Carthage - A Space Opera Colonization Adventure (Aeon 14: Building New Canaan)

by M. D. Cooper

  He dove under the waves and swam down to the ocean bed. Nutrient levels were higher in the Aegean than the Mediterranean, decreasing the visibility—especially on the seabed, where light struggled to penetrate.

  Poor visibility is part of Cameron’s problem, Martin mused as he searched the sand. A scanner sometimes only told you that there was life there, and you had to interpret the results to understand what kind of life it was. When it came to marine organisms, no scanner in existence could beat a thorough search by someone who knew what to look for.

  said Cameron after ten or fifteen minutes.

  Martin said. He was swimming over a stony area. Flat rocks and pebbles had replaced the sand. He swam down, reached under a stone with his fingertips, and flipped it over. Nothing was there, but at the edge of it was the black spike of something hiding under the next stone.

  said Martin. He lifted the neighboring stone and was rewarded with a sharp jab into his fingers through his glove. Sonofa—

  Cameron asked as he joined him.

  Martin pointed at the round, spiky creature he’d disturbed.

  exclaimed Cameron.

 

 

  Sea urchins were kelp’s nemesis, biting off the seaweed stems at their bases. The ocean current would soon have swept away the remains of the plants and the roots would rot.

  Cameron carefully turned over more stones. Hundreds of urchins were hiding there, large and small. The nocturnal animals had been grazing the kelp during the night hours, eating it as soon as Cameron had planted it.

  Martin said.

  Cameron paused, then finished with a tone of recognition.

  Martin said.

  Another colleague, Lindsey, had a seeding site on the other side of the Parthian continent’s southern peninsula.

  Cameron mentally tutted.

 

 

  On their way back to the shore, Cameron talked to Lindsey and told Martin that she would be over soon with something to donate to his site. Despite still feeling a little morose, the news brought a smile to Martin’s face. He had a good idea of what Lindsey would be bringing.

  The marine biologist arrived an hour later on an autotransporter. The small trucks were ideal for transporting living creatures that wouldn’t deal well with air travel.

  Lindsey waved at the two men from the cab. “Hi, guys! Long time no see.”

  The three exchanged greetings and news. Since leaving stasis after arrival, they hadn’t seen much of each other. When the pleasantries were over, Lindsey took them around to the back of the truck, where they helped her unload lidded boxes. Their weight shifted while Martin carried them to Cameron’s workroom, as the creatures inside moved around.

  “I brought fourteen males and females, and nine mothers with pups,” said Lindsey. “That should be plenty to keep your sea urchin numbers down.”

  “Enhydra lutis,” said Cameron. “Love them. I think they’re probably my favorites.”

  Lindsey said, “I didn’t think we were supposed to have favorites.”

  “I guess so,” he admitted, “but I can’t help it. Can you?”

  “No, I can’t either.” Lindsey chuckled. “Do you want to release them now?”

  “Yeah, they must be dying to get back into the water, and I’m dying to see them.”

  Martin was also looking forward to seeing the creatures. He wouldn’t be introducing sea otters into the Mediterranean. The conditions weren’t quite right for them, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a soft spot for the cute, smart animals. And Lindsey was right: they were just the solution for Cameron’s sea urchin problem.

  He watched while Cameron and Lindsey performed the release. The sight of the sleek-furred animals bursting out from their containers the moment they were opened and diving into the water was heartwarming. Yet deep down, Martin’s emotions were unchanged.

  There was still something—or someone—missing.

  TSUNAMI

  STELLAR DATE: 12.03.8935 (Adjusted Years)

  LOCATION: Atlantean Ocean, Grecia

  REGION: Athens, 4th Planet in the New Canaan System

  This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

  Isa desperately clung to her surfboard as the waves threatened to pummel her under the surface. Sheet lightning seared the sky. A crack of thunder roared.

  When they’d started out an hour ago, riding the tsunami had been just as exhilarating as Isa remembered from her time on Victoria. Along with Usef and his Marine friends, she’d traveled kilometers on the gigantic wave, the wind blasting in her face. The whoops and shouts of the surfers had been drowned out by the bellow of the wind, but they’d talked over the Link, kidding with each other and commenting on each other’s moves and tricks.

  Usef had said before sliding down to the base of the wave.

