Into the Blue

By Susannah Halliburton

Her hand on his dorsal fin, Marina glided through the water with ease, allowing k’kii’la‘s tail to pump against her shoulder as she bared down to make her exit leap for the surface. This was Marina’s favorite part of the monthly trip to the breaker. She loved the rush of adrenaline that came just before the leap onto shore.

When she broke the surface, and after she had her fun, Marina swam to the breaker and clambered up the side. Once over the breaker, the water was shallow and easy. She liked to walk along it, imagining it as a bridge to another world, which it sort of was. Once she reached the dry sand and hopped down, she removed her equipment – respirator, small tank, flippers and hand fins. She ran up the beach, shaking her body as she went along, as a dog would release the water in his fur, and climbed the metal ladder of the tall Watchtower, similar to the old lighthouses, except facing the land, not the sea.

She inserted the key card into the hatch above her and it opened easily. As she continued climbing, she entered an open shower area and warm water automatically began pouring all over her. Then, from an open hole in the wall, an industrial blow dryer clicked on and blew so hard on her that it ruffled her skin and suit like a strong wind would to a sail. She loved this part too – it felt like a massage – and she was instantly dry. Most of the sand had fallen off into a chamber below the shower, so she entered the Common Room looking somewhat put-together in her long sleeved diving suit.

Several times a month when it was time to check the communication system for the Oceanus region of the biospheres, she would make the trip from the Molokai Biosphere to the North Atlantic Station – or the “Watchtower” as it they were called by the Oceaneans. Marina and about twenty other Oceaneans her age were trained for this job because of their gifts in the Aquatic Arts.

From the time she was born, Marina was drawn to the water. She was swimming at one year old with her parents and by three she was competing regularly. At 5, she won the triple gold at the Suncadia Biosphere Swim Academy Finals. At 13, just after her father had died, she won gold in every race in her division. Now, at 17, she was trained and working as an Assistant Communications Monitor and Aquanaut at the North Atlantic Station. She looked forward to turning 18 when she would be formally promoted to Head Monitor, if all went well.

Upon her entry, Adrian Gamble, the custodian of the Watchtower, spread his long arms, gave Marina a firm hug and said, “Jambo, Marina, my dear.” Marina returned the greeting by yelling, “Jambo, Adrian!" and picking him up in her strong arms. He was much smaller, thin and wiry. He tensed and she put him down, sensing some unusual severity. He smiled at her briefly, then quickly turned and said, “We’ve been having a little trouble in Sector 6. There hasn’t been a Messenger in days.”

“Sector 6? That’s Wilson, the Shephard, right? And what, no replacement?” she asked.

“No. Nobody. No Canine. Not a word.” He expressed a look of concern and then turned toward his computer and continued talking. “He had been tracking just fine until Wednesday. Then his signal disappeared and no one else has turned up since to replace him.”

“How strange.” Marina couldn’t think of a time when there had been a missing tracking signal or Canine Messenger who didn’t arrive on schedule. “Has this ever happened before?”

“Not since my time here. I’ve been here for seven years now and I’ve never seen it.” Adrian said, sounding a bit ominous.

“Well, then I guess I’d better get back to the Bio as soon as I check the systems,” she stated with regret, since now she wouldn’t be able to stay extra long to hang out with Adrian. Then, suddenly, she jumped into a tank-like opening below the Watchtower that dropped into a pool of salt water and swam down to the bottom where it met the ocean.

Adrian watched her from above, marveling that she could prefer to be in water most of her life like she did. He was not much for swimming but enjoyed a good bath or shower. That’s about as far as it went. He preferred running on the beach for exercise. He watched her check the feeders and the intercoms below the water. There, the dolphins delivered messages from the humans below the sea to the humans who lived on land. Each dolphin would push the appropriate intercom button to activate the message system and their unusual sounds would be recorded in the system as data, which Adrian then received. Adrian would print out the resulting communique and place it in a metal tube, which he would then drop down a large plastic tube that delivered the metal container down to the Canine Messaging area. The appropriate dog would appear, retrieve the message and his payment (a meal). Then he would grab the canister in his or her mouth and deliver it to the Sector Station Master. In the latest case it should have been Wilson, a Shephard, to Sector 6.

This animal communication system had been developed after the numerous EMPs had shut down the internet, computers and phones, several times. There had been many efforts to restore power and the internet after the first two solar flares but then they became a regular phenomenon. Scientists weren’t sure why, but the flares, once rare and unexpected in Earth’s younger days, were now very common. So, other systems were developed, such as Animal Communication Technology. This system was used for communication with Oceanus, the colonies under the ocean, such as the Molokai Biosphere, as it could only be contacted through dolphin signals. The underwater environment prevented any other system of communication from working effectively. And when another solar flare came, whatever system had been tried would surely go down again and take a long time to reboot.

