by Chris Hechtl
Eating fish and lazing about was what their ancestors did in aquariums on Earth. They had listened to the primal dolphin recordings, seen how the others had been driven insane by boredom. Depression, deprivation, two-legs could be cruel with their kindness Kaku judged. He turned in time to see Nak'nak'chick's fresh injury. He scanned it with his melon. From the sonar image, his mind interpreted it was minor; the bruise wouldn't be noticeable to the two-legs. That was good. It was also quite close to the young male's genitals, so he was fairly certain it was quite painful. And since it was on his underside at the base of his tail, he would feel it as a reminder with every stroke of his flukes. Which was probably why the young male was coasting as much as possible, Kaku thought.
Dolphins bit and used other forms of violence as a method of keeping the lower castes in line … and on rare occasion for a lower caste member to fight to win dominance of a pod. It was a part of their culture as it was with chimps, the furry two-legs that vaguely resembled humans. The two-legs didn't like it and hoped they would eventually find another way. Kaku wasn't so certain such passive things would work out in the long run. The behavior was as much part of their social structure … passed on from observation and experience as it was their lack of hands to use to manipulate things in their environment.
It wasn't the corporeal punishment that was effective Kaku had realized early on; it was the fear of such violence that kept lower caste pod members from misbehaving. Which was why the pod alpha used it when a calf was starting puberty and ready to fight for dominance. One good thrashing was all that was needed for most to fall in with the pod. It was that or to be cast out to another pod. Kaku had tried to point out to the two leg known as Abrams that the beatings seemed harsh but were like a two-foot drill sergeant getting young humans in line. He wasn't certain if he had gotten the reference across to her, but she'd nodded.
That was another thing they and the two-legs shared, the head nod and shake. They had a few other common body language cues that each species picked up on like smiles, but they interpreted them different. And two-legs had so many different meanings for the same gestures; it was appalling trying to keep track! Kaku whistled a sigh and moved on, kicking a beat then floating on a ballistic course.
He would like to have hands he thought, wiggling the stubby digits at the end of his flippers. They would help with getting around while floating. He would be able to rebound off the walls like the two-legs did.
Half of the pods resented the two-foot's insistence that they needed proper hands, but others were all for such limbs. Some understood though that they needed a means to manipulate their environment. A few of her supporters were happy with whatever she decided to do to their children. If that was what it took to let them be treated as adults and to move on from the labs, they were ready and eager to get it over with.
Until that came about they had to use their implanted cybernetic link. WIFI ability allowed them to control robots remotely. They could also strap on a harness with robotic arms and use that if they wanted. There was even a walker that they could get into. It had a sling that supported their bodies, allowing them to move through corridors that had gravity. Why they didn't just turn the gravity off confused a few dolphins.
They did not know what to make of stories of their kind in places like the lab, but open to the sky on Earth. The wild ones, who had been captive for many generations, flipped and did tricks for the entertainment of the two-legs. To some they thought they would someday be there, back to being animals. Some considered it better than being in the lab. Those who were smarter in the pods didn't like it or what it meant for those trapped in such an existence.
Kaku was one such thinker, but he knew Tik'tik'clock could swim circles around him. Tik'tik'clock was big, the second largest male of the pod. As beta male he could and would take over the pod leadership someday. Kaku refused to go up against him; he knew that brain didn't win against brawn in such encounters. He also knew Tik'tik'clock could be a savage fighter if pushed.
Tik'tik'clock was a gen three male. He was wilder and had trouble speaking to the two-legs. He also resented the fingers on the flippers of those dolphins of the younger generations. If a calf angered him, he would threaten to bite them off. He'd done it once before. He'd also bitten flukes and genitalia during battles. He wasn't above using his mass to body slam opponents around the lab. He knew where one could get the most out of the padded walls, where a corner or hatch could do the most damage.
Kaku was proud of his sixth generation heritage, but acutely aware of the two generations that had already been birthed after him, and the new dolphins yet to be born. At least he had some input in how they would be developed and raised he thought. That thanks to the recent intervention of the pod leader two leg known as Jack.
