Diaspora Prime 8-12

DIASPORA PRIME

Date April 4 2017.
Author Palantir palantir@diasporatales.tech
Subject Diaspora Prime.

The author retains copyright (2012) to this story. Reproducing this story for distribution without the author's permission is a violation of that copyright.
This story is fiction.

Thank you Nifty for the opportunity to post this story.

This story is first of the TALES OF THE TERRAN DIASPORA.

Wirrin shares his life with two friends on one of the great space habitats.

DIASPORA PRIME Part 8.

Next Part

An hour later everyone was gathered in a Tech room at the dolphinarium, looking at images that were being beamed direct from Monkey Mia. In one window a small pod of dolphins was cruising serenely in the shallow waters near the Marine Station and in another a pair of males were hunting food on the eastern side of Shark Bay. Another section of the screen showed the position of over 700 dolphins in the bay and the adjoining Indian Ocean. There was a stunningly beautiful aerial view which ten minutes earlier had zoomed to a group of basking tiger sharks, mortal enemies of dolphins, particularly when there were vulnerable new born calves around. As well they could see water-craft converging from all directions towards the research station.

"What's that?"

A new screen opened with some sort of aerial craft approaching. Turaku appeared as well.

"It's a transport from Carnarvon Thom, with the surveillance equipment. Everything else is coming from Exmouth where there is a highly capable processing facility."

A quick check showed Carnarvon 100 km away at the very northern end of shark Bay and Exmouth another 250 km beyond that.

"The responses in Australia have been instant and are moving as well as we could hope, and another forty minutes should see the arrival of the major consignment from Exmouth."

Turaku disappeared again and Wirrin took that as a signal they wouldn't see any major developments for another forty minutes. He kept an eye on Calen but didn't really need to, as he was handling everything very well. The rush to support him at the staging area had turned into a kind of anti-climax because Sonic had done the job for them. When they arrived the dolphin speak was faster than any time Wirrin could remember. Back on Attunga, when Calen rejoined them he explained how Sonic had made him feel better.

"He called me a worry wart."

"A what?"

"I know. I had to ask him. It just means someone who worries too much but it sounded funny and I had to smile."

"How would he know a word like that?"

"He read it on an Interweb dictionary. He's got a new game where he says unusual words to surprise me."

Wirrin didn't know Sonic could use the Interweb, let alone read.

"Do you think he said it on purpose to cheer you up?"

"Of course he did."

"What did he say about the attacks?"

"He hates them, but the dolphins all say Turaku will soon fix everything.
Dolphins don't think like we do. Their minds were on the new reach and they were eager to see the other dolphins and tell them how good it is."

It certainly seemed like the dolphin's judgement of Turaku's abilities was correct. For a while everyone watched the screens as information arrived from Monkey Mia, but when it didn't change much Wirrin started his own holo and called up archived information about the area and started exploring.
Shark Bay was beautiful, and ever since the planetary clean-up of ocean pollution had been completed over fifty years ago, marine life was flourishing.
An overhead view travelled past islands, along the stark contrast of blue water, red-soiled country and white shelly beaches.

"This place is amazing. There are nearly 15,000 dugongs there."

"What's a dugong?"

"A mermaid."

Thom laughed because Calen was pulling his leg, then looked at him strangely when he saw he wasn't.

"So?"

"Dugongs are mammals ...find an image for him Wirrin... and when they feed their baby they swim upright and hold it against their teats with their flipper. Sailors thought they were ladies with tails."

That was interesting. Trust Calen to know something like that about animals. The image appeared and set Thom laughing.

"They thought those were ladies? Their faces look like an elephant with it's trunk cut off."

"The sailors might have been drinking alcohol Thom, and you're cleverer than you think because they really are elephants. Well, they're in the same family."

Wirrin found a clip of a dugong swimming and set it going.

"They're as big as dolphins."

The clip finished and Wirrin shifted the view to the south of Monkey Mia where another interesting feature was indicated. Stromatalites? What were they? A command brought up a picture of some lumpy looking rocks.

"Why are we looking at rocks?"

Calen gave Thom a nudge in the ribs with his elbow.

"Because they're alive."

"Living rocks? Sure too!"

"Thom, you need to do more biology studies. They're one of the first living things ever on the earth and they put the oxygen into the air. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them. They grow sort of like coral does."

For a few minutes they watched an explanation about these stromatolites and everything Calen had said was correct. Time passed very quickly, switching from feature to feature, the islands, special animal life, Eagle Bluff, the beaches made of shells instead of sand, and views of the familiar heritage animals, eagles, kangaroos, goannas, and pelicans. Wirrin's favourite was the echidna and they were everywhere.
Calen looked for his namesake, the sparrow-hawk, but they were very uncommon for the area.

"There's the big transporter."

Sparrow-hawks, echidnas and tiger sharks were forgotten and Wirrin switched off his holo as attention turned to the main viewing screen.

"What's it doing? Is it landing in the ocean?"

It was big, really big, and it did look like it was landing, and that was a puzzle because it was still ninety km away.

"It's not landing. It's preparing for a drop of surveillance devices."

The view moved closer and showed a smaller unit disengage from the big one, then another and another. A black mist trailed from the first smaller unit as it increased speed and headed south. The second smaller unit set a parallel course and started its own controlled release of surveillance devices. Twelve more units did the same, before the big transporter lifted and started speeding towards Monkey Mia.
For the next hour the fourteen air transports systematically dropped their clouds of tiny devices, returning to the big transport several times to restock, till the total area of shark Bay was covered. Wirrin brought up the data and turned to Thom because he liked big numbers.

"Look at that. There's nearly forty billion of them."

"They made all those in half an hour?"

Wirrin had a think about it, wondered how it was possible, and looked for information.

"It's a standard robotics factory and they cancelled all their ordinary tasks till this one was finished. They kept making machines, which made the machines which make the devices, till there were enough."

"That's a standard factory? The advanced ones must be amazing.

Wirrin had a general knowledge about robotics but hadn't realised they were so capable. Hmm! A study unit might be a good idea.
Data poured in from the minute surveillance devices as more and more were guided to position and came online. Every ninety metres in the water was a larger device which controlled the behaviour of the nearby smaller ones. It gathered all the information they were sensing and retransmitted it to a receiving processor on the big transport craft at Monkey Mia for processing and storage.

"What are you smiling for Gelar?"

"The research centre there is going to be happy. They'll have a database like they've never seen before. How long will the system stay in place for them?"

"...One week. ...And then everything is recalled and reclaimed."

Wirrin thought about it. A database with forty billion inputs recording everything they were sensing in one of the planets special marine areas. No wonder Gelar was smiling.
The main screen changed to a view of the whole area with hundreds of little markers dotted randomly.

"...It's the dolphin screen. It's showing the exact position of every single one of them."

"How many?"

"...784. See those green numbers near monkey Mia? They are the targeted ones. The rest are wild."

All the dolphins would have to be protected, as the previous attacks had affected every nearby dolphin. Monkey Mia worked closely with twenty-seven dolphins and not quite so closely with another forty-five.

"Gelar, we should eat. There's an hour and a half before the craft from Exmouth arrives and after that we'll be keeping watch."

Gelar led the way to one of the dolphinarium food centres where Calen and Wirrin appointed Thom to do all the ordering and preparation because he had the knack of knowing how to make everything turn out tasty. Three quarters of an hour later Warrigal and Gelar were joining the chorus of appreciation when Warrigal went quiet.

"We need to move back to the Tech room."

"Has something happened?"

"Yes, but not on Earth. Our Witnesses have been watching everything of course, but Akama wants to be involved first-hand and he's waiting for us."

Everyone froze on the spot, then Calen expressed the astonishment they all felt.

"Akama?"

"Yes."

Akama was the oldest Witness, the first Witness, and the most universally recognised person on Attunga, and the prospect of seeing him in person was not something Wirrin, Thom and Calen had ever even considered. There was more silence till Warrigal gave a reassuring smile.

"There's nothing to be nervous about. He's easy to talk to."

"You've spoken to him?"

"Yes I have Thom. Several times in conference but when I started my training we met personally, and he's contacted me a number of times recently."

Conferencing meant by holo.

"Were the recent contacts about the dolphins?"

"And your trio."

That was a startling thought.

"Us?"

"Because of your association with Sonic of course, but he has a personal interest as well."

Warrigal led the way in quite a hurry and couple of minutes later they re-entered the tech room. The distinctive white hair and dark skin took Wirrin's attention till Akama turned from the screen and smiled.

"Welcome to my place."

Everyone responded, and Wirrin, caught by the strength of personality and rather awed, watched a set of dark eyes survey every one in turn then settle on his own.

"Wirrin, the dark featured one. My brother returns."

He moved close, extended his arm and rested his hand on Wirrin's head. Was it some kind of special greeting? Not knowing how he should respond, Wirrin stood, quietly wondering for five or six seconds till Akama removed his hand. He moved to Warrigal and in a formal, traditional greeting, they grasped each other's wrists.

"Warrigal, introduce me to the rest of your companions."

As Warrigal said their names, Akama repeated the mutual wrist clasp with Gelar, Thom and Calen and then surprisingly, with Wirrin. The hand resting on his head was something different?

"So, I finally meet our notorious trio, our catalyst for change."

Notorious? Finally? Catalyst? Wirrin's mind whirled as he tried to put meaning to it. Well, he didn't mean anything bad, because the smile he had when he saw them first had returned and brightened so much that everyone was smiling back.

"Calen, dolphin boy, tell me about Sonic. Is he really as friendly as all the reports say?"

Calen's eyes lit up and for the next five minutes he excitedly answered all the questions he was asked. Wirrin watched. Akama was different. He looked old and that was very unusual as most older people preferred to keep themselves looking young. Warrigal was 83 and looked much the same as Gelar who was only half that. Akama brought Thom into the conversation, asking him about his organic studies and his interest in flying the different mobile craft, and then it was Wirrin's turn.

"Tell me about your gift for information technology. Have you always had it?"

"Um. ...It's not really a gift. I'm just interested and I've done lots of courses."

Thom and Calen laughed.

"It's a gift Akama. He was playing with databases before he even started basic training."

Akama nodded.

"Yes, I'm sure it's a gift. To come up with an idea the AIs didn't consider must involve more than training and expertise."

Wirrin started to say it was a fluke but movement on the big view screen dramatically refocused everyone's attention. A yellow light was flashing in the Indian Ocean to the west of shark Bay.

"What is it?"

Wirrin found the right link.

"There is a query about a sea-craft there. It seems legitimate but the AIs are making a stronger check because it's moving towards the northern end of Dirk Hartog Island."

Dirk Hartog Island was a long thin island which made a natural barrier between the Indian Ocean and Shark Bay, and the northern end of it was the start of open water access to the bay itself. Wirrin looked at more information.

"There are fifty-seven sea-craft in the critical observation area. Thirty-five are in the bay and the rest are in the Indian Ocean. Most of them are regular or permanent but there are five vessels new to the area in the last twenty-four hours, and that flashing one is one of them."

The view changed and zoomed to an aircraft flying over. It was moving south to north and the data said it was a regular passenger flight. The view changed to a different aircraft, to a large pleasure ship, and then back to the sea-craft with the query. The yellow light was no longer flashing.

"They're not querying that craft any more and the others are standard checks on anything in the area."

There was an exchange of looks as everyone relaxed.

"How long before the assistance from Exmouth arrives?"

The question was from Akama and Wirrin wondered briefly that yet again it was being taken for granted he would be the one to access information.

"...Twenty-six minutes. It's due to take off nine minutes from now."

This was much more exact than the earlier forecasts.

"Seventeen minutes travel time for 350 km? That's fast through an atmosphere."

Thom was in his element.

"It's going to be a spectacular trip. There'll be a sonic-boom and anyone in its path on the surface will wonder what's hit them."

"They'll fly over the ocean and I'm sure they'll transmit a warning."

Warrigal was making sense but Thom brought up an interesting point.

"If they transmit anything it might warn the wrong people."

Akama spoke.

"You like the idea of help arriving on wings of thunder don't you Thom? It's a striking image which I rather like myself. I'm sure that all necessary considerations were made and the aircraft has reached Monkey Mia."

With a little mental jolt Wirrin realised Akama was right. Despite its seeming immediacy, everything they were seeing was really twenty-seven minutes in the past. It was quite reassuring to think that at this very moment the defensive picobots must have started a rush from Monkey Mia to the dolphins. Akama turned to Gelar.

