Rescued From Paradise

by Robert L. Forward

  "Gatherfish of deep-ocean sharks not talk, though," Little Red reminded them.

  "What part do the lake-fish play in this?" asked Freeman, intrigued.

  "The lake-fish are much smaller than the other two, so they probably are the young," suggested Cinnamon.

  "That smells of the truth," said Chief Seetoo. "The lake-fish have six eyes, like the Demonfish, but their eyes stay in their head sockets, just like the eyes of our seedlings stay in their nests when the seedlings are young. I have eaten many lake-fish. I know that the largest of them also have six strange knobs in the roof of their mouths, behind their teeth. These are like the buds in the roof of the mouths of our seedlings—that later turn into gathering roots and then gatherers. The lake-fish also have six fins along their sides. I would agree the lake-fish are probably the seedlings of the Aaeesheesh."

  "That must be why they take the largest of the lake-fish back with them when they return to their homes in the ocean," said Nels.

  "I remember something else!" said Little Red suddenly. "Insides of lake-fish same as insides of sharks, which same as insides of Demonfish!"

  "That makes it pretty certain then," said Nels. "The deep-ocean sharks, the Demonfish, and the lake-fish are all different versions of the same species."

  The 'wereshark' species!" said Richard. Reiki protested, but the name stuck.

  "This is beginning to make some sense," said Cinnamon, obviously thinking hard. "Like many fish on Earth, the weresharks have to leave the salty and dangerous ocean and go up into the freshwater streams and lakes to lay their eggs, where the hatchlings have a better chance of surviving. To make it easier to travel up the streambeds during the spawning period, the weresharks grow long hair to keep their bodies wet, and their front fins grow into strong, clawed legs to pull them upstream. They turn from ordinary deep-ocean sharks into Demonfish. They lay their eggs in the upland lakes, where they grow into lake-fish—the wereshark young. The Demonfish then brings one of the larger lake-fish back into the ocean, where it then grows up to be a wereshark."

  "Then ..." said Richard, using a scary voice "... the next time the moon is full ... and the midnight hour strikes ... the mild-looking wereshark turns into a Demonfish and ravishes the countryside once again!"

  "Gag, Dad!" said Freeman in disgust at his father's clowning around. "Grow up."

  "Freeman ..." warned Reiki, and Freeman muttered an apology.

  "That still doesn't explain the spawning behavior that we observed in Sulfur Lake. There, the lake-fish acted more like breeding males than young," Nels reminded them.

  "Yes. That is a puzzle," Cinnamon admitted.

  "Another puzzle remains," said Little White. "Cinnamon tell us that Demonfish know prime numbers."

  "And because of that, they must be the ones that made the tablet with the drawing on it and the numbers written in a prime number base," continued Cinnamon.

  "Prime number?" whistled a gatherer from inside Tookee's mouth.

  "Root with you later," promised Adam in an aside to Tookee, and Tookee pulled back the gatherer and shut his mouth. Adam was one of the few humans with the patience and language skills needed to explain complex human concepts to the Jollys. He could "root" motionless in front of a Jolly for a whole half-day at a time until he made sure that a concept was clear in the Jolly's worldview.

  "If Demonfish know prime numbers, then Demonfish are smart," said Little White, starting a logical syllogism. "If sharks are Demonfish, then sharks smart. If sharks are smart, why sharks not talk?"

  "Sharks DUMB!" Little Red agreed.

  "Literally," muttered Nels.

  "Just because weresharks don't talk doesn't mean that they aren't intelligent," said Cinnamon. "It may be that they just don't have the sound-generating mechanisms that are needed. Look at the larger ocean animals on Earth. Whales and dolphins talk, since they are mammals and breathe air, while sharks, which are similar in size, but breathe water instead of air, don't talk. Sharks don't even use sonar to track their prey, but rely on their sense of smell."

  "But Earth sharks aren't intelligent," objected Nels. "While the weresharks evidently are."

  "The weresharks must have developed further than Earth sharks," suggested Cinnamon. "If they have intelligence, then they probably communicate with each other in some manner. Perhaps they are using some other method than sound for communication, like body positions, electrical signals, patterns of gatherfish, or something else we haven't thought of yet, like smell or taste. Of course, to an animal that inhales through its mouth, smell and taste are practically the same."

