Kraken

"Radu!" roared Commander Goddard at the top of his lungs, "Get out here! Now!" He struggled to maintain his balance on the outstretched solar sail of the Christa as a gust of wind hit him.

No way, Radu wanted to say, I am not going out there. Instead, he dutifully yelled back, "Coming, Sir! Just a second!" He wasn't sure if Goddard could here him over the noise of the storm. As if everything wasn't bad enough, the shrill whistling of the wind was driving him nearly to distraction. He shook his head, wondering how he'd ended up in this mess.

They had been minding their own business, travelling through what they had thought was safe territory, when they'd run into a Spung warship. Fortunately, it wasn't one of the big Kill Cruisers; instead, it was a less powerful, but more manoeuvrable vessel. However, it was armed well-enough to score several hits to the Christa before they had managed to outrun it, and the shields had not deflected everything. The engines had started to fail, and there was much exterior damage. Suzee had taken one look at the read-outs and informed them that the Christa had to land somewhere, anywhere, for immediate repairs.

The good news was that there was a suitable planet nearby, so they headed straight for it. The bad news was that the planet was mostly ocean; with their limited steering capacity, they had been forced to make a water landing. Even worse, they had landed on the night side of the planet, in the middle of a violent storm. External repairs would involve hanging onto the outside of the Christa as the waves tossed her around in the dark like a piece of driftwood.

Radu cautiously moved to the edge of the airlock door, peering through the spray. In the faint glow of the Christa's exterior lights, he could see Harlan and Commander Goddard moving around on the sail. No problem, he tried to tell himself, if they can do it, so can I. He tensed his muscles for the jump from the door to the sail, but he couldn't quite bring himself to do it.

"Hurry up, Radu, we need you out here!" shouted Goddard, starting to get annoyed. If he and Harlan could make it out onto the sail, there was no reason for Radu to hesitate. After all, with his strength and balance, he should have less trouble than any of the crew.

Harlan took an alternate approach to getting Radu out onto the sail. Grinning to himself, he made clucking noises. Even through the storm, he knew that Radu would hear him.

Radu, of course, could hear him perfectly well, and had learned early on what it meant when a human imitated poultry (although he could never quite figure out the connection). See, he told himself, Harlan is calling you a coward. And he's right - if he went out there with no fuss, you can too. So get out there. He finally forced himself to make the jump to the sail.

He landed on hands and knees on the sail's wet, slippery edge. For a nightmarish moment he thought he was going to slide off into the heaving sea, but Goddard and Harlan grabbed him and pulled him to his feet. "See, Radu, it's not so bad," said the Commander, trying to sound encouraging.

It's not great, thought Radu, but he kept silent. He did feel a little better. His hair, wet with rain and seawater, was constantly blowing into his eyes, and his ears still rang with the noise of the wind, but he realized that he wasn't going to slide right off into the ocean.

Goddard was examining a nasty tear in the Christa's outer skin, about three feet above the waterline. They did what they could to repair it; Radu was overjoyed when Goddard announced that the Christa's own repair systems had finally taken over, starting to seal the rent against the storm.

"We can finish it later, when the storm's died down," Goddard said. "Tonight we can concentrate on getting the engines back on line. At least, we're in no immediate danger of sinking. Tomorrow we can ... what is it, Harlan?" He noticed a strange look on Harlan's face.

"What's that, Commander?" asked Harlan, in an odd voice, gazing past Goddard into the water alongside the Christa. Goddard turned to see a large luminescent disk, about two feet in diameter, shining just below the water's surface. It had a dark spot in the centre, making it look like a glowing donut, or like....

Like an eye, Goddard realized, with a sudden sick feeling.

The light, whatever it was, slid smoothly under the body of the Christa, but looking out into the dark water they could see others approaching, perhaps two dozen, maybe more.

"Look out!" Harlan suddenly yelled. Radu saw what appeared to be ropes fly out of the darkness, to land on the Christa's hull. The ropes started to writhe and crawl; as he stared at them he realized they were tentacles, fastening onto the ship's body.

"Get back inside, NOW!" Goddard shouted; but it was too late. The Christa, pulled by unimaginable forces from under the water, tilted backwards and sideways. Even Radu lost his footing as the wet sail suddenly turned from horizontal to nearly vertical. He tried to grab onto something as he slid down the sail, but there was nothing there for his hands to grasp.

The water closed over his head, cold and dark. By sheer strength he fought his way to the surface and gasped for air, but he started to sink immediately. Struggling even harder, he made it to the surface a second time; just as he tried to take a breath, a wave slammed him into the Christa's hull. This is bad, very bad, his mind told him as he started to black out, but he felt completely numb, as if it was happening to someone else. He slipped under the water's surface, and this time didn't come up.

Commander Goddard came to the surface, looking around wildly. He could hear someone calling, "Over here! This way!" He could just make out Suzee and Bova at the edge of the airlock, with rescue lines in their hands. He tried to tell them to get back inside, to close the airlock in case the ship went over on her side again, but they didn't hear him, or pretended they didn't. He struck out towards them. Bova tossed a line out to him, which he grabbed for, missed, and finally reached. He felt exhausted as Bova pulled him in, like a fish on a hook with no fight left in him. He realized that the frigid water was chilling him quickly, sapping his body's strength.

