Chapter eleven

Recovery and Revelation

Mother whale began to swim toward consciousness, she slowly became aware of support in the water, she heard her child in a sound dream, and strange beings who were talking to him encouragingly. Her thoughts swirled into and out of focus like the ocean currents which she had followed and played in for as long as she could remember; she felt confused, as if all currents were pulling her everywhere at once.

A dull aching pain throbbed along one side of her great body. She struggled to grasp what had happened. Why was she overcome with sleep as soon as she had a thought? Why did she hurt so?

At least her child was near and had found friends. But who were they? Their voices did not follow familiar patterns, and they did not seem to be children. She attempted to open her eyes but felt herself slipping back into unconsciousness, even as she struggled to speak. A tremendous explosion rang through her dream. She slept again.

"Your mother comes closer to waking up each time she tries," Cecric told the young whale.

"She'll need food when she awakens," Perko observed. "I'll go find something."

"Bring her a squid, she will like that," the young whale called out, as Perko swam away.

"We will stay with you until your mother recovers. What are your names?" Dawn asked the young whale.

"My mother is Ballena. I am Pito."

"Pito, your mother should wake up soon. When she does, cuddle her and be gentle. Tell her not to move very much and that you have found friends who will explain more when she feels strong enough to talk. We think she is waking up now."

Pito swam to the side of Ballena's head and pressed against her. Ballena felt the caress of her child's body and opened her eyes. "What is happening?" She asked groggily, "Who are you playing with? Why are you all holding me up?"

"You've been hurt momma. Some humans attended to your wounds. My friends stayed with us and helped hold you until you woke up. You're not supposed to move very much, you have been hurt badly."

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. Though I have a hurt like yours on my tail, but it is already better."

"Swim so I can see it."

Pito moved so that his mother could look at his injury.

"I have never seen a wound like that," she said. "How did it happen? The last I remember is a very loud noise."

"I'm not sure, Mom. I think you were hit by something humans have that's like what we use for catching food, but it's hot and loud, instead of only loud."

"Hmm. Humans have killed many of us but the death songs don't describe what you have just told me."

"Mom. Perhaps you should talk to my friends, they know more about this than I do." Pito then turned and called to the Delfinians. "My mother is awake. Will you talk with her?"

Delfinians swam slowly through Ballena's field of vision. They felt her probe them with her sonar. They knew what she sensed because they could also listen to her echoing sound waves. They knew her heart did not race with fear by using their own echo location senses, and she in turn knew the status of her own injuries by listening to their sonar.

Ballena's brain quickly grasped a perfect three dimensional sonar vision of her surgery, including the stitches, and the patterns left by the neatly removed wedges of blubber. She examined the three dimensional sound images of self and Delfinians, quietly. Though her pain was great and occasionally hampered her concentration, it did not stop her from appreciating the precision evidenced in her surgery, or that she was in the presence of beings which she had never heard of during any of the historical recitals she had attended throughout her life.

"Who are you?" she asked, wincing slightly but noticeably. "I have not heard of people like you. Your skeletons are different than anyone I've met, and I know people both large and small from all the families in our long history. Where do you live? How did you happen to be here to help Pito?"

The delfinians moved so that Sudor could swim with a graceful turn and make the equivalent of a polite underwater bow. "Greetings Madam Ballena," he began. "I am Sudor and speak for the Delfinian People during events such as this. We are travelers from a planet that circles a different sun, we live in a galaxy of suns that are very very far away." He stopped to see if she wished additional description.

Ballena remained silent, listening politely.

"So you understand the stars and planets?" Sudor was somewhat surprised because he believed whale eyesight was not as important for Cetacean as as it is for either Delfinian or Human.

"Our historical recitals contain long and beautiful songs about other planets, stars, and galaxies of stars," Ballena responded. "This knowledge was brought to us by travelers who came to Earth many generations ago, during a time so far in the past that it was long before the slaughter of my people by humans. Our historical records tell that the last space traveler left in great sadness. Humans did not receive the gift of knowledge as Ocean People did.

"We know the sun is a very close star which gives us warmth and light. We know that we and this planet are ashes from the hearts of living stars, and that Mother Earth continues to make our life possible," Ballena was looking thoughtfully at the delfinians as she spoke.

"You do not have the same kind of body that I expect, yet you come from the vastness of space, and have given help in my time of need. Are you a descendant of those great beings in our history?"

"She must be talking about Melodians," Cecric interjected. "Eddy told me almost the same story, as told to him by Star Song."

"Does your history mention Melodians? Does it tell about Star Song?" Sudor asked.

