Mosaic (Breakthrough Book 5)

by Michael C. Grumley

“I’m not sure how we explain to them to look for something unusual.”

  Chris grimaced. “What we really need is to be able to see what they’re seeing.”

  “But unless it’s relatively shallow, we may not be able to see much anyway. Even if we managed to rig up a camera and lights.”

  “Especially with how fast they are,” Borger added. “It’s hard enough trying to understand what you’re looking at through a rover’s camera. And those are much slower than dolphins.”

  “There’s got to be way,” Alison’s voice crackled. “Their echolocation is so much more effective.”

  “Wait a minute,” Chris said. “Wait a minute! The echolocation. What if we could use their echolocation?”

  “The problem is still describing it to them, Chris. And having them describe what they see to us.”

  “No, no. That’s not what I mean. I mean literally. Literally using their echolocation.”

  Borger wrinkled his nose at the others. “What does that even mean?”

  Chris stared back at the phone. “Alison knows what I mean.”

  Another long pause on the phone told him he was right.

  “You’re talking about the CymaScope,” she pondered slowly.

  “Exactly!”

  Borger studied Chris. “CymaScope? As in cymatics?”

  “That’s right.”

  “What’s that?” Caesare asked.

  Borger beat Chris to the answer. “Cymatics is the science of making sound visible.”

  Caesare glanced at Neely, who nodded. “I’ve read about that.”

  Everyone’s attention returned to the phone when Alison spoke. “Okay, Chris. Tell them.”

  Chris Ramirez straightened and pressed his fingertips together. “You remember Ali and I telling you guys about all those other teams working on the dolphin language?”

  The group nodded.

  “There are dozens now,” he continued. “All working on different angles. And one team in Mexico did something amazing a few years ago.”

  “The organization is actually called Speak Dolphin. No joke.”

  “That’s right,” Chris said. “And what they accomplished had never been done before, using cymatics. They recorded the signals of a female dolphin’s echolocation bouncing against one of their own researchers. A human. And then they took those signals, and with some computer enhancement, turned it into a video picture.”

  “They turned a dolphin’s echolocation into a picture?”

  “They did,” Chris nodded. “It was only in black and white but what it showed was astonishing.”

  The others looked at him expectantly. “Well? What did it show?”

  “It distinctly revealed an image of the man!” he blurted out. “The actual figure of the man!”

  “Really?”

  “Yes! Of course, it looked more like the Pillsbury Doughboy, but the human figure was remarkably clear. And I’m sure the process has gotten better since then.”

  “That’s incredible,” said Neely. “If we could do the same thing and use one of our hydrophones to capture their echolocation’s signals…”

  “We could see what they’re seeing!” exclaimed Chris.

  Caesare shook his head incredulously. “Will?”

  Borger looked to Lee Kenwood, who nodded in consensus. “It’s possible. The hard part is figuring out what computer enhancement they did on the data.”

  Clay’s voice spoke up over the phone. “Unless we get a copy of the software.”

  “Well, there’s that.”

  “Okay, let’s find out where this place is at.”

  “No need,” Alison said. “Chris and I know exactly who they are.”

  160

  The return flight from Greece seemed to go faster than the trip out. Even though Alison did not sleep this time.

  She couldn’t. The thought of actually witnessing what Dirk and Sally were seeing had her completely transfixed. Why hadn’t they thought to try that before? She and Chris had both discussed it after the Speak Dolphin team made the announcement years ago, but with everything else going on, the idea gradually receded to the back of their minds.

  Regardless, she was now as excited as she had ever been, working her passion as a marine biologist. Being this close to a new discovery reminded her of those first breakthroughs with Dirk and Sally in the aquarium.

  Clay watched her from his seat. “Can’t sleep?”

  She shook her head. “Can you imagine? Actually pairing the ability to see their echolocation with the ability to speak to them in real time? Can you imagine the kind of communication this could lead to?”

  “Pretty incredible.”

  “Yeah. Kind of mind-blowing really. This is almost like being inside their head. I mean we’re talking about a level of communication never thought realistically possible before, ever.”

  “You’re changing the world, Alison. One step at a time.”

  She gazed fixedly at him, almost dumbfounded, before something unrelated occurred to her. “By the way, how did you know all that stuff about the Terra Firma ship being found by that maritime outfit?”

  Clay relaxed and eased his head back against the seat. “I did some reading on it.”

  “When?”

  He closed his eyes and grinned. “When you were busy not snoring.”

  ***

  On the Pathfinder, Steve Caesare was peering at Neely Lawton, curiously. The rest of their team, having spoken to the lead engineer at Speak Dolphin, was now working elsewhere to download a copy of the software used.

  “You’re unusually quiet,” Neely said.

  Leaning against one of the metal tables, Caesare mused. “Why didn’t you tell Alison about what happened outside with Li Na and the dolphins?”

  “Because,” she said thoughtfully. “I think she’s going to want to see this for herself.”

  161

  The distant lights of the Pathfinder were too faint for Alison and Clay to spot from their plane. It was just below, in the dark ocean. The ship’s pointed bow sliced powerfully through rolling swells as it surged northward in the darkness.

