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And he realized something else: the mermaid resembled a Cretan court lady, with her terraced skirts
(scales) and generously open bodice. That was one reason she had been so appealing to him at first
glance. A Minoan ship, with a Minoan lady? That sense of visiting the past...
"Well, what does she say?" Melanie demanded. There was a sharpness in her voice that he had not heard
before, in all their long conversations. It did not become her.
"Nothing. She's just facing away. I think she's ignoring you."
"Of all the nerve!" Melanie cried, and clicked off.
Now Splendid turned to face him. There was a new look of confidence on her face. She had evidently
had the best of it, despite the initial setback. It no longer seemed so strange to be talking to a mermaid
on an ancient ship, in the depths of the deepest trench in the Atlantic Ocean. "What were you two
saying?"
WOMAN TALK, she wrote noncommittally. HOW DID YOU COME HERE?
How much could he afford to tell her? He hardly knew her! On the other hand, how could he learn about
her, if he didn't exchange information? She was a tough bargainer. "I rode my bicycle. How about you?"
She looked at his bike, and her eyebrow lifted as she noted the way the tires sank beneath the visible
deck when he rode it, picking up oxygen and recharging his headlamp. Then she looked at his feet as he
stopped, for they also sank. Some of her confidence dissipated. She had to admit he resembled a ghost in
this respect.
WE ARE AN EXPERIMENTAL COLONY, ADAPTED TO LIVE UNDER PRESSURE IN WATER.
HOW DO YOU SURVIVE THIS?
So she was willing to trade information. "I'm phased into another framework," Don said, making sure
his radio was off. "I'm not subject to pressure, and the water's like air. You say you're adapted. You
mean you were born on land? With with legs?"
YES. I STILL HAVE LEG BONES, FUSED AT THE BASE ONLY. FOR FLEXIBILITY. She rotated
her nether portion, switching her tail. It was remarkably supple, and the motion reminded him vaguely
of a hula dance. It certainly accentuated her anatomy provocatively. HOW CAN I PERCEIVE YOU, IF
YOU ARE NOT HERE?
"Well, I am here in a way. I am of this world. But I'm not very solid, as far as this world goes, right
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now. Here, I'll show you." He walked his bicycle toward her.
Splendid backed off, then reconsidered and propelled herself forward by means of little swimming
motions that accentuated her various attributes intriguingly. She put out a hand to touch his.
The two hands passed through each other with that odd temporary meshing of bones. Splendid's mouth
opened, and she catapulted herself backward with a grand flip of her tail.
"It's just the phase," Don said reassuringly. "I'm not a ghost." Then he remembered to ask his question.
"If you're Chinese, why are you here? In the Western hemisphere?"
WE NEED TO MATCH THE PRESSURE OF JUPITER'S ATMOSPHERE. THIS IS ONE STAGE.
BUT FIRST WE MUST HAVE WARMTH AND FRESH WATER, AND THERE IS NONE THIS
DEEP NEAR CHINA. CAN YOU SURVIVE ANYWHERE?
Jupiter's atmosphere! Were the Chinese planning a colony there? Don had no idea whether the pressure
of four miles of water on Earth came anywhere near approximating that of the atmosphere on monster
Jupiter; it probably depended on how deep in that atmosphere they went. It did seem reasonable that
what could be adapted to survive in the one medium, could also be adapted to survive in the other.
A fish tail here; wings, there?
"Pretty much," he said, answering her question. "But it has its limitations. I can't do anything much in
the real world, and I can't leave my bicycle. And I have to keep moving around, to pick up oxygen,
unless there's a good current." Was this too much information? American relations with China varied
through the years, and changed as the administrations of either country changed. No, she couldn't use the
information against him, because she couldn't touch him. He had told her nothing that wouldn't be
evident if she watched him for any length of time. "And are you studying this ship?"
It turned out that she was. She was part of a mer-colony whose main object was mere survival at this
depth. Pressure per se was not the greatest hurdle to overcome, for anyone could live at any depth
provided there was a life support system and no sudden or extreme pressure flux. But it was a
convenient starting place, and much had to be learned about the long-term complications of such
existence before the sophisticated aspects of alternate-medium colonization could be explored. Later
there would be other adaptations, to compensate for the cold, and the methane atmosphere, and
turbulence of liquid Jupiter. Meanwhile, the hot fresh water enabled the human beings to survive naked
without osmotic dehydration and also preserved remarkable artifacts, such as this ship. That was an
unplanned bonanza! So Splendid, an amateur archaeologist, had expected, before being selected for this
experimental mer-colony, to specialize in one of the pre-Columbian American Indian cultures and to
trace the connections between it and the prehistoric Mongolian cultures from which the Amerinds
derived. She had given up her first dream to realize the second: mankind's exploration of a really new
world. Now she was making herself useful by returning to her first specialty, recording the ship's
anomalies to the best of her abilities. She knew little of Minoan culture, to her regret, but did recognize
this as an Old World vessel of considerable antiquity. She had cleaned up much of the interior and had
taken all but two of the unbroken pithoi jars to her village for transshipment to China by submarine.
"But that's plundering!" Don protested. "The relic should be preserved intact!"
WE DID NOT EXPECT ANY OTHER PARTY TO HAVE ACCESS TO IT, she explained contritely.
WE DARE NOT REMOVE THE WOOD, FOR IT MIGHT DISINTEGRATE ON LAND. BUT THE
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AMPHORAE ARE GOING TO OUR BEST ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUMS. THERE ALL THE
PEOPLE WILL SEE AND LEARN AND BENEFIT, INSTEAD OF ONLY THOSE FEW WHO
DWELL IN THE DEPTH OF THE SEA.
What could he say? The Chinese were perhaps the most culturally aware people in the world; they
would not be hawking invaluable ancient relics on the streets. The deep reaches of international waters
were open to any party for salvage anyone who could manage to reach them. It would be a criminal
waste not to recover as much of the ship and its contents as possible.
"I'm sorry," Don said after a bit. "You're right. Except about the amphorae. They're pithoi wide-
mouthed, flatbottomed jars. But I don't think it's fair to remove everything before I have a chance to
study it. This entire ship represents an artifact of my specialty, Minoan Crete."
Splendid drifted toward him excitedly. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but no sound came.
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