After what seemed ages, his hands felt the skin of the ship. He could see Bova and Suzee peering down at him. He heard something thump against the hull next to him; for a second he feared it was another tentacle, but looking over he saw Harlan, his hands grasping Suzee's line tightly, even though a wave had just dashed him against the ship.

"Commander, where's...." began Suzee. Then she stopped, staring past them. Another light fell on them; this time, a harsh, artificial light from a source several feet above the water's surface. Looking out from the Christa, they saw several large boats approaching, with searchlights in their prows.

One came up close to the Christa's hull. "Good evening, everyone," someone said from behind the light, "How nice of you to drop in on us." Even the noise of the storm couldn't hide the evil tones of the speaker's voice.

"Oh, no," whispered Goddard, to himself. "Spung!"

About two hours later, they found themselves standing, somewhat stunned, in a Spung interrogation room. The Spung had removed them all from the Christa, leaving Thelma on board but deactivated. They travelled through the storm for what seemed forever, until they finally reached what appeared to be a collection of temporary buildings on a small island. Heavily-armed guards had taken them to this airless room. What's going on here? wondered Goddard. Just our luck to stumble on a Spung installation, on what should have been an uninhabited planet.

The Spung leader entered, and seated himself before the prisoners with great ceremony. Staring at the crew, he announced, disdainfully, "I am going to ask you some questions. You needn't trouble to lie, because I already know all the answers."

"Then why are you aski ... " started Harlan. He caught Goddard's eye, and quickly shut up.

"You are the crew of the Christa," continued the leader. Normally, impudence such as Harlan's would be immediately punished, but he felt he was on an oratorical roll, so to speak, and he didn't want to lose momentum. Besides, he thought, we have time. "We know quite a lot about you, and the trouble you have caused the Spung Empire. I'm sure you thought your luck would last forever, but, as you can see, it hasn't. You might avoid ... oh, shall we say ... some considerable discomfort if you immediately tell me everything you know about your ship - how it operates, what its capabilities are, what sort of weapon systems it has."

Goddard sighed; we couldn't tell you everything about the Christa even if we wanted to, he thought. Instead, he tried a little negotiating. "Before we say anything, I would like to point out that one of my crew was lost during your attack." Pour it on thickly, he thought; convince them that it's in their best interests to find Radu. He's strong - there's a good chance he's still alive out there. "He is the expert on the Christa; we couldn't begin to explain it without him. Find him first, and we'll talk."

The Spung leader looked at the guards with an amused expression; then they all broke into raucous laughter. Spung laughter is not one of the most pleasing sounds in the world. Finally the leader was able to stop chuckling. "A good attempt, Commander," he said, wiping his eyes, "but we were already aware that there was a crew member missing, and we are also aware that he is Andromedan. Now, Andromedans are useful tools - we found them so, I'm sure you've found this one so - but no one ever mistook them for mental giants. I don't think his absence will significantly affect the amount of knowledge you can disclose about your vessel."

"Even if it would," the leader continued, "it would be pointless to waste time looking for him now." He looked at the guards, who started to snigger again. "One thing I learned about Andromedans during the war - as swimmers, they make great anchors, not much else."

"There's always a chance he didn't drown, Sir," suggested one guard, with a grin.

"Oh?" said the leader, somewhat annoyed that anyone would question his expertise in the field.

"Sure, one of our 'friends' might have got a bit hungry during the encounter, and decided to have a small snack!" roared the guard, nearly doubling over with laughter. The leader laughed heartily. The crew of the Christa looked at each other, horror-stricken.

The leader finally pulled himself together. "Well, let no one ever say I'm not a compassionate person. There's no need to do this the hard way, if you'll only be reasonable about things. Now, we weren't expecting you, and I've got things to do for the next few hours. Why don't you have a rest here and think it over? You know, don't you, that we will get this information one way or another, so," his voice was mockingly solicitous, "why not make it easy on yourselves?" He rose; one of the guards jumped to open the door for him. The crew of the Christa was left alone.

As soon as the door shut, Goddard started to speak. "Now, don't panic. Yes, we're in a tight spot, but we've got out of tight spots before."

"What about Radu, Commander?" asked Rosie, her eyes filled with worry. "There's still a chance, isn't there?"

"Of course there is," Goddard said soothingly. "In fact, now I think of it, it's probably best that the Spung aren't looking for him. He's got a good chance to evade them. We'll just have to figure out how to find him when we escape." He followed the rule he had been taught in Star Dog officer's training; when addressing crew in situations like this, always say "when", not "if".

Bova sighed. He knew that the others had a strange preference for always looking at the bright side of things, and he had learned to try to keep his thoughts to himself as much as possible in these situations. However, when it affected survival strategy, he felt it was his duty to make everyone face facts.

"Actually, Commander," he said, "the Spung have a good point. I doubt that Radu can swim at all, let alone for hours."

"Don't be stupid," Suzee said scornfully, but there was a tiny quaver in her voice. "He's stronger than any of us. He could keep going for ... for days, right?" She looked at the others for confirmation.

Bova shook his head. "You should know better than that, Suzee. It's simple science. Humans can swim easily because their body density is similar to that of water; they only have to expend energy to move forward, and to keep their heads out of the water so they can breath. In fact, divers have to use energy to stay below the surface of the water. Andromedans, on the other hand, are about twice as dense as water; they've got no natural buoyancy at all. Once Radu fell in, he'd soon exhaust himself just trying to reach the surface."

