Messages from the Deep Read Online Free

cooking or
something, or not watch T.V.? There was that tacit threat that if
you did not behave responsibly like an adult, you may have to be
treated like a child. But, thankfully, nobody flipped out or
smashed anything important, and we all came back fairly healthy and
sane, I think.
    I feel we have learned two crucial things :
One is that we are much clearer as to the human element of these
missions and the biggest weak points in terms of difficult
situations and behaviour. It’s nothing ground-breaking really.
    Just the usual stuff like being flexible,
consultative, problem-oriented, generous and so on. The other is
that we have a huge realisation of the importance of looking after
the whole being of planet Earth. That everything is precious,
deserving respect, inter-connected and part of an even bigger
universe. We have a moral imperative to live the most responsible
and caring life that we can.
    Since arriving back, I have been continuing
with research into quantum biology issues like photosynthesis and
how we can harness the sun’s energy more efficiently, and how to
use nuclear energy more safely. But I am also interested in issues
of psychology, ethics, law and spirituality.”
     
    Using Mars as a ‘refreshment station’ and
taking over a year, a space-craft finally reaches the furthest
‘planet’ in our Solar System, Pluto, also with huge resources of
ice as on Mars, and a settlement starts there in 2030. This time,
however, it was decided that only robots would be sent as there had
been such huge advances in robotics, and as the most problematic
area in any settlement is the human factor. Robots do not need
oxygen and water, are less affected by radiation, and do not have
feelings or make mistakes.

CHAPTER 7
     
     
    Mariada is staying at the family beach house
at Keurboomstrand near Plettenberg Bay.
    She is out paddling on her paddle-ski in the
bay and is passed by an exuberant school of dolphins. She remembers
the dream she had before leaving for Mars, where a dolphin speaks
to her, saying that she will find it on a planet beyond Mars, like
Earth. She cannot get the image out of her mind, until a boat draws
up nearby, and the skipper greets her.
    “Hi there. Sorry to interrupt your
conversation with the dolphins. Did any tell you anything
interesting?”
    “Actually, yes. Apparently, there may be
dolphins in outer space. And I may have a date with one.”
    “Well, before you do that, would you like to
come and visit our research station here? Maybe you can teach us
how to communicate with them. By the way, my name’s Alex.”
    “That sounds interesting. I’d love to. And my
name’s Mariada. See you tomorrow.”

 
     
     
    PART 2:
    COMING IN — CETACEANS ( 2030 —2044 )
     
     
    “Perhaps we have some things still to learn
from the natural world around us before we turn to the far shores
of space and whatever creatures may await us there.”
    L. Eisely. ‘The long loneliness’. 1960
     
    “We, as relative newcomers, may be asking too
much of ourselves to communicate meaningfully with minds as ancient
as those of the whales and dolphins.”
    J. Lilly. ‘Man and Dolphin.’ 1961

CHAPTER 1
     
     
    In the laboratory at the Marine Research
Station at Plettenberg Bay, Alex and Mariada listen to an expert
cetacean linguist explain a recording of a whale song. She plays it
in short bursts, explaining that she is translating it loosely and
creatively, with names especially. She plays the first few
seconds.
    “I am Aristotle. I like to think deeply and
develop our knowledge of history. My mother is Helen, who was
abducted when young by another clan, but brought back by my father.
My grandmother was Diana, killed by whalers.”
    The linguist explains, “This song went on for
about 40 minutes and, as each whale generation is about 20 years on
average, five names covers about a hundred years.
    We counted about 80 names, the last of which
could refer to a period almost 2 000 years ago. However, we