Changelings

CHAPTER 11

For the first few months, the twins were able to talk to their I parents often. At first it was every day, and then one of the expensive relays went down and the com systems had to be rerouted, so it was only possible to talk face-to-face every week. Then Petaybee began emitting electromagnetic interference so that half the time neither one could make out what the other was saying, or see the other either.

"How come it's more that way now than when we left?" Murel asked.

"Lots of reasons," Marmie replied. "Sunspots, the increased activity from the midsea volcanic region your father mentioned. You remember him saying that on his last recon swim he felt the heat in the water and smelled the sulfur much earlier than he had on previous trips?"

"Yeah," Ronan said, "He said it was just a matter of a couple of years now before it surfaces. I hope we can go home by then. I want to see! Besides, if we can't talk to them…"

The face-to-face calls finally became impossible, and the messages had to be routed through a number of different stations. It was hard to say anything important, much less be silly or share a joke, with so many people between you. Petaybee, Kilcoole, the people of their village, and their family began to feel very far away. Fortunately, school was interesting and they liked the other kids and most of their teachers; and of course they had each other, so they could forget to be homesick for long periods of time.

One day toward the end of the first term, Marmie asked them, "What flavor cake do you two like best?"

"Chocolate," "Raspberry," they answered at the same time.

"Chocolate raspberry it shall be then. Your parents cannot come for your birthday, but they've sent gifts and I've invited all of your classmates here for a party. I thought, if it was all right with you, we could make it a theme party and set it up as if it were a latchkay on Petaybee.

How would that be?"

Ronan looked at Murel and Murel looked at Ronan.

Marmie said, "You do not care for the idea? Would it make you too homesick?"

"Oh, it's a good idea, Marmie," Murel said. "It's just-we don't think the other kids are really ready for Petaybee yet. I don't think some of them liked our holo."

Marmie gave an elegant lift and fall of her shoulders, with her hands outstretched, palms up.

What Mum called a "Gallic shrug." It said, basically, What is a sensible person supposed to do when other people are being so silly?

"Your holo was very nice," she said finally. "Those who did not care for it were foolish. But a holo and Petaybee are different, yes?"

"Still…," Murel said, and let her voice drift off as she looked at Marmie, hoping she'd understand the rest without her actually trying to say it.

"We'd like to keep the Petaybee part of our birthdays private, I guess," Ronan said finally.

"I'm sorry. It's really nice of you to want to give us a party, Marmie, but we don't have to have one. We could have the cake anyway, couldn't we?" He looked at his sister. "And presents?"

Marmie laughed, and it sounded like bells jingling on sled dogs' harnesses. "Yes, yes, we must have cake and presents and a party too. But the Petaybee part, that will be our own little celebration, after the others have left. I know! Everyone must come as a creature from their planet that either swims or flies."

"Wouldn't we be a little too realistic as seals?" Murel asked, wincing. She hated to keep shooting down Marmie's ideas, but felt their friend got carried away with enthusiasm before thinking about how wrong things could go. Lately, it seemed to the twins that they'd had a lot of experience with how wrong things could go.

"Ah, but you will not be seals!" Marmie said.

"We will be if we go swimming," Ronan said grimly.

"Only if you swim in the water. I am thinking you will not be swimming in the water, you will be swimming in the air."

"Yes, but we can't do that," Murel said.

"You can in zero g," Marmie told her. While they were thinking that over, she asked, "So, what will you be? Eagles? Fishes? Whales?"

"Otters," they said at the same time. "We'll be otters."

Even after the humans rescued his family, Otter stayed in the small den in the riverbank, waiting for his friends the river seals to return. But winter ended and the ice melted and still they were gone and did not come home. Finally, Otter went to the dwelling he had seen them enter and sent his thoughts on the matter to the Father River Seal.

Father River Seal, where are your children? Shouldn't they be hack by now? Otters have many more games to flay with them and things to show them. Marvelous things they will enjoy very much. Otters know lots of good secrets. Where are your river seal children?

