Defender of the Future
book one of
The Tidesinger Trilogy

Chapter Thirteen

Ecco was surprised to find that he was fast becoming a living legend. News traveled fast along Karkol's current, it seemed--the killer whales already knew all about his encounter with Castor the sperm whale, and how he had outwitted Greshruk the Slayer. As he filled them in about what had happened after that, he couldn't help wondering how long it would be before the Atlantis story was common knowledge too. He swam, Karkol ever at his left, and the killer whale kept pace on his right so that they formed a triad in the still water--Ecco in the middle, those who would normally be his mortal enemies on either side.

"So," the killer said at last, "you come here, and with the white shark too. It was lucky for you that we had heard your story before, or it'd have been the worse for the both of you!"

Karkol grinned. "I nearly ate Ecco too, when we first met... he's probably getting used to it by now."

"Hardly," Ecco said with a wry smile.

The killer whale rose and blew, then rejoined them. "I am Khorik, alpha male of this pack," he said in a more formal tone. "My mate is Benia, and my children are Kalen and Kren. The others are my hunt-brothers and hunt-sisters, and under my protection." The formalized introduction over, the whale rolled a thoughtful brown eye in his direction. "Tell me, little hunt-brother, how did you know the law? We never expected to hear it from one of you."

"I'm sorry, sir, but what law?" Ecco asked helplessly.

The whale looked at him with surprise now. "We have but three laws, Ecco. The first is that any lone-swimmer who asks for our aid must be allowed to tell his tale. Surely you knew this before you approached us?" Ecco's expression told him everything, and the whale snorted laughter. "Truly, you have Delphinius's own luck! And courage to match..."

"So," Karkol said, breaking in, "can you help us out at all? We need to find the lone-swimmers as fast as possible, if you get my drift." The sound of Foe was getting closer, very much so.

Khorik glanced towards the open waters. "Curse those creatures..." He began to swim, swiftly, back towards the other whales, calling back to Ecco and Karkol, "Follow me!"

The killers were clustered in a tight group, facing inwards. Ecco heard whispers passing between them, but he couldn't make out the words before Khorik cruised into the group and split it up. "Listen to me, hunt-brothers and hunt-sisters!" the alpha male announced in ringing tones. "The Foe are close by! We must defend the destined ones!" Turning again, he faced Ecco and Karkol. "I can tell you where you will find the lone-swimmers, but it will be a difficult journey for you and the Foe are already closing in. Swim with us, hunt-brothers! We'll protect you!"

Karkol remained still, frozen with indecision. "Come on!" Ecco yelled at him, springing forward through the water. With an effort, the shark swung his tail and raced after the fleeing dolphin as the killer whales headed out into the open seas. Black-and-white shapes closed in around them and the water was filled with the fluting sounds of the killers' voices. They chased the moon to the east, the screams of the Foe always behind and closing, closing...

It was somewhere between midnight and morning, and the moon was a great semicircle above the waves when the Foe finally caught up with the killers. They had swum fast, fast as only they could under pressure. Karkol was built for long-distance swimming, but Ecco struggled to keep up with his smaller body... and even Karkol had difficulty maintaining the killers' breakneck speed. Neither of them realized what had happened at first--only that there was a sudden squeal at the back of the pack, followed by a flurry of movement behind them. Then, suddenly, Khorik stopped dead and Ecco nearly ran into him. Dark chitinous shapes ghosted through the water towards them from both ahead and behind.

"We're surrounded!" shouted a whale whose name Ecco did not know.

"Save the destined ones!" That was Khorik, fierce and furious in the face of danger.

"Let me fight!" Karkol roared, his jaws working at the sight of the Foe. Ecco nudged him sharply in the gills to remind the shark that they were outnumbered. The whales backed in around them, pushing the dolphin and the shark into the center of a black-and-white ring whose outside bristled with teeth.

The Foe rushed them, and suddenly the water became full of blood and screaming. Ecco felt Karkol trembling violently, and knew that the shark was only just holding in check his natural instincts. These were feeding-frenzy conditions. The whales were fighting like demons, screaming through the water as they bit and tore at their alien victims... but there was no way it could go on forever. Instants of death unfolded before their eyes--an old killer, jaws clamped down on a Foe, struggling to shake off another--a pair of them, great gashes in their variegated skin, howling in fury as they pursued five of the monsters. Horror-struck, Ecco watched as one of the younger whales fell victim to three Foe. Its beautiful piebald body ripped right open, the youngster went belly-up with a slow, sad grace. The Foe fell ravenously upon the corpse, tearing at the shining skin, but two more killers attacked them roaring in fury, and drove them off. Karkol had his eyes tight shut as he fought to keep the blood-red mist from entering his brain.

"Ecco! Karkol!" Suddenly Khorik appeared through the bloodstained water, black and white and red. Three more of the whales were at his side. "We'll storm the circle!" the alpha male roared. "Follow me and prepare to make a dash for it!"

"We can't leave you!" Karkol yelled, seemingly about to rush into battle himself.

