness.
He now believed more firmly than ever that he needed to focus on leaving his island home, and to achieve that, he knew it was better for him to hold on to her memory than to persist with an unlikely dream that was more chimera than certitude. He had little doubt that if she returned she would be able to find him, but the real issue was if she returned at all. Besides, when the sun rose he would have to inform the rest of his clan, and it was far better and far easier to tell them that she had gone forever. But he could only do that with any conviction if he really believed it himself.
So he concentrated on the day before when they were at the beach, talking about his quest, because that was when they really said farewell in his mind; when they both knew that at this point their paths separated.
Then, just as he was thinking of this, he sensed rather than saw something fly overhead, very fast, and wondered if it was her. It was like a brief shadow flitting across the stars and then it was gone. It sent a shiver up his spine and for a moment he even wondered if it was her enemy. But then he started thinking of her again and somehow believed she was safe, though he couldn’t say why. Whatever it was that had caught his attention so briefly, he had no sense of it the way he did of some animals; it just made him shiver, then it was gone.
The marauders of course, had also mapped the planet. They spread out, all six of them, in ever-widening circles from where their quarry had submerged. They had dropped sonar buoys where the ship had entered the water, but picked up nothing. They knew they could outlast it and all they had to do was wait until one of them picked up its signature field. On one island, they picked up human life but there was no technology, so they weren’t really interested. In fact, because the only technology on the planet belonged to their quarry, their task would be easy. They knew that the mothership had already left the system and others would trace its warp nodes, so their mission was simple: a lone vessel on an uncivilised planet. It was only a question of time before they found it, and they had all the time that the planet could give them.
Elvene was quite comfortable to let Alfa do the driving; he had the map, and in an unknown environment, he was far better at manoeuvring through valleys and dodging erratic sea creatures than she would ever be. She had long since taken off her pilot’s helmet and watched the watery world pass by as if through a transparent hull. But the imagery was created by sonar rather than light. To some extent the sonar limited Alfa’s speed depending on their surroundings, though the real limit was the viscosity of the water itself. The sonar simply limited the ability for Alfa to see far enough ahead to make use of the speed he could create.
There were some very large creatures at these depths. A giant eel, bigger in diameter than Alfa and many times longer, was a very strong swimmer, weaving its way through the water and was even able to shadow them for a short distance. Elvene wondered if it mistook Alfa for something tasty, but Alfa eventually outran it and lost it completely by heading down a giant underwater ravine. It was like an underwater canyon that rose above them and gave Elvene some anxiety.
‘Alfa, do you know where this leads?’
But Alfa never had time to reply. A huge cavern literally arose out of the ocean floor and devoured them. The hull immediately lost its transparency as the sonar became ineffective. There was no jolt or concussion as the ship’s anti-gravity automatically compensated for sudden changes in inertia, but an alarm went off somewhere and Elvene heard something very loud scrape against the hull. Elvene’s eyes went wide, but she reassured herself that Alfa’s hull was close to impenetrable to any natural objects. Nevertheless she didn’t like the idea of it being tested inside the intestine of some giant underwater predator. She couldn’t quite keep the panic out of her voice when she said, ‘Alfa, get us out of here.’
Alfa discharged a huge electric shock, and as a consequence was spat back out into the ravine as quickly as he’d been swallowed. The sonar imagery returned immediately and Elvene saw the creature behind them submerge itself back into the ocean bed. All she could see was a giant mouth, ringed with teeth. She wondered in an absent-minded way how it would have sensed them, and then it occurred to her that it had probably picked up Alfa’s sonar.
Alfa didn’t stay in the ravine but immediately rose above it for safer waters. Elvene checked that the ship was safe, and though she was concerned about possible exterior damage, decided that the only real damage was to her nerves. It prompted her to ask the most obvious question of all: ‘How far to the nearest landfall?’
‘About forty minutes due west.’
Even before she could ask him, the ship’s walls became solid again and a map grew out from a point over her head to give her the correct orientation relative to their direction of travel. She could see that there was a coastline directly west that was part of a large continent. She looked for some sort of cove that might facilitate a landing. By pointing at different parts of the coast she got amplified images, until she found what she was looking for.
‘That’s it,’ she said. ‘Let’s head for that one.’
When the sun rose that morning it felt different to all the other mornings Myka had known, yet the ocean looked no different, and the sounds and smells were exactly the same as he’d experienced since he was born. If he’d considered this logically, Myka would have realised that the difference was inside himself, but he didn’t perceive it that way. He just knew that a new day had dawned that was unlike any previous day he had experienced.
He went down to the beach as if it was a ritual, and he went out to catch some fish for the morning meal. He knew that when he returned everyone else would be awake and tending cooking fires. He had been unsure how to deliver his news, but in the end he simply told both his parents while his mother cooked the fish he’d caught.
‘The Ocean Woman has gone,’ he said, ‘and so have her companions. Their ships are no longer here.’
