Leviathans of Jupiter by Ben Bova

It would make the Kin safer and better.
    For now, though, Leviathan had to accept the Elders’ decision. For now—
    Leviathan’s sensor members flashed a shrill warning. Darters! A huge pack of them out there, just on the edge of detection. Moving in the same direction as the Kin, but angling so that they were cutting across the feeble flow of food that was being sucked toward the growing storm.
    The darters were placing themselves between the Kin and the needed current of food. This was something new. Leviathan had never seen such a maneuver in all the images the Elders had shown.
    The darters were waiting to ambush the Kin. Not satisfied with attacking lone members, they were maneuvering to cut off the Kin from their food.
    This was something new. And dangerous.

OBSERVATION BLISTER
    As they left Dr. Pohan’s office, Deirdre looked up at the cyborg and said, “Thank you so much, Dorn.”
    â€œDe nada,” he said, then translated: “It’s nothing.”
    â€œIt means a lot to me.”
    He said nothing.
    She felt almost uncomfortable walking beside him along the passageway. She was not accustomed to having to look up at people, and he was almost ten centimeters taller than she, his shoulders broad, his torso like the thick body of a miner’s digging torch. He’s half metal, she kept thinking to herself. Half of his body is a machine.
    At last she said, “You didn’t ask what my medical problem is.”
    â€œDoes it matter?” he asked. “You need my help. It’s simple enough for me to give it.”
    They passed a pair of crewmen in gray fatigues coming down the passageway from the other direction. Both men smiled at Deirdre and glanced furtively at Dorn as they squeezed past the cyborg.
    Deirdre wondered, “What happened to you when you tried to make contact with the dolphins?”
    For several paces Dorn said nothing.
    â€œI’m sorry,” Deirdre said. “I shouldn’t pry.”
    â€œI saw my own past,” he said, his voice a low rumble.
    â€œYour past? That made you go berserk like that?”
    His voice heavy with misery, Dorn replied, “It was like all my nightmares at once.”
    Deirdre didn’t know how to respond to that.
    They walked on for a few more moments, then Dorn asked her, “Did you look up Dorik Harbin’s dossier last night?”
    Nodding, Deirdre replied, “Yes, I did.”
    â€œSo you know who I was.”
    She thought about that for a moment, then said, “But who are you now?”
    He looked down at her as they paced along the passageway.
    â€œI mean,” Deirdre explained, “the dossier stopped with the verdict at your trial. Dr. Yeager says you’re some kind of priest. And when did you…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.
    â€œWhen did I disfigure myself? When did I become a cyborg?”
    Deirdre nodded again. Another group of people were coming down the corridor toward them, five passengers, from the way they were dressed.
    Dorn waited for them to pass, then suggested, “We need some privacy to discuss this without being interrupted.”
    Or overheard, Deirdre added silently.
    She followed him as he headed for the elevator. He expects me to go to his quarters? she wondered.
    But once they got into the elevator Dorn called out, “Observation blister.” Turning to Deirdre, he said, “We should be able to speak freely there.”
    Australia ’s observation blister was a glassteel ring that ran around the circumference of the ship’s outer hull. It was an adornment for passengers, where they could look out on the universe from the safety of the ship. To the surprise of the shipping company’s management, hardly any passengers took advantage of the facility during midtransit. Despite highly advertised lectures and even cocktail parties hosted by the captain, most passengers had little interest in observing the all-engulfing