fate. I thought, I’ll go ahead and see if anybody answers my signal. Because, if there was only about one chance in three that the COLABS was capable of sending out a focused signal, it was even more uncertain that anybody would be listening.”
“Why was it so unlikely that the COLABS device would work?” Pettrus asked. “Do n’t communication devices generally work?”
“I suppose it seems like that, to a dolphin. Actually, they had all sorts of trouble with the power source. I had one of the engineers in therapy with me for a couple of months because he was so upset over the d ifficulties. And the adjustment of such a small mechanism was delicate. Carrying it around in my briefcase might have jarred it loose.
“Anyhow, I pressed the signal button. It sends out an impulse that is received by the beamed station as a steady buzzin g.
“I held the button down for about a minute and a half, and nothing happened. I was just about to take my finger off it, and forget the whole thing and pack the COLABS device back in my briefcase, when I heard a voice say, ‘COLABS 32! COLABS 32! We get your signal! Where are you speaking from?’”
Dr. Lawrence sighed. “I could have refused to answer, of course,” he said. “But that my signal had been received at all seemed a kind of miracle. Nobody was regularly stationed at the receptor; it wasn’t even turned on most of the time. I found out later that a technician had just happened to go into that lab to do some soldering on an electrical connection. While he was waiting for the soldering iron to warm up, he’d switched the receptor on. And he heard my s ignal coming out of it. If the timing had been off a little, nobody would have heard me.”
“It was bad luck for us that he did,” I said.
“Yes. But he answered me. And again, I felt it was fate. I —well, that’s the way it was.
“I told him where I was speaking from, and said that I knew something about the earthquake. He called somebody, and that person called somebody else. They sent a ‘copter out to the Rock for me. By nine o’clock, I was telling my story to a rear admiral.”
“The admiral that was mentioned in the piece in the Chronicle?” Pettrus asked.
“Yes. I was surprised how easily he believed me. The quake had damaged a good many of the craft in his command, and I suppose he was rather shaken up.”
“Did you advise him to strafe and bomb the rock ?” I asked.
“I wasn’t responsible for the measures he took,” Lawrence replied evasively.
There seemed no particular point in trying to get an admission of guilt from him. “Do you know what’s happened to Sven?” I said.
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Law rence replied quickly. He seemed relieved to change the subject. “I heard that a man had been picked up near the lighthouse.”
“Where is he now?”
“They have him in custody.”
“How about Djuna?”
“I’m not sure. I heard that a dolphin that was swimming near the big island had been wounded but had managed to get away.”
Djuna wounded, and Sven in custody. If Dr. Lawrence had been in the water at that moment, I am sure Pettrus and Ivry and I would have managed to MB him. Our armament is not much, compared to that of a shark, but we do have over a hundred strong sharp teeth. We were so angry we had even forgotten about Madelaine.
Dr. Lawrence was speaking. “It was learning that Sven had been captured that made me realize what I ‘d done,” he said slowly. “Fate and chance? No, I’d done it. If I’d felt a sort of traitor to join Madelaine’s war on humanity, I knew now that I was a real traitor. I’d betrayed people who trusted me.
“I don’t expect you to believe me. I ‘ve forfeited your confidence. I’ll have to try to earn it back. But I am on your side.”
Pettrus made a blowing noise. I don’t know how it would have sounded to a Split, but a dolphin would have translated it as the acoustical equivalent of, “Well, well! You don’t
“Why was it so unlikely that the COLABS device would work?” Pettrus asked. “Do n’t communication devices generally work?”
“I suppose it seems like that, to a dolphin. Actually, they had all sorts of trouble with the power source. I had one of the engineers in therapy with me for a couple of months because he was so upset over the d ifficulties. And the adjustment of such a small mechanism was delicate. Carrying it around in my briefcase might have jarred it loose.
“Anyhow, I pressed the signal button. It sends out an impulse that is received by the beamed station as a steady buzzin g.
“I held the button down for about a minute and a half, and nothing happened. I was just about to take my finger off it, and forget the whole thing and pack the COLABS device back in my briefcase, when I heard a voice say, ‘COLABS 32! COLABS 32! We get your signal! Where are you speaking from?’”
Dr. Lawrence sighed. “I could have refused to answer, of course,” he said. “But that my signal had been received at all seemed a kind of miracle. Nobody was regularly stationed at the receptor; it wasn’t even turned on most of the time. I found out later that a technician had just happened to go into that lab to do some soldering on an electrical connection. While he was waiting for the soldering iron to warm up, he’d switched the receptor on. And he heard my s ignal coming out of it. If the timing had been off a little, nobody would have heard me.”
“It was bad luck for us that he did,” I said.
“Yes. But he answered me. And again, I felt it was fate. I —well, that’s the way it was.
“I told him where I was speaking from, and said that I knew something about the earthquake. He called somebody, and that person called somebody else. They sent a ‘copter out to the Rock for me. By nine o’clock, I was telling my story to a rear admiral.”
“The admiral that was mentioned in the piece in the Chronicle?” Pettrus asked.
“Yes. I was surprised how easily he believed me. The quake had damaged a good many of the craft in his command, and I suppose he was rather shaken up.”
“Did you advise him to strafe and bomb the rock ?” I asked.
“I wasn’t responsible for the measures he took,” Lawrence replied evasively.
There seemed no particular point in trying to get an admission of guilt from him. “Do you know what’s happened to Sven?” I said.
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Law rence replied quickly. He seemed relieved to change the subject. “I heard that a man had been picked up near the lighthouse.”
“Where is he now?”
“They have him in custody.”
“How about Djuna?”
“I’m not sure. I heard that a dolphin that was swimming near the big island had been wounded but had managed to get away.”
Djuna wounded, and Sven in custody. If Dr. Lawrence had been in the water at that moment, I am sure Pettrus and Ivry and I would have managed to MB him. Our armament is not much, compared to that of a shark, but we do have over a hundred strong sharp teeth. We were so angry we had even forgotten about Madelaine.
Dr. Lawrence was speaking. “It was learning that Sven had been captured that made me realize what I ‘d done,” he said slowly. “Fate and chance? No, I’d done it. If I’d felt a sort of traitor to join Madelaine’s war on humanity, I knew now that I was a real traitor. I’d betrayed people who trusted me.
“I don’t expect you to believe me. I ‘ve forfeited your confidence. I’ll have to try to earn it back. But I am on your side.”
Pettrus made a blowing noise. I don’t know how it would have sounded to a Split, but a dolphin would have translated it as the acoustical equivalent of, “Well, well! You don’t
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