Whale watching

Posted on Monday 14 December 2020 @ 16:41 by Civilian Sansa Draxx-Jones

Mission: Homeward
Location: San Francisco, Starfleet Command
Timeline: MD3 0600
1271 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

The Admiral was as good as her word. She had organised a special charter just for Fay to go out and view a pod of Humpback whales that were known to congregate just off the coast of San Francisco.

Fay wanted to take Mathias with her as she knew of his fondness of whales and her fondness of him.

They met early that morning where a sleek but functional ocean survey craft was docked. It had a dive preparation area, open deck, various science stations, and a small underwater craft. It was manned by a crew of 5 dedicated staff from the Taylor Institute who had devoted their lives to studying Humpback whales, and who were really keen to meet Fay.

An older man with a beard greeted them with a good natured smile and bellowing voice. "Good morning. I'm Doctor Blessed. Welcome on board. You must be our Megapteraian ambassador, Fay. I've read the reports by Commander Jones and I must say, we're all really excited to meet you. You could potentially teach us more than we could have ever dreamt possible." He took her hand and gave it a firm shake."

Fay smiled at him. "I'm glad to be here Doctor and very pleased to meet you all.

Doctor Blessed turn to Mathias. "Welcome Aboard Lieutenant."

"Thank you, and I'm very happy to have this opportunity," Mathias replied, taking a look around at the ship, and feeling excited. "Thank you, Fay, for inviting me along. I wouldn't have missed this for the world. Besides, I was hoping to show you the magnificent creature myself. This is a happy moment, and even better than I could have planned."

Fay looked at him and smiled. "Of course. I enjoy your company Mathias and I know of your fondness for whales and swimming. Hopefully, we might get a chance to so some with the real thing."

"If you'll follow me, we'll get underway." Doctor Blessed said walking towards the craft.

The journey out took about 30 minutes and Fay spent most of her time answering questions from the science team who treated her like a god. How do whales think? How did you start communicating with them? what insights can you give us?
Every now and then, between the barrage of questions, Fay would steal a look over at Mathias and give him a subtle smile.

Suddenly Fay looked around and said, "Stop the boat!"

At the same moment, the boat slowed and Doctor Blessed appeared from the control room. "We've just detected a large group of Humpback whales. They appear to be heading towards us."

Fay called over to Mathias "We better put a wet suit on. This water is not as warm at the holodeck."

"All ready on it." Mathias called back with a grin.

Five minutes later, they appeared on the fantail of the craft which acted as a viewing platform, launch area for the submersible and any divers who wished to go in the water. There was a ladder the led into the water.

Fay held her head to one side as if she was listening to something only she could hear. Finally, she spoke. "There are two families out there and a couple of rouge males. One of the females is expecting and one has recently given birth to a calf.

Doctor Blessed looked up from his console amazed. "How the hell could you know all that?" He asked, almost bewildered. "She's right you know."

"She has a natural connection with the whales." Mathias replied "It's part of her people's ability." walking over towards Fay. Turning back to Doctor Blessed, "Permission to get into the water?" giving a smile to the man and then to Fay.

"Permission granted." Blessed boomed back.

Fay slipped into the water and waited for Mathias. On the deck one of the scientists reported. "Sir one of the mothers and it's calf is approaching. The others are forming some kind of circle around the boat, almost like a perimeter. They've adopted a nose-down attitude and...ohh my god! They're singing! They're singing all together. it's absolutely amazing. This type of behaviour has never been seen before."

"Make sure we're getting this all on sensors" Blessed replied, watching the monitor with fascination.

IN the water the mother and her calf approached. The calf swam right up to Fay and stopped just in front of her, regarding her with a curious eye.

Fay placed her hand on it and closed her eyes. After about 30 seconds, she smiled and opened her eyes. She removed her hand and the calf moved off slowly. The mother was keeping a watchful eye about 10 meters away. The calf now approached Mathias slowly and stopped right next to him.

On deck, most of the crew were watching in stunned silence.

Mathias smiled gently at the calf, and reached out to touch the young whale, closing his eyes and began to sing in a melodic voice, a song of welcome and wonder mixing in some notes from the whale's song. It was in Gaelic, that the words were sung, almost sounding rather ancient, mystical and from the stars.

When he finished, Mathias opened his eyes and looked towards the mother and the other whales, then looked over to Fay, a tear trickling down his cheek as he smiled.

The calf disappeared beneath the waves and the mother let out a low, rumbling noise before diving after her. "She liked your singing very much, and so did I. It was quite beautiful," Fay told him.

"Thank you." His voice was husky with emotions. " I most certainly found it a very sacred and moving moment." Mathias added.

"I believe they are leaving now. Come on." She started to swim back to the boat. The people on deck broke into a round of applause. Some of them were also crying.

"That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen," Blessed said to them as they climbed the ladder. "Can I keep you?" He then roared with laughter till tears rolled down his face.

Unlike the holodeck, the water had been remarkably cold and despite their wet suits, Fay was now shivering as she put her clothes back on. She started rubbing her arms.

Mathias gazed once more at the whales that were leaving, giving a bit of a sigh, then made his way back to the ladder and climbed back up.

"Er who are you wanting to keep?" he grinned, then noticing Fay shivering, he retrieved a blanket and wrapped it about her. "That should help you warm up." he then looked over at the rest of the crew. "How about some warm tea for Fay. I'll be back shortly." Mathias going to go change into his normal clothing. When he was ready he came back out to stand near Fay. "That was most remarkable, indeed."

"Thank you," Fay said as he wrapped the blanket around her. Fay wished he had wrapped his arms around her as well."

One of the crew came over with two mugs of tea and set them down. Fay picked up one, leaving the other for Mathias.

Blessed came over to Fay. "Thank you so much for letting us witness that and thank you for all this information you've provided. It will take our best minds decades to decipher all of it."

"I'm sure you're more than welcome to visit my planet and meet the rest of my people."Fay told him.

"I look forward to that. Right now, let's get you two back to dry land." And with that, the craft turned around and headed back to San Francisco.

OFF: