Dolfin Tayle by J.R. Rain & Piers Anthony

Author:J.R. Rain & Piers Anthony [Rain, J.R. & Anthony, Piers]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: J.R. Rain Press
Published: 2013-09-28T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

I wasn’t satisfied. Something was bothering me, and finally it came to the surface. “I don’t think we can do it.”

The three other human bodies looked at ours, and Tayle herself was confused. “Why, Azael?” Heidi asked, showing that she knew which of us was speaking.

“Because in the mass of information they gave me there was something I only picked up on now, when we realized we would have to meet the aliens more directly. They’re not here, exactly. They’re in a deep trench.”

“Off the Patton Escarpment, west of the California coast,” Brad said. He knew about the undersea landscape.

“No. That’s just a—a life-ship, sent to get closer to you at Tech Cal,” I said. “Specially engineered to withstand the lesser pressure of the surface water. All it contains is a—a metal device.”

“A robot mechanism,” Brad said.

“Yes. A Row Bot.” But that wasn’t it. The concept was of an intelligent machine, like a boat or car, but more sophisticated. Robot. “With the telepathy to reach out and project to the nearest sapient or near-sapient creatures. That’s how the squid was contacted; it swam close to investigate, and got the message and the telepathy packs. The aliens see through the—the robot’s eyes, and receive its thoughts, but they aren’t here.”

Brad nodded. “They’re in one of the really deep trenches. The Mariana or Puerto Rico. Neither of which is close by here.”

“Yes, the Mariana Trench,” I agreed, relieved that he understood what I barely grasped. “This little local trench is just for the robot.”

“But they are in touch with the robot,” Brad said. “So if we descend to it, bypassing the squid, we’ll have contact that much more direct. That may suffice.”

“Maybe,” I agreed uncertainly.

“The alternative is to commission a mission to fly the six of us—four humans and two dolphins—plus my friend’s deep sea sub—to the alien mother ship. More than six thousand miles west, near the Philippines. That would be cumbersome and expensive at best.”

“But if it’s really the end of the world we face,” Heidi said, “expense is no object, is it?”

“We’d have to wrestle with the government bureaucracy. I’m a consultant rather than an official; it would be a months-long hassle.”

“Unless we cut out the middleman and go directly to the president. With the telepathy.”

“Can’t do it,” Brad said. “Azael and Jon had the right idea, trying to use the political chain of command, and look where it got them.”

“Well, Norris is a turd,” she said.

“The political scene is lined with turds.”

“So it is,” she agreed with resignation.

“Anyway, the nature of the threat is too complicated for any politician to comprehend. Even with direct telepathic access to the president, it would be a tough sell.”

“The end of the world can’t be that complicated,” she protested. “if we can understand it, the president can.”

“We don’t understand it. That’s part of the problem. We need to get closer contact with the aliens for that, and we’re still wrestling with that aspect.”

“What do you mean, we don’t understand it? It’s a magnetic storm.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.