Then his legs turned to water as the reaction hit him, and he was thankful to sit down, clutching with both hands at the firm, welcoming Australian soil.
Chapter 22
"You can go in now," said Nurse Tessie. "But only five minutes, remember. He's not very strong yet, and he hasn't quite got over his last visitor."
Johnny knew all about that. Two days before, Mrs. Kazan had descended upon the island
"like a troop of Cossacks," as someone had said with only slight exaggeration. She had made a vigorous attempt to whisk the Professor back to Moscow for treatment, and it had taken all of Tessie's determination and the Professor's wiliness to frustrate her. Even then they might have been defeated, but, luckily, the doctor who flew over from the mainland every day had given strict orders that his patient must not be moved for at least a week. So Mrs. Kazan had left for Sydney, to see what Australia could offer in the way of culture—which was now a very great deal. She would be back, she promised, in exactly one week.
Johnny tiptoed into the sickroom. At first he could hardly see Professor Kazan, who was lying in bed entirely surrounded by books, quite unaware that he had company. It was at least a minute before the Professor noticed his visitor, then he hurriedly put down the book he was reading and extended his hand in welcome.
"I'm so pleased to see you, Johnny; thank you for everything. You took a very big risk."
Johnny made no attempt to deny it. The risk had been far greater than he had dreamed when he had set out from Dolphin Island a week ago. Perhaps if he had known… But he had done it, and that was all that mattered.
"I'm glad I went," he answered simply.
"So am I," said the Professor. "Nurse says the Red Cross 'copter was just in time."
There was a long, awkward silence. Then Professor Kazan went on, in a lighter tone.
"How did you like the Queenslanders?"
"Oh, they're wonderful people—though it was a long time before they'd believe I came from Dolphin Island."
"I'm not surprised," said the Professor dryly. "And what did you do while you were over there?"
"Well, I can't remember how many television and radio broadcasts I had to make—I got rather fed up with them. But the best part was the surf-riding; when the sea was calmer, they took me out and really showed me all the tricks. I'm now," he added with pride, "an Honorary Life Member of the Queensland Surf Club."
"That's fine," answered the Professor, a little absently. It was obvious to Johnny that he had something on his mind, and presently he brought it out.
"Now, Johnny," he said, "I've had time to do a lot of thinking these last few days while I've been lying here. And I've come to a good many decisions."
That sounded faintly ominous, and Johnny wondered what was coming next.
"In particular," continued the Professor, "I've been worrying about your future. You're seventeen now, and it's time you looked ahead."
"You know that I want to stay here, Professor," said Johnny in some alarm. "All my friends are on the island."
"Yes, I know that. But there's the important matter of your education; OSCAR can take you only part of the way. If you want to do anything useful, you'll have to specialize and develop whatever talents you have. Don't you agree?"
"I suppose so," Johnny answered, without enthusiasm. Where was all this leading? he wondered.
"What I'm suggesting," said the Professor, "is that we get you into the University of Queensland next semester. Don't look so upset—it's not the other side of the world.
Brisbane's only an hour from here, and you can get back any week end. But you can't spend all your life skin-diving around the reef!"
Johnny decided that he would be quite willing to try, but in his heart he knew that the Professor was right.
"You have skills and enthusiasms we need badly," said Professor Kazan. "What you still lack is discipline and knowledge—and you'll get both at the University. Then you'll be able to play a big part in the plans I have for the future."
"What plans?" asked Johnny, a little more hopefully.
"I think you know most of them. They all add up to this—mutual aid between men and dolphins, to the advantage of both. In the last few months we've found some of the things we can do together, but that's only a feeble beginning. Fish-herding, pearl-diving, rescue operations, beach patrols, wreck surveys, water sports—oh, there are hundreds of ways that dolphins can help us! And there are much bigger things…"
For a moment, he was tempted to mention that sunken spaceship, lost back in the Stone Age. But he and Keith had decided to say nothing about that until they had more definite information; it was the Professor's ace in the hole, not to be played until the right moment. One day, when he felt that it was time to increase his budget, he was going to try that piece of dolphin mythology on the Space Administration and wait for the dollars to roll in…
Johnny's voice interrupted his reverie.
"What about the killer whales, Professor?"
"That's a long-term problem, and there's no simple answer to it at the moment. Electrical conditioning is only one of the tools we'll have to use, when we've decided on the best policy. But I think I know the final solution."
He pointed to the low table at the other side of the room.
"Bring over that globe, Johnny."
Johnny carried across the twelve-inch globe of the Earth, and the Professor spun it on its axis.
"Look here," he said. "I've been thinking about Reservations—Dolphins Only, Out of Bounds to Killer Whales. The Mediterranean and the Red Sea are the obvious places to start. It would take only about a hundred miles of fencing to seal them off from the oceans and to make them quite safe."
"Fencing?" asked Johnny incredulously.
The Professor was enjoying himself. Despite Nurse's warning, he looked quite capable of going on for hours.
