Chapter fourteen

Another New Beginning

Both Sudor and Dasaye alternately dozed and swam through the night in a northerly direction. They did not hurry; the ocean is so large hurrying makes little sense. Two days passed as they drifted with the currents and the monstrous ocean swells. Dasaye caught occasional large fish tasty enough to share with Sudor, who politely sampled each offering but was far more pleased with finding undersea mountains and harvesting various shellfish and sea vegetables that were usually too small for Dasaye.

They encountered a group of humpback whales in the evening of the second day. The humpbacks were not at all pleased to see Dasaye. They wouldn't let their children go near him, even after he told them of the new law; that no whale may eat another.

Dasaye explained his story differently the second time he tried to talk with the other whales; "Please meet my new friend, Sudor, we are traveling together. He established the new law," Dasaye was enthusiastic and other humpback whales began listening to him more closely as he continued his story. "My new friend and his friends convinced me; I have taken a solemn oath to protect all ocean people. Believe me, I will protect you and your children for the rest of my life."

One of the larger whales wasn't afraid of a lone orca and swam closer, the humpback was plainly curious to know who and what Sudor was. Dasaye sang a long recital which told everything he knew about Delfinians. His song grew mournful when it told of Delfinia being completely destroyed by a huge evil power. Most of the humpbacks listened to the song while swimming lazy patterns through the plankton cloud that had attracted them to this spot. They swam with their mouths open, their baleen filter let the ocean water pass through as they gathered great gulping mouthfuls of their favorite food.

Sudor retrieved a fine mesh wire scoop from his travel pack and swished it through the plankton. He worked patiently until he gathered a meal for himself. Sudor evidently liked it for he began refilling the scoop as soon as he finished eating the first.

"Your friend seems to like our food," a second humpback commented joining the group.

"It is very good," Sudor replied. "I was pleased to find tasty crustacean larvae floating in the mixture, they give good flavor and texture."

The two humpbacks jerked in surprise at hearing him talk. "You speak the ancient language used by ocean people at gatherings," the first and largest humpback said.

The first whale swam forward and stared at Sudor. "I am Guadee and this is my friend, Pulow. Where did you learn the old language of unity?"

"I have this translation device, which I have been adjusting to your vocal tones," Sudor said pointing to his translation collar. What is the ancient language of unity?"

"The language of unity was given to ocean people long ago by a being called Star Song. The Unity language is slightly strange to each family of ocean people yet understood by all."

"We are looking for orcas," Sudor said. "Have you seen any lately?"

"Dasaye mentioned that in his song. He also told us that your family traveled here from the stars, and that one day soon there will be more of you here than all ocean people families put together."

"That is true," Sudor said. "We are here to save the world for cetaceans and will soon become Earth Ocean People ourselves."

"So now you want to tell orcas about the new law?" Pulow asked.

"That's part of the reason," Sudor responded. "Orca's also have the ability to mimic underwater human communication signals from their war machines. We believe the orca family will be able to use their unique talent in the struggle to save the world. Perhaps there are other ocean people who can talk to the war machines but we don't know that."

"If you swim to the rising sun, you will find orcas," Guadee said. "We saw them yesterday, they were in the company of many dolphins and feasting on tuna."

"Thank you for the guidance," Sudor said.

"Be careful," Pulow warned. "Orcas are very dangerous. You could be eaten before you have a chance to tell them of the new law."

Dasaye let out his low chuckle. "I tried that, myself. Delfinians are not easy prey."

"Nor are we," Guadee said seriously. "Yet there are quite a few orcas where you are going. No living being can withstand an orca bite from behind."

"We will be careful," Dasaye promised. "I protect all ocean people."

"We'll make a plan on the way," Sudor said. He then used his echo location sonar to create a holographic sound vision in the fourth brain of all the listening whales. They clearly saw Perko crushing an orca's breathing hole in the grasp of his third hand as he crouched to amplify the strength of his two handed blow on top of the suddenly limp orca's head. He next showed an imaginary humpback whale butting the weak spot behind orca lungs to knock the wind out it.

"We did not know that could done to an orca," Pulow said with a low humpback chuckle.

"Well, you do now," Sudor responded. "If you are ever forced into it, then you must follow the new law and support the orca so it doesn't drown.

