The Dark Between The Stars

ONE HUNDRED AND TWO
SHAREEN FITZKELLUM

Shareen’s brother liked to get muddy, so he volunteered to work with the crews in the plankton skimming operations on Kuivahr. Most distillery laborers wore full-body films and goggles to protect themselves from the splashing muck. Toff liked to strap on a life-preserver bladder belt and wade right into the slurry with his buckets and skimmers, tracking down colorful blooms of plankton. He would return to the distillery, oozing and dripping and smelling like rotted vegetation, and he laughed as the other workers hosed him off.

At least it distracted Shareen’s brother from bothering her and Howard, so they had time alone. As soon as Toff had detected that she liked Howard, he became a curious pest, as only a younger brother could be. He hovered nearby until he saw them snatching a private moment, then he made certain to interrupt their conversation. Howard, already quiet and shy, seemed embarrassed, and Shareen would chase Toff away, overreacting with enough defensiveness that she often felt embarrassed, too.

Howard surprised her with a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about it, Shareen. He’s not so bad. My own brothers used to set up practical jokes and damaged some of my school projects because they were jealous. It’s rough to be the studious, practical one in a rambunctious family.”

“Tell me about it!” She laughed. “Not that I’m really studious.” “Toff is just teasing,” Howard said. “I doubt he’s ever seen you with a boyfriend before.”

Shareen’s heart skipped a beat, but she clumsily deflated the situation with her automatic reply. “Oh, so you’re my boyfriend?” Wrong tone! She felt like kicking herself.

Howard flushed. “Maybe it was just a hypothetical comment.”

“Or maybe not.” Feeling as if gravity had just decreased, she nudged him with her elbow. Maybe she would have to pay more attention to her appearance, as her grandfather had suggested, at least give her hair another look.

Shareen signed out a mudskimmer, marking on the log that the two of them were on a “kelp bed mapping and assessment expedition.” In truth, she wanted to get Howard away from the refinery and out onto the open water for a change. It was going to be a fun day.

With the tide at midlevel, most of the dangerous reefs would be submerged, and the larger ones were clearly marked on the charts so she could avoid them. Howard was content to sit beside her as she piloted the mudskimmer. She wasn’t shy about using the accelerator as they bounded away from the distillery tower, sending up spray behind them. Even Howard started laughing as the wind picked up, and she enjoyed showing off for him.

Shareen swung the skimmer past the outcropping where the ancient Klikiss transportal sat up out of the water. After anchoring the craft against the rocks, they picked their way up the moss-slick black stones to stand before the transportal wall. The alien transportation network had always fascinated her, all those gateways to other planets. Though Roamers traveled widely, and Shareen had seen many places, there was something amazing about the flat trapezoidal wall with its coordinate tiles that offered the prospect of stepping through and instantaneously appearing parsecs away.

Now she and Howard stared at the alien wall, feeling the weight of mystery. She slipped her hand into his, and he pretended not to notice, but returned the grip. Roamers and the Confederation used the transportal walls for mundane transportation needs, but that didn’t stop her from marveling at what could be on the other side if she pushed a random coordinate tile. Not because she was dissatisfied with her life, but because she was curious. “Want to take a trip with me, Howard? Set foot on some other planet? We could go farther than a few kelp beds.”

“If we did that, we would be wise to tell someone where we’re going.” He looked surprised, but she noticed he didn’t let go of her hand. “Are you trying to run away from home?”

She chuckled. “Maybe if they tried to send me back to that academy on Earth! But no, not today. Someday. There’s so much to see.” The transportal looked like a sheet of stone, but the implanted circuits were connected to powerful engines and energy fields that could open a passageway from one planet to another. She shivered, but it was a good thrill.

Howard said, “I thought we were mapping and assessing Kuivahr kelp beds.”

“Yes, I suppose we are. Does that sound exciting to you?”

He responded with a small but intriguing smile. “If I’m doing it with you.”

She laughed. “Well then, on with the excitement!” They made their way back to the mudskimmer.

Because Kuivahr’s kelp rafts drifted, charts could not keep track of their locations, and the cloud cover made it impossible for satellites to follow the migrating islands that moved in the shallow tidal exchange zone.

Pretending to know where she was going, Shareen piloted the skimmer. The clouds parted to let sunlight play golden beams on the steel-gray water, then closed up again. Howard kept his eyes on the water ahead and pointed off to the distance. “That dark spot—it’s a kelp raft. Let’s go see.”

Shareen adjusted course toward the seaweed patch. As they drew closer, she saw olive-green fronds swirling like tongues in the sea around them.

Ildiran swimmer kithmen darted beneath the water, trying to keep up with the mudskimmer; some of them surfaced and splashed ahead. Shareen slowed the engines to give them a chance, then zoomed ahead to race them to the kelp island. The Ildirans enjoyed the game, streaking under the water, and showing off. When Shareen accelerated the skimmer, she and Howard both got drenched with spray.

