Page 113 of Tides of Fire
“Here’s more of his handiwork.” Gray laid out a selection of pages. They showed another schematic of the coral tree, a cross-section of its stony skeleton, and a large peek at its stinging polyp.
“While on the island,” Xue continued, “Crawfurd experienced an eruption. A fairly violent one. Enough that he fled to his ship. During that quake, he spied in the waters what Stoepker had described asspiny balls of coral. Having read Stoepker’s account and knowing thefiery threat they presented, he beseeched his Aboriginal guides for help. Again, they spun their bullroarers atop the ship’s deck and summoned the Rainbow Serpents. The tentacled beasts rose and cleared the seas of the danger, whisking the threat back into the depths. At the same time, the volcanic eruption also subsided, as if their efforts had soothed the angry gods of the underworld.”
“Or it could be a coincidence,” Seichan reminded them.
Gray ignored her skepticism and withdrew another sketch from the pile. “Here is a drawing Crawfurd made of that strange mobile version of the hard coral.”
“It looks like a floating mine,” Zhuang said sternly.
“Or a viral particle,” Heng added.
Gray conceded both points with a nod. “If the tale is true, they could possibly beboth. Like any naval mine, those spiky balls would pose a fiery threat to any passing ships. And maybe that was their function. A means of defense for the species. Whenever a danger rose, the spiny corals would be dispatched, sent out as a biological attack against a threat.”
Heng studied the spread of drawings with a furrowed brow. “But how does this aggressive and dangerous coral connect to the Rainbow Serpents, a species that seems relatively benevolent?”
Gray turned to Xue. “I’ll let you share what you came to believe from studying the sketches.”
Xue nodded. “I’m convinced the two are actually the same species. With the Serpent being a more mature version of the other. Crawfurdseemed to suspect the same. Whether he learned this on his own or was instructed by an elder, I don’t know. But he did draw this sketch.”
Xue pulled forward a picture that showed a series of iterations—from an eight-limb polyp to a version that appeared motile to a larger independent beast with eyes.
“I believe he’s demonstrating the life cycle of the species,” Xue explained.
Heng squinted at the last image. “Ending with the Rainbow Serpent.”
Gray nodded. “Like with the coral, Crawfurd also studied this adult form of the species. He suspected it lived deep in the sea, only rising when called or needed. Which in most cases meant mitigating the damage done by their younger versions and removing them once their attack was deemed to be over.”
Xue pulled up the last two sketches. “He did anatomical drawings of those smooth-limbed serpents. Here’s one that details its circulatory system and the papules that cast out those stinging threads.”
“I suspect he did more drawings,” Xue said. “But this was all he was willing to share. Leaving behind the barest clue to what he and Raffles were trying to protect. Still, he spent considerable time examining and drawing those stingingtendrils. As a physician, Crawfurd must have found them the most intriguing.”
Xue showed the last sketch. It detailed the anatomy and conformation of those potent-tipped tendrils.
Heng stepped closer, demonstrating the same keen medical interest as Crawfurd. “Those tendrils could be modified versions of a coral’s stinging cells. Maybe it was how they conveyed the cure, dispensing a counteragent to their younger version’s toxin.”
Gray gathered the pages. “That’s what Crawfurd was told and believed. But we don’t know if he ever had a chance to confirm it himself.”
Seichan scowled at this admission. “So all of this could behearsay,like the claim that bullroarers could calm eruptions.”
Gray couldn’t argue against this. A healthy skepticism might be warranted.
Xue had taken on that thousand-mile stare again.
Gray waited it out.
Xue finally leaned back. “What I find naggingly consistent across these stories is the role ofharmonics. It was an ELF transmission that started all of this, back when our lunar landing was drilling into a deposit of what could be a piece of Theia’s crystalline crust. It makes me wonder if that particular frequency and wavelength is the species’ equivalent of adistress call. Maybe it blasted out that signal when it sensed our drilling, taking it as the threat.”
“But how had it known what was happening on the moon?” Seichan asked.
“As I said before, it could be a means of communication that is unknown to us, a quantum entanglement between all the pieces of Theia—both under our mantle and beneath the moon’s dust.”
For now, Gray ran with this hypothesis, seeing where it might lead. “If you’re right, maybe everything remained quiet back in 2020 because there was no confirmatoryHelp!from the moon after the distress call.” Gray turned to Xue. “But what’s happening now?”
“I can only hazard a guess. Two weeks ago, we sent out that same ELF transmission. A very loud one. Maybe they took it as another distress call. Originating deep in our mountains.”
Xue’s countenance tightened as if coming to a concerning realization.
“What?” Gray pressed him.