Druid's Descendants

by Mark Philipson

  The thought ran through Sobuku’s head as her breathing returned to normal, So that’s what it feels like to have your own adrenaline mix with the enhanced product. She saw herself as a part part of the whale. She imagined her eyes glancing up and down and the massive body of the whale throwing its flukes in unison. How much of this are my own feelings or is this part of the post-hypnotic suggestions? Sobuku asked herself.

  Sobuku dismissed these thoughts when she saw the predictive navigation display show the sand channel widen and then fork in different directions. The branch on the ship’s starboard fluke continued in a northeasterly direction. The port side branch continued a few degrees west of due north.

  “Kenshin, I think I need your advice,” Sobuku said.

  “Yes.” Kenshin stepped forward.

  “The sand channel splits apart dead ahead,” she said.

  “I see,” Kenshin nodded.

  “I’m not sure which path to follow, Kenshin.”

  “Maintain the course over the port-side path.”

  Sobuku hesitated and then said, “The starboard-side path is wider and it appears to produce air and light in greater quantities than the port.”

  “Indeed it does,” Kenshin acknowledged. “It also will bring us 22 degrees off-course and over 900 kilos east of our heading. By following the port-side path we’ll be able to maintain a heading that will keep us on schedule.” Kenshin paused for a few moments and then added, “I have my orders also.”

  “Aye, Ken,” Sobuku replied and eased the Gato’s nose to port. Expanses of twisting sandy trenches, broken by patches of darkness, stretched to the ends of the predicted horizon display.

  Sobuku thought about Ken’s answer. Her own thoughts wandered, Kenshin’s primary directive is completing reaching the pole as fast as possible, collecting the data, and returning to base as fast as possible. I wonder if he’s been briefed as to to what the goal is? Have I been completely briefed or will I learn more as we approach our destination?

  13

  “NOW THAT WE’RE on this route, I suggest you maintain speed at 16 kilos per hour.” Kenshin said.

  Sobuku knew well enough to know that he would follow a suggestion with an explanation.

  “If food is harder to locate the reduced forward speed will decrease the amount of fluke energy expended.”

  “Aye, Captain,” Sobuku replied and slowed the beating tail. She’d decided to use Kenshin’s formal title during official business. She’d become uncomfortable being on a first name basis.

  “Very well, MS Sato.” Kenshin said, reverting to formal title status. He returned to the research deck and took seat at the console. He studied a holographic chart depicting the underwater topography of the first dark area in the maze ahead. Fluctuating nutrient level read-outs rolled across the screen.

  Time passed. Fuel levels dropped. Three times, Sobuku reported the decreasing fuel status and fuel source indicator. Three times Kenshin told Sobuku to ignore the alerts and continue at the adjusted speed.

  “Captain Kamura, at that speed the ship will be out this light sand patch in twenty minutes,” Sobuku said.

  “I’m aware of that, MS … continue,” Kenshin said. He added, “On my mark, display the sonar translator magnify downward facing by 300 per cent. Kenshin counted down slowly from ten and said, “Mark,” at zero.

  The fuel alert beacons lit up as Sobuku zoomed in to the sloping trench.

  “Enter refuel mode now!” Kenshin ordered.

  Sobuku leaned her head back. The plug embedded in the base of her neck touched the crystal bulb protruding from the chair. She merged her thoughts with the Coreglass power fibers, allowing the whale’s instincts to gain more control.

  The Gato turned its head from side to side, emitting sonar blasts at wide angles. A small school of yellow fin tuna chased thousands of sardines into a swirling circular column rising from the sea floor halfway up the canyon wall.

  After hovering in place for a few moments, the Gato lowered its head and beat its tail into a dive. Sobuku peered at the feeding fish and attempted to spot the ship’s prey. A dark object flashed in a blur at the upper reaches of the sardine cloud. Sonar visitation translations confirmed this to be a killer whale.

