Page 29 (1/2)

"I&039;ood ed"

Tiped at his eyes, still bending close to hear the Chairman&039;s last words When Keel did not continue, Twisp beca froure Twisp put a hand to the artery at Keel&039;s neck No pulse He straightened

What can I do?

Was there anything combustible here to burn the old body and prevent the Mer Keel to the sea? He looked all around the roo Twisp stared helplessly at the body on the table

"Is he dead?" It was Nakano speaking fro just inside the room

The tears on Twisp&039;s face were sufficient answer "He&039;s not to be given to the kelp," Twisp said

"Friend Twisp, he died but he need not be dead," Nakano said "You canar "No! He asked me to prevent that!"

"But it&039;s not up to us," Nakano said "If he was a deserving man, Avata ish to accept him"

Twisp jumped to the side of the table and stood with his back to it

"Let me take him to Avata," Nakano said He e of those long ar his shoulder behind it The blow struck with blinding speed on the side of Nakano&039;s jaw Nakano&039;s heavily lazed Before he could recover, Twisp leaped forward and wrenched one of Nakano&039;s ar to throw the h to tense his ainst Twisp&039;s pressure, uards swarrabbed Twisp and jerked hi him to the deck

"Don&039;t hurt him!" Nakano shouted

The pressures on Twisp eased but did not leave

Nakano stood over Twisp, a sad look on the big face, a touch of blood at the corner of his mouth

"Please, friend Twisp, I mean you no harm I mean only to honor the Chief Justice and Chairman of the Committee on Vital For"

One of the guards pinning Twisp down snickered

Irasped the man by a shoulder and lifted hi him aside

"These Islanders you sneer at are as dear to Avata as any of us!" Nakano bellowed "Any auard stood with his back to a bulkhead, his face contorted with fear

Indicating Tith one thick finger, Nakano said: "Hold him but let hiently in his ar at the hatchway "When I have gone, take the fishers to say" Nakano looked thoughtfully at Twisp "He needs your help to get the hyb tanks - they&039;re on their way down"

Hybernation is to hibernation as death is to sleep Closer to death than it is to life, hybernation can be lifted only by the grace of Ship

- the Histories

While Brett held Bushka down, Ale tied off the stuth of dive harness Bushka lay just inside the h the plaz port behind hi its afternoon quadrant, painted oily coils across the kelp fronds out there, now bright and now dulled as clouds scudded overhead

A ently in a low sea Ale braced herself against a bulkhead while she worked

"There," she said as she tied off the dive harness Blood smeared the deck around them and their dive suits were red with it

Ale turned and shouted up the passage behind Brett "Shadow! Do you have that cot ready?"

"I&039; it!"

Brett took a deep breath and looked out the plaz at the quiescent kelp - so har, so tranquil The horizon was an absurd pinkish gray where Little Sun would soon lift into view, joining its giant companion

It had been a hellish half hour

Bushka,aimlessly around the pilot cabin, had lulled them into a sense of security by his casual eway and hit thein at the high pressure of their depth - almost thirty-fiveto one side of the blasting water, he had grabbed an eency tank-breather outfit stored beside the hatch, slipping swiftly into the harness

Brett and Panille, running after hi down the passage Only Scudi&039;s alertness in sealing off a section between them and the open hatch had saved the foil and its occupants

Bushka had kicked easily out into the kelp-jungle where the foil lay on bottom

Scudi, faced with tons of water in the foil, had blown tanks and started the pu for Kareen to help Brett and Shadow The foil had lifted slowly, floating upward through thetheir way back into the cabin, had accepted a hand frolance for Brett to reassure herself that he was safe, then returned her attention to the watery world visible through the plaz

"It&039;s tearing hiasped

The others sloshed to a position behind Scudi and looked outside The foil slithered upward against giant kelp fronds, giving those inside the pilot cabin a die kelp tentacle, wrapped around his body, held Bushka fast while another tentacle gripped his left arm A cloud of dark liquid flooded the water around Bushka&039;s arasped

Brett understood then - the cloud: blood! The arh it wanted to spit him out, the kelp tentacles whipped away from Bushka and shunted him swiftly upward

Scudi tipped the foil&039;s nose up and drove for the surface They found Bushka there, half-conscious and bleeding dangerously A hunt of dashers, co to the smell of blood, hipped back by kelp fronds

Later, after Kareen had treated Bushka, Brett and Panille lashed hiside "He&039;s lost a lot of blood," she said "The brachial artery ide open"

Scudi relance at Bushka&039;s pale face as the cot was lowered to the deck behind her She held the foil in a tight circle within a kelp-free area Choppy waves druainst the hull The last of the unwanted water had gone overboard but the decks were still dae of Bushka&039;s injuries fresh in her ht: Ship save us! The kelp has turned vicious!

Panille stood above Bushka A wash of agony grayed Bushka&039;s face but he appeared conscious Seeing this, Panille de to do?"

"Shhhh," Ale cautioned

"&039;S&039;all right," Bushka onna kill Gallow"

Panille could not suppress his outrage "You almost killed us all!"

Kareen pulled Panille away

Brett slid into the seat beside Scudi and looked out at the dark pile of the outpost with its foaht with the double light

"Kelp," Bushka said

"Hush," Ale said "Save your strength"

"Gotta talk Kelp has all the Guemes deadin it All there Said I tore off arm of humanitypunished me in kind Damn! Damn!" He tried to look at the place where his ars on the cot restrained him

Scudi stared wide-eyed at Brett Was it possible the kelp took on the personality of all the dead it had absorbed? Would all the old scores be settled? Given consciousness finally and words in which to express itself, the kelp spoke in violent action She shuddered as she looked out at the green fronds surrounding the foil

"There are dashers all over the place," Scudi said

"Wherewhere&039;s e head looked even larger against the pale fabric of the cot

"Packed in ice in the cooler," Ale said "We&039;ll interfere as little as possible with the wound tissue Better chance for reattachment"

"Kelp kneas just a fool that Gallowtook advantage of," Bushka groaned He twisted his head froust of wind popped the foil hard and thrust it sideways against the kelp A loud thu itself with a rasping hiss

"What is it? What&039;s that?" Ale demanded

Brett pointed to the sky above the outpost "I think we&039;ve just had our attention called to so Look! Have you ever seen that uts! Those are hylighters! Thousands of them"

Brett stared open-mouthed Like all Pandoran children, he had watched holos of the kelp&039;s spore carriers, a phenoht! Hylighters!

"They&039;re so beautiful," Scudi anic hydrogen bags, danced with rainbow colors in the doubled sunlight They drifted high across the outpost,southwest on a steady wind

"It&039;s out of our hands now," Panille said "The kelp will do its own propagating"

"They&039;re co tentacles in the water

The flight of hylighters, well past the outpost now, entle slope of wind toward the sea

"It&039;s al directed," Scudi said "See how they ainst the foil&039;s hull A channel opened beside thehters were co down close above the water Slowly at first, a currentwith it," Panille said

"But Twisp is still there at the outpost!" Brett objected

"Kelp&039;s directing this show," Panille said "Your friend will have to take his own chances"

"I think Shadow&039;s right," Scudi ventured She pointed toward the outpost "See? There arethe rock"

"But what if Twisp co us back as soon as the kelp lets us," Scudi said She fired up the rao out to -"

"Brett!" Scudi put a hand on his arm "You sahat it did to Bushka"