"How are our dolphins reacting to what's happening on earth? I understand they know what's going on."

"Much more positively than we are. Evidently they're confident that Turaku will fix everything. Calen understands them better than anyone and that's his interpretation."

Calen nodded when Akama looked at him for confirmation and then spent some time explaining the dolphin's different way of looking at things.

"Does Sonic fit the same pattern?"

"Yes and no. Basically he's the same, but sometimes I can tell he's modifying his natural instincts and I think it's because he understands so much more than the others. Sonic is very complicated and I never really know what he's going to surprise me with next. He's way smarter than I am."

"He's smarter than all of us, and he'll stay that way unless we try a similar enhancement technique for ourselves. But what sort of things does he surprise you with?"

"Well, a couple of weeks ago he started reading, and last week he suddenly got interested in music."

"Music? Do you mean dolphin music? I know they have communal sounds which fulfil similar functions to our music."

"No, human music. He's known dolphin music since he was tiny."

"Human music is a broad definition. What type of music does he like to listen to?"

"He loves it all. You should see how excited he gets with some of the complicated music."

"And how interested is he? Does he spend much time on it?"

"He must. I'm only with him for one and a half hours each day and we've too many things to fit in, but we use half an hour for music every time."

Use? Wirrin wondered why Calen hadn't just said listen, and he decided he'd ask later what he meant. Gelar started speaking.

"Music currently involves more than fourteen hours of Sonic's day. This behaviour, where he immerses himself till he reaches a level of competency he's happy with, is one of his strongest patterns."

"Fourteen hours? As much as that?"

"Six of those hours are passive listening while he's alternating between left and right brain sleep."

"Sonic is using sleep time to listen to music? I understand how left brain/right brain sleep is a natural dolphin mechanism to prevent drowning, but does it let him remember what he's heard when he wakes up?"

The significance of Akama's question was just dawning in Wirrin's mind when Gelar answered.

"Yes it does, except when he's logging."

"Logging? I don't know that term."

"It's the deepest form of dolphin sleep where one side of the brain is switched off and the other functions minimally. It's called logging because they often float in the one place with hardly any movement. The other form of sleep still alternates in switching off left brain and right brain, but there is much more activity in the conscious side, with awareness of their environment and enough control for basic synchronised movement with other dolphins. Sonic's level of awareness has been improving recently and we think that will continue till he's just over two years old."

"Does he ever seen lonely?"

Gelar and Calen looked at each other in surprise.

"Never. He acts like the happiest dolphin on Attunga. ...What do you think Calen?"

"I think the same. Puck and Flute are always with him, the rest of the pod is never far away, and there's always interaction with the other pods as well."

"I wasn't thinking of physical loneliness. He's unique in his abilities and has no like mind to meet with. The AIs are too different."

The trio had talked about this a great deal so Wirrin knew what Calen would say.

"It's not an issue Honored One, and Sonic says it won't be. He understands how he's been enhanced and the possibility that something could go wrong. He says if it does then he won't know about it and it won't matter, and if it doesn't then it's only another four years till there are more dolphins like him."

Akama smiled and rested at hand on Calen's shoulder.

"Forget the ceremonial address Calen. We're gathered as a like-minded group to watch the resolution of a nasty situation and it's a delight for me to share this company. Now, if Sonic was a human I'd be reverencing him for his wisdom, but from what you've been saying a strong element of this viewpoint is part of his nature?"

"Yes, but he is wise too."

"I wonder what he'll be be like when he's an adult? ...Wirrin, bring up the Shark Bay area on your holo and move to Birringurrah country in the north-east."

A holo of Shark Bay sprang into view and Wirrin quickly shifted the focus in the direction Akama was asking. Birringurrah was an unfamiliar word but it was clearly labelled and with a slight adjustment it was centred.

"Good. Change to topographical and zoom in on the river."

The river was obvious, a big one flowing to Carnarvon on the coast.

"That's it. Now go to Gnardune Pool."

Rich red sand, bordered an expanse of clear water, with a scattering of gnarled and ruggedly striking trees stretching along the shore.

"It's beautiful isn't it? It's my place. I was born there 119 years ago."

Everyone stared at the holo, now focused on one of the bigger trees, and Wirrin wondered. Surely Akama must mean somewhere nearby? There were no buildings.

"My people had a small settlement there and we stayed for five weeks each year for traditional reasons. When I was seventeen the buildings were removed and we returned the whole area to it's natural wild state."

"You lived there? Under the open sky?"

"Yes Thom. For that five weeks. The rest of the year we lived a normal life in underground habitats like everyone else on the planet."

"What's open sky like? ...Is it scary? It is for me when I try it in virtual."

"It's never scary. You don't even think about it till it's not there and then it's wonderful."

"What about lightning? You must have seen that too ...Like Warrigal?"

"Of course. All the weather we simulate in different ways on Attunga so people won't forget.
- Rain, wind, thunder, floods, droughts, rainbows. ...I was nearly blown out of that very tree by a Willy Willy when I was nine years old."

"That same tree? Over 100 years ago?"

"That tree has been there for more than 600 years Thom. It's a river red gum and since it's being well looked after it could be there for another 600."

"And a Willy Willy is some kind of wind?"

"Willy Willies are mischievous spirits who fly around the country pulling up trees and making clouds of dust."

That was Warrigal speaking and the look on his face meant he was remembering for himself.

"When we were children we also called them devils. ...Dust devils. They are really whirlwinds, like mini tornadoes or cyclones. ...Call one up Wirrin."

A whirling cloud of dust and leaves appeared. Well, there was no real dust, leaves or moving air, but the holo was very impressive.

"That must have been scary?"

"No, it was exciting. I remember watching it dance away from me, out over the water, and wondering if it was alive."

Wirrin had a picture in his mind of a wide-eyed dark little face and wiry little arms clinging to the tree, but couldn't fill in the rest of the picture.

"What did you wear?"

"...Why do you ask?"

Feeling slightly awkward Wirrin explained.

"With the tree right there I could see you in my mind hanging on to that big lumpy part. You were wearing shorts like we did at that age and it didn't look right."

"That lumpy part is called a burl and I hung on tight in my traditional costume."

Akama turned to Warrigal.

"Did you live traditionally in your own country?"

"Not until I was fourteen and decided it was important, and then it was every year but I was so busy I could only manage a short time."

"You understand what we mean by traditional living don't you Wirrin?"

"Yes, we learnt about it in heritage studies but it's different for different areas isn't it?"

Akama nodded.

"My parents took it very seriously and when we stayed at Gnardune Pool we lived as close to the old way as we could, hunting for natural food, learning our country, and taking our part in the Dreamtime."

"Natural food? You mean growing in the ground?"

"And running round on top of it. I was very good at catching goannas."

"You ate real animals?"

Thom was expressing the amazement of the whole trio. No one on Attunga ate animals and any form of meat was grown directly in a protein factory.

"It was quite normal then Thom, though respect for sentience was becoming more prevalent because of Level II organics. One of my favorites was the big juicy larva of a moth which used to burrow in the roots of acacia plants. They were called witchetty grubs and we ate them live as well as cooked."

"Live?"

"Don't look so aghast. You're quite used to the idea."

"...We are?"

"Does it worry you when Sonic eats his food alive? I'm sure you don't think twice about it."

Akama was right and it would be an interesting conversation when they talked with Sonic about it.

"Turn your holo off Wirrin and I'll share something with you to make your image of me in the tree more accurate."

Akama's holo took over and showed a boy racing across red sand, running in the shallows with an exuberant spray of water leaping from every footstep, then sprawling head-first at a surprise deepening of the pool. The view zoomed in to catch a gasp for breath, a shake of the head, and happy laughter, before cutting off abruptly when a handful of wet, red sand came flying towards the camera. Another scene appeared in the old 2D medium, with Akama, standing by a fire burning with real wood, glowing with pleasure as he held up a dead goanna.

"I was so proud when I caught that fella that my father said we had to have a record. Watch how we cooked him."

Wirrin knew from the Heritage courses that food had been cooked like this in the past, but seeing Akama actually doing it made it real. He glanced at Calen to see his reaction to the dead goanna.
What? He looked weird? ...And so did Thom? They were sharing glances, looking from the little Akama to Akama now, to Wirrin and then back to the scene as the goanna was prepared over the fire. The cycle repeated itself and Wirrin felt strange because he always had a good idea what they were thinking. Thom whispered something to Calen then turned to Akama.

"Are you playing a trick on us?"

Wirrin's puzzlement turned to shock. Thom must have gone crazy to question Akama like that? And Calen too? His manner said he was in full agreement.

"No tricks Thom. That's me when I was ten years old."

Thom and Calen exchanged another look which said they wanted to believe him but couldn't.

"But?..."

Trying to work out what was going on, Wirrin looked at the others. Gelar was puzzled, Warrigal knew something, and Akama was smiling.

"Yes Thom, we do look similar but keep watching and the differences will stand out."

The scene changed again and the younger Akama went running by, wearing a dark blue shirt and loose white shorts. The setting was somewhere away from Gnardune Pool, a beautiful green grassy area planned out for athletic events, with hundreds and hundreds of people watching. The camera panned to keep the lithe figure centered and the combination of dark skin contrasting with white shorts, dark brown hair and a distinctive gait brought recognition and understanding. ...Partial understanding.

"I was thirteen then."

Wirrin stared in bewilderment as he watched himself run in a place he'd never been, in a time when he hadn't existed. He stared intently at the moving figure.

"That is so amazing. You and Wirrin do look different there, but you still run the same way."

Calen looked back and forth between Wirrin and Akama with a funny grin on his face. He said later that he was wondering if that was what Wirrin was going to look like in another hundred years.

"I loved running. ...Are you happy with your mind image now Wirrin?"

Wirrin recalled the image and then nodded.

"Was leaving your clothes off part of the tradition?"

"It was for our family and particularly for children. We tried to match the old ways as closely as possible."

"Which did you like best? The old way or ordinary living?"

"When I was little the old way was a special holiday each year and it was never long enough. As a teen I stopped thinking in terms of good or better and rather as different facets of my life."

"Wirrin always likes to leave his clothes off. We spend half the time at home that way."

There was a momentary silence till Warrigal chuckled.

"Are you telling us about your intimate life Thom?"

"Inti.. No, Wirrin just likes being nude, so we do too."

"Tell me what...."

Whatever Akama was asking was completely cut off when blue lights started flashing and everyone whirled to the big screen, where the view of a large air transport landing at Shark Bay took their attention. Everyone watched, engrossed, as a number of cargo bays opened and freight containers started moving on their anti-grav fields, lightly and purposefully towards the gathered fleet of air and water craft. Two minutes later everything was on the move, the air vessels heading westwards across the peninsular towards the outer limits of the bay, and the water craft in all directions on the eastern waters.

"They're in a hurry. What's happening with those skimmers?"

As if on call a section of the screen zoomed close to five skimmers gathered round one of the freight containers. Modules were passed across and as soon as they were clamped to a carry-space each skimmer accelerated away.

"Those are for the home dolphins. It should only take a few minutes to reach them."

One of the skimmers stopped and Wirrin wished there was some way to look at it closely. It must be near a dolphin. A blue light flashed on the big screen and Turaku's holo shimmered into view.

"Greetings Honored One. ...The first protective picobots are about to make contact."

"Thank you Turaku. Do we have a time-frame for full protection?"

"The target dolphins and others in the inner bay will all be reached within five minutes, the dolphins in the Western Bay within eleven minutes and all dolphins in the outer zone within nineteen minutes. We'll display the contacts for you as they happen."

The window with the dolphin markers expanded to almost full-screen size, and standing out was one blue marker.

"First contact. A dolphin named Squeak."

Calen waved his arms in a gesture of triumph and the room lit up with happy smiles.

"Is there a lag between contact with the dolphins and the picobots becoming effective?"

"Yes, depending on what part of the body the mini-drone attaches to, there is a lag of between twenty-one and twenty-seven seconds."

While Akama and Turaku were talking, four more markers, all near the Marine Station, changed from yellow to blue. Wirrin looked at the overall bulk of yellow markers and the blue didn't look very impressive at all. Another blue dot winked on and another dolphin was protected. Calen, along with everyone else was staring at the screen almost as if hypnotised, watching and wondering where the next blue marker would light up. Exclamations arose as six or seven more yellows changed, and then everyone looked to Turaku when a green marker started moving away from the Marine Centre.

