Attunga - 13. Part 13.

ATTUNGA PART 13.

“Five – one – one, and it's nearly eight km.”

“Nine minutes twenty seconds.”

“Nine minutes fifty seconds.”

“You won't get there in nine-twenty. I'll bet TransCom isn't even that fast. I'm going for ten minutes fifteen seconds.”

The trio hadn't played this TransCom game of racing from one sector of Attunga to another for ages and Wirrin thought Thom was so optimistic he must have forgotten half the strategies.

“That long?”

Thom and Calen gave each other dubious look. Wirrin usually went for a faster time than either of them. Thom laughed.

“You're trying to bluff us into changing our times so you won't lose.”

“No I'm not. Calen's the one who'll lose. He always does.”

That was mostly true but he also had a knack of occasionally winning by a surprising margin. If Wirrin won, Calen had to wear his dolphin skin on their next outing. If Thom won it would be Calen and Wirrin. And Calen, being embarrassingly fair-minded and sensible, had declared that if he won then they all had to wear them because they were all the dolphin trio. The day before, Sonic and Calen had visited one of the big Nurseries to meet different groups of children, and by request Calen had worn his special outfit. He hadn't been keen, but evidently the children were expecting it and Gelar said he mustn't disappoint them.

“I thought it would be embarrassing, but when we got there half the kids were wearing them themselves. Sonic loved it, and with every group we met he asked the group mums and dads to choose different children to jump in his mobility unit with him. They got so excited I could hardly believe it.”

Wirrin didn't see why it would be hard to believe. He remembered how he'd felt when he first met Flute.

“It's not just kids who wear the suits. Akama's going to wear one next time he talks on the InterWeb.”

“Is he really? No one told me about. ...You're a dead wombat Thom.”

The stirring had led to a dare from Thom, then the counter dares, and then to make it happen, Calen had linked it with their travelling today through TransCom.

The trio raced to the nearest set of TransCom portals and from there their paths diverged. Wirrin was going really well till his last transfer when a surge of travellers delayed his access. He wasn't going to win this time, but sure enough, when he arrived Thom was there shaking his head in disgust and Calen was looking very smug.

“You can show off your dolphin skins tonight when Sonic turns up, while I decide where we're going to wear them.”

“It better not be too public.”

Wirrin gave Thom a nudge, probably too late, to stop him giving Calen ideas.

“Let's go. ...Are you sure you know how to fly this thing? We don't want someone scraping bits of us off some asteroid.”

Completely used to their derogatory remarks about his flying skills, Thom automatically stuck his tongue out and made a rude sign as he led the way to the docking area.

“Anyone could fly this transporter Calen. It's hardly any different to the automated viewers.”

Anyone could fly almost anything in fact. All that was needed was authority to give the automatic pilot instructions of what to do. What Calen meant was taking personal control, and he was highly capable at that after all the time he'd put into his training. They went through the entrance walkway, adjusted to the zero gravity, and manoeuvred to their seats.

“Strap in properly Calen. I'm going to use 2G today.”

“What for? We're not travelling far.”

Silly question. Like asking Thom why he breathed.

“Yes we are.”

“What are you talking about? Everything's next to Attunga.”

“No it's not. There's a convoy of asteroids for the new level about 4000 km out and I've arranged for us to go and have a look.”

“4000? How long will that take?”

“Not long. About twenty minutes.”

“Twenty minutes at 2G? No way. They'll be scraping us out of our seats after that long.”

“All right, we'll try 1.5 G. Anyhow, with those swimmers muscles you'll hardly notice the drag.”

Wirrin watched as Thom competently handled the controls and started the transporter moving. The initial burst was definitely at least 2G but then it eased back and Thom pointed to a number on his console which said 1.4.

“I couldn't resist that.”

“Where's Attunga?”

“Behind us of course. I'll switch it in so you can watch.”

The real-time display flickered, and defined by its many external light sources, the elongated, regular shape of Attunga appeared, and off to one side the monstrous ellipsoid of Warrakan. It looked spectacular to see them both like this, then rather eerie as they rapidly dwindled to blobs of diffused light and merged with the background stars. The display switched to forward view and all sense of motion vanished.

“This is spooky. Are you sure we're moving? It feels like we've stopped.”

“That's because we're travelling in a straight line and our reference points don't change. Watch this.”

Wirrin lurched against his restraining straps as the stars started shifting across the screen, then again when they reversed direction and shifted back.

“It does get more interesting when you change direction, except it puts you off course.”

“How fast are we going?”

Thom pointed at another number. 2205.

That's just over 2Ksec. ...But when we reach decel point we'll touch a max of. ...13.2 Ksec.”

That brought grins at the neat sounding jargon. Wirrin presumed Ksec meant kilometres per second, which didn't mean much till he thought of Attunga being 28 km in length and only taking a fraction over two seconds to travel its full distance.

“It's weird how we're travelling so fast while it feels like we're not doing anything.”

“You've been a lot faster than this haven't you Thom?”

