The following day was a well-earned rest for ship and crew. Ilika scheduled two language lessons, and spent some time with each of his students, but otherwise left lots of free time for everyone to run in the sand and lie in the sun. All day long, he overheard chatter about their experiences the day before, their growing wonder at their little ship’s abilities, and their amazement that they were part of it all.
“We made a plan,” Sata said as she and Boro picked fruit on the edge of the tropical forest a short walk down the beach from the landing site. “I’m going to experiment with different things on my main display, and see if I can figure out what made me freak out. Ilika reminded me that I could have selected Mati’s three-D topographic instead of staring at a dark screen. I felt so stupid.”
Boro grinned. “I’ve been listening, and no one’s bothered by what happened, ‘cause you didn’t bolt like Kibi did.”
“Thanks. I don’t think she’ll ever bolt again.”
“I think she knows it would be her last.”
“Yeah. Are these long green things edible?” Sata asked.
“Uh huh. Kibi found a yellow one that had fallen off and ripened, and she tested it.”
“Okay, I’ll get this bunch if you’ll carry back the pear-shaped things with the black seeds.”
“Deal.”
NEBADOR Book Four: Flight Training 98
With more language lessons under their belts, the captain of the Manessa Kwi began to slip additional words of his language into routine conversations, and added to the list of words Manessa could use when speaking to them.
As they all sat around the table the next morning after breakfast, he passed out breathing masks. “The hardest part of underwater work is getting used to the mask. Our eyes don’t work well in contact with water, and our lungs, of course, don’t work at all.”
Boro cocked his head and grinned.
“The masks take care of both problems, and also provide two-way communication with the ship.”
“So . . . this would work if we went higher than eight thousand meters where the air gets really thin . . . or we had to stay up there longer,” Boro speculated.
“Or in space where there’s no air at all!” Sata added.
“Yes,” Ilika confirmed, “although space requires a different suit.”
“The orange ones,” Kibi said from memory.
“Right. Today we use the blue suits. They don’t keep the water out, but the little bit that gets in is quickly warmed by our bodies. The belt has adjustable mass so we can sink, float, or whatever we need to do. But we start by getting comfortable with the masks. You can do this part too, Mati.”
Ilika put on his breathing mask and the others did likewise. They made faces at each other through the masks, which quickly fogged up when they laughed.
“It’s instinctive to hold your breath when under water,” Ilika explained through the intercom, “so you have to make yourselves breathe. Also, if you feel fear or anxiety, you might start breathing too fast. Sata has to really watch this in herself.”
She nodded thoughtfully.
For the next hour, they prepared for their underwater adventure while getting used to the masks. Ilika taught them the bracelet code that would scare away any underwater beasties, then got into a blue suit while the others secured the landing site and the ship. Mati, still in her mask, piloted the ship to the middle of the cove and placed it on the bottom. Only about a meter of water covered the top of the ship.
NEBADOR Book Four: Flight Training 99
With his five crew members watching, Ilika demonstrated the air lock on the lower deck. As soon as he was gone, they dashed up the lift to watch and listen at their stations.
“The bottom is sandy, and there’s a slight current toward the open ocean,”
he said as he walked slowly around the ship through the water, “but nothing that requires a safety line. Since I’m in an environment that could have predators, you guys are watching my back.”
Boro and Kibi both reassured him.
“I’m doing my work first. The practice hatch is open. The part is out. I’m pausing to check behind me . . . nothing in sight. Replacement part is in and hatch closed.”
Those in the ship saw a shadow pass slowly over the sea bottom near their captain.
“Ilika!” Kibi nearly screamed. “Look above you!”
They could see him tilt his head back and reach for his bracelet at the same time. “Nothing above me. Might have been a cloud passing over the sun.”
Rini selected a view straight up. “Yep, it was a cloud.”
“Good. Now I’m adjusting my belt until I’m the same density as the water, so I can just swim around and get used to it. Even though I can still see the bottom, this would feel exactly the same if I had a deep trench under me.”
Sata gritted her teeth for a moment, then made herself breathe slowly and evenly through the mask.
“I’m going to scare off this fish just for practice,” Ilika announced. His students faintly heard the strange warbling sound made by the bracelet, and could see the little fish dart away.
“Um . . . Ilika, what about dinner?” Boro asked. “Do we have a net?”
Ilika chuckled. “Sorry, Boro, we do not. Maybe we can pick one up somewhere. I’m coming in. Kibi and Sata are next.”
The two girls waved to their friends as the airlock door closed and the chamber filled with water.
“How do you feel, Sata?” came Ilika’s voice.
“I feel okay. I’m used to the mask, and everything’s light and pretty out here. Kibi’s standing watch, so I’m opening the practice hatch.”
NEBADOR Book Four: Flight Training 100
Sata’s part replacement exercise was completed effortlessly, with several little fish watching. Then the girls changed places.
“I have the hatch open and the old part out,” Kibi reported.
