Battle On The Marathon

by John Thornton

  “Maybe up in the biome? The runabout models can be flown in a biome,” I replied.

  We locked and sealed the next door and returned to the junction where Bartlet was waiting. Earle’s face had almost returned to normal color, but his attitude was still terrible. I wanted to walk over and slap the scowl off his face, but then I saw that Pilliroog was coming back from another hallway where he had gone with Jane.

  We all made our reports, and I filed the information into my wristwatch and had it display the flooded and locked areas on the updated deck plans. From what I could tell, the level we were on was part of a circular region which had not yet flooded.

  “So, now we head up to the surface,” Bartlet commanded.

  We walked to the location of the elevator bank, the dogs followed Kulm and me closely. I guess we were their new best friends. They still stayed wary of Sylvia and Earle. The elevator bank had three hand shaped symbols glowing in blue. We activated one of them, and the car was already there waiting. Our group fit in, but the dogs were hesitant. I squatted down and comforted them by rubbing their backs.

  The ascent up to the surface took a while, as we were deep below Foreigner’s biome’s surface. The only place lower would have been the access tunnels around the reservoir, and the places in the shell. Although, the places in the shell would have had gravity manipulation applied to them, so that they would not feel like the bottom. The entire shell was that way. Heading out toward the hull always felt up, and heading in toward the biome felt down. That was why the GAGS were needed, so that people who moved from place to place could reorient themselves. Anyway, that was some of what I considered as I stroked and petted the dogs in that elevator. I was also somewhat excited that I was finally going to be able to see a different new biome.

  The elevator opened up, and the light from the sky tube was dim. Nighttime was falling. A cool breeze struck my face as I looked out. It was about ten degrees or so, not below freezing, but a bit chillier than I expected. I could smell something, which was not unpleasant.

  “Well, we are on the surface anyway,” Earle said gruffly. He pushed past us and went out of the elevator.

  Sylvia followed him. “We can access one of the public terminals and upload our findings.”

  They were walking away, down a winding gravel pathway. The sea was visible in the near distance, and greenery covered the ground down to where the rocky coastline met the waves of the sea. The water was louder than I expected, as the waves washed onto those gray rocks. The dogs bounded away from me, and began sniffing the ground all around. A few buildings were scattered about along the gravel pathway. One was red and another was white. I stepped out and saw that the building where the elevator had opened was a permalloy structure barely big enough to house the elevator car. Above the open door was an inscription. “Maintenance Elevator to Lower Levels. Authorized Personnel Only.”

  “Well, I am glad we are authorized,” I commented. “But where exactly are we?”

  Brett slapped my shoulder and said overly loud, “This is Foreigner. Smell the salty air, feel the cool breezes, and enjoy a vacation!”

  “This is Andorja island, according to the information here,” Jane added. “Small population, but currently I am not able to access anything other than basic library services.”

  “Bartlet? What do we do about them?” Pilliroog asked as he nodded at the oceanographers who were walking away. “We were supposed to make connections, and we did rescue them.”

  “They might know more about this place than we do, and I think we have completed our mission,” Bartlet smiled. “No losses, and two recoveries. Not bad for our first mission.”

  “Plus, two clowns as well!” Kulm said. “I think you were counting the dogs as recoveries, right?”

  We chuckled at that.

  I wondered if our mission was done, but said nothing. I was getting chilled. Some birds flew over the sea and veered toward where I was standing. They were not the kind I saw in Kansas, but from the training, I knew they were Manx shearwater birds. They pulled up short as they approached and made five syllable raucous croons, howls and what was almost a scream. I found it eerie and foreboding, but others made some funny comments about us not being in our home habitat anymore.

  “We will need to find somewhere to stay, and get inside. Although this place is pretty in its own way,” Timofei said. “I say we follow those scientists and see where they go. We are still not sure that they are innocent of causing that toxic mess down below.”

  “Yes, we should find the local police and report them,” Jane added. “My father would know how to handle this, and there must be some local authorities.”

  Carol added, “Maybe not on this island. The library report says the last census showed only two hundred and five people on this whole island.”

  “So, we follow them, and see where that leads. I agree the local authorities need to know, even if only to report that flooded mess. Machine Maintenance will have quite the chore in cleaning that up.”

  “I bet Operation Barnacle was part of that,” Brett said.

  As we trotted along, the others discussed various ideas about what had caused the flooding, and even more somberly shared their views on the short audio we had heard from the Marathon Defense Forces. We easily caught up to the oceanographers. The light was getting dim, and they were both hugging themselves with their arms, clutching tightly to their conservation slates. They were walking right toward a small, wooden structure. There was a light on inside which shone out from the window.

  Sylvia went to the door and knocked.

  A porch light came on, illuminating the porch and the surrounding area in warm yellow light. A man came and opened the door. He was dark haired with a deep cocoa colored complexion. His eyes took us all in, but without malice or fear. “May I help you? We do not get strangers here very often, and I did not hear a boat.”

