"Inventing the Future"

Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. For some reason, it was one of the harder chapters to write!

"Chapter 42: The Shigura Return"

"Boring...boring...boring..." Pau grumbled to himself as he sat on the edge of the pier, furry feet dangling above the water as he steadfastly gazed across the ocean for any sign of the Shigura. He held a Shell Talkie in his paws, as he had done for weeks.

Two months had passed since Jaming and Meredith had returned from Balance Valley, making it almost exactly a year since the Shigura had left their isolated resting spot in Veniccio for the open ocean. Pau had hoped that they might return a bit early. After all, what difference did a month or two make?

Whether the Shigura migrations were governed by the moon, by some internal clock that told them when and where to go, or by simple tradition, there seemed to be little room for variation. Pau was beginning to realize that, and it put him in a snit.

'Shingala...It's been a whole year. Will you even remember me? Will you even be...'

Pau shuddered and shook his head roughly to chase away the unpleasant thought. Baru, the Shigura Elder, had explained how dangerous the journey was. Shingala had been made an orphan during his last journey. Would he even make it through this one? Pau couldn't let himself think like that.

As young as Pau had been when he first met Shingala, the young Shigura had been an infant, and Pau had gotten a taste of what it was like to be a parent. He had named Shingala and bonded with him, and when the Shigura tribe left, they took a little piece of his heart right along with them.

A dark mass appeared in the distance, and Pau immediately stopped fidgeting and grew very still. He shielded his eyes and squinted, then got to his feet for a better look. What Pau at first took to be one gigantic shape was actually several smaller (though still very large!) shapes all grouped together. He was reminded of how a shoal of sardines would cluster together. The mass then began to separate, and Pau could make out some very familiar shapes.

"They're here!"

Aside from old Cap, the only other Veniccio residents who had ever seen a Shigura up close were Pau and Dr. Jaming. It was good that these three had let the others know what to expect, because the sight of several dozen large shadows appearing in the ocean and approaching the town would have caused a panic otherwise. As it was, several people cried out in surprise when a large beaked head rose high above the water on a long, serpentine neck.

The creature was still over a hundred yards out, but he was unmistakably enormous, and several more were surfacing all around him; young ones and old, males and females, some brown and some sky-blue. One of them, somewhat larger than he had been the year before, but still very small compared to the others, looked very familiar.

"Shingala!" Pau's joyful shout carried over the water as he waved vigorously.

The young Shigura gave an answering squawk, and before long he had reached the shore and brought his head down to nuzzle Pau. He hadn't forgotten him after all!

"Shingala...look at how big you're getting!"

The other Shigura had joined them on the beach, and some of the braver humans were approaching them for a look.

"Whoa, you weren't kiddin', Pau!" Donny laughed nervously as he looked up at the creatures that could easily crush everyone there if they wanted to. "These guys are huge!"

Several of the adult Shigura responded to this comment with an odd, staccato growl. This alarmed Donny, until he realized that this sound was simply their way of laughing.

The last Shigura to leave the ocean was a large male, quite old, and with a brownish hue to his leathery hide. He seemed a little more tired than he had the year before, but his eyes were as bright as ever, and he lowered his head in a nod of greeting. "Young Pau. We meet again, little one."

"Elder Baru!" Pau grinned up at the Shigura Elder, holding the Shell Talkie to his ear. The seemingly-unintelligible growls and grunts were translated by the device, allowing Pau to understand him perfectly. "Nice to see you again."

"And you as well," Baru smiled, then nudged Shingala with his beaked snout. "This little one insisted that we come here before going to Shigura Village. He just had to see you."

"You're not staying here, then?" Pau tried to hide his disappointment.

"We shall stay for the afternoon, of course," Baru told him, "so that you two can visit for a while. After that, we must move on."

"Oh..." Pau nodded, his ears drooping so that they lay flat on his back. Then, as he remembered something important, they shot up again. "Elder, I was wondering..."

Seeing Pau's hesitation, Baru brought his head a little closer. "Yes?"

"Well...this is gonna sound strange, after everything that happened last year...but the guy who sort of caused those problems for you is living here in Veniccio. He's not like he was before. I think he wants to talk to you. Maybe. But he doesn't want to come over if he's not welcome." Pau could see that by their expressions that the Shigura remembered Dr. Jaming very well, and a few of them didn't look impressed.

Baru looked grave. "I see..."

"Elder," one Shigura piped up, "I remember this human. Three of us stayed with him until he got up again. He was confused as to why we would stay and help him. Back when he asked me why, I couldn't explain it to him. We had no way of communicating with him. But I think it's something he needs to hear. With all due respect, I think we should meet with him."

"Hmmm..." The old Shigura pondered this for a moment, then nodded his great head and turned to Pau. "Very well. I will allow it."

"Thank you, Elder!" Pau dashed off before Baru could reply.

The argument, if one could call it that, centered around when and how Jaming and Meredith would let Sarah know about the baby. It was really more of a fretting session than anything else, and they knew that they only had themselves to blame for this one.

"We could simply avoid telling her," Jaming half-jokingly suggested as he and Meredith stood by the old platform that lay on a tarp just outside the garage. He was currently inspecting the interior workings of the device, and he was no closer to spotting the difference than he was two months ago.

"That didn't work when I was a kid, and I doubt it'll work now," Meredith remarked. At four months along, her pregnancy wasn't very obvious to anyone but herself; she'd already had to buy a few outfits because she was no longer able to button her pants. "Especially if she drops by for another surprise visit, and sees me either out to here or with a baby on my hip."

