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annoying things. Sometimes one could bite it off a podmember, but the parasites could take a hold that only a man’s sharp knife couldremove. It had been one of the great things about having a partner: he or she would keep the dolphins’ flesh free of the parasites. So when they found the broken pieces of the mans’ boat, they pushed it to where the tide would bring it ashore, since the waters were not deep enough for them to swim all the way in to the sands. Maybe, seeing that the dolphins were remembering the tasks tradition had told them to perform, mans would perform the tasks dolphins could not do for themselves. They kept watch until they saw mans finding the wreckage. Kib called and called, asking when the bloodfish could be taken off, and where should they go for that healing. The mans were so happy to find the ship pieces that they walked away without answering.
    If there was only a bell, Kib thought. There should be a bell Then they could ring it as their ancestors had, and mans would answer. The dolphins at Moncobay had a bell that they could ring, but they had not yet had the bloodfish scraped off. Had mans forgotten their duty to dolphins?
    The Tillek had said that, one day, when the dolphin bells were rung again, mans would remember what mans should do to help dolphins.

CHAPTER III
    I F A RAMINA secretly hoped that Lord Jaxom would forget so trivial a matter as speaking to Aivas about her son’s adventure, she was mistaken. However, it was Masterfishman Alemi who was asked to come and recount the event to the Artificial Intelligence Voice-Address System.
    Jayge was somewhat irritated that Readis would miss an opportunity to meet this astounding artifact of the original colonists, but Aramina thought it was much the best thing.
    “He’s only just settled down, Jayge. Seeing this Aivas thing would upset him. And how much would a boy of his age understand? I mean, it’s not as if he were meeting a living person he could relate to, is it?”
    “I could insist that Readis accompany me,” Alemi said, not wishing to cause bad feelings between holder and lady. His initial elation had been much dampened by realizing that his young friend was being excluded from the interview. He had been to the Admin with other Fishmasters, and had been awed bythe vast amount of still-relevant information the facility had on ocean currents and deeps. The boy would be so proud of having been granted such a privilege.
    “No!” Aramina said with some force. “It’s enough he had the adventure. He tends to magnify things out of proportion, and I don’t want him thinking of swimming with those shipfish again. You go. Find out what this Aivas knows. We can decide then if Readis is to be told. Right now, I’d rather the whole affair was forgotten.”
    “Forget that we owe the doll-fins our son’s life?”
    “We owe them ours, too!” she snapped at him. “But I’m not out looking at the sea to see fins all day. Readis has to learn to deal with life on the land, not the sea.” She gave Alemi a quick glance and added in a gentler tone, “I mean, for a boy his age, he already knows a good deal about the fishman’s Craft, and I’m grateful you wanted to teach him.” Then she let out a gush of held breath and said in a fierce tone, “He’s only seven Turns old! He’s got a lot more to do with dragons than with doll-fins.”
    The two men exchanged glances and a silent understanding was reached.
    “I’ll go to Landing then,” Alemi said calmly. “See what Aivas has to say about these creatures. I must admit, I’m some fascinated with them myself. And,” he added with a wry grin, “I saved some fish to feed them with on this latest sail. You know, I hadn’t realized just how often they
have
escorted my ship. And how often they’ve saved lives. Each of my older hands had some tale to tell: in their family or from other crews they’ve sailed with. Oly said that once he was certain doll-fins had kept his skiff afloat