around him. Additional globe-lights came up out of the water, and he could finally see the faces of S'Cali and Delent'l on either side of him. They were in a sizable chamber, apparently an empty hold, i':'

with an air s.p.a.ce allowing four or five meters of headroom between the water line and the ceiling. Over his head he could see a num- I.

her of struts and fittings on the walls and ceiling. The sounds of ':.

breathing, and lapping water, echoed around him. His mouth was i"

full of the tastes of salt, metal, and old seaweed.

i '

"Can you breathe all right now?" called S'Cali, his voice filling =g,..,.the chamber.

. I, Hrr--yes,"

Ik answered--then choked, gurgling, on a mouth- ful of water. 'Tm--okay--" he gasped.

S'Cali asked Ik if he thought he could climb up onto a ledge that '.

' ran along one side of the chamber. Ik looked where S'Cali was point- .

ing. The ledge was tilted a bit toward the water, but it was fairly broad, t and Ik thought he might be able to hang on, if he could get up there.

The Neri, in concert, moved him sideways through the water.

i Once he had an arm up on the ledge, he felt a little better.

More lights had been brought into the chamber, and he could see other Neri moving beneath the surface of the water. "Can you--urrr, push me up?"

The answer was a powerful push under his feet, vaulting him up onto the ledge. He turned awkwardly, with his gear still draped around him, and sat facing the water. The ledge was metal, and it was cold and slippery. He could feel the stones increasing the in-*

THE INFINITE SEA , 183.

sulating forcefield layer beneath him, but he started to slide at once on the cushion of air./Turn it offi/ His cry was unnecessary. The stones killed the field instantly.

Better to be cold than back in the water. He shivered--then thought of his rope, still cinched around his waist, with the two ends trailing in the water. He pulled the ends up and stretched them out behind him, on the ledge./Try it again, just for a second./ He felt a tingle, and began to slip. But the rope held fast, keeping him in place. He drew a long breath. "Thank you," he said hoa.r.s.ely, to the Neri gathered around him, heads out of the water.

Delent'l climbed up beside him and began removing his breathing gear. "We must try to repair this."

"Thank you for coming," said one of the other Neri.

Ik gazed at the speaker for a moment, absorbing the meaning of his words. "I hope I am not more burden than help." He gestured awkwardly. "I don't know what I can do for you here."

There was some muttering, before one of the Neri said, "We have many who are sick. If we bring them here, will you heal them?"

Ik felt a sudden rush of something like claustrophobia, only worse. Heal them. "I... will try. John Bandicut--it was my friend John Bandicut who healed. And his companion, the qu,arx." Ik struggled to find words of apology. "I have never, hrrm, attempted this ... healing."

"But your--" rasp. The Neri pointed to his head.

Ik touched his temples. His stones. Doubts crowded into his mind, and in anguish he pushed them away. "Yes. I will try. It is all I can do."

"We will bring the first of the wounded," answered the Neri, and then he and several of the others sank out of sight.

Ik glanced at S'Cali and Delent'l. "What about the landers? Will they try to reach us here? Are they still fighting?"

S'Cali answered, "They've taken the hold where we left the sub.

But we think they will come no further. The pa.s.sages are narrow, and we can defend them. For now, however, we're trapped here."

Ik rolled his tongue in thought, wondering what the landers would do with S'Cali's abandoned sub. But that reminded him of something else. "What about the lander your people captured? Are you holding it somewhere inside?"

"It's in another chamber," said one of the other Neri.

"With air?"184 * *

Discussion among the Neri, too quick to follow. "No.

It is wear- ing breathing devices."

lk blinked his eyes in alarm. "There might be a limit to how long its devices can keep it alive underwater. Can you bring it here? Or at least to an air chamber?"

S'Cali seemed surprised. "We had not decided what to do. You ':.

think it is important to keep it alive?"

"Rakhh--yes!" Ik exclaimed. "Have you never made contact-- or tried to communicate with the landers?"

More Neri discussion, this time with sharp, spiky edges to it. Fi- nally S'Cali said, "We have never spoken with them. We do not know how."

Ik pressed his fingertips to his temples. Never spoken... Moon ' ':'.

and stars! This was just like the situation he had tried--and failed- :.

to correct on the world of the Kuy. How could he hope to do any ..

better here? But you didn't have Li-Jared and Bandicut and Antares with you then, he reminded himself wearily.

/Do you think,/he murmured to his stones,/we might be able to help them speak to the landers?/In reply he felt a faint tickle.

Several Neri light-globes were moving closer in the water just ii'below. They broke the surface. Two Neri were supporting a third; .ii.

several more gathered to help boost the injured one up beside Ik.