  Overhead at 21,000 feet, the Gulfstream III edged past the smaller island of Tobago. It began banking to the left for its planned descent back into Trinidad’s main airport.

  Upon landing, Alison and Clay deplaned and took a taxi to the east side of the island, arriving at a nature resort in the quiet town of Salybia. From there, it took them several minutes to find the small private beach, where, in the darkness, a large fishing trawler was anchored and waiting patiently a few hundred yards out.

  The boat’s silhouette could be seen gently rocking back and forth beneath a full moon, with silvery-edged clouds passing between Earth and sky.

  On the water, the outline of a small dingy left the trawler’s shadow and headed to shore.

  Clay and Alison trudged up the sand, happening upon a couple lying on a towel not far away. Clay smiled, noticing they’d been caught off guard in a nightly embrace.

  He glanced over his shoulder. “What were you saying about romance on the beach?”

  “I said in the surf,” Alison humorously corrected him.

  “Then let’s hope the tide doesn’t come in while they’re necking.”

  “Necking?” Alison laughed. “How old are you?”

  “Don’t judge. I think I look pretty good for seventy.”

  She laughed again and continued following him. When they reached the water, they stopped and waited for the shadowed dingy to approach, its small motor purring softly. Inside the boat sat a single individual, who jumped out immediately upon beaching, smiling broadly. The moonlight revealed the shadowed face of their friendly neighborhood smuggler, Tomas Lopez.

  ***

  Traveling out to sea and nearly four hours later, they finally reached the giant and minimally lit Pathfinder. Resting at anchor precisely at Clay’s coordinates, it lay under the same bright moon from earlier, still passing in and out of the clouds.

 
; Idling its engines, the trawler approached and glided toward the ship’s barely illuminated stern. Behind Clay, Alison peered into the darkness to see dozens of heads bobbing above the reflective water.

  “Looks like they didn’t have any trouble convincing the dolphins to come along.”

  “Would have put quite a crimp in our plans if they had.”

  The first person to appear was Steve Caesare, recognizable by his wide frame. He was soon followed by the taller and more rotund shape of Will Borger.

  “Ahoy, sailor,” Caesare called and caught the line thrown by one of Lopez’s crew. He pulled it in hand over hand and secured it to the Pathfinder’s deck.

  “Welcome back.”

  Alison eagerly stepped up with a hand from Borger for support. “Thanks. Felt a lot like a road trip with no stops.”

  Caesare grinned. “Believe me, there are far worse ways to travel.”

  “But not better company.”

  “I have to disagree with you there,” Caesare said, poking fun at Clay as he stepped aboard behind Alison.

  “Thanks a lot, buddy.”

  Caesare clapped his friend on the shoulder and laughed. “Come on. We’re almost ready. Corbin and Beene are suiting up.” He turned back toward Alison. “And we have something rather interesting to tell you.”

  ***

  They found Neely waiting for them in sickbay, next to Li Na, positioned calmly on the edge of the fold-down medical bed. Around her right arm, a blood pressure cuff had just been removed by one of the ship’s nurses.

  “Still normal.”

  “Good.” Neely noticed and smiled as her friends entered the room. “Welcome back,” she said. “I wasn’t the least bit jealous over that trip.”

  “It wasn’t that bad,” Alison said, squeezing Clay’s hand.

  Neely briefly hesitated and eyed the nurse, waiting for the woman to leave the room. When she did, Neely turned back to Alison.

  “Okay, my curiosity is piqued. What’s up? Steve says you have something to tell me.”

  “You could say that.” Neely nodded, glancing at Li Na. “Still feeling okay?”

  The teenager nodded cheerfully. “Yes.”

  “I trust you both remember what I said about the changes we’re seeing in Li Na. Genetically.”

  “Of course.”

  “And my worries over what could be rather unpredictable changes.”

  “Yes.”

  “Well,” Neely began as she folded her arms, “unpredictable may be an understatement.”

  “Meaning what?”

  “Li Na here had an interesting experience yesterday. After you left. And…there’s really no other way to describe it.” Neely raised her eyebrow at the teenager. “Li Na?”

  The girl took a deep breath. “I, uh…heard them.”

  “Heard who?”

  “Them,” the girl said simply. “The dolphins.”

  Alison wrinkled her brow and looked at Clay. “You heard the dolphins?”

  “Yes.”

  “Through our computer?”

  Li Na shook her head.

  “I’m not…following.” Confused, Alison looked to Neely for help just before her eyes promptly narrowed. “Wait, what do you mean you heard them?”

  “She means without the computer,” Neely clarified.

  “Huh?”

  “Listen, I think something’s happening here. On a much deeper level than we thought. For all the problems Li Na has had to endure, there may be something even more important taking place. Something rather unexpected.”

  Neely continued, “And it may be related to the Big Brain Trio theory that DeeAnn explained to us. And how similar our brains are. How oddly similar. This is what you and I talked about, Ali. In fact, you’re the one who first asked the question. If another level of communication did exist somewhere between instinct and cognition, could it also be shared between animals with such similar brains?”

