Part 6 (1/2)

”What? When'?” Kitrin asked, surprised.

”Oh, their lack of appreciation of our Menolly.

”Oh, that!” Her tone was scoffing. ”What they miss, we can enjoy the more. You two sounded well together. You ought to sing more often at gathers. And that was such a lovely ballad about Landing. Imagine! People just like us made that incredible journey across skies to begin a new life here. Just as we have at Paradise River, in a way. And we didn't have to sleep fifteen Turns to get here.”

Alemi patted her shoulder and neglected to remind Kitrin of how difficult she had found settling into their new hold.

Menolly's song was doing its job, he thought, and his grin broadened. He had always respected his sister's abilities as a singer: now he respected the song for its subtleties. Still, that was what harpering was all about, wasn't it? Getting people to ”think' and ”feel' and, most of all, ”learn'. The Fisher Craft fed bodies but the Harper Craft fed souls.

Having had Master Menolly for a spell, would Paradise River be able to cope with whatever journeyman was willing to come to such an isolated place? Well, he'd still be singing the good songs she introduced.

Maybe, and here Alemi allowed his mind to spiral upward with aspiration as Menolly struck a rousing chord on her gitar maybe, the dolphins would make Paradise River that much more attractive. He must give that notion more thought. First, he reminded himself, he had to convince the Master Fishman that the dolphins could become more than acrobatic mammals that liked to outswim s.h.i.+ps.

Though Alemi hadn't had much time, he had used his s.h.i.+p's bell one evening - sort of tentatively, almost afraid to ring it loudly for fear no dolphin would answer the summons. He waited and, when nothing happened, he gave the bell one final ring in the ”report' sequence mentioned in the instructions Aivas had printed out for him. It probably wasn't loud enough to attract dolphins.

”Bellilll ! Bellilil !”

He had to listen hard to be sure he wasn't imagining the cry, ringing across the evening waters. The setting sun was in his eyes and dancing across the water, obscuring his view. He heard the unmistakable cry again and saw the leaping bodies of half a dozen dolphins, speeding sh.o.r.eward. He nearly sank to his knees on the float in relief. He genuinely hadn't thought he'd get a response.

”Bellill! Squeeeeee!” ”Bellilll! Reeeppppporrreett!'

The gladness in the cry repaid Alemi's efforts.

As the instructions had indicated, the dolphineer should reward respondents and he had provided himself with a pail of small fishes that weren't worth the effort of salting or smoking.

Since dolphins were quite capable of eating as much as they needed, he wondered about the custom. Still, it was a hospitable gesture. Humans offered klah to every visitor, or fruit juice, when everyone had the same commodities in their own homes but it was the principle of the offer.

”Who's here?” he asked. ”I'm Alemi.

One dolphin, his grey skin colored pinkish by the setting sun, wriggled up out of the water. ”Know you! Sayve you ”n' caff!'

Alemi tossed him a fish. ”Thank you again.”

”Sayve mans me, too!” squeaked a second dolphin, winding itself out of the water on its tail.

”And a fish for you! A fish for all you who answered the Bell!'

”Bellill!” ”Bellill.” The dolphins seemed to put another vowel in the word and Alemi laughed as he threw fish to them.

”Reporit?” One of them asked and Alemi thought this was the first one to speak to him but he couldn't tell since they all seemed to look the same in the dusky light. Although, by the time he had emptied the pail, he seemed to have noticed distinguis.h.i.+ng scars on several head domes - he thought some were similar to ones he'd noticed at sea in the dolphin vanguards - and that they were actually different sizes and somewhat different shapes.

”I just wondered if you'd come if I rang the Bell.”

”Bellill bring pod. Aw-ways! Heyard bellill, come.”

While Alemi understood the words they were saying to him, he could see what Aivas had meant about language s.h.i.+fts.

Did they really understand what he said to them? Should he correct their p.r.o.nunciation'? Aivas hadn't said anything on that account. Well, he could only try and it was better for him to speak as he normally would and maybe improve their speech as he went along. ”Good! Please come always when you hear the Bell. I'm getting a bigger one made.”

”OO-we ring? Oo-we ring Bell. Mans answer?”

