Greyla awakened from slumber, suspended in time and space, aware of a gentle floating sensation. A parade of emotions passed through her consciousness, but she couldn’t tell if they were her own or not. Currents of memories and thoughts carried her mind along in no particular order.

She asked a question of herself, “Where am I?” and was surprised to hear an answer, a voice in her head.

“You’re in my ship. I have you now.”

She was jarred awake. ”Who are you?”

“I doubt you’d understand. It would only frighten you. Leave the understanding to me.”

“No. I won’t accept that. Tell me who you are.”

The sound of disembodied laughter filled her mind.

“Are you trying to frighten me?”

“Oh, you already are frightened," the voice said. "I know all about you. I’ve examined you thoroughly.”

Greyla, with some effort, began to remember the recent events while exploring the wreck.

“You took me! You grabbed me and pulled me down into the wreck.”

“So I did. More fun than I imagined I'd ever have again, I’ve been wasting away on this broken piece of junk too long.”

“I don’t remember having any fun.”

“You were unconscious while I was probing your mind. I was thoroughly amused. It’s been quite a fun game hiding from your lover.”

“He’s not my lover.”

“He acts otherwise. Amazing how different one’s point of view can be from another’s. But no. I see you're in love with someone else.”

“Tell me what you were so afraid of when I found you.”

“Nothing more than the fear of being lost here for an eternity. Endless loneliness. Every time a vessel passed by, I wept. I’m right here below the surface, but invisible to your kind. I must admit I was surprised to find a mental connection to a member of your species. Such luck. Finding an empath on this primitive world? I’d given up hope.”

“How long have you been stranded here?”

“How long? That’s a temporal question and I don’t share your frame of reference. Let’s just say I've counted enough fish to feed you and your friends for a mortal lifetime. Counting fish, counting, counting, sorting and cataloguing fish and sea creatures. I must be completely mad by now.”

“If you think you are, you probably aren’t.”

“No. I see it differently. From my point of view I must be. I’ve pondered my stupidity for coming here. I must have been half mad to begin with. Why would I leave a perfectly good life to risk an adventure such as this? Despair has driven me beyond the point of all return. I shall never be sane again, if indeed I ever was.”

“What’s your name?”

“Gengor."

“What are you? How did you get here and where are you from?”

“Ah, better questions, but it’s your turn to answer one. Where are they taking us?”

Their conversation was cut short by an approaching light down the corridor behind them.

She attempted to cry out, but found her voice stifled.

“Greyla!” Jejliard's voice came through like a distant echo on the silent ship letting Greyla know her helm radio must be working. Still, she couldn't answer aloud.

"Jejliard, can you see her?" Hal asked.

***

Gengor took hold of Greyla and raced down the corridor with her. Caught by a pair of invisible arms, she tried to break free but was plunged into darkness again.

"That's who you want. You're in love with the one called Jejliard." Gengor said.

“Let go of me you bastard!” She tried to grab hold of a railing to stop them, but the alien invaded her mind again. She melded back into the ship and her consciousness faded.

***

The radio cracked and popped with a communication from the Solar Wave coming through.

"I've brought the nodda in and have the wreck pulled up to the sub," Tajlon said. "I'm moving north of the rift."

"Good. I don't want to hang over this chasm any longer than we have to," Jejliard replied.

"How's you coming along down there, Dad?"

"Hal and I spotted Greyla, but she was seized by some creature again. I tried to get hold of it but it gave me the slip. Hal managed to stab it with a flare and then we lost it again. The thing must be living in this wreck."

"Greyla disappeared again and then we heard her yell out for something to let her go," Hal added.

"I thought I heard her voice, but the static was so bad I couldn't make it out. Are you saying she's been abducted?" Tajlon asked.

"Well, she wasn't cursing at me for a change," Hal remarked. "No ransom note either. I don't know, an octopus maybe?"

