Chapter 10

She passed between two of the boulders along the perimeter of the large circle. With her arms hanging against her side and her head tucked, she looked somewhat like a blue whale. When she arrived beside Professor Jenkins and brought herself partially upright, it was clear she was something altogether different. Her arms were twenty feet long with firm muscles and ending in strangely slender hands with fingernails like talons. Her body was very much like that of a whale except for the enormous gray human head and the long arms where fins might be. Large blue eyes stared at Garth from an emotionless face.

'Hi,' Garth said telepathically. 'You must be the Leader.'

She continued to stare at him without speaking. Garth glanced at Sarah who responded with a shrug. They were hovering above thirty feet above the sea floor. Below them, green-skinned beings stared up at them with interest.

'Are you able to hear me?' Garth said.

'You are different than the others,' she said finally, her voice deep and flat. 'I explored these oceans for many months and I have never encountered one such as yourself.'

Garth shrugged.

'You are called Tempest?' she asked.

'A nickname,' Garth replied.

Off to Garth's right side appeared a pair of young men with the same yellow-green skin color as Jenkins. Sarah viewed them with apparent apprehension, then moved around to hover beside Garth on his left side, near to where Jenkins had moved.

'My disciple has told you what is happening here,' she said. 'Tell me, Tempest, what do you think?'

'You intend to bring the entire human race, 5 billion people, to live underwater?'

'We expect only a third of that by the time the process is complete. It will take time. The oldest will be allowed to live out their lives on the surface. Others may fight it and they too may be allowed to finish out their lives on land.'

'Still, you are going to bring that many people down here, one at a time?'

She regarded him for a moment and a hint of a smile appeared on her face. She said, 'Others like me will arrive here soon enough. I am the first, a sort of pioneer. Does this notion frighten you?'

Garth thought for a moment before responding, 'In some ways, it is a noble idea. Your plan would end the decimation of the planet, bring people into something like the Garden of Eden.'

She waited for him to continue.

'But I've seen underwater communities. Mankind's animal nature eventually reveals itself, even in communities striving for utopia.'

'It's interesting that you mentioned the Garden of Eden, a biblical reference,' the Leader said. 'For thousands of years, humans have looked to the heavens and prayed for peace and love and contentment in their lives. All they have received for their efforts was war, disease, aging, death. I offer what people have wanted for millenia. I offer a life free of disease, free of hard labor, free of violence. With the Companion integrated into your body, you will not grow old or sick, you will feel blissfully united to the community.'

'Yes,' Garth said. 'It would be a kind thing to offer to the world. If you were to give people a choice, I suspect you would find many people willing to take your offer.'

'It would not work if only some people joined us,' she said. 'Those that remain on the surface would likely feel threatened by our existence. They would continue to pollute the environment and poison the planet. For this to work, all must join us.'

'That is where you and I disagree,' Garth said. 'If you take away the things the struggles of life, you will take away the purpose of life. It is in this struggle that people find friendship and love. They slowly unravel the mysteries of the universe, they create music and art and ideas that challenge others to think and grow. If you take all of this away, you are bringing an end to humanity.'

'But what I offer is far better for everyone involved.'

'I'm not sure I agree,' Garth said.

'You might think differently, if you experienced it for yourself,' she said.

'I can survive in the water without your help,' Garth said.

Her long right arm shot out and her hand closed around Garth's body, trapping his arms against his torso. Garth struggled to break free, but her grip was tight and powerful. With the talons of her left hand, she reached out and slashed open a wound on Garth's right shoulder. Blood trickled into the water as she moved closer to him. A long slender tongue slid out from between her lips and licked the wound.

She closed her eyes a moment, then said, 'Different, but I think you are a suitable host for a Companion.'

'No,' Garth projected with intensity. 'I do not choose this. Do not force it upon me.'

The partial smile appeared on the leader's face again. Sarah looked horrified.

'Garth,' Sarah said. 'Fight it, don't let her do it.'

'You will thank me some day, Mr. Tempest. Don't fight it. You will not suffer,' the leader said.

Garth heard the Leader give orders to Jenkins and the other pair.

'Hold him tightly,' the Leader said. 'If he resists, tear his limbs off. He will regrow them once the Companion has matured.'

The leader handed Garth to the three men. Jenkins grabbed Garth around the waist, while each of the other two each grabbed one of Garth's arms. They were incredibly strong, Garth could not break free from their grip.

The Leader swam toward the center of the circle. With one hand she dug into the sand in the center and pulled out a gelatinous sphere the side of a football. With one clawed finger, she scratched open the sphere, pulled a ten inch worm from the center and began to swim back toward Garth.

'Garth,' Sarah said, desperation more evident.'Get away from here.'

'Trying,' Garth responded.

As the leader drew nearer, Garth squirmed and tried to wriggle free from his captors without success.

'Be still,' the Leader said. 'This will not hurt.'

Speed, Garth thought. It may be his only advantage. Of all of the creatures he had encountered in the seas, only Arthur was faster than he was. Garth brought both of his feet together and began to kick them together as he would when swimming quickly through the water.

At first, he barely moved, the three men holding him swam to oppose him and were able to keep him relatively still. But as Garth put more effort into it, they started to move upward. Jenkins tried to slide down and grab Garth around the knees, but as soon as he had released Garth's waist, Garth was able to kick his feet back behind him and send Jenkins tumbling away into the distance.

The Leader glared at Garth and began to swim more quickly in his direction. Garth was moving faster and faster away from her while the two men who held him began trying to tear his arms from his body. They were incredibly strong and it was taking all of Garth's strength to resist their force.

Garth twisted in the water and began to swim downward toward the perimeter of the large circle, dragging his two assailants along for the ride. Garth headed for a large misshapen boulder on the circle's edge and swam as fast as he could manage. At the last possible moment, he turned slightly and slammed the man on his right arm into the top of the boulder. There was a sickening crunch as the man's back slammed into the rock and began to spill a dark stream of blood into the water.

'Let your super-healing Companion work on that for a while,' Garth muttered.

With his right arm freed, Garth reached over and pried the other man off his left arm, then gave him a powerful kick that sent the man careening into the face of the Leader who had caught up to them and was reaching out for Garth.

Garth swam around the boulder and torpedoed away as fast as he could manage. Four green men were on his tail, but were losing ground quickly. The Leader had apparently given up the chase and Garth caught a glimpse of her hovering over the boundary rocks, near to where the injured man bled into the water.

'Sarah?' Garth said.

'Go home,' she replied distantly. 'I'll see you there tonight.'