Hello Alison.
Alison smiled behind her glass face mask and reached out to run her bare hand along Sally’s body as the dolphin glided past.
“Good morning, Sally.”
How you today?
“Good, thank you.”
It was fascinating. Sally had continued picking up on subtle human cues, integrating small bits into her own greetings. It made Alison grin every time she heard it.
It amazed her how quickly the dolphins had adapted to them, leading Alison to wonder if it was something their IMIS translation system was doing as it grew smarter. But, if it were IMIS, it would be doing the same with all of the dolphins, not just Sally.
But it wasn’t.
Female dolphins appeared to have a keener ability when it came to communication. A certain unspoken relatability. Not entirely different from humans, and something she was now beginning to think might be universal.
While the males, just as with humans, developed other skills faster. Particularly around tactile or physical functions. Things such as tracking objects, agility, and response times and physical endurance.
“How are you today, Sally?”
Me happy Alison. Sally replied, and after a short pause, added, You happy.
It wasn’t a statement. Questions always sounded flat going through IMIS for translation, and Alison had grown increasingly adept at spotting them.
“Yes. I am happy.”
She studied Sally, now in the final stage of her pregnancy, larger in size due to the folding of her tail fluke and dorsal to accommodate an enlarged uterus. This gave Sally a larger overall girth rather than a ‘bump’ as it did in humans and humorously provided the only time in which Alison could recall Sally “out-eating” Dirk.
It was an exciting time, leaving Alison feeling almost like a midwife as Sally progressed through her stages of pregnancy. Even more exciting was the thought of the outcome, not just witnessing a live birth in the wild but an opportunity to study Sally as she nursed her newborn son. Both physically and verbally. Using IMIS to observe real-time communication between mother and calf in an entirely different species would be unprecedented.
She stroked Sally’s rubber-like skin affectionately and moved around so her camera could capture her entire length. “Shall we go for a swim?”
Yes. Sally like. A simple reply that moments later IMIS repeated and corrected to, I like.
Alison faded back to gently wrap a hand around Sally’s main dorsal fin.
You man here.
She grinned, this time with a slight blush, before nodding. Then looked down into the depths below to see several tiny dots of light moving around. The men. Scouring the bottom for remains of the Spanish Galleon shipwreck they had found.
It was a discovery that would make even the most seasoned treasure hunters green with envy. A Spanish treasure ship from the 1700s which not only had been lost but was never supposed to have existed in the first place. At least not according to official records. Because The King’s Ghost had been carrying something far more valuable than even its loads of gold and silver.
They still hadn’t surmised what caused the ship to sink, but they had located the priceless item which had brought them looking for it in the first place.
A piece of a larger alien ship.
Located at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea. Intentionally disassembled and hidden for thousands of years. More than just a piece—it was the alien ship’s navigation system.
Now the men were sifting through what remained of the wreckage laden with its trove of wealth from the Americas. Tens of thousands of gold and silver pieces, a giant golden cross adorned with precious jewels, hundreds of pounds of large emeralds, and a variety of important artifacts from the ship itself—the anchor, parts of the vessel’s wheel and wheelhouse, dishes, riggings, and what appeared to be a chest of personal items belonging to the ship’s captain, containing what may have been the ship’s final log if it had not disintegrated long ago within the waterlogged box.
The whole endeavor fascinated Alison. Like many shipwrecks, there was no indication of why the Ghost had perished. Still, each new haul of recovered items served as pieces to help reconstruct her majesty’s story—providing glimpses into the ship as it once was—both during its voyage and the final moments of the ship and her crew’s tragic end.
Alison relaxed and floated for a moment, staring down into the darkness, wondering which of the tiny moving dive lights was John Clay. Her man as Sally called him.
We swim, Alison.
She nodded and raised her head, this time wrapping both hands around the dolphin’s dorsal.
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