"Good-bye. We are off to find the orcas.” Sudor turned and started swimming deeper into the night, toward tomorrow's dawn. “Ready Buddy?" He asked Dasaye

The large ocean swells which Sudor and Dasaye had followed in a northerly direction were generated by a Pacific Typhoon which had approached them and was passing to the south. It was the storm of the century; unknown to them, it slammed on shore at Earth Base One at the same time the ocean travelers turned from north to east in search of orcas.

Sudor and Dasaye had traveled almost a twenty-four hour night and day before meeting the group of whales. Even at a relatively slow swimming speed, the island was quite a distance away. Pioneers had spent their day preparing for the storm, they had lashed the sailboat securely to the fallen tree dock and tied everything down well as possible. A net had been tossed over the little palapa style house on shore, each corner of the net was tightly tied to the base of a tree.

The Admiral had been among the first to see the storm looming, first as a thin high altitude ice cloud and then a dark black and purple line on the northeast horizon. He had urged everyone to prepare for the worst as soon as possible, his experience at sea as a younger man alerted him to what was coming. He, Kevin, and Liz had used the joy beam weapon on the smaller space ship to bore holes in the earth and set steel anchors to lash down the ships. Liz had quickly became a more skilled spaceship pilot when Eddy taught her to guide the ship for precision drilling with its weapon turned low. They all worked hard all day preparing as best they could for what was coming.

Ballena had benefited greatly from the antibiotics. Her healing had accelerated dramatically when the delfinians explained to Will about the low level joy lights their engineers had developed upon learning about the discovery of joy by humans.

Although delfinian medical and biological science was well over a century ahead, Will, the inventor of joy power, was able to quickly grasp and then employ their discoveries.

His first test model had been used to hasten growth of the mold samples gathered by Grace, Rima, and Leona. His second and improved version was used to quickly grow a large cauldron of the mold variety which clearly inhibited growth of the bacteria sample taken from Ballena's infection. The cauldron itself was half a giant clam shell lugged to shore by some of the delfinians. His third model was used to to empower Ballena's own healing by bathing her wound in its soft golden light. The first antibiotics and emergency use of hydrogen peroxide had saved Ballena's life by giving her immune system time to muster strength and attack the bacterial invaders. A second round of home grown antibiotics, plus Will's joy treatment had helped Ballena return to nearly normal strength before the storm hit.

Joy, the happy atomic force, is midwife to evolution. Joyful attraction between a big bang's primordial matter is strong. It patiently fosters evolution of evermore complex elements within suns. Pure and simple joy of being eventually begets Life, which strives toward the wonder of sentient consciousness. Such is the oft followed path of a new born cosmos as it blasts into existence and majestically expands to awareness of self.

Joy had been used technologically to save a life for the first time on planet Earth. Will was rightfully proud of his accomplishment, but he had no time for reflection.

Delfinians and Whales planned to ride out the storm by sticking close to shore in the island's sheltered southeastern lee. They would gradually circle the island as the wind direction changed with the typhoon's passage. The pioneers planned to shelter through the storm inside spaceships anchored firmly to the ground. The captured submarine was deep enough to be safe from any typhoon Mother Earth might send their way.

Eddie and Liz took a break from tending to the spaceships and stood on the beach watching the gigantic storm waves crash into combers as they reached the island. The normally constant trade winds had turned to fitful gusts that seemed to change direction as rapidly as they gathered strength. A dark wall of angry blackness marked the leading edge of the approaching typhoon. Even though the storm was still far at sea, its ruler straight front edge stretched across the entire horizon.

Those don't look like any clouds I've ever seen," Liz commented, "and I was raised in Florida. The biggest hurricanes I saw looked like babies compared to that storm."

"My parents were killed by a tornado," Eddy replied. "I've seen that color in the sky, it's in my nightmares."

"Oh, Eddy. You must be lonely."

"It was worse at first," he sighed. "I finally realized it was no good being alone and made a new life with the pioneers."

Liz's face turned solemn. "We're both the same. My parents were lost at sea trying to beat a hurricane between Havana and Miami. They were less than a mile from shore when their boat was swamped. The Coast Guard could hear them on the radio but then the storm hit full force and the radio went silent. I became an air force cadet for about same reason you went into the pioneer space academy."

