38 THE POD

CHAPTER 38 THE POD As her long ocean journey continued, Roz passed the time by sharpening her skills of echolocation. With practice, she identified an underwater mountain range, and a sleeping whale, and a piece of driftwood, long before she saw them. But our robot wasn't the only creature using echolocation around there. First she heard wild whistling. Then she heard rapid clicking. The whistles and clicks grew louder and faster, and a pod of dolphins surged into view. The dolphins crowded Roz, studying her and prodding her and chattering to themselves. "Now, what do you think this is?" "It's got a hard shell." "And it swims funny."

"Is it some sort of sea turtle?" Roz said, "I am not a sea turtle. I am a robot. My name is Roz." "Did you hear that, everyone?" "This creature is a robot!" "A robot named Roz!" "Hey, Roz the robot, can you do this?" One of the dolphins suddenly pumped his tail and leaped up out of the water, and a moment later, he came splashing back down, into the waves. "Yes, I believe I can do that," said Roz. The robot suddenly kicked her legs and launched herself up out of the water. For the first time in weeks, she felt the light touch of air against her body. And then gravity pulled her down, back into the waves.

The dolphins were impressed. They cheered and laughed and peppered Roz with questions. But the lively mood changed when she mentioned her mission. Then the dolphins started chattering again. "We've stayed clear of the poison tide." "But we know about the damage it's causing." "It must be stopped!" "What can we do to help?" Roz answered, "You can tell me where to find the Ancient Shark." "They say she lives deep in the northern ocean." "To get there you'll have to swim west." "Around a very long stretch of land." Roz asked, "Could I get there faster by traveling over the land, rather than around it?" "We don't know much about land." "You should speak with the seabirds!" "Yes, the seabirds will know the fastest way!" "Okay, everyone, let's find Roz some seabirds!" The pod of dolphins surged into action. But instead of swimming upward, as you might expect, they swam downward, into the depths. You see, the dolphins knew exactly how to attract seabirds. They rounded up a school of fish, circling them, forcing them into a tight cluster. All at once, the dolphins blew air from their blowholes, and a dense layer of bubbles carried the fish up to the surface, where they thrashed through the

waves, and soon flocks of hungry seabirds were flying toward the scene.