Breakthrough(26)

The engines finally fell silent and the giant ship slowly coasted to a stop. A few minutes later, the giant anchor was released and it punched through the water with a giant splash. Alison and Chris joined the crew members on the rear platform to ready the sling. They slowly rotated the mechanical arm over the tank and lowered it into the water. Although dangerous for such a small tank, Alison insisted on climbing inside and keeping a hand on Sally as the large fabric was slipped around her. Sally showed no sign of resistance. She quickly wiggled herself into place so the sling could be fastened securely. The reporters filled the deck above the tank and photographed the entire process.

Alison could feel the lump in her throat as she nervously watched the crew swing Sally across the deck and lowered her into the warm ocean water. They did the same for Dirk and had them both in the water in less than five minutes. Alison stood on the back of the ship in clear view and watched the two dolphins swim around excitedly. When they moved around the side of the ship Alison bolted up the three flights of stairs back to the bridge with Chris hot on her heels. She sprinted through the door and over to Lee.

“Okay, let’s say something!”

Lee nodded and pressed a button to engage the underwater microphone and speakers. He quickly typed out Hello and hit the enter key.

There was a long silence as they waited for a reply. Alison’s eyes slowly widened with concern and she laid her hand on Lee’s shoulder. They continued to wait.

“Should we try it aga-” Alison asked but was interrupted by Sally.

Hello Alison.

Lee gave her the keyboard and she typed. Hello Sally. Are you ready to help?

Yes we like help, came the dolphin’s reply.

Alison looked at Chris. They both breathed a sigh of relief.

Where you Alison?

Alison typed back. I am on the boat. An error message flashed on the screen that said Unable to translate. She looked at Lee. “How do I bring up the list of vocabulary words?”

Lee pressed a few keystrokes and the list appeared displaying all of the identified words to date.

Alison typed her reply again. I am on the metal.

Big metal, replied Sally.

Alison smiled. Yes, the metal is big. She looked up at Clay who had just joined them. “Are we about ready?”

He nodded. “Ready when you are.”

“Okay, let me make sure they’re okay being out here.”

Alison typed again. Are you and Dirk afraid?

No afraid, Sally said. Dirk hungry.

Alison laughed out loud. “That boy is always hungry.” She typed back playfully, Dirk is always hungry.

Sally made a strange sound that the computer could not translate.

Alison suddenly looked at Chris. “Did she just laugh?”

He smiled excitedly.

Alison relaxed for a moment and straightened up. “Okay Mr. Clay, what exactly are we looking for here?”

“A small white submersible, roughly three feet cubed in size.” He handed her a picture of the Triton. “We estimate that it’s somewhere within a three mile radius.”

She looked at the picture. “Jeez, how are we going to describe this?”

Lee brought up the vocabulary list again.

Alison studied the list and then began typing. Ready Sally? Ready Dirk?

Ready, Sally responded.

Ready, Dirk followed.

It looks like a metal bubble, she typed. Please look and come back.

We look, answered Sally.

The team listened for anything more, but the speakers fell silent. “They must be off.”

Alison turned to Clay again. “Just to remind you Mr. Clay, I don’t know how far or deep they will be able to search. Dolphins don’t go much deeper than 150 to 200 feet so even if they can find it with their echolocation, they may only be able to point us to it.”

“I understand,” Clay replied. “We’re not sure how deep it ended up since the submersible’s buoyancy tanks were partially filled. There are also a number of reefs around here, so we may get lucky.” He ended with a friendly smile. “And call me John.”





15





Caesare walked into Will Borger’s lab and found him at his desk going over the map he had seen last time he was there. Borger looked up and nodded. “Hi Steve.”

“Hey Will, thanks for making time for me,” Caesare replied. He walked over and handed a small storage drive to Borger.

“No problem.” Borger gave the drive a quick once over and turned to his computer to insert it. “Where’s Clay?” he asked while typing.

“He’s out playing with dolphins.”

Borger smiled. “I’m not even going to ask.” A window opened on his screen showing the contents of the drive. “Okay so what do we have here?”

“This is the video file our friend Tay sent over from the Pathfinder. It’s a recording the Triton submersible made during the dive…before we lost it for them. It’s not very long but Clay and I thought we should show it to you in case there was anything helpful on it. We’re actually hoping it might give some indication of which direction it headed off in after we lost contact.”