  Isa lost sight of the burly man for an instant before she saw him working his board slowly up again, almost to the crest. She’d never seen surfing skills like his. He was a phenomenon. Though she was no stranger to tsunami surfing, it was all she could do to stay on her board and upright in the current conditions.

  Even if she did fall, she wasn’t too worried. Search and rescue pinnaces circled the pleasure-seekers, ready to pick up anyone who wiped out. But it would be embarrassing to take a tumble among such proficient wave riders, and she would have to wait several hours for the next wave.

  one of the other Marines said.

  Isa peered over to see what the man was up to now, and was utterly astounded. He was doing a one-handed handstand on his board, perfectly balanced with his legs slightly arched backward. She couldn’t figure out how he’d gotten into the position, or how he was managing to stay straight on the ever-moving wave. As she watched open-mouthed, Usef pushed off with his arm, flipped and landed feet first on his board.

  This time, the whoops and hollers were loud enough to be heard even over the rushing elements. Isa joined in. She wanted to give the man a round of applause, too, but she thought she might lose her balance.

  she rhetorically asked the group of friends.

  one of Usef’s friends said.

  she replied.

  It had seemed as though every tourist on Athens was riding the tsunami wave. As far as Isa could see, hundreds of people were guiding their boards over the wall of water. She hadn’t noticed so many on the long beach where they’d waited for the wave to arrive. Maybe more had been waiting in the ocean, ready for the wave to pick them up.

  The shallow beach led to a wide, flat expanse of b
arren land, perfectly designed to give the wave maximum height as it came to shore. The sense of exhilaration Isa had experienced as she was lifted up had been amazing.

  Athens was like a world-sized theme park. She had heard there were also permanent warm air geysers that people could float on, tumbling, spinning and flying in the wind. And there was a swiftly moving water current that swept around the oceans, where massive floating discs had been scattered for leisurely journeys.

  Isa had almost felt sad that one day, the planet’s tectonics would settle down, and Athens would turn into a regular place. It was too bad. She was determined to make the most of it until then.

  But all her enjoyment and excitement about her spontaneous vacation had been before the storm struck.

  It wasn’t like she hadn’t known it could happen; Usef had told her in passing that frequent storms were another feature of Athens’ turbulent state. The lightning displays were spectacular, he’d said—better than any fireworks show. There were even regions where lightning played constantly over the mountaintops.

  Isa had seen plenty of storms in her time, and on hearing about Athens’ meteorological performances, she’d been looking forward to seeing them in action. But she’d been entirely unprepared for the doozy that sprang up midway through the tsunami ride.

  One minute, she’d been coasting along, having the time of her life, clear skies all around. The next, a massive bank of black clouds had appeared from behind the wave. The cloud had been running faster than the tsunami. Within seconds, it had overtaken them and blocked out Canaan Prime’s brilliant white-yellow glow. The air temperature had plummeted, and what seemed like a solid sheet of rain hit them.

  It all happened so fast that no one even had time to comment. Isa thought it might have been the pounding water from above affecting the integrity of the tsunami wave. Either that, or the rain simply washed her off her board. Whatever had happened, she suddenly found herself bobbing in the ocean, with rain pouring over her head and eyes, making it impossible for her to see. She had to angle her head downward, or she thought the rain might drown her above the ocean.

  Another blinding flash of lightning tore through the atmosphere, and Isa began to worry she would be electrocuted in the water. Tired of the rain lashing her head, she dove down.

  The strap that attached her to her surfboard prevented her from diving deeply, but the environment under the surface was a welcome respite from the torrential downpour of the storm boiling and seething overhead. All around her was the loud hiss of rain on the ocean’s surface.

  Usef’s voice came into her mind.

 

  the Marine asked.

 

  The need to breathe grew too strong to ignore, so Isa kicked up to the surface and grabbed her board.

  said Usef.

  Resting her arms on her board, she tried to catch her breath. She couldn’t see any of the tsunami-surfing support pinnaces nearby—which didn’t mean a lot, because she couldn’t see much farther than her outstretched hand. The ships had to be around there somewhere, though, pulling people out of the water. She seemed to have been overlooked.

  she asked Usef.

 

 

 

 

  said Usef.