“One of my training trips was at 5G for nine minutes and I reached 26Ksec, but that'll be nothing to when we go to Earth.”

There was a blip of light on the console and the display of stars jumped slightly.

“What happened?”

“We just made an automatic correction to dodge an asteroid.”

Wirrin and Calen looked at him.

“We're dodging asteroids? Are there many here?”

“Normally there aren't any. These ones today are being guided to Attunga. Let's see. ...There are seventeen of them spread out between here and the convoy.”

“So why aren't they in the convoy?”

“They're too big. They guide large ones directly from wherever they find them to save time.”

There were three more course corrections before they reached the convoy and each time Thom related the scanning information. The biggest was over a kilometer in diameter and mostly made of ice.

“Look at them all. There are hundreds.”

“ ...497 for this convoy.”

“I don't get it. Why don't they just bring one or two big asteroids?”

“These small asteroids will all have been specially selected. They've probably got high concentrations of some element that's important for the pico-factories.”

“So why are they in that globe shape?”

It did look spectacular, hundreds of randomly shaped asteroids massed in a distinctly spherical shape.

“I don't know. Someone probably likes it that way.”

“A globe is the most efficient way to use space.”

“I want to see one bump into another.”

Thom thought that was very amusing.

“Calen, you're dangerous. There'd be bits of uncontrolled rock and ore flying directly at Attunga, and they wouldn't anyway. Their guidance controls are as accurate as the ones on this transporter. ...Tell me when you've seen enough.”

That wasn't long as they were all keen to see what was happening with the 'Comet', as Calen had started calling Sonic's special ship. Thom made the most of the trip back, practising his manoeuvring skills, and demonstrating short bursts of 3G acceleration. They spent half an hour watching asteroids being attached to Attunga in readiness for decomposition and transformation to the new level.

“Want to head for the Comet? We can watch this on the InterWeb.”

They would normally have spent much longer watching all the activity, but the Comet was a more immediate draw-card and Wirrin and Calen were almost as eager as Thom to watch the initial stages in its development. This was only the third day after the meeting with Turaku and life continued to be a whirlwind of interest and anticipation. The special ship had jumped to the top of the interest list when Gelar informed them that Sonic wanted the full trio to travel with him, not just Calen, as Wirrin and Thom had presumed.

Thom confidently piloted the transporter away from the new level section of Attunga and towards the special construction area where all mobile transport was built.

Today's trip had broken new ground for Wirrin and Calen and they'd developed an extra degree of respect after seeing first-hand the skills Thom was always talking about. Dodging asteroids and adjusting to the isolation of deep space mean a lot more when you're suddenly faced with the reality. As they rounded one end of Attunga the asteroid came into view. It didn't look very impressive, just a lump of material nestled by the exterior wall of the habitat, but Thom pointed out that they were still nearly ten kilometers away.

“It's the biggest ship Attunga has ever built, nearly twice as big as the tugs for Warrakan's drive engines, and it's going to be fifty meters longer than the security ship that took us to Warrakan with Sonic.”

They manoeuvred closer and closer, Thom really was skilled at this, and from only a hundred meters away the impression of size was totally different. Hugging beside Attunga, and apparently kept in place by a myriad of giant cables, the real size and shape was now clear.

“Why isn't anything happening? I thought we'd see all sorts of construction robots and other things.”

“It is happening Calen, and so fast it's hard to believe. Those tubes are carrying picobots and energy sources to the asteroid.”

“Tubes? You mean the cables?”

“They're nothing like cables. They eat their way into the asteroid and the picobots transform the ore into proper hull material and move it into place. Look over there. There's a new one growing out from Attunga.”

Thom knew all this because when he'd learnt he was going to earth he'd spent hours finding out everything he could about the new ship. Not far away, Wirrin saw the tube Thom was talking about, it's free end an indistinct glowing red cloud. Was it really growing? Yes, a new section of tubing came into view while they watched.

“What's the glowing part at the end of the tube?”

“It's millions and millions of picobots. There's an electromagnetic field which holds them in place while they do their work. As soon as the tube reaches the asteroid new picobots will start doing all sorts of things.”

It was all amazing, and as they watched, more and more tubes started extending towards the asteroid. Thom fiddled with his controls and they slowly started moving.

“Where are we going now?”

“Just to the end. ...Yes, look at that. The external frame is starting.”

Wirrin could see five of the tubes extending from one end of the asteroid, then while he watched, three more started.

“The Comet's bigger than the asteroid so they build it from the inside out.”

“Inside out?”

“Calen, it's obvious isn't it? It's solid nickel-iron so they hollow it out and most of that material becomes the hull and the framework.”

Fascinated, they watched for over an hour as more and more of the picobot tubes extruded from the main asteroid then set in place. A feathery looking framework joined from the ends of the tubes and the final outline, a strange ellipsoid shape with a flattened bottom area, started to take place. Thom explained it all. Since the Comet was landing on Earth's surface at Monkey Mia, the flat area was needed to match with a huge temporary anti-grav landing field, which would be built there. The current flimsiness was purely temporary as over the next six to seven days it would steadily solidify and build to a two meter thick hull, with huge ten meter reinforcing girders extending internally through the length and breadth of the ship.

