AngelMare
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DolphinoBeware: Another long one!
Bart flicked his flipper casually and rolled over in the warm ocean water that he called home. His friend Henry rippled through the war just above him, then his sleek body disappeared, as he broke out of the water in a playful dive. Before long, his nose pierced the water line and he slid back in, casually drifting toward Bart. Bart rolled over and turned his bright little eyes inquisitively at Henry, who seemed strangely thoughtful, though it was not so strange for Henry.
“I was just thinking, Bart,” Henry began, noticing Bart’s curious look. “That we dolphins have mastered the sea, and we never do seem to think that there is much outside of our little world. I wish we could find a way to come on land.”
“We? You can’t expect us to get on land any more than expect humans to get in the water.”
“Well if you said that we have as much chance getting on land as humans get in the water, I could probably agree with you.” This was from Darius, the wise old dolphin that taught the younger dolphins, but was a thinker and scientist in his spare time. “Have you ever seen a human, Bart?”
“No, it’s impossible, they live on land and all I know about them is from the stories that Grandmother tell me.”
“That’s just it. How could anyone like your Grandmother know anything about them if they live on land? I’ll tell you why. These humans have gotten advanced enough to come into the water where we live. And now they have these machines that they call submarines, in which they can go anywhere we can.”
Bart gasped in surprise as Darius said this. “Are they harmful to us?” he asked apprehensively.
“Not usually. Sometimes one of us will get caught in one of their nets that are meant for other fish. The Hawai’i dolphin tribe lives along the shores of an island where people will go out and swim. Those dolphins say they are very friendly with humans, and help them sometimes when times get rough in these depths. Anyhow, Bart, if you ever chance upon a human, be sure to act intelligently toward them.”
Bart nodded slowly, and his brain began thinking at a rapid pace as Darius swam to another class of his. “I wonder how the humans are,” he mused. “I wonder if they are more or less intelligent than us. Well, at least they did get into the water when we have not ventured onto land, or in any way out of the water except through our jumps.”
“When I grow up I’m going to find a way to get out. Humans are intelligent enough to have found out that they need the help of machinery to enter these depths. Now if we could…”
Bart swam aimlessly around the Dolphin Science Lab. Somewhere in the long water-filled corridors, Henry was inspecting a new contraption that he himself had planned. Henry was one genius of a dolphin. He had suggested that the Science Lab build a flying boat that could take a dolphin outside this undersea world. But then again, there had to be genius in Henry considering his father. His father had designed and helped bring in the era of robotics, which could be mechanics and reconnaissance help.
Henry came out of one of the tubes of the Science Lab, followed by a scientist named Marco. The craft then followed suit, followed by a whole school of scientists, engineers, mechanics, and robots.
The beautiful craft was lined with aluminum that made it gleam whenever one of the rare beams of sunlight struck it. The science of using aluminum had been developed fifty years ago in the time of Bart’s grandfather he had been told. This craft looked very much like the submarines Darius had described, and no doubt, Bart thought, Henry had got his inspiration from them. It was an oblong cylinder, with a propeller at one end. How it ran, Bart had no idea. Maybe atomic energy, or maybe centrifugal force, whatever that was.
Henry had been offered the honor of trying out the craft for the first time, and he had asked Bart if he would like to accompany him. Bart had not hesitated, for danger in such a craft had never occurred to him. If it blew up, his subconscious mind told him that he’d simply be in the water where he belonged. He never had thought of what would happen outside the water.
Bart swam to the craft and a robot opened a porthole-like door through which Bart and Henry swam cleanly through, followed by three robots. One was mechanic and a general help, the other was a spare, and the third was to be used if they decided to land, as the dolphins would allow the robot to explore before they did.
Bart secured his terrasuit on, and swam easily to the controls of the craft. The terrasuit was lined on the inside with water to keep the dolphins moist if they had to leave the craft. The dolphins could easily enough breath oxygen, but this did not make it any easier outside the water.
Henry pushed a button and several other controls with his flipper and looked out one of the two windows. The craft quivered slightly, then jolted forward. Henry pushed forward the throttle, or the stick as close to the throttle as anything, and the craft began moving vertically upward.
Bart felt the thrill of excitement as the craft moved upward, and as the Science Lab got smaller below. Marco and the other scientists swam swiftly after them, playfully wondering if the craft would be able to overrun them. The craft indeed began to speed up, and soon left the exhausted dolphins below.
