The Farpool (38 page)

“Tulcheah kim, since you try to mate with
anything that has a pulse, I have a mission for you that should be
just perfect.”

Tulcheah always had an energetic pulse, as if
she were a motor that could not be turned off. Even drifting still
before the Metah, she quivered with energy, ready to burst out on a
roam, strike ahead, pulse new things. “What is it, Affectionate
Metah?”

“I already know how you feel about that
Omtorish shark Kloosee. I know you two couple frequently when
you’re in Omsh’pont.”

“Affectionate—“

Lektereenah held up an armfin to shut off the
debate. “Don’t bother denying it…anybody can pulse it. I want you
to take your…talents, shall we say, and use them for the good of
Ponk’et…for once.”

Tulcheah was confused. “How, Metah?”

“The Omtorish visitors…the
eekoti
…one of them is male. I’m not
sure which one. You’ll have to find out.”

“It’s the larger one, Metah…very strong, very
muscular. A lot of females—“

“Yes, yes, I know all that. I want you
to seduce this
eekoti
male.
Become friendly with him. Make love with him.”

Tulcheah seemed even more confused. Was the
Metah joking? “Metah, I’m not sure whether we’re—“

“Nonsense…you’ll figure out a way.
Bring the
eekoti
completely
under your charms. Find out how this Farpool works. How does it
operate? What must be done to go through it…and come back. Ponk’et
must pull this treasure away from Omt’or. You can help.”

“Affectionate Metah…I don’t…I’m not sure what
to say—“

“Don’t be such a prude, Tulcheah. You
have certain natural talents. Natural charms. Kloosee likes you.
Make sure the
eekoti
does
too. That’s all you have to do.” Here, Lektereenah turned stern.
“And bring back what you learn of the Farpool to me personally. Is
this understood. You will be
tekmetah
…an arm of the Metah. An official
mission…I’ll register it with the council.”

Tulcheah bowed and swam off, not sure
exactly how to go about what Lektereenah wanted. Seduce Chase? What
would Kloosee think? Of course, he didn’t have to know. But getting
the
eekoti
away where she
could work her magic…
that
would take some thought.

Tulcheah roamed many laps around the caverns
and niches of Ponk’et that day, deep in thought. The Metah had
given her a mission.

Then, suddenly an idea came to her.

Construction of the great shield began
immediately. Lektereenah organized an assembly in a small canopied
space just below the cavern ceiling. She wanted all the parties to
get to know one another.

“It’s a great undertaking,” she droned
on for a few minutes. “Ponk’et has many craft em’kels. Of course,
we’re proud to assist our neighbors the Omtorish in their time of
need.” She indicated Loptoheen, in one corner of the platform,
which was surrounded by prodsmen and curious swimmers from
throughout the city. A steady buzz filled the area. “This one you
must know. He is
tuk
master of
all Ponk’et. He speaks for me at all times. Over there is
Shoneeohnay pik’t. She is also
tuk
master. A skilled threadcarrier too. You’ll
need her.” A young female of slender build and dark gray flukes
dipped her beak to acknowledge. Her eyes momentarily locked with
Chase’s. Nearby, Tulcheah stiffened with annoyance.

“The others are from Cheeoh, for the
most part. One of our best fabric em’kels; the tissue that is
transparent is one of their products. You call it
mong
. You may pulse them if you
like.”

The Metah had everyone present introduce
themselves. The names were said and pulses exchanged—Kipto, a
placid sort; Okeemah, rather quirky inside—her stomach was a parade
of bubbles; Oolandrah, careful and meticulous; Telpy’t, an
arguer—you could tell it from the eruption of bubbles when he was
pulsed. The Omtorish learned that this one was also a trangkor
player, a minstrel from the musical em’kel Tanklu’tong.

Kloosee and Longsee made introductions from
the Omtorish side and both noticed more than a casual interest from
Tulcheah and Shoneeohnay in Chase. Even Angie noticed it, though
she wasn’t sure what she was noticing.