"Oh, I don't mean wire-netting or any solid barrier. But when we know enough Orcan to talk to killer whales, we can use underwater sound projectors to shepherd them around and keep them out of places where we don't want them to go. A few speakers in the Straits of Gibraltar, a few in the Gulf of Aden—that will make two seas safe for dolphins. And later, perhaps we can fence off the Pacific from the Atlantic, and give one ocean to the dolphins and the other to the killer whales. See, it's not far from Cape Horn to the Antarctic, the Bering Strait's easy, and only the gap south of Australia will be hard to close. The whaling industry's been talking about this sort of operation for years, and sooner or later it's going to be done."
He smiled at the rather dazed look on Johnny's face, and came back to earth.
"If you think that half my ideas are crazy, you're quite right. But we don't know which half, and that's what we've got to find out. Now do you understand why I want you to go to college? It's for my own selfish reasons, as well as your own good."
Before Johnny could do more than nod in reply, the door opened.
"I said five minutes, and you've had ten," grumbled Nurse Tessie. "Out you go. And here's your milk, Professor."
Professor Kazan said something in Russian which conveyed, quite clearly, the impression that he didn't like milk. But he was already drinking it by the time that Johnny, in a very thoughtful mood, had left the room.
He walked down to the beach, along the narrow path that wound through the forest.
Most of the fallen trees had been cleared away, and already the hurricane seemed like a nightmare that could never really have happened.
The tide was in, covering most of the reef with a sheet of water nowhere more than two or three feet deep. A gentle breeze was playing across it, producing the most curious and beautiful effects. In some areas the water was flat and oily, still as the surface of a mirror. But in others it was corrugated into billions of tiny ripples, sparkling and twinkling like jewels as their ever changing curves reflected the sunlight.
The reef was lovely and peaceful now, and for the last year it had been his whole world.
But
wider worlds were beckoning; he must lift his eyes to farther horizons.
He no longer felt depressed by the prospect of the years of study still ahead. That would be hard work, but it would also be a pleasure; there were so many things he wanted to learn about the Sea.
And about its People, who were now his friends.
A Note from the Author
I hope that if you have read this far, you will want to know how much of this book is based upon fact and how much is pure imagination.
The hovership described in the opening chapters does not yet exist, of course, but the first commercial "Hovercraft" (the VA-3 and the SRN-2) are now operating in Great Britain. In fifty years, such air-supported vehicles may well have grown to the size of the Santa Anna. "Hydrofoils"—boats with large skis which allow them to skim on the surface of the water at fifty miles per hour or more—are now in common use in Russia and Europe. Versions carrying several hundred passengers are operating on rivers in the U.S.S.R.
All the descriptions of the Great Barrier Reef, both above. and below water, are, entirety factual and are, based on my own explorations as described in The Coast of Coral. The story of Mary Watson in Chapter 13 is perfectly true, and I have changed neither names nor dates. However, her tragic adventure occurred not on my imaginary Dolphin Island, but on Lizard Island, much nearer to the mainland. The full story, with a reproduction of Mrs. Watson's diary—which I have handled myself—will be found in The Coast of Coral.
Whether dolphins are quite as intelligent as I have assumed is one of the most fascinating problems of present-day research. There is no doubt, however, that they are very intelligent and have some sort of language, as well as a marvelous "sonar" system, which allows them to detect underwater obstacles and to catch fish in the dark. If you want to know more about these delightful animals, try to get hold of Antony Alpers' A Book of Dolphins and Dr. John Lilly's Man and Dolphin, from both of which I obtained much useful material. I would also like to express my thanks to Mr. F. G. Wood, Curator of Marineland, St. Augustine, Florida, for providing me with valuable information on dolphin behavior.
The controlling of animals by electrical impulses fed into their brains, as described in Chapter 16, is already an accomplished fact; indeed, it was achieved as early as the 1930's. If you want to learn more about this fascinating (and rather terrifying) subject, see the article, "Electrically Controlled Behaviour," in Scientific American for March, 1962.
The description of underwater ultraviolet fluorescence in Chapter 18 is based on my own observations in the Indian Ocean with an ultraviolet source generously provided by Dr. Richard G. Woodbridge of Transspace Laboratories, who has pioneered in this field of submarine illumination. And perhaps I should mention here that I do not recommend night-diving for beginners!
About the Author
Arthur C. Clarke, who now lives in Ceylon, was born in Somerset, England. He studied at King's College and took a B.S. degree with First Class Honors in physics and pure and applied mathematics from the University of London. A Flight Lieutenant in World War II, Mr. Clarke was a radar specialist with the RAF. After the war he became a science editor and TV and radio writer, but since 1951 he has devoted his time to writing more than twenty-five books, and over three hundred short stories and articles. In an article Mr. Clarke wrote for The Wireless World in 1945 he proposed the idea behind Telestar—the use of satellites for the transmittal of communication symbols.
Mr. Clarke is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and has twice been chairman of the British Interplanetary Society. His interest in astronautics is the basis for several well-known science-fiction books, including ISLANDS IN THE SKY. He has done much exploration and photography along the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the setting of DOLPHIN ISLAND.
Mr. Clarke was singularly honored in 1962 by an international jury, appointed by UNESCO, which awarded him the Kalinga Prize, the most important award in the science writing field.
Document Outline
Cover
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
A Note from the Author
About the Author
Arthur C. Clarke, Dolphin Island (Arthur C. Clarke Collection)
(Series: # )
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