This system was better for everyone anyway– it gave a sense of purpose, respect and contribution to the animals, and it worked for the humans too. And during a solar flare it wouldn’t be damaged. However, another tsunami could do some harm. The Landwellers had done an excellent job of protecting the coastline and retrofitting all important buildings for Tsunami protection, but still, one never knew. No one who had lived through the last decade or century would take anything for granted ever again. Between the solar flares taking out the satellites and power, to the tsunami destroying cities and towns along all coastlines, to the earthquakes that had caused plate movement and sinkage of islands and coasts, there was very little left of the old land-based world. Add to that, the pandemics which had become resistant to anti-biotics and that hit like plagues, there was very little population left compared to 200 years previously.

Marina didn’t waste time since there was an emergent situation to deal with. Leaving the tower, she donned her earlier discarded gear and dove into the blue tide, calling k’k’iila once under the water. The dolphin had been waiting nearby and arrived quickly, jumping out playfully and splashing her caller who was now standing, chest high in the deep blue water. The blonde, lithe girl of seventeen spoke into a small black translator, attached to her goggles and wrapped around her head, saying, “We must hurry back, k’k’iila. There is a problem with one of the canine patrols.” Her dolphin, k’k’iila, sensed the girl’s anxiousness and popped her bluish head out of the water, chirping back “k-k-k—ee-k-a.” The sleek animal sprang into action, diving down and rising back up under Marina who had immersed herself deep enough for k’k’iila to receive her.

The girl leaned forward, her shiny, blonde loose hair lifting straight out behind her like a mane in the pull of the water. The dolphin submerged deeper as Marina pulled a small breathing tube over her mouth and nose. She knew just how far she could go before her ears would begin to hurt and she let k’k’iila know by patting her flanks with her hands. The dolphin straightened out immediately and went no deeper.

Then they swam together, Marina riding and gliding behind, her hand tight on the dorsal and her body as fluid as water as k’k’iila powered through the current. Together, they felt an urgency: the desperate need to return to Marina’s underwater home. They arrived within minutes and Marina thanked her dolphin for the ride using the translator. K’k’iila chirped in reply and leapt before disappearing under the water. Marina pressed the lower biosphere buzzer and entered a code, which let the inhabitants know which Aquanaut or Communicator was wanting to enter.

Once inside the small entry chamber, she pushed a lever which drained the chamber and caused a change in pressure that always made her ears pop. Then she swam into the warm entry pool which cleansed her suit and relaxed her muscles. The water ran off her as she pulled herself out of the pool and took off her gear. She dropped her gear into a large tub filled with cleaning solution.

The doors opened as she saw, Azar, her boss, standing on the other side, large, muscular arms crossed and dark eyes fixed sternly on her. “Marina, what are you doing back so soon? Your shift isn’t over!” he demanded.

“There’s a problem with the Canines. Wilson from Sector 6 hasn’t checked in and while I was at the Tower another one missed his target. Adrian sent me back to report.”

“Damn!....A missed canine target? What next?!”

Marina handed him her diving bracelet so he could record her travel information. He snatched it brusquely, “Well, we had better let the Chancellor know. There has never been a missed canine target in my experience.” No longer scoffing at her, Azar commanded, “Get changed and report to the Chancellor’s office, pronto.”

Marina ran to the changing room, stripped off her clothes, and stepped into the shower, excited at a chance to see the Chancellor but apprehensive about feeling foolish or naive. Once rinsed clean, she threw on a new blue outfit, light blue tank top and jeans, from a set of dresser drawers and white, short sleeved button-up over it. From the drawer, she also pulled a small, fuzzy jewelry box and retrieved her heart shaped locket.

Once shimmering gold, it was now a bit tarnished from years of wear since her father had given it to her. He had called her, “Little Dolphin,” she remembered fondly, while lifting the necklace around her neck to clasp. It had been 4 years since he died but it still felt like yesterday when her mom had pulled her out of Academy. Her mom had shown up to the class looking stricken and panicky, so Marina instantly knew there was something wrong with her father. “Mom, what is it? Is it Dad?!,” Marina asked, grabbing her mother by the forearms, feeling desperate. Her father had a risky job and they were always waiting for bad news. And this was it. He had been stabbed in the back by a Kodiac, one of the northern tribes of the disgruntled Landwellers.

Now, four years later, at the mature age of 17, Marina still felt protected by her father’s locket, a metallic remembrance of his bear hugs, a circle of love around her, provided by his strong arms. Smiling, Marina returned her mind to the present, feeling the soft, fresh, clean clothes on her skin. Marina pulled an ID card of her drawer and flashed it at a small red light on a large metal door. It slid open and then closed behind her as she went, unknowingly, to discover her destiny.