  This must be the target, Sobuku thought as the Gato veered and maneuvered toward the feeding orca. It will take about ten of these to bring the fuel levels — a sudden course change to starboard cut off her thoughts. An elongated blur shot up from the bottom. Reaching tentacles wrapped onto the tuna. As the squid pulled the fish toward its beak, the Gato turned its head, bit into the siphon at the back end and worked its long, lower jar up the through clouds of black ink pouring out of the mantle.

  It took a few seconds for her vital signs to stabilize after the refueling encounter. When she regained her composure she said, “Sixteen minutes to dark zone.”

  “I’ll take the helm, MS,” Kenshin said. He was standing on the bridge now. He added, “You may return to the research deck,” easing himself into the pilot’s chair.

  Sobuku was about to to descend when she asked, “What would you’ve done if the ship wasn’t able to refuel, Captain?”

  “Simple … come about and try again.”

  Sobuku returned to the research deck and thought about Kenshin’s reply: That is the obvious answer, as long as the ship remains in food abundant waters. The same tactic may not work in the dark zones.

  “I’m taking over the helm because I’ve decided to run the ship in full refuel mode,” Kenshin said.

  “Is that the best course of action to take over areas indicating low sources of fuel.” Sobuku knew Kenshin would have a reasonable explanation the moment she finished saying the words.

  “Ive been analyzing the sonar signals reflected from the dark zone area,” Kenshin said. A saved version of the holographic chart appeared on the console. “As you can see, nutrient indicators show a protein level inconsistent with the lack of light and oxygen.”

  When Sobuku agreed, Kenshin went on, “In itself, these numbers are not nearly adequate enough to provide the nourishment needed to power the flukes on this ship.”

  “Yes, Captain …” Sobuku replied and waited.

  “As you are well aware … if you’ve studied the operator’s manual,” Kenshin said and then added, “and I’m sure you have … you know that a whale’s sonar is adapted to water. It is reflected back instantly when striking hard surfaces and becomes fragmented and weak in the atmosphere.”

  “I understand the elemental properties of sonar. I’m not following your line of reasoning in relation to the mission goal, Captain.”

  “Yes, I suppose we are both responding to the implanted post-hypnotic suggestions in different ways: I’m drawing on years of experience on board ships and you are attempting to process the equivalent in days.”

  “This is true,” Sobuku answered. Not long ago, doing whatever it took to avoid motherhood was your primary focus, Sobuku reminded herself.

  “Variations in the rate of reflection in the sonar signals projected ahead of the ship indicates bottom contours in the dark zone to be higher than light zones.

  “I’m counting on the fact the light zones and the dark zones share the same life support properties: Coreglass deposits leeching out of the mantle and escaping into the water. I’m counting on the fact we’ll be able to find a source of fuel.”

  As the Gato drew near to the dark expanse ahead, Sobuku enhanced incoming sonar reflections. Leaning her head back, she touched the chair-back crystal and merged with the power-fibers. In this state, Sobuku saw the visual translation display pitch variables as images of shadow and light. She concentrated, clearing her mind and letting the energy bond with her conscious mind.

  The Gato entered the dark zone. Sonar waves aimed straight down. Vague patterns of darkness and light formed images of a network of light-filled tunnels branching out across the floor of the trench and down deep into the supporting bedrock.

  14

  TOP-DOWN SONA
R transmissions, coupled with Sobuku bonding with the power-fibers of the crystalline Coreglass network, sketched an accurate digital depiction of the underwater terrain in the dark zone.

  A wireframe drawing adhered to the walls and floor of the trench. It filled in a vast network of intersecting tunnels branching in all directions.

  Irregularities in the contours formed stalactites that hung from the ceiling toward stalagmites rising from the floor. From the the spiky, tapering tips, air bubbles escaped around the edges of glowing globes. Heat signatures filled the caverns, indicating temperatures that differed up to 100 degrees from the water streaming through the trench.

  The wireframe display showed the interior walls of the tunnels swelling. Sonar reflections indicated a material 1,000 times less dense than the walls. Full resolution renderings showed a type of lichen growing from the sides of the tunnels. Thick clusters of long strands of sea-grass moved with passing currents.