"Not Radu," Harlan shook his head. "Maybe he can't float like a human, but he could last a lot longer." He really didn't want to continue the discussion, but Bova was inexorable.

"Yes, but how long could a human last in that water? It was cold - if you'd stayed in there a few minutes longer, your body would have quit due to hypothermia. When the Spung finally hauled you out, you could barely move. Radu wouldn't be immune to that, no matter how strong he is. And the harder he struggled, the faster his body would burn up its energy reserves."

Oh great, thought Goddard. Wonderful move you made there, Commander - order out the one person who shouldn't have been on the sail in the first place. Radu, why, in heaven's name, didn't you tell me that you couldn't swim?

Bova looked around. Well, that did a lot of good, he thought bitterly. Harlan and Suzee were glaring at him. Rosie, near tears, was huddled against Miss Davenport, who was trying to console her. Even the Commander seemed to have given up on planning an escape attempt.

"Look, it's not my fault," Bova burst out. His own voice cracked slightly. "I don't want Radu to be drowned - I'm just telling you the facts. I liked Radu."

"Don't ever say that," snapped Harlan, jabbing a finger at Bova's chest. "Don't ever say that."

"What?" asked Bova, shrinking back.

"Don't ever speak about Radu in the past tense," Harlan ordered. "All we have to do is get out of here and find him. He's fine. Do you understand? He's fine."

He was cold, his entire body ached and the sound of the wind in his ears was making his head hurt. And, to top it off, his mouth was full of sand.

Radu pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, trying to spit the grit out of his mouth. It didn't do much good - he was also thirsty and dehydrated. He couldn't figure out where he was.

He tried to think back. He could remember the Christa landing on the water, and the repairs on the outer hull; then the attack by the creatures in the water, and falling, going down into dark water, and knowing that he was not going to make it. And yet, somehow, he had. He couldn't explain that. Falling into deep water was normally a death sentence for an Andromedan, and his survival, instead of elating him, worried him. Somehow, he felt the universe was not behaving as it should.

He looked around. He had been lying facedown on a sandy beach that edged a sheltered cove. There were cliffs in front of him, and to either side. Behind him, the sun, just risen over the horizon, sparkled on clear blue water.

He listened, trying to concentrate above the whistling of the wind. No sound of the Christa, or his friends - but at least one thing he was glad to hear; the sound of water, fresh water, dripping down the cliff-face. He pushed himself to his feet, and half staggered to where a tiny stream cascaded down the cliff. It made a pretty little waterfall, but he couldn't have cared less what it looked like, as long as it was drinkable.

He had to restrain himself from drinking as much as he could, as quickly as possible. Commander Goddard had once said during survival training that someone suffering severe dehydration could die from too much water at once. He rinsed the sand out of his mouth, took a few sips, washed the salt off his face, and then walked back down to the sea's edge.

Looking out over the peaceful ocean, he could hardly believe it was the site of the storm of the previous night. Squinting into the rising sun, he searched for the Christa, but the ocean appeared empty and lifeless. He tried to think of an explanation for this that didn't involve disaster - either for the Christa or himself - but none came to mind.

As he stood there looking out over the gentle surf, he felt something nagging at him, something that he was overlooking. If only the sound of the wind didn't make his head hurt so....

That's it, thought Radu, there's no wind. The water is calm; there are hardly any waves at all. So, what's making all the noise?

Once he had figured it out, it was obvious. Something, just around the point of land on the south side of the bay was making a high-pitched wailing shriek, rising and falling like the noise of the storm the previous night. He followed the water's edge to the point, then slowly crept around it. He wasn't prepared for what he found.

The beach continued on the other side of the point, but a high ridge of rocks came out from the cliff, making a natural enclosure. Its walls were about six feet high, still trapping a foot or two of sea water, but the liquid was draining fast as the tide receded. Something large was flopping about inside the diminishing pool, wailing and whistling at tremendous volume.

Radu climbed onto a shelf of rocks at the foot of the cliff, and peered into the pool. Inside was what appeared to be one of the creatures that had attacked the Christa the night before; somehow, the storm must have tossed it into this natural trap. It had a long, torpedo-shaped body and a dozen tentacles. Most were fairly short, but two longer ones were armed with fleshy pads, which were edged with claw-like spikes. The creature had wrapped its tentacles around the edge of its stony pen, and would periodically try to hoist itself out, but it couldn't quite make it. At each failure it would slide back down to the bottom, giving a shrill squeal of defeat.

Serves you right, thought Radu. You attacked us for no reason. Now, you're trapped in there. When all the water drains away, you'll die. Thinking of his friends, how they might be dead right now because of the creature, he suddenly understood something of Harlan's animosity towards Andromedans.

Although the creature's shrieks hurt his ears, he stayed on the ledge as if hypnotized, watching its futile attempts at escape. Multi-coloured patterns formed on the creature's skin as it struggled - dark red spots coalesced when it heaved itself up, then faded to a muddy gray of defeat as it slumped back down. Each attempt was weaker than the last; the creature was clearly approaching exhaustion. It dawned on Radu how much smaller this creature was than the ones that had attacked the Christa. They had been huge, multi-ton animals. The thing in the pool probably weighed about eight hundred pounds; its tentacles were short, stubby things compared to the giant limbs that had pulled the Christa over like a toy boat on the water's surface. Either it was a different species, or it was....

