Ripple (Breakthrough Book 4)

by Michael C. Grumley

  Tay nodded and extended his thumb, signaling Smitty to begin rolling out the line. Lightfoot joined in by stepping beneath the winch and feeding the power cable out at the same speed.

  Waiting in the water were Gorski’s men, Corbin and Beene, both of whom moved into place on opposite sides of the drill and began guiding it away from the ship.

  ***

  A short distance away, Alison provided another set of eyes on the surface, looking for any noticeable warning flags. When the heavy drill dipped below the waves, she ducked below as well and swam closer.

  The bright beam from her helmet illuminated one side of the drill as it continued a gradual descent into the dark waters below.

  “Everything looks fine from here,” Alison called into her microphone. After Tay replied, she turned and was amused to find dozens of dolphins surrounding her, watching the operation in fascination. One of whom was Dirk.

  Alison. What do?

  “We’re studying the metal below, Dirk.”

  She could hear the wild chatter around her from the other dolphins, conversations IMIS still had trouble following unless Alison had her vest facing them. Instead of allowing fragmented exchanges through, they had elected not to have IMIS attempt to translate them at all. Rather, they simply allowed the clicks and whistles through as background noise. It would at least make them aware of external conversations without overloading the system.

  Floating in front of her, Dirk’s eyes were still following the drill.

  How metal do?

  Alison frowned at the question, again left struggling to find a way to make things clear with their limited vocabulary.

  “It’s hard to explain, Dirk.”

  When the drill dropped beyond the bright wash of Alison’s lamp, Dirk twisted his head back toward her.

  Alison. You come now.

  “Come where?”

  We show now.

  She smiled inside her mask. “Show me what, Dirk?”

  He repeated. You come now.

  Dirk turned and moved away, parting through the rest of the dolphins. Alison was left floating behind.

  Lee’s voice cut in over her earbuds. “What is he saying?”

  “I’m not sure. I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

  ***

  Dirk slowed, allowing Alison to catch up, where she then extended a hand and wrapped it gently around his dorsal fin. He accelerated, pulling her behind.

  Illuminated by her lamp, tiny specs in the water appeared from the darkness and zipped past as Dirk continued forward. After several minutes, she could feel Dirk begin to slow. Alison looked at her dive computer and found that they were still less than twenty feet below the surface.

  Together they rose over a wide reef, covered in glowing green vegetation, and descended the other side into a large circular area, protected from much of the swaying of the ocean’s soft current.

  ***

  From aboard the Pathfinder, Lee could hear Alison stop breathing suddenly through his headphones. “Ali, you okay?”

  There was no answer.

  “Alison? Are you there?!”

  Still nothing. After several seconds, he opened his mouth to try again when Alison’s voice replied in a whisper.

  “Yes.”

  “Are you okay?”

  Lee couldn’t see Alison nodding absently, almost frozen.

  “I’m okay.”

  Her wide eyes stared out through the glass face mask, mesmerized at what she was seeing.

  “Ali?”

  Again, she failed to answer. Lee began typing and brought up the video feed from her vest. When the image appeared on his screen, he was just as stunned.

  The picture was dark, but Alison’s LED lamp and the soft glow from the plants below was enough for him to see the scene before her.

  Lee was almost afraid to speak. “Is that what I think it is?”

  Alison smiled. “I think so.”

  Below her, around the reef, were hundreds of dolphins. All swam around in the same direction, forming a veritable wall around the circular depression in the reef. But what had truly taken Alison’s breath away was what she saw in the middle. Dozens of dolphins were all moving slowly, in short and tight motions––each one accompanied by another dolphin trailing cautiously just behind the first.

  It was the dolphins in front, moving back and forth, that Alison watched in anticipation. Because below each one was a short tail protruding out from their belly. Or more specifically, from their birth canal.

  “Wow,” Alison whispered. “Can you see that, Lee? They’re birthing!”

  Lee nodded. “I can. That’s amazing.”

  “It’s more than amazing. It’s never been seen before in the wild. Only in captivity. God, there must be fifty of them! Maybe more.”

  Together, with Alison floating in place and Lee on the monitor, they continued watching in silence as the mothers moved back and forth, helping their calves to emerge, tail first. Until they were finally out, whereby the mother would guide the new child to the surface for its first breath.

  Lee reached for his mouse. “I’m going to record this.”

  “NO!” shouted Alison. She shook her face mask back and forth. “Don’t. This is private, Lee. Something deeply personal. It’s a miracle they’re letting me see it.”

  “Right.” He retracted his hand and instead leaned forward onto the metal table in front of himself, continuing to watch in awe. “Why are all the others swimming around the reef like that?”

  “For protection,” Alison answered. “The males are protecting the females during the birth. From predators.”

  “Ah,” Lee nodded. He stared closer at the dark video. “It looks like there are some adult dolphins swimming behind the mothers. Can you see that?”

  Alison grinned and nodded. “They’re midwives.”

  “Are you kidding?”

  “Nope. You’d be surprised how similar their birthing process is to ours. If you take out the water.”