Outside the windows, Bart could see the ocean lighten and brighten. He knew they were nearing the surface, as the meters indeed showed. Then the craft jolted, and like a lumbering whale, broke through the surface, and gleaming wet, was outside the water. A great amount of water slid off its monstrous gleaming back and splashed back into the ocean in a thunderous splash.
Chapter III
Captain William Keith of the Silver Queen paced the deck of his destroyer, wondering what use it was to be a Navy captain when there was no fighting. However, he knew he had nothing to complain about, as he was captain of one of the finest ships in the United States Navy.
However, as he was to find out soon, all would not be tranquil for long. A sailor rushed up to him and said, “Captain, there is a great craft detected under the water. We suspect a submarine, and it is not reported as being an American sub.”
Captain Keith went into the control room and watched the RADAR that had spotted the craft. The craft looked very much like a submarine, but somehow it could not be identified. As the craft neared the surface of the water, Captain Keith pointed his telescope in that direction, and with awe and premonition, he watched as the craft plunged out of the water and slowly rose slightly. It then stopped moving and hovered above the sea, as if surveying and watching the destroyer.
Captain Keith could make no heads or tails of it. Perhaps it was some new Chinese craft. If it were so, it would be wisest of him to knock it out, as he had strict orders that no foreign vehicle was to enter these waters. If that were so, it wouldn’t matter if it were Chinese. Captain Keith reacted quickly when he had made up his mind. He commanded his men to fire the anti-aircraft missiles.
With the glee of combat, Captain Keith watched as the missile surged forward, with white smoke trailing it. It sped away, and smartly headed toward its target, guided by RADAR.
As Henry and Bart left the safety of the water, a whole new world sprang before their eyes. They rose slightly for a little, but they stopped the craft and let it hover while they surveyed the water from a height they had never before been able to, and never for more than a few seconds. Then Henry looked alarmed as the sonar screen lit up, showing that there was a large obstacle in the water on their right. Bart and Henry rushed to the window and saw not far from them a ship, with small human forms scurrying upon its deck.
They watched the ship fascinated as it began to slowly move in their direction. They watched the white-clad humans as they stared and pointed at them. These were the first humans they had seen in their lives, though they had not been very surprised by their appearance or actions, as they had heard about humans from their birth.
Then they were stunned as a dart-like object left the ship, and trailed by line of burning fire, made its way toward them, quickly and efficiently. The sonar screen screamed in warning, and it was clear that the missile was coming their way. Henry and Bart were at first too stunned to know what it meant. Was it dangerous?
The screaming and highly lit sonar screen that had been the scientists’ and not Henry’s idea suddenly shook them back to reality and action. Henry and Bart had only know the ocean all their lives, and now they looked to it for security. With a quick movement of his flipper, Henry sent the craft plunging swiftly into the water. It was soon traveling swiftly into the depths, and into safety.
Henry and Bart were much shaken up with fear, but as they analyzed the situation, they began to wonder why they had thought the missile had been dangerous. Never had they heard a story of one of the ships of men hurting a dolphin intentionally.
“But then again,” said Bart, “They’re not used to seeing dolphins if flying boats.”
“That’s true,” agreed Henry. Henry suddenly became braver, however, and began trailing the ship.
“What are you doing that for?” asked Bart. Henry did not answer as he stared at the dials before him that shook uncertainly. The sonar screen began to remind him of the nearness of the ship, but Henry paid no attention to it. “I think we’re safe as long as we’re under water,” he assured Bart who was beginning to get nervous as they neared the ship.
Captain Keith stared somewhat shocked when the craft plunged back into the water and the missile lost its target. But then he quickly reminded himself that if it could come out of the water it could just as easily go into the water. He watched the RADAR screens as the craft plunged deeper into the sea and spiraled around for a while. He was getting intensely interested in this interesting craft.
The craft then began to rise in the ocean waters and near the Silver Queen. It stayed a few feet from the surface of the water and began to move in behind the destroyer. As the craft purposely moved closer to the destroyer, Captain Keith ordered a torpedo to be launched. With all the power of the weapon, the torpedo boomed forward and went swiftly toward the craft.
Captain Keith watched as he saw what he expected to happen. The craft slowed for a moment as if analyzing the situation, the crashed through the water’s surface and hovered over the waves, safely out of reach of the torpedo.
