Part 6 (1/2)

I can guess what you're thinking. I made working on Grallion sound as if it were actually fun. Well, fun isn't exactly the word. It was work and some of it was hard, but I didn't mind it. I felt like I was an important part in keeping the wheels turning.

No, working the farm wasn't exactly fun, but there were plenty of other things to do that weredefinitelyfun.

Spader took me on adventures. You know how much I like to dive, and on Grallion, hanging outbelowthe water was a pretty normal thing. I already described how easy it was to swim underwater using the air globes. These gizmos made swimming underwater almost as natural as walking on the deck of Grallion. Actually, it was better. This is the closest to flying that I think a human will ever come. Spader and I would have races underneath Grallion. I really got the knack of using the water sleds. I found that by subtly s.h.i.+fting my body position, I could turn faster and move quicker. It was all about becoming aqua-dynamic. It didn't take long before I was almost as fast as Spader.

Spader took me fis.h.i.+ng, too. I'm not much of a hunter, so he did most of the spearing. I acted more like a scout who found the larger fish and alerted Spader. I guess that makes me kind of like a hunting dog. Oh, well, that was my choice. But I have to tell you, I didn't mind eating the fish afterward. (Spader was a pretty decent cook, too.) At first I was nervous about quigs, but Spader a.s.sured me that the sharks never came near Grallion. I knew that was because quigs only patrolled near gates and flumes, but I wasn't about to tell Spader that - yet.

Spader also showed me something that was really bizarre. Near where Grallion was anch.o.r.ed was another farm. An underwater farm! The people of Grallion didn't just farm on the habitat, they had crops growing on the ocean floor, too! This submerged farm had its own vators who tended the place wearing air globes. They grew everything from fruit, to long leafy vines that were cut at the base and brought up whole. Spader explained to me that these underwater farms were even more important to Cloral than farms like Grallion. He said there were farms all over the planet on the ocean's floor that had fed the Clorans for centuries. Growing food on habitats was a relatively new practice. The most important farms were underwater.

There was another underwater sport that Spader introduced me to, and once I got the guts to try it, I was hooked. Spader called it spinney-do and this is how it worked: A spinney was a kind of fish that traveled in small schools of maybe four or five and they looked like really skinny dolphins. I'm serious. Imagine a regular old dolphin, then imagine it being only about six inches in diameter and you'd have a spinney. At the backs of their heads they had these bizarro ridges. I had no idea what the spinneys needed them for, but they were crucial to playing spinney-do.

Spader motioned for me to be quiet and to watch. He then left me and swam cautiously up behind the spinneys, who were busily feeding on some kelp. They had no clue that he was there. They may have looked like skinny dolphins, but they were nowhere near as smart. Spader was able to sneak up right behind them. With one quick move, he jumped on the back of one and grabbed the ridge behind its head! Well, the spinney didn't like that at all and it started to bloat! It was like one of those puffer fishes that get all fat when you touch them. Only the spinney was so big, when it puffed up it gothugeIt was strong, too! It had suddenly transformed from this sleepy, dopey fish into a water-going bucking bronco! Spader held on to the back ridge with both hands and wrapped his legs around its body as the fish started thras.h.i.+ng and bucking.

”Eeeyahhhaaa!” shouted Spader. You'd think he knew about Westerns and bronco busting, but I guess shouting like that comes naturally when your adrenaline spikes and you're holding on to an animal for all you're worth. Spader then got c.o.c.ky and let one hand go, just to show off. The spinney twisted and spun and did its best to launch Spader, but Spader wasn't letting go. Finally, the big fish shot upward. Spader wasn't ready for that move because he did a somersault right off the fish's back. The real beauty of spinney-do was that even when you got thrown, you were still underwater so it wasn't like you were going to hit the ground and break a rib or anything.

”Next one's yours, mate!” exclaimed Spader, still flush with excitement.

I wasn't so sure I wanted to try, but it looked like fun. Two spinneys were poking around the kelp and Spader motioned for me to give it a go. To be honest, I was scared. But I wasn't going to let Spader see me chicken out, so I did my best.

My best was bad. I actually got as far as grabbing the spinney's back ridge and wrapping my legs around its body. But I hadn't expected it to be so strong. The thing bloated, bolted, and was gone. I just floated there, my hand still out, not sure of what happened. Spader swam up to me and patted me on the back.

”Gotta be faster than that, mate,” he said, laughing. ”You're on their turf down here.”

Good advice. I'd remember it next time.

While Spader and I were having these adventures under the sea, Uncle Press was spending his off time learning more about Grallion and about Cloral. After all, we were here on a mission and the more we learned about this territory, the better prepared we'd be when Saint Dane made his move. I felt kind of guilty about having so much fun while Uncle Press was playing Sherlock. But he a.s.sured me that it was just as important for me to get to know Spader - he was the Traveler from Cloral, even though he didn't know it yet. At some point we were going to have to work together, so Uncle Press figured it would be a good idea for the two of us to bond.