Eddy felt his breath catch with surprise at suddenly talking about such personal feelings. He turned to Liz and put one hand on her forehead, "You heard the inner melodian speech the day Kevin and Grace's parents arrived, right?" He asked the question without spoken words

Two bright tears sprang unexpectedly to Liz's eyes. She nodded, "Yes."

Eddy heard her mind briefly sing as he saw her nod. He knew she was ready and spoke again with telepathic melodian song. "Close your eyes and turn your face to the setting sun. Sing your love for Mother Earth." He then joined her song, while listening intently for an answer from the Cosmos. When he heard the welcome song he realized he had also closed his own eyes. They opened their eyes together and beheld Earth and the Moon dancing their majestic waltz in the warm light of the sun.

"We are out in space!" Liz exclaimed. "How can this be?"

"I haven't been doing this for long," Eddy responded, "my idea is consciousness is part of the fabric of timespace. The song of the Cosmos is a conscious dimension which somehow contains past, present, and future. The only thing expanding as fast as the cosmos is consciousness itself. Are you frightened?"

Liz shook her head to answer, "No."

Eddy heard her brief inner song once again. "Use either your voice or the music of you thoughts, I hear both. Shall we try a little more? We don't have much time before the storm hits, so it's plenty okay with me if we stop now."

"Show me," Liz said emphatically, hesitantly speaking with her inner voice.

Eddy sang his praise for Planet Pacifica, her Sun, and the distant pioneer settlement. Individual stars and galaxies seemed to vibrate with his melody. Then they melted into a curtain of white that opened with a cosmic crescendo of welcome, and closed with ringing silence. Before them lay the jewel of Planet Pacifica, equal in glistening beauty with her sister, Planet Earth.

"How did you do that?” Liz asked in awe. "Why don't we need to breath?"

Eddy shrugged his shoulders. "Everyone says I've had advanced flight training from Star Song. But to tell you the truth: I don't know what this is all about. Whenever I do it, all I know for sure is that sometimes it makes me feel like I'm just a kid, creation is a gigantic mystery." He pointed to a dim spot of light, "That's not a star, it's Earth's home galaxy, the Milky Way."

"But that's thousands of light years away," Liz said looking at Eddy in wonder. They were then startled by the sound of another voice and turned to look, but didn't see anyone.

"You've done it, Young Humans. I am glad," the warm voice surrounded them with a gentle tone.

"Star Song!" Eddy cried. "You're here! I'm the one who is glad."

"No. I am not as you put it, 'here'. You've done something grand and your new strength has weaved itself into the cosmos. I merely reached into one tiny dimension to meet your friend and tell you both how proud I am of my peace loving human friends. But there's no time for long talks, hurry to our other friends, before the typhoon hits. Show Liz how to lead you back."

"I couldn't do that," Liz exclaimed. "That's impossible."

Star Song laughed and a golden light surrounded them. "You have already gone far beyond your former limits. Be brave. You have done well and are now better prepared for the struggle ahead. Good-by Young Warriors. Good luck."

Eddy turned to Liz after they said good-bye to Star Song. "Sing of Earth's beauty and visualize our spaceships. I'll join in your song. You can do it."

Liz sang softly at first and then her song grew confident and strong. She sang of Earth's beauty as she had seen it with the moon. Eddy joined her with melodic praise for the island, he held a vision of the ships tied down in the old colonial fort. They stepped from the infinite fabric of conscious spacetime onto three dimensional solid ground. The typhoon howled.

"Did that really happen?" Liz asked, still practicing her Melodian speech, without using her voice.

Eddy braced himself against the wind, he slapped her shoulder and winked. "You tell me," his words sprang directly to her mind.

"I saw that!" Kevin cried out. "You just stepped out of thin air!" He whistled in admiration but the typhoon blew it from his lips.

The Admiral spun around from his work and smiled. Ducking under a flying palm frond he said to Liz, "Will is your copilot. Keep your joy generator going and pushing toward the ground." Lightning flashed everywhere with an unceasing flicker so bright it became almost impossible to see. "The storm is ashore, board your ships," he yelled through the typhoon.

