by Chris Hechtl
He dutifully delivered the mail from Deja. There were a couple chips, not a lot to hand over. He wondered briefly how Kirima would be able to read them until she went to the yurt and brought out a tablet. The Arctic seal plugged it into a solar blanket and then made herself comfortable as she watched the first video.
From the small smile on her face and the occasional twitch of her whiskered nose, Jethro could tell she was amused and somewhat interested in whatever Deja had to say.
He glanced at the solar blanket and then the setting sun. Fires were being lit, but the panels wouldn't have power for long he knew. Perhaps the batteries were charged? He shook his head. He didn't know.
The yurt could use solar panels he thought. There were a few, but the panels he saw were flexible, attached to some sort of fabric and were pinned down by rocks or hung on lines like laundry. Most were hooked up to the few bits of equipment the locals used.
He nodded to Al who tried to ingrate himself with the selkies who were servicing the equipment. When a few brusquely turned their backs on him, the Neochimp seemed to give up and head off to some of the people working on gutting the daily haul.
Jethro grimaced. He was tempted to follow but not that tempted. He didn't like the stink of fish, and offal wasn't something he was interested in dealing with. After all, this was supposed to be a vacation he thought.
Instead he went by the fires and did his best to relax and listen to the chatter.
<)>^<)>/
The recruiters first customer was a small, bullied juvenile male harbor seal the following morning. He approached Tia once the female had finished checking out the juveniles and had made a soft pitch about what she did.
They talked for a while; from the bits Jethro overheard, Tia went from a soft sell to a full pitch when she realized the selkie was keen about leaving the village. She gave the group a thumbs-up when she got a verbal agreement to go.
Jethro studied the juvenile. He was a small speckled specimen; he wasn't certain about his age. They'd have to check that, but Neos aged differently than humans or other species in the Federation did he knew from personal experience.
The young male went by the name of Miki, which appropriately meant small in some language the selkie and a few other Neo species clung to. He cringed a lot and was heavily scarred at such a young age. Jethro realized the juvenile had been bullied by his beachmaster father.
His father, Nilak, was one of the village elders so that was an added complication when the family was told of Miki's intentions. Nilak swelled up and turned an angry eye on the selkie; one so severe that the cringing juvenile ducked behind Tia and the lieutenant.
Nilak waddled over to them and thrust his chest out, a clear sign of challenge. The lieutenant and PO stood their ground, clearly intent on putting themselves in-between the young male and harm's way. “He's made his choice,” Lieutenant Johnson said.
Jethro briefly toyed with the idea of combat. He surreptitiously glanced around, gauging the mood of those watching the altercation. Most had some interest, either overt or covert. But he felt the mood was more of watchful anticipation, not of anger or intervention. “I'm trying to make a man out of him!” Nilak snarled. “The sea is an unforgiving mistress at the best of times! If he can't hack what I dish out, he's not going to survive!”
“Tough love,” Jethro said eying the seal. “I get it. I had it as a cub too. But the last part needs to come into play too. When you just use the stick, you break more than build up,” he said.
The beachmaster turned and stared at Jethro for a long fulminating moment. Dark brown, almost black eyes met golden ones. He continued to stare at him for a moment before he blinked and then he turned his disappointed eyes to his son for a long fulminating moment. He puffed for another moment, breathing in and out and then turned his back on his son. “Do what you want with him,” he said gruffly. “He's no longer a son of mine,” he said as he turned and waddled away.
“Still want to come with us?” Jethro asked, turning to Miki. “I know standing up to your father was rough. But what you're going to experience in boot camp can seem like what he was doing was light in comparison,” he advised.
“I'll go,” Miki said quietly, “if you'll have me.”
“We will,” Tia said, intersecting herself between the Neocat and the selkie. “Come on. I'll show you a few things, and we can talk about what it is like in the Navy,” she said.
“It's cool,” Lieutenant Johnson said. “Don't let Tia here fool you; you have some officer material in you.”
“Really?” the juvenile asked, eyes wide as he looked up at the human.
“Sure,” the lieutenant said smoothly. Jethro fought to keep his head still as they walked away. But when he turned, he realized his tail was thrashing.
Bast looked at him on his HUD and then crossed her arms in front of him as if she disapproved. He shrugged. “He'll learn,” he said with a grimace of distaste.
<)>^<)>/
When Jethro took some downtime, Bast took a little time to do a bit of mental inventory on her perspective of the mission. She was worried that Jethro would go out on the water or swim in the water. She wasn't so much concerned about his drowning; she was aware that he had been trained to swim. The selkies at play might be rough, but Jethro could probably hold his own if need be. No, her primary concern was the threat of a shark attack. She had no defense against one should it come about. But fortunately, the Neocat seemed to know his limits and didn't stray beyond ankle deep water.
She wasn't certain if the team would reach their minimum goal. She doubted it. The chimera medic had the best luck with the injured. There were several dozen recently injured selkie and over twenty maimed individuals. She half convinced three of the selkies to sign up with her just by treating some of their wounds with her medkit.
Quickheal did wonders for basic cuts and infections. Even some of the deep wounds started to knit up magically when the medic scanned them, cleaned them, and then sprayed them with the nanite solution.
