Part 3

Part 3 - New Atlantis, Bermuda Triangle

They all felt it. From the lowliest dolphin tending the Californian kelp fields, to Queen Valeena who was having her beak buffed in her coral garden. The lady-in-waiting who had been shining the royal beak stopped mid stroke. She stared at her Queen.

Valeena stiffened. Not because of the the lapse in protocol, but at the sensation which flooded her very being. Each atom in her body passed the sensation on to its neighbors. What the sensation told her was impossible. It could not be. No connection like this had existed since before The Departure. How could it? The Departure had signified the end of their relationship with humankind. Dolphins retained, in the collective memory, descriptions of the bond they had once shared with humans. humankind had forgotten everything about the connection, despite the efforts of those misguided fools who had tried to re-connect. 

The sensation subsided but did not leave. It was as her body had adjusted to its temperature, like acclimatizing to a thermal. 

Her bodyguards, the twin brothers Lexx and Lemm, jetted into view. Their tails jerked inconsistently, as if they had training weights strapped to them.

‘Your majesty,’ Lemm gasped. ‘Are you hurt?’

Veleena waved them away with a fin. ‘I am fine.’ She flapped at the lady-in-waiting, who bowed with difficulty and bumped into a coral fan whilst trying to swim away.

‘Wh..wh..what is this?’ said Lexx.

Valeena said nothing. The brothers’ collective memory clearance did not allow them access to the deep historical archives. Most dolphins could never know the truth of how the relationship with humans had ended. The base story was imparted from mother to child. How, as Atlantis had sunk beneath the waters of the Mediterranean, the unicorns had changed themselves into dolphins. How dolphins had given up the majority of their ancestors’ magic as part of the spell that transformed them into rulers of the seas. Basics were good for the general population. But as Queen, she alone was entitled to know the truth of what this feeling was.

A human, born with the ability to magic in the real world, had entered the sea somewhere for the first time. The magic had revealed itself. Almost certainly the human had no idea of this. The transmission was below the subconscious, autonomous to the point of breathing whilst asleep. But the message was clear, I am of you.

Where was this person? How to find the source? That was the problem with magical transmission underwater, it emitted uniformly. There was no epicenter for underwater magic. 

Decisive action was needed. Veleena activated the general communications band.

‘Let the word go out. A human with magical powers has entered our realm for the first time. Find them!’

There was no acknowledgement, that was unnecessary. The command would be relayed. It would be around the planet within seconds. 

‘Mother, can I help?’

Valeena turned to find her son, Prince Finn laboring to reach her. He had more access than most to the archives, although the horrors of the final levels were spared him.

Valeena said, ’S/he must be identified before s/he leaves the water. It is imperative. This event has not happened in the span of time since The Departure. We must not lose this chance. My reign is defined by this moment. Do you understand?’

Finn said, ‘I do, mother. I have already begun marshaling a search via the subconscious band. It seemed the most likely way for successful communication.’

Valeena nodded. ‘A wise decision. We should concentrate on the part of the planet that is awake.’

‘There are always moonlight romances that lead humans to swim at night,’ Finn remarked. 

Valeena did not miss the hint. Her son was past the age where he should choose a mate. She had rejected all his previous recommendations. Someday he would be King. He would need someone more intelligent than the waterfowl he normally courted. When the lower levels were opened to him (on her death) he would need support and understanding, not giggling and flirtation. 

‘Go,’ Valeena said. ‘My sense is that s/he is not far away. The American coast, or the Caribbean perhaps. This is not a babe, but a fledged human. A post-child perhaps, or an adult coming to the ocean for the first time. Test them, test them all. But do it fast! Time is our enemy now. We must have the connection solidified before they leave the safety of the water. Who knows when they will enter again.’

Finn bowed. ‘I take your leave. I will report on the regal personal band the instant I have news.’

Valeena nodded and watched her son’s form merge into the sound darkness beyond her sonar reach. She dismissed Lexx and Lemm to a safe distance and settled on the soft floor of the coral garden to meditate. She slowed her heart, counting the rhythms in her head. She felt the blood raging through her stutter and step to a more sedate beat. Her mind responded; its flutter swayed to silence. 

Down she went, down into the lower depths. Past the guardians put there to block off access to all but her. Down into the past, back to the unicorns’ memories of when they co-existed with humans. Before The Departure, before the Polis rose to quell magic with logic. Before the war that ended a peace that had existed since the time of the mammoths. 

Traitors! Beasts! 

How could dolphins and humans co-exist? Was the dream of the unicorns really possible, that the old union be repaired, and a peaceful rapport established? Could science allow that to happen? Could the myriad human religions allow it? Questions like this had tortured her predecessors. Her own father, on his death bed, had croaked them to her as the doors of the lower levels had mentally creaked open.

The feeling remained, present and thrumming, like the engine of a human submarine. Finn must be successful, he had to be. To loose this chance was to betray the trust of the Kings and Queens before her, all the way back to Arthur - last of the unicorn kings. He who pulled Excalibur from the stone and used it to defend his brethren to their last stand in Atlantis. He who cast Excalibur into the Mediterranean as the first sacrifice for the spell which would transform all the remaining unicorns into dolphins. They had sacrificed much, the unicorns. But the alternative had been annihilation. Better banishment than death. 

Mother, we have found her!

The regal personal band cut directly into her mind. There was none of the normal polite request to connect, but in the circumstances that was acceptable.

Where? she demanded.

Finn responded. You were right, she was close. The Florida coast, near Fort Lauderdale. I am going there now using circuit 4.

Valeena nodded. Circuit 4 was the closest direct slipstream. It would take Finn to the coast of Miami. She only hoped that he was quick enough. To make the connection Finn would need to be within sonar distance of ‘her’. Then he could use sonar’s long-distance communication ability to speak to the human’s subconscious. 

Who found her? Valeena said.

One of Lady Rey’s patrols.

Valeena groaned inwardly. There would be a price to pay for that. Lady Rey was a social climber. Valeena suspected that the kudos of this accomplishment would lead to only one place, her son’s bedchamber. But she would deal with that later.

Keep me informed. And Finn?

Yes mother?

When you make contact, be gentle with her. It has been eons since the humans knew about us. She will need guidance and you must earn her friendship. 

I will mother. You can trust me with this.

She could, she knew that. Finn would make a fine King. No royal parent could be happier than to know that. Now was the time for patience, not easy under the circumstances. What had the ancients said? When you find waiting hard, do something you enjoy. She regarded her unfinished beak and summoned back her lady-in-waiting.