He saw a look, almost of disbelief, on his mother’s face. While his father looked from him to her, Sefta’s face revealed no emotion. Rafta just stared at him then looked away as if he was embarrassed.
His mother spoke first. ‘She was with you last night.’ It wasn’t stated as a question, yet it was.
‘Yes, she was. She told me that she had to leave.’ He paused to assess their reaction. ‘She won’t be coming back.’
Lenya looked to his father, the fish momentarily forgotten.
‘Let me do that,’ Sefta finally spoke and took over the cooking.
‘She told you that?’ His mother still sounded incredulous.
‘No, she didn’t, but I know.’
‘We will have to tell the Elders.’ Sefta was watching the fish when he spoke, but then suddenly looked up at his son. ‘You are sure they won’t come back?’ He held Myka’s eyes until he answered.
‘Yes, I am sure.’ Myka had consciously avoided saying anything about the attack, but he felt it was unnecessary for them to know. Perhaps some day in the future he would tell them.
They ate their breakfast in silence. Only after they had eaten did Sefta take Myka to see the Elders.
The Elders also appeared surprised and even a little upset with his news, but it occurred to Myka that perhaps they thought it very rude of her to leave with no formal farewell. Then one of them made the observation that she left in the manner that she arrived, ‘She came unannounced and she left unannounced.’
‘Do you think she’s gone back to her home?’ The question was addressed to Myka by the one whom Myka knew the others deferred to.
‘I am sure of it. Yes.’
‘Well, she will be remembered. Her story will be told for future generations. We must find someone to make a song for her.’
At this, everyone nodded agreement and someone suggested a name to make the song, and a dance as well. Without a written language, this was the way things were remembered by the Kiri, and how events weren’t lost to the ages.
Myka was pleased with this. The decision seemed to change the mood of the group and he knew that Elvene’s memory would not be lost to the Kiri. The story of Ocean Woman would become part of their lore.
He and his father left the group. As they walked back, Myka wanted to tell his father about his plans to sail across the ocean but he didn’t know how to broach it.
‘You will miss her, won’t you?’ Sefta asked.
‘Yes, but I have other things to do now.’
‘Like what?’
‘Do you remember when she showed you the map of islands across the sea? You know, through her mask.’
Sefta stopped walking. ‘Yes?’
‘I am going to sail across there.’
His father laughed. ‘You believe you can do that?’ He started walking again.
‘I know I can.’
Sefta realised that his son was serious. ‘What makes you so sure?’
‘It’s what I’ve always wanted to do, and besides others have done it.’
‘Others have not returned.’
‘I will return.’
‘Did the Ocean Woman put this idea into your head?’
‘No.’ He said it petulantly, as if his father had insulted him. ‘But she gave me the means.’
‘How did she do that?’
‘She gave me the map, as she called it, that I drew on the sand. I still have it in my head. Look, I’ll show you.’
Myka bent down and drew it on the ground. Sefta watched his son’s earnestness and knew it was going to be hard to discourage him.
‘I know you are distressed because the Ocean Woman has left you, but this is not the thing to do at this time.’
It was the wrong thing to say, and Myka stood up quickly, his anger apparent in his body language and on his face. ‘Father, I have always known that I would do this. It’s just that before the Ocean Woman was not the time, and now is the time. Remember too, I had the dream about her enemy.’
‘You think we can’t stay here?’
‘I’m not sure any more.’
‘So you’ve changed your mind.’
‘I don’t know. Before the Ocean Woman left, I thought it might be best if we all left, but now that she’s gone, it doesn’t seem so important. But I do know that it’s my destiny to leave here.’
Sefta could see that Myka was genuine in his conviction and it worried him, but he didn’t know how to deal with it, and so he did what anyone does with a problem they can’t solve. ‘Okay, I believe what you say. But for the moment let’s not talk of this. Let’s just see what the new day brings.’
Myka nodded his head. He knew his father was stalling for time, but he also knew it was not wise to hurry him. Myka could wait, but he wouldn’t wait for long.
When Elvene reached her destination, it was well past midday on that part of the planet. Before surfacing, she took the time to survey in some detail both the cove she had picked out and the coastline in its immediate vicinity. She wanted to be satisfied that the place offered her the protection she was looking for. Protection against marauders in an uncivilised environment was almost an oxymoron, but it was protection for Alfa she was really interested in. Basically, she wanted to leave Alfa somewhere he would be safe yet still contactable.
She was grateful that a planet without a moon meant a planet with virtually no tides. She found an underwater cave that she thought would be ideal, and yet she could still access it with the help of her rappelling gun. She wanted to leave while there was still a reasonable amount of daylight left. She made a short reconnoitre on foot first to make sure that she had the access to the inland that she had seen on Alfa’s map. It was a rugged coastline, but behind the steep cliffs there was green grass without many trees, which indicated that it was afflicted by strong winds and storms at some times of the year. What trees she could see close at hand appeared stunted with branches that spread out almost along the ground. She looked west to rolling hills, and, adjusting the vision on her glasses, she could see more wooded areas; that was where she intended to go.
