Infinity's Shore (87 page)

She seemed irked, as if his request were unexpected. But in fact, Dwer had asked for nothing else since his second day aboard this vessel.

The two humans drifted near each other in a spacious, water-filled chamber, the control center of starship
Streaker
. Dolphins flew past them across the spherical room, breathing oxygen-charged fluid with lungs that had been modified to make it almost second nature. At consoles and workstations, they switched to bubble domes or tubes attached directly to their blowholes. It seemed as strange an environment as Dwer had ever dreamed, yet the fins seemed in their element. By contrast, Dwer and Gillian wore balloonlike garments, seeming quite out of place.

“I'm not doing any good here,” he repeated, hearing the words narrowly projected by his globe helmet. “I got no skills you can use. I can hardly breathe the stuff you call air. Most important, there are folks waiting for me. Who need me. Can't you just cut me loose in some kind of a boat?”

Gillian closed her eyes and sighed—a brief, eerie set of clicks and chuttering moans. “Look, I understand your predicament,” she said in Anglic. “But I have over a hundred lives to look after … and a lot more at stake, in a larger sense. I'm sorry, Dwer. All I can hope is that you'll understand.”

He knew it useless to pursue the matter further. A dolphin at one of the bridge stations called for attention, and Gillian was soon huddled with that fin and Lieutenant Tsh't, solving the latest crisis.

The groan of
Streaker
's engines made Dwer's head itch—a residual effect, perhaps, of the way his brain was palped and bruised by the Danik robot. He had no proof things would really be any better if he found his way back
to shore. But his legs, arms, and lungs all pined for wilderness—for wind on his face and the feel of rough ground underfoot.

A ghostly map traced its way across the bridge. The realm of dry land was a grayish border rimming both sides of a submerged canyon—the Rift—now filled with moving lights, dispersing like fire bees abandoning their hives. So it seemed to Dwer as over a hundred ancient Buyur vessels came alive after half a million years, departing the trash heap where they were consigned long ago.

The tactic was familiar. Many creatures used flocking to confuse predators. He approved the cleverness of Gillian and her crew, and wished them luck.

But I can't help them. I'm useless here. She ought to let me go.

Most of the salvaged ships were under robotic control, programmed to follow simple sets of instructions. Volunteers rode a few derelicts, keeping close to
Streaker
, performing special tasks.
Rety
had volunteered for one of those teams, surprising Dwer and worrying him at the same time.

She never does anything unless there's an angle.

If he had gone along, there might have been a chance to veer the decoy close to shore, and jump off.…

But no, he had no right to mess up Gillian's plan.

Dammit, I'm used to action! I can't handle being a passive observer.

But handle it he must.

Dwer tried to cultivate patience, ignoring an itch where the bulky suit would not let him scratch, watching the lights disperse—most heading for the mouth of the Rift, spilling into the vast oceanic abyss of the Great Midden itself.

“
Starship enginesss!
” The gravitics detector officer announced, thrashing her tail flukes in the water, causing bubbles in the supercharged liquid.

“
P-passive detectors show Nova class or higher … it'sss following the path of the Riffft
.…”

Ewasx

R
EALIZATION EMERGES, ALONG WITH A STENCH OF frustration.

The vast fleet of vessels that we briefly feared has proved not to be a threat, after all. They are not warships, but decommissioned vessels, long ago abandoned as useless for efficient function.

Nevertheless, they baffle and thwart our goal/mission.

A blast of leadership pheromones cuts through the disappointed mist.

“TO WORK THEN,” our Captain-Leader proclaims.

“WE ARE SKILLED. WE ARE MIGHTY. SO LET US DO YOUR/OUR JOBS WELL.

“PIERCE THIS MYSTERY. FIND THE PREY. WE ARE JOPHUR. WE SHALL PREVAIL.”

Dwer

R
GLITTERING LIGHT ENTERED THE DISPLAY ZONE
, much higher and much larger than any of the others, and cruising well above the imaginary waterline.

That must be the battleship
, he thought. His mind tried to come up with an image. Something huge and terrible. Clawed and swift.

Suddenly, the detection officer's voice went shrill. “
They're dropping ordnance!
”

Sparks began falling from the big glow.

Bombs
, Dwer realized. He had seen this happen before, but not on such a profuse scale.

Lieutenant Tsh't shouted a warning.

“All handsss, prepare for shock waves!”

Sara

A
HOONISH WORK CREW SWARMED OVER THE TRAM
after the passengers debarked, filling the car with stacks of folded cloth. Teams had been sending the stuff up to the forge since dawn, stripping every ship of its sails. But the urrish smith hardly glanced at the cargo. Instead, Uriel trotted off, leading the way down to the cove with a haughty centauroid gait.

The dense, salty air of sea level affected everybody. Sara kept an eye on Emerson, who sniffed the breeze and commented in song.

The khutas and warehouses of the little port were shaded by a dense lattice of melon vines and nectar creepers, growing with a lush, tropical abundance characteristic of southern climes. The alleys were deserted though. Everyone was either working for Uriel or else down by the bay, where a crowd of hoons and qheuens babbled excitedly. Several hoons—males and females with beards of seniority—knelt by the edge of a quay, conversing toward the water, using animated gestures. But the town officials made way when Uriel's party neared.

Sara kept her attention on Emerson, whose expression stayed casually curious until the last moment, when a sleek gray figure lifted its glossy head from the water.

The starman stopped and stared, blinking rapidly.

He's surprised
, Sara thought.
Could we be wrong? Perhaps he has nothing to do with the dolphin ship.

Then the cetacean emissary lifted its body higher, thrashing water with its tail.

“Sssso, it's true.…” the fishlike Terran said in thickly
accented Anglic, inspecting Emerson with one eye, then the other.

“Glad to see you living. Engineer D-D'Anite. Though it hardly seems possible, after what we saw happen to you back at the Fractal world.

“I confessss, I can't see how you followed us to this whale-forsaken planet.”

Powerful emotions fought across Emerson's face. Sara read astonishment, battling surges of both curiosity and frustrated despair.

“K-K-K—”

The dismal effort to speak ended in a groan.

“A-ah-ahh …”

The dolphin seemed upset by this response, chuttering dismay over the human's condition.

But then Emerson shook his head, seeking to draw on other resources. At last, he found a way to express his feelings, releasing a burst stream of song.

Gillian