It was Ko who broke the spell:

"I think you'd be best off leaving here now with us, Skip.
Something awesome has just happened here, and pretty soon
the place is going to be crawling with the cosmic
paparazzi."

Skip kept looking at Ko, as if to say "Go on ...".

"Skip, can you not see the galactic tabloid transmissions
even now?"

"MISSING SURFER TURNS UP IN ANOTHER GALAXY!"

"MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM THE HYDRA CLUSTER!"

"INTER-GALACTIC TRAVEL PROVEN POSSIBLE!"

"SURFING MAGAZINE EDITOR'S CLICHE #101 DISPROVEN!
SURFER RE-APPEARS FROM A COSMIC BARREL!!"
Jerry chimed in.

"Precisely," Ko continued.

"As Dat explained, since the Terran year 2110 exploration
of the Milky Way, our own galaxy, became feasible with the
invention of the Elbie Engine.  Since that time, over the
last one and a half centuries, the galaxy has been chartered
under the Crescent Review, and we have come a long long way.

But the Elbie Engine only permits travel to the edge of the
galaxy.  It cannot cross the intergalactic gulf, and we
could not leave the confines of the Milky Way.  It was our
all important limitation, just as the speed of light was the
all important limitation to all previous space engines,
before the Elbie. (derived from LB, Long Board)"

"However, this waxhead Pedro has changed all this, if this
subspace beacon signal can be validated as actually sourced
in the Hydra cluster.  Somehow, he has crossed the
intergalactic gulf, and not just the closest gulf, to the
neighbouring galaxy Andromeda.  He has travelled to another
galactic cluster altogether - what has happened here on the
Emerald Planet will be written into a brand new chapter of
the history of human discovery.  It will start here.
And it has started *again* with a surfer."

Ko turned to his crew: "Let's prepare to get topside within
the hour.  I want to get this message out of Pedro 's
subspace beacon, and if possible, attempt to lock into the
channel directly from the main comms module upstairs."

An hour later, and Skip stood with Ko and the crew on the
command deck of the Deep Space Probe Crescent IV.  Rosie
Connelley had established a direct sub-space communications
link to the Galactic Navigation Center, and it did not
surprise Ko or any of the crew when the number one man
from the GNC appeared as an image on the comms console.

"Greetings Commander Ko!"  An elderly and suntanned face
beamed across the intervening 52 thousand light-years
from the 17th to the 181st quandrant of the galaxy.

Fred Jetson was a relic of the early pioneering era of
the Crescent Review. He was probably in his seventies,
thought Ko, but it was evident he was just as alert and
lively as ever.  Skip, who stood to the side of the
console, picked him as an old surfer straight away, and
waved his hand in greeting:

"Hey Fred, still paddling into them eh?"

The four crew looked at Skip in expectation.

Skip simply looked at Fred's image and said: "You wanna
tell 'em, or shall I?"

"Nothing to it really.  Good to see you again Skip. When
was it?  The 19th Tour of 2264 was it not? Spent a good
portion of my long service leave getting a place on that
particular Surfahoy Tour to the Emerald Planet last year.
Worth every galactic credit."

The crew were certainly quite impressed, but Ko turned
the agenda about without breaking stride:

"So you have received a message from the missing Pedro?
What was the content of the message Fred?"

Fred picked up a remote control device and pointed it
off screen.  Immediately a further sub-module of the
ship's communications center lit up with the standard
set of diagnostics to host a separate session.

He turned back to the crew and Skip.

"We were quite shocked, as you can imagine, to receive
a standard sub-space signal from outside our own galaxy.
We placed a lid on the whole event as soon as it became
apparent that we were not experiencing some form of
machine malfunction.  However, there's no doubt that
the word will get out eventually - for it is big news."

Fred actually looked a little shaken himself, but seemed
to pull himself together with a deep indrawn breath, and
put on a brave face.

"Here is a copy of the message, Ko.  It is audio only.
We have quadruple checked the source location and our
best available estimates place this somewhere in the
Hydra Cluster - upwards of a few billion light years
distant.  It is a marvel that sub-space beacon energy
is detectable at that distance.  We knew it worked OK
from anywhere within the galaxy, but never had a chance
to be able to test it outside."

It is simply amazing that this technolgy is universal,
and we did not before today known it."

The secondary comms console flickered once, and a voice
(presumably the voice of Pedro Goofo) was heard over the
top of a background rumble of static:

"I need to speak to Skip Boylin, Surfahoy Tours, Emerald
Planet.  Please arrange as soon as possible.  I will
respond when this request has been engineered."

The transmission cut out, and in the silence of the
parties, the immensity of the gulf over which the
message had been transmitted reverberated like the
sound of raindrops against the sound of restless
oceanic expanses.

"The message repeats itself every 22 minutes, and must
be set on some sort of automatic mode.  We have tried
to send responses back to the beacon, but there has been
no reply. This situation is now just over 6 hours old."

Fred Jetson then looked to Commander Ko and concluded:

"We are glad that Skip is there with you, and we suggest
that you attempt to make contact without delay."