She was unsure what she would find, but basically her intention was to get lost. For the sake of the Kiri people, she believed that ultimately she would have to confront the marauders she’d brought back to the planet. And when that happened, someone or some things were going to die. Either way, the Kiri’s future would be assured. She had little doubt that the marauders would find her eventually, but meanwhile she didn’t intend to make it easy for them. She returned to Alfa to prepare for her sojourn and to give him final instructions.
For the first time since she had landed on the planet, Elvene suited herself up in full battle dress. If Myka could have seen her, he would not have recognised her, unless he saw her walk. She donned a black suit of body armour, complete with a full-visored helmet. She had a backpack as well as her utility belt, and over everything else she slung the rappelling gun across her back. She knew that she was still no match for a marauder, let alone a pack of them, but she was determined not to be an easy kill. She was well aware, when she spoke to Alfa, that it might be for the last time.
‘Okay, Alfa, you need to stay completely out of sight and out of touch, passive reception only. The marauders may come looking for you and if they do, you maintain complete silence and complete secrecy. You stay here on the floor of this cave, underwater, during my entire absence. You surface only if I contact you, or someone from the Corps does. Do you understand?’
‘Yes, madam. I understand completely.’
‘Good.’ Elvene paused, drawing the courage to carry through her plan. ‘Now, there is an exception to that.’
‘What’s the exception, madam?’
‘The exception is... The exception is if I don’t return.’
‘If you don’t return, madam.’
Elvene noted that he phrased it as a statement and not a question. It meant he was accepting her request. She had been worried that he might try and override her.
‘You wait twenty days exactly,’ she checked her chronometer, ‘to the hour, and then you leave.’
She waited for a response but Alfa remained silent.
‘You return to Base and you request direct communication with Roger.’
‘I understand, madam.’
Then he asked the obvious question. ‘How will you return, madam?’
‘You must assume, Alfa, that if I don’t contact you within twenty days that I am dead. That is the message you must give to Roger.’
Again there was silence.
‘Just be careful when you leave that there are no marauders about. You will need to warp as soon as practicable.’
‘I understand, madam.’
‘If there are still marauders about then don’t leave, just remain hidden.’
‘That is obvious, madam.’
Elvene allowed herself a smile. ‘I’m sorry, Alfa, I didn’t mean to insult your intelligence.’
‘My records reveal that you have never insulted my intelligence, but you have become angry with me two hundred and seventeen times.’
This time Elvene laughed out loud. ‘Is that all?’
‘Not entirely, madam. It doesn’t include all the times you have sworn in my presence.’
‘Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.’ She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation. ‘Let me say, for the record, Alfa, that you have never let me down. And now I must go.’
‘And let me say for the record, that you have been an exemplary officer.’
‘What?’ Elvene was taken completely by surprise. ‘What made you say that?’
‘As you know, madam, part of my prime instructions is to keep an assessment of your performance and compatibility quotient.’
‘Well, I thank you, Alfa.’
She was beginning
to wonder if machines could get attached to humans, in the same way that humans became attached to machines, but she knew this was not the time to pursue a philosophical discourse on the subject with a machine. ‘Just obey my instructions while I’m gone.’
‘Yes, madam, I will.’
‘Okay, thanks for keeping me alive for so long.’
‘That is my function, madam.’
Yes it is, she thought, but this time she said nothing. She would never have believed that saying goodbye to Alfa would be more complex than saying goodbye to Myka. Humans, she decided, like to avoid complexity, whereas machines thrive on it.
10. Unexplored Territories
ELVENE WALKED ACROSS THE ROLLING HILLS IN FRONT OF HER and only occasionally glanced back towards the ocean. She was conscious of leaving behind her only link to long-term survival in the form of Alfa, who was hidden and incommunicado. She knew she was taking a huge gamble, but Alfa was no insurance policy against marauders, and ultimately the ship’s survival may be more important than hers. At times she couldn’t see the ocean at all, as she crossed shallow valleys, but it always reappeared when she climbed the western side. There was a strong wind coming in from the sea and she imagined that it could be a desolate place in some parts of the year but today the sky was relatively clear with some clouds scudding across at high altitude. She reckoned that she should reach the tree line around sunset, though she knew such estimates could be misleading. The sun was falling towards the hills in front of her and when she reached the last valley, the shadows slowly stretched towards her like the forest was reaching out to embrace her approach.
Elvene made it to the trees before dark as she planned. They were very tall with buttressed roots and large entangled branches. Their trunks had smooth grey bark and the branches were lined with broad green leaves. It was very difficult to see up into the canopy because the leaves were so broad and horizontal, appearing almost as long as she was tall, though it was hard to tell from where she was standing on the ground. They appeared to be uniform in shape and size, and they were heavily veined. The lowest branches were a good two or three persons’ height above the ground. There was no real undergrowth but the ground was covered in a soft carpet of uneven brown, more like fur than grass. She decided to use her rappelling gun to investigate the world above her.
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