"The air transport is moving to the outer boundaries of the bay to monitor the capture drones."

"Capture drones? There were no capture drones in my warning report."

"They didn't exist when your report was issued. With the strong link to K74 I had to cover the possibility that a modified form of their surveillance drones might be used for a stealth approach so I provided the Australian Security AIs with a counter design. They were released as part of the airdrop and each dolphin now has a guardian."

Wirrin thought back to Turaku's earlier information about the drones watching Attunga and Warrakan and felt really pleased. If any drones came near Shark Bay they wouldn't have a hope.

"What is the nature of the defence these guardians provide?"

"They can disable or destroy."

"And is there any chance they might be eluded?"

"Yes, if any particular guardian encounters enough attackers, some will get past. The inoculation process should guard against that."

"And when does the destroy capability come into play?"

"When the disable and capture function can't cope."

"I understand. ...We need information."

"Destruction could also involve a release of pollution."

"Is it possible to see one of these guardians?"

The view on the big screen changed. A dolphin cruised through the clear water followed closely by a sleek tubular shape. It appeared to be roughly half a metre in length, much smaller than Wirrin was expecting.

"This is one of the home dolphins and as you can see she's adjusted to the presence of the guardian. At first there was great interest in the new companions but that waned very quickly. Some of the younger dolphins are still treating them as playthings and trying hiding games but the rest mostly ignore them. The guardian sensors are linked to the surveillance devices, as well as being independent, and they'll stay on guard for as long as is necessary."

"Why are we so certain this attack will come from the ocean?"

"There is no full certainty but the probability is very high."

The screen changed and showed three dolphins swimming at speed with three attendant guardians, then changed again to a group with two adults and a tiny dolphin. Everyone watched and at the same time listened while Turaku explain the workings of the drones. The overview map with the dolphin markers returned and Calen made an exclamation of delight. There were now more blue markers than yellow.

"Tell me about your life as a trio."

Wirrin was surprised by Akama's question, thought for a moment, then couldn't answer because Thom already was."

"We love it."

"That's obvious Thom. I'm really asking about how you are received in the community and any problems you see for yourselves."

Wirrin answered.

"People who find out about us are very curious and ask us lots of questions, especially people our own age at Edcom."

"Yes, the guys want to know what we do in bed so we make up stories about Wirrin."

Wirrin would have given Thom a whack on the arm if Akama and Warrigal hadn't been there.

"Why do you make up stories? It's a very natural curiosity for lads of your age."

"I don't know. ...Yes I do. It's because they make up stories themselves and we fit in with the pattern."

"We haven't had any problems. Warrigal made them all disappear and they weren't real problems anyway."

Akama nodded. Wirrin wondered what he was thinking but couldn't tell.

"What about Sonic and the other dolphins? You're the only trio they've ever had contact with."

Calen replied to this question.

"They know we're called a trio and what it means, but it's not unusual to them because dolphins spend most of their life in same gender groups. They mostly think of us as a pod and Sonic even says he's part of ours, which makes us feel good."

"Extraordinary, and quite wonderful. Gelar, what is the dolphin protocol for meeting with strangers?"

"Protocol? I don't know if they have one. They're always happy to meet people when we introduce them, but if they decide they're not interested they just swim away."

"Is it difficult to meet with Sonic?"

"Very. His life is so busy it's hard even for our staff to have much time with him."

"I see..."

"Gelar, he would talk to Akama any time. We'll just tell him to."

Gelar looked horrified and then embarrassed.

"Honored one, I thought you meant strangers in general. We can take you to Sonic anywhere, any time."

"...And he'll love to meet you. I know he will."

"And I'll have to hope he doesn't swim away from me."

"If he does I'll bend his dorsal fin in half."

Akama smiled and Wirrin felt it was completely genuine. He certainly was easy to talk to. Turaku held up one hand for attention.

"I'm trying to contact him now."

"You can do that when he's underwater?"

"Of course. I'm always able to contact him. Underwater I use an audio signal and when he surfaces I manifest as a hologram. ...He says he is eager and waiting to meet you."

"Right now?"

Akama looked quite startled and Wirrin loved it. Trust Sonic to surprise the most important person on all Attunga.

"...If you wish. I can arrange a holographic conference in six minutes but Sonic would prefer a physical meeting. ... At Calen's home. ...In twenty minutes."

"Whatever Sonic wants, Sonic gets."

It sounded like a quote. Wirrin did a quick search in retinal mode. Yes, an old song from three centuries ago. He'd listen to it later. Akama was looking very pleased.

"We can monitor the earth transmissions from anywhere. Wirrin, are we welcome in your country?"

Now Wirrin was startled, and touched. Akama was formally asking to be invited into their home?

"Always, Honored One."

Somehow the formal reply felt right. Turaku disappeared. No doubt he'd reappear when something major happened. The overview of Shark Bay had returned to the screen and Wirrin noted most of the markers were now blue. The shared living space took a while to reach. Normally they'd jump on their skimmers and be home in a couple of minutes, but that was hardly appropriate. Warrigal took the lead and they travelled via Transcom.

***

"This is wonderful. I would love to live by the water."

Akama was standing by the pool and looking out to the reach via the display wall. This wall was one of the features the planning assistant had insisted on, not that they needed any persuasion, and its default setting was the view across the water outside.

"Sonic swims right here, into this pool?"

"Nearly every day. It's like a base for him."

"And is this where we'll meet when he arrives?"

"I presume so. The equipment needed for full contact is all installed here."

"Should I be in the water?"

"Only if you want to. He can see and speak to you perfectly where you are now."

"What do you think Calen?"

"Gelar is right but I think Sonic would like the water better."

Gelar nodded his agreement.

"Yes, and since I asked for the meeting it's appropriate too. ...Wirrin, we're closely matched physically. What do you wear in the water?"

"Um! ...Ordinary dolphinarium water shorts."

Akama kept looking at him as Wirrin worked out it was a request.

"...I'll find some."

"Thanks. I'll come with you."

What? Oh, so he'd have somewhere to change. Wirrin led the way to the sleeping area, found a clean pair of shorts and handed them over.

"This is exciting Wirrin. Speaking with a dolphin will be a new experience for me. Is there anything I should know?"

Akama started to disrobe and Wirrin felt he should leave, but couldn't because he'd been asked for advice. What to say? He had a good answer and couldn't help smiling when he gave it.

"Not really. Sonic is very easy to talk to. He's curious about nearly everything and he makes you smile. You'll understand as soon as you meet him. He loves humor though sometimes we don't understand why he laughs at something, and when he explains it we still don't understand."

"Dolphins laugh?"

"Not really. It's a kind of dolphin equivalent that Sonic introduced to match the strange sounds we make."

"Sonic taught the other dolphins a sound they'd never used before?"

"They don't use it much, but it's starting to spread. Puck and Flute use it the most."

"That's extraordinary. He's bringing new ideas to our dolphins."

Akama finished changing and they moved back to the pool. Everyone was looking at the holo of the Shark Bay area and everyone was smiling. No wonder. There were no yellow markers to be seen. Akama looked to Warrigal.

"The last yellow markers just changed to blue, a group of wild dolphins to the south of Shark Bay in the Indian Ocean, and every dolphin in the extended area has now been inoculated."

"Wonderful. So now we play the waiting game."

Another old saying? Akama used them even more than Warrigal. Well, at 119 years that wasn't surprising. Wirrin added it to the list of things to check later. He was, at the moment, too busy surveying the host of blue markers, and even that was shunted aside when movement on the reach swung everyone's attention. Five or six dorsal fins appeared and disappeared in an irregular pattern as their owners momentarily surfaced for air.

"Is that Sonic?"

"No, it's not even dolphins from his pod."

Wirrin zoomed the display wall so everyone could see better. He wasn't as good at recognising the dolphins but his own method of checking the fins verified what Calen said. The trio exchanged glances.

"Sonic is out there, further away to the left. I checked the database."

Gelar's statement set off another round of glances between Wirrin, Calen and Thom. If he was out there why hadn't he come in? He hadn't been very far away when they left the dolphinarium. Akama picked up on their looks.

"Is there some kind of hold up?"

"We're wondering about these dolphins. They don't usually come to this reach."

Gelar pointed to a section of the display, then to another and then again to a third.

"There are dolphins everywhere."

Turaku appeared.

"Honored one, Sonic is ready to greet you."

Akama nodded calmly.

"Where do I go?"

Wirrin wondered the same thing and half expected Sonic to come darting to the surface somewhere close. Instead, a large triple size skimmer came zooming from the direction of the dolphinarium and settled against the small house deck. Turaku led Akama to the skimmer which then moved out into the reach.

"I think every dolphin must be out there."

Wirrin thought so too. The scattered groups had now coalesced in one area and when Akama's skimmer came to a halt a familiar shape leapt high into the air then approached. Someone moved the display wall view closer. Sonic was now right in front of Akama, upright with approximately one third of his body out of the water. It was a difficult position for a dolphin to maintain but it also made it easier for him to see Akama clearly. Behind him, rank upon rank of dolphins suddenly took the same stance and together made the dolphin motion of greeting.
Akama knelt at the edge of the skimmer, extended his arm and held it there. Sonic moved close, touched with his beak and disappeared under the water. Puck appeared and did the same. Akama stood up and a moment later Sonic erupted from the water with a mighty leap.
Wirrin watched with a feeling of awe as every other dolphin followed, so close it looked like a living arc.
Akama stood still till the reach went quiet and the skimmer turned and headed for the deck. Three dolphins accompanied it.

DIASPORA PRIME Part 9.

Prev Part

Next Part

Akama left the skimmer and spoke quietly with Warrigal, but that only lasted a moment because Sonic popped to the surface of the pool and gave a general invitation for everyone to join him. It was quite strange to hear the electronic voice of the translator, as the trio rarely used it. Calen didn't need it at all and Wirrin and Thom had discovered early on that they learnt new dolphin words better from Sonic and Calen.
Akama looked really pleased and dived straight in. Thom took Gelar and Warrigal to look for more dolphinarium shorts and Wirrin and Calen changed on the spot. They always kept shorts near the pool for convenience even though, as Thom had said, they usually didn't bother to wear anything. For the next twenty minutes the laughter and excitement steadily escalated with Sonic spending most of the time talking with Akama, and at the same time bumping, butting, and splashing the trio in the interaction that was normal for his visits. The pool was very busy with six people plus Sonic, and when Puck appeared for a short visit her adult bulk made it really crowded.
Wirrin felt wonderful. Being with Thom, Calen, and Sonic was always good but having Gelar, Warrigal and Akama as well made it extra good. Gelar was so much a part of their lives he was like one of the family. Warrigal were still their mentor but with all the developments involving the dolphins they'd seen him so often he also felt like a friend. He had always been friendly of course, but for the last few months he'd become closer and more relaxed.
And now Akama, the legendary figure who'd been the driving force behind the development of Attunga and it's open culture, was laughing and talking in the pool along with everyone else and obviously enjoying every moment.
Sonic liked him. That was easy to tell and Wirrin heard them arranging to meet again. The pool time finished and Gelar, Warrigal and Akama departed.
Sonic left to rejoin Puck and Flute and after a quick snack and drink the trio headed for their grav-bed.

***

"What do you think of Akama Thom?"

"Amazing. As soon as he smiled I stopped being nervous of him and he was ordinary, but meeting the dolphins he turned important I could hardly believe it was the same person. Then when he got back and was talking to Warrigal I saw him wipe his eyes and he was different again."

It had been amazing. Seeing every single dolphin make the formal greeting had been special enough in itself, but seeing how much it meant to Akama had made Wirrin want to rush over and hug him.

"I got a lump in my throat when I saw him do that and it made me feel he was the right person to get a greeting like that."

That was Calen. Wirrin knew they all thought much the same but he wondered if they'd noticed anything else.

"Well, what about the strange things?"

"You mean how he looked like you? That freaked us out at the start. You must come from the same gene bank or something."

"Did they have gene banks way back then?"

"Calen, they had gene banks way before that."

"They must have I suppose. ...What strange things?"

"Lots of them. Why did he put his hand on my head? He didn't do it for anyone else. And remember what he said after Warrigal introduced us? I can't figure it out."

"Which bit?"

"... 'I finally meet our notorious trio, our catalyst for change.'. Why did he say finally? That sounds like he's been waiting to meet us for a while?"

