From: taxhaven@ix.netcom.com(Adam Starchild)
Subject: Repost:  Summer at the Cove
Date: 1 Jan 1997 01:55:48 GMT

This story is about communication between intelligent species. 
Please do not misinterpret it as a bestiality story.


                       SUMMER AT THE COVE

                               by

                         Adam Starchild

     A ripple rocked me, nearly turning me over.  As I
floundered, trying to right myself, another came, a wash like
that of a small boat passing, rolling me in its wake.  But I had
heard neither oars nor engine; could hear nothing now except the
slap of the exhausted ripples against a rock.
     This was my first swim in the small cove near my folks'
summer house on the beach.  In the fall I would begin graduate
work in mammal research at the university.  This was the first
real vacation I had had in many years.  I had brought my tape
recorder and some research notes with me, but planned to spend my
days sunning, swimming and relaxing.  That's what I had been
doing for the past hour, my athletic nude body treading water in
this quiet cove.
     Treading water, I looked around me, puzzled and a little
alarmed.  The sea shimmered, empty and calm.  I felt downward
with my feet, to find that I had drifted a little further out
from shore, and could barely touch bottom with the tips of my
toes.  I turned back toward the shallows.
     This time the wash lifted me clear off my feet, and as I
plunged clumsily forward another followed it, tumbling me over,
so that I struggled helplessly for a moment, swallowing water,
before striking out -- thoroughly alarmed now, for shore.
     Beside me, suddenly, the water swirled and hissed. 
Something touched me -- a cold, momentary graze along my naked
thigh -- as a body drove past me underwater.  I had a gasp of
sheer fear, and the only reason I didn't scream was because I had
gasped myself full of water and went under.  Fighting back to the
surface, I shook the salt water out of my eyes and looked wildly
around -- only to see the cove empty as before, but its surface
marked now by the ripples of whatever sea creature had brushed by
me.  The ripples were moving away fast, their wake as clear as a
trail across the flat water of the cove.  Whatever it was headed
straight for the open sea, suddenly curving in a wide arc heading
back toward me.
     I didn't wait to see what it was.  My mind, panic stricken,
screamed out "shark" and I struck out wildly for the rocks and
shore.  Whatever it was came at me fast.  Thirty yards away, the
surface of the water bulged, swelled and broke to the curved
thrust of a huge, silver-black back.  The water parted and poured
off its sides like liquid glass.  I caught a glimpse of a dark
bright eye, and a dorsal fin like a crescent moon.  The creature
submerged again, its wash lifting me a couple of yards forward
toward a large rock.  I found a handhold, clung on tightly, and
scrambled out of the water -- gasping and thoroughly scared.
     It surely wasn't a shark.  Hundreds of adventure stories and
my studies told me that one knew a shark by the huge triangular
fin, and I had seen up close at school the terrible jaws and
small, brutal eye.  This creature today had breathed air, and the
eye had been big and dark, like a dog's or a seal's.  But there
were no seals in these warm waters, and besides, seals don't have
dorsal fins.  A dolphin then?
     Suddenly I knew that was the answer.  I drew myself up on
the warm rock, clasped my knees, and settled down to watch. 
Moments later he came again, in a wide arc, smooth and
glistening.  He was dark backed and light bellied and as graceful
as a yacht. This time he came to the surface -- watching me.
     He was large, as dolphins go, something over eight feet
long.  He lay rocking gently, with his powerful shoulders waiting
curved for the plunge below, and the crescent shaped tail hugging
the water flatly -- holding his big body level.  The dark ringed
eye watched me steadily with what I could only describe as
friendly.  His smooth muzzle was curved into that perpetual
dolphin smile.
     Excitement and pleasure swept over me.  I put out a hand
toward him.  The dolphin, naturally, ignored it, but lay there
smiling, rocking a little closer and watching me -- entirely
unafraid.  He rocked himself, watching me, then half turned,
rolled and came up again nearer still.  This began one of the
most unusual relationships I have ever experienced.  My period of
prolonged relationship with the dolphin, whom I named Dan, began
that day.  It will soon become obvious why I gave the dolphin a
male name.
     As Dan and I grew to know each other that summer, his
activities grew more aggressive.  These activities were quite
varied and included posturing, stroking, rubbing, muzzling,
mouthing, jaw clapping and yelping.  Dan's posturing involved his
swimming toward me in the water and taking up a position in front
of me, or slightly to one side.  He then bent his body in such a
way that from the side it took on the shape of an S-curve, head
pointing up, flippers down.  He would maintain this position for
about two to five seconds and then resume normal swimming.  The
action was repeated immediately or after several moments
depending on my response.  I had the distinct impression that Dan
was posturing with me much as a dolphin would as he began
courtship.
     My suspicion that Dan's relationship with me was growing
strong became more evident when our normal swimming together
began to change.  At times Dan would swim in such a way as to
bring one or both flippers in contact with some part of my body,
and by swimming along or across my body producing a stroking
effect.
     Dan's favorite stroking game involved turning on his back
and, swimming beneath me in the same direction and at the same
speed, move his flippers rhythmically back and forth across my
body.  It didn't take long before I began to respond to his
stroking -- each of us stroking the other.  We could only do this
until it was necessary for us to rise to the surface to breathe,
but was often immediately resumed.  Dan also carried out gentle
stroking movements, by moving his head against my body.  The
feeling was incredible and not a little arousing.  The most
