From the Ocean from teh Stars (9 page)

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CHAPTER SIX

They
now met at least once a day in the mess,
though Franklin had not yet made the irrevocable, almost unprecedented,
step of moving from his table to the one at which the research staff dined.
That would be a flamboyant declaration which would set every tongue
on the island wagging happily, and in any case it would not be justified
by the circumstances. As far as Indra and Franklin were concerned, the
much-abused phrase "we're just friends" was still perfectly true.

Yet it was also true that they had grown very fond of each other,
and that almost everyone except Don was aware of it. Several of Indra's
colleagues had said to her approvingly, "You're thawing out the ice
berg," and the compliment had flattered her. The few people who knew

Franklin well enough to banter with him had made warning references to
Don, pointing out that first wardens had reputations to maintain. Frank
lin's reaction had been a somewhat forced grin, concealing feelings which
he could not fully analyze himself.

Loneliness, the need to escape from memories, a safety valve to
guard him against the pressure under which he was working—these fac
tors were at least as important as the normal feelings of any man for a
girl as attractive as Indra. Whether this companionship would develop
into anything more serious, he did not know. He was not even sure if he
wished it to do so.

Nor, for her part, was Indra, though her old resolve was weakening.
Sometimes she indulged in reveries wherein her career took very much
of a second place. One day, of course, she was going to marry, and the
man she would choose would be very much like Franklin. But that it
might
be
Franklin was a thought from which she still shied away.

One of the problems of romance on Heron Island was that there
were far too many people in too small a space. Even the fragment that
was left of the original forest did not provide enough seclusion. At night,
if one wandered through its paths and byways, carrying a flashlight to
avoid the low-hanging branches, one had to be very tactful with the
beam. One was liable to find that favorite spots had already been requisi
tioned, which would be extremely frustrating if there was nowhere else
to go.

The fortunate scientists at the Research Station, however, had an
invaluable escape route. All the large surface craft and all the under
water vessels belonged to Administration, though they were made availa
ble to the lab for official business. But by some historical accident, the
lab had a tiny private fleet consisting of one launch and two catamarans.
No one was quite sure who owned the latter, and it was noticeable that
they were always at sea when the auditors arrived for the annual in
ventory.

The little cats did a great deal of work for the lab, since they drew
only six inches of water and could operate safely over the reef except at
low tide. With a stiff wind behind them, they could do twenty knots with
ease, and races between the two craft were frequently arranged. When
they were not being used for other business, the scientists would sail them to the neighboring reefs and islands to impress their friends—
usually of the opposite sex—with their prowess as seamen.

It was a little surprising that ships and occupants had always come
back safely from these expeditions. The only casualties had been to morale; one first warden of many years seniority had had to be carried

off the boat after a pleasure trip, and had sworn that nothing would ever
induce him to travel on the
surface
of the sea again.

When Indra suggested to Franklin that he might like to sail to Mast
head Island, he accepted at once. Then he said cautiously: "Who'll run
the boat?"

Indra looked hurt.

"I will, of course," she answered. "I've done it dozens of times." She
seemed to be half-expecting him to doubt her competence, but Frank
lin knew better than to do so. Indra, he had already discovered, was a
very levelheaded girl—perhaps too levelheaded. If she said she could
do a job, that was that.

There was still, however, one other point to be settled. The cats could
take four people; who would the other two be?

Neither Indra nor Franklin actually voiced the final decision. It
hovered in the air while they discussed various possible companions,
starting with Don and working down the list of Indra's friends at the lab.
Presently the conversation died out into one of those portentous pauses which can sometimes occur even in a roomful of chattering people.

In the sudden silence, each realized that the other was thinking the
same thought, and that a new phase had begun in their relationship. They would take no one with them to Masthead; for the first time, they would
have the solitude that had never been possible here. That this could lead
only to one logical conclusion they refused to admit, even to themselves,
the human mind having a remarkable capacity for self-deceit.

It was well into the afternoon before they were able to make all their arrangements and escape. Franklin felt very guilty about Don, and won
dered what his reactions would be when he found out what had happened.
He would probably be mortified, but he was not the sort to hold a grudge and he would take it like a man.

Indra had thought of everything. Food, drinks, sunburn lotion, towels —she had overlooked nothing that such an expedition might need. Frank
lin was impressed by her thoroughness, and was amused to find himself thinking that so competent a woman would be very useful to have around the house. Then he reminded himself hastily that women who were too
efficient were seldom happy unless they ran their husbands' lives as well
as their own.

There was a steady wind blowing from the mainland, and the cat
bounded across the waves like a living creature. Franklin had never
before been in a sailing boat, and he found the experience an exhilarating
one. He lay back on the worn but comfortable padding of the open
cockpit, while Heron Island receded into the distance at an astonishing

speed. It was restful to watch the twin, creamy wakes trace their passage across the sea, and to caress with the eye the straining, power-filled curves of the sails. With a mild and fleeting regret, Franklin wished that all man's machines could be as simple and efficient as this one. What a contrast there was between this vessel and the crowded complexities of the subs he was now learning to handle! The thought passed swiftly; there were some tasks which could not be achieved by simple means, and one must accept the fact without complaint.

On their left, they were now skirting the long line of rounded coral boulders which centuries of storms had cast up upon the edge of the Wistari Reef. The waves were breaking against the submerged ramparts with a relentless and persistent fury which had never impressed Franklin so much as now. He had seen them often enough before—but never from so close at hand, in so frail a craft.