Dasaye and Sudor could see the southern horizon glowing with an erie shimmer. The atmosphere itself seemed luminous, as if struggling to shine from an already moonlit sea. "I have a feeling our friends are in the middle of that storm," Dasaye mused while at the same time enjoying the feel of warm water passing over his skin.

Humans will probably ride it out in their spaceships," Sudor commented. "I wonder how it will be for ocean people."

"That island is a perfect place, for them," Dasaye answered. "The central mountain is high enough to provide shelter if they stay close to shore, though they'll need to jump into the wind to find air that's not full of water. I've done it before, it's fun, though tiring. I worry about the humans. Can the spaceships handle all the flying trees? And I wonder if they are high enough up on the hill. A typhoon once pushed the ocean across the low end of the island, where they are. That was a big storm, this one's bigger."

"They'll keep their instruments tuned to sea level and monitor the storm surge," Sudor answered. "The ships can probably punch upward through the storm if they have to."

"Probably? That's the second probably I've heard in the last minute or so."

"Their ships are strong enough to blast straight through dimension warps in cosmic storms, still, that typhoon looks dangerous," Sudor responded.

"No doubt about the danger. Might they be seen by war humans if they pop out the top of the storm?"

"That's another 'probably'. Who can guess what's going to happen?" Sudor said, glancing to the eastern horizon. "I see a hint of dawn ahead. The sun will be rising soon, I hope we find those orcas Pulow and Guadee told us about."

"I haven't heard any orcas," Dasaye said. "There is a hint our smaller cousins ahead, though. Do you hear them?"

"Ah. Yes." Sudor responded. "They sound happy. Perhaps they will have seen the orcas."

"They have keen senses, I wouldn't be surprised if they know exactly where the orcas are." Dasaye said. "I also have a feeling they can talk to the war machines as well as an orca. There are few sounds an orca can make and dolphins can't, we speak a similar language."

"That would be a stroke of good luck," Sudor said. "I'll ask them to come with us, too. If they..."

Sudor stopped speaking and pointed ahead. The ocean was filled from horizon to horizon with leaping dolphins. They opened a path amongst themselves for Dasaye and Sudor. The two friends swam slowly forward watching the dolphins dance and play with the rising sun of a new day. The dolphins changed to a different dance on either side of their path as they swam deeper into an uncountable multitude. Dasaye and Sudor swam onward in silence. The dolphins said nothing and did not stop, an hour past with no change.

"What would happen to an orca who decided to eat one of them?" Sudor asked in whispered awe.

"No way," Dasaye answered. "Dolphins swim fast and butt with their heads. They're strong. It hurts when they hit. Even great white sharks swim away as fast as they can from a group of butting dolphins."

"What are they doing?"

"They're just being happy dolphins."

"This looks to me like it could go on all day. I'm going to ask if they've seen any orcas and if they want to help save the ocean people."

The dolphins suddenly stopped their play. The path through them opened wider and they all sang in unison, "Follow our path to the orcas, and, of course we want to help save ocean people. What from? That, you did not say."

Dasaye rumbled his low chuckle, "They've been waiting politely for us to introduce ourselves and opening the path toward the orcas as we swam. The orcas must be close yet I won't hear them above all the dolphin chatter."

"They do seem to be making up for lost time by all talking at once," Sudor said with a smile.

"Why are you all here?" Sudor called out as he and Dasaye swam along the opening path, toward the orcas.

"We were following different tuna schools which came together at this spot."

"There must be a tremendous up-welling of nutrients for the tuna's food here," Sudor observed thoughtfully.

"It will be like this off the river mouth for a long time after that typhoon," Dasaye said. "There are three or four smaller creek outlets at the other end of the island, too."

"Your right! The typhoon will stir up the bottom and flooded rivers will pour food into the ocean for lower life forms; they will begin growing when the sun shines after the storm. I think our food problem has been solved for us."

They were congratulating themselves on their good fortune as they swam out of the dolphins and straight into a group of orcas.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" The closest orca said turning to the new arrivals.

"I am Dasaye and this is Sudor. He is a Delfinian," Dasaye answered as he placed himself between the orcas and Sudor. "We have traveled for two days and nights to find you."

"Me?"

Dasaye chuckled. "We are looking for orcas in general, not you specifically."

