Borger shrugged. “Nothing else that matches the circumstances.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean it seems to fit. The power involved, the complexity, time to build. Why it would appear to be hidden underwater. The energy and magnetic field distortion. It seems to be the most reasonable idea. I also agree with Dr. Harding that if someone is able to build a big wormhole, they certainly would not have trouble making a small one. I think the important thing to consider here is what we may already be thinking. We may be dealing with someone vastly smarter than we are.”
Miller leaned forward and covered his face with his hands. “I was afraid someone was going to say that. Dr. Wong,” he said turning back to the screen, “you are our resident expert on astrobiology. I presume you have been able to review the pictures and video of this Palin person?”
Professor Wong’s image filled the screen as he spoke. In his early fifties, with glasses and very little gray hair, Wong’s reputation in the astronomical field was well known. “Yes I have.”
“What is your opinion?”
“Meaning?” asked Wong.
“Meaning…” said Miller, “are we even talking about humans anymore?”
Wong frowned. “Well…while it’s feasible that this ring may be a portal of some kind, I doubt this man Palin is an alien if that’s what we’re asking. Judging from his anatomy, including the patient x-rays from Dr. Kanna on the Pathfinder, they look far too human.”
“What do you mean too human?” asked Bullman the Army chief.
“Well let’s take some rather broad assumptions here. Say we were dealing with an alien race that built this wormhole, and they are able to power it from somewhere else, potentially far away. Their anatomy is simply not different enough,” Wong explained. “The bottom line is that any life form developing on a different planet would have its own evolutionary path. Another planet for instance would have wildly different environmental variables than Earth. Maybe it’s smaller than Earth, maybe it’s hotter, maybe the days are shorter, maybe there is less water. The fact is that with millions of small, even tiny differences between our environments there would be an infinite number of variations of physical form for them to evolve into. So with an almost limitless amount of diversity, the odds of another race developing into near identical beings is…well, a mathematical impossibility.”
“An impossibility?”
Wong nodded. “Damn near.”
Miller leaned back and sighed. He then raised his hand to rub his eyes. “Okay. So let me get this straight, we think we have a wormhole under the ocean, going somewhere we don’t know, requiring more energy that we can ever hope to produce, built by someone a lot smarter than us and they are not alien.” He looked around the room and then at the screen. “Have I missed anything?”
No one replied.
“Admiral Langford,” Miller suddenly leaned forward in his chair. “We need more information and I’d like your team to get it.”
“Yes sir,” Langford responded.
“We have an interrogator due to arrive at your location shortly. Let’s see what we can find out from this captive Palin. But we need to be careful here. Dare I say that taking any action prematurely could be very dangerous?” Miller looked around the room. “Let’s reconvene in the morning when we hopefully know more. Thank you, everyone.” With that he reached for the remote control on his conference room table and his window blinked out.
“Thank you gentlemen,” Langford said. “We’ll be in touch.” He reached for his own controller and closed all of the calls except for Borger and Caesare. Langford and Foster both stood up.
“Clay,” said Langford, “Head back to the main base and get some sleep. “ He turned to Foster. “Do you have a plane he can use?”
“We’ll find one.”
“Thanks,” he turned back to Clay. “In the morning, I want you in the air.”
“Yes sir,” answered Clay.
“You two,” he said to Borger and Caesare. “Keep on that video. See if there is anything else you can find out.”
“Yes sir,” they answered in unison.
Both Langford and Foster left the room.
Clay watched the door close behind them. He then turned to the giant monitor where Borger and Caesare were still on screen. “Well that was interesting.”
23
Alison watched as the harness holding Dirk slowly swung over the aquarium’s giant glass tank and then stopped. It then began to descend until it gently touched the water. It continued down until Dirk was a few feet below the water line. At this point a small rope was pulled which released a large clasp allowing the harness to unfold and fall away. Dirk wriggled out and swam excitedly around the tank several times. He then headed to the large glass wall where Sally was watching the children press their hands and noses against the glass and waving at them. After a few moments, Dirk turned, swimming under and away from Sally and the children. When he reached the far end of the tank, he sped back directly toward the glass then suddenly twisted around and around, performing several barrel rolls through the bright blue water. The children went crazy.
Alison was always struck at how much Dirk and Sally loved children. Many times in the mornings, the dolphins were waiting at the glass wall when the doors of the aquarium opened and the children came streaming through. They clearly had a connection with each other, and she never tired of watching them. She walked back to her lab at the other end of the tank leaving the lobby and the laughing children. When she reached the metal door she slid her card through the small slot and waited for the door to unlock with a loud click. She pulled the door open and stepped into the green carpeted room of their lab.
She walked up behind Lee Kenwood and looked over his shoulder. “How are things looking?”
“Fine,” he said. “All systems are good. In fact, IMIS picked up a few more words while we were gone.”
“Our vocabulary list is getting long,” she noted, looking at his monitor.
Lee nodded. He finished typing and closed a window on his screen. He opened another window, a new program that Alison had not seen before. Lee slid his chair to the side and looked up at her. “I have a surprise for you.”
She looked at him with a puzzled expression, expecting him to finish the sentence. He just sat smiling at her.
“What?” she finally asked. She looked back to his screen. The new program showed a large black circle with a thin green line through it. She looked back to Lee wondering what she was supposed to be looking at.
“Lean in,” Lee said.
Alison leaned closer to his desk. She still had no idea.
“Now talk,” he whispered.
She still looked puzzled.
He whispered again. “Say hi.”
She frowned and looked at his screen again. “Hi.”
The thin green line danced when she spoke, then went flat again. A moment later she heard IMIS translate the short word into the tank.
Dirk and Sally turned around and swam over to the lab. Hi Alison, they replied.
Alison’s eyes widened. “Did IMIS actually hear me?”
Lee smiled. “Voice recognition, no more typing.” He reached out and slid the keyboard away from them. “Just talk into the microphone and IMIS will automatically translate.”
Alison watched Lee as she spoke again. Again the green line danced at the sound of her voice. “How are you today?” she asked.
We good, said Dirk. How you?
“Lee,” she cried, “you are amazing!”
He smiled. “Pretty cool huh?”
Alison picked a banana out of her bag. She peeled it and walked over to the tank where Dirk and Sally were floating on the other side, watching her. She took a small bite and reached out and put her hand on the glass. Dirk floated forward and touched his nose to the other side. Sally remained where she was and continued watching Alison. She peeled more of the banana and took another bite.