Dolphin Island - Arthur C. Clarke [16]
The Professor unlocked the gate to the pool, and then carefully locked it behind him.
"Everyone wants to play with Susie and Sputnik, but I can't allow it," he explained. "At least, not while I'm trying to teach them English."
Susie was a sleek, excited matron of some three hundred pounds, who reared herself half out of the water as they approached. Sputnik, her nine-month-old son, was more reserved, or perhaps more shy; he kept his mother between himself and the visitors.
"Hello, Susie," said the Professor, speaking with exaggerated clarity. "Hello, Sputnik."
Then he pursed his lips and let fly with that complicated whistle. Something went wrong halfway through, and he swore softly under his breath before going back to start afresh.
Susie thought this was very funny. She gave several yelps of dolphin laughter, then squirted a jet of water at her visitors, though she was polite enough to miss them. Then she swam up to the Professor, who reached into his pocket and produced a plastic bag full of titbits.
He held one piece high in the air, whereupon Susie backed away a few yards, came shooting out of the water like a rocket, took the food neatly from the Professor's fingers, and dived back into the pool with scarcely a splash. Then she emerged again and said distinctly, "Thank you, 'fessor."
She was obviously waiting for more, but Professor Kazan shook his head.
"No, Susie," he said, patting her on the back. "No more; food-time soon."
She gave a snort that seemed to express disgust, then went racing around the pool like a motor boat, clearly showing off.
As Sputnik followed her, the Professor said to Johnny:
"See if you can feed him—I'm afraid he doesn't trust me."
Johnny took the titbit, which smelled to high heaven of fish, oil, and chemicals. It was, he found later, the dolphin equivalent of tobacco or candy. The Professor had concocted it only after years of research; the animals loved the stuff so much that they would do almost anything to earn some.
Johnny knelt at the edge of the pool and waved the bait.
"Sputnik!" he called. "Here, Sputnik!"
The little dolphin reared out of the water and regarded him doubtfully. It looked at its mother, it looked at Professor Kazan and then again at Johnny. Though it appeared tempted, it would not approach him; instead, it gave a snort and promptly submerged, after which it started tearing around in the depths of the pool. It did not seem to be going anywhere in particular; like some human beings who cannot make up their minds, it was simply galloping off in all directions.
I think it's afraid of the Professor, Johnny decided. He walked along the edge of the pool until he had put fifty feet between himself and the scientist, then called to Sputnik again.
His theory worked. The dolphin surveyed the new situation, approved of it, and swam slowly toward Johnny. It still looked a little suspicious as it raised its snout and opened its mouth, displaying an alarming number of small but needle-sharp teeth. Johnny felt distinctly relieved when it took the reward without nipping his fingers. After all, Sputnik was a carnivore, and Johnny would not care to feed a half-grown lion cub with his bare hands.
The young dolphin hovered at the edge of the pool, obviously waning for more. "No, Sputnik," said Johnny, remembering the Professor's words to Susie. "No, Sputnik—
food-time soon."
The dolphin remained only inches away, so Johnny reached out to stroke it. Though it shied a little, it did not withdraw, but permitted him to run his hand along its back. He was surprised to find that the animal's skin was soft and flexible, like rubber; nothing could have been more unlike the scaly body of a fish; and no one who stroked a dplphin could ever again forget that it was a warm-blooded mammal.
Johnny