Oh, no, he thought. It was a baby, or at least a youngster. You couldn't stand by and watch a baby animal die, could you? All the Star Dog regulations about giving assistance to those in need came into his head. But how? If he approached it, it would probably try to tear him to pieces.

For a few more minutes, he stood, motionless, watching and trying to think of reasons why he should just turn around and continue along the beach in the other direction. Then he laughed out loud. "What's your problem, Radu?" he asked himself. "You should be dead already." He jumped down from the ledge and approached the enclosure.

At the sound of his voice, the creature had become silent and motionless. Radu climbed up and stood for a moment on top of the rocky wall. "All right," he said softly, trying to sound calm and unafraid. Animals could sense when you were afraid, couldn't they? If this one can, he thought, I'm in trouble. "I'm going to come down there," he murmured as he clambered down beside the creature, trying to move slowly, so as not to startle it. "And I'm going to give you a little help." He moved towards the rear of the creature, uneasily aware of how its huge yellow eye followed every move he made. He placed his hands under its body, thankful that his gloves prevented contact with its slimy skin.

"All right now, you're going to have to help. I can't do this all by myself," he muttered. The creature, perhaps trying to get away from this strange land animal that had dropped down beside it, acted as if it understood. It wrapped its tentacles around the top of the rocks and pulled, turning bright red with effort. With Radu pushing from the tail end, it slid up and over the top, landing heavily on the sand on the other side.

Radu leaped up onto the edge of the enclosure. He watched the animal drag itself towards the water, like a seal. When the surf became deep enough to lift the creature off the sand, it shot off, a dark shadow under the water. "You might at least say thank you," Radu called after it as he jumped down onto the sand.

Well, those are my ... what does Miss Davenport call them ... brownie points for the day, he thought, but what do I do now? Think, Radu; otherwise, you're as trapped here as that thing was. He walked slowly on down the beach.

He had only taken a few steps, when he hear a hiss of surf, and a heavy body thump onto the sand behind him. He froze.

A clawed pad grasped his shoulder, and pulled him around. For a long moment, he stared at the creature, and the creature stared back, its yellow eyes unblinking. Finally, as if it had made a decision, it shifted its body on the sand.

"ULUASHIANAIALA!" it shrieked, loud as a steam whistle. The noise was more than Radu could bear. He dropped to his knees in the sand, his hands over his ears. The sound felt like knives stabbing directly into his brain.

Finally, it stopped. Radu looked up, as the creature flailed its long arms, striking itself on the back. It seemed agitated, but he had no idea what it wanted.

"Uluashianaiala," it repeated, at a much lower volume. Again, it struck itself on the back, then reached out and hit Radu a thump on the chest. "Uluashianaiala." Radu only shook his head, completely bewildered by the creature's behavior.

One long tentacle shot out and writhed for a moment in the wet sand by the water's edge. "Uluashianaiala," it moaned softly, seeming to point with the fleshy pad. Radu leaned over to see what it was doing, and what he saw stunned him.

The creature had drawn a picture of itself - quite a good one, actually, showing itself lying on the sand, with its tentacles raised in the air. "Uluashianaiala," it repeated excitedly as he studied the drawing.

Radu remembered listening to class discussions, back at the Starcademy, on how to recognize intelligent life. He had been fascinated by the subject, although he had never summoned up the nerve to join in. Even on the Christa, he had listened with interest as Bova, fresh from his readings on exobiology, had held forth on the topic.

"One of the most significant indications of intelligence," he recalled Bova quoting from one of his texts, "is the ability to recognize other viewpoints, to understand how one would be seen from another's eyes. This shows that the being in question can view the world, and itself, as something existing beyond its own perception."

At the time, Radu had not really understand what that meant, but suddenly it was clear to him. Only an intelligent creature would be able to draw what itself from Radu's point of view. The animal before him must be able to think - it might have a culture, a society, a wholly unique mental existence....

It might have a name.

When the thought hit him, he wondered how he had missed it. Of course! It was trying to tell him its name.

He knelt beside the picture in the sand. He pointed at it, then at the creature. "Ulu...?" he started. He couldn't quite manage the long sequence of sounds the creature had made, but it recognized the attempt.

"ULU!" it squealed excitedly; then, noticing that Radu had covered his ears again, it lowered the volume. Clearly it's intelligent, thought Radu, in relief. "Ulu!" it chirped, striking itself on the back again, then shot out a tentacle and pointed at Radu. He nodded, understanding it this time.

"Radu," he said, speaking slowly and clearly. "Radu."

"Ra'oo!" the creature repeated. Although it had some trouble with the "d" sound, the word was quite clear. Its body suddenly flashed with blue and yellow spots, like victory fireworks. It waved its tentacles back and forth gleefully, at Radu, at itself. "Ulu! Ra'oo!" it hooted, triumphantly.

After thus celebrating their meeting of minds, Ulu was struck by a thought. He rolled over slightly, so that Radu could see his mouth, armed with a formidable-looking beak. He clacked it several times (alarming Radu somewhat), then pointed at it with his tentacle pad. Then he pointed at Radu's mouth, making a crooning, somehow inquiring sound. Radu suddenly caught on.