The dolphin pods needed fortified fish to deal with null gravity health issues like osteoporosis and other problems. The bone and muscle tissue loss were being combated by supplements and regular injections of stem cells. Just about everyone hated the taste of the supplements. The injections were annoying and painful. For a while the older generation dolphins had to be cajoled into the shots, or even wrangled into it when they were young. Physically restraining a 200-pound dolphin in null gravity was quite a chore for the humans, chimps, and robots assigned to the task. Now that the younger generations understood the risks of their chosen environment they accepted the shots. It was that or accept the two leg's threat of placing them all in water once more.
There was some discussion within the pods and with the human scientists on what to do long term about the null gravity question. Kaku didn't want to go back to water. He'd tried it a few times at the two-leg Abram's insistence. It was different, but he didn't like feeling heavy. He could do different tricks though; one of the older gen had taught him how to blow bubble rings under water. That had been fun. But giving up the null gravity hadn't been worth such minor amusements.
-*-*-^-*-*-
Doctor Kathy Abrams smiled as she watched the breakfast feeding. It was a bit of an invasion of privacy, but since the dolphins didn't really have much of an issue, she'd long since given up on considering such invasions as such.
She'd interned for the lab when she had graduated with her masters but before she'd gotten her first doctorate. Her minor in marine biology had been a wistful thing, she'd taken the courses early on in her college education because at that time she'd wanted to work in an aquarium or as a scientist on a boat somewhere. She'd even dated a guy Pat who had the same aspirations she had … and when they'd had a messy break up she'd cut all ties which had included her classes with the cheating bastard. She hadn't wanted to see him ever again, and she'd gotten her wish.
She heard the clicks and chatter as well as the occasional whistle. Some of the older gen were still practically primal and showed it. She flicked her awareness inward to her implant but the chatter and movement was too much for the translation software to keep up with and transcribe. Pity. She'd download the digest later she thought.
She ran a hand over her hair, making certain it was in its bun. She considered what to do. Doctor Lagroose was off for the moment, but she'd be in at any time. Her eyes lit on Click'K'ch'ka'ch, gravid with her second trimester pregnancy. Did the mother to be know that she was carrying another female, this one from the 8.4 bloodline? The first of her batch? She probably didn't or didn't understand it. Click'K'ch'ka'ch was a fifth generation; all the females of any generation were used as brood mothers for the latest generation that came from the labs. So a second gen could give birth to calves from any of the following generation … She smiled fondly as she watched the Neo-dolphin nudge an eighth-generation newborn calf towards its mother. The baby squeed in mock distress, flopping about. At least they didn't need to show them how to breathe. She remembered the first months … she closed her eyes. That had been hell! Not just keeping them breathing, but also nursing … she shook her head.
Aurelia was the godmother to all the Neos, she insisted on being in
on every birth. She split her time though between all the habitats. The travel time between habitats was eating up more and more of the woman's time … and exhausting her. Kathy shook her head slowly. The generations of Neos were exploding now; it was an exponential growth. According to Athena they would fill up their current home within two more generations. Which meant in under four years they had to figure out something or start cutting back on births. Both the Neo leaders and the scientists were against that idea.
She frowned thoughtfully and then shrugged. They had to think of something, some other habitat … and means to start integrating the Neos into human society. She checked her watch phone. She had a couple hours before her next meeting.
She was glad she'd focused exclusively on dolphins. She was comfortable with the primates. Since they were so similar, a lot of her medical training to diagnose and treat Homo sapiens translated over to them, but the dogs and cats were beyond her. She pitied them in many ways. They were undergoing a lot of changes, some of them quite radical.
Her thoughts returned to the dolphins. She watched Kaku do a lazy spin as he picked out a flopping fish and then played with it. Obviously he wasn't that hungry, more bored than anything else. “Didn't anyone tell you it's not nice to play with your food?” she called out. Kaku turned an eye on her and then smiled slightly. The cetacean flipped a flipper, their form of a shrug, then threw the fish over his head. The sudden movement flexed his body down, but he arched his back to hit the fish with his flukes and then with a great thrust of his tail moved his body into an overhead somersault. He caught the fish, flipped it again this time under, then did another somersault, this one a tuck and roll before he snapped up the mangled fish and swallowed it whole.
