Memsala and Boro swam for hours, following a native giant sea turtle who guided them farther and farther into the open ocean.
After about two hours, Boro started to feel embarrassed — his tired leg muscles were forcing him to slow down.
As three hours approached, he felt better because Memsala was looking exhausted too.
Their guide slowed with them, but didn’t offer to stop and rest, or even tell them how much longer they had to swim.
When they arrived, both Nebador citizens immediately knew what their guide wanted them to see. The native testudine stopped a hundred meters short of the edge of a huge floating mass of trash that bobbed on the ocean waves — crushed plastic bottles, empty cups, pieces of rope, broken toys, and a thousand other things, all mixed with oily chemicals that created an iridescent film on the surface.
The turtles looked at each other and exchanged silent thoughts for a few minutes as Boro paddled closer to examine the floating mess.
“This is only a small part of what the monkey mammals dump in the sea,”
Memsala explained when they were all back together. “The heavy stuff sinks to the bottom. Many creatures die when they eat bits of it, thinking it might be food. Many more become sick drinking the polluted water, then larger creatures eat them, all the way up to the monkey mammals who fish with huge
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nets.”
The turtles conferred a bit more.
“The monkey mammals eat the fish and then have babies with missing parts, or clumps of cells in their bodies that don’t know when to stop growing, and they can’t figure out why.”
Boro raised his eyebrows.
“Yes, my friend, there is ultimately justice in the universe,” Memsala continued, “even though many innocent creatures must suffer along with the guilty ones.”
The three swam slowly away from the floating garbage dump, all in a somber mood. The journey that had taken four hours the first time, took six on the way back.
But when they arrived at the lagoon of a small uninhabited island, Boro was amazed by the sudden change. Turtles began arriving from all directions, some huge and scarred with age, others just hatched, and every size in between.
They all immediately began playing.
Boro smiled, but absolutely had to find something to eat. Luckily, the island provided plenty of fruit not far from the lagoon. After devouring several pieces and drinking deeply at a little stream, he waded back into the water to join the fun.
Memsala shared with him, in the language of Nebador, things she heard with her mind, but none of the chatter was about floating trash or polluted water. As the turtles played, they spoke of hidden caves and tasty fish, secret lagoons and laughing dolphins. Boro felt like he had been transported to another planet, and the nearest problem of any kind was light-years away.
But eventually the sun found the western horizon and evening settled over the lagoon. The many testudine of all sizes slowly ceased their merry-making and took on serious moods. It wasn’t long before Boro realized they were all looking at Memsala and him.
For a time, the contact specialist was silent.
Finally she spoke to share with Boro what was going on. “I have told them that we are about to give the monkey mammals of the planet a twelve-year
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warning. Those humans already know, thanks to the Temporandek Teacher, what is coming. Now it is time for them to decide to act, or not, as they choose. If they do not, we will return with ships for any sapient and near-sapient peoples who would like to move to a better home. I have asked the testudine if they would like a ship to come for them.”
Memsala fell silent and Boro was soon dying of curiosity. “What did they say?”
“About what I thought they would say.”
Boro waited anxiously.
“They will think about it, and if it seems like the right thing to do at the time, they will go with joy in their hearts.”