"Am I hungry? Yes, I'm very hungry," he replied, nodding his head vigorously. It was true; his body had gone through a lot the previous night, and he suddenly realized he was ravenous. Without further ado, Ulu dragged himself into the water and darted away. Radu could see him through the water as he swam to a reef of rocks about a hundred feet off shore.

"Hey!" cried Radu, as a large clam came flying through the air, almost hitting him. More marine life followed - bits of seaweed, small fish, things Radu couldn't begin to identify. When the beach was piled up like a giant sushi bar, Ulu returned from his fishing trip, leaping out of the water and landing beside the food with a smug air. Giving a shrill whistle that apparently meant "Dig in," he picked up an oyster-like animal, cracked it open with his beak, and quickly gulped it down.

Radu had not found everything Ulu provided to be edible for Andromedans, but there was certainly enough to make a good meal. He smiled to himself, as he sat on the beach, watching Ulu finish off the leftovers. It's a good thing Harlan isn't here - raw seafood would not be his idea of breakfast, Radu thought. The smile left his face, and he sighed. He'd gladly put up with Harlan's comments on Andromedan food preferences, if he could just be sure that Harlan and the others were all right. He frowned. Ulu seemed such a friendly little guy, yet the adults of his species had attacked the Christa. He couldn't figure it out.

He stood up, brushing the sand off his coveralls, and approached Ulu, who gave him a whistle of greeting. "Ulu," he started, but couldn't figure out how to ask what he wanted. Well, he thought, Ulu communicated through drawing; maybe I can as well.

He moved over to a smooth, damp patch of sand. Picking up a sharp shell, he quickly sketched a picture of the Christa. Ulu pulled himself over, his large eyes fixed on the drawing. As he saw the Christa take shape, he made a soft chirping sound - clearly, he understood what Radu was drawing.

Radu finished drawing the Christa, with three figures, representing himself, the Commander and Harlan on the solar sail. Before he could go further, Ulu took over, drawing scene after scene, like panels in a cartoon strip. Using one sharp claw on his gripping pad, he outlined several larger creatures seizing the Christa. The three figures on the sail were shown falling into the water. One of them, apparently Radu, kept falling. Then a smaller creature appeared from underneath, raising him to the surface. Next, the Radu-figure was shown pushed up onto the land. Finally, a dramatic scene showed the creature being thrown by a monstrous wave into the rocky pen on the beach. "Ulu," he said, pointing at the figure, in case Radu hadn't figured it out.

Radu sat back on his heels, astonished. Well, that solves one mystery, he thought. I didn't drown, because Ulu saved me. But why? And what happened to the others? Where are they?

He went back to his original drawing of the Christa. Pointing at the three figures on the sail, he said, speaking as slowly and clearly as he could, "Ulu ... what happened to my friends?" He pointed again. "Where are my friends?"

"Hens?" repeated Ulu, in a questioning tone. There were sounds he couldn't make, but he had clearly picked up on the word. "Hens?"

Radu had to stifle a laugh, as he remembered Harlan calling him a chicken the night before. "Yes, Ulu, friends. Where are my friends?"

Ulu was quiet for a moment, trying to figure the word out. He poked a tentacle at the drawing. "Ra'oo ... hens?" Radu nodded; he sensed how hard Ulu was working to understand. Ulu then pointed at the large creatures attacking the Christa. "Ulu ... hens?"

"Yes!" said Radu. "My friends ... your friends. What happened to my friends, Ulu?"

Ulu might not have understood all the words, but he seemed to sense the concern in Radu's voice. He set to work drawing, scratching so vigorously that the sand flew. Radu, peering over Ulu's shoulder (at least he thought it was a shoulder), saw boats appearing. The boats were manned by figures that made him draw back in alarm.

"Spung!" he cried out.

"S'oong," agreed Ulu, whistling sadly.

Radu paused. Just when he thought things couldn't get worse, they always did. Having the Spung involved added all sorts of complications. But first, there was one thing he had to know.

"Spung," he said, pointing at Ulu's drawing. "Ulu," he continued, pointing at the creature. Ulu watched him closely. "Friends?"

Ulu gave a sharp squeal, and his body flushed a dark red. He balled up his grasping pad, and smashed it into the Spung figures. Again and again he struck them, apparently enraged, or frightened. Perhaps both, Radu thought.

"All right, all right," he said soothingly. Clearly, Ulu had no love for the Spung. Then why were others of his kind allied with them?

Ulu seemed to want to explain; he started drawing frantically. Radu watched as the picture of an island appeared in the sand. Buildings on land surrounded a central lagoon. Inside the lagoon was a huge cage. The cage was filled with creatures like Ulu - large ones and small ones, their tentacles waving helplessly through the bars. Radu hoped that Ulu was using some artistic license in showing how tightly they were packed. Armed Spung guarded the perimeter.

"Hens," said Ulu sadly, indicating the imprisoned creatures. "Ulu ... hens." He gestured, indicating all the creatures he had drawn, then himself. "Hchrachken," he said.

"Kraken?" Radu tried to reproduce the word, although he had trouble with the guttural sounds. He realized that that must be the name of Ulu's people. Ulu gave a hoot of recognition at the word, but his mind seemed focussed on something else.

