He considered the possibilities. Perhaps there was something in the
idea of building up a food industry. If you had inside tips on where
the fish were, how could you miss? Then, the Tridentians must have some
knowledge of where to find metals, since they used them. He suspected
that they had factories somewhere.
"Come to think of it," he asked himself, "how do I know it isn't some
savage tribe that picked me up? One of these days, I may wind up with a
more advanced bunch. I'll have to ask Big Fish when he comes back."
He began to plan what he would do if he reached some higher
civilization under the sea. Anyone with the knowledge to mine metals,
or maybe to extract them from sea water, would be interested in
contacting Terrans from another world. There would be a little trouble,
probably, in getting them to comprehend space, but some of them could
be sent up to the surface in tanks. Then there would be a need for some
Terran who knew both worlds.
"I could wind up an ambassador!" Harris told himself. "I wonder ...
maybe I could even work it with this bunch. If I could only get out of
here! Come back in another submarine, maybe."
He began to pace the length of his tank and back, stopping once to
gather up the fish that had been bought for him by some of the crowd
outside. He noted that the latter was constantly changing without
varying much in total number. He took to walking around the sides of
the tank, staring into each set of eyes.
In the end, this had such a hypnotic effect that he imagined himself
swimming through the dim, greenish light. The sea-people outside began
to appear as individuals. He grew into the feeling that he could
recognize one from the other.
He found himself running for the corner where he had collected his
fish. The sound that had triggered the reaction originated at the
opaque end of the tank. It was followed within seconds by several jets
of water, white and forceful, which entered near the floor of the
structure.
Harris snatched up his supply of food to keep it from being washed
away. With one hand, he tried to roll up the legs of his pants. He
never seemed to be prepared when the time came, but he was constantly
too chilled to go around with the trousers rolled up all the time.
The water swished about the calves of his legs. After a few minutes, it
began to recede as the Tridentian machinery pumped it out. Soon, the
tank was clean of everything but Harris, his fish, and the thick smell
of sea water.
_He was good_, came a thought. _I see you are eating too._
A large shadow passed overhead. Most of the Tridentians wiggled their
eye-stalks in an effort to look amiable. Harris dropped his fish to the
damp floor.
"No, I'm not eating," he said. "I'm all wet."
_So am I_, answered Big Fish.
"But I'm not usually," said Harris.
_I know. It is unkind, they way they let you dry out. Would you like me
to knock in the end of the tank? You could have all the water you want._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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