The boiling margin of the reef fell astern; now they had merely to wait while the winds brought them to their goal. Even if the wind failed— which was most unlikely—they could still make the trip on the little auxiliary hydrojet engine, though that would only be used as a last resort. It was a matter of principle to return with a full fuel tank.

Although they were now together and alone for almost the first time since they had met, neither Franklin nor Indra felt any need to talk. There seemed a silent communion between them which they did not wish to break with words, being content to share the peace and wonder of the open sea and the open sky. They were enclosed between two hemispheres of flawless blue, clamped together at the misty rim of the horizon, and nothing else of the world remained. Even time seemed to have faltered to a stop; Franklin felt he could lie here forever, relaxing in the gentle motion of the boat as it skimmed effortlessly over the waves.

Presently a low, dark cloud began to solidify, then to reveal itself as a tree-clad island with its narrow sandy shore and inevitable fringing reef. Indra bestirred herself and began to take an active interest in navigation once more, while Franklin looked rather anxiously at the breakers which seemed to surround the island in one continuous band.

"How are we going to get in?" he asked.

"Round the lee side; it won't be rough there, and the tide should be high enough for us to go in across the reef. If it isn't, we can always anchor and wade ashore."

Franklin was not altogether happy about so casual an approach to what seemed a serious problem, and he could only hope that Indra really did know what she was doing. If she made a mistake, they might have an uncomfortable though not particularly dangerous swim ahead,

followed after a long wait by an ignominious rescue when someone came
from the lab to look for them.

Either it was easier than it appeared to an anxious novice, or else
Indra's seamanship was of a high order. They circled halfway around
the island, until they came to a spot where the breakers subsided into a
few choppy waves. Then Indra turned the prow of the cat toward the
land, and headed straight for shore.

There were no sounds of grinding coral or splintering plastic. Like
a bird, the catamaran flew in across the narrow edge of the reef, now
clearly visible just below the broken and unsettled water. It skimmed past this danger zone, and then was over the peaceful surface of the
lagoon, seeming to gain speed as it approached the beach. Seconds before
impact, Indra furled the mainsail. With a soft thud, the vessel hit the
sand and coasted up the gentle slope, coming to rest with more than half
its length above the water line.

"Here we are," said Indra. "One uninhabited coral island, in full
working order." She seemed more relaxed and lighthearted than Frank
lin had ever before seen her; he realized that she, too, had been working under pressure and was glad to escape from the daily routine for a few
hours. Or was it the stimulating effect of his company that was turning
her from a serious student into a vivacious girl? Whatever the explana
tion, he liked the change.

They climbed out of the boat and carried their gear up the beach
into the shade of the coconut palms, which had been imported into these
islands only during the last century to challenge the predominance of
the Pisonia and the stilt-rooted pandanus. It seemed that someone else
had also been here recently, for curious tracks apparently made by
narrow-gauge caterpillar treads marched up out of the water and van
ished inland. They would have been quite baffling to anyone who did
not know that the big turtles had been coming ashore to lay their eggs.

As soon as the cat had been made secure, Franklin and Indra began
a tour of exploration. It was true that one coral island was almost exactly
the same as another; the same pattern was repeated endlessly over and over again, with few variations. Yet even when one was aware of that,
and had landed on dozens of islands, every new one presented a fresh
challenge which had to be accepted.

They began the circumnavigation of their little world, walking along
the narrow belt of sand between the forest and the sea. Sometimes, when
they came to a clearing, they made short forays inland, deliberately try
ing to lose themselves in the tangle of trees so that they could pretend

that they were in the heart of Africa and not, at the very most, a hundred yards from the sea.

Once they stopped to dig with their hands at the spot where one of the turtle tracks terminated on a flat-ended sand dune. They gave up when they were two feet down and there was still no sign of the leathery, flexible eggs. The mother turtle, they solemnly decided, must have been making false trails to deceive her enemies. For the next ten minutes, they elaborated this fantasy into a startling thesis on reptile intelligence, which, far from gaining Indra new qualifications, would undoubtedly have cost her the degree she already possessed.

Inevitably the time came when, having helped each other over a patch of rough coral, their hands failed to separate even though the path was smooth once more. Neither speaking, yet each more conscious of the other's presence than they had ever been before, they walked on in the silence of shared contentment.

At a leisurely stroll, pausing whenever they felt like it to examine some curiosity of the plant or animal world, it took them almost two hours to circumnavigate the little island. By the time they had reached the cat they were very hungry, and Franklin began to unpack the food hamper with unconcealed eagerness while Indra started working on the stove.

"Now I'm going to brew you a billy of genuine Australian tea," she said.

Franklin gave her that twisted, whimsical smile which she found so attractive.

"It will hardly be a novelty to me," he said. "After all, I was born here."

She stared at him in astonishment which gradually turned to exasperation. "Well, you might have told me!" she said. "In fact, I really think—" Then she stopped, as if by a deliberate effort of will, leaving the uncompleted sentence hanging in mid-air. Franklin had no difficulty in finishing it. She had intended to say, "It's high time you told me something about yourself, and abandoned all this silly reticence."

The truth of the unspoken accusation made him flush, and for a moment some of his carefree happiness—the first he had known for so many months—drained away. Then a thought struck him which he had never faced before, since to do so might have jeopardized his friendship with Indra. She was a scientist and a woman, and therefore doubly inquisitive. Why was it that she had never asked him any questions about his past life? There could be only one explanation. Dr. Myers, who was