"Hey, you're right. I didn't notice that at the time. Maybe something Warrigal said made him interested in us? ...Wow!"

"Then he said we're notorious, but we're not."

"I thought that was being friendly. You know, to make us relax."

"And our trio isn't a catalyst. You and Sonic are."

"That's being too technical Wirrin. We're all in it together."

"Okay. Here's the strangest thing. Why did he call me his brother?"

"It was part of his formal greeting. I thought it was a heritage thing."

"Well, it's not. I did a search and I couldn't find it in any of the old greetings."

"When did you do that?"

"On the way here from the dolphinarium, while we were on TransCom."

"You were already puzzling about it then? With everything else going on?"

They gave him the, 'Wirrin has to know everything', look then Calen went thoughtful.

"If it wasn't a greeting then it is a puzzle. When I play it back in my mind it feels like it's something important to him. ...And he did know a lot about us."

"That doesn't mean anything. Warrigal told him things and he probably looked us up on the Interweb when he was travelling to the Dolphinarium, and Witnesses remember everything."

"But it felt like more than that to me, like he really did know us."

They discussed it more, arguing that someone as old as Akama, and in such an important position, would know how to impress people and influence them, but in the end they were all convinced there was something going on they didn't know about.
Thom was feeling frisky, he always was, but after the trip to Warrakan, hours of travel on the new reach and all the other excitement, it wasn't long before everyone was asleep.

***

Wirrin dragged his mind to consciousness at the insistent warning pulse and a surge of adrenaline sat him bolt upright as he activated his holo. An even bigger surge cleared all the cobwebs away.
The Shark Bay overview, which he'd pre-set for instant viewing, showed a massive barrage of red markers extending along the western boundary. A quick shake to either side should waken the others, though Calen was such a deep sleeper he would probably need an extra shake, and at the same time Wirrin tried to glean meaning from what he was seeing. So much red, with a big concentration to the north of Dirk Hartog Island. That was to be expected as it was the main entrance to the bay.
...87 inimical markers altogether.

"What? ..What?"

"It's happening Thom. The attack. It's started. Wake Calen. ...I already tried once. ...There's 87 of them but I don't know how to find out exactly what they are."

Thom stared at the images, shook his head to clear it, then rolled across Wirrin and started thumping Calen on the chest. They laughed about that later when the bruises started to show.
Wirrin looked for the blue markers closest to any red. ...Down at the southern end of Dirk Hartog Island a group of five dolphins looked very close, and he wondered how long it would take for the gap to close.

"Oh no! Look at them all!"

Calen was awake now and staring fixedly at the holo.

"Watch those dolphins at the bottom of the island. They're closest and we'll soon see how well the guardians work."

"I hope they're as good as we think they are. They're way outnumbered and that's when Turaku said they mightn't cope."

There was reason for Calen's worry. All the southern red markers were closely clustered in the relatively small entrance to the bay and moving rapidly.

".. There are twenty-seven of them coming through that passage."

"Twenty-seven against five. That sounds bad."

".. And they're moving at 72 km/h. They'll meet in a couple of minutes."

Wirrin looked back to the main, northern group of attackers, spread widely in the thirty kilometer entrance stretch. At the rate they were travelling it would be another hour before they reached Monkey Mia and another hour after that for the rest of the bay.

"72? That's way faster than dolphins. They couldn't get away even if you warned them."

"You couldn't warn them Thom. Earth dolphins wouldn't understand."

"Some of the home dolphins might if they've taught them any communication skills."

No one answered. Five blue markers were about to be enveloped by twenty-seven red.
Wirrin zoomed the view. At least he had that much control. The red mass separated enough to define individual points, and the change of scale made their movement obvious. They were all going to hit the dolphins at the same time.
The red and blue merged.
Something happened and Wirrin yelled when he realised that some of the red lights had gone out.
The red configuration kept moving but when more red markers blinked off there were now three voices yelling. Smiles started to spread as the remaining red markers moved away, but disappeared when three of the dolphin markers winked to yellow.

"Yellow? What does that mean?"

They all knew it meant that something had happened to three of the dolphins, and went quiet with the realisation of what that must be.

"It means that three dolphins have been infested, and we'll find out very quickly just how effective our protective measures are."

Everyone jumped in startlement as there'd been no usual warning shimmer with the holo, then looked to see what expression Turaku was wearing. The emotions he showed were all programs, they understood that, but he was so expert at applying what was appropriate you couldn't tell him apart from a person.

"How quickly? Those picobots don't take long to work."

Calen was remembering part of a report on the earlier attacks.

"Watch. ...There we are. All clear."

And indeed, the three yellow markers had all returned to blue.
Wirrin started smiling. Even if any attackers got past the guardians it looked like it wouldn't matter.

"The imagery from the first encounter has come through and our protective drones are performing as we expected."

Wirrin's holo changed to an underwater view and everyone watched a live re-run. It only lasted a few seconds. The stubby shapes came barrelling in, released smaller units which sought the rapidly moving and highly alarmed dolphins, then lost way and coasted to a stop. A guardian stayed close to one of the drifting shapes and Wirrin was impressed by the difference in size.

"They look dangerous. Why are they so big? They're three times as long as the guardians."

"Partly because of storage space for the picobot units, but it's most likely a design limitation. We'll know more after we've fully analysed them."

"The dolphins have gone off by themselves. Shouldn't the guardians be protecting them?"

"Those dolphins are safe now, and the guardians as you call them, need to stay close to the attacking drones to keep them disabled with a directed control pulse. It's highly unlikely, but if there's any renewed local threat those drones will be destroyed and the dolphins rejoined. That's not going to happen though, as countermeasures are under-way."

The overview returned with a striking new feature, a mass of purple markers blocking access to the inner and southern sections of Shark Bay.

"What are they?"

"Sixty unattached guardians. Once the attack logistics were known they were flown to the best position for interception and dispersed to the water. Judging from the effectiveness of the first encounter they will quickly eliminate the remaining threat."

It would happen quickly too, because the opposing forces were racing towards each other with an effective speed of almost 180 km/h.
A contingent veered south to intersect with the seventeen remaining attackers near the southern end of Dirk Hartog island, while the remaining forty-five forged ahead, fanning to match the spread of the approaching red markers. Wirrin leaned, first against Calen, and then Thom, with a thrill of excitement.

"K74 hasn't got a hope. There are forty-five guardians against sixty of the big drones and the first five guardians stopped two each, and these guardians don't have any dolphins to protect."

"I wish they'd blow them all up!"

Wirrin and Calen felt the same but they all knew that wasn't going to happen. The main groups approached and merged. The purple lights started blinking off, and in just under a minute there were none left.

"Wow! Just like that! Those other ones are space dust."

And they were. Ten minutes later the last red markers, a group of three heading south from the first encounter, disappeared from the screen.
Turaku stayed a short while to explain a few things and then showed Wirrin how to access all the related information streaming in from earth. The trio discussed the drama, with Thom being highly impressed that with over 700 guardians directly protecting the dolphins only five had to do anything. Calen was concerned for the five affected dolphins, but with tiredness and very busy days ahead, sleep became the priority.

DIASPORA PRIME Part 10.

Prev Part

Next Part

"What's going on?"

"I'm wrecked.... Totally!"

"We know that. But why?"

"Sonic's a slave driver. I can't keep up with him."

Wirrin was astonished. He'd never heard Calen say one word against Sonic, ever, and his surprise must have shown because Calen laughed as he collapsed onto the grav-sofa.

"He is not really a slave driver. He's just got too much energy and he's so excited about everything he does that he keeps going till it's right.
I think I'll start taking a double dose of protein structure for a while."

The protein structure was already working 100% according to Thom, so taking more wouldn't have any effect and Calen was really just complaining about being worn out.

"Calen, you've been wrecked every evening for the last two weeks."

"And it'll be the same for the next two as well."

"Two weeks? So it's something to do with Sonic's big day?"

"Smart Alec. ...It might be."

That meant it definitely was.

"So what makes you so tired?"

"Swimming. It's hard work."

"What sort of swimming?"

"You know. ...You move through the water from one place to another."

"Very funny. ...Why don't you tell us?"

"I just did. Water-swimming."

"We'll make you talk."

"No you won't. ...How?"

"We'll tickle it out of you. We'll get you on the grav-bed and keep going till you beg to confess."

Calen laughed and shook his head.

"I still won't tell you."

He probably would. Unlike Thom, Calen could cope with being tickled, but only in small doses.

"You'd have to. You couldn't help it."

"You won't do it. It wouldn't be fair."

Wirrin and Thom exchanged a wondering look. They'd just been told that finding out what was going on wasn't going to happen.

"It's a secret and you're keeping it from us?"

That was pushing hard as they had a pact about secrets. Calen didn't say anything for a moment.

"I can tell you if you think you really have to know, but it Sonic's idea and he wants it to be a surprise."

"A surprise? For us?"

"For everyone really. ...Well except for Gelar and Turaku of course. They see everything that goes on. I suppose I can tell Sonic you couldn't wait."

Calen's grin of satisfaction said he knew very well that he'd outmanoeuvred them. There was no way they'd go against what Sonic wanted. The intrigue level had just risen by five notches.

"You Dirty Dingo. Well, you're still getting the tickling."

"Not now. I haven't got enough energy."

Calen closed his eyes and Wirrin and Thom left him. Following his recent pattern it would be at least an hour before he woke and demanded food.

"It must be something big."

"Why?"

"They're spending four weeks on it and that's a long time for Sonic."

"That's for sure. Do you think he knows how tired Calen is?"

"Probably, but it must be all right or his health monitors would be giving warnings."

"Yes, I guess. ...What's happening tomorrow?"

"I'm not sure. It must be some sort of routine check for my implants."

"It can't be routine. You're not meant to see them for another month."

Today's request to go to the implant facility was a bit of a puzzle. As far as Wirrin could tell everything was working perfectly and the self diagnostics said exactly that.

"Well it can't be too big a deal because it was only a request, and if it didn't fit with EdCom I could go some other time."

"They're going to turn your implants down. You've been overloading too many data banks."

"As if."

"And I told them you sneaked into TransCom through an electronic back-door and they're going to set a tracer to watch everything you do."

"Sure, and if they do I'll put a governor program on you so nothing you fly will go over half a G."

Later, when they were preparing food, Thom wanted to know if Wirrin really could make a governor program.

"It would be too complicated. I'd have to set a program to follow you everywhere, and then there'd have to be another one that knew how to control every type of vehicle you used, and another one to make sure security was happy with what I was doing."

"But you could do it if you really wanted to couldn't you?"

"Um. ...Maybe. I'd have to learn more about how security works first. Why?"

"Just wondering. ...I've got a good idea for where we could take Sonic for an activity day."

"Where?"

Sonic liked to know about everything they were doing and after their latest venture to one of the major fauna parks scattered throughout Attunga he'd surprised them by saying he'd like to go with them on one of their activity days. That would be great, except that he'd be confined to a transport module.

"Well it has to be water so he can join in, and I thought we could go to a zero-G swimming pool. It would be interesting for him and I've never heard of him being in zero-G."

"Thom, that's brilliant. We could go to the one we missed the day we met him. Is it the biggest one on Attunga? There'd need to be plenty of room for him."

"I don't know about the biggest. All I can remember is that it was a thirty meter sphere. Check it out."

Wirrin was surprised to find thirty-five zero-G pools spread round Attunga and that three of them were fifty meters. Most of them were spheres but one was a torus."

"A torus?show me."

Wirrin imported the holo image from the pool site.

"How do they do that?"

"It says they use a complicated set of grav fields."

"A sphere would be better for Sonic. There's a lot more room to move."

"How will he breathe? He won't be able to use his blowhole properly in zero-G. He'll get water in his lungs."

"Gelar will sort something out."

"What about gravity sickness? First time could be a nightmare without proper training."

"I don't know. I think it mightn't matter so much for dolphins. Living in water is a bit like zero gravity anyway."

Gelar would know all that and he'd quickly tell them whether this was a feasible idea. It wasn't too late to contact him but that would have to wait till they discussed it with Calen. Wirrin and Thom grinned at each other and resisted the urge to wake Calen immediately and let him know about this interesting idea.

***

"Hello Wirrin. Are you ready for a lube and full-service?"

What was he talking about? Wirrin looked blankly at the doctor.

"A lube means lubrication with oil and grease, and servicing means checking all your parts are working well. I saw it on Old Earth movie the night before last. It's what they used to do to maintain the personal transport vehicles on old earth."