 

  After a pause, Usef said,

 

  Isa would have heaved a sigh if that didn’t mean breathing in several liters of water. She was beginning to feel lonely out on the waves by herself. From what she could see of it, the sky remained a rolling dark grey, as a buffeting wind swept down heavy blankets of rain. Isa was beginning to feel chilled and uncomfortable, floating in the ocean water.

  Or was something else making her feel uncomfortable? She had learned some ancient Earth history while she lived on Victoria. She’d read all about the gigantic sharks that had roamed the oceans of humankind’s original planet in prehistoric times. The rational part of her brain was confident that the FGT would never have added such animals to a planet intended for human habitation, but fear of what might be lurking under her in the deep, dark depths rose up from her subconscious unbidden.

  Isa contacted Athens’ planetary AI, which responded instantly. the AI replied.

  The storm didn’t seem to be easing at all. If anything, it was becoming more intense. There scarcely seemed to be a break between the lightning flashes and the thunder; it was one continuous, echoing roll. Isa wasn’t feeling remotely patient. She wanted to be picked up right away.

  As another lightning bolt cracked across the sky, she felt something brush her foot.

  She’d been moving her legs lazily in the water as she clung to her board, as much for something to do as anything, but at the touch of the unknown thing, she froze. A clamp seemed to fasten over her chest. She hesitated to even breathe.

  Did something touch me? Or did I imagine it? What touched me?

  Just as Isa was succeeding in convincing herself that the sly brush against her toes had been a figment of her imagination, she felt it again. She screamed and, not even registering how, leapt out of the water onto her board. The flat surface was long and wide enough to hold her whole body without any part of it dangling in the water.

  Why didn’t I think to do that before?

  She was careful to keep her arms and legs within the board’s bounds. She looked all around for a fin breaking the surface, or for the sign of a long shadow, slowly weaving beneath the waves. But the rain had turned the surface into a shifting, distressed, formless expanse.

  The thing touched her again.

  Isa jerked her leg up and away from the creature, almost hitting herself in the chin. Something had reached out of the water to get her. She squirmed away to the far end of the board, almost unbalancing it and sending herself back into the waves. As she moved, however, something tugged on her ankle.

  Then the realization hit. The thing tugging at her was the strap that linked her to her board. Isa turned over and sat up.

  Her foot bore no marks and neither did her board. The strap hung loosely from her ankle. She’d been terrified of a slim piece of material.

  Isa’s relief was so great, she flopped down and nearly slid off the board. Just as she grabbed at the side to catch herself, a low vibration came from overhead, and a shadow descended over her. At last! The rescue copter had arrived.

  The craft formed a kind of umbrella over her, protecting her from the rain. A darker hole in the dark grey bottom of the vessel opened, and Isa saw the very welcome sight of another human face. An arm also appeared and waved to her. Holding onto one side of her board, she waved back.

  someone identifying as Maggie, Ocean Rescue Patrol, said over the Link. retty busy. You’re nearly the last to be picked up.>

 

 

  Isa unfastened the strap around her ankle. She must only have been in the water ten or fifteen minutes, but it felt like hours. She looked up to see the soles of the Ocean Rescue Patrol woman’s shoes as she was lowered from the copter in a flexible woven basket. Isa brought up her knees to pull herself into a crouching position, ready to climb up.

  Maggie’s face was smiling and cheerful as she leaned over the basket’s edge and reached out. Isa half stood and prepared to grasp the woman’s arms. At the same moment, a colossal gust of wind blew, sending Maggie sprawling against the opposite side of the basket. The pinnace swayed, and the rescuer swung away.

  Isa’s hands gripped nothing. She overbalanced and hit the water face-first.

  Not again, was her first thought as she went under. Her second thought was, I’m not attached to my board anymore. Her third thought was, Which way is up?

  She flailed and twisted in the water, trying to figure out in which direction the surface lay. Neither her hands nor her feet broke through into air, which meant she was probably at least a meter deep. Her eyes were open, but all she could see were bubbles. No part of the water was brighter than any other. Considering the blackness of the sky, it wasn’t surprising, but it was annoying.

  Maggie said.

 

  Her lungs were beginning to hurt. She was going to have to breathe, preferably soon. She stopped flailing. It was getting her nowhere. Maybe if she floated, she would naturally drift to the surface? But though she was trying to keep herself calm, she couldn’t remain calm long enough to relax her body, and she wasn’t sure that was going to work anyway.