Page 28 of Music of the Ocean

Saxby tensed, half expecting a… well, he didn’t know what he’d expected, actually. A security drone, a merman, a reef shark the size of a shuttle, maybe? Instead, a human emerged.

Well, humanoid. She slipped into the chamber as if she knew her way around. She had softness to her features and her hair floated in a purple cloud behind her.

Saxby was pretty sure she was a Koslick from the planet Cort, located in the Koslia system in Drank Quadrant, and beautiful in a way that made Saxby’s brain stutter.

She wore a jumpsuit made of woven kelp fiber, and nothing about her dress said military or that she was there to rescue him. What she did have was a bundle under one arm, and a net of softly glowing orbs trailed behind her.

The orbs bobbed like jellyfish, each one pulsing with a different shade, some a feverish pink, others so pale blue they were almost invisible except for the afterglow they left in the water.

She stopped at the entrance and took Saxby in with a glance. “Hey, I hear you’re hungry. I’m Callie, by the way.”

He tried to answer, but the human part of his brain was still expecting air, and what came out was a garbled cough.

Callie glared at Indigo. “You haven’t taught him to speak under water yet?”

I have been busy teaching him how to communicate telepathically.

“And you’re not capable of doing two things at once?” Callie demanded, her hands on her hips.

I thought it would be better to do one thing at a time. He only now learned how to communicate telepathically.

“Okay, maybe you have a point. This is a lot.” Callie turned toward Saxby. “I guess you heard that conversation?”

Saxby nodded enthusiastically.

“Okay, let me explain. Indigo and those born here? They are of the water and have telepathy to communicate with those who are claimed by the planet. Like me. And now like you. With me so far?”

Saxby nodded.

“So, we all have the ability to communicate telepathically now. But, and bear with me, it’s not that humanoids can’t talk under water, it’s just that we have to learn a new way of doing it.”

Saxby glanced at Indigo.

“Yes, I have the capability to speak vocally with you,” Indigo said.

Saxby threw up his hands in the universal gesture of expressing extreme frustration.

Indigo sighed. “You needed to learn how to speak telepathically first.”

“Which he has, so moving right along. Like the name, too, Indigo. It fits you.”

“Thank you.”

“I bet the city lets everyone know,” Callie said. “Okay, so Saxby, the problem with humanoids talking under water is that we’re trying to use air to talk. In other words, the vocal cords are vibrating against the air in your throat, right?”

Saxby nodded.

“So, we’re trying to use the air in our lungs as a medium rather than the water around us. Use the water,” Callie said. “Try again.”

It took Saxby several tries and a lot of concentration, but he finally figured out how to use the water in his lungs instead of air.

“But, but, I thought we all communicated by telepathy?” Saxby finally managed as shock rolled through him. He did it!

“We do, but there are some species that do not have vocal cords and can only communicate telepathically,” Callie said. “Indigo will teach you how to shield. Once you learn, your thoughts will be your own unless you purposely send them to somebody. Like I assume you have been doing with Indigo.”

Indigo nodded.

“Shielding means you’re not broadcasting your private thoughts to everyone. But it also means that you can stop people from sending you their thoughts.”