  “Wow. I can’t believe they showed you this.”

  Alison’s smile suddenly vanished upon hearing Lee’s comment. Yes, why had they shown her? Alison wasn’t the only marine biologist to grow close to dolphins. Yet to her knowledge, no other researcher had ever been allowed to see a birth in the wild.

  So why did they pick her?

  74

  Hello Alison.

  Alison peered up from the spectacle in front of her to find Sally appearing from out of the darkness, above the slew of creatures passing below her.

  Dirk moved effortlessly into place beside her.

  We show.

  Alison blinked before looking back down to the center of the reef. “Yes,” she remarked. “And it’s beautiful.”

  Sally did not answer. Instead, she merely continued peering at Alison with her dark eyes and perpetual cetacean grin.

  “Are you okay, Sally?”

  Yes Alison.

  She looked around through her mask. More pods of dolphins were swirling about. It was then that she saw another group of dolphins emerge, three of which she had met before. She recognized them immediately, not by their shape or sizes, but by their age. Their faded and marred skin appeared to be a slightly lighter gray than the others.

  We want talk Alison, Sally said.

  Alison stared carefully at the elders before eyeing Dirk and Sally suspiciously. That’s why. That’s why they showed her their birthing ground. To establish trust.

  “Yes, Sally. I would like to talk too.”

  When another one of the elders came closer and into better view, Alison was surprised at what she saw. From the patches and wrinkles on its skin, this one was not just old. This dolphin was really old.

  When it spoke, it sounded exactly like Dirk and Sally, using IMIS’s computer-generated voice.

  You come far. For metal.

  Alison nodded. “Yes, we have.”

  Why for metal?

  She chose her words carefully. “The metal is im
portant.”

  Why important you?

  “Because it’s not from here.”

  Where from?

  Alison looked at the other elders. “From the stars.”

  The beep of a translation error sounded in her ear.

  “Really?!”

  Another error.

  “Come on!”

  Then a third error.

  “Uh!” A flustered Alison shook her head, trying to start over.

  “They don’t have a word for stars, Ali,” Lee’s voice broke in.

  “No kidding.” She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking. “The metal,” she said, “is not made by us.”

  At this, the elder came even closer, studying Alison. The others closed in tightly behind. The oldest made a slight movement with its head that was akin to humans tilting theirs.

  You makes metals.

  “Yes. We make metals. As tools.”

  This time there was no error. And another of the elders spoke.

  How you make metal?

  At this, Alison stopped. How do we make metal? Were they asking how to build things?

  “I…I don’t know how to answer that.”

  No. No make. The oldest interrupted. We talk this metal. The strength of the dolphin’s speech suggested an exclamation.

  “What?”

  You come this metal.

  “Yes,” Alison repeated. “We came for this metal.”

  What you do?

  She wasn’t following. “What do we do? About what?”

  What you do metal?

  Alison still wasn’t sure what it meant until the elder rephrased.

  What now you do metal?

  This time the message was clear. So clear she felt as though she’d been hit over the head. They wanted to know what the humans were planning to do with the alien ship.

  75

  The door burst open, and the young Janvier was pushed forcefully ahead, stumbling into the front room of his own house. The room, though clean, was barely furnished. Most of their belongings had already been sold over the last year to pay for electricity and food.

  After their father had disappeared, the family had been abandoned by most of their friends, fearful of being subjected to the same fate.

  Sitting on their one remaining piece of furniture in the front room, Janvier was not surprised to find his mother and younger brother. However, the person sitting next to them scared him to death.

  The teenager tried to control his fear as he looked to his mother, trembling next to Amir Ngeze, the man who controlled much of Northern Rwanda. The same man who was responsible for their father’s disappearance.

  One of Ngeze’s men stepped forward behind Janvier, forcing the young man further into the center of the room and closer to the couch. Janvier looked away as a sadistic smile began to spread across Ngeze’s face. Sadistic, broad, and dark.

  He stood up and stepped toward the boy. “Well, look what we have here. Janvier Sentwali.” He moved his large hands behind his back, glowering.

  Ngeze then looked at his man, standing behind the teenager. “Where?”

  “We found him coming back down the mountain.”

  “Is that right?” He stepped closer again, now just inches from Janvier, who had his head down. “With your new friends?”

  The boy didn’t answer. Instead, his eyes rolled up slightly to his mother and brother still on the couch.

  “You can answer,” Ngeze said. “Your little brother told me all about them. The two men and the woman. And the monkeys.”

  Janvier kept his eyes on his mother, saying nothing.

  Ngeze smiled deeper and followed the boy’s eyes to the couch. His mother, still in her work uniform with hair pinned up and arms around his brother, stole a glance at Ngeze before lowering them again––the terror clearly evident in her eyes.

  Ngeze could see much of the boy’s father in him. Defiant. Even courageous. But his father eventually broke once he was alone and without his guards.

  Hired by their new president to find a way to bring Ngeze down, Gael Sentwali and his team damn near succeeded. It was only by taking extreme measures, by killing first his bodyguards and then Sentwali himself, that Ngeze effectively broke the back of the president’s mission.

