Key Out of Time

Hawaika's pink beaches and gentle seas conceal a problem for the settlers who arrive there: their ancient navigation tape describes islands that differ from those they find. Ross Murdock and Gordon Ashe, trained as Time Agents, want to investigate the planet's past. Their time probe needs a promising site, and finding one depends on exploration beneath the water. Karara Trehern and two intelligent dolphins, Tino-rau and Taua, help search the seas for traces of an earlier civilization.

The science fiction adventure gives its strange setting a practical edge through equipment, maps and uncertain knowledge. Ross enjoys swimming with the dolphins, although accepting Karara's place in the expedition is harder for him. Later, inside an occupied alien spacecraft, he recognizes controls from a previous voyage but knows how little he can safely assume. Readers drawn to time travel and planetary exploration will find a story concerned with the risks of acting on incomplete information and depending on unfamiliar partners.