“Maybe. Maybe it was a redundant reference or maybe it was one of those system errors beginning to cause problems. But if it was, the timing would be extremely coincidental.”
DeeAnn propped herself up on her elbows. “Well, you know the system better than I do. What are you saying?”
Juan turned and looked cautiously at the door. “The IMIS software catches most redundant translations. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty effective.”
DeeAnn’s eyes narrowed further. “Spill it, Juan. What are you getting at?”
He bit his lip, thinking. Finally, he leaned forward again. “I don’t think it was redundant. I think the word ‘friend’ may have been a reference to a third person.”
DeeAnn gave him a contemplative stare. Suddenly she bolted up. “Oh my god, friend die teacher. You think it was a reference to who killed Luke!”
“Shh!” Juan held up both hands. “Look, I don’t know. I don’t know what exactly was happening between Dulce and Dexter, but considering how accurate our other translations from Dulce have been, I think it’s very possible.”
“Oh, my god!” DeeAnn repeated, with both hands over her mouth. “Do you think ‘die’ means kill?”
“It’s a possibility. But Dee, we don’t know this for sure.”
DeeAnn dropped her hands. “With what you know of IMIS, how much of a possibility are we talking about?”
“Well,” Juan replied, glancing at the door again. “A few minutes ago, I would have said something like forty percent. But…”
“But what?”
With one hand, Juan reached down past the side of her bed and came back up holding his cell phone. He unlocked the screen and turned it toward her. “Remember when Alves told us he had a cellular repeater on site here? The one we’ve been using for calls? Well, after you fainted, my cellular signal disappeared.”
38
A mild southwesterly produced a morning chop over the deep blue waters of the Caribbean; though for the open ocean, it was still considered relatively calm. The swaying of the boat over the small rolling waves had increased, making it slightly more difficult for Alison to keep her balance. Chris and Lee loaded her up with the diving equipment again. Behind her, a soft sunrise shone through a veil of light clouds on the horizon.
It was already nearly eighty degrees when Chris opened the valve and Alison tested the airflow once more, giving another thumbs-up.
Lee stood in front of her. “Okay, so remember, you’re only going to hear Dirk and Sally this time. It’s the only way not to overwhelm the system.”
Alison pulled the mask from her face. “Got it.”
After a few test translations, followed by the addition of her weight belt, Chris helped Alison back to the stern. Dozens of dolphins were waiting for her again with their heads up out of the water. One by one, they bobbed higher as the small waves brushed past them. Alison smiled when she spotted Dirk and Sally in the middle of the group.
Her jump this time was more controlled and her splash smaller. She immediately spun around to signal Chris. After a short pause, she reached down to let some air out of her BCD and slipped below the surface, descending in slow motion through the emerald water.
The dolphins wasted no time circling her, all still trying to speak, but this time she felt a sense of calm as Dirk and Sally approached.
“Dirk, Sally, the metal is broken. I can only talk to you.”
She wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Dolphins didn’t exactly nod. Instead, they just watched her and replied. You talk us only.
“Yes.”
Okay.
Dozens of dolphins continued to swarm around her excitedly.
We all happy you here. We like talk.
Alison smiled from inside the glass facemask. “So am I, Dirk. So am I.” She watched as he shot past and stopped behind her. He came in closer to examine her tanks.
Metal no broken.
She rolled her eyes. “Trust me, it’s broken.” The familiar buzz sounded in her ear, signaling a bad translation.
Alison watched Sally turn slightly and speak, most of which generated only more buzzing, courtesy of IMIS. Out of the string, there were only two words translated correctly: she here.
She waited in anticipation as Dirk came out from behind her. The field of swirling dolphins began to quickly thin until only a few were left, yet even they distanced themselves. From a distance, Alison could see three faint shapes approaching. All three swam in a tight group. They moved steadily until they slowed next to Dirk and Sally.
The three looked noticeably larger than the others but not by much. Instead, with their size and slow movements, they struck Alison as older.
Sally turned and drifted closer to Alison. Here our heads.
Alison stared at her with a puzzled expression. “Your head?” What does that mean… what heads? She pondered Sally’s comment for a moment and shrugged beneath her vest. “I don’t understand.”
Sally blinked, continuing to drift in. Our heads. Old.
“Your heads are old? I don’t…” Alison stopped in midsentence. “Wait,” her eyes lit up, “you mean your elders?!”
Yes. Old heads.
“Old heads,” Alison repeated, inside her mask. She looked back at the three older dolphins who seemed to be studying her. One of them appeared to speak, but Alison couldn’t hear it. She could only hear what Sally repeated to her.
How you speak.
“I speak with a metal,”
After Sally had repeated Alison’s reply, the elder spoke again. How many humans talk.
Alison smiled, feeling a surge of excitement. “Just me now. But soon, many will talk!” She considered explaining what “soon” meant but left it alone. She knew the IMIS system was wildly complex, not to mention expensive. It would take time. Years maybe. But one day it would come. One day everyone would be able to do it.
Another elder spoke to Sally, who repeated again to Alison. How old you.
She chuckled, creating a small patch of fog inside her mask. Clearly dolphins didn’t have the same hang ups with age that humans did. She briefly wondered if they had any hang-ups at all.
“I’m thirty-four.”
Finally, the third dolphin spoke through Sally. We happy talk again. Before Alison could reply the elder added, You come journey.
Alison gave a brief shake of her head. “What?”
We journey. You come.
“Journey? You’re going on a journey?”
Yes. You come. We go to beautiful.
Alison stared at them, surprised. “Isn’t this your home?”
We go — home now. — Beautiful — --.
Alison’s earpiece buzzed again with more unrecognized words. She reached down and found the glowing button on her vest that muted the speaker. “Lee, are you getting this?”
Lee’s voice was clear and crisp. “We sure are.”
“Who’s there with you?”
Lee glanced up at Chris and Kelly. “We’re all here, Ali.”
“They’re leaving,” Alison said, looking at the dolphins.
“It sure seems that way,” he replied.
Alison was afraid to ask the obvious question. They were, after all, out in the middle of the ocean and farther from land than any of them thought they ought to be. She swallowed silently. “What do you guys think we should do?”
Lee looked at Chris, who then looked at Kelly. With a smile, Lee leaned in close to the microphone. “Didn’t we hear an invitation in there?”