Attunga - 15. Chapter 15

ATTUNGA Part 15.

“Earth, Air, and Sea!”

Akama's voice rang loud and clear across the water and Wirrin, standing with Calen, Thom and Sonic, chest deep in the water by the transport module, listened to a symbolic call for Earth dwellers, Sky dwellers and Water dwellers to meet in this place which embodied those three fundamental elements so well. It was short and powerfully presented and everyone watched quietly, wondering what was to happen next. For Wirrin and Thom there had been an awkward but proud moment when Sonic and Calen had surfaced and called to them and they'd had to walk from the shore and stand with Sonic under the curious gaze of the crowd which now numbered several hundred people.

Akama finished and stood, waiting with his attention on Sonic, who ducked slightly under the surface. Standing right next to Sonic, Wirrin sensed the rapid transmission of sound as the message was translated in terms the gathered dolphins would understand.

2160 dolphin heads, Wirrin found out the number later, lifted from the water and looked towards Akama, who raised his arm in formal acknowledgement. From his low vantage point Wirrin's view was limited to the dolphins close to the transport, but the effect was still incredible, hundreds of dolphin heads rose, all looking in the same direction and waiting. Gelar related that from the shore the great sea of faces gave him the uncanny feeling that every single one of them was to looking directly at him. Akama motioned to the man who'd made the original welcome, and to Warrigal as well,then walked with them into the water and towards Sonic.

Wirrin watched them approaching but his attention kept flicking to the nearby crowd of dolphins, their fixed smiles looking strangely overpowering en masse, and to Sonic whose body was vibrating with excitement and energy. Sonic left the trio and whisked through several metres of water to meet Akama and the representatives of Australia and Attunga. There was a burst of dolphin sound and Akama looked to Calen for its meaning.

“It was a call of happiness at being in such a beautiful place and a thank you for the welcome.”

There was another burst of sound and suddenly Sonic's translated speech resounded over the gathering.

“Dolphins are excited to meet humans and be part of a ceremony.”

The trio jerked with surprise. Sonic needed to be in his transporter for the translator to work. Wirrin made a quick contact and spoke quietly to Thom and Calen.

“Turaku's collecting the sound and making the translator work.”

Akama made the same short traditional ceremony they'd already heard, welcome to Country, but this time, with the dolphins so prominently included, it felt extra important and moving. At the end Sonic's amplified voice said thank you and invited all the people into the water. At first people were too surprised to respond but when Akama beckoned that changed completely and all the watchers crossed the wet band of sand and waded tentatively into the water. Sonic made a mini leap and disappeared below the water. Two seconds later every dolphin had followed, leaving the surface eerily deserted in contrast to the great gathering of a moment before. Calen dived as well, to hear what was going on, but reappeared in moments, shaking his head.

“It's chaos. They're all communicating and it's too much sound for me to cope with.”

Sonic reappeared, he'd only gone under so he could speak dolphin properly,and like magic the waters of the Bay were again filled with myriads of dolphin forms.

The earth representative, looking quite overwhelmed, was carried on Sonic's back with crowds of dolphins swimming close in accompaniment, while Akama passed a message for people to spread themselves far along the beach so there would be plenty clear space for the dolphins to approach. People and dolphins mingled. The dolphin pods came to the shallow water and cooperated in a slow progression of movement from north to south, amongst the people, who were now stretched along several hundred metres of coastline. These dolphins were all used to human contact and their elegant body language and friendly bumps and nudges sent spirits soaring. Every person Wirrin could see had a happy smile as the mass of interacting dolphins moved steadily past. Certain dolphins, which turned out to be the pod leaders, approached first Sonic, then, after a short rapid exchange of dolphin speech, Akama, Warrigal and the earth representative. Calen, his face glowing with excitement said they were following Sonic's suggestion and representing the rest of their pod as part of the ceremony. For twenty minutes the mingling of dolphins and humans continued, till the last pods joined waiting groups in deeper water. Akama raised his arm in a formal gesture then waded towards the shore. As one, people all along did the same then moved to congregate and hear what he had to say. Wirrin was struck with the way the people were following Akama's lead and the dolphins Sonic's. He started to move but was stopped by Calen.