"Does that mean my parts need fixing?"

"No, not at all. We've been asked to watch you extra closely and give you any help we can."

This doctor was very friendly and Wirrin tried for more information.

"Asked? Do you know who it was?"

"Not really, but you've certainly impressed someone because you are now a priority case."

"I am? What does that mean?"

"For us, not a lot. A few extra people to work with and more frequent visits like this, and we'll have you on a tri-weekly schedule from now on if you can manage it. Climb on the bench and we'll get these tests started."

Most of the tests were familiar but there were several new ones which had to be done in different areas of the facility. It was all interesting and very pleasant to hear from different doctors and technicians that his implants were functioning perfectly and that his skills for using them were developing better than expected. There was particular interest in his ability to use transparency mode in retinal imaging without any sign of disorientation or dizziness, and some surprise when he informed them he could use it indefinitely with no trouble. Several hours later Wirrin was once again sitting with the overseeing doctor.

"All your parts are humming like a Swiss watch."

He looked expectantly at Wirrin and asked him to look up the reference in retinal mode. Wirrin knew from the context it meant everything was going well, he'd heard that all morning, but he checked anyway.

"It comes from a small country 300 years ago that was famous for its precision engineering and it means my implants are functioning extra well."

"Not just your implants Wirrin. We are particularly pleased with the way your associated skills have developed and we want you to apply them in a number of new areas which will be of great benefit to you."

He paused, as if expecting a query, then continued when Wirrin didn't say anything.

"There are two things to concentrate on between now and your next visit. The first is quite straightforward and will quickly reap benefits for you. Your study area involves gathering information and the faster you can assimilate it the better, so I want you to retake the speed reading unit you did four years ago with EdCom. I called up the records and I see you rate at nearly 2000 words per minute. With your memory enhancement you should be able to increase that considerably. Doubling should be the minimum but with your skills and ability I'm expecting you can at least triple that rate."

"Triple? In only three weeks?"

"It's a good unit. Last time you went from 750 words per minute to 2000 in four weeks. You know how it works. An hour a day for the first week and a concentrated half hour a day from then on. EdCom is being informed this morning and your courses rearranged to suit."

Wirrin was already pleased with the rate he could read and take in information, and the idea of tripling it was hard to imagine. Still, he did remember thinking the same four years ago when he'd first done the unit. Thom and Calen would be calling him a brainiac. But why couldn't they do the unit? They'd had the same memory enhancement.

"What about the rest of my trio? Couldn't we do the unit together?"

"Let's have a look. Everyone does the reading unit as a matter of course after a memory enhancement, but it's usually another six months down the track."

He called up information on his holo screen, started looking through it, and when he saw Wirrin's interest, rearranged the screen so they could both examine it. It didn't mean a lot to Wirrin as it was specialised information.

"Thom and Calen could both take the reading unit now, but they reach their optimal effective readiness in just under two months so it's best to wait. ...And there some kind of hold on Calen which prevents him anyway."

"A hold? Is everything alright with him?"

"Yes, it's some sort of administrative thing. ...Here it is. ...This is very interesting. It's a time constraint. His time is so valuable for the next few weeks that no demands can be made on it unless it's important for his well-being. I don't see this very often. What's he doing?"

"He works with Sonic, the special dolphin, and for the last two weeks he's had Calen doing so much he comes home exhausted every day."

"The dolphin tells Calen what to do? I don't understand. I know the work we did with him was to help with dolphin communication, but you sound as if the dolphin makes the decisions?"

Sometimes it was exasperating and sometimes funny that people could know so little about the Attunga dolphins, but as Calen liked pointing out, Wirrin and Thom had been no different till the day they'd visited the dolphinarium. This doctor was likeable and thoughtful and it would be enjoyable letting him know what the real situation was.

"He does, and everyone follows his decisions. He's more intelligent than we are."

Wirrin was purposefully being challenging and the doctor recognised it as such.

"That's difficult to believe, but I can see you're eager to persuade me."

Wirrin spent some time describing Sonic and discussing his accomplishments and character and finally he described the meeting with Akama.

"Have you got a record of that? I'd like to see it."

Wirrin didn't, but he connected to the dolphinarium and found multiple versions of the event. He picked one at random and was delighted with the amazement and interest from the doctor.

"I can't understand how I haven't heard about this. It's very much my area of expertise and I make a point of keeping up with new developments. There is no restriction on this knowledge is there? That can't be if you can tell me openly like this."

Wirrin hesitated. That's how it looked, but in reality he was using retinal mode and subvocal commands to ask Turaku if it was all right to talk about the Earth attacks.

"Turaku says I can tell you, but it's first level security."

"Who's Turaku?"

"He's the AI who works with the dolphins."

"You speak to an AI?"

The doctors amazement reminded Wirrin how unusual that was.

"Yes but only because my trio is connected with Sonic."

"You did it while we were speaking? I didn't see any signs you were concentrating."

Wirrin nodded and then went on.

"They have been keeping quiet about Sonic and there is a huge security barrier to keep the Directed Habitats from finding out about him, but it's not a secret on Attunga. I know it can't be because Akama is introducing him to the habitat in two weeks."

"Akama? Well people will certainly be watching that. But why are we keeping it from the other habitats? Knowledge should be shared."

"The Directed Habitats don't want anyone except humans to be clever. They killed a hundred Earth dolphins when they found out about the enhanced ones on Freedom."

"Killed? That can't be right. No one would do that. ...Are you sure it's not one of those conspiracy theories that come from Earth?"

In a few seconds the images of the two groups of dead dolphins were displayed to the horrified eyes of the doctor, and another quarter of an hour passed while Wirrin recounted the events at Monkey Mia. The doctor was particularly disgusted that 700 dolphins could be sacrificed to get at the smaller group associated with the marine research Station.

"Back to the business at hand. How much of your implanted data storage have you used?"

He had that information at his fingertips, after all the tests that had just been done, but Wirrin did the check and saw how closely the doctor was watching. So he was looking again for signs of concentration. He wouldn't see any. Even Thom and Calen couldn't.

"I've hardly used any. ...It's less than 100th of a percent."

"Hopefully we'll have you using it much more. For the next minute I want you to store everything you see."

Wirrin was completely bewildered. He might as well have been told to start flying.

"I can't do that."

"Yes you can. Look up Personal Memory in your implant command set."

Still using retinal mode Wirrin did so, and a whole sub-menu of commands flicked into view.

"Have you found it?"

"Yes, but I didn't know it was there."

"It wasn't till we gave you access about an hour ago. It's an important implant function which is usually only accessed as part of your monthly health check. The indicators show that you might be one of the rare people who can cope with using it consciously and the only certain way to know is for you to have a try."

He explained how tiny picobots intercepted and interpreted the messages being received by nerve endings as part of the routine used to check their health, then detailed the use of the new set of commands. Most of it was self evident.

"I can't do this myself Wirrin. I've tried but after about ten seconds my brain gets confused. You may be the same, but we'll soon know. Nothing can go wrong while we're monitoring and the worst you'll feel if it doesn't work is that slight dizziness everyone has during their health check, and you'll be out of it in fifteen seconds."

"And if it does work?"

"Then it may be very uncomfortable, but if that's the case you switch out of it yourself and we'll decide what to do next."

He talked till Wirrin, rather nervous, said he was ready. The commands were simple but Wirrin concentrated on the switch off one, making it as strong as he could in his mind before he sub-vocalised the start. It was awful. The doctors face kept disappearing and reappearing in a kaleidoscope of confusing images and sensations which sent his mind reeling till he was begging for an end. Stop! Stop! No, that wasn't it. ...Switch off! The doctor's features snapped immediately into clear view.

"What happened?"

"It didn't work. My brain got confused like you said it might."

"It did work Wirrin. That was twenty-three seconds from start to finish and you switched out of it yourself which means you were thinking consciously. Could you see anything?"

"Sort of."

Wirrin thought about what he'd just experienced.

"It was really strange. I felt like my eyes were seeing all right but my brain was mixed up about it. I could see you and then I couldn't and I was so overwhelmed I had to stop."

"You saw me? Excellent. Was it too distressing to cope with?"

"Almost. ...No not really. It was just so different I thought it was."

The doctor nodded with a pleased and quite expectant look.

"As soon as you're ready we'll try again. You know what to expect, so this time I want you to push the strangeness into the background, focus your mind on something else, and then see if you can hold any images steady."

Wirrin thought about it, tried it, and for a short while managed to watch the doctor before the need to switch off became too strong.

"That was thirty-seven seconds Wirrin. Any other progress?"

"Yes, I held you in view for a short while."

"Have another go."

After three more tries something clicked into place and Wirrin found he was watching the doctor quite normally.

"I think I've got it. It's hard and I can't keep going but I can push the confusion away."

"Wonderful. Now play that last effort back from your memory storage."

That was easy and Wirrin laughed.

"What's up."

"Nothing. It worked perfectly but it's confusing because I'm seeing you in transparency mode and naturally at the same time."

"Switch to holo and show me."

That done, the doctor said it was time for a drink and snack before trying the commands for sound recording. An hour later Wirrin was feeling very pleased that he could simultaneously store everything he was seeing and hearing for a period of almost two minutes before losing concentration. The doctor was excited and set guidelines for practice, and daily holo contact time to confer about progress or any issues.

***

"We always knew there was something weird about your brain."

Thom and Calen were listening, intrigued, to Wirrin's report about his day's activities and acting all indignant that they had to wait two months before doing the speed reading themselves. Underneath all the carry on about him being a super-brain and computer-head they were really proud of him. Calen pushed Thom down on the grav-bed and sat on him.

"You won't get away with anything Thom. We'll always have proof of when you go crazy."

He was referring to Thom's active libido.

"No you won't. I'll just turn the lights off and he won't be able to see."

"Won't make any difference. He uses infra-red vision instead."

"What?"

He squirmed to see past Calen.

"You can't do that can you?"

"Of course I can. Just imagine what you'll look like with your hot parts glowing."

Of course Wirrin couldn't do that, but the moment of surprise before Thom realised they were having him on set them all laughing. Thom started wrestling, but as Calen had had his evening rest that was hopeless and Wirrin joined in.

"Show us how it works."

"All right. Make Calen laugh."

"He doesn't know how."

"Teach him then."

With his happy disposition Calen was easy to set laughing and if you couldn't think of anything silly then tickling was a perfect fallback. Thom tried but Calen turned the tables. They stopped abruptly to watch themselves for a moment on the holo.

"Wow! Just like that. You look at it and it's recorded. It must be hard because you go all still and look dopey when you're doing it."

That made Calen laugh genuinely, not just tickle laugh.

"Wombat Head."

He turned to Wirrin.

"It's just the look you have that tells us you're thinking really hard. How much are you meant to practise?"

"I don't know. As much as I can without making myself tired for other things. I have to work it out for myself."

"Did that bit you just did make you tired?"

"That was as long as I can last."

"Well I reckon you've done it enough for today. You look worn out. Guess where we're going on our activity day?"

"The Zero-G pool?"

"Sonic loves the idea so he's taking a day off and Gelar's got everything organised."

"A day off? What from?"

"Can't tell you. It's a surprise."

That meant it was Sonic's meeting with the rest of Attunga, and since Calen was enjoying the opportunity to tease their curiosity so much, it warranted action.

"You've had it."

***

Travelling with Sonic like this was a real experience. At his request the transport module had been redesigned so he could either control it himself or let TransCom take over, and he was thoroughly enjoying his new type of mobility. At the moment they were stopped at a water fountain in the gathering area of the first big TransCom transfer station they'd reached and Sonic was watching the jets of water as they leapt in an ever-changing display of shapes and colors. Wirrin looked to Calen.

"It's the first time he's seen a fountain, and pushing water into different shapes is a new idea for him. He also wants to look at the people. He's never been close to so many before."

That worked well because the people certainly wanted to look at him. The transport module was unusual enough in itself to draw attention but the sight of a dolphin fixed it, and when Sonic stopped near the fountain people drifted close. Three children rushed over and stared, goggle-eyed and smiling.

"It's beautiful. I wish I had a dolphin. Will we frighten it if we get close?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

The little girl looked at her two companions then back at Calen.

"You can't talk to dolphins."

"Yes you can."

The children turned towards two adults who'd moved behind them and when the man shook his head to tell them 'no' Calen spoke again, this time in dolphin talk and Sonic answered. The hum of conversation stopped.

