by Peter Wood
‘Well, I’m sure there’ll be a nice lunch tomorrow when we wake up.’
The doctor shook his head. ‘No food till all the tests are done. At least three more days.’ His grin showed he was kidding, but Thom missed it.
‘Three days! Really? ’
‘No, not really. After you wake up we’ll monitor you closely but you can eat whatever you like.’
He led the way to the treatment room and indicated three comfortable-looking examination tables.
‘Okay boys, do you know what to do?’
More kidding around. They’d been here two days earlier for final tests and instructions.
Wirrin slipped his shirt off, settled himself on the middle bench and placed his head inside the containment cradle.
‘Ready for that food?’
Wirrin wondered why he said that, wondered where the three extra people standing beside his table had suddenly appeared from and then realised that his treatment must be finished.
‘Is it tomorrow?’
‘Not really. We don’t know how to do that, but yes, you have been here for twenty hours. How are you feeling?’
The import of the question sent Wirrin’s mind racing. He thought for a moment, looked round, considered, then stared at the doctor.
‘I don’t feel any different.’
The doctor nodded.
‘Good. That’s exactly how you should feel. Let’s try your InterWeb connection first … Set your holo display going.’
Wirrin gave the finger squeeze that activated his holo ring then quickly changed his standard-setting so the display didn’t overlap the doctor.
‘That’s it. Now remember your training and subvocalise your input.’
‘What will I get it to do?’
‘Anything … something simple … call up a schematic of the TransCom system.’
When he’d been training in a simulator, subvocalising required a great deal of concentration so Wirrin settled his mind and tried with ‘transcom’, ‘portals’, ‘schematic’, and ‘image’. It worked! A glowing 3D representation appeared in the space between himself and the doctor.
‘Zoom it.’
From habit Wirrin moved his hand then blushed and switched to the new mode. The doctor looked to the display one of the technicians was using and gave a pleased nod.
‘That’s excellent. Now switch to retinal image.’
Wirrin subvocalised the command and the hologram flickered. It took a moment to register, but then he felt a thrill of excitement. ‘Everything is clearer. It looks totally real.’
‘Close your eyes.’
The image remained and Wirrin grasped just how different this was from a hologram. He opened his eyes and tried to look at the doctor. It was quite disconcerting because the image was too strong to see through, but then he steadied himself and remembered the options from his training.
Turn the image off.
Refocus.
Change the transparency and switch to holo mode. He tried the transparency command and after a quick trial had the doctor’s face clear with the schematic as a faint overlay.
‘What did you just do?’
‘I couldn’t see you so I tried transparency to get the level right.’
‘Transparency mode? Are you feeling disoriented?’
‘No, it’s just like looking at someone through a half-strength holo.’
‘Well, that’s impressive … Switch back to holo so we can all see what you’re seeing.’
The technician took over and Wirrin spent the next half hour testing his InterWeb implants as everyone around him looked more and more pleased with each new result.
***
‘Does it feel any different, Galah head?’ Calen said. They’d just arrived back at their living space after hours of testing, instruction and demonstrations.
‘Galah head yourself! I’m not sure. I think so, but maybe it’s just because I know it’s different,’ Wirrin replied, gazing out over the still waters of the reach. He still wasn’t used to that view.
‘Me too,’ said Thom.
Calen was feeling sections of his skull, trying to detect the five extra millimetres that had been added by the implants. In reality none of them could notice any difference in the size of their heads. Wirrin put up holo images showing where the changes for each of them had been made, and then had fun making them bald and superimposing before and after shots to show the slight increase in size.
‘Hey, Calen, 79438216958.’
‘What?’ said Calen.
‘Say it back to me.’
‘Okay – 79438216958.’
They exchanged glances and looked at Thom.
‘All right – 79438216958.’
‘It’s strange isn’t it?’ Calen said. ‘My memory doesn’t feel any different either and it keeps surprising me that I’m right.’
This number recall proved to them that their memories had been enhanced – they could all consistently and reliably remember a string of ten or eleven numbers, a jump from their previous six or seven.
‘Go on, Calen. Say something in dolphin.’
Calen’s implants were special: he now had the ability to produce the sounds dolphins used to communicate. There was a soft cascade of clicks and chirps and Wirrin and Thom stared in amazement. Calen looked very pleased with himself.
‘What did you say?’ asked Wirrin.
‘Hello, Sonic – well, I hope that’s what I said. Hang on while I check.’
He concentrated for a few seconds then opened his eyes and shook his head. ‘Hullo, Sonique.’ Then he repeated the clicks and chirps.
‘Was that different? It sounded exactly the same to me,’ Thom said.
‘It was different. It was better, but I know Sonic’s going to laugh when he hears me.’
Sonic didn’t actually laugh but they knew what he meant.
‘How did you check?’
‘My implant’s got a database containing every Attunga dolphin. I watched the way Puck said it and copied her.’
‘Watched?’ Wirrin asked.
‘It makes me feel dizzy but it’s one of my rules: dolphins have body language and they expect me to learn that as well.’
He must be referring to the retina mode, Wirrin thought. ‘Can you show us on your holo?’
