Titanic
By Jon Sleeper
Part VII: Discovery
HOPE FOR MORE TITANIC SURVIVORS FAINT; CARPATHIA ONLY SHIP ON HAND IN TIME. Perhaps 1400 lost.
--Headline, New York Evening Sun, Apr. 16, 1912
Sept. 3, 1985 12:00 p.m
"Let's give a hand for our three Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins: Corky, Finn, and Delphi!" At this cue, the other two dolphins and I executed a HUGE leap through the air, with me at the center of the tank. We then faced downward in the water with our flukes in the air, waving "goodbye". Frankly, I think the show they've come up with isn't bad, but for that last part.
I floated next to the glass so I could watch people file out. Every inconvenience I suffer in this place (which, frankly, is not much) seems small when I see the joy on the faces of the children as they walk out. One or two stopped to stare at me with happy eyes, so I rolled a couple times and bobbed my head underwater. The kids giggled. That made my day. [[A good show, Bottle,]] said Finn.
[[Yeah, a good show,]] I returned. [[But call me "Delphi." I've not gone by that other name in quite some time. But I wish they'd come up with some other tricks. I'm getting rather bored with these.]]
In the years since the wreck, I've been in and out of the water a lot. But I have to say that "Woodstock" thing back in '69 was the best time I've ever had. It was the only place where I have ever been able to wander around in hybrid form and have no one notice… Who needs drugs when you're a dolphin already?
Darius took most of the load of subbing for Orca from me. I mainly took care of minor matters. After that one time I was an orca, I've always felt uncomfortable with taking that form again. Though my pendant (when I'm human) still has that capability.
And Darius… frankly, I'm worried about him. I think impersonating Orca has been a strain. I seem to recall an incident last year with an exploding Alaskan cruise ship that almost got one of our temporary Disciples killed… Otherwise, the organization that he'd started (ORCA, or Outside Resource Conservation Association) is still going strong, and has ceased being so radical.
The people eventually filed out, and the stadium was empty. The three of us went up to our favorite "trainer" to have a talk. I shifted to hybrid. "So, Delphi. What do you think of conditions here?" she asked.
"Not bad, my hairy friend. My Master would be pleased." Well, checking out waterparks like this was sort of my self-appointed Task. I must of closed down a dozen of these places over the past twenty years or so. This one definitely passes inspection! Almost a rarity… "You still have that surprised look on your face when I do this, though."
"Well, what you your reaction be if an animal you thought was smart, but not that smart suddenly speak in fluent English, then change into a morph of a human? You scared the heck out of me last year with that trick!"
"Sorry about that. I'm not all that subtle as 'phins go." I replied. "But you're special, Cindy. You really, truly, care. That is a scarce thing, even though not as much as it used to be."
"I wish I was one of you." She said for the umpteenth time. She didn't really mean it, though. I could tell. She had the want, but not the conviction. I'd given her a pendant anyway. I smiled, then my smile went flat as a man walked up behind her.
Because of my talent (much more powerful since Orca had enhanced my powers) all the man saw was her talking to a normal dolphin in the tank. "Ms. Cole, you talk to those animals like they're people!" He said. "You know they can't understand what you're saying." In response, I splashed some water from the pool onto his dress shirt with my snout.
"You were saying?" Cindy said, smirking.
"Conditioned response. Look, I'm afraid I'm going to have to say this now, Miss Cole. We're not doing very well, so we've had to make some cuts. But we like you and we want to keep you on. But the thing is, it's either you leave or we cut the maintenance budget. You know what that would mean."
I knew, too. It would mean that we'd get less food, the tank would get dirty, and our vets would be here only once a week. Not good in such a small tank. And grounds for me to close the place down. How? Best I not say anything…
Cindy got a troubled look on her face, she looked at us, and quietly walked away in deep thought.
While I was doing my exercises a man walked into the stadium. He was of medium height, black, with white temples and goatee. He was also wearing a t-shirt with a print of an orca breaching on it. Looked to be one of those things by Anthony Casay… Something clicked in my mind. ["Master! You're back!"] I clicked in excited Delphin.
"That I am, Bottle. I've got good news, too. They found the Titanic two days ago. A man named Bob Ballard (whom I've been helping since childhood, by the way) found him with a thing called 'Argo'. We're free to do you-know-what. So I need you to come now, if you can tear yourself away from here."
["I don't know… I'm tied up at the moment. I'll come, but just give me a few hours."]