.!t'i"

Ik turned himself carefully to face the Neri. "This is--?"

"Rencandro," murmured someone.

:iiii'

Ik touched the Neri's arm. It felt burning, freezing; he couldn't I,,.

tell which. "Was Rencandro swimming in the warm current?" Ik asked in a throaty voice, knowing the answer already./Can we do anything for him?/ '.

We will try. Call for Bandicut if you can.*

/I.

would if I could,/Ik sighed. He had never before heard the stones sound hesitant, wistful, afraid. It made him shiver./Shall we?/ ,i he murmured. With a great effort, he sank into a meditative trance, his hand on Rencandro's arm. Around him, the echoes of lapping water and Neri voices faded to a whisper...

Bandicut jerked his head up at the sound of L'Kell's voice. He must have dozed off again. It seemed impossible; but then, he couldn't remember the last time he'd had a good, sound sleep. "We are nearly there," the Neri said quietly. He was eating some berries and dried fish, and he offered some to Bandicut. The berries had a sharp, tart flavor; the fish was meaty and bland, with just a hint of salt.THE INFINITE SEA * 185'

As he finished eating, L'Kell began guiding the sub closer to the bottom, practically skimming the rock formations--probably to remain hidden as long as possible.

"What's the plan?" Bandicut asked. He thought, with a pang, that instead of sleeping, he should have been helping L'Kell prepare.

"We should be relatively secure, as long as we are in the sub, and don't come too close to any of their--" rasp "--bursters. Explosives."

Bandicut nodded. Bursters. He hadn't given much thought to the tactics of battle. Military tactics were not his specialty.

"We must find a way to contact our people. They may be sealed up inside the wreck, if the landers are still outside."

"Okay," Bandicut said. "How do we do that?"

"I'm not certain. Actually, all of them may not be inside. Some of them might be waiting outside. Or they might all be in battle- '' He paused suddenly and peered intently out the window.

Bandicut squinted. "What is it?"

L'Kell pointed. There was enough sunlight in the water now to identify landscape features through the blue twilight. "There's the wreck. Now, I need you to keep a sharp watch. Tell me if you see anything moving."

Bandicut hunched close to the window. The wreck was a long bulge rising from the bottom which he had at first taken for a ridge of stone. He felt a surge of adrenaline. He began scanning methodically.

"There!" he said, pointing to the left of the wreck, which had already grown larger and clearer. Several small, dark figures were moving just above the bottom.

L'Kell murmured. He was piloting very close to the silt and rock now. Bandicut squinted upward for a moment; he thought he'd seen a momentary surface flicker. He guessed they were a hundred or so meters down. The air pressure in the sub had been bleeding off gradually. He thought about bends, and prayed that his normalization would hold.

"/If you have any problems, I'II tO: to smooth things out, increase your vascular pressure, and so on."/ /How much can you do?/he thought with a dry throat.

"/Quite a lot, I hope.

The bends factors are complex;186 .

it's pressure change, but not just pressure change.

R mechanical, and chemical, and affected by nucleating bodies in the blood.

We can try to minimize a lot of that.

If it works for your dolphins and whales, it ought to work for you, too."/ Bandicut took a deep breath./Right. Good. I'm glad./ "/Hey, you're my only friend.

I don't want to loseyou."/ Bandicut blinked./Thanks,/he whispered.

L'Kell was circling to the right of the wreck. "Those were lan- ders you saw. We'll steer clear for now. If our people are outside, :!,:.

they'll hear us."

No sooner had he spoken than a small group of Neri rose from ..

the seafioor ahead of them and closed in alongside the sub. L'Kell

5.

slowed to bare maneuvering speed and turned on the outside comm. "What is your situation?"

The answer was too low, rapid, and distorted for Bandicut to ,,:'.

catch, but L'Kell seemed to understand it well enough. "If the lan- '''.

ders' numbers aren't too great, we might be able to force our way in," he said to the swimmers. "Stay close for now. I'll try to bring us all in together." He began gradually increasing speed. "It's going I".

to be difficult," he said to Bandicut.

"The others are trapped inside? Ik, too?".i'i:','; ;.

"They think so. They couldn't see what happened on the far side.

i','i But they heard bursters, and have since heard sounds from within ii the wreck." L'Kell made a hissing sound that Bandicut interpreted as anger, and frustration.

Bandicut peered ahead to the looming shape of the wrecked ship.

Was it an ocean ship or a s.p.a.ceship? The perspective was dif- ficult, and the thing was half buried in silt; but it didn't look quite right for a submarine, and it was too streamlined for an orbital- parking ship, but not streamlined enough for an atmospheric lan- der.