“Chase,” she whispered through her echobulb,
“those two over there…if I didn’t know better, I’d say they’re
smiling at you. Are you giving off some kind of scent or something.
They act like they’re in heat.”

Chase had noticed it. “Don’t be ridiculous,”
he whispered back. “It’s your girl vibes, that’s all.”

“Yeah, well don’t get too close…I don’t like
the looks of those sluts.”

That’s when Chase realized just how jealous a
girlfriend could really be.

It was quickly decided that the Omtorish
would accompany Shoneeohnay and several others to the weaving
em’kel Cheeoh. The guild was located in narrow crevice-like opening
about halfway up the side of one hill that formed part of the
cavern wall. The guild chambers were partially recessed into the
craggy walls, but platforms extended out and gave more space to the
work of the weavers. Great nearly translucent mats of fiber hung
from racks mounted in rows all around the edges of the platforms.
Glowfish drifted lazily throughout the space, giving dim light to
the scene and baffles lined the platform edges to eliminate echoes
or errant pulses while the delicate work of the weavers went
on.

Kipto was the master weaver and he explained
what the others were doing and why the tchinting fiber would work
well for the shield.

“It’s light, as you can see, and very
strong, like the seamother’s hide, if we do our job right.”
That
got Kloosee’s attention. “We
lay up multiple strands in different directions and secure the ends
with these knots, then cement them with
k’orpuh
blood. Simmered right---you see the vats
over there—it makes a perfect adhesive. But then you must know that
already.”

Chase nudged Kloosee. “Isn’t there some
way Angie and I can help out?” Kloosee seemed uncomfortable with
the request, but raised the question with Kipto. “My
eekoti
friends want to learn how to
weave…they want to help. Is there something they can
do?”

That’s when Shoneeohnay darted forward with
an idea. “This one can carry fiber through the racks with me.
Threadcarriers can always use extra guides.”

Longsee was startled by the exuberance of
Shoneeohnay but Chase was up for the idea. The Ponkti craftsperson
took a stretch of the fabric in her beak, then kneaded it with her
fingers and handed it to Chase. He took it, found it light and
strong, very sheer.

“This is strong enough for a shield?”

Shoneeohnay dipped her beak. “It’s
stronger than you think,
eekoti
. We’ll weave a basic pattern. Follow
me—“With that, she was off to a cavern wall, carrying the knotted
end of a fiber in her beak. She stopped short of the wall, made an
abrupt turn, then pirouetted upward, then downward in a series of
corkscrewing spirals that made Chase dizzy just to watch. Kipto,
the weaving master, and Loptoheen stifled smiles and chuckles.
Shoneeohnay came zooming back and landed right next to
Chase.

“That’s called the
elt’chee
spinner…it makes the knots extra
strong. Think you can do that?”

Angie frowned as Chase started off, carrying
his knotted end of the fiber in both hands. He kicked and pushed,
not as sleekly as Shoneeohnay, but doggedly trying to follow the
same pattern. Chase’s fiber went back and forth to the wall, then
up and down, twisting and turning, and when he was done, his end of
the fabric was a complete tangled mess.

In spite of herself, Shoneeohnay laughed.
“It’ll come with practice…here, let’s try something simpler.
Perhaps, your friend--“ She gestured to Angie, who at first
hesitated, then took a separate knot and tried it herself.

In minutes, the humans were looping and
spinning, whizzing back and forth, steadily weaving together a
corner of tchinting fabric with Ponkti weaving spins and moves.

“Not bad,” Chase told Angie, as she completed
one loop and started on another. “At least, you’re not all fiddle
fingers like me.”

Angie was determined that the Ponkti female
wouldn’t monopolize Chase’s attention. “I just hope our end of the
shield holds up.”

So they went resolutely to work, helping
Kipto and Shoneeohnay and other weavers get to work on pulling
tchinting fiber into swatches of tough fabric, knotting the ends
and building larger and larger stretches of the shield. Both Chase
and Angie were glad to finally be doing something to help.

And as Chase found Shoneeohnay’s antics more
and more attractive, another weaver became more and more jealous of
what he saw. It was Telpy’t, the onetime minstrel and arguer. His
insides fluttered with annoyance and he didn’t even bother to hide
the bubbles. Others noticed but no one wanted to argue with the
arguer.

