The full moon hung high over the boat, as if purposely shedding its light on the children below. There was never total silence, even this late into the night. The waves lapped softly against the hull. And there was always that buzz, orchestrated kwa the light breeze blowing off the ocean and its current gently rocking the boat; the song of the sea.
Whisper lay on the stern, drifting between subconscious and the verge of sleep. A sudden sound caused her to snap awake, her body tense. Another splash, closer, she thought. Too big to be a fish.
Worried calling out to the others would startle whatever was creeping up on them into action, Whisper tried to keep as still and quiet as possible, praying it would leave them be. But when she heard a third splash, a whimper escaped her lips involuntarily.
"Whisper?" A soft voice called. "Are wewe awake?"
The girl recognized the voice, the soft Russian accent that had not faded even the slightest the last mwaka and a half since they had escaped CADMUS. "Whisper?"
She shushed him quietly. "Listen."
Again the splash came, this time right inayofuata to the stern. She saw a silhouette from the cockpit of the mashua stand. Thirteen climbed onto the stern and inched his way toward the frightened girl. He leaned toward the edge. "Wait," she tried to warn him, but he ignored her.
A high pitched whine emitted from the waters and Thirteen fell back, startled. He let out a laugh and a soprano cackle joined in.
"Is that..." Whisper crawled to the edge and peeked over, where her suspicion was confirmed. Sticking its head out of the water was a friendly mammal, water gleaming off its skin in the moonlight. "A dolphin," she breathed.
"A curious one, at that," Thirteen commented. He came back to the edge, leaning close to the water. His fingers stopped just above the dolphin's head as he hesitated. It raised its beak and nudged the boy's hand, permitting his touch.
Thirteen grinned and ran his hand over the mammal's slick head. "Go ahead, Whisper," he coaxed. "You try."
Weary not to startle it, the girl moved slowly. She placed her hand gently on its beak and ran her fingers over the juu until they reached its forehead. Whisper giggled as it nudged her hand happily.
Before either of them had time to react, the dolphin turned and njiwa under water, splashing them with it's tail. Both let out a gasp of surprise; the dolphin leapt out of the water ten feet from the mashua and njiwa back in. The two could here it cackling when it resurfaced.
"Show off," Whisper uttered good-naturedly. Thirteen laughed and offered her the blanket from the captain's chair. They sat beside one another until the dolphin finished its show, gave one final cackle, then disappeared under the waves again.
"We should get back to sleep," Thirteen advised.
"Right..." The boy caught her hesitation. "It will be alright, Whisper. I am sorry if the critter startled you, but wewe will be safe." He waited for her to nod in agreement, and when she did not, he added, "Unless.. there is something zaidi that is bothering you."
The 14-year-old looked at her feet; blue locks fell to hide her face. Thirteen scooted closer and slowly reached a hand, brushing the strands back and tucking them behind her ear. "What is the matter?" he wondered, the concern clear in his voice.
"I'm scared, Thirteen." She spoke so softly that it would have been difficult to catch the words had they not been sitting so close.
"Of what?"
"What's going to happen to us? Me, you, Electra, Stretch, Bugger... We're strong together, but I don't know if we can keep fighting off CADMUS. And now that 'Lec and Bug are talking about going to Canada while Stretch is planning on the States... We're going to be separated. How are we going to survive?"
Thirteen put his arm around the shaking girl and she laid her head in the crook of his arm. "I will not abandon you, Whisper. We can stay together, venture to where ever we want."
There was a moment of silence between them before Whisper spoke again. "You aren't scared at all? The world is a big place and CADMUS-"
"Do not worry about them," he dissuaded. "If they come for us, we will be ready. Like Dr. Felis always told us, 'You will always prevail as long as wewe fight for good.'"
Whisper giggled at the impression of the scientist who had raised them. "Do wewe miss him?" she asked.
Thirteen was taken aback kwa the turn in conversation.
"I.. Yes," he admitted. "I do. He was a great man, and despite Stretch's contemptuous remarks, I believe the doctor cared about us. Loved us, even."
Whisper nodded. "You're a lot like him. Logical yet compassionate, strong yet gentle, wewe even look a bit alike."
Thirteen was quiet a moment. His thoughts had taken him back to a conversation from the awali siku where Stretch has suggested they all choose zaidi conspicuous names for themselves. They had been born as subject numbers, and that is what the scientists and researches referred to them as. Only themselves and Dr. Felis had used the nicknames they had created for each other, but now that they were going into the world where they would potentially interact with other people, they needed authentic names.
Whisper had decided to keep hers, for she felt it fit her well, and was not too anomalous. Now an idea for his own name occurred to Thirteen.
"Aleksander Felis," he tested, weighing the full name.
"What?" Whisper glanced up at him to meet his zumaridi, zamaradi green eyes. Her own was reflecting the night sky and navy blue sea, but caught a hint of the green-emerald and silvery-gold the sheen of the moon colored the boy's hair.
"Perhaps that shall be my name. What better way to honor Dr. Felis?"
"Aleksander," Whisper tried. She smiled. "I like it. It suits wewe well." She yawned and nestled her head in the crook of Aleksander's arm, listening as he uttered the name to himself, getting familiar with his new identity.