"I've got to catch the three o'clock flight to Boston, so can't wait. Mother is forcing me to use human technology to get around until we're through with this. Hmm… But I can do some other things to help you. Go to locker number forty two and you'll have everything you need. I'll see you soon." And he left.
At the end of the day, Cindy stopped at the top of the pool in her street clothes, looking at me sadly as I circled the pool, and thumbing her pendant.
I'd heard on the radio that the Titanic had finally been found, so was expecting Orca's visit. As Cindy stood there, the manager (the jerk) came up behind her. "They're only animals, Cindy." He repeated. Then he walked away.
She looked at me even with even more intense sadness. "You know, Delphi. And I've told you this before. Ever since I touched a dolphin at the petting pool at Sea World when I was little I've wanted to work with you. Well, dolphins anyway. It's been one of my dreams. But now it's over."
Over? What was she talking about? "I've decided to leave you rather than let you and the others suffer for my selfishness. I'll miss you, and your secret is safe with me, always. It means more to me than you can know." Then she surprised me by jumping in. I changed to hybrid. She floated before me with tears running down her cheeks.
She's one of a kind. Has no family, no one. In a way I think I--all of we dolphins, really--filled a void for her. I'd never encountered one like her in my two hundred-odd years of life. And I loved her very much. We'd been working together three years before I'd revealed myself to her, she never once treated me like a mere animal. We like that, and try to reward it. She hugged me tightly around my large neck, "I wish I was one of you," she whispered. She meant it, too. For the first time, she really, truly, meant it.
I've been wanting to do this for a long, long time. I'd only been waiting for the proper moment. I pushed her away from me, holding her forearms with my webbed hands, treading water. I reached up and pushed a bit of her long hair out of her eyes. "My wonderful Cynthia," I said. "Ask, and ye shall receive." I clasped her pendant in my hand.
I left the new dolphin cavorting in the tank with Finn and Corky. I'd never seen her happier (by the height of the leaps she was making...), and my heart sang. I could not recall the last time I'd been that happy! I'd even been able to alter the local timeline to include a female dolphin named "Oracle," so no one would know the difference. I knew I'd be back one day soon (I can't wait to introduce her to my family pod! They'll love her!).
The park was closed, and it was getting dark. I had no clothes, so I used my talent to hide my hybrid appearance to look like someone in a costume. One of the clean up crew saw me, and asked what I was doing. "Just getting used to this thing," I'd replied. "I start tomorrow, and it's still summer you know. This makeup is going to be hot." The man seemed to accept it and move on.
I went to the locker Orca had mentioned, banged on it with my talent. Inside were clothes, shoes, wallet, and car keys. I went into a bathroom to get dressed.
I'd not been fully human since 1972. The seventies had gotten to be too much for me to bear (Disco: a humpback would scream if he heard it!) so I'd gotten wet again. I wonder who I am this time? I asked myself as I opened the wallet. Then I groaned. The name on the drivers license was "Dolph Seacord." Orca had not gotten any more subtle since He'd been gone, it seemed… I wished he'd let me choose my own name like he did Emily all those years ago.
At least He'd gotten the face right again. I changed to full human to more resemble the picture on the card. Then I looked in the mirror. The face that looked back screamed "SURFER!!" and I loved it. I was probably about twenty five years old, had a dark tan, a mop of messy sun-bleached hair, and a goatee. My body was hardened and muscular from years of surfing. The wallet even had a picture of me and my board. "Kewel," I said aloud, noting the SoCal accent.
The car was beat up '81 Subaru 4x4 wagon, with my board inside. It was perfect for this body and personality! Of course, I'm not the typical surfer. I know more about cetacean biology than anyone, and naval history. So I might surprise a few people. I like irony like that. It would be a long drive, (Orca had thoughtfully provided a credit card, too. So I was set) and I settled in.
The wind off the North Atlantic was cold and harsh. Fall was coming in a month or so, and an early nor'easter was coming north up the coast of Maine. I've always liked Newfoundland. The northeastern Canadian coast is among the most beautiful I have found, only Alaska is in any way better.
The waves crashed with greater intensity. I turned away from the gravestones before me. My parents had died (again) over forty years ago. Their last request was to spend their final hours human again. They had said it brought closure to an overly long and fruitful life. They had been amongst the most revered whales in the Sea. All had come to them, no matter the species. They taught many of our temporary Disciples about human society (which borne out the reason about exactly why they'd been allowed to keep their memories, among others). Then I'd lost them again.