The killer regarded the shark with an expression that was oddly calm. "You're the only hope for our world, my friends. You must escape, no matter what the cost. We are prepared to give our lives for this beautiful planet... please, accept our gift!"

Ecco blinked hard, fighting back tears. "We will," he said softly, his voice cracking up with emotion. "Karkol, come on--we haven't got any choice."

The whales surrounded them again, Khorik at the front. Ecco sideyed the two nearest them, noticing that one was an old and very large female... Benia, Khorik's mate? And the other whales were both young males... Kalen and Kren, his calves? O, Delphinius...

"Ecco!" Khorik was facing front, his eyes narrowed in concentration. The Foe were advancing. "Listen to me now! When we get out, you must swim without looking back! Follow the moon east as fast and as long as you can. The lone-swimmers live where the moon sets, understand?"

"Yes," Ecco said brokenly. "I understand."

"Then good luck," the killer whale said fiercely, "and may good fortune be your companion. Forward!"

The whales rushed into battle, jaws agape. Ecco barely had time to see Khorik close with a huge Foe drone, because then Karkol was rushing forward, pushing him into motion. He started to swim, slowly at first and then faster and faster. Karkol stuck at his side, swimming doggedly and saying nothing. His black eyes stared into the distance where the moon lay huge.

The Foe did not pursue them--perhaps they did not notice that they had escaped. Perhaps they simply had more interesting things to do. At any rate, the alien screeching soon died away in their ears... as did the singing of the killers. Neither Ecco nor Karkol slowed down even slightly--they raced through the silent waters together, following the silver. There were no words between them. Nothing could have been said. Both of them knew that there was no way the killers would escape the mayhem of the battle.

Few creatures were abroad this night. News traveled fast about the Foe as well, apparently, and most of the larger creatures seemed to be in hiding. Once or twice they saw other animals--a big tiger shark actually broke off pursuit of a wounded green turtle and turned in amazement to watch the dolphin and the young great white flash past. Ecco was too exhausted and distressed to even feel frightened.

The moon slipped down into the horizon, and close to it the sun began to gather its power for another day. By the time the sky had changed from velvet black to streaky pink, sending the stars into hiding, the moon was merely a bead of silver on the surface of the sea. In a few minutes more it disappeared utterly. Ecco slowed until he was just moving automatically through the water; he was shivering with exhaustion. Karkol was little better off than he.

They cruised together, going in more or less the same direction in which they had been previously headed. As yet there was no sign of shore or even of the lone-swimmers.

Finally Karkol said, "They're dead, aren't they?"

Ecco couldn't respond for a long moment--emotion threatened to strangle the words. "Yes," he said at last. "Yes, I think so. They couldn't have gotten out of that, no way."

There was silence between them for a while longer.

"You mammals," Karkol said at last, with a tone of awe. "You're incredible... you burn so brightly." He turned one eye towards Ecco, who was looking at him in surprise. "You'd never see a shark doing that," Karkol elaborated, and a bitter tone crept into his voice. "We're too damn selfish. Look at Greshruk. All she cares about is eating. You never hear about a shark saving the damn world."

"Maybe you'll be the first," Ecco suggested.

"Hah. Not bloody likely. The moment I smell blood, I turn into a raving maniac." Karkol rose up to the surface so that his fin cut air; he swung his tail moodily, glowering. The pectoral fins were pointed stiffly downwards, telling Ecco as clearly as the voice had that the shark was upset. Karkol seemed to struggle for the next words. "Those whales gave their lives to save us. If they were sharks, they'd have eaten us before you got out more than a hello. It's all we are--damn eating machines." He glanced towards Ecco. "You know what it's like, never stopping, spending your whole life looking for your next meal? Eventually you turn into Greshruk, seeing the world in terms of vegetable, mineral and edible." Karkol dropped his head. "I may belong to an order that's three hundred million years old as the Slayer's so fond of pointing out, but compared to you I'm just a dumb stupid fish. ...I don't even know why I'm talking about this," he said suddenly, looking up. "What's the damn point?"

"Don't give up," Ecco said softly. "I'm upset too, Karkol, but we have to think of their sacrifice. They thought our job was so important they were willing to give their lives to help us do it. We can't grieve yet, we don't have time. And you're not a stupid fish." He smiled slightly, and nudged the shark in the ribs. "Come on, cheer up. We can't be far from the lone-swimmers by now, we chased the moon all night."

"Yeah..." Karkol sighed. "We better keep going. The Foe caught up last time, they'll do it again."

Ecco glanced back, but the seas behind them were clear. In front, the sun burst over the horizon in a fountain of gold, and scattered hot white sparkles over the waves. The dolphin blinked, half-closing his eyes against the sudden glare, and then stuck his head up out of the water, spy-hopping to take a better look. There was a smudge against the distant sky.

"Karkol, look--land!" He couldn't keep an excited tone out of his voice. "The lone-swimmers must live on the coast here!"

"What are we looking for, anyway?" the shark asked crossly.