  "Could the weresharks be communicating with taste?" Nels asked the flouwen.

  "When we first meet wereshark, its gatherfish squirted cloud of terrible-tasting stuff at us," remarked Little Purple.

  "Try to POISON me!" exclaimed Little Red.

  "Perhaps not," said Little White. "Let me think ... and recall the exact tastes ..." The large white blob pulled down its eye-lens into its fluid body and started to shrink visibly.

  "What is White Swimmer doing?" asked Chief Seetoo, two eyes fluttering out to better observe the process.

  "Rocking up to think better," explained Freeman. They all watched as Little White became a dense milky-white boulder on the bottom of Wide Pond, looking like an alabaster pedestal left on the shores of the Aegean Sea, worn smooth after years of pounding by the surf.

  "If it turns out the weresharks communicate by smell, the flouwen are well suited for that," remarked Nels, as he watched Little White shrink in thought. "They are floating chemical analysis labs."

  The humans took the opportunity to eat the lunch they had brought with them. They gathered some distance away and kept their backs turned so the Jollys would not be distressed by seeing them eat without mouth-aprons. It wasn't long before Little White dissolved back into his normal jellylike blobby shape. By the time he had reformed his eye-lens, the humans had gathered back at the dock.

  "When we first met a wereshark, its gatherfish emitted three clouds of taste," reported Little White. "Many different tastes in each cloud. The first cloud was very complex, the second was simpler, and the third simpler still. The tastes in the third cloud were also tastes in the second cloud. It is as if the third cloud was a repeat of the second cloud, but simpler."

  "As if the wereshark was repeating something that wasn't understood the first time," remarked Nels.

  "Littles?" said Reiki to the flouwen. "Would you be willing to pay a visit to the caves of the deep-ocean sharks and attempt to talk with them? It would be most important to know if they are as intelligent as the tablet seems to indicate they are."

  "We can certainly taste what they emit, and can probably make enough different tastes so we can talk back," said Little White, thinking. "But we are enemies. Little Red has eaten some of their eyefish and gatherfish, and a wereshark has eaten a piece of Little Red in return. It may be dangerous."

  "I not afraid!" boasted Little Red.

  "At least try ..." pleaded Reiki. "Please?"

  ☼RATHER be surfing!☼ complained Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion to Clear◊White◊Whistle as they headed down the river toward the ocean.

  ◊We came to this world to explore and learn, not to play all the time,◊ Clear◊White◊Whistle reminded him. ◊Besides, the human Reiki said, 'Please,' so it must be important to her.◊

  ☼How are we going to start talking with them, when we know nothing about how they speak?☼ asked Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion.

  ◊We do know something,◊ Clear◊White◊Whistle reminded him. ◊The wereshark we met sent gatherfish out to emit three clouds of taste. We can start by repeating one of those—the simplest one first.◊

  ☼Stop for a while so I can rock up and recall the taste,☼ said Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion.

  ◊There is no need,◊ said Clear◊White◊Whistle, extending a white pseudopod to the red snakelike blob swimming alongside of him. ◊Taste the taste.◊ Memory juices were exchanged, and instantly Roaring☼Hot☼Vermill
ion recalled the complex flavors that the gatherfish had emitted. They still tasted something like poison to him. Perhaps there was another way that they could start out the conversation—something even simpler—that both species could instantly agree on the meaning of.

  ☼Of course!☼ he said when they came to the beach where the river met the ocean. Instead of heading out to sea, Little Red dove down to the gravel bar beneath them.

  ◊Where are you going?◊ asked Clear◊White◊Whistle, coming to a halt.