Continuing on, Ulu drew more creatures, more Kraken, hard at work gathering something from the ocean bottom. Guards in boats accompanied them as they delivered it (whatever it was) to the Spung on the island. He finally stopped drawing, crawled back from his work, and gave a weary little whistle.

Radu studied the drawings; the implications made a shiver run down his spine. Ulu's people were not voluntarily aiding the Spung. Instead, they were victims; clearly, the Spung had seized hostages, and were using the Kraken as forced labour for some purpose. Well, he knew about that. He wished he could really talk to Ulu, to tell him how the Spung had done the same thing to his people, to let Ulu know that he understood.

It explained some things, anyway. The Christa must have run into a Spung supply ship; then, their bad luck continuing, they had landed near the Spung's base on the planet, and the Spung, seizing the opportunity, had used the Kraken to attack. Radu thought for a moment. They wouldn't want to destroy the Christa - they'd want to capture her instead. Most likely, they would have taken her to their base, where the Kraken hostages were kept. An idea started to form in his mind. Alone, he couldn't do anything, but maybe, together with Ulu....

"Look, Ulu, look," he said, trying to rouse the young Kraken from where he was lying, a depressed mass slumped on the beach. Ulu sighed and pulled himself over to see what Radu was drawing. As he watched, his eyes brightened, and he started to chirp excitedly. Soon he was working with Radu, scratching away in the sand. If a Spung air patrol had happened to pass over the beach at that moment, they would have seen much of interest. However, the Spung, feeling themselves the masters of the planet, didn't bother to patrol the area around their base, so they saw nothing.

Commander Goddard leaned back against the wall, sighing with frustration. For several hours, he and the crew had tried to find some way to escape, to no avail. Rosie had been unable to melt through the door, and Bova's electrical powers had failed as well. Suzee had explored every inch of the room looking for unguarded access to the power system, but found nothing on which she could use her engineering skills. If Radu had been with them, he might have been able to force the door, but....

Don't think about it, Goddard told himself. You need to be clear-headed and unemotional right now. Keep everyone's spirits up; otherwise, we're sunk. He forced a smile onto his face.

"Well, if nothing else works, there's always the old, reliable plan," he said. His cheerful tones sounded unreal, even to his own ears.

"What's that, Commander?" Harlan asked. He almost didn't care whether it was a good plan or not; as long as he could keep talking about their next move.

"We jump the next guard to walk in," replied Goddard, "get out of here, and make our way to the Christa. With any luck, she'll have repaired herself enough that we can take off."

"And then we can go look for Radu?" asked Rosie, with a happy smile that tore at Goddard's heart.

How can I tell her, he thought, that even on the slight chance that Radu is still alive, we can't stop to look for him? Not with the Spung hot on our trail, and the Christa not properly repaired. Our only chance is to get out into space as quickly as possible and lose them in a hyperjump, if the Christa is up to it. If we stop, we're all dead. He turned away.

Fortunately, Bova chose that moment to argue that jumping a guard was probably as obvious a plan to the Spung as it was to them, so they would be unlikely to enter the room unprepared. Normally, Goddard would have quietly cursed the Uranusian's pessimism, but at least it kept everyone usefully distracted. He joined the discussion, hoping that Rosie wouldn't notice that he hadn't answered her question.

"All right, Ulu, hold steady," Radu said, a bit nervously. The first step in their plan for rescuing their friends was to get to the Spung base. Radu was not particularly happy with Ulu's suggestion on how to get there, but he couldn't think of anything better.

The water he was standing in was a bit above knee level, just high enough to float Ulu off the bottom. Carefully, Radu climbed onto Ulu's back, grasping the thin fin that ran along either side of his body. He felt very insecure kneeling there, although Ulu wasn't even moving much, just bobbing gently in the rippling tide. Radu tried to keep from thinking what would happen if he slipped off when they were out in open water.

"All right, let's go," he forced himself to say. He felt Ulu tense under him, then suddenly shoot forward. The movement nearly threw Radu off; only his natural sense of balance saved him. He had expected Ulu to swim fairly slowly; however, a Kraken in a hurry moves by jet propulsion, using a stream of water generated by its powerful mantle muscles. Ulu was clearly in a hurry; they were soon speeding through the waves at a pace even the Spung boats would have been pressed to match.

For the first mile or so, Radu had to fight down panic as they bounded through the water, spray flying in all directions. Finally, though, he relaxed. What am I worried about? he thought; if Ulu was able to carry me all the way to the beach during the storm, he can easily help me back up if I fall off. He remembered Harlan once talking enthusiastically about a sport he had practiced on Earth, called "surfing". Radu had never understood why anyone would want to do such a thing, but now, he did.

It was, he realized, a lot of fun.

Despite Ulu's speed, it took them about two hours to reach the island that housed the Spung base. Radu had been worried that the Spung would have set up watch towers or other defences near their installation, but they apparently had no fear of amphibious assault. Ulu was able to bring him quite close to the main buildings, bringing him to shore about two hundred yards away.

Radu watched as Ulu swam off towards the lagoon entrance. He hoped that the Spung wouldn't pay much attention to a baby Kraken hanging about; he would need Ulu later. He caught his breath suddenly; he could see the Christa moored at the far end of the lagoon. There were several guards around her, but she looked in good condition. The long gash in her hull appeared to have sealed itself fairly well. He hoped she was space-worthy; they might have to take off quickly.