"Tell her you put a pillow under your shirt to see what it looks like," Jaming ducked as she swatted at him with the polishing rag she had been holding. "I know, I know...The longer we put it off, the more extreme her reaction is bound to be."

"It'll be extreme anyway, I think. She's...fairly conservative, and she tried to bring me up the same way. She'll probably be more angry at me than she will be at you, Jaming..." she frowned, picturing her mother launching into a tirade about how ashamed she was, did her daughter have no decency, et cetera.

"Somehow, I doubt that. She already has it in for me," Jaming closed the panel, giving up for now, and lowering his voice as if he thought someone might overhear him making such a vulgar comment. "When she finds out about this, she'll probably try to have me neutered..."

Meredith snickered, brightening a little, but not by much. "Her reaction won't be that extreme. Your 'boys' are safe."

"My 'boys'?" Jaming raised an eyebrow, then snorted and took the rag from her with a smirk. "They're called 'testicles', and I'd like to keep mine, thank you very much..."

A voice from behind caused them both to give a startled jolt. "Why do I always walk in on the weirdest conversations?"

Jaming's cheeks turned a striking shade of fuchsia, and he greeted Pau rather stiffly. "Hello, Pau. Forgive my language. What brings you here?"

"The Shigura just got here!" Pau was too excited to be embarrassed by what he had heard. "They said you can come over. Did you think about it?"

In the stress and excitement of the coming baby and the rush to build the new house, Jaming had forgotten all about the Shigura. "Um...no, actually, I forgot..."

Pau folded his arms, glaring up at Jaming as if the blue human had disappointed him. "You're not coming, are you? Meredith, talk some sense into him, will ya?"

"Sorry, Pau," Meredith shook her head. "It's up to him. I'm curious, though. I've never seen a Shigura before, and after everything you told us about them, I'd really like to meet them."

Jaming could see where this was going. Meredith had all but announced that she would go with Pau when he returned to the beach, and Jaming could either follow her and face it, or he could stay behind. Alone. "I know what you're doing, Meredith."

"Oh? What am I doing?" she smiled innocently, but there was a glint of mischief in her eyes.

"Reverse psychology." He narrowed his eyes at her, and teasingly wagged his finger. "You're hoping that by saying I don't have to, you'll get me to do it. But there's no point, because I've already decided to go."

"Really?" Pau blinked. These two were so weird when they acted like this!

"Only if you come too, Meredith. I want to show you off." Jaming was smiling, but his eyes told a different story. The truth was far less noble than that. He was afraid.

Pau had dashed off already, and Meredith took the opportunity to give Jaming a long hug, which he gratefully accepted. "You can do this."

Jaming thought back to Balance Valley, and when he compared that experience to what he was about to walk into, he knew that he did have the strength to face this. "Well...let's be off, shall we?"

When the Shigura graciously accepted Jaming's apology, the only one who was surprised was Jaming himself. It was as if they didn't even have to think about it! "But...why?"

One of the Shigura, the one who had lobbied for this meeting when Pau had suggested it, shook his head and chuckled. "Maybe you haven't changed very much after all."

"I beg your pardon?" Jaming held the Shell Talkie closer to his ear, thinking that he had heard wrong.

"The last time I saw you, you asked me why," the Shigura continued. "It's a good question to ask; never stop asking it."

Jaming was so floored by his realization that he dropped the Shell Talkie and had to retrieve it. He dumped the sand out of it, and held it up to his ear again. "You are the one who tried to revive me..."

"I am. And now I can give you your answer, if you would still like to hear it." Jaming nodded, and the Shigura went on, "For one thing, none of us was badly injured. For another, you talked to yourself after you put those things on us."

"I...I don't remember doing that..." Jaming tried to think back, but his mind had been so chaotic at the time. A combination of stress and fear had overshadowed his grudge against the world, and during that time he had been very close to losing his mind. "What did I say?"

"Many things," the Shigura actually sighed. "I don't remember much of it, but one thing does stand out. Before you sent us out to battle those two youngsters, you said 'I'm sorry'. It was obvious that you were in a fix."

Jaming lowered his head, hardly knowing what to say. He heard Meredith give a startled laugh as a Shigura juvenile nudged at her belly.

"What is he doing?" Jaming asked in alarm.

Baru smiled and shook his head. "She is inquisitive."

"About?"

The elderly Shigura signaled for the youngster to back off a little, which she reluctantly did, and he explained to Jaming, "You see, we use echolocation to find our way when there isn't much light to see by. We use it to hunt. And we can also use it to learn when one of our females is expecting. This child is curious about your baby."

Jaming's eyes widened as he and Meredith took this in. "Fascinating! And this is completely safe?"

"Oh, yes," Baru chuckled. "It is only sound, after all."

The infant Shigura squealed pleadingly, whipping her head back and forth in a show of indignation. She had been stopped, and she couldn't understand why!

"You want to see?" Meredith smiled up at her. "It's okay, you can look. Just don't bump me with your nose again, that tickles."

Pau, who had been playing with Shingala and showing Donny some of the games they had made up the year before, stopped in his tracks. Jaming had lowered the Shell Talkie from his ear, and the sound of Baru's translated words could be heard quite clearly. Feigning surprise, Pau nudged Donny. "Did he say 'baby'? Hey, Donny, you know what that means! You owe me a bushel of carrots, buddy!"

"Aww, man!"