“Did you say two meters? ... How thick is the hull on this transporter we're in now?”

It only took a couple of seconds to find out.

“Three cm. Why?”

“Well, if three centimeters is enough for here, why do they need two metres? Wouldn't twenty to thirty centimeters be enough? That hull material is incredibly strong.”

Materials technology had gone through two major stages since the pre-habitat days. The first stage replaced traditional steel and concrete with construction materials ten times the strength and hardness, and allowed the building of the great population centres which shifted the major proportion of the Earth's society underground. The second major breakthrough, in conjunction with the development of practical gravity control some eighty years ago, was the great enabler for space habitats, with materials half an order of magnitude stronger again and relatively light. The limited spin-cities had quickly been modified.

Thom nodded knowingly.

“I wondered about that myself when I saw the hull material has a rating of 61.5 SS. That's 61 ½ times as strong as standard steel, and two meters of it is like having 120 meters of the old steel. It's because the Comet might have to go through all sorts of things like radiation belts and solar winds and they're putting special layers in the hull to shield against them. They've got a crazy safety factor too.”

The equivalent of a hundred and twenty meters. Wirrin liked steel. There was a sculpted piece on display in one of his EdCom workshops and its silvery sheen was very impressive. In his mind he added a hundred and twenty meters to the Comet and pictured the resulting shiny steel monster. It would look great, but it would be too heavy to move.

“Are you zapping the Comet or are you thinking?”

“Both. I was imagining what the Comet would look like if it was made of steel.”

***

“They're bombarding us with questions. They're all curious about what wild dolphins will be like and Sonic and Puck are out visiting all the pods to keep them up to date with what's going on.”

After a call from Gelar, the trio was gathered at the Dolphinarium to do some catching up of their own. Wirrin was curious as to why Sonic and Puck had to do the visiting.

“Why aren't the rangers connected with each pod doing the explaining?”

“They are, but apparently the dolphins need to hear it from Sonic and Puck.”

Calen was nodding.

“The whole community's excited and they need to interact with each other when major things happen. Puck goes because she's the main leader and Sonic does all the talking.”

“What is he telling them?”

“Depending on numbers, they might have to share their reaches with several hundred Earth dolphins if the Warrakan reach hasn't peaked properly. The nutrients and stimulation have caused an explosion in the number of microorganisms, but it takes time for the effect to work its way up the food chain.”

“Sharing? That's new.”

“Yes, we have to consider it because early indications from earth are telling us we might be catering for more dolphins than we expected.”

“What's happened?”

“All sorts of things Calen. In the last few days a campaign against 'unnatural creatures' has started in the Semi-Directed sections on Earth and its made many of the marine centers so worried they're already transporting their dolphins to Monkey Mia.”

The trio stared in shock.

“UNNATURAL! ARE THEY CRAZY?”

Calen's angry outburst made everyone jump.

“No Calen. They're not crazy. It's a very calculated campaign by K74 and like-minded habitats to counter the strong negative reaction from the rest of the solar system against the earlier killings.”

“But it IS crazy. Earth dolphins are more natural than humans. Humans have all got health-bots in their bodies.”

“And most people agree with you, but according to Turaku it's a kind of social engineering to turn the populations in the Directed habitats against dolphins. He says the next stage in their campaign will likely have reports of modified dolphins losing their senses and attacking people swimming at famous beaches.”

“That's stupid. No one will ever believe that.”

“They will in the Directed Habitats. A continued stream of bad reports will eventually plant a negative association with dolphins in people's minds.”

“As soon as they go on the InterWeb they'll know it's not true.”

“No they won't. If it comes from their leaders they'll believe it. The same as we would.”

“No we wouldn't.”

“Of course we would. When Witnesses tell us things we believe them.”

“That's different. Witnesses don't tell lies. ...They can't tell lies.”

Calen was shaking his head but he understood what Gelar was saying. He was just resisting the idea that anyone could see dolphins in a bad light.

“Are we still sure it's mainly K74 behind all this?”

Gelar gave Wirrin a curious look.

“Your program hasn't stopped running Wirrin. We're more sure than ever. It's traced the people who made the reports and linked them all with K74. It also uncovered the identities of the cadre of five men who control the K74 Habitat.”

A small group like that controlling fifteen billion people? Wirrin started to think about it. Calen was more interested in dolphins.

“So how does that mean more dolphins?”

“Remember how Monkey Mia works closely with twenty-seven dolphins? They also have association with many more, and it's these they're worried about. Monkey Mia has eleven in particular and it's a similar story at most of the other centres. The whole thing is very complicated as we won't separate individuals from their pods.”

Wirrin did some quick figuring. He knew the official group from Monkey Mia were all in the one pod, but the non-official dolphins must come from a range of pods and most pods had at the least ten or fifteen members, with a norm of over twenty. If they had to transport even one extra pod from each centre the numbers would increase enormously.