  At this moment the translator drew the fist signs of life: incoming density differences in the tunnels increased. Shadowy objects took on wireframe grids. Full renders revealed thousands of curving vertebrae winding through the tunnels. Elongated internal organs appeared. Tight bands of muscles grew outwards to a thick scaly, dark green hide.

  Sobuku checked the known vertebrate species classification memory: it confirmed the creatures to be a hybrid of the moray eel. Sobuku focused in on a single animal. Memory banks recorded dimensions and the vital signs: the eel on the scope weighed in at 10,000 kilograms and was over 15 meters in length.

  Upon closer inspection, power-fibers indicated the scales covering the body to be a vast, interconnected system of mouths that ingested the lichen growing in the tunnels. Sobuku zoomed out. Thousands of massive eels slithered through a network of caverns, scouring green lichen as they twisted and turned through the tunnels.

  Green lichen began a sprouting from the rock walls of the caverns just as the eel passed through.

  So, the symbiotic relation between the sea-grass and the sea-monster continues, Sobuku thought, smiling slightly to herself and nodding.

  Kenshin’s image came across the main console. A voice-over, interpreted from thought patterns, followed:

  — I’m going to need full access to the Coreglass ports, please disengage now.

  The image faded.

  Sobuku pulled her head forward, breaking the connection from her personal plug to the network port.

  The split second Sobuku released, Kenshin set his head back. Receptors on the personal plug in his neck touched crystal facets on the data port in the chair. A series of data streams related to the ship’s functions populated the main console: navigation headings and environmental conditions scrolled by. From her position on the research deck, Sobuku monitored the Gato’s performance, from heart rate to fluke strokes.

  On the bridge, Kenshin cleared his mind. Energy flowed out of the crystal and merged with the plug. Thought patterns resulting from sensory stimuli faded. Kenshin experienced what the ancients called an out of body experience as pulsating energy bursts penetrated the cerebral cortex.

  With the delicate balance between his mind and the power-fibers established, Kenshin allowed the ship’s own natural instincts to come to the forefront. Kenshin felt a strong desire to move coupled with an incessant hunger. He was part of a chain consisting of three elements: mineral energy generated by the Coreglass, his own complex thought patterns, and the Gato’s primal instincts.

  A pre-recorded message came to Sobuku’s console:

  — Monitor the floor of the trench. Keep the scope confined to a 250 meter radius off the bow. When you spot an eel swim to within two meters of an entrance, mark it.

  The message faded.

  Sobuku concentrated the unified sonar beam ahead to the specified distance and narrowed the line sight to a 120° pattern. Forward motion indicators showed 38 kilos. Kenshin maneuvered the Gato into the dark zone at over twice the cruising speed and then dropped to within two meters of the bottom.

  Proximity parameters alerted Sobuku to an eel at two points to starboard at a range of 150 meters. She marked it. Kenshin was aware of the mark the instant it registered on Sobuku’s console. He banked to starboard by raising the port-fluke pectoral fin and beating the flukes hard. Kenshin converged with the feeding instinct. In his thoughts, he let his lower jaw drop. The Gato responded by letting its long jaw, bristling with teeth, hang.

  The Gato sank its teeth into the head of a moray eel as it exited a lichen scoured tunnel. Razor sharp cones impaled the head. The Gato held on, pulling 21 meters of squirming eel out of the mouth of the tunnel.

  Kenshin felt a momentary sense of reduction in forward motion. To his mind, it was a complex pattern interrelated with thoughts and memories. To the Gato’s primitive balance of awareness and instinct, it was an involuntary response to hunger, its driving force.

  The ship continued on through the dark zone at top speed, undulating over the contours of the uneven bottom. Kenshin manned the helm, guiding the ships’ jaws to its next meal. Sobuku kept watch on the sonar scope, marking moray eels nearing the exit phase of the feeding stage.

  The Gato snatched snatched unsuspecting eels from outcroppings and then swooped down into crevices to rip eels from the safety of the lichen tunnels.

  Kenshin released from the data port. He sent Sobuku a message over the ship’s communication network:

  — The dark zone is cleared. You have permission to take the helm.

