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brain hemorrhages.”
    Her conjectures had made a lot of sense to him, but she’d provided no proof.
    “Perhaps there is something you could do yourself,” she’d said to him afterward. “Do you remember asking me if you are the only human with superior underwater skills, and your other special attributes?”
    “Yes. It’s always seemed odd to me that I am the only one. I love the gift you’ve given me, my enhanced life and my special relationship to the sea. But it would be nice if there were others like me.”
    He’d mentioned this to her numerous times before, like a child pleading for playmates, and a few days ago, for the first time, she’d actually given him an answer: “Soon there will be others like you, Kimo … And it is your destiny to lead them.”
    In response he’d asked her for more information, but she’d said only, “They will come to you, at the proper time, and not before that.” Sometimes, Moanna had a way of saying things with a finality that invited no further comments or questions from him. He’d always cared for her deeply, but had never stopped being intimidated by her, and occasionally irritated.
    It was frustrating to Kimo, wanting so much to aid the ocean in a meaningful way, beyond healing one injured animal at a time on a random basis, whenever he ran across one that needed him. But the Sea Goddess had always put up barriers to his learning, keeping things from him until she thought he was ready to learn them. It had been that way with his ability to heal sea creatures; he had had not discovered he could do that until around five years ago. There were other things that had been coming to him gradually as well, such an ability he’d discovered in the last few months that he could summon small creatures called jetfish and amalgamate them into large underwater pods with oxygen-rich enclosures, pods that were capable of transporting passengers at high speeds. He’d ridden inside these pods himself, covering long distances across the ocean in surprisingly little time. He could also amalgamate another species of larger creatures, bubblefish, so that passengers could be accommodated in their enclosures as well—but for a different type of journey, going down to the depths of the sea where Moanna resided.
    He’d learned these things when she told him about them, or when he discovered them on his own, all the while wondering what purpose they served, and what more he might discover about himself later. Maybe the jetfish and bubblefish conveyances had something to do with the additional people who would become hybrids like himself (or who already were like him), but he didn’t know how it all fit together….
    Kimo went back in the moonlit water now, and immersed himself in the shallows, where animals swam near him, some of them calling out to him in varying pitches. Almost instantly, he heard a murmuring in his mind, very low at first, then louder and more clear, so that he could make out what Moanna was saying to him.
    Kimo, you were born for a purpose. You must discover your true self, and fulfill your great destiny.
    Perplexed and deeply troubled, Kimo used the molecular communication link to ask Moanna for more information, but his words vanished into the vastness of the ocean, and he heard nothing in response. Finally, filled with uncertainty, he waded out of the water and trudged back up the trail.
    ***

Chapter 7
    Olamai Beach was a swimming and sunbathing area, reserved for hotel guests who stayed at Preston Ellsworth’s sprawling ranch-resort complex. Alicia, like other members of the staff, had permission to come here on her free time. Today she was surprised by how many swimmers and sunbathers were out, because Mondays were usually slow, after the weekend guests went home. Then she remembered hearing that there were more longer-term visitors at the resort than usual, because of overlapping conventions.
    Like the guests, she had a beach umbrella, lounge chair, and large