first aftershock rolled overhead.
The sled bucked, but he was prepared this time. They were deep, and the wave passed with surprising quickness.
“Okay, here goes.” He pushed the throttle forward to max and blew ballast.
Soon the metal island appeared on his left. The screams of his comrades grew distinctly louder. The distress call was now pre-eminent over the rescue fever response.
Toshio steered past the mound to the north. He wanted to give Brookida a head start.
Just then, however, a sleek gray figure shot past, just overhead. He recognized it at once, and where it was headed.
Toshio cut the final lashing. “Get moving, Brookida! If you come back anywhere near this island, I’ll rip your harness and bite your tail in half!”
Brookida dropped away and the sled turned sharply. Toshio kicked in emergency power to try to catch up with Keepiru. The fastest swimmer in the Streak’s crew was heading straight for the western beach. His cries were pure Primal Delphin.
“Damn you, Keepiru. Stop!”
The sled sped quickly, just under the water’s surface. The afternoon had aged, and there was a reddish tinge to the clouds, but Toshio could clearly see Keepiru leaping from wavelet to wavelet up ahead. He appeared indifferent to Toshio’s calls as he neared the island where his comrades lay beached and delirious.
Toshio felt helpless. Another aftershock was due in three minutes. If it didn’t beach the dolphin, Keepiru’s own efforts probably would. Keepiru came from Atlast, a new and rather rustic colony world. It was doubtful he had learned the tools of mental discipline studied by Creideiki and Hikahi.
“Stop! If we time it right we can work as a team! We can miss the aftershocks! Will you let me catch up?” he screamed. It was no use. The fin had too much of a head start.
The futile chase frustrated Toshio. How could he have lived and worked with dolphins all his life and known them so poorly? To think the Terragens Council had chosen him for this tour because of his experience with fins! Hah!
Toshio had always taken a lot of kidding from fins. They kidded all human children, while protecting them ferociously. But on signing aboard Streaker, Toshio had expected to be treated as an adult and officer. Sure, there’d be a little repartée, as he’d seen between man and fin back home, but mutual respect, as well. It hadn’t worked out that way.
Keepiru had been the worst, starting right off with heavy sarcasm and never letting up.
So why am I trying to save him?
He recalled the fierce courage Keepiru had shown in saving him from the weed. There was no rescue fever then. The fin had been in full control over his harness.
So, he thinks of me as a child, Toshio realized bitterly. No wonder he doesn’t hear me now.
Still, it offered a way. Toshio bit his lip, wishing vainly for an alternative. To save Keepiru’s life he would have to humiliate himself utterly. It wasn’t an easy thing to decide, his pride had taken such a beating.
With a savage curse, he pulled back the throttle and set the bow planes to descend. He turned up the hydrophones to maximum, swallowed, then cried out in pidgin Trinary.
* Child drowning—child in danger! *
* Child drowning—child’s distress *
* Human child—in need of savior *
* Human child—come do your best! *
He repeated the call over and over, whistling through lips dry with shame. The nursery rhyme was taught to all the children of Calafia. Any kid past the age of nine who used it usually pleaded for transfer to another island to escape the subsequent razzing. There were more dignified ways an adult called for help.
None of which Keepiru had heard!
Ears burning, he repeated the call.
Not all Calafian kids did well with the fins. Only a quarter of the planet’s human population worked closely with the sea. But those adults were the ones who learned how to deal with dolphins. Toshio had always assumed he’d be one of them.
Now that was all over. If he got back to Streaker he’d have to hide in his cabin … for at least the few days or weeks it took for the victors of the battle over Kithrup to come down and claim them all.
On his sonar screen, another fuzzy line of static was approaching from the west. Toshio let the sled slip a little deeper. Not that he cared. He continued to whistle, but he felt like crying.
# where—where—where child is—where child is? where #
Primal Delphin! Nearby! Almost, Toshio forgot his