  Of course, Sentwali’s family, now before him in what was left of their house and their lives, never knew the ultimate fate of the man they called father and husband. They only knew Ngeze had him, and each continued to believe he was still alive. That they could somehow bargain for his life. But his life had long since been stamped out.

  Their collective naïveté almost made Ngeze laugh. But he held his lips tightly together, waiting for Janvier to answer.

  After a long silence, Ngeze lowered his mouth and breathed sickly into the boy’s ear. “Look at your mother,” he whispered.

  Janvier’s eyes remained fixed on his mother, visibly shaking.

  “Tell me where your friends are, or this is the last you will remember of her.”

  76

  Under the glow of the full moon, John Clay tugged and tested the strength of the small nylon tent. Thick white straps traveled to the ground on either side, secured to the damp Earth. The ground, covered in grass, was surrounded by dense forest, but left a large enough clearing to provide room to camp for the night.

  DeeAnn turned from the primates, busily eating in the darkness, and grinned. “For us?”

  Clay nodded. “It’s not the Ritz, but it should keep you dry. Assuming none of you get claustrophobic.”

  He then moved away and knelt next to a small propane burner heating a single pan. A wrinkled strip of foil was wrapped around the bottom to block the light from the flame.

  She frowned. “That actually smells pretty good. What is it?”

  “Shepherd’s pie.”

  “Really?”

  Clay smiled back at her. “MREs have come a long way.”

  “I thought you guys ate trail mix or something,” DeeAnn teased. “Or grubs.”

  “We used to, but a man can only carry so much salt and pepper.”

  DeeAnn laughed. “That, I believe.” She turned to find Dulce approaching the tent, studying it carefully. The gorilla gently pushed at the opening flap and looked inside, fascinated.

  What this?

  “It’s called a tent.”

  The vest on DeeAnn’s chest beeped. “A place to sleep,” she corrected.

  Dulce seemed to grow more excited and stepped inside. She remained still for a long time, with her head under the flap.

  Clay laughed. “It’s not that big.” After a moment of watching, he asked, “Is she still all right?”

  “Yes. She’s in her element. Somehow she remembers. The smells and the sounds. She knows what this place is.”

  There was a nervousness in DeeAnn’s voice––something she was clearly worried about and something Clay had a suspicion about. He didn’t push.

  Instead they both watched with amusement as Dulce climbed into the tent and moved around. Her head created a round bump in the fabric that followed her.

  Dexter remained nearby on top of a fallen tree, laying in two pieces and broken near the base. Ignoring Dulce’s exploration of the tent, he continued chewing through a large green leaf while still watching the trees.

  An unexpected noise from the forest caused Clay to rise quickly to his feet where he unslung the Beretta M12 from his shoulder in a smooth motion. He lowered it quickly when Steve Caesare emerged from the tree line with his own gun crossed in front of him.

  He approached, nodding at Clay. “Nothing around for a good fifty yards. A bit further is a stream with fresh water. We can fill up in the morning.” Caesare noticed the movement inside the tent and quickly scanned the area. Finding Dulce missing, he looked to the tent again and shook his head.

  “I guess she’s never seen a tent before.”

  “Nope.”

  Caesare turned to Clay, who remained silent. He followed his gaze over to the smaller monkey,
still quietly chewing. “Something wrong?”

  Clay squinted. “Have you guys noticed Dexter?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He hasn’t been talking much. Even to Dulce.”

  “That’s not too uncommon.”

  “And he keeps watching the forest,” Clay added.

  They all stared at the monkey for a long moment. DeeAnn abruptly turned and walked to the tent where she held up the front flap and faced her vest at Dulce.

  “Come here, Dulce.”

  The bump in the fabric stopped and turned. After moving slowly toward the exit, the little gorilla abruptly poked her head out.

  “Dulce. What’s wrong with Dexter?”

  After the translation sounded, the gorilla looked at her friend. She then carefully stepped back out of the tent and onto the moist ground.

  Wrong?

  “Is Dexter okay?”

  Still staring at him, Dulce tilted her head. Without a word, she bolted across the grass and back toward the fallen log. She stopped next to him and stared at the trees, then turned and grunted, followed by several gestures.

  His high-pitched response was short.

  Dulce turned and spoke to DeeAnn. But her vest didn’t catch it.

  She moved closer to the gorilla. “Repeat, Dulce.”

  The gorilla’s response was as short as Dexter’s. And when it was translated through the vest, the reply caused Clay and Caesare to stiffen.

  Someone follow.

  77

  Both men instinctively raised their guns. “What?!”

  Someone follow, Dulce repeated. In trees.

  Clay and Caesare were immediately in motion. Raising their guns higher, they swept back and forth in opposing directions.

  “Get them away from the trees!” Clay barked. “Behind the tent!”

  DeeAnn immediately grabbed Dulce’s hand and wrapped an arm around Dexter, pulling him from his perch with a loud squeal.