“We'll have to find out what he says later. Sonic wants us with him. Jump in the transport because they're going out to deeper water.

“What's happening?”

Calen pointed at the people gathering round Akama.

“The same thing really. A big meeting so Sonic can explain everything properly to them.”

The transport zipped straight out into the Bay, following the cruising form of Sonic for about a kilometre. Sonic stopped and, equipped with face masks good for a half hour air supply, the trio dived to join him. The first shock was the bottom which was so distant you could hardly make it out. The Attunga reaches were no more than four meters in depth and nothing like the fifty meters here. Wirrin's first impression was of just too much water. That was fleeting though, as the bigger shock was the number of dolphins. Twenty meters to one side was like a living wall and other dolphins were approaching. Sonic sank deeper and deeper with the trio following, and as they did the wall of dolphins closed round till they were almost completely englobed. Wirrin understood why. They were in deeper water and Sonic was thinking in 3-D. This way the maximum number of dolphins could see Sonic and the trio. For the next forty minutes Wirrin wished for implants like Calen's so he could hear more clearly. Ordinary human ears really don't function very well underwater.

He sensed many things though, through his knowledge of dolphin body language and sounds; the presentation and identification of the trio as part of Sonic's pod; the thrill of massed warning sounds when Sonic explained the deadly danger and the death of the earlier pods; an almost unbearable moment when the whole group expressed sounds of sadness and loss when Sonic made it clear they would be leaving their homes forever; and then a longer period of growing excitement as they heard what was in store for them. Every five or six minutes the globe formation dissolved then reformed as every dolphin, following Sonic's cue, surfaced for air, and once the trio had to access the transport module for replacement masks. Calen was very much involved, speaking directly to the dolphins and sometimes to Sonic, and occasionally darting close to an individual who must have asked him something. Eventually there was a great swirl of motion, and as the dolphins dispersed, Calen headed for the surface.

Back in the transporter he gasped as if exhausted, then started towards the shore.

“Wow! This is harder than I thought.”

“Where are we going now?”

“I'm taking you back to Akama.”

"Us? What about you?”

“I'm going with Sonic. We've got three more meetings. One near Faure island, one in Denham Sound, and one up near Bernier Island.”

“Why was it hard? You were amazing.”

Wirrin nodded vigorously, in total agreement with both Thom's question and statement.

“They use the same words as our dolphins but it's hard to understand them. It's like they're on different wavelengths. Sonic had to say some of my speech in a different way to get the meaning across properly.”

Wirrin wanted to ask zillions of questions but they were fast approaching the shore.

“How come we're not going with you?”

“Akama wants you with him. There's a delay with some dolphins arriving from North America and the dolphins won't start loading into the Comet for another four hours. He's taking you to visit Gnardune Springs.”

“Sonic told you all this?”

“Yes, Turaku has been keeping him updated with everything.”

Wirrin's connections to the InterWeb and Turaku didn't work while he was underwater. Sonic's were designed to, as long as he was near his transporter or other specialised equipment.

“Four hours? You won't have time for three meetings.”

“Yes we will, and we'll be back in time for Sonic to talk to all the Monkey Mia people. Sonic's transporter is too slow so we've got air transport.”

Of course they'd have air transport. Turaku would make sure Sonic had security wherever he went. Thom pointed. Sure enough, a big air transporter was approaching from somewhere inland of the Marine Centre. No, not just one. Four more came into view and accelerated at high speed in the direction of Faure island. The first one passed almost overhead, moving relatively slowly and quite low. Calen brought the transporter to a halt at the water's edge.

“Quick! I have to get back with this transporter. They need it to move Sonic, and for Turaku to keep in contact when he's underwater.”

Wirrin and Thom leapt to the sand and watched as Calen took off at great speed.

“Whoo! Look at him go! He's in a hurry.”

Wirrin laughed.

“Yes, about half the speed you'd be doing.”