Ko nodded to Jerry, the navigator, who engaged the extra
galactic database to come up with the appropriate
directional grid for the Hydra Cluster.  In seconds the
sub-space beacon systems had been aligned with great
precision to the part of the shimmering dark background
space in which the Hydra Cluster nestled as a dim speck
of cosmic energy.

"Take it away Skip", said Ko, "and dont forget that this
transmission will be doubtlessly monitored by the GNC,
and others.  We should be able to directly receive the
next message when it arrives, and lock into his channel."

Skip seemed to be handling the situation well enough.

"You wouldn't have any coffee and doughnuts to fill in the
leadtime, would you?" he asked with a straight face.

He was reaching for his second cuppa when the message
arrived:

"I need to speak to Skip Boylin, Surfahoy Tours, Emerald
Planet.  Please arrange as soon as possible.  I will
respond when this request has been engineered."

Rosie quickly set the auto-calibration of the subspace
beacon channel while Jerry and Dat looked on, then nodded
to Ko and Skip:  "We're now locked in to his channel"

Skip cleared his throat and stood up.

"Hey Pedro!  You clown, you know how to shut down Surfahoy
Tours out of the Emerald Planet, dont you eh?  What's the
story lad?  Is there any surf out there in the Hydra?"

There was a dramatic slab of silence for a moment or two,
a brief flurry of subdued background static, and the
audio channel registered the return voice:

"The Hydra Cluster of galaxies?   Far out ..."

That was the extent of the reply.  It sounded as though
Pedro was undergoing a rapid exercise in reorientation.
Skip gave him a few more moments.

"Yeah, you waxhead, you appear to be currently
transmitting from the Hydra Cluster.  Are you all right
lad?  What's your status"?

Skip looked to Fred, then to Ko, and then to each of the
crew in turn. Unlike the others, he had met Pedro before.
It was a large number of tours that Pedro had taken, down
through the years with Emerald Planet operation. And Skip
had been there for the majority of them. But his momentary
reminiscing was cut short by the simple statement of
stark reality:


"Skip - you're going to have to help me get back.
I will let you know what needs to be done, but it
has to be done in the next forty terran days - that's
the extended limit of my provisions. The enviro suit
is holding up fine, Lemming Wool should be proud of
themselves today.  Skip, who is there with you
from the Crescent Review tribe?"

"Skip is onboard the DSP Crescent IV", replied Ko quickly.

"I am the vessel's captain, Ko Hanna Moku.  I surf, and
each of the three crew have at least paddled out - two
surf well. We are in orbit around the Emerald Planet.
Also present, via a secure official comms channel, is
the CEO of the Crescent Review, Fred Jetson.  He toured
the Emerald Planet in '64.  You may even know him. You are
amongst friends Pedro, surfers, and we will do what we can
- know that."

"Fred can guarantee the security of this exchange
transmission for a few weeks at minimum, after that the
galactic hackers may gain access to it.  Tell us what you
need to be done, Pedro, to get you back here safe."

The incoming audio exchange signal cut in again, prefaced
and emergent from a dull rumbling background static:

"Hey there Ko, Skip, Fred, crew.  This is the situation.
To get me back I need you to locate my spare board.  It's
a replica of the one I have here.  It is located on the
back wall of the second board room of the Surfahoy
Groundstation on the Emerald Planet. This board needs to
replicate my journey around the planet on a single wave."

"One of you, who are already out there, will need to do
this in about the next forty days.  There will be no second
disappearance. There will be no need to reverse power into
the barrel, you only have to cross the line marking the
planetary circumference.  It might be a tall order, but if
one of you can find it in you, then I have a chance of
making the return jump from where I am."

The crew and Skip and the image of Fred looked at each
other while the background static flared momentarily.

"You must select one of the biggest sets from the peak of
the fourteen day groundswell, three storms hence.  Anything
less and you will not make it around the fracture in the
crystal cliffs, which is just over half way around - on the
other side of the Emerald Planet."

"The board has to be surfed around the planet under the
power of the wave and of gravity and of the surfer alone.
There can be no other motive sources."

"You'll find that surfboard to have a control switch
located at the backdeck, and a master control panel
recessed on the front deck up towards the nose.  First,
the panel in the front, has four settings, each of which
can be ON or OFF."

"Setting Zero controls the entire system.  It should be set
to the ON condition after paddling out the back."

"Setting One activates an implanted modified inertial gyro
and guidance control mechanism which will enable automatic
stabilisation of the glide-path on the wave, and permit you
to catch whatever sleep-time is required, on the moving
face of the deep."

There was another burst of background static underneath the
audio transmission which gradually faded in volume ...

"Setting Two activates an accumulator of what might be
described as Aetheric Energy, but which is generally known
as the energy of the ZPF, or Zero Point Field. This setting
must also be switched from OFF to ON before the wave
arrives. It is the entire surfboard and its substructure
which will act as this accumulator."

"The final control in the panel, Setting Three activates
the release system and mechanism for this energy.
Sufficient to say, this setting must be OFF all the way
around the planet, but must be reset to ON within a mile
of the approach to the Surfahoy Groundstation.  This step
is critical.  Unless the accumulated Aetheric Energy is
released to, and available within the terrestrial and
cosmic environment at this time, then there will be no way
that I can return."