  ☼Be right back!☼ Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion shouted back through the water. Clear◊White◊Whistle waited patiently until his impetuous comrade returned. A quick sonar scan of Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion's body revealed the reason for the short disappearance. He was now carrying a load of pebbles, 101 of them to be exact. Clear◊White◊Whistle was chagrined that he had not thought of that method of communicating. The Demonfish on the beach had communicated with the humans using twenty-nine pebbles. The pebbles that Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion was carrying would certainly get them off to a good start in learning how to use taste to communicate with the weresharks. If they and the weresharks could establish a common taste language that could handle numbers and mathematical logic, then they could build on that to develop a common language that could handle more complex logical concepts. As the two flouwen approached the cave entrances where they had last seen the weresharks, Clear◊White◊Whistle felt much more confident than he had at the beginning of their journey. Now that they had the pebbles to get them started, it shouldn't be too long before he and Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion were speaking like weresharks.

  It wasn't that easy. When the flouwen first approached the region where they had last seen the weresharks, the echoes from their sonar initially showed a number of creatures moving about among the rocks and caves. By the time they arrived, however, all the creatures were gone. Not only that, but some of the larger entrances to the rock caves now seemed to be blocked by piles of large stones. Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion and Clear◊White◊Whistle came to a halt some distance away.

  ☼They are afraid of us!☼ bragged Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion.

  ◊They have good reason to be,◊ replied Clear◊White◊Whistle. ◊The last time we were here, you left one of them blind and crippled.◊

  ☼Tried to eat me ...☼

  ◊Not until you had eaten some of its eyes.◊

  Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion, not wanting to admit that he had done something wrong, headed for a patch of sand outside one of the cave entrances. Soon there were ten piles before the cave, containing one, two, three, five, seven, eleven, thirteen, seventeen, nineteen, and twenty-three pebbles, 101 in all.

  ◊Now let us move back, so they will not be afraid to come out and see what we have done.◊

  ☼One last thing!☼ Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion sent his red pseudo-gatherfish back to the piles of pebbles, where it made marks in the mud next to each pile.

  ◊Excellent idea!◊ said Clear◊White◊Whistle, understanding instantly. ◊By writing their symbols for the number next to the pile, that will speed up the learning process.◊

  ☼I wrote our number symbols, too.☼

  Clear◊White◊Whistle wished he had thought of that.

  The two flouwen waited off at a distance for a long time, occasionally seeing at the cave entrance with a weak chirp. Finally they received a doppler-shifted signal back, indicating something was moving.

  ☼An eyefish is looking out!☼

  ◊Quiet! We must not scare it.◊

  The two halted their chirps, trying to see only with the noise from the ocean waves high above. For a while they could detect small objects moving around near their pebbles. After a while things were quiet again. Starting their sonar chirps again to announce their approach, they returned.

  ☼Stinks!☼ complained Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion.

  ◊Many strange tastes,◊ agreed Clear◊White◊Whistle. Soon the two realized that the strong tastes were concentrated near each pile, as if the pebbles had been sprayed with scent. The smell for each pile was different, with the larger piles having more complex flavors.

  ☼Tastes for piles 1 and 2 same as poison that shark squirted at me!☼

  ◊That means the shark was not trying to poison you,◊ replied Clear◊White◊Whistle. ◊It was simply trying to teach you how to count in its language.◊

  ☼I teach it to count in my language said Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion, taking apart the piles containing prime numbers of pebbles and rearranging the number of pebbles in each pile so that they were in ascending order, from 1 to 13. There were ten pebbles left over that he put to one side. Beside each pile, he wrote in the mud the flouwen symbol in their octal base numbering system, while on the piles themselves he squirted chemicals in the wereshark's "prime-nary" base system. The flouwen left. It didn't take long this time for the hidden wereshark's gatherfish to come out and smell what they had left.

  When they returned, the gatherfish was waiting for them outside the cave entrance. It had the ten spare pebbles in the suction grip of its grabbing tentacles. The gatherfish moved cautiously forward—both flouwen not twitching a cell—and squirted a tiny cloud at them, at the same time dropping one pebble.

  ☼One!☼ said Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion, sensing the taste and responding with the flouwen verbal equivalent.

  Clear◊White◊Whistle knew, however, that in the long run it would be better for the flouwen to learn to speak the wereshark language, than for the weresharks to attempt to learn the flouwen language. The flouwen could generate chemicals to communicate with, while the weresharks might not be able to make complex sounds. So, instead of talking, he squirted back the proper chemical taste for "1".