  “I am Sylvia and this is Earle…” Sylvia went on and explained who they were and even gave a brief overview of our coming up via the elevator. She did not mention the flooding down in the corridors, nor the deaths of her colleagues. She did say, “This group came to our aid. May we use your access to send some information? AI Artaphernes must be notified of our findings.”

  “Oh really? Must be some big news. That elevator seldom gets used, I nearly forgot it was there. Sometimes the vodnee automacubes might use it, but I pay that no attention. They are all automated. But, well, to contact a primary artificial intelligence? Now that must be some import stuff! From way down at the bottom of the sea and all. Wonder of wonders. Oh, I am Rolf, and fishing is my occupation. Not deep down in the sea, like where you folks were. I never fish deeper than ten meters of so. Fishing has been very poor as of late.” He scratched his head. “I do not have much by way of access. I never had a need to contact any of the Art series AIs, let alone their supervisor, that AI Artaphernes. Of course, I have the basic system which allows me to link to the library, and make an emergency call for medical or fire or whatever. You are welcome to use that. Otherwise, to get full access to things like the lattice, you will need to travel to Meropis. Not too much happens here on Andorja.”

  “We will need to contact the local police forces,” Bartlet said. “There was an incident down in the corridors, and it must be reported.” She gave Earle a stern look, and he did not say anything to refute her.

  Rolf now looked a bit perplexed. “I do not want any trouble. I certainly do not. Well, um, I thought you might be with the police, being as you have all that equipment and sidearms. I have not seen a police officer, here, ever. Not that I can remember. Just nothing much ever happens here. Nothing to go bothering the police about.” He looked closely at Bartlet “You can make whatever connections you want. There are a lot of you, and some of you are welcome to stay here. I just do not have room for all of you. Jandrea down the path, with the green house and white shutters, well, she will give the rest of you hospitality, if you do not mind.”

  “Men,” Bartl
et said, “head down to this Jandrea’s place. I will make sure the reports to the authorities go in from here, but please also do so from her place. It is important enough for a double report.” She made some adjustments on her wristwatch. “We are still on a proximity link, but I cannot get beyond the basic library system here. Try to find out what you can, and link it back to me.”

  Pilliroog patted Bartlet affectionately and then all us men walked down the gravel pathway. Jandrea’s home was nearly identical in structure and design to Rolf’s, but it was green and white. She answered the door, and was a bit more wary. She did not let us in, but made a quick connection to Rolf via an old-fashioned audio communication link. After he had explained what we were doing there, Jandrea let us in. She was a nice woman, about middle aged, with curly brown hair and a ruddy complexion. She too had a career in fishing. She insisted that we leave the dogs outside. Since Marie, the dog at Raven Academy had always been around the lodge, I did not question that. We stored our gear, and made places for ourselves to sleep.

  And so, my first visit to another biome came at dusk, on a chilly night, on a small island in the sea of Foreigner. Little did I know what was in store for me on that island.

  I awoke in the middle of that first night to the cries and barking of Socks and Toughie. Jandrea had let us sleep on the floor of her front room, there were only two bedrooms, and she was in one, and the other was filled with a sewing center and all the assorted things that go with that. I was nearest the front door, so I grabbed up my gimp, and strapped it onto my waist as I ran out the door. The others followed me.

  “What is going on?” I called out. “Socks! Toughie! Come here dogs!”

  The barking was down by the coastline. It was chillier than when we had entered the house, not down to freezing, but something like four degrees, with a brisk and cold breeze blowing off the sea.

  I could not see anything out over the dark water. The sky tube was barely gray colored, not quite the completely dark night which happens only once a month, but a far cry from moon-night where the sky tube is at its nighttime brightest. I could see the waves lapping against the rocky coast, but beyond a few meters out, the sea looked black and foreboding.

  “Those dogs are up that way!” Timofei pointed in the direction of Rolf’s house.

  I could hear the barking and growling, but could not see the dogs. They were making a terrible ruckus. Sprinting along, I wished I had a jacket or a coat, and thought about how wet and chilly it was. Even more on my mind was concern about what was causing the fear and odd emotions which I could hear in the dog’s barking. Something was really wrong, and in my mind flashed images of Lieutenant Adams and Marie.

  “Are the dogs with you?” Bartlet called from up ahead. She was racing toward us from Rolf’s house.

  “No!”

  We all spread out, looking for where the sounds were originating.

  I ran down toward the water, but the barking seemed to be echoing from the houses, off the waves, or up inland somewhere.

  Floodlights came on from Jandrea’s house and then a moment later from Rolf’s house. That showed me several black fins sticking up from the water. Then I saw the dogs barking and running along the surf.

  “Something in the water!” I yelled. “Come here dogs!”

  Socks looked back at me, but turned around and again began growling and barking at the water. Toughie was standing his ground, the water about halfway up his legs. His ears were back and he was barking furiously. The noise was echoing off the waters, and still sounded weird.

  As I ran toward the dogs, I saw that Radha was closer than I. As she reached Socks, a huge black thing came sliding up from the water. She grabbed the dog and leaped out of the way.