“Wouldn't that be too many to transport?”

“No, there is room for nearly six thousand. They'd be very crowded but that wouldn't worry them just for the trip. It's when they arrive here that the problems start. Five thousand dolphins in a reach designed for five hundred will quickly destroy the viability of that environment.”

“Five thousand? That's impossible. They'd eat everything in the first week.”

“Less than that, but we've come up with some solutions. We'll be bringing a week's supply of live food from earth, that's all been organised at Monkey Mia, and Sonic is going to teach them to eat fish-substitute. They won't like it but there's no alternative. Construction of a specialised protein factory is already underway on Warrakan.”

Thom suddenly laughed and everyone gawked at him.

“Salmon-sub! I'm thinking of Sonic eating it and telling all the other dolphins to, when he said it was disgusting.”

The mood lightened and Calen actually smiled.

“They'll all hate it.”

“They'll hate not having to hunt for it, but they'll love the taste. It will be designed especially for them.”

Thom was right. The food scientists would make sure of that.

“How long before the reaches are developed enough so they can catch their own? I suppose having extra dolphins will make it longer?”

“No, it will stay the same at just on five months. The four extra reaches on Warrakan will all be ready then, and two months later twenty more. In another year every pod will be able to have their own reach if that's what they want.”

Wirrin worked it out. Five thousand dolphins would be an awful lot of pods.

“That's over two hundred and fifty reaches. ...They've speeded up the plans on Warrakan again?”

“Yes they have, but we won't need that many. Turaku has been working with Uranus and Freedom Habitats and they're hoping many of the dolphins will move there as soon as they've developed working reaches.”

The trio shared a look. Gelar's earlier statement that lots of things were happening was true in spades.

“Uranus? They don't even have dolphins.”

“They've suddenly become extremely interested.”

Gelar pointed a finger at Calen and smiled.

“Someone persuaded them.”

“... Me?”

“Of course. You and Sonic. After they saw the events of Sonic's Meeting day they quickly committed themselves, and they've been in contact with Turaku ever since.”

Wirrin felt a surge of excitement and pride for Calen and Sonic. Thom must have felt the same because he grabbed Calen's arm and gave it a happy, commendatory shake.

“You're history. You and Sonic.”

Thom's comment sounded strange till Wirrin worked out he meant it literally.

“They certainly are, and the effects of Meeting day will be far ranging. All four habitats who've experienced it so far have been inspired, and Turaku is certain that will continue with other habitats.”

Four habitats? Oh, Warrakan of course. It was easy to think of Attunga and Warrakan as one identity. Calen was looking rather nonplussed at these implications and started with his usual story that it was all due to Sonic.

“You're wrong Calen. The Concerto and the conference with the scientists awed people and changed their perception of dolphin abilities, but the biggest factor behind the expressed wish for humans and dolphins to work together was inspiration from your interaction with Sonic.”

“What are they doing on Titania?”

Everyone smiled at Calen's blatant change of subject.

“They've already had three changes of plan in the eight days since Sonic formally met Attunga. At first they were going to follow our set-up, though with significantly larger reaches, and gradually build a population of enhanced dolphins. Two days after Sonic made his rescue proposal they asked to share in the project by taking five hundred Earth dolphins, and now with the news just ten hours ago about the increased numbers they've increased that to two thousand.”

“Two thousand? Are you serious? That's enormous, especially since they haven't had any dolphins before.”

“Enormous is a very good word. Our entire database of knowledge relating to enhanced dolphins is being transmitted, along with our specifications for pico-factories to build infrastructure, and environmental data to keep the reaches in optimum condition. We'll have to send Attunga rangers and bio-scientists as well, as they don't have the human expertise they need.

Our Dolphinarium is going to be a hive of activity till all the new facilities are ready to be used.”

“The Warrakan Dolphinarium is ready to use now!”

“Yes, but even that will be tripled in size to cope with all the dolphin associates from Earth, and since our own dolphins won't be able to move there for an extra five months, all the enhanced training work will have to stay here.”

“It will take ages to build an enhanced dolphin population on Titania when they're starting from scratch.”

“Decades Thom. But with the knowledge we've developed on Attunga they'll do it much faster than we did. Our own enhanced project started right back when Attunga was built.”

Thom was right. The Attunga dolphins weren't just ordinary dolphins with implants. The ova and sperm of mating parents was gene-engineered, then gestated by the female and nurtured after live birth in the ways of the dolphin community. This limited dolphin numbers to their natural breeding cycle and it would be at least eight years before a second generation was born. Attunga dolphins were a refinement of over six generations.

“In a perverse way K74 is doing us a favour by forcing this influx of dolphins. In the long run it will put all our programs years ahead. ...by at least twenty years in Titania's case.”

“What about the Uranus moons? Are they involved in this?”

“It would be strange if they weren't. They work together much the same way as Attunga and Warrakan.”

“Yes, they're all taking part but Titania will be their main center.”

“And why are they having bigger reaches than us?”

“There's no reason for them not to. They've got as much space as they like and more water than they can ever use.”