What the…? Father River Seal's thought was fragmented and startled.

It's me, Otter, Father River Seal. Do not be afraid, Otter told him.

Laughter came into the Father River Seal's thoughts. I was not afraid, Otter. Merely thinking of something else.

Not thinking of your children? Although they are not here?

Always thinking of my children, Otter. Their mother and I both miss them very much, but we sent them somewhere they would be safe from the kind of people who took the other otters.

Those people are gone. The good people took them away. Why have your children not returned? No danger now!

A smile came into Father River Seal's thoughts. No danger for otters. But for my children, yes, there is still danger and their mother and I have been working hard to see to it that the danger such offworld scientific groups present will never threaten our children again.

That is good, the otter said, for he could think of nothing else to say. His friends the river seal children were safe, but they were not in the river and so could not play with otters. I will return to my family now but later I will come back here.

I'll tell Ronan and Murel you were asking for them, Otter, Father River Seal said, and went back to thinking his deep, unsealy thoughts and doing the unsealy things he did when in human form.

Otter was surprised, when he returned home again where the ice maze was in the winter, that none of his family were at play on the banks or in the river. Where have all the otters who are not me gone? he asked. He was asking himself but unexpectedly received an answer from the otters who were not there when he found a scent message.

Scent messages between river otters were quite complex, and in a way that would have astounded humans or river seals. River otters could write entire tomes with one spritz from the proper area or a rub from another. And there were dialects of scents understood only by otters of the same colony, as well as nuances of meaning, idiomatic expressions or slang of particular families, that only otters in the same colony could fully grasp, or smell.

It was fortunate that otters had excellent memories for scent too, because great otter romantic literature had been composed in scent messages, as well as geography texts and adventure stories.

The message that Otter found that day was somewhat simpler. It said, "Kinsman Otter who Plays with River Seals, we do not care for this place any longer. Too many wolves and too many men with otter cages. We are moving closer to the sea to seek solidarity with our cousins the sea otters. See you by the sea!" Otters could pun in scent messages too. The language of otters was full of puns. Not the same ones humans used, but otter puns, which were very funny because otters enjoyed laughing. Like humans, however, otters had similar sounds for the big water sea and what otters did with their eyes see.

It was a long swim to the sea, especially all alone. The message was three days old, which meant the family was probably already at the shore. But it meant swimming with the current, and the weather was pleasant, as most weather was for otters, and so in a single day Otter caught up with part of his family, which had stopped at a particularly tempting mud slide. It was very long, slick, and muddy, and gave them a little "Whoop!" before they went splashing into the river, cleaned off the mud, and climbed back up the hill to slide again.

They had been playing for some time and were ready to join the rest of the family, so Otter had time for only a few slides-certainly not hundreds-before he resumed swimming again.

At last, after much swimming, with a few games along the way, they were reunited with the rest of the family on the banks of the river at the mouth where it spilled into the sea.

Where are our cousins the sea otters? Otter asked his mother.

You see that island over there? she replied, indicating a large landmass squatting amid the waves rolling onto the shore beyond their river camp. They live there. It is full of sea otter dens, and you can see them lying on the rocks eating clams. Some have been coming over to show us where the best places to build dens might be here. We do not swim in that salty stuff they call water, but they say that in the winter, when the ice is in, we could walk to their island, though of course we would not do so unless asked. Like us, sea otters protect their homes with great ferocity.

She bared her teeth in a suitably ferocious way, and Otter back-paddled away from her a little.

He knew his mother's teeth and claws very well from times when she had been greatly ferocious about how her offspring should behave.

The river otters moved into their comfortable new dens in the wide river mouth. There were low hills nearby that made passable mud slides, once the otters removed the rocks at the bottom, which they did with great efficiency. These were useful in breaking open the delicious shellfish they found on the shore, which was technically their cousins' territory, though the cousins did not use it much, preferring their island.

