The Dolphin Ambassador

CHAPTER 1-2

His head was still throbbing in agony, but he forced himself to regain his senses enough to function. He took another breath, and then rolled away from the support of the others. He immediately checked his flukes and pectoral fins and found everything slow but operational.

After another breath, he turned back to his supporters. There were three, and he recognized none of them. They had worked a rotation of two supporting and one breathing.

“Thank you,” said Pheyus, but then realized his words were completely buried.

The screams jolted Pheyus back to reality. The boat and other monster had become silent, but the entire company was screeching with terror. The three who had helped him bolted off without a word the moment they realized Pheyus was okay.

It was the nets. Despite the denial, he had known all along. The company had been herded into a trap, just as it had several times in the past. And every time, Pheyus convinced himself it could never happen again.

Where was Afalla? Pheyus quickly whistled her name, then whistled his own. The effort required for whistling crashed even more pain through his head, but he tried again, anyway. He then realized Afalla would never hear him through all the other cries. He wondered if she could hear at all, or whether she might be trapped in the haze where he had been lost. She had been swimming directly beside him when the bomb had gone off.

As far as he could tell, he must have been unconscious for quite some time. The company appeared to be completely aware of the situation and taking the normal steps of keeping everyone as safe as possible. Pheyus silently blew bubbles in disgust. How could anything be considered normal when trapped in these death nets?

The pain was now inconsequential. His help was needed regardless of how bad it hurt. He immediately began to cross the Border as high as he could in order to survey the situation from above.

On his first jump he saw the boat. He fell back into the water and snapped his jaw in anger, instantly regretting it. The shock of pain ripped through his head with cold blue intensity. He took a breath and tried to relax for a moment, then leaped again.

This time he got a good perspective of the nets, and where their closest boundaries were. They formed a huge circle around the entire company. He began swimming for them directly, turning and ducking to avoid the other Stenella, who mostly were swimming in small, terror-ridden circles. Their screams had lessened somewhat into a loud chorus of nervous cries and frightened name whistles. Pheyus began to whistle his own name to let everyone know where he was. As a Stenella of ambassador rank, he would be sought out in such a time of disaster. He might also be heard by Afalla.

His heart sank the moment he was close enough to see the nets. Tangled hopelessly by the flukes deep below the surface was a young adult female, whose newborn infant was crying hysterically and poking at her with his rostrum. The mother had been without air for far too long, and stared through unseeing eyes at the baby she would never again nurse.

Pheyus screamed and turned away. There were others close by who would try to assist the infant, but Pheyus knew from experience it would never leave the nets alive. He moved several fins away from the net, and raced along its perimeter, searching desperately for Afalla.

Screams continued to echo from every direction. Most were simply distress, but others were obvious cries of pain. Pheyus whistled his name again, and then mimicked Afalla’s name. Both were lost amidst the terrified clatter of the company.

They had all been here before. The deadly nets had been set on them so many times in the past, they all knew what they were supposed to do. The problem was, the stress and devastating noise was so disastrous, all of their experiences and plans became useless.

Most of the company had formed back into their smaller groups. Everyone was keeping close together, which was no surprise under the circumstances. Pheyus saw the group of seven young adult males who he normally swam with, and all seemed to be okay. They were cruising the edge of the nets, trying to keep everyone else away. Pheyus whistled his name in their direction.

“Pheyus!” whistled Shalan, the first to notice him. “Where’ve you been?”

The others turned in one motion and headed toward him in such a tight formation, their pectoral fins touched. They were genuinely relieved to see Pheyus.

“Have you seen Afalla?” Pheyus asked them. They all rubbed against him when they approached.

“No, Pheyus,” said Shalan. “But stay with us. We’re going to patrol the nets until everyone’s out.”

The eight of them crammed tightly together and began cruising the interior of the nets. They repeatedly sent echo shocks in the direction of the nets, but nothing returned. If it wasn’t for the floats on the surface marking its boundary, they would have no way of detecting them at all.

They spotted another drowned Stenella. He was an older adult, and heavily tangled. The eight of them all released squeals of sorrow, for the trapped Stenella was only two fins below the Border. Pheyus closed his eyes sadly and moved on. There was nothing he could do.

Almost the entire company was now packed together in the center of the netted off area. Numerous jittery squeaks had replaced most, but not all of their screams. Wails of sorrow for missing or perished loved ones continued to race through the water. There were no other living Stenella near the nets, so Pheyus and his group swam toward the others.

Although still nervous and upset, Pheyus was slightly relieved. He had recognized none of the dead Stenella. Afalla and all of his other friends were either crammed together in the huge mass, or swimming freely outside the nets. He suddenly felt guilty at his relief. All lives within the company were sacred.