‘Sure.’
The image of Puck appeared and she made the sounds. Calen copied her. Once again Wirrin couldn’t tell the difference. Thom looked toward the pool.
‘Are you going to talk to them today?’
‘If they turn up, but Burilda told them I mightn’t be ready till tomorrow.’
‘What will you say?’
‘Not much. I only know about ten sounds and it will take a while to build my vocabulary. I have to practise like crazy.’
***
Wirrin floated lazily in their pool, listening to Calen and Sonic talking to each other and thinking the sounds were almost like music. They’d spent the day at the dolphin habitat on Warrakan, and Calen was explaining the progress he’d seen, excitement radiating from him. Up-to-date information on progress at Warrakan was available through the InterWeb, but everything had come to life today when they’d seen it for themselves.
Wirrin laughed when Sonic did one of his triple body rolls and nudged Calen’s stomach. It meant he was excited too, and Wirrin wondered which part of the day Calen was describing. Probably their trip on the main reach.
Just getting there had been a thrill.
Thom’s love of speed and motion had started him on a long course of study to learn how to control the mobile units used in free space outside Attunga. He couldn’t put much time into it as his organics training was so full on, but for several months now he’d been authorised to control some of the smaller units, and today he’d taken them to Warrakan in a personal transporter. He was always raving about what a blast everything was so when he’d said they were going to have the ride of their lives they hadn’t taken much notice till he shot away from the docking bay
at a full 2G. Thirty seconds later stars raced across the display screen as he pushed the thrusters in a 180 degree loop so they could face Attunga. Wirrin gasped and Calen whooped with amazement while Thom grinned his delight.
‘How did you like that?’
‘You maniac!’
‘That was 2G. Wait till I show you 8G.’
‘No you won’t. That’s too much. Even I know that.’
‘Don’t worry. I’ll set the grav-field compensation so we never feel more than 2G.’
‘Aren’t we too close to Attunga?’
‘Don’t you think I know what I’m doing?’
‘Trying to freak us out.’
Thom’s grin widened, and for the next half hour he’d done exactly that, with great gusto.
Later, zipping along on skimmers, Burilda had shown them the whole length of the reach – already ten times longer than Attunga’s largest reach – as well as the deeper sections with reefs and underwater caverns. Now and then she’d call a halt to show them how the tiny marine life forms that would build a healthy ecosystem were flourishing.
***
‘What did you just tell him?’ Wirrin could recognise quite a few dolphin sounds but not when they were part of a rapid conversation.
‘How the seagrass has started growing, which means fish can be introduced in a few months. He’s keen to see for himself.’
‘And could we arrange that?’
‘I suppose so. When the dolphins ask for something it always happens.’
There was another quick interchange between Calen and Sonic.
‘He says to contact Burilda and organise it in the next few days.’
‘He does? Wow!’
‘And he wants to see the ice asteroids too.’
Watching an ice asteroid being manoeuvred into position beside Warrakan had been one of the day’s highlights.
Wirrin started to connect to Burilda and then hesitated. ‘Can he wait till next activity day? I’ve got special stuff happening till then.’
Sonic flicked his tail and a great slice of water hit Wirrin in the face.
‘Wh-what was that for?’
Calen shook his head, grinning. ‘You know how much he loves a joke.’
‘But he splashed me before you asked him.’
‘He understands human speech; he just can’t speak it.
Wirrin lunged at Sonic and lay across him, waiting for an eruption. When Sonic was in a playful mood, which was most of the time, anything could happen. At eight months old, and nearly a metre and a half in length, he was as big as any of them but his strength was amazing. Luckily he’d learnt very quickly how much rough stuff they could bear.
Nothing happened. Sonic loved to be touched so that must be repressing his urge to play.
‘He understands us? When did he learn that?’
‘He’s known lots of words for ages but three or four weeks ago he started understanding easy sentences and since then he’s been really working hard to improve.’
Wirrin was astonished. Even Puck, who was the most advanced dolphin and also the best at communicating, had to work hard to understand complex sentences.
‘In only four weeks? That’s impossible.’ A shiver of awe ran through Wirrin and he let go so he could look into Sonic’s eyes. What was going on in there? What must it be like to be able to learn like that?
‘How come you never told us?’
‘I wanted to but he said he wasn’t ready.’
‘So does he understand everything we say now?’
‘Well I think so, mostly, but I’m not a mind reader. Ask him.’
‘He can’t answer—hey! He just winked at me. How did he do that?’
Calen laughed. ‘It’s a dolphin wink. He flicks his operculum over the iris. In bright light, dolphins can close a sort of “lid” to protect the iris. It leaves two slit pupils. We think it allows clearer vision.’
Sonic did it again and Wirrin gawked at Calen.
There was a quick exchange in dolphin talk between Calen and Sonic, then Calen said, ‘He saw you wink at Thom last week and asked Burilda what it meant.’
‘Burilda knows he can understand us?’
‘Of course she does. Turaku told her straight away.’
‘But he’s so young. The other dolphins are more than two years old before they even start with the translators.’
‘I know. He’s special.’