Alemi burst out laughing at that c.o.c.ky query and was bold enough to reach out and rub the nose of the dolphin who had spoken.

”Gooddee. Gooddee. Skraaaabb blufisss now?” There was those odd words again which apparently were very important to the dolphins.

”Blufisss?” he repeated. ”What are blufisss?”

”Deese . . and Kib rolled half over so that his lighter colored belly was visible. And stuck to his side was a nasty-looking patch which, when Alemi peered close to it, he recognized as a bloated sucker fish that every seaman knew would cling to an open wound.

”Bloodfish . . . Of course, bluflsss,' and Alemi mimicked the dolphin's higher pitched tone. ”How could I have been so dense!” He slapped his hand to his forehead. He grabbed the bloodfish by its head and tried to dislodge it but it seemed glued to the dolphin's side. ”Well and truly sucking, isn't it?

I don't have a fire out here Sailors usually touched the head with an ember or a brand.

Kib turned face up, raised his upper body out of the water.

”Nifff.”

”Won't knife just make the wound worse?”

”Oooold fisss. Small hole.”

”It'll hurt,' Alemi replied, wincing. Seamen usually removed the bloodfish suckers as soon as they could so he didn't know about what happened to any long-term parasitic habits.

”No eeeeert more good gone.

”If you say so ”Ooo-ee ssay so. Good good good. Mans do good good good for dolphins.” And Kib heeled over so that Alemi could attack the parasite.

His knife blade was sharp enough and shaved the bloodfish off. Then he had to dig slightly to remove the sucker but that left only a small hole in the longer healed gash.

Two more ecstatic dolphins had him remove bloodfish, one very close to the dolphin's genitalia. When he excised the parasites. each dolphin did happy aerial rotations and dove and jumped about. He also got to notice them as individuals.

Kib had a healed slash along his lower jaw and was the largest male. Mul had blotchy coloring and had had the parasite near her tail. Mel had the longest nose while Afo was the smallest female. Jim seemed the most acrobatic: certainly he displayed by walking a long distance on his tail when Alemi had rid his belly of the pests and Temp was definitely fatter than the others.

Aivas' notes had remarked that dolphins had a thick layer of blubber just under their skin, which kept them warm in cooler waters and generally provided temperature controls.

When the quick tropical dusk deepened into full dark, with the tree whistlers beginning to sound off, he bade them good night.

”Good night, he called as he climbed up the short ladder to the pier head.

”T'anks for bluflsssing cullings. T'anks good good good. ”Nigh u ”nigh . . . su-leap tigh He heard, more than saw, the shapes leaping easily in and out of the water and heading back out to the Currents.

Once again Ajo's pod had good news to sound to all quarters, to tell diat the mans had taken off trnublesome bloodfish. Mans had not forgotten their duty to dolphins. They heard other good newses on the sonar echo for now several s.h.i.+ps would feed the dolphins who escorted them out to fish. Sometimes though the s.h.i.+ps did not follow the dolphins once they were far off-sh.o.r.e so that the places of the best fis.h.i.+ng went untouched. The Tillek was asked how to teach mans to do the right. Dolphins remembered. Why did not mans?

Afo could say with pride that her mans remembered. He had had to be reminded and shown but he had taken out his steel and done the service. A few more needed to be freed of the parasites but he was one mans and there were many in the pod which already had had good good good luck. They' had a Bell at Paradisriv and they had had one removal. Alta and Dar sounded that the Bell was not yet up where the Moncobay pod could ring it. Soon. The Tillek sounded back that they must be pafient. When the Bell was up, she would come to see mans now they were back to their First Place. Perhaps there would be a Tillek among the mans who would remind mans of their part of the Bargain.

Although Master Idarolan had imbibed as deeply as everyone else at the gather, he rowed himself ash.o.r.e from the Dawn Sisters as the sun lifted above the horizon. A gentle following sea made the journey easy. Alemi was there to meet him, a cup of hot steaming klah in his hand. Turns of early mornings had made it almost impossible for Alemi to sleep past daybreak.

”Thanks, lad. Ah, that's a grand cup,' Idarolan said, smacking his lips after his first judicious sip of the hot liquid.

Alemi offered him a basket of fruit and some of the leftover gather breads.