In addition to the company, the yellowfin had also packed together in the center of the nets. They remained several fins below the company, and hardly moved. Pheyus felt very sorry for them, because while most of the company would probably survive, none of the yellowfin had a chance. As always, they were the targets of the entire mess.

The company was suddenly tense again. A group of large tiger sharks had arrived outside the nets, and were slowly circling its boundary. They had become common visitors to the nets, because although they were usually too slow for the speedy Stenella, the tremendous stress of the nets made the prisoners far easier targets after their release.

“Great,” said Pheyus. “One more hassle to deal with.”

“We’ll break out first and get them to chase us,” said Shalan.

“We will, but Pheyus will stay behind,” said Wollan, who was swimming closest to Pheyus in the group. Part of his dorsal fin was missing from a similar chase.

Pheyus began to object but stopped before uttering a sound. He was still badly weakened from the shock of the explosion, and the others knew it. His aura told them just how poorly he would fare in a chase. This time when they tried to draw off the enemy, Pheyus would be one of the Stenella they were trying to protect.

“It’s okay, Pheyus,” said Shalan gently. “We know you’d run with us if you could. And anyway, you’ll be needed in the back to make sure everyone gets out.”

Pheyus reluctantly agreed. He was always first in line to initiate a chase with sharks and other predators. How he had managed to survive fifteen passing of the seasons without a shark scar amazed everyone. This time, however, he would be running interference for mothers with infants.

The small boat started up again, blaring over the voices of the company. It circled around the exterior of the nets, then stopped close to the main boat. Its engine stopped, and men began working on the portion of the nets closest to the Border.

Several members of the company immediately began swimming in that direction. It was a well-known area of escape, once the men moved the floating portion of the nets. Pheyus saw his group of friends speed toward the small boat, demanding to be the first ones out. He also noticed the pack of tiger sharks heading the same direction from the other side of the nets. Pheyus silently asked Lady Stenella to bless and add speed to the flukes of his friends, and wished he was going along with them.

Pheyus heard a mimic of his name whistle, and recognized Afalla as the sender. Immediately relieved, he turned and saw her approaching from his right. She swam directly above him then reached down to rub his head with her rostrum. Her touch was very smooth and gentle, as she obviously sensed the pain from his injuries radiating from his aura.

“Afalla, you’re okay!” said Pheyus.

“Yes, dear Pheyus,” said Afalla. “But your head hurts so much. And we’ve lost so many others!”

“I know, I know,” Pheyus said sadly. “But we’ll be out soon. My group is already preparing to lead the sharks away from the mothers with infants.”

“And I’ll be right beside you to make sure you’re safe,” said Afalla.

“Thank you,” said Pheyus, slightly embarrassed. He had never before needed anyone’s help outrunning sharks before. “Why weren’t you hurt like I was? You were right next to me when the explosion went off.”

“I was beside you and behind you,” she said. “Your body blocked most of the dangerous waves. I was stunned, yes, but not so bad.”

The company began to move as a small portion of the nets began to open. Pheyus saw his friends race through first. The sharks were after them immediately, with no intelligence to realize they were being duped. They needed only to hang out near the exit for a short time longer before the much slower population would be swimming through. Instead, they would wear themselves out on a long, drawn-out chase, with only empty bellies as a reward.

As the main numbers of the company passed through the escape area, Pheyus and Afalla turned the other direction to make one more sweep through the trap in search of wayward survivors. They dropped down low near the yellowfin, then sped back to the Border for air. Through echo shocks, they found the floating boundary of the nets, then began to follow their direction from a safe distance away.

Death was everywhere. The corpses hung eerily in mid-water, suspended from movement by the invisible nets. The victims had never seen the enemy who destroyed them. The nets were often imperceptible to both vision and echolocation until it was too late.

They counted eighteen Stenella tangled to death. The infant Pheyus had seen earlier who was swimming around her dead mother had also become hopelessly entwined. The two of them were now off swimming together with Lady Stenella in permanently peaceful seas.

Pheyus rubbed his side against Afalla, who rested her head against his. Nothing was more devastating than the loss of an infant. Pheyus gladly would have traded places with the mother and newborn, but instead decided to use their deaths as a motivation to find a solution. He secretly took a vow to make the death nets his unending obsession.

For now, nothing else could be done. There were no other Stenella swimming around near the nets, so Pheyus and Afalla joined the last of the company preparing to escape into open ocean. The two of them would be the last ones out.

