Catalyst (Breakthrough Book 3)(38)
Where Chris?
“Chris isn’t here yet. He will come soon.” She approached the tank and leaned against a desk just a few feet from the giant glass wall.
Chris funny. Dirk replied as he glided in.
“Yes, he is.”
Alison paused, thinking how best to begin. Starting with the journey seemed a logical place. Especially since it had turned out to be much more than any of them expected.
“Sally, Dirk. I’d like to ask you some questions.”
Yes Alison. We talk.
“How…often do you go on your journey?”
Many.
She frowned, suspecting IMIS had mistranslated. “I mean, how many times in a year?”
One.
Alison knew the match for “year” was what the dolphins referred to as a “cycle.”
“One every cycle?”
Yes.
“Why do you go?”
Journey beautiful.
“Yes, it is.”
She couldn’t argue with that. Diving with them near the island of Trinidad was beyond beautiful. An underwater oasis like nothing the team had ever seen.
And the population of dolphins there was simply breathtaking. Thousands, tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds covered the surface of the ocean like a giant, moving sea blanket.
“So, you go because it’s beautiful?”
We go for connect. For strong.
“For connect?”
Yes. And for strong.
It was the first time Alison had seen that word translated: connect. But it verified what she had suspected. It wasn’t just a journey they carried out every year, it was a migration of some kind. A return to something deeper and more meaningful to them. And not just individually, but collectively. As a group. It was culture!
She stared at the screen, reading the translation again. What did “for strong” mean? To strongly connect? For a stronger connection?
“Sally,” she asked. What is so special about your place?”
A beep sounded and IMIS flagged the word “special.” She rephrased.
“Why do dolphins go to that place?”
Place from live.
Alison frowned, unclear on the meaning.
“I don’t understand.”
Place from live. Sally repeated. One cycle.
Alison mumbled to herself, trying to understand. “Yes, every cycle. I understand that.”
Live.
“I don’t understand.” She shook her head. Still at a loss, she decided to try another question. “Sally. Dirk. How far back do you remember?”
The room became silent while she waited for a response. When nothing came, she glanced at the computer screen to see if there was a problem. No errors. “Sally? Dirk?”
No understand Alison. Dirk replied.
Alison opened her mouth to say it a different way but stopped abruptly. Rephrasing the question suddenly appeared more difficult than she thought.
“I mean, how do your-” she stopped again. Dammit. How the hell would someone describe a memory?
“Sally. Dirk. Do you know yesterday?”
Yes.
“Do you know yesterday yesterday?”
Yes. Yes. Dirk followed his response with a laugh. Alison frowned again.
“I mean, do you know yesterday’s yesterday?”
Yes.
“Do you know yesterday’s yesterday’s yesterday?”
On the other side of the glass, Sally’s dark eyes glanced at Dirk and then back at Alison. She wondered if Alison were joking herself.
Three day back. Yes.
From the edge of the desk, Alison smiled. “Do you know ten days back?”
This time Sally’s response came quickly. Alison you play?
“No, I’m not playing.”
Dirk edged closer to her. Yes Alison. We know ten day. We know hundred day. We know all day. You question funny.
Alison grinned. “How many days back do you know?”
All day.
“How many cycles back?”
All cycle.
“More than a hundred?”
Yes.
Finally, Alison asked the question she had been trying to work toward. “How do you know more than a hundred cycles back?”
Sally’s response was exactly what Alison was hoping for.
Heads.
“You mean your elders?”
Yes. Heads.
“You know from your heads? Do they teach you?”
Yes. Heads teach all.
How many elders are there?
Many.
Alison stared at them, momentarily transfixed. Their elders taught them. And they taught them things older than they were. Her excitement was swelling. If what Sally and Dirk just told her was correct, it was big. Huge. It meant that dolphins had more than just language and culture. They had history!
Alison remained quiet, excitedly thinking through the impact of what Dirk and Sally had just said. More questions began filling her head. If there was a historical lineage, it meant a cognitive progression. More than just memories or culture, it explained why their intelligence was so much more advanced than many other animals. Real knowledge had many components, not the least of which were lessons or learnings passed down through multiple generations. Knowledge that could lead in so many different directions.