Margaret St. Clair (6 page)

Sven felt an intense relief. At the first note of the whistle everybody had put his load down and hurried toward the foot of the hatch ladder. Now they were swarming up it, one after the other. It would take only a reasonable amount of dawdling for Sven to manage to be the last man out of the hatch.

It worked. Everyone was in a hurry to be off the ship and start eating lunch. Sven got out of the hold and up on deck without anyo ne seeming to notice him. But as he started to go behind the deckhouse, where he would be safe from observation by anybody on the dock, Abrams, who was going down the gangplank, turned and caught sight of him.

“Harry! Where are you going?” he yelled.

“After my lunch, sir. I left it on the deck.”

“OK. Remember, you’re not supposed to eat on the ship.”

“Yessir.”

He hadn’t seemed to notice the unnatural bulge of Sven’s chest. Perhaps Abrams was nearsighted, perhaps he was in too much of a hurry for his lunch to be observant. It didn’t matter. Sven had no time to waste in speculation.

The
Mauna Loa was riding lower in the water now. Sven stepped over the deck rail. He hesitated for the fraction of a second. Then he let himself down into the water as noiselessly as he could. He began to swim away from the ship.

-

Chapter 4

“Do you see the little knob, there, inside of the plastic?” Sven asked. Djuna and Pettrus had brought him safely back to the Rock about dawn; and now, late Saturday afternoon, he was explaining to us the working of what he had stolen.

“Pulling the knob out activates the mine. If it’s pulled out only a little way, the explosion takes place at the end of ninety seconds. If the knob’s pulled out fully, the mine goes off in about ten minutes. Of course, we want to delay the explosion as long as we can, so th a t whoever drops the mine into the submarine canyon will have time to get as far away as he can, to avoid the shock waves.

“Pulling out the knob also activates a magnet, so the mine will adhere to a metallic surface. We don’t have to worry about that one way or the other. Until the knob is pulled —and it takes a considerable tug to start these things ticking —the mine is as harmless as a block of wood.”

Sven had been showing the mine to us sea people, who were clustered around him in the shallow water. Now he turned and waded back to the rocky beach, where the other two’ Splits were. He laid the mine down on the sand, among the pebbles, and looked at it a little ruefully.

“I wish we didn’t have to use it,” he said. “I don’t suppose any other mine in history has caused as much damage as this one will. It’s in a good cause, of course. But human history is full of people hurting other people for what they considered good reason s .”

Dr. Lawrence raised his eyebrows a little. “How high-minded you all are,” he said mockingly. “Even the dolphins, whose very existence is at stake, have scruples about incidentally killing some of their enemies. Speaking personally, I can regard the el imination of half the human species without emotion. If we don’t do it, they’ll do it themselves. Are you trying to tell us, Sven, that you object to detonating the mine?”

Sven’s face turned red. “Of course not. I stole it, didn’t I? I only wish we didn’t have to use it, that’s all.”

Dr. Lawrence turned his attention to the girl. “How about you, Madelaine? You were willing to declare war on the whole human race. Do you have qualms about it now?”

Moonlight got to her feet, rubbing the round red dents t he pebbles had made in her knees. “Qualms, of course. But it must be done,” she said.

“Good, I’m glad we agree about that,” Lawrence answered.

“Yes. How long will it be after the mine is exploded before the earthquake occurs?”

Sven and the doctor loo ked at each other. “I have no idea,” Lawrence said. “Amtor, can you make a guess?”

I blew Water for a moment. “It depends on a series of things. We sea people are familiar with underwater disturbances, of course, but we’re not geologists. I think —betwee n four and twelve hours. Certainly not more than twelve hours.”

“And how long will it take us to get from here to Monterey?” Madelaine asked.

“Carrying you? About ten hours. We could make it in three hours, by ourselves.”

“So, if we detonate the mine at six tomorrow evening, the quake should occur between ten o’clock at night and six in the morning. I suppose that’s as accurate as we can get,” Madelaine said.

“Yes. Well, I think that will do,” Lawrence replied. “Pettrus, you, Ivry and Djuna will lea ve tomorrow morning about eight, taking Sven on your backs. When you get to the proper spot, which you can ascertain by diving, Sven will pull the knob and drop the mine.