Turning his attention to his own part of the plan, he approached the main building cautiously. This part was going to be tricky, he thought. Since Ulu had no idea what the surface structure of the base was like, Radu was going to have to improvise.

He cautiously edged around the building, looking for a way in. At the back, he found a door leading inside. It wasn't locked, but when he listened closely, he could hear a guard inside. For a while, he counted the steps as the guard paced out his route, figuring out the timing. He thought there was a chance to slip inside, but then what? He had to find the others quickly, and he had no idea where they were being held. He struggled to come up with an idea. Maybe he could locate them by listening, if there wasn't too much noise inside, but he didn't want to depend on that chance.

Nothing came to mind for a few minutes, and he was growing desperate. Why don't you just go inside and ask the Spung, he told himself ironically, they'll be glad to help. The thought took root, and started to grow. Bluffing a Spung warrior into showing him where the crew was; would it be possible?

When the full idea hit him, he almost laughed out loud. After all, he had seen the master of bluff at work. Sophiana Mertz....

The Spung guard paced along on his appointed schedule, brooding on what a boring and pointless job he had been assigned. The only land creatures on the planet were Spung, if you didn't count the prisoners securely locked away in the interrogation room. The Kraken were neutralized by the presence of the hostages; even if they weren't, they could hardly attack the installation from the sea. He sighed heavily. He had been attracted to the military life by the lure of excitement, the chance for plunder, the sense of danger, all of which was lacking as he walked back and forth, back and forth, for hours.

He was so busy being bored that he completely ignored a slight sound behind him as he passed the door to the storage tanks. Suddenly something struck him from behind, knocking him to the ground. He struggled to get up, but something heavy was on top of him, holding him down. He felt something vaguely like the barrel of a gun poke into his side, and a soft voice from above him say, "This is a neural scrambler...."

"Quiet! I think I hear someone coming!" whispered Suzee, as she stood with her ear to the door. The others took up their positions to either side. It had been decided that when a guard entered, Bova would knock him out with quick electrical bolt. If the guard was not alone, Harlan and Commander Goddard thought they could probably take out one or two more. They realized that their chances of success were low if they had to deal with more than a handful of Spung at one time.

They waited nervously. Finally, a clicking sound was heard; a Spung electro-key opening the lock. A Spung guard entered the room, but his behaviour was rather different from what they had expected. He flew into the room head-first as if he just been given a powerful shove. Arms waving wildly, he stumbled across the floor and crashed the opposite wall, then collapsed in an unconscious heap.

The crew of the Christa stared at the inert form of the guard, almost as stunned as he was. Then they turned to stare at the figure in the doorway. He was almost unrecognizable - covered in salt spray, with wind-tangled hair and sunburned skin already peeling from his face.

"Hello, Commander," said Radu. "Is everyone all right?"

"OK, quiet everyone," hissed Goddard, trying to make himself heard as everyone welcomed Radu. Inside, he was as happy as any of them, but they still weren't safe. "Radu, do you know where the Christa is?" That was the critical thing, he thought.

"Yes, Sir, she's tied up outside," replied Radu. It was a little hard to concentrate, with Rosie hugging him with all her might, and Suzee looking like she just might kiss him once Rosie gave her a chance, but he knew that the Commander was right. They had to think of escape first.

"Does she look like she's in shape to take off?"

"Yes, I think so." A frown crossed Radu's forehead. "But we can't leave right away."

"Why not?" asked Goddard, puzzled.

"We've got to help the Kraken," Radu replied.

"The what?" Goddard rubbed his face, completely bewildered.

Radu tried to explain. The others were not at all pleased when he said that he wanted them to help the creatures that had attacked them the night before. They even looked sceptical when he told them about Ulu, how he had saved Radu's life and brought him to the island.

"Sunstroke, that's it," Radu heard Bova murmur, "Resulting in hallucinations and delusions."

Radu continued, ignoring Bova. "This installation is built around a natural lagoon. The Kraken hostages are held in the centre. Once we've set them free, we can go ourselves. But we can't leave them without helping; if it weren't for Ulu, I'd be dead, and you'd still be prisoners."

Goddard thought for a minute. Radu's return was unbelievable enough; was it so difficult to credit his rescue to an intelligent sea monster? "All right," he said finally, "but what can we do?"

"No problem, Commander," replied Radu. He bent over the unconscious Spung guard, and picked up the electro-key. "Ulu and I have a plan already."

They cautiously threaded their way through the passages of the installation, finally coming out into a huge central chamber built over the lagoon. Looking into the water, they could see the huge cage that held the Kraken hostages; Radu winced as their whistles and moans echoed up through the water. Ulu had not been exaggerating - the Spung had indeed packed the Kraken into the cell so tightly they could hardly move.

No guards were visible. Radu ventured out onto a walkway that extended around the water's edge. He knelt down, stuck his hand into the water, and knocked three times on a supporting strut. "Ulu," he whispered, as loud as he dared, "where are you?" He knocked again. Just when he was convinced that something had happened to the young Kraken, Ulu surfaced quietly beside him. Miss Davenport gasped, and grabbed the Commander's arm in alarm, but relaxed a bit as she realized the creature wasn't about to attack.