Sudor counted twelve orcas before he lost track of which ones he had already counted. He and Dasaye kept close to the mass of dolphins behind them, in case a quick escape to the safety of numbers proved wise. "Do you wish to hear our story?" Dasaye asked politely.

The orcas all responded that they were quite interested to know the reason for an orca search. They were also keen to know where the Delfinian had come from. Sudor found himself completely at ease in the company of the large band of super-strong hunters. Thousands of curious dolphins closely guarding his back were eager to hear Dasaye's recital as well.

Dasaye was also well aware of his smaller cousins behind them and began his story with the awesome sight of many thousands of dolphins dancing with joy under the dawn of a new day. When Dasaye casually mentioned the abundant food which the typhoon would flood into the sea off the island, Sudor realized anew how truly lucky he was to have found such an astute ally. A problem which would surely have resulted in endless discussion had been neatly disposed of, before it even came up.

Orcas and dolphins were equally saddened when they heard how Sudor's home planet had been brutally destroyed by Doom Cloud. A din of individual conversations interrupted Dasaye's recital when he sang of delfinian friendship with Star Song. They crowded close when he told them that it was Star Song who had told the delfinians to join forces with the Earth's Ocean People in order to save the planet from destruction by War Humans.

An old, very old, dolphin swam from the multitude into the exact center of the smaller circle of orcas, an act she would never have considered prior to Dasaye's recital.

"I am Mareena, keeper of the ancient lore. We shall return to the island with Sudor and Dasaye. The Dolphin Family has always known that there was a kind heart hidden inside the ugly brutality of land people who wantonly slaughter ocean people. We knew there were two kinds of humans, the good ones love and cherish Earth while the war humans kill us and poison the ocean and the air.

"Nothing could be worse than the cruel dangers we already endure. We have lost so many friends and children to the nets of human hunters that we are unafraid. We have been waiting for this day since the ancient time when Star Song was among us. The Dolphin Family declares unwavering alliance with Humans and Delfinians who oppose War Humans.

Everyone present then felt an echo sonar hum from within the orca pod. A hush fell over the assemblage. One large and strong orca moved forward slowly and spoke, "I am Poseidon, chosen by my family to speak. We shall follow Dasaye and Sudor to the Island, and, we vow to protect all ocean people until the end of Time."

Sudor looked at Dasaye affectionately and thumped him with the heel of his hand, "Ready, Buddy?"

The two friends then swam back the way they had come. The path between the dolphin multitude opened slowly and majestically for them and the closely following Orcas. The large group grew larger when it reached the very surprised humpbacks, who decided they didn't want to miss the fun. They too pledged themselves to the struggle.

If humans actually did commit suicide in a war over what little remains in their own polluted mess, ocean people planned to survive the holocaust and meekly inherit the Earth, just as Star Song foretold.

Word of the new law spread far and wide. Their ranks grew as lone travelers and entire families joined to save Earth from destruction by war people.

Children from all the cetacean families danced and played. They put on a burst of speed and passed Sudor, Dasaye, and Poseidon's orca Pod. Sudor's heart swelled with gladness and he smiled warmly as the younger group said they would perform a song they had practiced just for him.

"I've lived my whole life in this ocean,
and loved every moment of fun.

I've lived my whole life in this ocean,
it's humans who'll fade away and not we.

Humans are passing, not we, my friend!
The humans are fading, not we.

Humans are passing, not we, my friend!
We're safe in the wonderful sea.

Humans will fade into memory,
while we dance with the warm shining sun.

I've lived my whole life in this ocean,
I live every moment for fun."

Sudor didn't change his smile, though he did grit his teeth behind it. He reminded the children that part of the struggle ahead was dedicated to save Mother Earth from the grief of losing her peaceful humans, the more interesting ones who also live their life for fun instead of war. He did not give up and explained the same story many times on that trip;

"Yes,it's true, there are humans who appreciate life enough to know it's fun and they are in that way part of family with dolphins and whales."

"We have formed this alliance to save all Life. Some of the people are of the land, some are of the sea and some are flying birds in the air. We know that war humans must be awakened from their bad dream that destroys and pollutes this beautiful planet to satisfy their own greed. That is why we have vowed to protect all life, including Mother Earth's human life.

“Now you know the complete new law."