  — I’ll be on the bridge immediately.

  — That won’t be necessary.

  — I don’t understand. I need to be on the bridge to pilot the ship.

  — While I was on the research deck I made some adjustments to the Coreglass memory distribution points. You will be able to steer the ship in normal mode from the research deck.

  — Aye, Captain Kamura.

  Sobuku signed off. She activated the conning tower extension and took control of the ship as the Gato left the dark zone and entered the light zone.

  15

  THE GATO KUJIRA Maru made its way northward, skimming the bottom at full-speed in the dark zones, filling its belly and cruising above the light zones without refueling.

  In the dark zones, Kenshin took the helm, bonding with the Coreglass. Reasoning met concentrated energy locked in mineral deposits. The Gato’s animal instincts completed the alliance between Citizen, machine, and beast.

  From the research deck — using the recently installed navigation extension — Sobuku guided the ship across the light zones. She honed piloting skills by analyzing environmental settings and biological functions. Sobuku calculated water temperature and tweaked internal readings to gain prime buoyancy ratings. External and internal pressure equalized, keeping the Gato running at 100 per cent efficiency. All these systems ran automatically while the ship ran in normal. In refuel mode — when Coreglass controls operated in reduced capacity — the pilot maintained these functions manually.

  During Sobuku’s brief attempt at driving the ship in refuel mode, Kenshin monitored these settings from the bridge. Sobuku monitored the settings from the console on the research deck.

  Fuel warnings appeared with less frequency until ceasing completely when readings read:

  — Maximum Fuel limit reached

  Kenshin ignored these reports, continuing to feed on the moray eels inhabiting the lichen caves with each passage over a dark zone.

  Sobuku reasoned, After comprehensive sessions deciphering incoming sonar signals, Kenshin must be storing fat. Readings of water temperature and nutrient levels showed a marked reduction of an available food source. The Gato faced barren expanses of underwater terrain.

  The ship continued until the dark and light zones gave way to areas devoid of nutrients and naturally occurring oxygen: black zones.

  Kenshin messaged Sobuku:

  — Close off induction filter ports. Resume cruising speed and take the helm.

  When Sobuku shut the induction filters
, the Coreglass directed 52 per cent of its resources to maintaining oxygen levels by cloning air molecules continuously.

  Basic functions while running in low-power mode went off-line. Cabin pressure was maintained at the cost of climate control. Temperatures rose to match the warm-blooded creature’s body heat. Inactive sweat glands, coupled with hydration protection skin suits, kept crew-members core temperatures within a normal range: 107 degrees — normal body temperatures under adrenaline enhancement treatments.

  As the Gato swam across the black zone the only thing marking the passage of time was the changing of the interior lights: white to represent day and amber to represent night.

  Kenshin kept busy, using the time to monitor individual data streams in the BESTIOS while the Gato plowed through the depths in low-power consumption mode.

  Sobuku shadowed Kenshin, recording results on her standalone tablet. After four successive changes of the cabin lighting, 96 hours of checking, double-checking, and triple-checking, ship operational systems brought the Gato Kujira Maru to maximum efficiency. Every component in a vast neural network of biological, mental energy, and mineral energy ran at 100 percent power capabilities.

  On the fifth day of the black zone crossing, Sobuku asked Kenshin, “Captain, how long will the fuel storage build-up last?”

  “Maximum fuel capacity, when combined with the initial stages of lower-power consumption, will generally last a full 30 days. This figure can be adjusted. Decreasing power consumption on the cabin side will keep the whale’s fat cells from breaking down.

  “Theoretically, the pilot’s personal plug will keep the skin-suit operational. One-hundred per cent of on board Coreglass energy can be diverted to preservation of fat cells.”

  “How long can this continue?”

  “Full-power diversion would add another two weeks — 45 days.”

  One side-effect Sobuku saw came with adrenaline boosters was the need to stay active. Even short periods of inactivity brought on an array of nervous habits: rapid eye-blinking, nostril twisting, mouth biting, rubbing the skin on the side of thumbs raw with fingernails.