“Madelaine and I will wait here on the Rock. If it looks as if the Rock were going to be inundated by a tidal wave, we’ll ride the quake out on the backs of a couple of the dolphins.”

“No, that won’t do,” Madelaine said. She faced the doctor, looking directly into his eyes. She was a little shorter than he, so she had to look up to do it, but her gaze was unwavering. After a moment, Lawrence’s eyes dropped.

“Amtor must go with Djuna and Ivry —not Pettrus, because he has lost too much skin —and I must go with them,” Madelaine went on. “It will be better that way.”

“Why Amtor?” Lawrence asked with a frown. “He can’t swim as fast as the others.”

“I know. But it must be Amtor, because he has a usable hand.

“If Sven drops the activated mine from the surface, it will be difficult to control where it explodes. There are too many currents to take into account. But if Amtor dives with the mine in his mouth, he can use his hand to pull out the knob when he is as deep as he can go. Then he can drop the mine at the best spot. You could do that, couldn’t you, Amtor?”

“Yes, I think so,” I answe red. “I have no thumb, but I can catch the knob between two of my fingers and pull on it. I can pull fairly hard with my fingers. I can pull the fins off a fish with them.”

“Why can’t Djuna dive with the activated mine in her mouth?” Lawrence demanded cr itically.

“It would cut down her escape time too much. When the dolphins go down their maximum depth, they have to do it slowly. No, Amtor is the one.”

Moonlight was obviously right. “Very well,” Lawrence agreed stiffly. “But why must you go with them, Madelaine? One person riding a dolphin can escape observation more easily than two can. Your going with them doubles the risk.”

“Oh, yes. But I had better go with them. I feel sure of it.”

“Precognition?” the doctor asked keenly, forgetting his annoya nce.

“I suppose so. Anyhow, I’d better go with them.”

“Very well,” Dr. Lawrence repeated. “Since Amtor is going with you, you had better start a little early, say about seven o’clock.”

He seemed to think that Madelaine would object to this suggestion also, but she nodded agreeably. “All right. Sven, have we enough canned food for supper? I ‘m getting hungry.”

“I don’t remember what we have. Let’s go see.” Sven picked up the mine from the sand and put it inside his jacket. He and Madelaine walked away together.

It was time for us sea people to be thinking about supper, too. The others were already swimming awa y from Noonday Rock. As I started after them, I turned to look at Dr. Lawrence. I could not see his expression. His head was, inclined thoughtfully. He was still holding his briefcase by the handle.

-

We left the Rock a little before seven Sunday mornin g. Dr. Lawrence held up his hand to us in salute as we left. The eternal briefcase was still in his other hand.

It was a fine morning. I think we all were happy. Madelaine was radiant, and Sven looked almost as happy as she did. As for us sea people, if we hadn’t been carrying passengers, we would have leaped from the water in our joy over and over again.

Madelaine was riding Ivry, a cousin of mine, and Sven sat on Djuna’s back. I carried nobody, but of course it was planned that I should take my turn w hen the other two got tired. Sven had a package of food inside his jacket, next to the mine, and Moonlight was wearing Dr. Lawrence’s canteen on a strap around her neck. It was rather slender equipment for people who were setting out to produce a major ea r thquake, but we hoped it would be enough.

As the morning wore on, Madelaine’s euphoria seemed to wane. I thought at first that she was getting tired”—the Splits say that riding one of us for more than a few hours is exhausting, because they cannot change position —and then that she must be depressed by the thought of all the destruction we were going to cause. She told me later that it was neither of these, but a cloud of foreboding that had settled over her. Some peril lay ahead of us, and she could not g uess what it might be.

We were swimming well out from shore, to avoid being seen, but about noon we put in to a little cove, quite deserted, and let our passengers off to stretch their legs and eat the food they had brought with them. Then we resumed our journey down the coast.

We got to Benthis Canyon about five. This was good; it meant I would have time for an exploratory dive before I went down with the bomb.

We sea people are good divers. We can go down almost as far as a Split can in a diving suit, and of course we can descend and come up considerably more quickly. The sun was low, but I thought I should be able to see as much as was necessary. Our vision is excellent —I have heard a Split who dissected a number of us say that the dolphin eye was “an anatomical marvel”—and we have other quasi-visual senses besides.

