21 THE SHALLOW SEA

CHAPTER 21 THE SHALLOW SEA Above the surface, the sea appeared normal. It was vast and blue and it rippled with waves. But below the surface, the sea was very unusual. It was hardly deeper than the deep end of a swimming pool. And gently shimmering dust was flowing along the currents. And walking on the bottom of that shallow sea was a robot. Clouds of poison tide swirled around Roz while she moved. With such poor visibility, the robot had to feel with her feet, one cautious step at a time. Occasionally,

the clouds receded, and she could briefly see the surface just overhead. Then the poison tide came rushing back, and she was surrounded by dust once again. Brightbill had described the poison tide as winding through the ocean, like a river. And as the hours passed, Roz came to a bend in the poison tide's path. The dust clouds faded, and half a day after setting out from the island, she finally entered clear water. The water may have been clear, but it wasn't healthy. At some point, the poison tide had come that way, and the seabed was still coated with dust. There were no schools of fish or colonies of crabs or fronds of seaweed. There was no life at all. Roz kept expecting the seabed to slope downward, into the deep, but the shallow sea stretched on and on. She had always wondered how such a variety of animals came to live on her remote island, and now she wondered if that seabed had once been above water, connecting the island to other lands, like a bridge. She recalled Crag the turtle telling stories of how their island had once been a mountain, until the ocean flooded the nearby flatlands. Crag's story sounded like a folktale at the time, but now it seemed entirely possible. The robot was so busy pondering these ideas that she was slow to notice the changes happening around her. As she marched, the ground became sandier. Clumps of

seagrass began to appear. More grass appeared, and the clumps blended together to form a meadow that whirled with the motion of the water. And there were sea sponges! And corals! Crabs and snails crawled out from under stones! And the fish! So many fish! There were small skinny fish and wide round fish. There were dull gray fish and fish that glittered with rainbow colors. Schools of fish swept over the sea meadow like birds over a field. And then there were the sounds. Whup! Whup! Whup! Blooooooop! Tap tap tap tap tap! The sea was abuzz with the soft sounds of animals. This place was filled with life. After witnessing so much devastation, it was a relief to see a healthy, bustling patch of water.