They watched a moment as Calen raced towards the big air transporter, which was now hovering near where they'd parted with Sonic, then swivelled to watch yet another air transporter, travelling very low and coming directly towards them. All this open space. Things could happened from any direction. The air vehicle settled close by and when a door slid open Warrigal appeared, beckoning them aboard. Inside, as the air transporter lifted and accelerated, they joined Warrigal and Akama along with Narn who gave a friendly smile of recognition.

“Narn tells me you've already introduced yourselves. He's taking us to visit Old Country.”

Akama turned to watch the display as the waters of the Bay raced beneath them, his eyes fixed ahead on the dark band of green which Wirrin knew was the course of his river. Everyone was quiet as the first silver sparkles of water appeared and rapidly enlarged, watching Akama as he stared with rapt attention. Wirrin felt a mini lump forming in his throat, wondering what it would be like to return to a home you thought you might never see again. Akama looked straight at him with a gentle smile, as if he knew his thoughts and Wirrin couldn't help smiling back. The air transporter landed then departed, leaving the group of five in a clear area not far from the water which Wirrin could see glistening through gaps between the scattered eucalyptus trees. Akama stayed still, looking all round for a moment, then pointed.

“This way first. I want to show you something.”

As they walked Wirrin took in everything. It was like one of the enviro parks on Attunga, except it went on and on in every direction, with the wonder of the blue sky above, and the rich red of the sandy soil, rough and textured beneath their feet. There was a sudden high-pitched screech and twittering and Wirrin whirled to catch a glimpse of flying green shapes disappearing into some high branches.

“Lorikeets. There is quite a concentration of bird-life along the river.”

Wirrin and Thom looked at each other. Calen was missing this. Well, at least he'd see the zapped version. As they passed a strange looking tree Thom stopped to touch the loose layers of whitish grey bark hanging from a dull orange scar on the trunk.

“It's a paper-bark tree.”

Narn pulled a small piece free and handed it to Thom who rubbed it between his fingers before passing it to Wirrin.

“Paper?”

Wirrin and Thom knew what paper was. They'd made it themselves with EdCom when they were younger.

“It wasn't used for paper. It just looks like it.”

The next stop was a giant old gum tree.

“Recognise it?”

Akama pointed to where a large limb branched from the main trunk and the picture leapt into Wirrin's mind of a boy holding on for dear life with winged devils plucking at him. Yes. There was the big lumpy growth which had fascinated him. This was the exact tree, still here after all this time.

“Can I climb on your shoulders?”

Wirrin stared at Akama in amazement. Of course he could, but it wasn't something you expected from a Witness. Akama laughed.

“Some of the low branches are gone. I'll need help to get up there.”

A couple of minutes later Wirrin and Thom were perched on the branch next to Akama, looking down at Warrigal and Narn and then surveying the scenery. Once again Akama pointed, this time at a large white bird in the shallows of the river, its head bent low to the water and steadily trawling from side to side.

“What is it doing?”

“It's a Spoonbill. When it lifts its head you'll see why it's called that, and it's foraging for food.”

Fascinated, Wirrin and Thom watched and, sure enough, when the bird raised itself to look around alertly, the rounded spoon shapes of its upper and lower bills came clearly into view. Akama wanted to get moving and scrambled to the ground. Wirrin was more awkward in his descent.

“Our time is very limited and I'd like to fit in a mini Walkabout.”

The next three quarters of an hour piled wonder on wonder and Wirrin wished Calen was with them. At least he was zapping everything and they'd be able to share it all later. The highlight for Wirrin was holding a bizarre creature which Narn discovered, a dangerous looking little reptile called a thorny devil with spikes and rough protrusions all over. Amazingly, it was quite soft, belying its ferocious appearance, and Wirrin examined it closely, enjoying the sensation of its tiny claws hooking into his fingers while Narn explained how it could actually drink through its skin.

At the end of the walk there was another surprise when Akama left his clothes on the sand and raced into the waters of Gnardune Pool and, laughing, beckoned everyone else to join him. Wirrin thought he was purposefully replaying the scene from his youth. After ten minutes the atmosphere of light-hearted companionship changed abruptly when the big air transporter, flanked by four others, appeared overhead and settled at the water surface.

A message, from Turaku, appeared in retinal mode and Wirrin called for everyone to hurry.