I dived. There is no use in my trying to describe what a dolphin sees when it dives. The sea pe ople know what it is like already, and Splits are not yet ready to understand. But when I came up to the surface again, a few minutes later, I was puzzled by what I had seen and sensed. The light was poor, it was true, and I had been almost at my maximum d epth. But there was something odd about the bottom. It was other than I had remembered it, though I couldn’t be sure what the difference was. Still, the currents seemed unchanged. If I dropped the mine where I had planned to, it should drift downward with the current to the right spot.

“All OK?” Sven asked. He seemed aware of my puzzlement.

“I think so. I think it’s all right to drop the bomb.”

“Good.” He got the heavy little object out of his windbreaker and stripped the plastic covering from it. “See the knob on the side? Pull it out as far as it will go, about six inches. You won’t have any trouble pulling it while the mine is in your mouth?”

“I don’t think so. But, Sven, the sea people must start swimming north with you and Moonlight before I go down. You must be at least a mile away when I pull the knob. There is no use in having the rest of you run any extra risk.”

“All right.” He gave me the bomb.

Ivry and Djuna began swimming away northward with their passengers. I saw Madelaine looking a t me anxiously, her hands pressed to her breast. I went under again.

I was a little nervous, I do not mind admitting it. Sven was familiar with high explosives, but I had never carried such a thing in my mouth before. I kept wondering what I would do if the knob stuck when it was only a little way out. My descent was necessarily rather slow, and I had time to have a good many unpleasant ideas. Then I was at the point where I would have to release the activated mine.

I bent my head forward and found the knob on the mine with my fingers. Yes, that was it. Now. I gave a good hard pull.

The thing in my mouth had begun to tick. The knob seemed to be pulled out about six inches —anyhow, it wouldn’t go any farther. I let it fall.

Again I had the sense of som ething different about the bottom. Too late now to worry about it. I began to swim toward the surface in a long upward slant.

There was no sign from the depths behind me. I reached the surface, breathed deeply and gratefully, and looked about for the oth ers.

There was still a little red in the west. I had no difficulty at all in finding the Splits and the dolphins against the smooth, reflecting surface of the sea.

They were moving northward at a fair speed. I exerted myself, and was soon almost up with them. I would have nuzzled Djuna’s side in a moment, when Madelaine, turning toward me, cried loudly and imperatively, “Swim! As fast as you can! All of you! Quick! Swim! Swim!”

It never entered any of our heads to question or disobey her. Djuna and Ivry shot through the water, and I, though my acceleration is poor, kept up with them. If we ever slowed down, Madelaine screamed at us to swim faster. Her voice was harsh with fear.

There came a confused roar from behind. “Hurry, hurry!” Madelaine cried. None of us looked back.

A pulsation in the water struck our bodies. It was not strong enough to be dangerous, and I wondered why Madelaine was so frightened. I may have slowed down a little, for Moonlight cried anxiously, “Hurry! We’re not safe yet!”

The water around us was full of small particles. We were almost at our limit of endurance; we would have to slacken speed soon. Madelaine must have known this, for she said encouragingly, “Only a little farther … All right. You can go sl ower now.”

It wasn’t any too soon. For a while we were all silent, except for the noises of our breathing. The sunset glow had left the sky, and the moon had not come up. Then Sven said, “What was the danger, Maddy? Why did they have to swim so fast?”

“Because—Amtor, when you dived in the canyon, did you notice anything unusual about the bottom?”

“Yes.” I was still out of breath. “Thought so. Not sure.”

“Could what you noticed have been a number of big metal drums?”

“Yes.”

“Metal drums? What was in them?” Sven asked.

“Radioactive wastes from nuclear reactors,” Madelaine answered. “I expect the canyon seemed a safe place to dispose of them.”

Sven drew in his breath. Madelaine went on, “Just before I called to the dolphins to swim as fast as th ey could, I saw a —a picture of the mine exploding against a big metal drum. I didn’t know what it was. It frightened me. Then the drum broke, and I saw a fountain of deadliness shooting up from it. I knew then what it was. That was when I cried out.