Sangilak, one of the older juvenile leopard seals that had been maimed, was the first to sign up. His name translated to Strongest of All and apparently he'd taken pride in that, right up until a shark had taken his left leg flipper. The healers had been forced to amputate what had been left above the knee. His strong constitution had allowed him to survive the blood loss and series of infections he'd gotten during his long recuperation.
He was a bit bitter over being stuck doing make-work on a rock. The idea of being able to get back into things, to have his body rebuilt had sold him on signing up.
He'd helped Kendra convince Nauja to join up as well. The female sea lion was one of the oldest of the handicapped selkie. She had lost her right arm flipper. The healers had amputated it at the shoulder. She had also sustained injuries on her right side from the shark's teeth so she had trouble moving on that side.
But her injuries hadn't let that stop her from doing her best to continue contributing to the tribe. She took on whatever duties she was given and did her best to complete them. Just caring for the young helped out immensely. But the parents tended to forget to provide food for her from time to time which made her a little bitter.
Two other adults said they would consider the offer. The last maimed selkie who signed up was Kuvageegai. The proud selkie had been bitten in the thorax by a white shark and crippled. His legs and hips didn't work. But he still tried to swim and did his best to help the hunters who he had once been a part of. Lieutenant Johnson played on the selkie's name that translated to Patriot in order to get the selkie to listen.
Bast considered the problem from his perspective. Most likely he would sign up she thought. It was the best option he had available to him if he wanted his body back.
But four selkie were far from the ten the mission planners had called for. She knew that it was an unrealistic number, most likely deliberately chosen to get the recruiters to strive hard to accomplish whatever they could achieve.
It
amused her that there seemed to be an air of competition initially between the recruiters. That had changed to a cooperative team as they got more involved with the tribe.
She was curious to see how long they would wait to try to get to the ten goal … and if the selkie who had agreed to go would change their mind given that time to think about what they were getting into.
<)>^<)>/
“You don't seem too eager to get going,” Kirima observed, eying the troop. “You've come here and done your business. Thanks for the delivery.”
“You're welcome,” Jethro said with a nod.
“You can't tell me you are here for just that. I heard about Miki.” She eyed the Neocat expectantly.
Jethro shrugged. “He asked to come back with us. We'll take him.”
“I know. He's a runt; he wouldn't survive here. Nilak may not want to admit it, but Miki going with you might save his life in the end. But he wouldn't have known you wanted him to come with you unless you mentioned it to him. So, more is going on than it appears.”
“Can't we be here just to help?” Tia asked plaintively.
“Which is it? Delivering mail while on vacation or here to help now?” Kirima asked, eying the Neochimp with scant favor.
“Um …”
“Yeah, that's what I thought,” the seal said scathingly. The group squirmed a bit under her biting gaze. “Come on then, you might as well get the tour. Such as it is,” she said indicating the truck.
“Are we going somewhere?” Jethro asked.
“I need to get some supplies a little bit inland. You've got a truck. You just volunteered,” she said pointedly.
Jethro snorted but complied after Tia shrugged and nodded. Al sighed fatalistically and then nodded too. Jethro sent a silent text to the lieutenant. “Have fun,” the lieutenant replied back a moment later.
“I guess we're all yours,” Jethro said with a shrug.
“Good.”
Chapter 5
It only took a few minutes to load up the truck. There were carry packs and some old barrels filled with stuff that stank rather badly. So badly Jethro didn't look too close and tried to breathe through his mouth.
“What is in that?” Al asked as he coughed and wiped his mouth with the back of his arm.
“I should have warned you. We keep the fish offal and stuff from the plants. Plus, we harvest some other material. We have to get it to the farms,” Kirima replied, seemingly amused by the ape's discomfort. “You get used to it … or not,” she said as the ape turned away and gagged.
“It …”
“In other words, it is compost,” Tia said as she slammed the tailgate shut. “Come on, let's get out of here,” she said.
“Just when I thought it was okay to turn my nose back on again,” Al muttered. He and Tia weren't happy about taking the back seat but Jethro needed Kirima to sit shotgun to navigate for them.
Fortunately, it was an easy trip. They drove inland a few kilometers along a narrow path that followed the small river that fed into the sea near the cove. “Fish come up this river to spawn,” Kirima explained as she pointed to the river. “Everyone in the area goes after them of course. For a long time, they'd just eat the fish. But when the population exploded, some of us realized the fish stocks were depleting. Some history nut dug up the idea of fish farming. Last year was the first real harvest,” she explained as she pointed to Jethro on where to turn. He slowed the truck and turned to the left. They went around a corner in the trees and into an opening along the river. There was a series of greenhouse-like buildings and aboveground circular pools along with ponds.
“It was a pain in the ass to get this set up,” Kirima said in a mixture of disgust and pride.
Al coughed. “You did all this? But you live …”
“It's easier to adapt to the sea if we don't get too comfortable,” Kirima said gruffly. “But no, we didn't do all this. Hardly. We got the funding from investors who came to the elders to set it up. Some of the startup funding came from Deja, and some came from the government. We help run it.”
“Oh,” Al said.