There was a burst of sound from Sonic and Calen grabbed a mask. ‘We’re heading to the reach for a while so see what you can organise with Burilda … And next activity day is perfect.’
Wirrin watched the two leave their pool through the opening to the outer reach then connected to Burilda. He preferred retina mode nowadays – it was better than a holo – and now that he’d become so proficient it was much faster.
‘Hi, Wirrin. What’s up?’ She must be wondering because it was only an hour since they’d parted.
‘Nothing really, except Sonic wants to go to Warrakan next activity day and see the new reach for himself.’
‘Turaku has already arranged it. It’s quite a big deal.’
When an AI wanted something to happen, it did, but still, it was quite disconcerting. Less than a minute had passed since Calen had voiced Sonic’s request. Well, Turaku did monitor everything to do with the dolphins, and AI time was very different to human time.
‘And he winked at me.’
‘Did he get it right? I mean, was it appropriate?’
‘Yes, it was spot on. He told me he knew what I said.’
‘Did he? Well, now that’s in the open it means he’s officially made history again.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘In about a month there’s another meeting at the dolphinarium viewing gallery and scientists are coming from all over Attunga to talk to Calen and Sonic. It’s history in the making.’
Wirrin was stunned. This was bigger than any of them had imagined. ‘Burilda, he’s smarter than any of us.’
‘That’s a surprise? I thought you’d known that all along.’
‘Yes, but winking made it real.’
‘Well, there’ll be a lot more surprises in the next few years. He’s still only little, both physically and mentally.’
‘Physically? Is his body different too? Calen’s never said anything about that.’
‘Not really, but his growth pattern does indicate he’ll end up close to 5 metres in length by the time he’s thirteen years old.’
‘Five! That’s enormous.’ The biggest male dolphins in the dolphinarium reached just 4 metres. Wirrin hadn’t had much contact with them – they kept to themselves most of the time, and showed less interest in the humans.
‘Yes, he’s going to be very impressive.’ Burilda signed off with a cheerful farewell and Wirrin flashed an image of Sonic, scaled it up to 5 metres and superimposed it on the pool. Good grief! They’d have to enlarge the pool or he’d be cramped. Next Wirrin imaged one of the dolphin transport units Sonic and Puck would be using. They were rarely used because the dolphins didn’t like them. In this case Sonic’s curiosity must be overriding Puck’s reluctance; Sonic was still suckling and they were never apart for more than a few minutes. He was eating fish now that his teeth were growing, but only small ones, and Puck would still be providing milk for another year.
***
When Calen and Sonic returned, Calen was worn out, despite the protein structure Thom had designed for him. It worked well, and with all the time he and Sonic spent together, his water skills had improved so much he could leave Wirrin and Thom feeling slow and clumsy in the water. Even so, he’d never match a dolphin’s skills and trying to keep up was hard work. Sonic played for a while and Wirrin couldn’t help talking to him, despite the frustration of having to have Calen translate everything. Then, with a burst of sound and a quick nudge against Calen’s chest, he flipped underwater and disappeared.
‘Was it something I said?’ Wirrin was only half joking.
‘Puck
called him.’ Calen left the pool, dried himself off then went and flopped on his grav-bed.
‘What’s it feel like being famous?’ Wirrin said.
‘I’m not famous.’
‘You’re the first person who can speak to dolphins and Sonic’s the first dolphin who can understand people without a translator.’
‘That’s all Sonic. Not me.’
‘It’s both of you because you’re a team, and in a couple of weeks everyone on Attunga will know.’
Calen’s head jerked round.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Remember what Burilda said? It’s history in the making, and there’ll be hundreds of millions of people watching what happens.’
Chapter 7
‘We’re going in that?’
Burilda and the boys were watching the transport units for Puck, Sonic and Flute being ferried to a space vehicle which dwarfed the transport they were used to. Thom was disappointed to discover that he wouldn’t be able to pilot the transport, but the spectacle of this 200 metre ship had them gaping.
‘Yes, Thom. Turaku is taking no chances with Sonic so the security AIs on Attunga and Warrakan are running the expedition today.’
That was even more startling. Security AIs were almost legendary in their abilities and the Attunga ones were the most advanced in the whole solar system. At least that was Wirrin’s understanding.
‘Security AIs? That doesn’t sound good, Burilda. What are they worried about?’
‘K74 is only seven light seconds away and they continually send surveillance drones. If Sonic was in a regular transporter it would be an open book to them, and there has recently been an increase in activity and interest about enhanced intelligence, in particular with dolphins. Turaku says that Freedom had its firewalls breached and information about Attunga dolphins was disseminated amongst the directed habitats.’
Freedom was a habitat much like Attunga, though not nearly as advanced, which had just made a start on a dolphin project of its own, and much of the Attunga knowledge had been shared with them. Wirrin’s interest was piqued.
‘They got into Freedom’s restricted databanks?’
‘Not for long, but according to Turaku it was enough to understand how well our dolphins can communicate.’
Wirrin was shocked. Understanding how the InterWeb worked and the type of protections involved for habitats was the whole thrust of his training and he knew how difficult they were to circumvent.