  “You said it was possible…theoretically,” Alison recalled.

  “I think it’s more than theoretical now.” Neely placed a hand gently on Li Na’s shoulder. “We’ve tested it several times and there is clearly something unique occurring.”

  An incredulous Alison peered at the younger Li Na, who nodded. “I am hearing them.”

  “What are you hearing?”

  “Not words. But something that feels more like…feelings.”

  “Feelings?”

  Li Na began to reply but then held herself back.

  “It’s okay,” Neely prodded. “You can tell her.”

  After a moment, the teenager added, “It feels a little like music, without the words. And not as strong.” She spoke to Neely. “What was the word you used?”

  “Rhythm.”

  “Yes. Maybe like a low rhythm,” she said. “Like when you play music too loud, and you can feel it in your chest.”

  “Oh my God.”

  Caesare leaned in next to Alison. “That’s exactly what I said.”

  “How?” she stammered. “How is this even possible?”

  “It seems her senses have been strengthening. And becoming more sensitive, ever since she woke in the hospital in China. At first she thought something was wrong.”

  “I thought I was getting sick,” Li Na admitted. “But I kept hearing things. More and more.”

  “I’m not sure specifically what’s changed,” Neely continued, “or what sections of DNA are different, but given the genetic problems Li Na is now having, I can’t say I’m surprised that even more things are evolving. Surprised maybe at what she’s hearing but not as much that she hears it.”

  Still stunned, Alison stepped closer to Li Na. “So, what is it you’re hearing from them? Or feeling?”

  At that, the girl lit up. “Well, they are very excited.”

  ***

  Several minutes later, after Caesare left to walk Li Na back to her cabin, Neely continued the conversation with the others.

  “As incredible as this is, it doesn’t mean it’s good news.”

  “Are you kidding?”

  “She’s still very unstable, Ali. If she has any more episodes, especially like the last one, it could still kill her.”

  “But I thought–”

  “Keeping her from eating animal products is only a temporary measure. There is no way to understand what’s really happening, and no way to understand what’s initiating it. Not here. Not on the ship. We don’t have anywhere near the equipment needed to figure this out.”

  “Then what do we need?”

  “A full-scale genetics lab for starters. Where we can study, and with any luck, track what areas are changing in an attempt to isolate the clusters. Try to somehow get a handle on the full scope of what’s changed. Because if we can’t…”

  “I understand.” Alison shook her head. “It’s just…so incredible!”

  “It is. But it will be a lot less incredible if she dies.”

  “Well, when you put it like that.”

  “Then our first priority,” Clay reasoned, “is to find a lab we can use, and hide for a while.”

  “Correct.”

  He looked at Borger. “Any ideas, Will?”

  “Not off the top of my head.”

  Alison remained quiet, focused on a faded spot on the cream linoleum, until all at once she pursed her lips. “You know,” she said. “I think I have a place.”

  162

  “I honestly haven’t the slightest idea.”

  Sitting in the tight communication room, Lee Kenwood motioned back to the screen in front of them. “How IMIS would decide to reference ancient Sanskrit in a translation is beyond me. Nowhere in the software is it instructed to do that.”

  Chris and Alison appeared just as perplexed.

  “But you said IMIS has already done some things unexpectedly, right? On its own.”

  “That’s true. Expanding the frequency ranges when translating for Dulce was one. The algorithms dealing with artificial intelligence have clearly taken s
ome steps we never intended. Or programmed for.”

  “So is it really that surprising it would look at a different language? Like Sanskrit?”

  Lee stared at Alison sarcastically. “Uh, yeah!” She shot him a look, causing him to shrug. “Okay, referencing another modern language wouldn’t surprise me that much. But Sanskrit?”

  “Maybe Vize just isn’t a word or a spelling used in other languages.”

  Lee raised both hands on top of his head. “I suppose I could…try to retrace.”

  “Retrace?”

  “I mean sift through the output and see if we can determine where the algorithms made that decision. Or more specifically, where the calculation was made. At least that would help explain how it got there. In the meantime, though,” he said, “I do have some good news.”

  Alison and Chris both waited expectantly.

  He opened another window on his laptop. “When I mentioned that I’ve been going back and reapplying IMIS’s new words to old translations, I hadn’t read back through the logs very far. Until last night when I read a highlighted section that was modified from an earlier exchange. One that took place a while ago.”

  “What did it say?”

  Lee made a cautionary gesture with his hands. “Let me just state that what I’m about to tell you is actually very cool. Because it’s more than just a word change. It’s a contextual change, which strictly speaking is more exciting in my opinion than a–”

  “Spit it out, man!”

  “Okay, okay. You know how the dolphins have been calling most of our manmade objects a metal?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, IMIS appears to be learning enough of that context to understand what they actually mean when they say metal. In this case, when they are referring to a boat.”

  “Okay.”

  “That’s the cool part. But the surprising part is that it has to do with a translation that we missed.”

  “Missed?”

  “I mean missed. As in completely. Although to be honest, who actually missed it was…you!”

  Alison stared at Lee. “Me?”