  Next, the gatherfish squirted a more complex taste that was not the taste of any of the prime numbers used in counting, followed immediately by another "1" taste, while at the same time dropping another pebble.

  ☼Must be doing addition!☼ ventured Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion. ☼Next logical thing to do after counting. The strange taste must mean plus.☼

  "1 'plus' 1," squirted Clear◊White◊Whistle. So far his chemical synthesizers had proved up to the task. The gatherfish left and was replaced by another one. The new gatherfish swooped down on the two pebbles, emitting a strange smell as it did so. It pushed the two pebbles together, while at the same time it emitted the smell of the number 2.

  "1 plus 1 equals 2!" squirted both Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion and Clear◊White◊Whistle at the gatherfish. The gatherfish disappeared with their reply and was soon replaced by another one.

  ☼Let me do!☼ said Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion, picking up some pebbles. While the new gatherfish watched with its sonar, Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion put down a pile containing two pebbles, then one containing three pebbles, then pushed them together to make a pile of five pebbles, while at the same time squirting, "2 plus 3 equals 5."

  The gatherfish went off to report what it had observed, and was soon back again. It went directly up to Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion and squirted a clear liquid at him. Instead of the intense and sometimes unpleasant flavors that he had been expecting, Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion was surprised to find that the liquid was very pleasant tasting.

  ☼Glucose!☼ said Roarino☼Hot☼Verrnillion in surprise.

  ◊Your reward for good performance!◊ said Clear◊White◊Whistle. ◊Even a brand-new wereshark youngling could understand the meaning of that flavor.◊

  ☼Rather have ammonia!☼ grumbled Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion.

  The gatherfish wasn't done with them yet. It picked up two pebbles and went through the routine of dropping one pebble, dropping the other pebble, then pushing them together into a pile of two pebbles.

  ☼Why you doing that?☼ roared Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion at the gatherfish. ☼We already know how to say that!☼

  ◊Not so loud, subset of Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion. There must be some reason why we are having to go over it again.◊

  As the gatherfish finished pushing the t
wo pebbles together, it emitted a single burst of chemicals, containing the scents for 1, 2, plus, and equals. Now slightly confused, the two flouwen attempted to repeat the sequence of tastes.

  "1 plus 1 equals 2," they both squirted back, emitting the tastes in sequence. The gatherfish took their reply off to its master, still hidden behind the rock barrier at the entrance to the cave. It was soon back. It went to a point between the two flouwen and emitted the tiniest jet of scent that either had seen. It was dense, and dark, and stunk!

  ☼Worst smell I ever tasted!☼ complained Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion, using his body to generate a jet to squirt the offending smell off into the distance.

  ◊I don't think we did that right.◊

  The gatherfish repeated the performance. Without emitting another smell, it first put down one pebble, then another pebble, then pushed them together into a pile of two. Only after it had completed the action did it emit the complex flavor containing the scents for 1, 2, plus, and equals.

  ◊They seem to speak in whole phrases. All squirted out at the same time in one complex flavor,◊ said Clear◊White◊Whistle. ◊This is not going to be an easy language to learn!◊

  ☼This will take forever!☼ grumbled Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion. ☼Rather be surfing.☼

  IT DIDN'T take forever, or even too long a time, thanks to the excellent memories of the flouwen and their exquisite sense of taste. During the seasons-long process of teaching the flouwen their language, the weresharks eventually overcame their fear and hatred of the "Slimedevils," as they called the flouwen, and even ended up inviting them into their homes.

  PRECISE Talker was showing Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion around Green Home. Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion was very impressed with the ornate stonework that filled the interior of the multiroomed house. What looked like a pile of greenish rocks from the outside was a majestic mansion inside.

  They entered a complex of rooms through a sliding door made with a green stone frame and white coral slats carved in an intricate interwoven pattern. There were three rooms, one small, one medium, and one large. In the small room was a lake-fish, its eyes still embedded in sockets in its head. In the next largest room was a small wereshark. A number of its eyefish and gatherfish came over to look and taste Roaring☼Hot☼Vermillion. The mobile appendages, however, all remained connected to the main body of the young wereshark through umbilicals. Taking care of the two young ones was a much larger wereshark.