Otter loved the new delicacy and hunted on the shore as often as he could, keeping a careful eye on the island, lest ferocious cousins come and attack him for his boldness. Then one day he noticed that there were no longer any sea otters to be seen on the island. Not one. Not anywhere.

"Hah!" he said. Where have they gone? He alerted his family, and they all came to the beach to see for themselves. They could see he was right. No sea otters on the island's narrow beach, no sea otters in the water, no sea otters on the shore, no sea otters higher up on the island. No sea otters anywhere.

Later in the day, all of the sea otters returned. To Otter's surprise, three of the cousins swam straight to the shore. Otter was afraid at first, thinking that he'd been caught stealing their shellfish.

"Hah!" he said, greeting them. Cousins, where did you all go? You disappeared. Otters who live in the river saw no otters who live in the sea all day. Otter hid the shell of the fish he had just eaten behind him while pushing forward three rocks. Otters came to the shore to bring you gifts but we did not see you on your island.

Here are the gifts. Rocks for shell cracking.

Sea otters cannot possibly have too many rocks! his cousins said, accepting the rocks as if they were better than shellfish. Rocks are for preparing food and also for leaving messages.

Like scent messages? Otter asked.

Scent messages are for river otters. Rock talk is for sea otters. You live in the riverbanks and the water. We live almost always in the water, and scent would wash away. Rocks are better.

To himself, Otter thought that rocks could wash away too and that otters who lived always in the water had to come out of it to pile rocks and leave messages and to find piles of rocks and read the messages. J would like to see a rock talk message, he said.

The sea otters had a lot of fun stacking the rocks first one way and then another, adding one kind of rock and then another, going from just a few rocks to-well-probably hundreds!

Each time, they made him guess what the message said and translate it into scent for them.

Each time, they agreed among themselves that, yes, rocks were definitely better. Otter did not disagree with them. They were the bosses of otters here, and besides, they had rocks.

Instead Otter tried to learn what he could about their rock messages. They were so pleased that they agreed he surely must have some sea otter ancestors.

Shall we tell this smart river otter our secrets? one cousin asked another.

Yes, he is our cousin and gives good gifts. Besides, we were going to * tell all our cousins the big secret.

Before Otter knew it, his family surrounded him, all of them waiting to hear the big secret of the sea otters.

The planet is making a new home for us, said the sea otters. It's a bit hot, but it will be a wonderful home when it is done.

How will we know when it is done? Otter asked.

It will come up out of the water and cool off and not smoke or make fire anymore, said a cousin. At least, that is what Senior Sea Otter says, and Senior Sea Otter has lived a long long time and spoken to many creatures who have lived much longer. A few of the oldest have seen this thing happen in other places, long ago. Others have heard of it happening from their grandparents and their grandparents' grandparents. And now it is happening again and sea otters can watch!

So you go to watch it being made?

And to eat! Everything in the sea is attracted to the new home and many delicious fish already live near it, sheltering in it.

Suddenly, right under his paws, Otter felt the ground tremble. It did that sometimes but it always startled him. "Hah!" he said nervously.

Do not be alarmed, cousin. That is what the planet does when it is making the home.

That is an extremely fine secret, Otter said, impressed. Is there another secret?

We have found a new branch of the family.

New branch?

Yes, before there were always you river otters and us sea otters. Now there are other otters.

What otters are these? How different are they?

They are deep sea otters. They can live under the water and have a home there. It is too deep for us to dive but they say it is the kind of home deep sea otters like. They sang us wonderful songs of deep sea otters and wanted us to sing them sea otter songs too. We sang of you, little cousin, the River Otter who Plays with River Seals. It is not a sea otter song but it is a very good song. It was the best song we know and we know many good sea otter songs. You will not bite us for singing your song?

Hah! Bite you! You are our cousins and now our neighbors. You share these very fine secrets.

You may sing my song to other otters whenever you like.

Good. But we will all sing it together soon. The deep sea otters say that one day when we come again to see the new home the planet is making, they will swim back with us. They wish to hear your song from you.

All Otter could think of to say to that was, "Hah!"