“Water? Way out there?”

“The mantle of every moon is mostly ice if I remember rightly.”

Calen looked to Wirrin to find out.

“ ...Titania, diameter 1578 km – composition half ice, half rock – mantle thickness 270 km.

Gelar is right. The mantle is nearly all ice.”

“I suppose the other moons are the same? I don't know much about them.”

Wirrin didn't either. He knew there were five plus the Titania Habitat, but that was only from the recent talk with Warrigal and Turaku.

“I suggest you organise a course with EdCom to familiarise yourself, especially about Titania since Sonic will want you with him when he travels there.”

“Titania?”

“Get ready for it. It's practically a certainty.”

Yesterday Wirrin and Calen were adjusting to the idea of a 4000 km separation from Attunga, and now they were being informed of a journey that made even the trip to Earth look small. They both turned to examine Thom's expression. His excitement would now jump to a new level. Seeing their looks and knowing he was expected to react strongly he said nothing and pretended to be calm. Wirrin knew that wouldn't last. If he kept holding it in he'd explode.

“Anything else to tell us? You said there were all sorts of things.”

Gelar, understanding the byplay, gave a chuckle.

“Well Thom, they've started building the grav-field so the Comet can land on Earth.

Over four hundred dolphins have already arrived at Monkey Mia.

Sonic wants another trip to Warrakan.

In another ten days the Comet will be safe for humans, and three days after that we leave for Earth with Akama and Warrigal.

We've had 75,000 enquiries from people wanting to be Rangers.

Turaku wants you to become an expert at flying the Comet.

And a new AI called Yajala has taken the equivalent position to Turaku on Warrakan.

Is that enough for a start?”

***

A rather excited Thom had piloted the big security ship today, and as far as Wirrin could tell he'd handled it as competently as if it had been the little transporter they'd used to visit the asteroid convoy. Even the fact that he'd been closely scrutinised by four different AIs plus Warrigal hadn't appeared to make him at all nervous.

He'd spent days in a Comet simulator of course, and a surprise real-time session yesterday under the supervision of the security ship's normal pilot because it was the closest existing thing to the Comet. Sonic was most impressed, well they all were, when Warrigal had asked if Thom knew enough to navigate the Comet to earth without using the automated pilot and his answer, with qualifications that were gobbledygook jargon to Wirrin and Calen, had been yes.

He'd be piloting again on the return trip to Attunga but right now they were exploring a sea-grass bed.

After a warm welcome and introduction to Yajala, Warrakan's new dolphin AI, they discussed the current status of different reaches, and the priority they'd been given since the news from Monkey Mia. Yajala showed holos of the additions being made to the new Warrakan Dolphinarium to cater for the influx of dolphin associates, and spoke with Sonic about plans for a section in one of the new reaches where dolphins would be able to experience waves like those in the oceans on earth, then disappeared when the group reached the water.

They'd entered the Warrakan reach at a new access point not far from where the barrier to the extension used to be, and had only travelled a few hundred metres when Sonic demanded a stop because his echolocation was telling him there were schools of fish everywhere and they had to have a close look. Wirrin could hardly believe what he was seeing. Every move across the sea-grass had sent groups of fish darting and right now at the edge of the sea-grass bed where the water deepened, a great silvery cloud spread thirty meters in both directions before disappearing in the haze resulting from the artificially high levels of nutrients, which Gelar had warned would reduce the normal water clarity.

With a great explosion of motion, the nearest section of the enormous school of tiny fish burst apart as Sonic shot through its midst, then again as he looped and barrelled back a little further along. So many fish but all too small for dolphin food.

Twice more the group stopped to marvel at the great profusion of life, and then as they entered the extension area, the water abruptly cleared and almost all sign of life and growth disappeared.

This section was the extra thirty kilometers of new reach which Sonic wanted to assess. Apart from being the watery equivalent of a desert with regards to food, it was technically ready for dolphins and everyone was hoping he would give it the okay. The water was clean and pure and there was an abundance of features specially designed for dolphin interest and enjoyment. The food problem was well under control as the fish-substitute developed for the crisis period had been surprisingly well received by the Attunga dolphins. They called it half-food because the hunting element was missing, but some of the younger dolphins had started playing chasing games with chunks of the protein held in their beaks, and that had caught on as a kind of substitute.

Whether the incoming dolphins would cope with the lack of any apparent life was the big question and there was much discussion as to whether they would all leave the extension area and congregate where the life was. Calen took great delight in teasing Sonic that they would be a can of sardines and Sonic took even greater delight in retorting that he had the old saying wrong.

For nearly an hour they explored, following Sonic's lead, stopping to check out a maze of underground reefs and then again at the edge of the reach to examine the beginning of a sea-grass bed. At first glance it looked like a featureless expanse of grey sediment with here and there a faint tinge of green, but when Thom beckoned everyone to look closely, hundreds of tiny buds became apparent, some of the slightly more advanced ones showing the beginnings of green growth. In another week the sediment would disappear beneath a thin carpet of plant life and not long after that a wide range of secondary plant species would be introduced among the monoculture.