"Indeed it does," Ballena answered. "Star Song was the last to be here. The great being was very sad and said humans thought they had killed it. We had a huge farewell gathering, attended by almost all Ocean People. That was the last anyone ever saw of Star Song. Our scholars believe melodians may have made quick visits to find out how we were doing, perhaps they attempted to checked on humans, we don't know."

Ballena let out a long sigh and again winced with pain. Her eyes drooped and she dozed for a moment. Perko suggested that she rest and they could talk more later.

"No," she responded. "I'm beginning to feel a little better, and I wonder still who you are and how a Human was involved in helping me. Also, how do you know Star Song?"

"We are from the planet Delfinia, Sudor replied. "Our entire planet was destroyed by a terrible evil called Doom Cloud. Those of us who escaped found out later that it was melodians who helped our spaceships escape to open space. We were pursued across the vastness of timespace by Doom Cloud. Brave and kind humans helped us. We met them while approaching our new planet, Pacifica.

"The planet was also a home planet used by melodians. We would have perished without Star Song, and all other Melodians. It was Star Song who told us about you; he thought perhaps we might be of help because we are also Ocean People."

Sudor stopped, he was checking to see if Ballena really was able to stay awake just as Perko swam into sight towing a large squid. Ballena snapped instantly alert when Perko passed through her field of vision and held the squid in front of her mouth. "This is for you," he said. "I'll go find another if you wish."

"Thank you very much," Ballena responded, she began eating the squid hungrily. Moisture and food revived her energy astoundingly quick, her eyes sparkled with the gleam of life almost instantly.

Pito saw the dramatic change, "She needs another one!" He cried.

If a giant sperm whale could blush, Ballena would have done so right then and there. "Be quiet, my son," she ordered in a forceful yet kindly tone. "These wonderful people have done quite enough already."

"Nonsense," Dawn said swimming forward. "We'll tend to your needs until you are able to swim without tearing the stitches in your wound. We came to help you and are partially responsible for what has happened. I'll go this time." She performed an underwater Delfinian bow and started off in search of more squid.

"Wait for me!" Pito called swimming after her.

"I think my boy is hungry, too," Ballena chuckled a low rumbling song which Delfinians could hear, though well below the range of Human hearing. "Tell me more about Delfinians," she continued. "I see you have arms like Humans but my sonar shows me your tail skeleton is much different than mine."

Sudor asked Landra to speak because she was more knowledgeable about delfinian physiology than he.

"Our ancestors returned to the sea at a different point in evolution than yours," Landra began. "We are descendants of terrestrial life forms which were almost identical to Earth Humans. That is why we have arms and a third hand at the end of our tail. Did you notice that we have a single small prehensile limb floating in the muscle near our hip, where you have two?"

"I did indeed," Ballena replied. "I also noticed it is not on the same side for all of you."

Landra smiled. "That is how we know if our children are going to grow up right or left handed," she replied. "If our prehensile leg bone is on the left side, we tend to use the right hand more than the left; the opposite is true when the prehensile bone is on the right."

"But there is much more to it than that," Ballena interjected. "My back bone goes all the way to my tail flukes. Your back bone stops before it reaches your tail."

"That is because your ancestors still had a tail when they returned to the sea, ours did not. Our tail is one of the legs we used when we were terrestrial animals like Earth Humans. We had already lost our tails before we returned to the sea."

"So that is why you have a third hand instead of tail flukes?"

"Precisely. Our third hand evolved from the foot bones, which grew large enough to make a paddling hand, instead of flukes like yours."

"But why did your ancestors return to the sea if they were so much like humans? Cetaceans believe humans have so many advantages it is a miracle any of us are left at all."

"This was the saddest chapter in our history," Cecric interjected. "Our humanlike ancestors behaved very much like Earth Humans, except they never evolved into a new kind of human which could travel to the stars and colonize a new planet.

"Our ancestors never learned that a planet is a beautiful being which must be cared for. My personal theory is this was because our planet did not have a moon.

"The moon is where Earth Humans first established a colony separate from Earth. Isolation and freedom on the moon provided a place for a new kind of Human. Delfinia had no moon where a new culture could develop in peace, and then escape to the stars."

Ballena was a little puzzled. "Are you telling me that Humans will eventually return to the sea and become like you?"

"They might. The end point of environmental destruction is chaos and war. The biggest difference is that we are here to help ocean people survive, even if earth humans don't."

"Why would you do that?"

"The first reason is purely selfish. We have suffered a terrible loss and this is a beautiful planet. We are going to split our surviving population in half and live on two worlds rather than one. That way we will have a better chance of surviving if there is another attack on us. Delfinians are your new neighbors, permanently. Earth's Ocean People will know Delfinians from this day forward, for all of time."

Ballena glanced questioningly to Sudor. He nodded his agreement with Cecric. "What is the second reason?" She asked.

