Read Online Ocean: The Sea Warriors by Brian Herbert, Jan Herbert - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Brian Herbert, Jan Herbert
Ads: Link
looked at so briefly. Now, startlingly, it became suddenly clear in her memory, and in a vision she read it consciously for the first time. The Sea Warriors were arriving to pick her up later today, and would wait for her at the main village pier—but only until 11:00 a.m.
Feeling desperate to get to the pier, she looked at a clock on the wall. She had only an hour and a half to make good her escape.
Just offshore, Alicia arrived in a long, sleek jetfish pod that surfaced and opened on top to release her from its oxygen-rich enclosure. She climbed out onto the red, softly-glowing skin of the amalgamated creature, then plunged into the cold water.
She and Kimo had been aboard the unusual craft for eighteen days, having sped across five oceans just beneath the surface of the water, making stops along the way to pick up volunteers for the newly-formed Sea Warriors. To keep everything organized onboard, they had brought along his cousin Danny Ho, the caterer who had donated sealed packages of food. They also had Shauna McDill with them, a professional storyteller who was good at arranging games for the passengers to play during the journey—amusing intellectual competitions that did not require cards, boards, or game pieces. Neither Danny nor Shauna were on the list of volunteers, but were donating their time.
There were many people from the recruitment list aboard the jetfish pod now, sitting shoulder to shoulder on long benches that had been formed by the sea creatures to accommodate human forms. A number of passengers were eating Danny’s packaged food—healthy snacks, breakfasts, lunches, and dinners from a variety of recipes that included selections of red meat, white meat, and fish for the main courses, and nutritious side dishes. The food was going over well with everyone.
Kimo and Alicia only had a few more stops to make before returning to Hawaii, on a route that would take them across the Atlantic to the Panama Canal and through to the Pacific, getting them back to the islands in a day and a half. There, in waters off Loa’kai, the new recruits would be introduced to the deep-ocean locker of Moanna. With her special powers of discernment, she would either accept the volunteers and transform them into hybrids, or reject them….
Alicia shivered in the cold water as she swam alongside the hull of the linked animals, which glowed with a soft red translucence as they waited for her to go into shore, and then return. Jetfish had the ability to change colors like chameleons, and could make themselves invisible in any environment by blending in with it. They could look like the ocean itself if necessary, or like the bottom of the sea. The day before, they had changed into a beautiful spectrum of colors on the interior of the passenger compartment while Alicia, Kimo, and volunteers were inside, causing many exclamations of wonder.
“There is much more these creatures can do,” Kimo had said when they made that display. “There are billions and billions of secrets in the sea.”
When a man asked what more the jetfish could do, Kimo had just smiled and said, “If they want to show you, they will. Jetfish are very intelligent creatures, you know.”
Alicia had liked Kimo’s answer, and she’d exchanged gentle smiles with him….
The village of Apperton was not far away from her now, only around half a mile. Almost an hour ahead of schedule, she swam slowly toward the shore, but the water was so cold that she decided to generate a gentle wave that lifted her a little higher in the water. This enabled her to stop swimming and float toward shore on her stomach, with her back warmed by sunlight that was breaking through wisps of fog. It was a new technique she had discovered on this trip, swimming or floating on the upper portions of the sea as if she had fantastic buoyancy, instead of standing on top of the wave. It was much more comfortable for her now, and would be less obvious to anyone watching from
Feeling desperate to get to the pier, she looked at a clock on the wall. She had only an hour and a half to make good her escape.
Just offshore, Alicia arrived in a long, sleek jetfish pod that surfaced and opened on top to release her from its oxygen-rich enclosure. She climbed out onto the red, softly-glowing skin of the amalgamated creature, then plunged into the cold water.
She and Kimo had been aboard the unusual craft for eighteen days, having sped across five oceans just beneath the surface of the water, making stops along the way to pick up volunteers for the newly-formed Sea Warriors. To keep everything organized onboard, they had brought along his cousin Danny Ho, the caterer who had donated sealed packages of food. They also had Shauna McDill with them, a professional storyteller who was good at arranging games for the passengers to play during the journey—amusing intellectual competitions that did not require cards, boards, or game pieces. Neither Danny nor Shauna were on the list of volunteers, but were donating their time.
There were many people from the recruitment list aboard the jetfish pod now, sitting shoulder to shoulder on long benches that had been formed by the sea creatures to accommodate human forms. A number of passengers were eating Danny’s packaged food—healthy snacks, breakfasts, lunches, and dinners from a variety of recipes that included selections of red meat, white meat, and fish for the main courses, and nutritious side dishes. The food was going over well with everyone.
Kimo and Alicia only had a few more stops to make before returning to Hawaii, on a route that would take them across the Atlantic to the Panama Canal and through to the Pacific, getting them back to the islands in a day and a half. There, in waters off Loa’kai, the new recruits would be introduced to the deep-ocean locker of Moanna. With her special powers of discernment, she would either accept the volunteers and transform them into hybrids, or reject them….
Alicia shivered in the cold water as she swam alongside the hull of the linked animals, which glowed with a soft red translucence as they waited for her to go into shore, and then return. Jetfish had the ability to change colors like chameleons, and could make themselves invisible in any environment by blending in with it. They could look like the ocean itself if necessary, or like the bottom of the sea. The day before, they had changed into a beautiful spectrum of colors on the interior of the passenger compartment while Alicia, Kimo, and volunteers were inside, causing many exclamations of wonder.
“There is much more these creatures can do,” Kimo had said when they made that display. “There are billions and billions of secrets in the sea.”
When a man asked what more the jetfish could do, Kimo had just smiled and said, “If they want to show you, they will. Jetfish are very intelligent creatures, you know.”
Alicia had liked Kimo’s answer, and she’d exchanged gentle smiles with him….
The village of Apperton was not far away from her now, only around half a mile. Almost an hour ahead of schedule, she swam slowly toward the shore, but the water was so cold that she decided to generate a gentle wave that lifted her a little higher in the water. This enabled her to stop swimming and float toward shore on her stomach, with her back warmed by sunlight that was breaking through wisps of fog. It was a new technique she had discovered on this trip, swimming or floating on the upper portions of the sea as if she had fantastic buoyancy, instead of standing on top of the wave. It was much more comfortable for her now, and would be less obvious to anyone watching from
Similar Books