Captain Keith thought quickly and wondered why the craft had not taken any force against him. He quickly radioed the nearest submarine and explained the situation. The submarine would fight the craft under the water at the same time that Captain Keith would fire upon it from above the water.
The submarine arrived shortly, and the craft still stayed at its position behind the destroyer. Why it did not continue with its mission, Captain Keith could not imagine, but it was all the better for him. While the submarine confirmed the plans, Captain Keith sent the craft a radio message, wondering if they would answer: “You will not be spared unless you answer in twenty seconds.” The answer did not come within twenty seconds.
As the torpedo sped toward them, Henry suddenly realized that his assumption that they were safe under water was completely wrong. This time, he reacted much quicker, and he guided the craft upward and through the water. They hovered here, watching the humans on the ship. It was so strange that they were trying to attack. Maybe they weren’t attacking at all. Maybe it was their way of sending messages.
Henry and Bart watched the humans on the ship carefully, with one eye always on the dials that would show of impending danger. They could tell nothing, however, of what the humans were thinking. They never had studied humans and how they thought and acted. Maybe some scientist in the Science Lab had decoded all this as well as the language of humans.
The destroyer still moved slowly forward, and Henry kept their craft at the same position behind the destroyer, ready to plunge into the water if at any time it were needed.
“Why don’t we try to contact them?” asked Bart as he watched the humans.
“Hey that’s a great idea,” responded Henry. He pushed a button that controlled the sonar waves. That’s how the dolphins spoke to each other, using sonar, so Henry tried that first. He sent several sonar waves at the ship, but no response was forthcoming.
“Maybe they don’t use sonar,” mused Bart gloomily.
Henry then messaged the Science Lab and explained their situation. The Science Lab put them on hold while they consulted with each other. Then their radio transmitter began to crackle and shake and light up, and Henry guessed that the ship was sending them messages in radio. These he transmitted to the Science Lab to decode, if they could.
Soon, one of the tubes sticking out of the domes on the ship pointed toward their craft, and a barrage of machine gun rattled the craft around so terribly that Bart was sure they would die. Henry calmly flicked a dial with his flipper, and the craft hurriedly plunged into the water, still smoking from the heat of impact with the machine gun bullets.
The craft had held together marvelously in the midst of the machine gun barrage, but now a new threat appeared under the water as a submarine that looked so much like their own craft sent a torpedo. Now Henry began to panic as he pushed the craft out of the water, and into a rain of machine gun fire.
Now, the scientists had not expected a need for speed, whether inside the water or outside, so they had not built the craft with such a goal in mind. But now the craft was going to be pushed to its utmost in a run from the ship that had never been calculated into it. Henry pushed the throttle forward and unleashed the craft forward in a jerk that sent the two dolphins as well as the three robots to the end of the craft. The craft bounded forward free from the control of the dolphins and disappeared from view of the ship, just as Henry and Bart lost consciousness from the fear of a speed they had never experienced in their life.
Captain Keith watched as the craft sank into the water after a few hits from his machine gun, but plunge upwards again. He smiled, as he knew that the submarine had fired upon it, and it was trapped. The machine gun pounded at it, but then Captain Keith watched awestruck as the craft lurched away and speedily disappeared over the horizon in an acceleration he did not think possible. He quickly radioed the nearest aircraft carrier and stated their position. It was not long before the drone of jet engines sounded in the skies above, and four F-18’s zoomed overhead in the direction the craft had taken.
Private Preston scanned the skies visually as he tried to locate the craft he and three other pilots were supposed to find and shoot down. They had accelerated to Mach 2.0, and soon their speed was rewarded with the sighting of the craft on their radar. The craft was traveling at slightly less than Mach 1.0, so the four fighter jets slowed to Mach 1.2. If it came to dog fighting, it would have to be less than Mach 1.0.
Private Preston slowed down even more when he was able to visually see the craft. It gleamed in the sun like a submarine displaced, and he thought it a pity that such a strange craft had to be shot down before they even knew what it was.
Bart rolled over on his stomach and swam around in the craft aimlessly for a few moments before he realized what had happened. A message from the Science Lab was coming in. Bart swam to the sonar transmitter.
“We have deciphered the radio message. It said that they would strike after twenty seconds. Are you all right?”