Sonic nudged close between Calen and Thom to see what everyone was looking at and they both automatically rested their arms over his back. Wirrin saw a smile develop behind Warrigal's face mask at the intimacy behind the natural gesture. Back at the surface Sonic snugged into the special cradle built for him at the back of Calen's skimmer and the group went on a high-speed trip to the end of the extension and back. Sonic could manage just over thirty km/h for short bursts but with the greater lengths of the Warrakan reaches, the innovation allowed the group to utilise the sixty km/h capability of the skimmers.

“What do you think?”

'If we set up food stations in the extension it will be a great place for them to explore. They will enjoy that.'

That was good news. The extension reach had Sonic's approval.

“Only feed them in the extension area you mean?”

'Yes. It will stop them crowding into the living water.'

***

“Hey Thom, the pilot of the security ship was impressed with the way you handled it today.”

“I know. I didn't expect him to say that. He's really friendly and he's going to take me for two hours tomorrow instead of my normal training course with EdCom.”

“What? On the ship, or with the simulators?”

“On the ship, but with simulators controlling the display.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I fly the real ship in lots of different situations. He might tell me to lock into position with a slowly spinning asteroid and the asteroid appears on the screen as if it's really there.”

“And if you crash into it you try again till you get it right?”

“Eventually. First I'd have to do all the necessary things as if I'd really crashed.”

“Do you think you'll crash?”

“Of course. That's the whole idea. He'll set harder and harder problems till I just can't cope. I'll learn more in two hours than weeks of ordinary piloting that way.”

“How's that any different to an ordinary simulator?”

“Totally different. Any actions I give the ship are really happening. If I take it up to 15 G then it's really accelerating that fast.”

“Isn't this stuff meant to be for really advanced pilots?”

“It's incredible Calen. I should be training for two more years minimum before I get access to a ship like the Comet, but Sonic told Turaku to organise it and he did.”

“Do you think today's pilot will be going with us on the Comet?”

“He'd better. If he's been chosen for the Security ship he's probably the best pilot on Attunga.”

“What did you think of Yajala?”

“I don't know. ...I liked him.”

Wirrin had thought about this a lot and meeting the Warrakan AI today had been high on his interest list.

“You can't really think about him as a character Calen. The personality he uses with his holo can be whoever he wants.”

“I know that. I like the one he used today though. He didn't have the same serious, important kind of feel that Turaku has.”

Wirrin laughed and gently squeezed Calen's earlobe.

“That's because you think he's good looking.”

“Do not! How can a bunch of fancy electrons be good-looking?”

Thom picked up on the slightly too rapid denial, and a happy tussle developed while Calen was accused of deserting the trio for Sonic, and now deserting Sonic for the, 'bunch of fancy electrons'.

“Witchetty-wankers!”

“Yajala's probably more important than Turaku when you think about it.”

“Wirrin, a minute ago AIs didn't have personalities. Now you're saying one is more important than another?”

“It's complicated isn't it. I was thinking that Yajala has a much bigger domain than Turaku because Warrakan's nearly eight times as big as Attunga.

“He'll be in charge of a lot more dolphins than Turaku.”

“Only for a while. When our new Attunga level is ready they'll bring a lot of dolphins back here.”

“More moving. The dolphins will be having a lot of changes with all these things going on. Hey, if Yajala's in charge on Warrakan what happens with Turaku?”

“What do you mean? He'll keep working with dolphins on Attunga.”

“Yes, but they won't be our dolphins. When the reaches are ready they're transferring across to Warrakan.”

Calen shook his head.

“Not any more. When they found out about Attunga's big new reaches some of them decided to stay.”

“I didn't know that. How come?”

Wirrin hadn't known either.

“The pod leaders worked it out between them because some of the dolphins want to stay here when Warrakan leaves for Alpha Centauri. Four of our pods are staying and they'll move to the Level Six reaches as soon as they're ready.”

“Four? That means only five pods for Warrakan. Is that enough?”

“No, but it soon will be. Gelar says there'll be a lot more dolphin births after the new reaches start working properly. He thinks there could be eleven or twelve pods by the time Warrakan leaves, and at least eight in the Attunga reaches.”

They were talking about the enhanced dolphins. Of course there would be many more than that when Earth dolphins arrived. That was becoming more and more certain with each passing day as the campaign against unnatural dolphins hadn't eased in any way, and the latest report from Monkey Mia said the wall of protection was in full operation again with over 3000 dolphins being hosted and more on the way.

“Are the Earth dolphins going to be separate?”

“No, why should they? Dolphins love meeting each other.”

“They'll interbreed. Won't that affect the enhancement program?”

“What? ...Oh no, that's all worked out. I asked Gelar about that ages ago and the enhanced pods won't change much because their males will dominate the Earth males. They're so clever they'll outmanoeuvre them easily.”

“But won't they take over in the pods from Earth as well?”

“They'll have a great time because the Earth females will be so attracted to them, but they won't take over. There won't be enough of them for one thing, and pod structures are also too strong to change rapidly.”