“Another shadow from above,” Mati mentioned from her station without much concern.
“Kibi duck!” Sata yelled without warning as she stepped backwards, reached for her bracelet, and a moment later those in the ship heard a high-pitched sound.
Ilika tried desperately to see what was happening, but for a moment the view was clouded by stirred-up sand and mud. “Sata, report!” he yelled, ready to dash for the airlock.
“Wow. Hold on, I’m helping Kibi up.”
“What was it?” Kibi asked as she collected herself.
“Damned big fish . . . with teeth!” Sata declared.
“It’s gone belly-up,” Kibi observed.
“I think I used the sleep code instead of the scare code,” Sata admitted.
“How big?” Ilika asked.
“About . . . two meters,” Kibi estimated. “And it’s got a row of teeth you could plow a field with.”
“Shark!” Boro declared. “Good eating.”
“Can we keep it, Ilika?” Sata asked.
“I think . . . um . . . we have to. I forgot to mention it, but the sleep function is deadly to fish.”
“Whoopee!” Boro cheered from his station. “Fresh fish for dinner!”
“I heard that,” Sata said through the intercom. “We need a rope or something before it drifts away.”
Ilika laughed and shooed Boro toward the lift to help the girls with their catch.
The little ship had never before been used for the processing of freshly-caught fish, but in a pinch, it was up to the task. Ilika remembered a good supply of food preservation pouches, but neither he nor Kibi could find them. Eventually Rini, by lying on his belly, discovered them in the very back of the lowest cabinet, behind the sacks of dried beans.
NEBADOR Book Four: Flight Training 101
Boro hoisted their catch onto the table, and everyone sat down with knives to dissect the aquatic beast. Kibi received bowls of cut-up shark meat to take to the galley where she carefully filled and sealed each pouch. Finally Ilika showed them how to select the proper type and amount of radiation in the oven to sterilize the pouches without cooking the contents.
Sata wrinkled her nose. “Our ship smells like a fish market!”
Boro and Rini were soon ready to go. They stepped into the airlock and waved good-bye to Ilika and Kibi.
“This is fun!” Rini said through the intercom as he adjusted his belt and began to swim.
Boro preferred walking on the sandy bottom, but grinned as Rini twisted himself every which way and turned somersaults. “Okay, my turn,” Boro finally said.
They traded places, and in his own way, much more slowly and carefully, Boro discovered the joy of moving in the water among several curious little fish.
Eventually Ilika cleared his throat. “Don’t forget the parts exercise.”
“Oh, yeah.” Boro adjusted his belt so he would settle back to the bottom.
Rini approached the little practice hatch, glanced behind him to see that Boro was standing watch, and went to work. He was almost finished when Boro suddenly yelled, “Oh, no! Three or four of them!”
“No, Bor . . .” Ilika tried to say, but was cut off by the high-pitched sound of Boro’s bracelet.
“I got one!” Boro declared with heart-pounding excitement.
“Don’t try to get any more!” Ilika commanded.
“Why
not?”
“Those aren’t sharks,” Ilika said firmly. “They’re dolphins, sapient mammals, and must breathe air. Get the unconscious one into the airlock, quickly! I’ll come out to help!”
Ilika dashed for the lift.
“I don’t understand,” Boro confessed. “It looks like a fish.”
“I don’t either,” Kibi said from the ship. “Just drag it toward the airlock as fast as you can, and Ilika will meet you.”
NEBADOR Book Four: Flight Training 102
By the time Boro and Rini had the creature near the airlock, Ilika was already outside, breathing mask on but still wearing his clothes. He quickly maneuvered the gray mammal into the airlock and pulled himself in after, saying, “You two come in next cycle.”
When Boro and Rini got inside and pulled off their breathing masks, Ilika had the creature on the floor of the lower deck and was carefully turning it onto its side while Kibi slipped blankets underneath. “Boro, help me. Rini, get a big bowl, cycle the airlock, and bring it in full of sea water.”
Ilika and Boro worked together to turn the creature, then Ilika pushed firmly on its chest as water trickled out its mouth and blowhole. Then they turned it onto the other side and did the same. Finally Ilika slapped its chest hard several times, paused to watch and listen, then slapped again.
Nearing the end of hope, Ilika yelled, “Please breathe!” and slapped the animal’s back one more time. Suddenly it sputtered and more water gushed from its blowhole, then it sucked air greedily.
“Hurray!” Mati and Sata cheered, standing by helplessly and not knowing what else to do.
“Let’s turn her back over,” Ilika said, and he and Boro worked together.
“Rini, start sprinkling water onto her back. Manessa, talk to her.” Ilika’s last sentence was completely in the language of Nebador, but with a little thought, the others figured it out.
The ship began making rapid, high-pitched squawking sounds.
Boro’s eyes opened wide with recognition. “I heard those sounds just before I used my bracelet!”
“That’s their language,” Ilika explained, stroking the creature and watching as it lay still, desperately sucking and blowing air.