That was okay by me. Spader and I were having a blast. The thought of battling Saint Dane was the furthest thing from my mind, most of the time. So after having spent a bunch of weeks on Grallion with Spader, I decided that my first impression of him still stood. He was a guy with a big personality and an even bigger sense of fun. He was a truly good guy who listened as much as he spoke. He also cared. He was quick to help out a friend, or even a stranger. He wasn't a slacker, either. He may have liked to have a good time, but he worked hard and he loved his job. This was a good guy to know. I'll remember those first few weeks on Grallion for the rest of my life. It was a great time.

But it was soon going to end.

One evening Spader made me dinner at his house. Uncle Press chose to hang at Grolo's instead. Spader had speared a couple of particularly tasty Kooloo fish that day and grilled them over hot coals in his backyard. Sounds like home, no?

The fish was golden and delicious. After dinner I cleaned up the dishes and Spader went to work cleaning up the rest of his house. There were clothes and pieces of equipment scattered everywhere. To be honest, it looked more like a garage than an apartment. Spader wasn't big on being neat, but tonight was different. He went around picking things up and putting things away and basically making the place look like someone actually lived there.

”What's the occasion?” I asked. ”Got a date?”

I then noticed that Spader had more energy than usual. Believe me, for Spader that's really saying something. He was pretty much bouncing off the walls as he worked. It was like somebody took his power dial and notched it up a few amps.

”Big day tomorrow, mate,” he said with excitement. ”My father is coming by. Can't let *im think I live like a dirty old crocker fis.h.!.+”

This was the first I heard about Spader's family.

”Where does he live?” I asked.

”He's an aquaneer on Magorran,” he said while continuing to clean up. ”It's a manu habitat. Schedule has it swinging by tomorrow for supplies.”

”Manu habitat?”

”They build things. Pieces for machinery and skinners and whatnot.”

”Is that your home?”

”Home? No, mate. Home is Panger City. Lived there my whole life until I went to the Aquaneer Academy. My mum's still there. Haven't seen either of *em fora hobey, can't remember. It's been a while.”

I was beginning to get the bigger picture about what life was like on Cloral. These habitats were like cities and people left home to work, just like back on Second Earth.

”Dad's a real spiffer,” Spader continued. ”Gave me the aquaneer bug. Had me around skimmers my whole life. They wanted to make him an officer but he turned *em down -didn't want to leave the docks. His tour's up soon so he can get back to Mum. Hobey, I can't wait to see his face again. Give me a hand here mate, would you?”

I helped him lift a couple of large water sleds he had been working on and put them into a closet.

”You never told me about your parents,” said Spader.

Uh-oh. Up until now I'd been able to dodge questions about home. I'm not a good liar. Uncle Press and I made up a story about how we came from a distant habitat that was a university. We said it was full of intellectuals and professors, which explained why I needed to learn so much about working in the water and how the ”real world” worked. Whenever Spader couldn't believe how little I knew about Cloral, I'd shrug and say: ”I didn't get out much.”

I hated lying to Spader, but I knew the truth would come out soon enough and hoped that when it did, he'd understand. But now he was putting me on the spot again by asking about my parents. I was going to have to come up with some version of the truth, because the whole truth would have blown Spader's head off.

”Dad's a writer,” I said. ”Mom works in a library.”

That was the absolute truth, and it made my heart sink. This was the first time I had spoken about my parents in a long time. What made it worse was I had to pretend as if nothing was wrong. I couldn't tell Spader that they had disappeared, along with my sister and my dog. I think Spader must have sensed my anguish, because he didn't ask any more questions. That was good for all sorts of reasons.

”It's tough being away from loved ones,” he said softly.

”Yeah, tell me about it.”

”Tell you what, come with me to meet Dad tomorrow! You'll get a knock out of him, you will!”

”Sounds good,” I said, but with a touch of sadness. I missed my family.

Uncle Press said that Spader was the Traveler from Cloral. I wondered if his parents had raised him to be a Traveler the same way Uncle Press said my family did for me. If so, did that mean they would disappear the same way my family had? Spader obviously cared about his parents. As we worked to make his house a little neater, I hoped that when the habitat of Magorran arrived the next day, his father would be on it.

The next day Uncle Press and I made the long walk forward to the transport docks to be there when Spader's father arrived. I could tell that Uncle Press was disturbed about something. As I told him of my previous day's adventures under the waters near Grallion, he stared straight down at his feet and didn't say a word. His mind was definitely somewhere else.

”What's up?” I asked.

”I don't know,” came his thoughtful answer. ”I'm feelinga uneasy, and I can't put my finger on it.”

”What? Now you're psychic?”

”It's just a feeling. Don't you sense it?”

I thought. I felt. I looked around. Nothing.

”Uhha no. Should I?”

”Maybe,” he answered. ”It's a Traveler thing.”

”You mean we can predict the future, too?”

”No, but you'll start to realize you can pick up on things. It's like walking into a room and knowing right away that there's an argument going on, even though you haven't heard a word spoken. It's just picking up on the signals that people send out. No big deal.”