Pheyus could see the others through the nets. All of them were porpoising away from the boat as quickly as they could. Some were moving slowly and awkwardly. Pheyus knew he was lucky to have recovered from the blast as quickly as he did, or he might well be swimming as badly as they were.

They were close to the escape. Pheyus took one last look down at the yellowfin, who had no idea of what ultimately was going on. Pheyus would never see any of them again, adding even more grief to his already overwhelming sense of loss. Although not very bright, the yellowfin were very friendly and added a warm aura to the waters around the company. Pheyus silently wished them a speedy flight to their Master, then swam for the escape.

Nearly all of them were out. Only a small group of older females remained in front of Pheyus and Afalla. They began squawking nervously, as the aura of shark began to return. Pheyus and Afalla nudged their flukes to push them ahead. There was no choice but to proceed.

An incredible grinding roar pierced through the water, violently jerking the nets near the boat. Pheyus slammed forward, forcing the older females through the escape, as the nets began to rise all around them. His momentum carried him through to freedom, and he quickly began to swim with the others to the open ocean.

“Pheyus!” screamed Afalla from behind him.

Pheyus immediately whipped around. He thought Afalla was right beside him, but she was back at the nets. He swam back toward her as quickly as he could, leaving the last of the company to swim on. She was caught. Just as Pheyus had pushed free, the nets yanked up and somehow snagged Afalla by the flukes. She was trapped about two fins below the Border.

“Pheyus, I’m stuck!” she screeched, close to panic. “I can’t breathe!” Pheyus could barely hear her over the loud grinding, but he knew exactly what to do. Just as the three young males had done with him while he was unconscious, Pheyus dropped below Afalla and pushed hard for the Border. She broke the surface and took two quick breaths.

“Pheyus, help me,” said Afalla. “I can’t move.”

Pheyus did not answer. He was poking his rostrum around her flukes, trying to figure out the problem. He searched desperately up and down, using echo shocked repeatedly, but could barely see the lines.

The grinding noise suddenly increased, jerking Afalla’s flukes higher in the water. She screamed hard and snapped her jaws.

“I need air,” she squealed.

Pheyus dropped beneath her and repeated the motion of lifting her up. She was actually closer to the Border now, so it was slightly easier. She took three breaths, and Pheyus could feel her body relax.

“Pheyus, you have to go,” said Afalla in a much calmer voice.

“Relax, love,” he said. “We’ll get you out.”

He took a breath then dropped back to her flukes, trying to keep from getting tangled himself. The lines had cut through her skin, creating a small smear of blood. Pheyus began to get more desperate and hoped all the sharks had left the area.

The blood actually helped outline the net for him. He began to snap at it, hoping to rip it away. Afalla screamed immediately, and Pheyus stopped.

“Be strong, my love,” he said. “I know it hurts, but it’s the only chance we’ve got. Be strong for me.”

“No Pheyus,” she said. “You have to leave while you can.”

He ignored her and began snapping at the net. He could feel it twisting in between his teeth, which cut deep into his gums. It was clear he wouldn’t be able to tear it off of her, so he pulled back to re-examine the situation.

The net hadn’t torn, but it had moved. Not much, but he hadn’t been trying. He decided to try a new tactic.

“I need air,” she said.

Pheyus propped her up, then took a breath for himself. He began to move toward her flukes again. A hard jolting grind crashed through the water, moving the nets toward the boat. Afalla’s scream pierced above the noise, as her flukes lifted completely out of the water.

“Pheyus, Pheyus, it hurts!” she screeched. “Oh, Lady Stenella, it hurts!”

“Afalla!”

Pheyus didn’t know what to do. He leaped out of the water for a better view, but knew it was useless. He no longer had any chance of getting her out.

“Pheyus, you have to leave, now,” said Afalla. Her voice was now calm, despite the agony radiating from her aura.

“Afalla, I can’t leave you,” said Pheyus. He pressed his face against hers for support. It was the only thing left he could do. “Try, love. Shake yourself free. You can’t give up.”

“Make a difference, Pheyus,” she said. “If anyone can, it’s you. Make it stop. I know you can.”

“Afalla, I can’t do anything without you,” said Pheyus.

“Oh, Pheyus, it hurts,” she said. “Don’t let it happen to anyone else. You can do it. Lady Stenella knows, Pheyus. Do it for both of us.”

“Afalla!”

“She’s here, now. Oh, Pheyus, she’s beautiful! Dear Lady, help him find an answer.”

“Oh, Afalla,” said Pheyus, as he saw her eyes start to flutter.

With a loud blast of noise, the nets suddenly began to jerk violently, and lift out of the water.

“Phey-us!” she screamed, and was gone.