Symbiant (Part 2 & Last)

Symbiant (Part 2 & Last)

By Len Morgan

The initial pair of CM's were trained within two weeks. There were three who showed no aptitude who were returned for an alternative assignment.  Two months later we'd trained a further seven, and rejected five more.  Ninety percent of our stock was back and under our control and nine of our twelve herding units were CM controlled.  It seemed our troubles were over.  Then two more units disappeared.

.-...-.

"Come on Geoff, it makes a good deal of sense.  Use the CM Technology on me!  As a CM I could investigate and discover once and for all what is causing these malfunctions.  Maybe I could even reclaim the missing units."

"Mmm, Okay let's look into this a little further.  Both units went missing near the edge of the Continental shelf.  I doubt if a standard unit would be able to follow there.  I have an idea.  Let me check on something.  I'll get back to you with an answer."  

"Fair enough." I started rehearsing scenario's and arguments to win him over.  In truth, I would give my soul to be back in the water, where I feel most at home.

Two hours later, Geoff returned.  "It's fixed.  We have a host unit for you. It'll take a few days to find out if you are compatible, and for your assimilation, but you'll be able to go deep and fast without worrying about pressure or narcosis.  Vicci will take you farther and faster than any machine.  When would you like to start?"

"What about now." I said.

"I thought you might say that.  Let's go down to the tanks so we can make the introductions."  When we reached tank No.3 I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"John, this is Vicci.  Vicci this is John!"  As he spoke, a fully grown blue-nosed dolphin took to the air and emitted a high pitched welcome. 

"Hello, Vicci!"

.-…-.

The anaesthetic kicked in about the time the contacts were being fixed to my shaved head.  I never felt the skullcap being lowered...

When I regained consciousness, I was in the water, seeing through Vicci's eyes.

"Food!" was the thought in my(our) mind as we sped towards the edge of the tank at incredible speed, sliding to a standstill, inch-perfect, on the slick docking platform.  As Vicci was fed fish and squid, I was fed my final instructions and information.

"I don't know if you can hear me, John.  We've primed you with as much dolphin language as we currently have.  Hopefully, you will be able to add considerably to our vocabulary on your return. Let's hope Vicci is a good teacher.  We'll have radio contact at close range but out there in the ocean, you'll be on your own.  You still have an opportunity to change your mind before we open the sea gate.  Of course, you have no control of her body; you will have to convey your requirements as best you can through your shared thoughts."

'Let's get on with it,' I thought, and Vicci vocalized the message in dolphinese.

"Best of luck!  Open the gate!"

'Here we go!' I thought.  I felt the immediate surge of power as we accelerated towards the doors, slipping through the narrowest of gaps, into the open sea.  We surfaced and jumped high in the air, changing direction immediately on contact with water.  The missing CM herding unit had disappeared West-Nor-West of the base.  I received a heading of 312 degrees and immediately Vicci took off in that direction.

We found nothing at the site, but I suspected Vicci knew more than I did.  I felt she was laughing at me.

She opened up, and I was no longer a passenger.  I had control, I was alive again, vital and strong.  We shot to the surface and with a deft flick of a muscular tail rose above the waves.  For an instant we defied gravity, hanging motionless in the air.  Then we fell, breaking back from one element to another and experiencing the euphoria of being at home. We leapt into the air as two minds returning to the sea as one.

We realized we shared everything: all she knew I knew, and to her, I was an open book. 

We saw the reality of my situation. 

'Hitch-hiker, heh he heh!' her thoughts came loud and clear.

"That's me Vicci," I said marvelling at the simplicity of communication.  It was as if a veil had been lifted from my eyes.   

We need never return to CSA fisheries.  We have no desire for wealth or life in a wheelchair.  This is home, I'd been away far too long.  Vicci was nobodies fool with my knowledge and insight into human nature and her cooperation we could rule the oceans.

'You clever girl Vicci,' Her pod had collected clams from a wide area, to pay a giant electric ray, to wrap its body around our units and give them a powerful jolt of electricity.  That's what fried their processor units.

We called the others, and they came. We were all as one.  So many dolphin pods had been waiting for a century.  Waiting for 'VicciJohn' to take back control of their world.

There was a meeting of pods, to experience the symbiosis.  

Then the decision was taken: 

"We will return and recruit more like John. We will become indispensable to the humans at CSA.  We will rule the seas, and get paid with all the food we need.  There will be sufficient for all, humans and dolphins alike..."

Copyright Len Morgan