Jethro reversed the truck and then backed into a parking spot near the storage shed. When he shut the truck off, they climbed out, stretched, and then Kirima pointed out some of the features.
“There are solar panels on the poles over there and there,” she said, indicating black glossy triangles that Jethro had thought were shed roofs. Apparently they did double duty he thought. “Every building that doesn't need a glass roof has them. We've got a couple small greenhouses here too. I need to tend to them too but that's easy. Now that we've got a couple computers to help monitor things, it is easy.”
“You seem pretty computer literate,” Tia said eying Kirima as they went to the back of the truck. She unhitched the tailgate and then let it down. Al climbed up inside and started to muscle the first of the barrels over to the lip.
“Don't even think about recruiting me,” Kirima said with a laugh. Tia looked up sharply just as she was setting the first barrel down onto the ground. Kirima snorted at her expression. “Yeah, you heard me. I know what you are here for now. I'm not buying. My people need me where I am, thank you very much.”
“But …”
“No. I like my life here. I'm trying to talk Deja into retiring here. He was interested in it right up until they gave him a slot on Kittyhawk,” the seal said in disgust.
“So, how does this work?” Jethro asked. He doubted Kirima would get Deja to give up the military. It was possible; they'd all been warned about the honeytrap and how hormones and family were a career ender. But he also knew that Deja loved to fly.
Then again, he could fly a seaplane, Jethro thought as they worked on removing the lashings holding some of the gear on the roof rack.
“I'll get the dolly to move these easier. We have to roll them up here or use a cart. It takes all day. You saved me and the community a lot of work.”
“Thanks,” Jethro said as the seal strode off. She returned with the dolly after a moment. They set the first barrel onto it and then tipped the contraption and then wheeled it to the storage shed. “This would be easier on solid ground,” Jethro grunted as he tried to keep the device from getting caught in a muddy rut.
“Tell me about it. Just one more thing to add to this place. It's why some in the community aren't happy about it. They don't like that we have to keep investing in it. They don't understand it's a long-term thing, and you have to keep it up and keep making it more efficient,” Kirima said as they wrestled the next barrel off the truck and to the ground.
“Right,” Jethro said.
“Just put it inside. In the back on the right,” Kirima hollered.
“Right,” Jethro grunted as he complied.
<)>^<)>/
Once the truck was unloaded, Kirima gave them a brief tour. “When the fish are big enough and ready to spawn, we bring them in from the fish ponds we've got out to sea.”
“So this is just half of the operation?” Tia asked.
“Right. We take the fish onto a commercial vessel, milk them for their eggs and semen, and then mix them in jars. The eggs that aren't fertilized we skim off and use for food or fertilizer. Once the eggs hatch, we stick the fry, we call them that, in a series of sizing tanks. We feed and size them regularly,” she explained, pointing to a series of open-topped tanks that got progressively larger until they turned into ground ponds. “If we don't, the big ones start picking on and eventually eating the little ones,” she said.
“Ah,” Al said, looking at the ponds.
“Nature at its finest or lowest, take your pick,” Kirima said indifferently. “By sizing them, we make it so more of them grow up to get to market size.”
“Cool,” Jethro murmured as they peeked into the ponds. Kirima checked the feeders and directed them on how to feed the pellets into the automatic dispensers.
“The investor monitors the PH and other stuff from their base,” she explained. “They send techs out whe
never there is a problem or monthly, whichever comes first. But it's expensive, so the more we can learn to do, the more profit we'll have in the end,” she explained. “It's an incentive for more of my people to learn.”
A sudden thought penetrated her explanation. “But doesn't this chain you to one place?” Jethro asked. “What if the fish you eat move on?” he asked.
“It's a problem,” Kirima stated somberly as she climbed a ladder and checked the fish. “These are almost ready for sizing. Another two days and we'll have to come up and do it I think,” she said as she stuck her net into the pond and pulled out a flapping bundle. She reached in and delicately picked out a couple of the fry. She dutifully measured them with a measuring stick, tossing the biggest ones either back into their home pond or into a new larger one. “Yup, in a day or so I think,” she said with a nod. She pulled her tablet out and made a note.
“How do they transition to salt water from fresh?” Tia asked.
“Oh, we have ponds on the far end. See, there is a progression,” Kirima explained absently, pointing to the field. Jethro nodded as he checked it out with the others. The largest ponds and tanks were the ones they had passed when they'd pulled into the meadow. They were the ones closest to the water and closest to the ocean.
“We have to stick them in special tanks that mix salt and fresh water to acclimatize them. Once they can handle the sea, we stick them in containers and get them back to the sea, then float them out to the holding pens offshore,” she explained.
“Where they live?”
“Yeah. We fatten them up at sea too of course. We have to or they'd turn on each other. Once we've got them to market size, a big commercial vessel comes around and handles the harvest. We get a cut of the harvest. While they are pulling the fish, they milk them of eggs and semen and the whole process can start all over again.”
“Cool,” Jethro said with a nod. “So you take your payment in fish?” he asked as he cocked his head.
She wiggled her nose whiskers. “Not quite. Some yes, but we also get credit. It makes trading easier.”