Free Ocean: The Sea Warriors by Brian Herbert, Jan Herbert

shore.
    On this initial recruitment trip she had discovered other new things as well. For the first recruits they picked up, Kimo used a small, improvised jetfish boat that transported people from the shore to the pod—a shuttle system. But, practicing with her own abilities, Alicia had discovered a way to allow others to ride atop waves that she generated—a technique she began using to bring people to the pod. In this manner she had been able to carry as many as four additional passengers with her on each wave, having picked up that many volunteers at a time from some of the port cities. It pleased her that she had enlarged on the manner in which she had transported Kimo from Wanaao to Honolulu, and that she was also making larger waves than she had demonstrated for Jimmy Waimea and his student-camera crew at Waikiki Beach. She would continue to work with her wave-generating skills, trying to improve them.
    In recent days Alicia had noticed an interesting commonality among the volunteers, an intensity and focus that was quickly apparent when each of them boarded at their various pickup points. Now she sensed the collective psychic energy of the passengers she’d left behind in the pod with Kimo, as if every one of them knew innately that they belonged together, that they were an important team.
    Of the two-hundred fifty-three verified names on the list, people that she and Kimo had hoped to pick up around the world, forty-one had notified Jimmy Waimea that they could not take the time to be involved with the Sea Warriors, or were not interested—and he had told Kimo before departure to remove those names from the list. A handful of others had simply not shown up to meet them at the announced pickup points, for unknown reasons. Kimo and Alicia didn’t speculate much about that, and focused on rounding up as many volunteers as possible, as quickly as possible.
    The recruits they had assembled aboard the high-speed pod—one hundred ninety-four of them—made for a good start, and that number should increase a little with additional stops in Ireland and Scotland, and then in Florida and Panama on the way back to the Pacific Ocean and Hawaii. Every one of the volunteers seemed enthusiastic, and determined to contribute. Most of the men and women were unafraid of being transformed physically by Moanna, while others expressed some trepidation—but at least all of them were brave enough to give it a try. One man who’d struggled with his fear said nonetheless that human beings needed to sacrifice themselves if necessary, to make up for the horrors and depredations mankind had inflicted upon the ocean.
    Now Alicia slowed even more in the water and remained high on the wave as she floated prone toward shore, with the sun continuing to warm her. She could see the dock now, and was heading toward it because that was where her young recruit was supposed to be, presumably with the permission of her parents or guardians. Alicia wanted to pick her up early if possible, but saw only an old fisherman on the end of the structure, sitting on a bench. His head lolled to one side, and he appeared to be dozing, not noticing her.
    Before leaving Hawaii on the jetfish craft, Alicia had practiced for days in the waters near Wanaao Town, and had successfully generated waves that were at least twenty yards in width. While she was doing that, in preparation for the trip Kimo did his own practicing, seeing what he could come up with to supplement her abilities. One morning he dove into deep water and brought back a school of skatefoils, large, flat whitefish that he taught to carry him and Alicia on their backs, skimming along the surface of the water. The pair had to sit on the creatures’ backs so as not to fall off, but the largest skatefoils appeared to be capable of carrying as many as seven passengers at a time, while even the smallest could accommodate two.
    Considering the unique, sea-related talents that Kimo and Alicia had, she