It was almost more than I could take. To lose them twice.. Only the memory of Emily had kept me from going insane. She was still out there, waiting. Damned if I was going to disappoint her.
Other than impersonating Orca, in the past seventy years or so Bottle (what is his name now? I've lost track) and I have been everywhere. I've traveled on all the great floating palaces: Olympic, Bremen, Normandie, Andrea Doria, Imperator, Ile de France, Rex, Vaterland, Aquatania, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Europa, and many, many others. Mostly in my search for what happened to Captain Smith.
In the years after the Titanic, a legend had arisen. Whenever ice was sighted, and a large ship (most often a passenger liner) was steaming towards it, this lone orca would appear. Those who did not heed the warning had troubles, those who did had none. But no matter how many times I tried I never saw him. But in my mind that orca could only be one person.
Otherwise, the only other excitement has been the two World Wars. Both Bottle and I fought in them. Only too happily against Hitler. Needless to say, Ape was the angriest I'd ever seen Him when He found out that that man had done… Israel is a result of that somewhat (He thought the Jews needed a bit of reparation). Right now He's having a devil of a time keeping that country in one piece. I think one of His Disciples went bad on Him. I guess it goes to show: never have a baboon as your First Disciple.
I guess the both of us are very lucky that Orca had augmented our talents… one of which seemed to be an enhancement of our natural immortality. I remember (sort of) getting shot several times during both wars, then waking up in the water in my natural orca form. Lucky thing, too. I'd be dead several times over if not for that little addition.
I got inside the house just as the rain started to come down in sheets. This was the model room. In here, I kept large models of all the ships I've sailed on, with the Sothesby having a special place. That ship is still in dry dock, ready to sail. Unfortunately, the will of "Darius Orcan" had turned her into a museum of sorts (she's still quite seaworthy, though). I'm this close to acquiring her once more, but I've just not had the money. The door to the room opened. "How was your swim, sir?" Said Michaels, my head servant.
"Fine, just fine," I replied. Even though I'd not been in True Form for over a decade, I still went out to the water out of pure habit. My current name was "Maximillian Delorca." Head of ORCA, that environmental association. I'd taken personal command after that exploding ship debacle. The one I'd assigned to clean up the acts of those cruise ships was still recovering. Changing back into his True Self had healed his physical injuries, but the mental ones are harder to fix.
The only thing that had cheered me up was hearing that the Titanic had been discovered. I was so close to jumping in the water and swimming out to the Knorr, but then I Heard from Orca! Bottle and he would be here soon! I'd not seen him in almost forty years!
After WWII, he and I had sort of drifted apart. I think it was because he did not seem to understand my need to take over from Orca in every manner. He seemed to resent my insisting that he remain in the background and do nothing (well, he had just gotten "killed" again fighting on Iwo Jima, and I'd worried for his safety), so without further adieu he'd gone off on his own. I'd not heard from him since.
Of course, my memory might be foggy over the details of why we'd separated. It's a symptom of being four hundred years old. The brain gets crowded with a mishmash of images. Many of which could easily be several similar events squashed into a single memory.
If there was one thing I told Orca not to mess with, it's my memories and the way they work. Nothing personal… just caution.
I spent the next couple days waiting. Then a car drove up, and a man with a distinctive (for these parts) mop of blond hair got out. I did not recognize him immediately, but he had the Tone of one of the other permanent Disciples. Unfortunately we change faces so often that I could not immediately be sure who it was. I walked out the door to meet him.
"Welcome home," I said tentatively, offering my hand.
"Welcome home," he said. Over the past few days I'd remembered exactly why we'd not spoken the past forty years. For all his confident appearance, he is not the man I knew on the Titanic. Unfortunately that's all I could really recall about it. My last "death" had scrambled my memory a bit. It looks like at some point I'm going to have to do something about all those tuna fishing boats. They're damned indiscriminate in what they catch.
He obviously did not recognize me. So said, "Like thanks, dude. Great to be here." Getting into my Californian persona.
"How's the Program going?" He says.
Ahh yes, 'The Program.' The first part of it was very simple: confuse the human researchers who are trying to decipher our language, and are trying to teach us a language. A very fun game, most of us think. But the second part is more serious. "Dolphin therapy" for human children who have all sorts of problems. I did a year of it myself. Which is how I found out I like human children a lot. The light on their faces when one of them sees me in my True Form gives a feeling like nothing else. I happened to know that most of those who are on the wet end of that therapy love doing it. But to get Darius' goat I said, "Like, just fine, dude."