“When did you find out this stuff? All you have to do nowadays is blink and you're left behind.”

“I know. It's good though. ...Umm, about a week ago. Gelar was telling me how the rangers will all be having extended training.”

***

“Hello Wirrin. Your life has been rather busy since your last visit.”

It certainly had, but since it was a statement rather than a question Wirrin wasn't quite sure what the doctor was getting at.

“Um. ...Yes.”

“Well it must be. The notation on your file now matches Calen's and I'm not to encroach on your time with any new commitments.”

“New? You've got something new for me?”

“We'll talk about that at your next visit, or whenever it's appropriate. How have you been managing your exercises since we last spoke?”

“Really well. I finished the Reading course and I can cope with nearly two and a half hours of memory storage before it starts to get to me.”

“Two and a half? I'm impressed. That's an extra half-hour in just a week.”

“I still drop out when things distract me.”

“We've discussed that and it's not an issue.”

“I know, but it is annoying.”

“Well, you're quite naughty to let yourself think like that.”

Wirrin felt the slightest flush of embarrassment. The doctor was reminding him, with friendly authority, that they had indeed discussed and agreed on his best mental outlook to encourage progress. Wirrin gave himself a token slap on the wrist as acknowledgement and they both smiled.

“All right. Let's do your check-up. After everything was so healthy last time I know there won't be any problems, but it's better to be sure.”

Wirrin relaxed on the bench, felt the usual moment of dizziness, then realised the doctor was nodding his satisfaction.

“Ticketyboo!”

Ticketyboo? What on earth did that mean. ...'All is well'. ...This was a good word to try on Sonic.

“Doctor, you should meet with Sonic. He's always coming up with antiquated sayings like that.”

The doctor stared, parted his lips as if to say something, then obviously changing his mind, closed them before continuing.

“How do you keep so fit Wirrin? With your life so busy it must be difficult.”

He'd been intrigued by the idea of meeting Sonic but was too polite to express it.

“That's because of Sonic. We're in the water every day with him and all the swimming keeps us fit. Calen spends hours with him and you should see how strong he is. ...Why don't you come to our place for a visit? We could make sure it's a time when Sonic's there so you could talk with him.”

The doctor looked almost shocked.

“Surely you can't do that? Sonic is too important to have strangers dropping in for a casual visit. There's hardly a person on Attunga who wouldn't give their eye teeth to meet him.”

Wirrin had to smile at the idea of people giving their teeth to Sonic. ...'An expression of eagerness'. The doctor had done it again and this time he wasn't checking Wirrin's facility with retinal imaging.

“Of course we can and Sonic loves meeting people. He's taking us to a Nursery at the other end of Level Four tomorrow, and the day after that he's going to a new EdCom centre on Warrakan.

You should come this evening otherwise it might be weeks before things are even slightly normal.”

In a couple of moments it was arranged and Wirrin was enjoying the doctors slightly nonplussed look.

“Well Wirrin, I'm feeling slightly out of my depth at the moment. What do I need to know about meeting a dolphin?”

“Nothing. We'll have the translators on so it's easy to talk. Does getting into the water worry you?”

“Not at all. I swim regularly.”

“Good. Bring a pair of shorts because we all get in our pool when Sonic's there.”

“You have a pool of your own? Big enough for a dolphin?”

“We're spoilt aren't we? But we have to because it's Sonic's home as much as ours. ...I rushed things for you because we're leaving Attunga in four days and I'm not sure when we'll be back. ...Probably another four or five days.”

“Leaving? Oh, to Warrakan?”

“No, to earth.”

“Earth? ...I don't understand. That would be five or six weeks, not four or five days.”

After two and a half weeks of the Earth trip being a major focus for everything, the trip speed was now just one of the background facts and the doctors puzzled look brought back Wirrin's memory of his own amazement.

“It's because there's more trouble coming for the Earth dolphins and Sonic's going to rescue them. The AIs are building a special ship for him and it only takes a bit over a day to get there.”

“ ...What are they doing to the dolphins this time?”

Wirrin explained the situation, and the excitement at the prospect of having a new dolphin population, to the indignant and then enthusiastic doctor, before leaving for an afternoon at EdCom.

***

“Not fair. A dolphin skin suits you better than it does me.”

Apart from an occasional grumble, Calen's objections had fallen by the wayside when the term for the distinctive silvery suit became the general one.

“What a ridiculous thing to say. Calen, you're the definition of how a dolphin skin looks. Everyone else is a copy.”

“Yours looks great against your dark skin.”

“As if that matters. It's you everyone wants to look like. I bet the kids mob you and Sonic and hardly even notice we're there.”

“Well stop complaining then.”

“Who's complaining?”

Thom and Wirrin both were, but not seriously.

“One minute you're saying you'll feel like galahs because everyone will be looking at you, and the next you're saying no one's even going to notice you're there. Typical Thom Logic.”

“Hey! Wirrin said it, not me.”

“Same thing. Galah brains think alike.”