The next step was fairly simple. Radu could see a control box at one end of the Krakens' prison, just above the water line. He pointed it out to Ulu, and carefully climbed onto his back. He was getting quite confident by now, and felt no worries as Ulu ferried him out to the centre of the lagoon. Inserting the electro-key he had liberated from the Spung guard, he watched as the gates of the pen opened, and the Kraken started to spill out. They had become very silent, as they passed, shadowy forms in the churning water, out towards the mouth of the lagoon and freedom.

Ulu silently carried Radu back to the edge of the lagoon, but when Radu stepped back onto solid ground, he let out a series of chirps and whistles. He pointed repeatedly towards the entrance. "I think he wants us to leave," Radu interpreted, "and he's telling us to hurry."

"Why, what's happening?" Harlan started to ask; he had trouble believing that this strange-looking creature could communicate intelligently. Before the words were out of his mouth, he felt the platform under his feet shake violently. Looking up, he saw the walls trembling; a deep rumbling sound filled the air. "OK, I believe you!" he shouted to Radu. "Let's move!"

They threaded their way out of the building to the dock where the Christa lay. As they clambered on board, they turned to look back at the Spung installation. The whole huge building swayed, then started to crumble, walls toppling as if in slow motion. A gigantic cloud of dust rose up, through which a Spung ship could be seen rising. It was clearly heading for space in a considerable hurry. Somewhere above, a Spung commander was cursing the Kraken, the planet, his own wretched luck. How was he ever going to explain this to his superiors? He had heard other Spung call the Christa a jinx, but had always felt that they were using her to explain their own failures. Now, he was a believer.

The Christa tossed in the shockwaves from the collapse, but rode them well. Finally, the sea quieted, and everything was still.

"WHEEEEE!" a noise came from the water beside the Christa. It was Ulu; his squeal of triumph sounded almost human.

"They're a very intelligent race, Commander," reported Suzee; she had just finished making mental contact with an adult Kraken, a giant matriarch who was one of the freed hostages. "The Spung came to them posing as traders; they were interested in a type of algae that grows on this world. It contains a chemical that the Spung were interested in. They claimed it was for medical purposes, but I suspect they must have had some military use in mind - biological warfare, maybe. Bova and I will have to analyse a sample to be sure.

"Anyway, after they arrived and set up their installation, they seized the hostages during a meeting that had been supposedly set up for business negotiations. Then they forced the other Kraken to work for them, harvesting the algae. The concentrated chemical is in the storage tanks behind the building. The operation was almost finished when we arrived. The Kraken didn't attack us willingly; they were under orders from the Spung, just as they've been for months."

"What happened to the building?" asked the Commander. Its collapse had been spectacular, but mysterious.

Suzee smiled. "I told you they were intelligent; they've actually got some fairly sophisticated technology. They built tunnels under the reef around the lagoon without the Spung becoming aware, in preparation for bringing the building down, but they couldn't do anything while the hostages were still inside. As soon as the hostages were set free, they pulled all the supports out, and the building collapsed of its own weight."

"Will they be all right once we leave?" asked Harlan. "What happens if the Spung come back?"

"They don't seem to be worried," Suzee answered. "They trusted the Spung when they first arrived. But now that they're on their guard, I have a feeling the Spung will find them pretty tough. As I said, they're intelligent and technologically advanced."

"One thing I still don't understand," Radu said, "is what Ulu was doing with the adults when they attacked the Christa. Surely he was too young; shouldn't he have been home in bed, or wherever young Kraken stay at night?" Ulu's drawings had told Radu that Ulu was there, but they were inadequate to explain why he was there.

"He should have been," replied Suzee, "but when he saw the older Kraken leaving, he was curious and followed them."

"They must be awfully proud of him," said Rosie. "He saved Radu, and he set his own people free."

"Yes," said Suzee, "their matriarch told me that Ulu's heroic exploits will be talked about by generations of Kraken. She also said," she looked up with a grin, "that Ulu is a very naughty, disobedient child who is driving his parents to distraction."

"Tell her," said Miss Davenport, with feeling, "that I understand their sentiments completely."

Night was falling by the time the Christa was ready to take off. Radu found it rather hard saying goodbye to Ulu. They had been through so much; it was hard to imagine they had known each other less than a full day. As Radu knelt at the edge of the airlock, Ulu snaked a tentacle up and grabbed his hand. He rolled over on his side, so he could see Radu clearly. "Ra'oo?" he asked.

"Yes, what is it, Ulu?" Radu smiled down at him.

"Ulu ... Ra'oo ... hens?" Ulu chirped, wistfully.

"Yes, Ulu ... hens," replied Radu. The airlock door was starting to close - he stood up. It was time to leave. "Hens, Ulu," he said softly.

As the Christa took off, he stood with his hands on the closed airlock door. "Hens, Ulu," he repeated. He turned to see Bova looking at him suspiciously, one eyebrow raised.

"Why are you talking about chickens?" Bova asked, still half-convinced that Radu was delirious with sunstroke.

"Not chickens, hens," replied Radu. "Did I ever tell you that I consider you a very good hen?" He grinned as he went to take his position at navigation.

Bova watched him go. Andromedans, he thought. Harlan was right; they are all crazy. Still, I'm glad he's back. He followed Radu towards the command post, shaking his head.

That night, Bova had bad dreams, as Uranusians often do after emotionally trying experiences. All through the night, he faced menacing Spung, giant sea monsters, and ferocious chickens.

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