***

Koutou had overheard Greyla's voice on the radio. His sense of hearing was superior to the humans and the words 'let go of me you bastard' were clear to him. Jejliard and Hal had fought with a creature that could materialize and dissipate at will. That could only mean one thing. Gengor had learned how to control the ship's dimensional interface and was in possession of Greyla. He had melded her into the ship with him and trapped her there. That would explain her disappearance and why the guys couldn't locate Greyla earlier. It also meant the ship's power core had remained intact and supplied energy to keep Gengor alive. The spaceship had fallen so deep in the rift that it could have been suicide for him to attempt such a deep dive before now. If he were unable to get aboard the sunken vessel and replenish his energy in time, he would perish.

Widhbo left a behavior command in the minacaw, Koutou, to stay asleep on his perch inside the T. Biscuit. When Widhbo separated his energy essence from the bird host, he could only survive for a short while outside a living body. It took a large amount of energy to sustain an independent physical form in this dimension and he would soon be depleted to the point of disintegration. He had gained experience over time and could assume the likeness of any creature. He preferred the shape of the great white bird he had first encountered on Beldora. The form he took was arbitrary, but he had to choose something and saw no reason to make his task more difficult by changing up the program. It was this mythical bird who was familiar to the islanders through oral tradition. Few had ever seen him, but consistency seemed the best policy. It reinforced the legend and lore. No matter how bizarre circumstances were, they would accept anything he might do as their Widhbo.

Widhbo teleported to a point above the sloop, transformed into the white bird and soared across the night sky. He focused on the lights from the sub below and dove into the twilight sea. He knew the wreck, what was left of his precious ship, lay adjacent to it. A thrill of recognition flashed through him when he first saw it again. The jagged hole in the hull was painful to look at, but it afforded the quick entry he needed. He knew the power core was still active or Gengor would not have survived to lure Greyla to the vessel. Widhbo was counting on the ship to allow him to recharge the energy he was losing every moment he sustained an independent three-dimensional energy form.

Upon entering the ship Widhbo sensed Gengor's presence. It pervaded the ship. He analyzed all the life signatures recorded in the hull and found Greyla had in fact been absorbed into the ship. He was heading toward Gengor's location when he ran straight into Jejliard and Hal in the main passageway off the center flight deck. There was no time to answer questions and he decided now was a good time to meld into the wall himself. The ship immediately recognized its master programmer and Widhbo welcomed the warm surge of power as it shared energy with his being from the energy core. He wished he could linger there and simply enjoy his new vigor, but soon found Gengor manifested in the wall where he had retreated from the search party. Gengor had rendered Greyla unconscious and was holding her captive in the wall.

"Gengor! This is how you welcome my friends? Release Greyla this instant."

"Widhbo? I can't believe it's you. It's been so long. Why didn't you come for me?"

"Because you crashed my beautiful ship into an ocean rift. Idiot! I had to wait for this planet to evolve and develop the required technology in order to dredge you up."

Gengor had not considered the scolding he would receive. Fears of punishment came rushing to his mind.

"What will you do with me? I'm sorry, Widhbo. I had no idea. I just wanted to get away from that boring life on Corrudi. Please forgive me. I'll do anything to make it up to you."

"Shut up and release Greyla. I'll have no mercy on you until I know she's alright."

Gengor reluctantly obeyed and the ship expelled her back into the passageway. Greyla appeared before Hal and Jejliard in a dazed condition but restored to her body. Hal and Jejliard rushed forward to catch her floating form and Jejliard secured her with a lanyard to his belt.

"There. They can have her back. I was just playing a game," Gengor pouted.

"Don't pull something like this again, Gengor."

"I won't. I promise."

"I have to go. I will deal with you later."

"No, Widhbo. Don't leave me here!"

"You can't leave this ship. Surely even your foggy brain has figured that out by now."

"Why are you leaving?"

"I have important business to attend. You are my prisoner and have been from the moment you stepped foot on my ship. I'll deal with you at my leisure."

"Help me, Widhbo. Don't leave me here to die."

