One of the dolphins goes under his leg, lifts him up from under his thigh and splashes him down again. The dolphin then takes his ankle in its muzzle and drags him on the sea surface to the boat. It doesn’t bite and won’t allow Tirad to free his leg from its teeth. Tirad climbs up the gunwale. He needs a knife to fight the dolphins back. He runs to the cabin and comes rushing back to the deck. The sea is calm. There is no sign of the dolphins. He rolls the flashlight around and shines it on the surface. The dolphins are swimming away from there, bowing on the waves and singing as they fade in the horizon. Dalia is floating on the water. Tirad takes the knife with him and swims towards her. The only dolphin left behind from the school is still lifting up Dalia as if taking care of her, not allowing her to drown. As soon as Tirad approaches, the dolphin dives in and swims towards the rest of them. Tirad takes Dalia in his arm and looks under the water. The baby is gone. There is no sign of it. Tirad drags the passed-out body of Dalia to the boat and lays her on the deck, under the cloudy sky that is pouring with rain.

Chapter 35

Tirad has covered his nose and mouth with a cloth. He starts from the lowest corpses. He goes to the first hanging body that the sharp light of the flashlight clears its face. It’s a young woman, probably a new healer trainer of the Parsana Ship. He cuts off the rope that dangles her from her tied up wrists. He tries not to hurt the bloodless, livid fingers that are fisted together. He wants to hold under her arms and carry her down, but the body is heavy and he can hardly keep his balance as it is. He lets the body slide down on the ship’s platform. He goes to the next body and the next. Every three to four body that he unleashes, he goes down on to the platform, carries them to the platform edge and throws them into the dark water. He doesn’t cry or sing the Saviour Departing Hymns; he consigns them back to the sea. He can’t find enough stones to attach to them so that they would stay down under the water. It is no use anyway; when their bodies get swollen, they will float on the surface. These bodies are to be feasted on by fish, whether under the water or floating. The seagulls had their share already and when the bodies come back to the surface, they will have to share them with the fish.