Bart began to answer when he noticed the sonar screen scream wildly and realized that four aircraft were pursuing them. He quickly replied, outlining the situation. The aircraft was closing in on them, and he knew he had no time to wait for the Science Lab to give him advice. He pushed the craft forward, not letting it rest, and relentlessly pushing it to its top speed. He did not know what the top speed was, but he watched the dials as lurched through the sound barrier, and the speedometer showed Mach 1.0, Mach 1.2 and finally they hit Mach 2.0, then Mach 2.2. He pushed the craft forward, not thinking about the danger of speed, only the danger of the aircraft pursuing them.
The craft began to heat up as it hit Mach 3.0, and when they passed Mach 4.0 it was a glowing cylinder of fire. The heat was beginning to warm the water to an uncomfortable tropical heat, and Bart went dizzy before losing consciousness again.
At the same time, Marco at the Science Lab tried to put a message to Bart: “Plunge into the water and jump out. You will be safe outside the craft.” However, he found that he could not send the message, and no signals were being returned from the craft. He looked worriedly at the other scientists, and then sent a message to all the sonar transmitters of all the dolphin tribes that swam the seven seas. He simply asked them to look for the craft if it ever chanced to plunge back into the water, and relay its position to the Science Lab.
Private Preston moved nearer to the craft that seemed almost unaware of their presence, as it made no attempt to escape. Suddenly, though it lurched forward and sped up. Private Preston pushed his fighter faster and began to fire the cannon, but the craft soon accelerated to a speed that his fighter could not match. He watched his RADAR as the craft sped to Mach 3.0, then Mach 4.0, then became a ball of fire. It obviously had not been made to withstand such high speeds, even if it could perform them.
The four fighters turned back and relayed the situation to headquarters, heading toward the carrier. If they had any thought of catching the craft, it had better be with some more to its potentiality.
The craft slowed down from the friction that its speed had caused. Finding no one at the controls, it began to drop aimlessly and casually downward, pulled by the earth’s gravity, but not plunging because of its engines that still tried to keep the speed. However, the earth began to win the craft over to its side, and its speed began to reduce as the engines tired of working with no master, and let the craft do as it pleased.
Wolf, the robot that was supposed to be a mechanic, sensed the engines cut dead, and its two antennae began moving around in the water, sensing its way to the controls. Its flagella in front of it spinned rapidly, and propelled the robot forward in the direction its senses told it to.
The robot slowed its flagella as it placed a metallic appendage up to the controls and looked for the throttle with its antennae. Finding it, the robot clasped it with two appendages and pushed it forward. Its antennae wandered about the robot, listening for the sound that would tell it that the engines had started. Soon it was rewarded, and the craft plunged forward, halting its downward descent. It was a mere 50 feet above the surface when the robot made sure that it would continue flying.
The sonar transmitter began relaying messages again, and the robot’s antennae began picking them up. “Hello? Hello? Henry? Bart?” The robot’s small mechanical brain clicked rapidly away as it methodically translated the messages into action. It sent back a message only 2 seconds later: “Hello this is robot Wolf. There is no sign of a dolphin within five feet of the controls.”
Marco at the Science Lab began sending messages to the craft again, and to his relief found that they had been transmitted. He was elated when a message came back, but his spirits plummeted as he heard it. The two dolphins were not near the controls. Wolf had had to take over. Something had gone wrong.
“Please relay your coordinates,” he messaged back to the robot.
“20° East Longitude, 65° North Latitude,” the robot replied instantly.
The craft had started in the North Pacific Ocean, and now it was over Finland. Marco took out his world map and realized what had happened. The craft had sped all the way around the world, over Antarctica, and was now heading over Finland when they would go over the North Pole and fly back over the North Pacific. But what had happened to the dolphins?
“Please find the two dolphins,” he messaged Wolf.
The robot processed the order, and its antennae began searching for life. Its flagella began spinning rapidly and it turned around and began heading to the back of the craft. Its antennae quickly located the two dolphins, and the robot relayed a message back to the Science Lab using its own sonar transmitter: “Two dolphins found.”
Marco then activated the spare robot. This robot, Dr. Garrett, was also a medical robot, of dolphins and other robots. The robot only had to be activated to automatically look for any problems or potential problems. It had the same basic design as Wolf, and its antennae moved around, swishing in the water, as it made its way toward the dolphins.
The sensors immediately kicked in, sensing for brain activity, heart and pulse rate, breathing rate, and many other necessary processes. The robot found little brain activity, and summing up other factors that its fine senses had picked up, the robot’s brain clicked rapidly as it summed up the problem and the cure.