“There's a security alert and we need to get back to the Comet.”

“Do we have time enough to collect our clothes?”

“... Yes. It's not directed at us, but Turaku doesn't want us out in the open.”

Akama's visit to Home Country was cut short and the group, now concerned and serious, rushed to get aboard. As the convoy accelerated towards Monkey Mia Turaku's holo shimmered into view.

“I felt it necessary to return you to the Comet Honoured One. External activity has commenced rather sooner then expected and it is advisable to raise our security.”

“Of course. ...What is the nature of this activity?”

“Four large space vessels have stationed themselves in low orbit directly above Shark Bay and are closely scanning the area. We have suppressed all electronic signals, but excepting the Comet itself, there is nothing we can do about optical surveillance. The unusual configuration and movements of the dolphins have indicated to those watching that something is happening and the probability of a response is rising critically.”

“Rising? What are the indications for that?”

“The Comet traced signals from the low orbit surveillance to locations not far outside Australian territorial jurisdiction, but more significantly to three large ships, one fifteen kilometers west of Dirk Hartog island, one close to Ningaloo, and one not far from the Great Barrier Reef Centre.”

Fifteen km? Wishing he was sitting at his info-station, Wirrin linked with the security of the air transport, located the ship so close to Shark Bay, and scanned the information about it. Ten minutes ago it was a legitimate cruise ship from the friendly Malaysian area, but since detecting the signals from above the Australian Security AIs had discovered that the passenger lists were phoney. The people existed but currently 83% of them had been observed going about their business in their normal home habitats. What about the other two ships? A quick look showed a similar disparity.

“The ships are fake. The people meant to be on them aren't there.”

Akama nodded at Wirrin's comment and addressed Turaku.

“What are we doing about them? This feels very much like a repeat of the last attack.”

“Air cover has been dispatched to all three locations for a closer look and all defensive systems are now in operation.”

Wirrin checked the security overview in retinal mode then switched it to full holo so everyone could see the groups of air defence vessels dispersed to all areas of shark Bay. One particularly large air vessel was streaking towards the cruise ship and the data showed it would arrive in just over two minutes.

“Where are Sonic and Calen? Are they safe?”

“I asked them to board an air transporter and return to the Comet but Sonic has committed himself to the meeting for at least another twenty minutes.”

Wirrin displayed the area, where a convoy of six aircraft circled, then zoomed close. There was the distinctive globe of dolphins, gathered near the surface of the relatively clear water. They would be easily picked out by any high-resolution optical device in low orbit. Wirrin looked at the huge group of dolphins, and picturing Calen and Sonic in the water with them, went to check on how many were there. The whole display flashed red for a second, sending a shock of apprehension through everyone watching.

As one they turned to Turaku.

“Another signal was transmitted to the three ships. We have been damping all emissions but a sudden power increase of a full order of magnitude penetrated before we adjusted our suppression levels. I've mobilised the Comet and we will all rendezvous at Sonic's location.”

The transporter lurched to a new bearing and a surge of acceleration cut in.

“...Underwater activity has been detected near all the suspect ships. ... High-speed drone movement has commenced.

...I have deployed 130 enhanced guardians from the security resources protecting the dolphin gathering for interception and containment.”

Stunned with the speed of everything, the group watched the big holo display which Turaku was now controlling. Wirrin, horrified more and more by the number and speed of the attack drones being revealed, grabbed Thom's arm as a kind of mutual support.

“There are hundreds. Can we stop them before they reach Sonic?”

“694 hostile drones. They would reach the dolphin meeting in 8 minutes and 20 seconds at their current speed of 107 km/h but first engagement with our guardians will occur in 3 minutes and 40 seconds. We anticipate complete disablement of every hostile unit.”

107 km/h? That was a big speed increase over the the original drones. They'd definitely been improving them. Still it was encouraging to hear the confidence Turaku was expressing. The seconds ticked by. The Comet would reach Sonic in five more minutes according to the screen and they'd be able to board themselves just two minutes after that.

The display flashed red again, sending Wirrin's pulses racing. That red was a warning of some significant happening.