Kathy chuckled and clapped mockingly as the dolphin made a show of turning to her and bowing. “Going to create a new Olympic sport?” Kathy teased, grinning as her hands dropped to grab the railing nearby. One foot also hooked around the lower railing to keep her from drifting upward.
“The two-leg space Olympics? You know they wouldn't let us in,” the dolphin replied, blanting at her before he whistled. He cocked his head this way and that at her, clicking and ticking.
Kathy did her best not to snort in the thick humid air. At least it kept her coughing reflex down, though it made her feel all sweaty and made her eyes itch. “You could always make your own,” she suggested.
He blew a raspberry at her and swam off with a flick of his tail. She shook her head slowly. “Just a thought,” she murmured.
“Doctor Abrams, you have an incoming call,” Athena said over her watch.
Kathy looked at it and then raised it to her lips. “Yes? This is Doctor Abrams?”
“Sorry I'm running late Kathy, I'm … indisposed,” Aurelia replied.
“Morning sickness?” Kathy asked, trying to sound sympathetic and not teasing. Her boss's mood swings could be brutal sometimes. She knew Aurelia didn't mean to have an occasional tantrum, but she also knew the other woman needed to vent from time to time. Those were annoying. The crying jags were unnerving. Especially when she did it because she “was so happy” or “I don't know.”
“No …”
“Are you okay? Do you need help?”
“No, just a change of clothes. The baby is doing all sorts of nasty things to my bladder, and I didn't make it in time.”
“Oh, sorry to hear that,” Kathy murmured. “You do realize, you've been at every birth here, right?”
“Yeah, so?” Aurelia said something to someone else, from the sound of it Jack Kathy reasoned. “Wait is Click'K'ch'ka'ch due?”
“No, no, I was just thinking about that though. I wonder if every mother will want to horn in when you pop. You know, in retaliation,” she said with a grin in her voice.
Aurelia chortled as Jack laughed. “They can try,” Jack said over the link. “But they have to get past me first.”
“You do know how strong a gorilla is, right, Jack?” Aurelia demanded, from her tone still amused. He snorted. “Anyway Kath, I'll be there when I get there. Any issues?”
“Nope, it's a nice morning. A few fresh bruises on Kal'nik but that was expected, he's been acting uppity lately. I suppose since we came down on them for the forms of discipline they've been doing they are getting shy about doing it around us.”
“Oh dear. I'll … I'll check on him when I can,” Aurelia said, voice dropping into concerned tones.
“No need. I'll do it,” Kathy said. “You are busy.” She knew that wouldn't work though, Aurelia was pretty firm about checking all the Neos.
“I'll damn well make the time,” Aurelia growled, sounding like she was fending Jack off. “Get,” she said to him.
“Bye,” Jack said, and Kathy could hear the sound of kissing. A lot of kissing. She coughed, embarrassed. At least it wasn't over the vid connection she thought.
“I'll be there like I said. Out,” Aurelia said and broke the connection. Kathy dropped her wrist slowly.
Aurelia Lagroose was a genius. She'd been taken in by Ursilla Lagroose, matriarch of Jack Lagroose during the early stages of the Neo project. Well, technically it wasn't any such thing. She wondered if Ursilla ever considered what she'd done when she'd awakened Aurelia's dream and given her the chance to see it to fruition. It was a pity she'd died; she would have loved to have seen the Neos now.
Kathy had met the remarkable woman when she'd been an intern twenty, no twenty-one years ago, she thought. It had been brief; the elderly woman at that time had been in a wheelchair after her third stroke. She shook her head. She wasn't sure how much the old woman had understood when they'd given her a tour of their work at that time. Her eyes had been bright though.