"Our terrestrial ancestors were worse than Earth Humans. They slaughtered all the original Ocean People of Delfinia, before they wiped themselves out."

"But that isn't your fault."

"No, it isn't, but we've seen fossils of beings like you on our home planet and have wished we could have known them for a long time. We are very happy to have found you and want to be your friends."

"Why did ocean people learn to travel in space on your planet? I cannot see that happening here."

"Well, for one thing, we have arms and hands. Also, the oceans of Delfinia expanded from global warming, just as they are doing here on Earth. Delfinian's have always swam among ancient underwater cities. They were a complete mystery to our ancestors. Delfinians dug around in the ruins of the underwater cities seeking answers to the riddle of their presence. This went on for uncounted thousands of years. We eventually learned to take things apart and put them back together. Then we discovered sealed chambers which had been built by our terrestrial ancestors to record the history of their entire story."

Ballena was used to gliding around the world in ocean currents, knowing exactly where she was. She felt herself becoming confused about the locations and histories of the various planets they had been discussing and was relieved to see Landra and Pito return with another squid. "I will eat again and then perhaps rest. Will you watch Pito if I fall asleep after eating?"

"We are here to help," Sudor answered. "If you sleep and don't see me upon awakening, I will have gone to tell the humans you are recovering. Two of them are waiting in a boat, they have our translation devices and will be able to talk with you."

Landra brought the squid into position and Ballena once again ate hungrily.

"Her appetite is good, she will heal quickly with food and rest," Landra beamed with self satisfied pride at having brought the squid. She put one arm over Pito's head and affectionately pulled him into a hug.

Pito was feeling playful. He somersaulted into a dive which pulled Landra straight down. She quickly grabbed his arm fin with her tail hand and curled herself along his body. She let go with her third hand as she grabbed his tail with both arm hands. This frightened the young whale and he twisted in a vain effort to knock her away with his head. Landra realized she had gripped his flukes too tightly and let go.

Pito swam to Landra and nuzzled her with his head. As she pet him gently she felt his entire body go rigid. At that moment she heard and felt the probing sonar of another whale. A chill went down her spine. The probing echo location was examining them just as she had done when selecting the squid for Ballena's meal. There was a hunter near, and they were its prey.

Landra sent Pito to his mother and slowly retreated behind him, swimming backward, with all three hands readied for an unknown threat.

Landra's delfinian partners swept past her going full speed towards the approaching hunter. "It's an orca!" Perko called to her as he rushed by. "Stay here with Ballena and Pito."

Her first impulse was to ignore Perko and go with them to help ensure the killer whale was stopped. Then she realized there could be more than one, she turned and swam rapidly to protect the whales. Landra was respectful but not afraid of one killer whale, still she hoped the others would return quickly if she was confronted by several. Though Delfinians are strong, a killer whale bite would be instantly fatal. Her heart was pounding as she surfaced for a breath and strained to hear a hostile approach.

The other delfinians sped to directly confront the hunting orca. Perko took the lead and stopped directly in front of the prowling killer whale, which slowly backed away, probing him quizzically with its echo location sonar. Perko probed back and realized the orca was not immediately hungry. "Come no closer to our friends," he said, calmly but forcefully.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" The orca answered with a question.

"I am Perko, a Delfinian, and these are my friends Sudor, Cecric, and Dawn. Sudor is our leader."

"If he is your leader, then why are you in front?"

Perko was surprised by the orca's question and took a moment to mull it over. "I don't know," he said, " actually, Cecric is usually the fastest."

He didn't have a chance to finish his answer because the orca interrupted. "I am Dasaye, the hunter," the orca spoke quietly as he lunged open-mouthed for Perko.

Killer whales are fast and no living flesh can withstand the crushing power of their tooth filled jaws.

Delfinians are faster.

Dasaye's open mouth clamped shut on empty water, precisely where his experience told him a fleeing seal or young whale would have been. Perko was something new. He moved up and forward, rather than backward to flee. He tucked and flipped like a gymnast as Dasaye's gaping jaws flashed beneath him. Then he straightened his body vertically and clamped onto the surprised orca's blowhole with his extremely strong third hand. He squeezed with all his might and twisted until he was facing forward with the enraged killer whale.

Attempting to knock loose the source of his pain, Dasaye frantically threw his head back and upward. Perko raised both arms high, locked his hands together, and crouched. The orca's raising head met a double karate chop from Perko's clasped hands, his driving punch was amplified by his crouching motion. The orca went completely limp. Perko had knocked Dasaye unconscious with one perfectly timed blow to the head, which was lucky for him, as Sudor, Dawn and Cecric immediately halted their own attack. Instead, they helped Perko carry Dasaye to the surface so he wouldn't drown before regaining his senses.