“There is a further deployment of drones. ...A larger type of unknown capability.”

Six red markers were moving away from the cruise ship, two heading towards the northern end of Bernier Island and the other four following the path of the earlier drones towards the gap between Dorre and Dirk Hartog Islands, on a direct path to the gathered dolphins.

“Larger? Does that mean more dangerous?”

“That is very likely, but air cover is arriving and will disable both the cruise ship and the drones.”

The trajectory for the air cover was from a southerly direction and Wirrin wished it would head for the main group of attack drones first.

Yes! The air cover had done its job. It must have, as the red signature of the big drones and the cruise ship had changed to a dull grey. Smiles of relief lit up as Turaku confirmed the neutralisation then disappeared again as the great bulk of the attacking drones left the Indian Ocean and entered the outer waters of Shark Bay. Wirrin took in what he could from the display. Almost everything was converging on Sonic's position, except for the guardians rushing towards the attack drones. ...Forty seconds to engagement.

The Comet was closing, still several minutes away, and the number of aircraft above the dolphin gathering had increased. What? The dolphins were spread out and moving directly away from the oncoming danger with several hundred guardians following.

The display made that horrible red flash, then again, and again. Why didn't it stop? Wirrin felt fright from his heart to his toes at the sight of the frozen holographic image of Turaku.

The awful flashing stopped and Turaku came to life.

“Emergency situation averted. Major engagement in ten seconds.”

Ten seconds! There was no time for relief or to wonder what the emergency had been, as the display zoomed to the last few seconds of the rapidly closing drones and their adversaries. On the screen the situation looked overwhelmingly in favour of the huge attacking group which outnumbered the guardians almost six to one, but Turaku looked confident, not as a morale booster Wirrin hoped, and there was the positive legacy of guardian capabilities from the first monkey Mia attack as well.

Thom's grasp on his arm tightened and everyone watched, transfixed, as the mass of red markers on the screen engulfed the blue markers of the guardians. Momentarily the groups separated again as the red continued at unabated speed. The blue rapidly changed direction, closed and matched speed, and the red lights started winking out. In less than thirty seconds every red marker had changed to grey and come to a halt. The new guardians were even more effective than the originals. Thom let our cheer and Wirrin laughed at the empathetic nods from Akama, Narn and Warrigal.

“Is Sonic safe? Have all the drones been stopped?”

According to the screen that was so, but confirmation from Turaku would clinch that.

“Honoured one, Sonic and the earth dolphins have completely recovered from a sonar attack.

Recovered? They'd been hurt somehow? Fear jolted again through Wirrin and he saw his own shock reflected from Akama, Warrigal and Narn in the silence as they waited for an explanation.

“Sonar pulses designed to confuse dolphin auditory senses were transmitted underwater by the hostile drones and for 7 seconds every dolphin at the gathering suffered a form of sensory deprivation. This was dangerously effective. After twenty seconds their steadily worsening condition would have led to unconsciousness and drowning. I was able to use the translators on Sonic's transport module to produce a dampening signal till the drones were destroyed.”

“Sonic could have drowned?”

“No Wirrin. I would not have allowed that.”

Wirrin fleetingly wondered what Turaku would have done to stop it, but Sonic and Calen were his immediate concern.

“Is he all right?”

“Completely. The instant the signal was suppressed every dolphin returned to full consciousness.”

“Did it do anything to Calen? He hears all those sounds.”

“Not a thing. He reflexively switched off his implants when the interference started. They've resumed their meeting because the dolphins are in turmoil after their flight response was initiated. The mothers with young were particularly distressed by the loss of contact with their little ones.”

The holo screen showed the Comet arriving near Sonic, a gathering of the big air cover vessels in the area where the drones had been disabled, and activity near the cruise ship, which Turaku explained was the retrieval, for analysis, of the strange large drones. Turaku, still controlling the holo, was using it to help explain the current situation to Akama, and information flashed rapidly and briefly into view. The attacks at the other locations had been contained and relief spread as their air transport made its final approach to the Comet.

“They haven't got a hope against our AIs.”

As if deliberately flinging Thom's words in his face the holo screen flashed fiercely red.