She was also fairly certain that she'd set Aurelia up with Jack. Which was good; it had given him a stable loving partner and her the same. She envied them that bond. They'd brokered a deal; one that had meant Kathy and others like her had a future in space. The deal was, Jack would give her free rein in space to create Neos as long as she followed the rules of ethics and didn't create monsters or a slave race. But the catch was she also had to find ways to pay for it.
Aurelia had risen to the challenge. She had spun off processes she had pioneered, patents in genetic engineering were licensed to others … and she'd taken on cheap grad students like Kathy to help her get started. She'd even worked on various projects for rich people to treat or cure various ailments to help support the project when money had been tight. Kathy had deferred her paycheck more than once to make certain they kept the lab's lights on.
Designer pets had been their first lucrative breakthrough. In some ways Kathy rather regretted it. Designer pets had been around mankind for thousands of years. Up until genetic engineering came about, mankind used selective breeding and grooming to achieve the desired results they wanted. Inbreeding to get an animal to a certain physical shape had been common … which had caused all sorts of long term health issues.
Using genetic engineering as a shortcut had been appealing to many for decades. But the scandals and hysteria on the ground had cut off many of the projects before they'd gotten far. That and the expense, no one wanted to pay 100,000 dollars for an animal that would live only a few years. Well, maybe the rich, she thought with amusement and disgust.
Cloning pets had been the rage during the turn of the twenty-first century. The idea that you could get your beloved Muffy Wuffy back with a clone … that had started to fade as people realized that just because the animals were identical genetically didn't mean they were the same animal. Social experiences shaped their mindset and resulting behavior as well.
So called Frankenstein animals had been tolerated by the mainstream public for quite a few years. Some like glowfish had been accepted. Her woolgathering paused as a calf decided to defecate a bit too close for comfort. She ducked, afraid it would drift her way but the mother scolded the calf then used her implant to call a robot over to catch the mess.
“Thanks,” Kathy said. The mother whistled som
ething a little too fast to follow then went off after her wayward child. Kathy smiled. The calf was interested in a stuffed coonie toy she'd brought in the day before. The bright colors apparently attracted his attention. The mother scolded him to behave.
That dovetailed neatly with her train of thought. During the dark days Aurelia had stooped so low as to do designer pets to keep the money coming in. That had been her first lucrative money maker and had opened her eyes to the potential market.
Of course, that market was to the rich on the ground or to spacers. That hadn't stopped Aurelia nor had it stopped her from finding ways to cut costs and deliver more animals at cheaper prices. Biogen had been their biggest competition back then; they'd created the coonies and several other successful projects. But when they'd delved too deeply into intelligence and chimeras, they'd been publicly exposed, and the entire company had folded in scandal which had tipped off the most recent genetic hysterics. That had served as a warning to Aurelia and the staff that not everyone would accept animal intelligence.
Jack Lagroose had snapped up Biogen's assets including the coonie's patent for a song. He'd presented it to his wife who through a fit of wisdom had gone through the genome and fixed any errors, then called in breeders to breed the animals instead of attempting to produce them one litter at a time in a lab. The prices had fallen like a stone ten years ago. Coonies were widespread in space and on Mars. The half-raccoon, half-cat chimera were smart, cute, and cuddly and came in an assortment of colors including bright pastels.
Aurelia thought of another project, one that had been taken up a few times but abandoned over time. She'd found a way to engineer the body shape and coat of various big cats into domestic cats starting with the Maine Coon as a basis just like Coonies had. Having a miniature lion or cheetah had been instantly appealing to the rich and famous. A pride of them had been in rapper TWIC's hit. When it came out groundside that the animals hadn't been CG, there had been some recriminations which had turned TWIC into a bad boy and house hold name … but it had also intrigued many people. They had demanded them from their local zoos or pet shops. The demand had reached Lagroose who in a fit of wisdom had started marketing coonies and the designer pets in commercials and shows. A few appearances on reality TV shows and an infomercial explaining how by having the mini-animal they were preserving the species and cutting into the illegal animal trade had gone a long ways to generating acceptance among the masses.