"Sonic says you can come as close as you like."

The little girl was still dubious, but one of the boys darted forward and put his hand on the clear panel of the transport module. Sonic touched his beak to the same place on his side and asked their names. The hush from the growing assembly of people was absolute.

"Sonic wants to know your names."

"Kania."

The little girl came close, pulling her younger brother with her.

"I am Alisa. And this is Baradine. But he's shy."

She put her hand on the panel and lit up with delight when Sonic touched it again. Sonic made the dolphin greeting and spoke.

"Sonic likes your names and he wonders what they mean."

Once again the children looked to their parents and the lady answered, putting her hand on each child's head in turn.

"Kania means a rock. Alisa means the sun and Baradine is a Wallaby."

Three bursts of sound came from Sonic and Calen interpreted.

"Sonic said your names in dolphin talk."

The children stared, big eyed, at Sonic and someone called from the crowd.

"Can it say the names again?"

Calen looked towards the man and nodded as three bursts of sound came from Sonic. The sceptical look changed.

"It answered by itself? Did you give it a signal?"

Hearing Sonic referred to as an 'it' really grated with Wirrin. Sonic's whistles and clicks sounded out clearly.

"Sonic doesn't need signals. He understands you and wishes he had translator machines fitted to his transport module."

It took twenty minutes to get away, and as the module moved slowly through the crowd Wirrin took in the smiles and looks of wonderment and marvelled at how Sonic had affected everyone. He'd taken over really, with Calen his mouthpiece, as he interacted, primarily with the children but somehow, at a different level with everyone else. There were two more big transfer stations on the way but their schedule meant they had to forego any similar stops.

***

"That was an eye opener. ...Inviting the children for a visit to the dolphinarium made them very excited."

"You know about that already?"

Gelar was at the zero-grav pool to make sure everything ran smoothly.

"Turaku let me know you might be turning up late so I watched. It sounds like we've got another redesign for the transport module."

"Yes, he wants panels he can open and a translator built in."

The group moved to a reception room and Gelar introduced the pool staff. Sonic greeted them and, through Calen, asked some questions before everyone moved to one of the viewing galleries around the pool. Wirrin watched the same change from interest to amazement they'd seen with the people in the transfer Hall, as understanding blossomed that Sonic was much more than their idea of a dolphin.
The sight of the pool gave Wirrin his own dose of amazement and he echoed the exclamations from Calen and Thom as they took in the slightly glowing, fifty meter, transparent sphere of water apparently hanging in mid air.

"This is incredible!"

The holo images they'd watched with Sonic the night before had been exciting in their own right, but no match for this impact of the real thing. Wirrin counted nine people moving in the watery globe, and while they watched, one of them broke surface almost directly in front with a great confusion of following water, drifted through the ten meter air gap, then after a stylistic turn, pushed powerfully against the transparent wall and arrowed back. The scattered blobs of water, quivering and weirdly transforming, gradually assumed roughly spherical shapes and settled towards the main water body. They'd learnt last night that although it was called zero-grav there was really a fractional field, focused to give the water mass just enough effective centre of gravity to hold its shape.
There was a burst of speech from Sonic saying he was eager to get into the pool and everyone moved to the entry area and put on breathing masks. This was routine for Gelar and the trio but quite an event for Sonic as he'd only trialled the specially designed device which fitted over his blow-hole in the last couple of days. Next, his transport module had to be moved into the pool itself as he couldn't launch himself through the air gap like the humans.
It only took a minute and he was floating motionless, with the trio and Gelar ready to help if the lack of gravity was too disorienting for him. He'd been okay in trials at the dolphinarium, but this was a confluence of different conditions. The freshwater had a slightly different density to his normal salt water. Zero-G meant there was no sense of up and down, and the water was so clear it might affect his sense of distance.

'Very strange.'

"Are you feeling dizzy?"

He wasn't and quickly deciding he'd sorted out this new environment, swam slowly towards the centre of the sphere. Everyone relaxed and moved with him.
Whoosh! He powered off in a rapid loop then nudged Calen with the signal to try and catch him.
Of course they couldn't, not in water, unless he let them, but he made the mistake of following Calen in his first transition through the shimmering water surface into the air gap. Calen, used to zero-G movement in air, let himself glide to the outer barrier and, with a practised body twist, push off and head back to the water.
Wirrin, following, watched in dismay as Sonic's glistening grey form, fins and flukes flailing helplessly, bounced against the outer barrier then drifted slowly back to the liquid interface. There was a great burst of dolphin sound.
What? Oh, dolphin laughter, but louder than Wirrin had ever heard it. Well he mustn't have been hurt.

'Do it again.'

Was Sonic really going to try again?
...He manoeuvred so his head was poking through the surface and watched Calen erupt next to him, drift to the outer panels and execute the turn and push to send him zooming back. With one careful flick of his tail Sonic left the water, much more slowly this time, and drifted head-first to the solid panels. Oh no, his rostrum was going to take the full impact. At the last instant he twisted his head sideways and managed a relatively gentle bump and rebound. Wirrin was impressed. There'd been none of the pointless flexing of his fins and tail on this second attempt.

"Slower."

What did Calen mean? Sonic would drift in the air, helpless. He did. ...And once again his dolphin laughter sounded.

'Trickster.'

Calen shot from the water then pushed from the panels in just the right direction to collide with Sonic. As their bodies met he grabbed tight in the classic move of combined momentum to help someone marooned in a no-grav situation. They re-entered the water and Wirrin stared in amazement as the two bodies followed a graceful curve, spiralling and looping in perfect and effortless harmony to a nearby position on the water/air boundary.

'Again.'

Sonic launched himself again, drifting ever so slowly till Calen rescued him with the rebound from the outer panels.
The rest of the time at the Zero-G pool was mostly spent with Sonic exploring and mastering techniques of movement and control in the air layer. It shouldn't have been a surprise that he was more interested in this than the pool itself because new experiences were so important to him.

***

"How much did you zap?"

Zapping was Thom and Calen's quick name for memory recording.

"Not much. There were too many things going on to concentrate properly."

"It must have been a fair amount. I remember seeing you do it at least three times."

"Me too. I saw you a couple of times."

"I kept trying but when you see Sonic barging straight at you, you forget everything else, and zero-G is hard enough by itself. I managed nearly twenty minutes but they're all short bursts. ...Have a look at this one. It's when he learned to flip himself off the wall with his tail."

Wirrin's prolonged recording time had stretched to over ten minutes in the week since he'd seen the doctor, and they were both pleased with the improvement. The current approach was for a sustained effort in the morning, another in the evening, and frequent short bursts in between. Wirrin liked the short bursts as he didn't notice any effect from them. The long bursts were hard work and left him feeling slightly dazed for a while.

"He's good isn't he? When we were doing some zero-G trials for him at the dolphinarium he kept saying he was going to be a fish out of water. It's some old saying he found on the InterWeb that caught his fancy."

"Hey, how long have you been doing that new swimming?"

"What new swimming?"

"The spiral thing you did with Sonic the first time you rescued him."

"We weren't meant to do that. He started it because he was excited."

"Why weren't you meant to?"

Calen laughed.

"You know why, and I'm not going to talk about it."

"But how do you do it? You can talk about that because we've already seen it."

"I don't know how to explain. I kind of caught it from so much swimming with Sonic. It's hard work."

"It looked easy."

"It's meant to, but it's really the opposite."

"Is it what makes you so tired each day?"

He laughed again.

"It's a part of it, but only a part. ...You'll see."

***

"It's only two days away and I'm scared I'll mess it up."

"Scared? You mean nervous don't you? It's okay to be nervous."

"I suppose so. ...No, I'm feeling scared too. Warrigal was there today and I found out it's even more important than I thought."

Calen had come in, tired as usual but instead of coming back to life after his rest, and eagerly attacking his evening meal, he'd stayed very, very quiet and Wirrin and Thom were closing ranks with him.

"Akama introducing Sonic to a lot of scientists and going on the InterWeb for all Attunga. More important than that?"

"Way more important. The conference with the scientists is only a part at the end. Every single Witness on Attunga is going to be there."

"WHAT?"

"I know. I've never heard of anything like it, and there's an invitation to watch being sent to everyone, and I've never heard of that either."

For each sector, a Witness, with special training for almost infallible recall and unquestionable integrity, was the final arbiter for any situation or decision, and with over 1200 sectors currently developed on Attunga that meant at least the equivalent number of witnesses.

"Calen, they can't. The viewing gallery isn't big enough."

"They've taken the seats out so they can all fit in. They'll be standing up the whole time."

"Every witness?"

There was quiet as they thought that over, then Thom leaned against Calen.

"Wow, now we're scared too and all we have to do is watch."

Wirrin gave his own reassuring pressure and Calen smiled in response to the support from his trio.

"You won't be scared Calen. You'll be with Sonic and people will like you whatever happens."

DIASPORA PRIME Part 11.

Prev Part

Next Part

Awed and awkward, Wirrin stared at the standing crowd in front of him, over 1200 witnesses gathered to meet Sonic in person.
Sitting comfortably in front of such an august group, with Akama next to him, and on his other side an empty seat then Thom and Gelar, all on a slightly raised dais, was distinctly uncomfortable, but it was Akama's plan. Attention coming from all those important eyes was disconcerting. Thank goodness for the quiet comments from Akama, giving friendly assurance till everything started happening.
Turning his head slightly he could see Puck and Flute and a dozen other dolphins swimming behind the giant transparent panel, curiously looking out at the assembled people. Flute swam close and looked at the seated group then moved back to Puck.
The lights dimmed briefly then brightened on the dais and as the hum of conversation stopped Akama stood up.

"Welcome everyone. We're gathered at the invitation of a young dolphin who is eager to meet us and formally declare his place in our society. He has honored me by asking my help and I'm honored as your representative to do what I can."

Akama paused just a moment.

"Sonic has many accomplishments and soon he will speak to us all, but first I will greet his mother."

He turned, and with elaborate care, made the greeting wave. Wirrin had never seen it made with such meaning. Puck, close by and next to the viewing panel, answered with the familiar body movement and head flip. The rest of the dolphins approached and followed suit then hung suspended in place as if waiting.
Akama turned to the gathering, raised his arm again and gave a guiding nod. Everyone knew exactly what he meant and Wirrin's first tingle of awe for the day brought him right out of his awkwardness as he watched the exchange of greeting between Witnesses and dolphins.
Akama made an expansive gesture and a giant holo-screen showing Puck, Flute and three other female dolphins filled the complete front of the gallery. Wirrin stared at the strange image of Puck with a little fluke protruding from her body and goosebumps took over as he realised this was the moment of Sonic's birth. An electric murmur went through the gallery then an even more electric silence as the drama of new birth unfolded, the shocking burst of red when the umbilical cord parted, the little dolphin's movements as he oriented himself and was guided to the surface for his first breath.
The holo faded and Wirrin automatically reached for Thom's hand. The scene changed to Puck's presentation of Sonic to the dolphin and human community and Gelar's following words.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you've just become part of history...."

For the next while the voice of Gelar presented parts of Sonic's life, suckling from Puck, chasing playfully after Flute, the first meeting with Calen, and the gift of his first fish. Wirrin watched himself with Thom and Calen, wrestling, splashing, speaking and laughing with Sonic in the pool at home, diving as a group to one of the underwater caverns in the new reach at Warrakan, and swimming together at the Zero-G pool. The last clip was the formal greeting to Akama and the beautiful arc of dolphins leaping into the air.
The holo-screen shimmered and faded to show an empty viewing gallery. Two forms appeared at the middle entrance tunnel, arrowed to the front and made the greeting, Sonic with the dolphin version and Calen with the stylised wave.
Wirrin's heart leapt. Sonic looked magnificent. But so did Calen, with his body bare except for a form fitting costume extending from waist to knees and made of some silvery grey material which almost looked like dolphin skin. For a few seconds they stayed motionless with Calen's hand resting on Sonic's back then they rose to the surface where Sonic took a breath. Together they dived and Wirrin's neck hairs tingled in awe as he watched the slow loop of spiralling forms he'd first glimpsed at the Zero-G pool.
He'd been amazed then but this was so much more than a short spontaneous moment.
This was Calen and Sonic working with full concentration and effort to present the surprise they'd been working on for the last four weeks. Music started, a melody which changed in mood and style, sometimes simple, sometimes complicated, slow at first then gradually becoming more lively and joyful. Dolphin and boy moved with the music.
No they didn't. The music moved with them, as they twined and turned in unison and counterpoint, a single unit with two separate parts. Wirrin watched in total disbelief at Calen's impossible actions and a strange feeling came that maybe he was really a dolphin in human form? And even stranger feeling built that maybe Sonic was partly human? A beautiful sound joined in. Sonic was singing the melody and for the next few minutes Wirrin was lost in sight and sound.
Everything stopped. Sonic and Calen were back where they started, motionless in the water, except for Calen's chest heaving as he dragged air from his breathing mask. Everything stayed stopped, and Wirrin, looking out, had an eerie feeling that everyone had turned to statues. Akama stood up, and when he turned towards Sonic and Calen a murmur of sound washed through the gallery. In seconds it became a great wave, applause and voice building and building in acclamation. Calen gave a watery version of a bow in acknowledgement and when Sonic copied him Wirrin couldn't help smiling. They must have rehearsed it but it did look spontaneous. The sound muted and a hush of expectancy built as Sonic and Calen faced each other.