It suddenly shone a bright light at the dolphins that flashed momentarily, and then used its appendages to stimulate the dolphins to consciousness. Soon Bart and Henry woke up as a light flashed fleetingly, then they felt the robot stimulating them into consciousness. They rolled over and swam aimlessly for a moment trying to sum up the situation and what had happened.
Bart suddenly swam to the window and looked out. Outside he could see the snow-covered frozen ground outside, too near for comfort. He realized what had happened, and realized that one of the robots had saved their lives. He quickly told Henry what had happened, and Henry looked at the meters, realizing where they were.
They contacted the Science Lab clearing up all worry, and then guided the craft over the frozen North Pole. They zoomed over Alaska, and slowed the craft as they neared the Science Lab. Then the dolphins’ hearts froze as they saw below them the destroyer that had so threatened them. The Science Lab suddenly realized their predicament and quickly relayed their earlier message that the dolphins had never received: “Plunge into the water and jump out. You will be safe outside the craft.”
Henry saw the prudence of this message, and he hurriedly let the craft fall toward the water. They were now far above the surface of the water, and the craft began to speed up as it fell, spinning wildly and heading straight for the deck of the destroyer. Bart switched Wolf into controller of the craft just as the two dolphins lost consciousness.
Wolf sprang into action and rolled through the spinning water to the controls. Using a suction pad on one of its appendages, the robot held on to the wall. He translated the lights and sounds and his robot mind worked furiously to translate meaning into action. As the destroyer zoomed closer in, the robot used several controls to push the craft out of the way of the destroyer, then began firing up the engines in the opposite direction from the water, in other words, upwards. This effectively slowed the craft and allowed the robot to gently guide it into the water.
The Science Lab received a signal from the robot that showed that it had become the controller of the craft. The artificial intelligence of the robot would now be sorely tested, the scientists realized as they saw the craft spin out of control. As the craft was placed under control and it plunged into the water, the Science Lab began relaying signals to the robot, guiding it to the Science Lab. The smartest heads of the dolphins waited anxiously around Marco as he told the robot where to go. Wolf had done a marvelous job as controller of the craft, and the craft gracefully moved into what may be called a garage, and the engines cut out.
This was when Henry and Bart revived again, just as the scientists began swarming around the craft. Henry and Bart swam out of the craft and were given lavish attention, but certainly no more than Wolf. It was some time before they could rest after having to tell their story over and over.
However, they had only begun to rest when the alarm went out: a submarine had been tracking the flying boat, and was now moving toward the Science Lab. The scientists in the Science Lab watched the submarine using their sonar screen, wondering what it would do.
Several scuba divers left the submarine and began swimming toward the lab. The dolphins had no inclination to hurt the humans, and often wondered why the humans were inclined to hurt each other as well as other species. Henry and Bart watched the scuba divers from a distance as the divers went up to the Science Lab. They could find no way to enter the door, as it had no knob to open it, and it would not open automatically.
Taking a large instrument, Bart watched as one of the divers tore down the door, and entered. He laughed silently to himself. The doors opened when a dolphin struck a certain frequency of sonar upon it, and that is why the men could not open it.
The divers quickly explored the Lab, while the scientists tried to keep their distance from the divers but still remain inside the building. They did not succeed, and the divers knew who had gotten so advanced. This, they thought, was a danger to mankind. Soon the divers left, and went back into the submarine. They were convinced that it was a dangerous building that had to be destroyed.
Henry and Bart watched as a torpedo left the submarine and zoomed toward the Lab. They were struck with terror as they saw danger heading toward the Lab and scientists within. The torpedo struck the Lab and a booming explosion sent all dolphins nearby heading far off with as much speed as they could muster.
Bart was terrified of the explosion and the submarine as he slowed down, but soon he realized something much more terrible. The dolphins had lost all their scientists, and the smartest minds of the dolphins. Only Henry, the young genius, and Darius, the old dolphin full of knowledge knew anything of the science they had lost in one blinding flash of light and booming sound.
It would be decades, perhaps centuries, before they would be able to recover from this blow to science. Robots would be mastered soon enough, as there were so many scattered across the globe. Perhaps Henry would be able to rebuild the craft. But would he? Bart rolled over despairingly and knew that the more scientifically advanced they tried to become, Man would always try to get rid of it.
The media never covered these incidents. It was kept highly secret, as the Navy and the Government did not want the wails of protest from the more sensible people.
As far as the dolphins were concerned, Man had destroyed another civilization.
Great!