  I saw a bright white oval on the side of the huge black thing. Water was sloshing off the side of it, but it kept on.

  “Orca!” Jane yelled. “After the dogs!”

  Kulm pulled Toughie up and out of the water, just as a second orca slid onto the beach. This one was even bigger than the other, but was not coming at Kulm and the dog, but was ahead of them by a meter of so.

  “There is another over there!” Pilliroog yelled. “Nothing else around.”

  “But what is that?” Carol called back, and pointed.

  A strange hump appeared in the water. It was a different shape than the orcas, and further out from the beach. As it rose up from the depths, there was a strange glow on the water. I thought it was a reflection from the floodlights, and the search lights some of the others had turned on. It was a deep color, that sort-of stung my eyes, but a lot of sea water was slashing about as well. The three orcas were flapping their tails, and wiggling their immense bodies, but not to get back into the water. That was so strange.

  Then as I looked back to where Carol had been pointing, the hump in the water was gone. At the time, I thought I had just seen an odd wave, or a fourth orca which had not beached itself. By then, Rolf and Jandrea had gotten down to the shoreline and they had bright lights aimed at the orcas.

  “Oh, mother-of-pearls!” Sylvia exclaimed as she too approached the closest orca. “Blood and thunder what has happened to this poor creature?”

  With the oceanographers there, I felt even more unsettled. The lights shone on that thrashing orca, and there were deep gashes in its black sides, and some even across its white underbelly. The raw flesh was a dark red, and just seeing those wounds made me clench with empathized pain.

  Earle was there as well, and he rushed to see the injuries. “This animal will not survive. Tragedy strikes again! Oh, bahala na!”

  “Earle, we have no medical facilities here! If we were at Baltia or Meropis we could use some of their marine facilities, but here, in this fishing backwater, we have nothing!”

  “I have tried to make connections, but can only reach the automated library service,” Bartlet said as she again checked her wristwatch. “Kulm, try to link in some of the remaining macroactinide capacitor enhancers to boost my signals.”

  “Understood. Do I link to that MDF frequency?” Kulm asked.

  “Give me all the options,” Bartlet replied.

  Jandrea stepped forward, “I will try to summon medical personnel. They might have to come from a nearby island, but I will ask.” She hurried away to her home.

  Rolf brought a box of supplies down from his house, and inside were some basic first-aid equipment. “I tried to call for help, but could not make any connection off the island.”

  As I looked at what Rolf was offering, I knew I had my own first-aid kit with me. It was more comprehensive than what Rolf had, but nowhere near enough to treat the horrific wounds on the orcas.

  Jandrea returned a while later, “I cannot reach anyone. I have brought what I have.” She was carrying a portable hydrophone device, as well as a single-shot rifle. I knew she was being realistic about the chances the orcas had.

  I wondered a lot about those injuries, especially as I looked at the other beached orcas. They too had the deep slashes across their bodies. The smaller one had a big chunk of flesh missing from its flank, and it had rolled onto its side, exposing that wound upward.

  “We must get them back in the water,” Sylvia cried out. “Their bones will break if they are out too long. They will die under their own weight.”

  We tried to get close enough to help, but the orcas kept thrashing about. Several of us got knocked down, and we could never get enough of a grasp on the animals to even try to move them back toward the water. They kept squirming away from the sea, and resisted our every approach.

  And so, we waited. The dogs were no longer barking, even though the orcas were flopping and wiggling about on the beach. I pondered just what the dogs had been so upset about before. Maybe it was just when the orcas were in the water, but I know I had seen something else out in those dark waves.

  That night was cold, wet, and humid. The two oceanographers tried their best to comfort the orcas on that beach. Earle ran and got his conservation slate, and it made s
ome noises which I recognized as whale calls, but that did not seem to help much. By morning, only one of the great animals was still alive, and it was so weak that is was barely breathing. Throughout the night, all three had tried; desperately and persistently, with immense willpower, to keep wiggling up and onto the shore, away from the water. It made me feel they were frantic to escape, yet their home was in the cold seas of Foreigner.

  “She need to be back in the water!” Sylvia yelled.

  The last orca had stopped flailing at us as we approached it, but its deep gouges were many, and there was just a certain doomed look it had. I cannot explain it any more than that.

  All of us got around it, and tried to move the orca. It was about ten meters from the water, and even though we all heaved and lifted, and did our best, we could not move that orca. I estimated that each of us would have had to lift something well over a hundred kilograms, and we just could not get that job done. The orca’s flesh had no real handholds, and its body was not rigid. If we had had some gravity manipulation nullifiers, or an automacube or two we might have been able to do it. If there was a sling big enough we might had been able to lift the poor creature, but we had no sling, and no way to quickly make one. Kulm, Carol, and Matkaja tried to dig a trench to bring the water up to the orca, thinking that maybe we could float it back to the sea, but the sand on the beach was not very deep, and beneath that was a large layer of rocks which were too heavy to move.