'Thank you my brother. You honor me.'

Amplified for the gallery, Sonic's translated words sounded out clearly and Wirrin sensed the communal jolt of realisation that he was speaking directly. Calen responded by saying the same thing in dolphin talk. It was a short, slightly formal interchange, and Wirrin thought of all the people watching and seeing for the first time that dolphins and people could really speak to each other.
A swirl of movement took attention as dolphins poured through the three entrance tunnels, more and more till Wirrin knew that once again every Attunga dolphin was here. Rank upon rank they formed, then watched Sonic and Calen perform one more amazing spiralling arc and disappear into one of the tunnels.
No! No! They couldn't be going? Wirrin wanted them back.
Sonic returned and with a burst of rapid dolphin speech circled past the gathered pods and gracefully broached the surfaced for a breath. Every dolphin followed, returned to its place, and facing the witnesses with Sonic, gave the greeting. Wirrin was stunned. Every dolphin had moved at exactly the same instant, as if one composite being. They did move as a group in the reaches, it was part of their nature, but this was done with a degree of precision he'd never seen.
The raucous voice of a kookaburra calling its territorial warning filled the gallery and the deep thrum of vibrating air columns joined in the evocative introduction to the Dreamtime Concerto. Wirrin's goosebumps rose yet again as the greatest musical legacy from the resurgence of First Australia sounded through the gallery, and he watched enthralled as the dolphin's motions presented an astonishing, active, interpretation. Straight away he recognised the birth of the Sun, as a living sphere of dolphins formed and arose from the earth in the creation of light and life. There was the Rainbow Serpent, a mass of dolphins undulating and weaving in concert with the powerful music. Wirrin smiled with delight as Sonic lead a group of five dolphins to somehow simulate kangaroo spirits bounding beside the Rainbow Serpent. He lost track briefly when Calen arrived at the dais and sat in the empty seat, still in his special costume but wearing a shirt with the dolphinarium logo as well.
Well, so what if millions of people were watching, he was getting a hug. Calen leaned into the hug and whispered.

".. Did I do all right?"

Wirrin gave him another squeeze, and a nod and smile.

"You were useless!"

That was reverse praise from Thom and after receiving a quick but gentle dig in the ribs as well, Calen settled happily as attention returned to the dolphins.
For the next fifteen minutes the spellbinding actions of the dolphins merged with the power of the music and built to an explosive final crescendo. The nearly 400 dolphins moved close behind the viewing panel and stayed, almost motionless, looking out at the Witnesses. Just as when Sonic and Calen finished, the gallery hushed while people returned to themselves.
And again it held, an eerie tableau of humans and dolphins watching each other, till a Witness near the front raised both her arms high in acclamation. The people close by followed, and then everyone else. Wirrin jumped to his feet to join in but whirled when a little sound, poignant in the silence, came from Calen. He was overcome, but Wirrin, knowing that action would help, pulled him to his feet and lifted his arm. On his other side Thom did the same.
The dolphins repeated their unified greeting then with bewildering speed poured in three living streams through the exit tunnels and left Sonic by himself.
Now the roar of sound started, filling the gallery, and Wirrin was carried in wonder and awe at the strength of it till a movement by Akama caught attention and brought it to an end.

"Sonic, you and your people have honored Attunga with gifts of beauty and grace, and we thank you with all our hearts."

Akama's voice rang clear and strong, with a powerful message of gratitude and appreciation from everyone on Attunga, and then an exhortation for friendship and cooperation between dolphins and humans, while Sonic's nods of agreement and acknowledgement made him part of the message.
With a start, Wirrin realised he was part of this. Sonic's human seeming body language had been mostly learnt from interaction with the trio and this was one of the reasons they were sitting here.
Akama finished and Sonic spoke. Wirrin quickly relaxed, started smiling and saw that the watching witnesses were smiling too. Sonic's happy nature was being communicated to everyone in the gallery, and, it turned out, to the millions of people watching.

'While we speak in open forum I would like my brothers to be with me.'

Brothers? Not just Calen? Sonic wanted all three of them in there with him? Wirrin's heart started pounding as Calen pulled him from his seat. This wasn't part of the agenda.

"Be proud."

Akama sounded pleased by the unplanned request.
For the next twenty minutes the trio swam with Sonic while he spoke with the Witnesses.
When that part of the proceedings finished the lights dimmed, then brightened on the dais again where Akama and Gelar were now standing together. Akama raised an arm slowly in a simple gesture which demanded full and serious attention.

"Friends, today we have shared in joy and grace and ventured a new frontier, but great changes are often fraught with great problems."

Wirrin's mind jolted as the simple hand gesture of a moment ago paled beside the import of Akama's words.

"Be assured that all is well on Attunga.

Such is not the case elsewhere."

DIASPORA PRIME Part 12.

Prev Part

"I feel like a Dead Dingo!"

Wirrin and Thom plonked themselves down beside Calen. They were all tired from the momentous day, but after all his energy and effort it was no wonder Calen was extra exhausted.

"Do you want to go to sleep or can you wait for the special meal Thom's got planned?"

"I won't sleep. My brain's going round in circles."

Normally that would draw rude remarks but at the moment Wirrin and Thom were rather in awe of Calen.

"No wonder. What was it like talking to all the scientists?"

"I wasn't expecting that. It was meant to be just Sonic but he says it's easier to talk to people he doesn't know when one of us is with him. That's why he wanted us all there when he talked to the Witnesses."

"What about that scientist who said we're a fake dolphin pod designed by the Dolphinarium?"

"I know. That was interesting, but he went quiet when Sonic said there was nothing fake about us, and that though we filled some similar functions we were very different to a pod."

"I like the idea that we're a sort of dolphin pod."

Wirrin nodded at Thom's comment because he felt the same.

"We'll ask Sonic. You could tell he's thought about it more than we have."

"I thought the scientists were great. They were all on Sonic's side."

"That's a funny thing to say. Of course they were on his side."

"You know what I mean. You could feel the atmosphere, and if Gelar hadn't finished things up I reckon they'd still be talking."

The talk with the scientists was the original meeting planned for Sonic. The introduction to the general population of Attunga, which had taken over in importance, was instigated by Akama and when the Witnesses left to go to their special conference the viewing gallery refilled with scientists and for over an hour Sonic and Calen answered all sorts of questions. Calen didn't answer so many, but Sonic included him in different ways in many of his answers. Wirrin was impressed by how much Sonic enjoyed trying to answer the tricky questions.

"Well they sure looked pleased when Sonic said he'd like to have regular meetings with them."

"I don't know how he's going to fit that in with every else he wants to do. We just seem to get busier and busier."

Wirrin felt concerned at this statement.

"You're not going to keep being worn out every night are you?"

"No, that was from practising the swimming till we got it right. We're back to normal routine now. Except I don't know how it's going to work if he wants me there for all these trips he wants to do."

The trips Calen was talking about had come out when Sonic told the scientists he had plans to meet people all over Attunga, and especially younger people in Nurseries and EdCom centres.

"You've never had a normal routine. It changes every time Sonic gets interested in something new."

"Well it makes life interesting. ...How much did you zap at the Gallery?"

"Nothing."

"How come? That's not what we planned."

"How come? Well, someone just happened to blow my brain with their incredible surprise didn't they. Our planning didn't count on you being so amazing I wouldn't be able to think about anything else."

Thom gave a snort of laughter.

"Snap out Wirrin. He's being useless again."

"What?"

"He's wondering what he looked like. Call it up from the InterWeb and show him with a big holo."

"Am not!"

The grin he was trying to repress said otherwise. Wirrin searched and let out a gasp.

"Bush-boys! Look at this. It's been watched over two and a half billion times. ...And there's ninety million people watching it right now."

They all stared at the data about the dual swim.

"That must be wrong. It doesn't make sense."

"Yes it does. No one could believe it the first time so they're watching it again."

"They must be watching it more than twice to get those numbers."

"... 73% of Attunga and Warrakan were watching. It's the biggest audience for anything that's been on the Attunga InterWeb."

Calen was shaking his head in disbelief.

"How many people is that?"

"It's there. ...Further across in that next column. ...910 million."

They all went quiet.

"... It's because of Sonic."

Wirrin grabbed Calen by the nape of his neck and gave a squeeze.

"And you! The first time was because of all the Witnesses being there, but the re-watches are because of you and Sonic."

Calen wriggled his head around but made no move to dislodge the grip.

"Dolphin boy! ...Look! They call you Dolphin Boy. That's good. I really like it."

The outburst was from Thom as he pointed to a heading on the far right of the screen. There was another startled silence while they made a quick perusal, then a simultaneous chant of, 'Dolphin Boy! Dolphin Boy!', from Wirrin and Thom as they tipped Calen on his side on the grav-sofa and joyfully attacked. Calling them idiots and bushwhackers, Calen demanded, after a while, that they watch the holo, and feeling particularly close, they did just that.

"You really are a Dolphin Boy Calen. You can't deny it after watching that."

"It does look more special than when we were practising, but it all came from Sonic. I just did what he showed me. It could have been anyone."

"As if. ...What did Sonic say about it?"

"We didn't get to talk much but he was really pleased. We'll find out everything when we see Turaku tomorrow."

"Turaku wants to see you?"

"No, the other way round. Sonic wants to see Turaku, and he's arranged for all of us to meet him tomorrow afternoon."

"All of us?"

"Yes, everyone. It's about Akama's message. Sonic wants something to happen."

"Did he say what?"

Wirrin and Thom were on full alert now.

"No, there were too many other things going on, but I think he must have ideas he wants to talk over."

Akama's warning about the negative external attitude to enhanced dolphins had been the serious note amongst all the positives for the day.

"That's interesting. He usually leaves things like that to Turaku. I wonder if he knows something we don't?"

"I don't think so. Gelar was as surprised by the call for the meeting as I was, and Turaku keeps him up to date with everything. I reckon Sonic got stirred by Akama's speech."

Wirrin nodded. No-one was going to know Sonic's thoughts better than Calen, and Akama had indeed been inspiring.

"What did you think of it? Akama's warning I mean?"

"It was really clever. I was scared at the start because I thought he was going to say more dolphins were being attacked."

"Me too, and then I was expecting him to talk about the ones that had been killed but instead of that he made a big deal about how well everything went at Monkey Mia."

"He wouldn't talk about the dead ones Thom, not when so many people were watching. It would be too upsetting. Children would have nightmares if they saw those pictures."

"That's for sure."

"He did tell them bad things had happened, without going into the details. I thought he might be letting everyone know about it without making it too much of a shock so it wouldn't take away from all the good things coming out about the dolphins."

Wirrin was really impressed with this idea from Calen. It fitted with Akama's strong assurances that the AIs were working to help the Earth dolphins. Calen continued.

"He sure made a big deal about the way you helped."

"That was awful. He made it sound like it was me who saved Monkey Mia."

"What's awful about that? You did save them and we're glad that everyone knows."

"I helped a bit, but it was really Turaku and the Australian AIs who did all the important things, and Akama hardly mentioned them."

"He wants you to be a hero."

"Very funny!"

As soon as he made his comeback Wirrin realised Calen wasn't joking.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I noticed how much he emphasised your part in it too, and I wondered if he was trying to show that humans are important for helping the dolphins. You know what I mean, building the idea that humans and dolphins and AIs all help each other and need each other. That's what Witnesses do, and I bet that's what took up most of their conference."