"What are we going to do if he starts fighting again as soon as he wakes up?" Cecric asked. "We should have a plan. Did you see the size of those teeth?"

"They were too close for my comfort," Perko responded. "This guy's name should be Tee Rex," he concluded wryly.

"I think Dasaye was just testing to see if one of us would make an easy snack," Sudor said with a genuine grin. "He seems too smart to try it again."

"That's what I think, too," Cecric said. "Though we still need some kind of plan ready if ol' T' Rex here decides to strike again."

They quickly decided that as soon as Dasaye was conscious they would drift a safe distance back from his teeth and then split up with two of them on either side of a straight-line lunge.

"He probably won't let anyone leap over the top of his head next time," Perko advised. "One of us from the opposite side of his attack should lock onto his blow hole like I just did; the other three duck under and knock the wind out of him. I might as well be the one who goes for the top from my side since I already did it once."

Sudor volunteered to go for the blowhole from his side, if Dasaye attacked toward Perko. It was obvious to them all that the strength of a delfinian was enough to panic an orca when its blowhole was squeezed.

"The idea should be to hold on long enough to distract him and then let go in time for the others to knock the air out of his lungs," said Dawn, summarizing the plan to make sure they were in agreement.

They used their echo location sonar to determine the weak-spot location in back of the lungs, then quietly waited for Dasaye to regain consciousness. It took awhile, they were just beginning to wonder if Perko had been overly rough when they felt the great beast stir. They gently paddled away from immediate danger.

Dasaye was instantly alert when he awoke and did not renew battle, instead, he backed away slightly. They felt his probes as being much more attentive to details and warily watched him thinking over what his senses had told him.

"Who are you?" he asked at last.

"We told you who we were before your unprovoked attack," Sudor answered. "At this point we wonder if conversation with you is merely a ploy you use to prepare for attack."

"You make eating sound like something bad," Dasaye responded. "It is true I tried to eat the one called Perko, but that does not imply I had bad thoughts or angry feelings."

"We understand the concept of eating quite well," Perko said. "We also must eat, and we have caught squid for Ballena. You now have been warned of what will happen if you try to eat one of us or anyone we care about, and this warning includes all ocean people, everywhere on Earth."

Dasaye backed further away. Sudor's growing passion made him cautious.

"There is a new law among Ocean People," Sudor declared. "Cannibalism is forbidden from this day forward; no ocean person may eat another."

"Even if its old and dying?"

"Not even then."

"What will you do if someone breaks the law?"

"That hasn't been figured out yet. We will wait until more ocean people know the law and see what happens then. Will you agree? That is all I need to know."

"Are you a descendant of Star Song?"

"No. Star Song is my friend and ally."

"Friend? Ally?"

"Star Song suggested that Delfinians should establish a colony on Earth in order to help Ocean People, and humans who wish to live in peace with them."

"There are Humans who are not at war with Ocean People?"

"Yes, and one of their most important elders has established a base on yonder island. We have captured one of the unfriendly human war machines and hidden it just outside the cove. You may go see for yourself if you wish."

"Did the elder human help you capture the war machine?"

"He and his friends brought us here and helped us in many ways. Yes, is the answer to your question. Now we must return to Ballena, she was accidentally injured during the submarine capture. Will you help us guard and care for her until she has recovered?

"She will be able to answer many of your questions when she awakens. There will be much else to discuss as time goes by, for example, we need to know if ocean people will help humans who want peace with them."

Sudor then turned and swam toward Ballena and her son, the other delfinians followed, one-by-one. Perko was last, he backed away cautiously, ready for whatever Dasaye might do.

"Wait Perko," Dasaye called out. "My last memory during our struggle is that you knocked me unconscious with one thudding blow. Can that possibly be true?"

Perko stretched his neck upward for a leisurely breath before answering. "Your memory is correct, Dasaye. I was frightened by your strong teeth and tried whatever might work. Now all delfinians know what I did.

"Please don't take this as a threat, for I have come to admire your straightforward ways, however, we made a plan while we held you at the surface to keep you from drowning. Though we would not have killed you had you attacked us again, I believe you would have avoided fighting with all Delfinians, for the rest of your life.

"In other words, we had a good plan and you would have sorely regretted another attack."

Dasaye glanced at the other Delfinians, who had stopped and were listening intently.

"Lead on Perko," Dasaye chuckled a tone not quite as low and deep as Ballena's yet equally rich with meaning and nuance. "I will guard you from any danger, and I will protect all ocean people from being eaten by another."

Perko's face lit up with a smile as he turned to rejoin the others. "I believe we shall unite the Ocean People," he said proudly as they swam toward Ballena, Pito, and Landra.

"Ol' T' Rex may have big teeth but he's a good guy."

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