"Jerry Pournelle - Extreme Prejudice" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pournelle Jerry)

of the night; I canтАЩt .afford them in bright daylight. I wondered if that was what happened to the man IтАЩd
come to see.
Dr. Peterson had a funny habit of brushing his beard with the tips of his fingers, the way a man might
test a wall to see if it had fresh paint. He had no mustache, and I found out later that few people at
Dansworth do, although beards are common. Mustaches get in the way of your diving mask. They cause
leaks.
I shook hands with Peterson and walked over to the edge of the airstrip to look down into the kelp. I
hadnтАЩt expected anything like that in the middle of the Pacific, and I said so. тАЬIt only grows in cold,
shallow water, doesnтАЩt it?тАЭ I asked.
тАЬRight.тАЭ Peterson seemed pleased that I knew that much. тАЬThat is cold, shallow water, Mr. Starr.
The kelpтАЩs anchored to platforms below the surface, and the waterтАЩs pumped up from the deep bottom.
The kelp is brought in from all over the world so we can experiment with different varietiesтАФthe stuff
right here comes from the Los Angeles area.тАЭ
I couldnтАЩt look away. The water was clear, and millions of fish swam in the thick kelp beds. There
were long, thin, torpedo-shaped fish with bright blue -stripes down their sides, moving dartingly in
schools, every fish turning at precisely the same instant. Each thick clump of kelp held a brilliant orange
dam-selfish warily guarding its .territory. There were a few sea urchins among the kelp, and as I watched,
a swiftly moving shape darted past to snatch oneтАФan otter, I thought.
A school of dolphins played among the fish. Two detached themselves from the rest and came over
to -examine me. One rose high on his tail, lifting himself out of the water to stand there churning while he
splashed water on me. I ducked back in alarm, but it was too тАЬlate. I was dripping wet,
Peterson clucked and whistled, then shouted, тАЬJolly! ThatтАЩs not nice.тАЭ
The dolphin whistled something, and then, garbled but clear enough so I could understand it, it said,
тАЬSorry, boss.тАЭ And laughed.

Peterson was still trying to explain when we got to Admiral KingsleyтАЩs office.
тАЬTheyтАЩve always been able to imitate speech,тАЭ Peterson said. тАЬThe stories about dolphins talking and
singing go back to classical Greek times. But nobody ever took the trouble to systematically teach them
before.тАЭ
тАЬYeah, well, look,тАЭ I protested, тАЬwe get stories about intelligent fish all the time. Used to take тАЭem
pretty seriously, and I know how useful the dolphins are. But does that thing understand what heтАЩs
saying?тАЬ
тАЬThey arenтАЩt fish,тАЭ Peterson said. тАЬOK. Cetaceans. Toothed seagoing mammals. They breathe
through lungs, and theyтАЩve never been known to attack a man, and the Navy and fishermen have been
systematically using them, as messengers- and herders since the Fifties anyway. IтАЩve had the standard
briefing, Dr. Peterson. But nobody told me the damned things could talk!тАЭ
тАЬNot many can,тАЭ Peterson said. тАЬAt least not so that an untrained, man can understand them. Tell me,
Mr. Starr, do you speak any foreign language?тАЭ
тАЬYeah.тАЭ It was safe to admit that. I wasnтАЩt about to tell him just how many I could get along in. He
wouldnтАЩt have believed me anyway. тАЬAnd was it difficult to learn?тАЭ тАЬSure.тАЭ
тАЬWell, to a dolphin, any human language is much more difficult. YouтАЩd find it easier to learn Urdu or
Yakut than Jolly did to learn English. Dolphin grammar isnтАЩt like any language we speak. Couple that with
the fact that he has to suppress over half the frequencies and sounds he normally makes to communicate,
and maybe youтАЩll appreciate why so few dolphins ever manage to be understood.тАЭ
WeтАЩd reached the admiralтАЩs office ten fathoms below the surface, and the conversation trailed off.
There was a watertight door to the office, and a Navy yeoman as receptionist. Admiral Kingsley didnтАЩt
have a beard, and his tan looked pasty, as if heтАЩd been out of the sun for a while after a long stint
outdoors. 1 was told heтАЩd just come up from a seven-week tour of duty with the тАЬdeep mining operation
below Dansworth.
The pallor bothered me. IтАЩd had one like that myself after the worst assignment I ever drew. The FBI