"Um… okaay," he said. He'd not changed a whittle in forty years. Not even his appearance. Which was another symptom of his problem. He's been cooped up here for way too long. He needed to get out in the world again, see how it has changed. We went into the house, and what I saw only confirmed my suspicions. He had a vintage 60's TV set that got only two channels, and bad ones at that.
He offered me something to eat ("Like, mackerel if ya got it, dude") and over dinner I skillfully misdirected him each time he tried figure out who I was. It was great fun. He started to become frustrated, and I was about to tell him who I was, when the dining room door opened and closed and a familiar figure appeared. "Ah, Darius and Bottle! Glad to see both of you again my Children! The time has come. But I need to speak with the both of you first."
"Bottle?!" Darius said, dumbfounded.
"Maybe. Orca has been known to be wrong once or twice in a century." I grinned. But memories had started to flood back… To Darius too, apparently.
"Bottle, why haven't you even called in the last forty years? Still mad at me?"
I thought a moment… "Damn straight, dude! Orca said to take care of things while He was away, NOT replace him! You were supposed to make it known to others that you weren't him! Instead you've fooled everyone!" It was probably just a silly thing. After all, Orca usually leaves it up to us how to interpret his orders. But he'd given us less guidelines than he usually does, which had made things even less definite.
He looked at me. "It's my JOB bottle brain! I never rose above myself, you know that!" It would of escalated from there, but…
"Guys, please? Stop, your arguing breaks my heart. You know that. I think you two have forgotten some things since I've been gone. Darius, how long has it been since you've been in True Form?"
He thought a moment. "Maybe a decade or so."
"And Bottle, you yourself had not been fully human for at least that long before I showed up. Both of you have lost something, and you don't know it. You've lost something very dear to me, your sense of purpose, and joy in achieving that purpose. Bottle, before I appeared, when was the last time you felt real happiness? You too, Darius."
To tell the truth, I couldn't remember. Which is why I'd stayed among the dolphins at the World Waterpark. They're more serious as dolphins go. Probably having to do with the Program. I shook my head in resignation. "Can't remember."
Darius looked just as distressed. "I've… forgotten. But there is something I remember now. Bottle, our real argument had nothing to do with what I was supposed to be doing. I think we just got on each other's nerves. One can only stand so much of watching your lips move while you read, you know."
"And you and your annoying habit of breaching whenever you feel like it. Do you know the kind of noise it makes? I don't suppose you do. Then there's your habit of slucking spaghetti. Sheesh!" In retrospect, I guess it was the little things that eventually drove us apart. But somehow, in the Presence of our Master we were reminded of our purpose. But this was not all He had planned for us.
"Doctor Ballard is already deep into planning his dive mission for next year. I have a plan to get us down there, but it involves a lot of crash technical training and I'm going to have to bring in some of the other Disciples. But first I have a little surprise. Sibs?"
Five people, one woman and four men, appeared. "These are my Siblings. I've been gone because I've tried to convince them to help me. These are the few whom I've convinced to help. Unfortunately, Ape can't join us. He sends his regards, though. But first introductions." He walked over to the first one.
He was a tall man, powerfully built with a flowing scalp lock not unlike a horse's mane, with a kind look in his large brown eyes. "This is my Brother, Equus. He has taken the name 'Morgan Shireborne.'"
"I'm sorry I haven't joined in earlier," he said in a deep voice. "But I'm afraid I've not taken as great an interest as I should in the affairs of humans. My Children and they a have been connected for thousands of years, so it's about time I helped them both."
"My Sister, Felina Bast." All she gave was a sly, slightly arrogant grin. Orca went on. "My Brother, Lupus." He was silent, too. He and Felina did not seem to get along very well. Felina looked like an Egyptian princess, and Lupus like a mix of a Native American and a generic European. "And then there's Bandit…" Orca gestured to a short man wearing a black cloak.
"This is much better than rooting around in garbage cans!" the sharp man said in a tenor, fast voice, while munching on some saltine crackers.
"Lemme guess," I said. "Raccoon?" He just winked.
"Last, but certainly not least, Eagle, whom has chosen no other name. None that he would accept from me at any rate."
The man had a cold, impassive look to him that looked like he was thinking of how many ways he could dismember you. But the next moment the right corner of his mouth went up in a bit of a smirk, which actually made him a bit more likable. Bandit seemed more than a little bit nervous around him.
"How much time do we have, Master?" I asked.
"Not as much as I'd like. But we should succeed I think. So let's get a move on. We have no time to waste."
On to the next part
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