A group of swimmers appeared on the kelp island, waving their webbed hands in invitation. Their large eyes were bright, their sleek skin glistened with moisture. Shareen glanced at Howard. “Looks like they’re welcoming us. Should we stay for a visit? Be good neighbors?”

“All part of the learning process.” He shaded his eyes. “I think they’re as interested in us as we are in them.”

Swimmers came alongside the mudskimmer and guided the vehicle through a cleared channel in the morass of kelp fronds; one took the guy line and tied it to a thick seaweed trunk. They looked so sleek, so comfortable in the water; even though they were from Ildira, they had entirely adapted to Kuivahr.

“Humans do not often come out to visit us,” said one of the swimmers.

“This is our first time,” Howard said. “We’d like to see how you live.”

The kelp raft had an uneven surface of woven fronds and bladder nodules. It looked wet and squishy, with uncertain footing. Confident in his balance, Howard swung out of the mudskimmer and climbed onto the kelp, arms out at his sides, wobbling and testing each step before he rested his weight.

Not to be outdone, Shareen bounded onto the kelp, and one foot promptly slid between fronds and into the water. She flailed, grabbed on to Howard’s arm, and pulled him down with her. They both fell into the water, clambering over each other, pulling themselves up through the thick weeds. Shareen tried to help him, but he sputtered and flung water from his eyes, and “accidentally” dunked her. The swimmers laughed and steadied both of them, dragging them onto the raft.

One young male swimmer came up and inspected their two dripping forms with something like satisfaction. “I am Tora’m. I met you when we delivered kelp flowers to your big structure. I was intrigued by you then.”

Shareen recognized him by the distinctive speckle pattern on his cheeks. “Oh, I remember you. We were less of a mess then.” She nudged Howard.

“Yes, my friend wasn’t so clumsy,” Howard said.

“Careful, or I’ll pull you into the water again.”

“That would be acceptable, if you’d like to swim with us,” Tora’m said. “We were made for the water. You two… perhaps not. Come, we can relax where it is less wet.”

Tora’m guided Shareen and Howard to a cluster of stretched-fabric awnings on metal poles, which offered shelter against intermittent sun or intermittent rain. The swimmer kith didn’t seem bothered, regardless.

Swimmer families walked across the matted island, stooping to cut fronds and harvest whatever the kelp raft and the oceans had to offer. “Fish, plankton, shells… all we could ask for,” Tora’m said. “Kuivahr has bounty for all of us. This is a good splinter colony. Other Ildirans aren’t so fortunate.” He smiled, showing tiny pointed teeth. “Even our brothers on Ildira itself don’t have such a beautiful ocean.”

Other groups sliced open bladder nodules to drain the liquid from them. Tora’m said the liquor inside was intoxicating, though it tasted foul to Shareen when she sipped it.

“We range far. We watch the seas. We help your distillery when we can, we help ourselves when we wish. Most of all, we help Tamo’l in her sanctuary domes. That is the main reason we came here. This is a perfect refuge for the misbreeds.” He grinned again. “And of course, the Kuivahr ocean is perfect for swimmer kith. A hundred volunteers came at first, and we do not miss the light of the seven suns. We were made for the water.”

Shareen and Howard had a chance to dry off as they moved about the floating island. The swimmers obviously enjoyed living on the organic rafts, which drifted from place to place, currents taking them in slow circles around the tidal areas.

For their guests, the Ildirans sang an eerie thrumming song that was hypnotic and disturbing at the same time. Tora’m insisted the music would sound better under the water, but they performed it on the surface so Shareen and Howard could hear it.

The two stayed for hours, intrigued by the swimmer kith and glad to be with each other. While the swimmers gathered close to listen, Tora’m asked Shareen and Howard about the distillery, then about skymines, then about human culture, which the swimmers found both funny and fascinating. Shareen enjoyed herself so much among the strange folk that she lost track of how late it was. When the gray drizzly skies darkened, she realized that someone might grow worried about them back at the distillery.

“We better go, Howard.” She rose to her feet and immediately lost her balance on the squishy platform, but Howard caught her by the wrist. Although it was unnecessary, he also slipped an arm around her waist to steady her. They made their way back to the mudskimmer, helping each other.

Tora’m dove over the side of the kelp cluster, plunged into the water, and bobbed back to the surface. After the two visitors were aboard, a few swimmers detached the mudskimmer and towed the craft away from the kelp island.

As Shareen started the thrumming engines, Tora’m struck out ahead of them, swimming at top speed. “I’ll guide you back!”

Shareen chuckled. “Our boat goes a lot faster than you can swim.”

Tora’m seemed to take that as a challenge. “Remember, I was made for the water.” He stroked away furiously.

Shareen gunned the engines and set off, cutting across the water. The swimmer surprised them by keeping up the entire way back to the distillery.