Ecco shook his head--he didn't know. "I suppose it must be some sort of bay or inlet. The lone-swimmers tend to move around a lot, though--I didn't imagine that they'd actually have a home. Still, that's what Khorik said..." He didn't say what else was in his mind--the way he would feel if they found the bay and it was full of dead water. He was in no mood to tempt fate. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the sad brown eyes of the young killer who had died in front of him. The Foe must die...

"What?" Karkol asked.

"Nothing." Ecco looked away in embarrassment. He hadn't realized that he had spoken out loud.

They continued towards the distant smudge of land at a good pace, mindful now of their empty stomachs and the expanse of empty water that lay behind them. There was still no sign of Foe, but Ecco had little faith that that would last long. Several times now he had thought that he had gotten away for good, but somehow they had always found his trail again. You had to give them marks for persistency, anyway...

The sun was fully up, a great golden globe hanging low on the horizon. Its bottom was slightly cut off by the shapes of mountains; the land was approaching at last. A seagull bobbed past on the waves, a fierce little air elemental trespassing on the plane of water. It took off in a hurry when it spotted Karkol's fin below it.

"They're funny things, those birds are," Karkol said suddenly. "Don't know whether they belong to the air, the land or the sea. They're happy enough in all three."

"Some birds have chosen, though," Ecco said, remembering conversations he had had once with an old albatross wintering in their bay. "There are birds that can only swim--their wings have turned into fins. Penguins, I think they're called."

"There's some of them where I grew up," Karkol said. "I've never eaten one, though. They moved too quick." He smiled a little at Ecco's curious stare. "I was only a sprat, they were a bit big for me any way at the time."

Ecco nodded, thankful to see the shark in a slightly better mood. Karkol happy was a little off-putting at times, but Karkol upset was something to be steered clear of. He turned his attention to the front again, happy enough to swim on in silence for now, but then stopped dead. Karkol overshot and had to swing back to come around beside him again. "What's up now?" the shark asked. "Don't tell me you can hear those things in front of us!"

"No... I hear dolphins." Ecco grinned. "Dolphins! Ahead of us! Karkol, we made it!" He wanted to start jumping into the air for joy, turning barrel rolls. The exhaustion had practically gone. "Come on!" Ecco said joyfully, forging ahead. Karkol swam beside him, catching some of his enthusiasm. The deep blue-black of the ocean faded away underneath them and became the sandy blue of a coastal shore, and when they dived away from the surface the water was full of life--fish, crabs, coral, all kinds of things. It could not have been more obvious that the Foe had not got here yet.

They spread out a couple of lengths and snatched fish as they went, each keeping away from the other by an unconscious accord--not that Karkol would have willingly attacked Ecco after all this, but the shark knew better than any how blood in the water made him act. They were both half-starved after so long together and so long without food, and they left twin trails of destruction behind them, Karkol snapping and biting his way through entire shoals of wrasse, Ecco picking his moments and his targets with customary care.

The duo met up again on the other side of the reef, tired but sated. But it was here that they came across the first problem.

The sea ended, quite suddenly, in a rocky cliff covered with anemones and seagrass. Karkol and Ecco both nosed around, but they could find no trace of the mysterious dolphins. The singing had stopped when they were somewhere over the reef and there was no sign whatsoever of the singers. Karkol frowned. "We came to the right place, didn't we? I mean, the moon set right here!"

Ecco sighed, turning in preparation to swim back down the coast. "Maybe we took a wrong turn on the reef. We'd better go up and down the shore a bit, take a look around. And these are the lone-swimmers we're talking about--they're very good at disappearing."

Karkol growled softly and turned back... a moment later, he turned again and re-examined the cliff face with sharp black eyes. Ecco waited, looking at him in some surprise.

"There's something funny about this," the shark said in a low, menacing voice. "Ecco, take a closer look..."

"Huh?" He swam up. "I don't see anything... it's just a wall..."

"Look again."

Ecco blinked, and looked again. And then, quite suddenly, he got it.

There were quite strong waves heading into shore. They were banging against the rocky cliff face with powerful force--it was a really exposed coastline, one of the most savage Ecco had seen with the possible exception of Greshruk's seal colony. But the cliff face was covered in seagrass and all sorts of fragile animal and plant life. They should have been swept away at the first little wave, never mind this relentless pounding. Ecco's eyes narrowed as he watched a small winkle making its way over an exposed promontory--the gust of water that nearly blew him tail over tip didn't even wobble the tiny shellfish.

"You're right!" he said in amazement. "What is this? Some kind of trick?"

"No trick, shark-friend!" came a new voice that was barely distinguishable from the squealing scrape of a dolphin's battle-cry. Ecco and Karkol whirled and saw five dolphins surrounding them in a semi-circle of hostile bodies. They were a little smaller than Ecco himself, very slender, and white with an odd pattern of dusky gray and black... with stars on their sides, they could have come straight out of the pictures of Tidesinger in the Undercaves.

The lone-swimmers!

It was right about then that Ecco realized the second problem. The dolphins' savage, angry eyes were fixed on he and Karkol, and they did not look as if they wanted to talk.

These dolphins did not like uninvited visitors.