Free In Solitary by Garry Kilworth Page A

near the reef. We rode over the top as if we were as light as the breeze which carried us.
    I watched the shoreline until it was a black grin on the vast blue ocean and then I turned and talked to Tangiia to hide the fear I felt at leaving firm ground behind and courting the dangers of the open sea.
    ‘Have you thought,’ I said to him, ‘what a useful weapon fire would be against the Soal? They cannot abide any sudden change in temperature. Stella wants a rebellion. Perhaps we could find some way of using fire.’
    I thought about it for a few moments but realized that the reason I liked the idea so much was because it was a weapon that was remote from the user.
    ‘If I were practical,’ I continued, ‘I should have to admit that the only sure method is to attack the roots of their existence – the mushroom towers. Destroy one of those and the thermostatic balance over the whole world would be upset. Of course, the whole idea is insane,’ I added regretfully. ‘We have nothing with which we could cause damage.’
    Tangiia stared ahead but said, ‘Is that why they are so worried about Ostraylean mushroom? Why they want me and other islanders to help in repairing damage?’
    ‘Probably. The Ostraylean tower has always had troublewith subsidence.’
    Tangiia paused and idly wiped some seawater from his face while looking in the direction of the great Ostraylean mushroom. There were many such towers scattered around the world but none so large as the one that rose from the north-eastern area of the island continent, up into the banks of cloud above the Earth’s surface. This monster was the thermostat for the whole of the south ocean.
    ‘If we could only cause that tower to fall,’ I murmured. ‘But one of its girders is as wide as a needle tower. It would take more than a handful of humans to move that monster.’
    I fell silent then and allowed Tangiia to manage the outrigger without interruption. It was a pleasure to watch him and I felt very envious of his skill. He was a man, complete and able – confident in himself, and he needed no one else, as I did, to lean upon for support. For all his lack of intelligence – and even that fact might only have been a product of my pride, which would not allow me to believe
anyone
was as clever as myself – he could stand alone. He needed motivating, however, otherwise he would have fetched himself a woman on his own initiative.
    ‘You know she will be very angry with you?’
    He meant Stella, of course, and I nodded.
    ‘You don’t need to go back,’ he added. ‘There are thousands of islands in my ocean. You can stay away.’
    I shook my head.
    ‘No,’ I said. I needed Stella, whatever she might lead me into. Then I asked him a question.
    ‘Why haven’t you found yourself a woman before this? Surely everyone does not obey the law to the letter? In fact,’ I added, ‘I seem to be the only human on this earth who does take the law seriously. It appears to be quite normal for young men to slip out into the night to seek comfort in a woman’s arms.’
    ‘This may be true,’ replied Tangiia, ‘but I do not like all women. Most of them live some way from my island – and I want only one woman – she is … special to me only. Do you understand? I would have gone for her anyway – one day.’
    Tangiia had some palm leaves spread on the floorof the canoe and I began to arrange them on top of me. Partly because it would keep the sun off me the following morning and partly to hide me from prying Soal eyes, should a chiton find its way over us. It was not foolproof – but then nothing was that.
    ‘I understand,’ I said wearily; falling off to sleep. It only occurred to me as I started to doze that I might offer to help the tanskinned sailor – perhaps take a shift in the night – but his golden statue in the dying light faded from my mind as I drifted off without speaking.

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Wave
    …
each like a wave climbing over a wave
…
    Polynesian navigation is