Wirrin was impressed again. Calen was saying a lot of good things and that thought could certainly explain what Akama had done. Still, it stuck in his mind that the same thing could have happened without making it so individual.
Thom jumped up.

"I'd better get our food ready."

"Aren't we going to watch the dolphins and the Dreamtime Concerto first?"

"Tomorrow night. If you watch it now your brain will be going round in even more circles, and you're going to bed as soon as you can because you're under orders from Warrigal to sleep in till midday."

***

Wirrin and Thom spent the morning studying at EdCom then returned home. When they came in Calen sat up in the grav-bed with a cheeky grin and demanded breakfast. Good, he looked and sounded full of life.

"SLUG! ...It's more like evening meal time."

"It is not. It's 12:30 and I've been awake for ages."

"Well you're still in bed so ages means about ten minutes. We've got an hour to get to the Dolphinarium so get up and get yourself ready."

Calen elaborately and lazily stretched his arms above his head and gave a fake yawn.

"I'll have breakfast in bed first. It's too nice to be getting up."

Wirrin grabbed a foot and pulled him onto the floor then, with indignant, fake cries of protest following, went to help Thom.

"That's not breakfast. ...What is it?"

"Too bad about breakfast. You've missed that. It's salmon-sub and if you don't want it we'll eat it for you."

"Are you sure you've cooked enough?"

"No we're not, but 600 g will have to do. If you want any more you can get it off Sonic."

"What?"

"Fish! That's what Dolphin Boys eat, and from now on you're having it for breakfast, lunch and tea."

Calen shook his head as if he'd never understand such foolishness.

"Did anything happen at EdCom?"

"We hardly got anything done. Even the tutors wanted to talk about dolphins instead of ordinary work."

It had been quite strange, to walk into the EdCom Centre and feel everyone looking. Mostly they'd kind of smiled, which felt good, and in the discussion groups where everyone knew each other they'd gathered round to talk and ask questions.

"Did they like Sonic?"

"I think so."

Calen laughed at Thom's typical understatement and turned to Wirrin.

"Of course they did. You'll see for yourself tomorrow. ...Are you going to wear your dolphin skin today?"

"It isn't dolphin skin and of course I'm not. I'd feel silly."

"Well that was one of the things they kept asking about."

The conversation slacked off and was replaced with murmurs of pleasure as they tucked into the food. Thom had picked the salmon substitute as a stir for the Dolphin Boy, but they all agreed it was so delicious it would be added to their list of meals for special occasions. The big chunks they were eating didn't come from real salmon of course. Like any other genuine meat, they were grown in a specialty food factory and quite limited in supply.
Just as they were finishing there was a splash of water in the pool and a rattle of clicks and squeaks as Sonic looked towards where they were sitting. It was something about being lazy and something about food. Wirrin had a good vocabulary of dolphin words, but it was always tricky to understand what Sonic was saying. He and Calen spoke so quickly for one thing, but as well, there were frequencies which Calen could pick up with his special implants which ordinary human ears couldn't hear. Calen laughed and said something back.

"He's learning bad habits from you two, telling me I sleep too much."

"What did he ask about the food?"

There was another rapid interchange of dolphin speech.

"I told him it was fish and he said it was disgusting."

"Eating fish is disgusting?"

Dolphin laughter sounded from the pool.

'No, but burning and spoiling it is.'

Wirrin turned to Sonic.

"Humans don't eat raw fish. That would be disgusting."

There was more dolphin laughter and Calen looked surprised.

"He says to look up 'sushi'."

In a second Wirrin had pictures and information on a holo for everyone to look at. ...raw fish and people enjoying eating it.

"How did he know that?"

"...That time when we talked about killing things for food he got interested in what people eat."

Calen pulled his shirt off and dived into the pool. Wirrin and Thom quickly cleared away the table things and joined them. Saying hello to Sonic wasn't properly complete without physical contact. Ten minutes of the play that was so important in dolphin society followed, and laughter and dolphin sounds rang out in happy communion.

***

Sonic was excited. Calen called it across from his skimmer as the four of them raced to the Dolphinarium, but it was obvious anyway, first with his exuberance in the pool and now as he powered through the reach. A glance at the skimmer's info-panel showed an impressive 29 km/h and at this rate the trip would only take couple of minutes. Their curiosity about the purpose of the meeting was higher than ever after their queries had just got Sonic's response that he wanted to help the Earth dolphins.

***

"We can't do that. It's far too dangerous."

Calen's words sounded into the pool of silence following Sonic's request to journey to Earth and persuade the threatened dolphins to return to Attunga. Even Turaku was looking rather shocked, though of course it would be the expression calculated as the most appropriate response for his holo.

'Turaku will make it safe.'

"He can't Sonic. He's bound to Attunga. If anything happened on Earth he wouldn't even know about it for twenty-seven minutes and we couldn't rely on the Australian AIs for the same reason. You'd be without proper AI protection for the whole travel time to earth and back. It's a terrible risk"

'There will be a way.'

Wirrin agreed with Gelar and he was sure everyone else did too. It had taken a combination of Turaku and several security AIs just to get Sonic safely to Warrakan and back. Gelar, shaking his head, looked at Turaku for support, and when he didn't respond, looked at Warrigal and everyone else. Wirrin could see other problems.

"How would you talk to them all Sonic? There must be thousands of them, and they're spread all over the Earth. It would take months and months to visit them. And how would we bring so many back to Attunga if they decide to leave their homes?"

'Talking is easy. Set up a holo screen for each pod and they can all hear me at the same time.'

Well, Sonic certainly didn't need Turaku to solve the communication problem.

"Varying in degree and complexity, there are approximately 2700 dolphins currently in association with 327 marine research centres or dolphin projects, and we don't have the capability to either transport them or provide a suitable living environment. Gelar is correct in his assessment that the risk in taking Sonic out of a secure environment is unacceptable, but this could be overcome as Sonic's proposal is the best solution so far considered.
With the targeted dolphins removed from the scene, the probability that wild dolphins would be hurt becomes minimal.
The high level of unwillingness for the marine centres to part with their dolphins could be alleviated by an invitation for human associates to accompany them.
There is, however, a serious drawback with the proposal, as Attunga would become the focus of attention for any new actions by the Directed Habitats, and Akama will be with us shortly to discuss this."

Wirrin stared. Everyone stared. Turaku was giving a go-ahead, but with reservations?

"But what about the security? We've only got one Sonic and the time lag would make you ineffective."

The concern in Gelar's voice sent a pang of worry through Wirrin. The thought of anything bad happening to Sonic really wasn't acceptable. Calen's intense frown showed he was thinking the same thing.

"1.7% effective as a reasonable approximation, but by travelling with you I can lift that to over 90%, and with a security presence we would approach 100%."

"You can't do that. You're part of Attunga."

"Yes I am and I will remain here, but with enough infrastructure developed on the transport vessel my identity and function can be replicated. With additional infrastructure a security presence could accompany us as well."

"You mean a copy of yourself would go with Sonic?"

"More like an extension. There would be constant communication."

A security presence? He meant another AI. Wirrin knew enough about the physical structures which enabled the existence of AIs to understand that Turaku was talking of a major, major project.

"Infrastructure? It would be a lot more than that. You'd have to design the whole vessel from scratch."

"You're correct Wirrin, and that design, including transport facilities for the dolphins, is ready for implementation."

AIs performed at incredible speeds but that sent Wirrin's mind spinning.

"Ready? You've designed it in the last minute or two?"

"I'm not personally capable in that time-frame. The function of the vessel requires maximum capability, and in order to be prepared for Akama, a group of AIs with expertise in engineering, defence, construction, security, science, and communication collaborated in semi-gestalt mode."

'Thank you Turaku.'

Turaku acknowledged the formal greeting. Wirrin was pondering what maximum capability must mean if it involved so many specialty AIs.

'I am concerned about the danger to Attunga. It clashes with my wish to protect dolphins.'

"We have to protect them, even if we don't bring them here. ...What about that idea of taking them all to Northern Australia? It worked at Monkey Mia, and the Australian AIs could look after them at Ningaloo and the Great Barrier Reef as well."

Calen sounded upset and Thom who was next to him put his arm across his shoulders. There had been many ideas about actions to assist the Earth dolphins in the eight to ten week respite which Turaku had confidently predicted before any new attacks were attempted. The complete disappearance without trace of every one of their predator drones would have been a major shock to K74 and require a full assessment on what might have happened before they instigated any new nastiness.

"It's the same dilemma Calen, except the attention gets directed against Northern Australia, and they aren't as well equipped to cope with it. ...You're right though, we do have to protect them, and provided Sonic can be kept safe I think this should go ahead. I don't know how we'd cope with two and a half thousand thousand extra dolphins. They'd have to all squeeze into the new reach on Warrakan and that's been designed for five hundred. We'd have to artificially stimulate the food production levels till any adjacent reaches became available. ...Can that be speeded up Turaku? They're already on a high priority."

"The first reach is ready now and it's extension in another three months. In six months we will have four neighbouring reaches available, and in eight months an extra twenty."

Twenty-four reaches? That was staggering. Wirrin did a quick calculation. ...Enough for 12,000 dolphins if they matched the specifications of the new one. Two and a half thousand dolphins would almost be lost in that amount of space. Gelar was showing the same amazement as everyone else and after a moment his smile of delight lit up. His attitude to Sonic's proposal had just taken an almost complete reversal.

"Twenty-four reaches? That's wonderful, but why so many, and why so soon? Has something else happened?"

Turaku gave a nod.

"Yes, I have been addressing the conference of Witnesses."

"The Witnesses? But that finished last night."

"They re-adjourned. Akama will be here in a few minutes."

The Witnesses were meeting again today? With what Turaku had just said about the reaches it must be connected to their meeting with Sonic, and Wirrin looked at him, wondering what he was making of all this. He hadn't said much and Wirrin had the impression he was doing a lot of thinking. With his fixed facial expression it was hard to tell. Everyone was keen to hear about the Witnesses but it was clear Turaku was leaving that to Akama.

"How long would it take to build a transport ship?"

"Time is critical Thom. Almost three weeks."

"Then nearly two weeks of travelling. Five weeks is getting into the danger zone."

"Travelling time would be twenty-nine hours. It's the logistics on Earth that can't be rushed."

Wirrin almost wondered if he was hearing right, as normal travel time to Earth varied from twelve to twenty days. A rapid retinal InterWeb check showed the record time was eight days and five hours. Thom looked like he'd been hit on the head with a club.

"You just said twenty-nine hours?"

The tone said Thom wanted to believe but couldn't.

"Yes Thom, it will be necessary."

Thom didn't say anything but the gears of calculation were fully engaged and Wirrin smiled at the excited earbashing they were in for.

'We will ride on a comet.'

Wirrin was savouring the imagery of Sonic's comment when it struck him that Sonic and Turaku had both just said, 'will', as if the journey was now definite. He was about to ask when there was a holo shimmer. Akama's image appeared and he smiled at Sonic and then everyone else.

"We've presented Sonic's request to the conference and it has unanimous support and agreement."

A thrill of excitement, mixed with a feeling of relief that the Earth dolphins would be helped, coursed through Wirrin's mind, and on top of that a sudden awareness that if Sonic went ahead he would be committing himself to what could be a dangerous situation.

"Already?"

"Yes, when Turaku explained the plan and its implications the only real concern was for Sonic's safety and that was quickly allayed. It's fortunate that we had reconvened to discuss the enormous reaction to yesterday, otherwise we would have had to organise a special holo conference.
It was dramatic Calen. After talking with you and Sonic yesterday a group of the scientists called for a complete new dolphin level to be added to Attunga and the idea has spread through the whole habitat and caught the imagination of the population in general. We were discussing how to handle that and I had to interrupt, introduce Turaku, and determine the will of the conference in very short order so we could get back to Sonic. It might seem rushed but the choice was really quite straightforward. Turaku has been explaining details and I must return as our conference has assumed a new level of importance. Sonic, Attunga supports you."

Akama gave a general nod and smile to everyone as his image shimmered and disappeared. Calen dived into the water with Sonic.

"We're going to earth."

Section Concludes.

Start

I hope you've gained some enjoyment from this story.
Any comments and feedback would be greatly appreciated.
My email address is palantir@diasporatales.tech
For further information about the diaspora series you're welcome at https://diasporatales.net
Palantir.