Telpy’t decided right then and there that he
would have to put a stop to this budding romance.

Work proceeded around the clock on the
shield, with all of Cheeoh and other em’kels involved in some way.
After an initial period of wariness, other Ponkti joined in; word
quickly spread throughout the city that something was being done to
stop the great Sound and before long, so many were involved that
someone was working on the shield at all times.

Kipto and the other weavers were
grateful for help from the Omtorish and amused at the antics of
the
eekoti
, but he insisted
that only Ponkti be allowed to work with tchinting, which they let
hang from bolts in the wall. They were secretive about their
methods, allowing few to enter the cave niche where the fabric
sheets were coming together. Kloosee found himself annoyed by this
and tried to persuade the Ponkti to let the Omtorish help out in
the final assembly but without success. They were clannish and
aloof inside the weaving em’kel.

“Like a family,” Kloosee told Chase one
day. “They have their secrets and they want no one else to know.
They don’t trust us Omtorish. And
you
—“ he indicated Chase and Angie as they
roamed about the em’kel spaces, “you two are famous. They’re
curious about you.”

Angie was just trying to keep up. Roaming
with Kloosee was an effort; he was a way better swimmer even than
Chase.

“I think we’ve become celebrities, Kloos.
That’s the way they look at us…like we escaped from a zoo…or an
aquarium.”

“As it was for me and Pakma on your world,”
Kloosee reminded them.

It was a kind of fame and notoriety that
Angie figured she could do without. She had already confided to one
Ponkti female—Oolandrah was one of the threadcarriers—that she was
beginning to miss home, Earth and Scotland Beach. Especially her
mother. Oolandrah listened politely, but seemed not to
understand.

Now, I’m like stuck here in
this giant aquarium, modified for life like a big frog.
She wondered about her future, hers and Chase’s and the
future of the Seomish. They fought constantly among themselves.
Then they made love. It made no sense. How could they relate that
way? And they could almost see right through each other; you
couldn’t hide anything here. Sure, she and Chase had arguments.
Sure, they always made up. But
this
—this was truly wicked.

And then there was Chase, panting after some
of the females like a dog in heat. What was up with that? One
night, semi-alone in their emtoo pod—nobody was ever truly alone on
Seome—Chase confided that he and Kloosee were hatching a plan. They
were going to sneak in to the secretive Ponkti hold where fabric
final weaving took place and see just how the Ponkti worked their
magic.

“Why?” Angie complained. “It’s their
place…let them run it like they want. What will you gain by
annoying them like that?”

Of course, Angie knew the real reason Chase
wanted to slip inside the hold. She knew that was where Shoneeohnay
did most of her work. Even Tulcheah knew something was up and she
still had the Metah’s commands to seduce Chase, though Angie didn’t
know that. The truth was Chase was too popular to get close to and
wouldn’t stay still long enough to be seduced. Tulcheah would have
to find a way to get Shoneeohnay out of the picture.

For many days, Kloosee had told Chase he was
curious about what went on inside the Ponkti weaving hold. “There
should be no secrets on a large project like this…it’s important
that we all trust each other and learn from each other.” He had
studied their activities for days, watching Chase learn from
Shoneeohnay, noting that the only time most of the weavers left the
hold was when another rack of tchinting was needed from the racks
along the cavern walls. He was determined to find out just what it
was the Ponkti were doing inside the hold, what secret techniques
they were using to spin such strong fabric. For his part, Chase was
equally determined, for something else.

So they waited for the right moment, and one
day, it came. Kloosee and Chase hovered a short distance from the
edge of the platform where the initial weaving was done and watched
Kipto lead a pack of them off into the far reaches of the vast
cavern city, and when they were beyond pulsing range, the two of
them slipped inside.

They were startled to find the hold was not
unoccupied. Tulcheah and Shoneeohnay were inside, carrying thread
in complex patterns back and forth across a rack. Terpy’t was there
too, knotting and crimping.