A lithe young brunette in a small one piece bathing suit approaches the tank. By her musculature it is obvious that she is a swimmer. Her face is badly bruised but she smiles charmingly. She dives into the water beside the animal. It’s sleek form races past her in a blinding flash of bubbles and brushes gently its underside against her leg. Giggling with delight she laughs involuntarily underwater and nearly chokes before surfacing. The dolphin comes from beneath her and nuzzles her toes. She flips back gracefully in the water, her long hair weightless and flowing and touches the dorsal fin from above. The animal makes no attempt to move but remains motionless just below the surface. She wraps her arms around its head and kicks to the surface. The dolphin blows out when it reaches air and squeezes off several rounds of staccato like squeaks. Several more intense exchanges and then it makes a sound like a rusty hinge and dives again beneath the surface.
During this time the woman is silent except for occasional giggles and splashes but now she begins to hum, quietly but steadily, like a cat purring in contentment. Still humming, she sinks below the surface and opens her eyes. Blurry shadows slowly pitch and roll in the defuse light. A large grayish blue object shoots by her and spins in tight rolls through the water. It comes at her again and turns aside at the last possible instant. On the third pass it slows and orbits her in tighter and tighter circles. Its eyes dart in quick flashes everywhere but its body flows effortlessly and makes only subtle movements. When it comes close enough she again reaches around its head and clings as it glides slowly away. Still humming she holds on, pressing her head against the animals’ body. Her humming reverberates underwater and leaves a lacy trail of bubbles behind. Above, the surface spreads like a canopy, shielding them from the glare of the sun as sheer light crystals dance about above their heads.
Suddenly there is a loud rapping of metal on metal and the dolphin immediately draws away. The woman surfaces, no longer humming, and swims to the edge of the tank and climbs out. The dolphin swims slowly on its side to the opposite end of the tank and vocalizes a long mournful whistle-like sigh. The man brandishes the metal bars and yells;
“God damn it Joan, I told you we had to be at the meeting at 4 o’clock. What the hell are you doing!” He grabs her as he says this and grips her arms tightly.
“Carl, you’re hurting me!”
“Yeah? Well I’ll do a lot more than this if you don’t get in there and get dressed. Now!” He shoves her in the direction of his office but she turns aside.
“I’m not going to your damn meeting. I’m sick of your boring colleagues with their P.H.D.s. You don’t need me there anyway.” Carl glares back, pulls her up by her hair, then slaps her hard across the face, knocking her down. She lays gasping on the deck, her vision momentarily blurred. She sees dark shadows blending and twisting in stunned silence then focuses as her eyes find the sun. Pain stings her face as she struggles to stand. Again he strikes her, totally enraged and out of control. Again she goes down, writhing in agony like a wounded deer.
“You call yourself a wife? What gives you that right! You’re nothing more than that fish there, useless!” He pulls her up again but she goes for his eyes, fingernails outstretched. He pushes her away and she tumbles into the tank. Without thinking he dives after her grabbing her around the neck and shoving her under. Bubbles escape from her lips and her eyes roll as she passes out but he continues to throttle her twisting and turning and thrashing about. The dolphin shoots like a torpedo underwater, striking him squarely in the upper back and breaking his spine instantly. His hands go limp about her neck and she floats free. The dolphin swims up underneath her, gently raising her to the surface. Sounds echo distantly in the melting blackness of her mind, then silence, silence, silence...
She wakes in a hospital bed, crisp and white with starched sheets and a blanket neatly folded at the foot of the bed. There are two nurses there and a doctor leans over her. A policeman stands at the door and another man in a gray suit sits beside the bed.
“She’s coming around,” the doctor says smiling over his shoulder, then looking back he says; “you’re gonna be fine.” “May I ask her a few questions now Doc?” the man in the gray suit asks.
“Sure, but not for very long, she needs some rest.” “Right,” he says then turned toward the bed.
“Mrs. Roth, how long have you and your husband been working on the dolphin project?” “About three years.”
“And how long have you had this particular dolphin?” “About two years.”
“I see. Have you ever observed any aggressive or destructive behavior in the animal before?”
“Before? Before what?! I don’t think I understand, where’s Carl? Is he at the Institute?” At this there is a chilling silence. The doctor and the man in the gray suit look at one another, then back to the bed.
“Mrs. Roth, I regret to tell you that your husband is dead. He was killed trying to save you. That animal nearly got you too. If it hadn’t been for one of your husband’s colleagues it probably would have. He arrived shortly after you lost consciousness. He said the dolphin was acting crazy and thrashing you about.”
“And ...the dolphin?” she held her breath.
“Don’t you worry ma’am it’ll never harm anyone again, the Institute had it destroyed.