"It is the control switch at the back of the board which
will activate a form of resonant session establishment with
what is happening here in the Hydra Cluster, I hope, and
must be thrown from the OFF to the ON position after one
full circuit of the Emerald Planet has been made - upon
return to the impact zone outside the Surfahoy
Groundstation."

"I repeat though, do NOT reverse power back into the tube,
but just keep going on aways, and then pull off the wave.
I am not going to be able to maintain this open channel
for much longer from this end, as something is coming up
which I have to deal with, but I will call back, if and
when I can."

There was a prolonged crescendo of background noise
carried upon which, various cosmic expletives flowed
through the audio channel.

"Skip?"

"I am here Pedro"

"Skip, whoever goes for the ride, make sure to rig them
with my own standard issue.  And if you can, get word
back home, and tell little Hanna to get word to Bodi."

"I'll do that lad". Skip turned to the image of Fred Jetson,
who nodded his head once in silence. "You can count on it".

"Before you go Pedro, I'd like to ask one question".

Ko had walked over to stand before the ship's main Visual
Field Display Unit, where the Emeral Planet slowly spun
against the deep darkness of deep space, interspersed with
tiny twinkling islands, and archipelagos of cosmic light.

"What is it Ko?" The voice of Pedro Goofo was diminishing
and the background rumble of static was increasing.

"You're still on that wave out there, are'nt you Pedro?"

All eyes turned to Ko, who looked at the VFDU where the
ship's navigation grid had been zeroed in on a small and
seemingly insignificant spec of star-shine, some twenty
degrees over the horizon of the Emerald Planet below.

"That's right, Ko ... but it is a little bigger here, and
it is breaking right, in the opposite direction.  There is
another Emerald Planet out here and it is in some form of
Gaian resonance to the one you now orbit, and I have to
make it all the way around this one too, so that I might
win a small chance of return."

There were some indrawn breaths all around the command
module of the DSP Crescent IV, and another from the 17th
quandrant of the Milky Way.

As Ko continued to look out through the VFDU, the first
of it's three moons ascended quickly over the top of the
Emerald Planet's horizon.  Ko counted slowly to twelve,
and second moon followed suit, seemimgly as regular as
clockwork. A flashing arc of a solitary meteor lit up the
dark side of the planet.

What had been thought to a background static to the
sub-space beacon audio channel was none other than the
distant explosive thunder of another huge breaking wave.

Ko looked back to the focus of the navigation grid, where
the faint twinkle of the Hydra Cluster contributed to the
ever-present groundswell of the vast comsic ocean of light.
His voice took on a determined ring, and he spoke slowly
with a firm conviction:

"We will deliver the goods at this end of the wave Pedro".

The audio channel diagnostic lights flickered a few times,
and the background rumble and roar seemed much louder.

"Gotta get moving down the line Ko.  There is a big section
walling up far ahead here.  Good stoke to ya, man."

The secondary comms module registered the status of a
session drop-out, and went dim.

There was a deep silence about the command module of the
ship as it free-fell in orbit about the Emerald Planet in
the 181st quadrant of the Milky Way.  And there was a deep
silence in the CEO's office of the GNC HQ, far out on the
very edge of the 17th quandrant of the Milky Way, where
the sub-space message had been originally detected just
over 7 hours earlier.

And all the while, borne on the fleeting wings of photons
sourced billions of years earlier from another group of
galaxies, the twinkling spec-like vision of the Hydra
Cluster flowed into the immediate environment of the
Emerald Planet, and entranced the awed minds of the
assembled group.

Rosie Connelley, for some obscure reason, thought of the
ancient mariners of the old Earth, who had looked out,
from remote and far-flung strands, upon those ancient
terrestrial seas which surrounded them.  That primal
sea which would eventually bear them to the very edges
of their home planet.

And as she looked to the faint point of starlight aligned
in the focus of the navigation grid, she realised that
there was now a new emergence of the ancient mariner. One
which looked out from the very edges of that Starry Road,
the Milky Way, from where the terrestrial strands of
planets and moons and star-ships afforded the vantage
points of vision to as yet uncharted realms, across the
immense and universal depth of the cosmic ocean of light.

And she heard, in her being, a small inner voice,
remarkably similar to the voice of Pedro Goofo:


  "The Wave goes ever on and on
      Down from the sunlight where it began.
      Now far ahead the Wave has gone,
      and I must surf it, if I can,
      pursuing it with eager stoke,
      until it joins some larger swell,
      where many lifetimes' surfing meet.
      And whither then? I cannot say."


Rosie gave a little shudder, and looked about at her
company who were still standing silent, and entranced.

She thought they might do with a cuppa, heaven knows
Skip would ask for anothery before too much longer.
Ancient waxheads and cosmic mariners.



She deliberately set her first footstep down the trail
towards the coffee dispenser, and followed it
immediately with a second.




END of PART III





NEXT Chapter - The Emerald Planet (Part IV)