She stumbled into him with a soft bounce, but managed to latch onto the rail next to Alison. Her fins went on just as quickly and Smitty moved back to Alison.
“Okay!” he yelled. “Let’s go to the end.” He wrapped his arms around her and they shuffled to the end of the railing together. “We have to wait and go with the roll! When we’re as close to the water as possible, you take a step to your right and jump! Don’t be afraid if you feel me give you a little push! We have to do it fast!”
When Alison felt the starboard side begin its dip, she stepped nervously to the side while Smitty maintained an iron grip from the back. She was surprised when Smitty launched her forward, sending her head first into the dark ocean with a giant splash.
From between the swells, she watched as Neely stepped to the end of the rail. She wished she could warn her about Smitty and that first step, but only moments later, Neely hit the water next to her. Lastly came Lightfoot, splashing on the opposite side of Alison with a natural grace that reminded her he’d been a semi-professional swimmer before joining the Navy. Even in those conditions, he surfaced as relaxed as anyone she’d ever seen.
“Can you both hear me?”
“Yes,” answered the women in unison.
“Good. Any problems?”
“Nope. I’m fine.”
“Me too.”
“All right,” he said. He motioned to Smitty and turned back to both women. His full face mask reflected brightly from their LED strips. “Ms. Shaw, we’re all yours.”
Alison nodded. “Lee, can you hear me?”
“Loud and clear, Ali.”
“Are we ready?”
“Ready as we’ll ever be. I’ve paused the translating on your vest. When I turn it back on, it will only be filtering for Dirk and Sally to begin with.”
“Okay.” Alison looked to Neely and Lightfoot. “Here we go.”
Alison used the button on her scuba BCD to release some of its air and reduce her buoyancy. She began slowly sinking and watched the waterline pass over her mask and head. Together the three continued down, eventually adding enough air to end their descent.
Neely and Lightfoot became silent, marveling at the hundreds of dolphins swirling around them.
“Still there, Lee?”
“Like a bad penny.”
She smiled inside her mask. “Let’s turn it on.”
“Okay. Here goes.” Far above them on the ship’s bridge, Lee typed a command on his keyboard and hit the enter key. Almost instantly, the lines on his screen began dancing as the microphone was reactivated on Alison’s vest and began transmitting wirelessly to the server at Lee’s feet.
However, below the surface Alison heard nothing through her earbuds. She waited patiently for almost a minute before finally responding. “Lee?”
“Yes, Ali.”
“I’m not hearing anything. Is it working?”
“It’s because of the filter. I’m getting an audio feed from your mike, but the server isn’t translating any of it. Try calling Dirk or Sally.”
“Sally? Dirk? Are you there?”
After a moment, the reassuring mechanical voice of IMIS sounded in Alison’s ears.
We here Alison.
They both appeared from out of the darkness and into the bright glow of her lamp.
Behind her, Lightfoot reached out his hand and skimmed the body of several passing dolphins. “My God,” he said through his microphone. “I’ve never seen anything like this. What is this place?”
Neely twisted around to face him. Her LED lamp illuminated him as if he were suspended in space without gravity.
“That’s what we’re about to find out.”
70
Where Chris?
Alison stared blankly at Sally, her mind returning to her friend. She could still see him, lying unconscious in the ship’s sick bay.
“He’s resting.”
Sally did not reply. For a moment, Alison could have sworn a look of doubt passed over the dolphin’s face. She cleared her throat and answered Lightfoot’s question.
“We originally thought this was a breeding ground, since dolphins tend to seek out protected areas for birthing. But this is different. This,” she said, “is literally off the scale.”
She turned to Dirk and Sally, still watching her and strangely quiet.
“Sally. Dirk. We’ve come to see the plants.”
Sally surprised Alison with her response.
We know.
Alison began to speak before Sally interrupted.
Follow now.
The abruptness felt strange as she watched the dolphins turn and move smoothly downward with a single thrust of their tails. The motion was clear and Alison turned to the others while letting more air out of her BCD. “Stay close.”
The three followed the dolphins in a gradual descent, below the endless field of dolphins and into the darkness, with only a few meters before them lit by their headlamps. They continued until nothing could be seen above them, lacking even the slightest hint of moonlight. One by one, they cleared the pressure from their ears and continued downward until it appeared.
The darkness below them gradually began to lighten, first into a field of gray, and then followed by a subtle, strange green glow of phosphorescence. Finally, the plants began to appear, waving rhythmically in the gentle ocean currents.
“Wow,” Neely whispered. “It’s beautiful.”
For as far as they could see, beyond even their lamps, the faint green glow continued until finally disappearing again into the blackness.
Dirk and Sally slowed, watching as Alison stopped kicking and let her momentum carry her forward. She was now within an arm’s reach of a large sea whip, sweeping back and forth in slow motion. The bright light from Alison’s lamp washed over the plant, displaying its branches of polyps in a darker green.
She reached out and touched one of the tubes lightly with her fingertips, rubbing it carefully between her thumb and index finger.
Neely and Lightfoot both slowed beside her. “This is incredible.”
“How far does it go?”
“Far,” answered Alison. “Over a square mile.”
“Good God.”
Neely propelled herself forward, gliding horizontally over the vegetation and studying it. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“I don’t think anyone has.”
She reached down and brushed her hand over another large plant as it passed silently beneath her. Awash in the bright light, its streaming tendrils resembling long ribbons and changing colors into translucent oranges and pinks.
“Amazing,” she whispered.
Behind her, Alison turned back to Dirk and Sally, both still floating effortlessly. “Sally, is something wrong?”
No Alison. No wrong.
“Then what are you doing?”
We wait.
“Waiting? For what?” Alison studied them, waiting for a reply but not getting one. Instead she got an answer, when three shapes emerged from the darkness.
It was three dolphins. Larger and older. The same three she’d met before. Three “heads” as Sally called them. Elders.
As the trio neared, Dirk and Sally faded back slightly.
Alison smiled behind her mask. Perhaps for the first time in all of this, it was exactly what she was expecting.
“Lee, can you hear me?”
“Yes, Ali. I’m here.”
“I think it’s time to test your new program.”
Topside, Lee squinted at his screen, enlarging the smaller video picture from Alison’s vest.
“Yes,” he replied slowly. “I think you’re right.”
He switched back to the IMIS control window and typed out a long command. “Cross your fingers.” With that, he held his breath and hit the enter key.