“You mean . . . Manessa can speak their language . . . even though she can’t speak ours?” Mati asked with surprise and a hint of jealousy.
“Yes. Their language is universal. Millions all over Nebador speak it.
Yours is very local. Only seven or eight people, outside your planet, know it.
I’m one of them.”
Boro struggled with himself. “Um . . . I’m . . . I didn’t know. I’m . . . sorry.”
“It was an honest mistake, and partly mine for not telling you about them.”
NEBADOR Book Four: Flight Training 103
“So she’s . . . sapient . . . like Tera?” Mati asked.
“Tera is barely sapient. Dolphins are highly intelligent. They’re represented in the Nebador Services, and run Transport Service ships, just like you do. This young lady, of course, lives on a simple planet, and knows nothing of response ships, just like Pica and Farmer Keni.”
“Can we . . . touch her?” Rini asked.
“Yes. They like touch, as long as they’re wet with sea water. Mati and Boro, please go up and move the ship to the edge of the cove — in about a meter of water.”
The pilot and engineer headed for the lift, then returned to the lower deck when they had completed the task.
“I think our guest has recovered enough to return to the sea,” Ilika announced.
“Um . . . Ilika . . .” Boro began hesitantly. “I’d like to say I’m sorry to her before she goes. Will Manessa translate for me?”
“Yes. Come sit where she can see you.”
Boro seated himself on one side of the dolphin’s head. “I’m very sorry. I thought you were a shark.”
Ilika said something in his language that they couldn’t follow, then Manessa uttered more squeaks and squawks.
The dolphin spoke for the first time since awakening.
“She says, please learn the difference,” Manessa said in her pleasant voice with words Boro could follow.
After releasing the dolphin back into the cove, the crew set to work preparing a dinner of fried shark, a tangy sauce created by Sata, vegetable stew by Rini, and fruit from the tropical forest.
Then Boro asked to fulfill the request made of him by the creature who had nearly died because of his mistake. Ilika selected several videos, and the entire crew soon knew the difference between the non-sapient denizens of the deep, and the intelligent mammals of the sea, some of whom could fly starships.
The next day, with the shark bones out for the birds to pick, and the crew
NEBADOR Book Four: Flight Training 104
ready to say good-bye to the little island, Boro happened to glance through the open hatch. “The water’s full of dolphins!”
“Shall we go swim with them?” Ilika proposed.
Everyone
nodded.
Following Ilika’s lead, they grabbed breathing masks and stripped down to their shorts. Mati smiled and came more slowly, knowing she would enjoy the warm sand.
For the next half-hour, the five humans swam and played with the pod of dolphins, sometimes reaching out to touch the slippery gray skin, at other times being shoved this way and that by strong snouts.
When the dolphins headed out to sea, the humans returned to the beach.
Boro came last, and when he was standing in water just to his knees, he felt a nudge. Looking down, he saw the same female he had accidentally put to sleep. He sat down in the water and touched her.
“I’m glad you forgive me. I was so ashamed . . .”
Just then he felt a sharp pain, and the dolphin dashed away, then turned and danced on her tail while chattering. A moment later she slipped into the water and was gone from sight.
Boro sat in the water laughing deeply.
“What’s so funny?” Mati asked from the beach.
He stood up, blood flowing down his leg. “She bit me.”
Ilika started laughing. “She could have, just as easily, torn your leg off.”
Boro
smiled.
Deep Learning Notes
NEBADOR Book Four: Flight Training 105
What tropical fruit is long and green, and only ripens to yellow off the tree?
What is pear-shaped with black seeds?
The regular breathing that divers use, avoiding either holding their breath or breathing too fast (hyperventilating), is similar to breathing during meditation.
A shallow-water diving suit is called a “wet suit” because it doesn’t attempt to keep out the water, but instead provides insulation from the cold of the water.
The small amount of water that gets in, as Ilika explained, is quickly warmed by our bodies. Any suit that keeps all the water out (such as a “deep-sea diving suit”) is very stiff and clumsy.
Many aspects of the crew’s training, you might have noticed, involved dealing with the physical reality at hand, and avoiding any limitations placed upon us by our fears. No doubt Ilika compared swimming in a few meters of water, with swimming above an ocean trench, just for Sata’s benefit.
For most of our history, anything that lived in the sea was called a “fish.”
There are stories about marine mammals doing very un-fish-like things (such as rescuing people), but only recently did we realize they are mammals, like us, with large brains, like us. The evidence, from both their bodies and fossil records, tells us they once lived on land, and at some point returned to the sea. Marine mammals include whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, walruses, and manatees.
We cannot understand any of the sounds made by marine mammals, and many people would deny they have a language. That, of course, is an example of the point-of-view fallacy. We have noticed, however, that the sounds made by small dolphins are very similar to those made by huge whales, just higher-pitched. We have also discovered that these sounds can carry through the ocean for hundreds of miles.
Why were Boro and Ilika laughing after the dolphin bit Boro?