"You can't die as long as the ship's power core lasts. That's a very long time, Gengor. A long, long time. That will be your punishment. To stay on this ship until its power is depleted."

"I don't want to."

"That's why it's called punishment."

"Widhbo, please..."

"Enough. I'll check on you from time to time. Maybe even help your make some games to pass the time if you act properly."

"I don't know how to act properly."

"For starters don't try to make contact with the empath again. Goodbye, Gengor."

Widhbo left the safety of the ship's interdimensional matrix, re-materialized into the white bird and swam past the humans. He realized how mysterious all of this must seem to them and gave only a silent nod of his head, overhearing their conversation before swimming to the surface. Flush with energy, Widhbo circled above the sloop, He flew high into the night sky until he was out of sight in case someone spotted him.

***

"Did you see that?" Hal asked from within the wreck. "It looked like a bird of some sort. Is that what grabbed her?"

"I don't think so. It looks like the bird rescued Greyla," Jejliard replied. "We have Greyla, De'Marc! We are going back to the sub."

Danlea and Raemolle had stayed outside while De'Marc monitored the ship's radio. "They've found her!" De'Marc shouted.

"We've got her now. We're exiting this cursed wreck and heading for the sub." Hal called out.

"She's barely conscious," Jejliard said. "I want a medical team on full alert back at Nova Base."

"I'll put in the call now," De'Marc answered. "What exactly happened down there?"

"Truthfully, I don't know, but there's something very strange about all of this."

"I saw something on my sonar just now," Tajlon said. "Really weird. It came down from the surface and disappeared next to the wreck. A few minutes later, I saw it again, before it disappeared. The trajectory took it straight up out of the water. Did anybody see anything unusual at all?"

"I saw something that looked like a giant white bird in the passageway, but it was too blurry to make out very clearly. A few moments later Greyla just appeared out of nowhere," Hal replied. "Then it swam back out past us."

Widhbo came back to Koutou who remained sleeping on his perch. The power flickered again as he teleported, static cutting off communication with the sub temporarily. Widhbo could tell Koutou was growing old and he would soon have to find another host. Tucked safely away again in his small quarters he remained hidden from view and listened to the conversation that ensued.

Danlea related what she had seen as well. "I saw a giant white bird dive in the water over the sub earlier. Just now we both saw it circling this boat before it disappeared into thin air."

"I don't know what I saw, but it wasn't natural," Raemolle confessed.

The Widhbo." De'Marc half whispered. "It returned to rescue my granddaughter."

* * *

Tajlon called down to Hal and his father who had boarded the sub and shed their suits. "You're not going to believe this, but Captain De'Marc said it was the Widhbo who helped you out."

"We don't have time for games, Tajlon," Jejliard said.

"Seriously, Dad. I'm just repeating the message."

"We came face to face with something," Hal said. "It fits the description alright."

"I don't know what we saw, Hal." Jejliard replied.

"Well, as long as we have Greyla back, it doesn't matter."

There was silence on the Casgora Wind as everyone puzzled over what had just happened.

"Could you tell us a little more about this legend, Captain?" Danlea asked.

Before De'Marc could answer, Koutou spoke up. He couldn't remain silent any longer. "It is not just a legend. The Widhbo should be recorded in your history books," he said, opening the door to the T. Biscuit and poking his head out. "There's obviously an alien on the wreck who kidnapped Greyla. You can thank the Widhbo for getting her back"

"Again, you apparently know more than you're telling us about this." De'Marc said.

"He's a creature foreign to your world, more accurately from another dimension," Koutou said.

"The Widhbo indeed. Another dimension?" Raemolle scoffed. "Pure nonsense. You're a man of science, Captain. This is more rambling of a deluded bird."

"Do you have a better explanation, William?" Danlea asked.

"Yes. Group hysteria."

De'Marc toyed with his pipe, twirling it between his fingers. "How do you know all of this, Koutou?"

"I was here when the spaceship arrived, remember? The legends are true. The Widhbo isn't from Beldora either, Captain. Obvious when you think about it."