In fact, Wirrin was quite looking forward to today's outing with Sonic to a Nursery with the three of them wearing the dolphin skin suits. Ever since Calen won the dare they'd been complaining, that was part of the fun of losing, but last night when they'd all worn the suits for Sonic's inspection his strong approval changed the feel of it all.

“Galahs wearing dolphin suits? Weird image Calen. Especially since we're all dressed the same.”

Calen laughed.

“Come on! Let's go! ...I bet they'll be talking about the three dolphin boys from now on.

***

“This is incredible.”

It was exactly as the plans had shown nearly three weeks ago, but standing in the control deck of the Comet for real, was a different experience to looking at a holo of the same thing. It really brought home the way the Comet had been designed as much for dolphins as humans.

At the moment the display was showing the main centre at Monkey Mia, and Sonic had just changed the view of the completed grav-field to a representation showing the number of dolphins spread through the surrounding waters. From the bank of controls at the edge of his special pool it was possible for Sonic to take charge of the Comet as much as any human. He didn't have the knowledge and training for full control of course, but several simulator sessions had made him familiar with the information access side of things.

Wirrin and Calen were smiling at this latest in Thom's series of exclamations as Turaku guided them through different sections of the Comet on this first day of its being ready for human and dolphin access. After seeing the transport pools, each designed for a full pod of dolphins, the control section for the advanced pico-factory, the living quarters for humans, the medical facility and the docking ports for the Earth dolphins, they were now in the main control area where they'd spend most of the time on the journey.

It really was incredible, and Thom was expressing Wirrin and Calen's feelings quite admirably. Wirrin hadn't realised how big and diverse this controlling centre would be and and seeing thirty or forty people in different areas around the room was another wake up to the significance of the Comet.

“Look at all those dolphins. How up to date is this information?”

“Current apart for the transmission timelag. It's flowing directly and a non-stop from earth.”

“... And which Turaku are we talking to? Comet Turaku or our usual Turaku?”

It sounded so strange. Every head turned to Thom, and then to Turaku to see what he'd say.

“Your usual Turaku Thom. The changes all happen tomorrow and you'll meet my extension then.”

“What will you do? I mean will he look like you? That would be very confusing if you're both here at the same time?”

'The new aspect will look like a comet. Show them Turaku.'

Turaku's holo melted then morphed to a stylised comet with a fiery tail, and the trio gawked as pieces peeled from the main body then flared to incandescence and disappeared.

There was a great burst of dolphin laughter from Sonic and Turaku's normal image returned.

Wirrin was impressed with how instantly Turaku had gone along with Sonic's trick, then changed his mind. After all, he did watch every micro-second of Sonic's life, so it wasn't really surprising that he had a good understanding of Sonic's sense of humour.

“Oh no! Teaching Turaku your fish jokes. More suffering for us.”

Sonic gave an emphatic nod and Thom jumped just a moment too late to evade the expertly directed mini-jet of water from a sudden tail slap. Calling Sonic a fish was a friendly insult which always brought a reaction and Wirrin was surprised that Thom hadn't been more wary. No, he'd thought Sonic wouldn't do anything because the situation was more formal than their general activities in a reach or their pool. Thom spluttered, wiped his face, wrung some of the water from his drenched shirt and looked round at all the amused expressions.

“Next time I'm in the water I'll pound you into a blob of jelly.”

There were surprised looks from some of the onlookers who had no experience of the nonsense that went on when the trio and Sonic were in a muck around mood. Sonic just laughed again.

'Come and explore the passageways with me.'

“Now?... I haven't got my water gear.”

Thom meant the dolphinarium water-shorts and face mask they used when they were out in the reaches.

'You don't wear it at home.'

Thom glanced round then after a quick shrug , stripped, dived in, and disappeared under tow through the exit to one of the waterways.

Warrigal laughed.

“So much for the jelly pounding threat.”

“Thom only acts tough to make Sonic laugh. It's one of their games.”

“Why has Sonic taken him off exploring when we're finding out about the ship?”

“Who knows! That's just Sonic's way.”

Turaku indicated a seat by a console and motioned Wirrin to sit in it.

“This is the high access Information Station which has been specially tailored to match your capabilities.”

An info-station was an info-station as far as Wirrin was concerned. He used them everywhere, at EdCom, at the Dolphinarium, and his own good one at home, so he wondered what specially tailored could mean.

“We'll leave you to familiarise yourself.”

'Integration and introduction module.'

It was quite a jolt for Wirrin to have his retinal mode involuntarily activated. It had happened a couple of times when the doctor and technicians were testing at the implant facility but this time it must be Turaku. ...Or maybe it was this information station?

Wirrin switched transparency in but everyone was moving away so he returned to full retinal mode and for over an hour immersed himself in the module.

***

“Take it slowly Thom. Nothing more than 3G till we're out of range of the K74 surveillance drones.”

The giant engines of the Comet engaged.

The images of Attunga and Warrakan dwindled in a section of the display.

The forward view showed a panorama of stars and brilliant Sol.

***