sensuous and surprising stroking came one afternoon when Dan swam
beneath me, turned over and stroked my genitals with the tip of
one flipper.
     Thereafter, Dan's actions became more aggressive.  His
stroking motions were now replaced by rubbing.  This was a much
more strenuous action in which Dan, swimming at a fast pace,
advanced upon me and rubbed part of his body vigorously against
mine.  This advance took place from any direction relative to our
position in the cove, but was most dramatic when Dan approached
me head on, as if we were about to collide, and then turn aside
at the last moment and just enough to produce vigorous contact
along the length of our bodies.  This type of contact rarely
lasted for more than a few minutes, during which Dan made
repeated rushes at me.  Trumpeting and whistling sounds were
sometimes heard during this time.
     Because of the sounds I often heard from Dan, I began to
routinely take my portable tape recorder to the cove with me each
morning to record his sounds.  The first rainy day I intended to
play back the tapes.  The weather held, however, and Dan and I
cavorted in the cove.  Soon, Dan was teaching me to nuzzle under
water.  He would apply his snout to some part of my body and move
it around in that area.
     Eventually, most of his nuzzling took place in my genital
area, possibly as an investigative measure and possibly as a
deliberate attempt to stimulate me.  Regardless of his intent, it
had a sensual and erotic effect on me.  I would often leave the
water highly aroused.
     Dan soon took the nuzzling one step further.  He now took to
opening his mouth and drawing a part of my body -- a hand or a
foot -- between his teeth and gently closing his mouth upon it. 
His grasp was a gentle one, and was released as soon as I would
pull away, without leaving tooth marks or gashes.  The first time
he drew my privates into his mouth I opened my mouth in surprise
and took in too much water. it took me several days to grow
accustomed to the exciting feeling of having my sex organs held
in the mouth of a dolphin.
     At times during our companionship, another sea creature
would interfere in our relationship by usually swimming too
close.  In such cases, Dan's response was rapid and often
violent.  He was able, by clapping his jaws together forcefully,
to produce a sharp loud sound, which could be heard for at least
fifteen feet across the water.  Later that summer when I played
back the tapes I recognized this sound as his principal form of
intimidation.
      Usually, Dan's jaw clapping was sufficient to discourage
any intruder or any other creature that got to close to me, but
if the creature persisted, Dan would resort to violent lashes
with his fins, using tremendous force.  Several times he would
actually attack the intruder with his teeth, inflicting serious
gashes upon the other.  It was during these displays that I
realized how protective Dan was becoming of me and, perhaps, a
little jealous.
     Dan's advances soon became more intense.  Another, new sound
was often heard now.  It was a high-pitched yelp, delivered in a
series of short sharp cries.  The number of yelps varied from two
or three to seven or eight, and the series might be repeated
after an interval of about fifteen seconds.
     Dan yelped very rarely when he and I were swimming quietly
together.  However, if I strayed away from him or stopped to
investigate another animal or an object in the cove, Dan promptly
produced a series of yelping cries and continued to do so at
short intervals until I returned to him.  If I did not respond at
once, he continued to yelp until I did.  As soon as I returned to
him the yelping ceased.  I have since been told that this yelping
is heard only during the mating season and that it is reasonable
to assume that his yelping was a mating call.  This may have
explained the incredible experiences that followed.
     Looking back at the first few weeks of our companionship, it
now became clear that Dan was becoming more than just a pet in
the cove.  His attention was increasingly more physical and
personal.  I discovered in myself a warm feeling that had not
been present before.  Each morning I headed for the cove,
experiencing an anticipation I had never felt before.
     I recall one morning in particular.  This morning would
change my life.  Dan and I were swimming as usual when I noticed
that he was becoming persistent in his activities.  He rubbed,
stroked. and nuzzled me repeatedly.  I was swimming along on my
left side when Dan suddenly approached me, swimming parallel to
me as he rolled over onto his right side.  When he was close to
me I felt a strange sensation against my genitals.  In the clear
water I noted with surprise, something curving outward from Dan's
genital slit, which had always been closed before.  Something had
sprung rapidly away from his body and curved outward.
     As Dan swam parallel to me, our bodies nearly flush, he
brought his erect penis into contact with my genitals.  This
contact was repeated several times as we swam slowly through the
water, currents occasionally causing us to move apart. 
Gradually, Dan began to engage in pelvic thrusts, increasing the
feelings of pleasure that were washing over my body.  My
breathing came rapidly while I became more excited as each of us
maintained our contact as we slowly swam across the cove.  I
stroked Dan's body and suddenly grasped on to him tightly as I
felt my body tremble and shake.
     I gasped several times as I climaxed in the water next to
Dan.  I looked back at the water and was surprised to see two
streams of milky fluid rise to the surface and trail behind us. 
At that point I knew that Dan and I had reached a level in our
relationship which surpassed that of human and pet.  For all
practical purposes, Dan and I were lovers.
     Throughout the summer as Dan and I swam and enjoyed sex play
together, he gradually became less jealous and, to a degree, was
more relaxed around me.  It seemed as though Dan was no longer as
modest around me.  It was now very common for him to let me
observe him enjoying his own solitary form of sex play.
     He let me watch as he played with a large sea turtle one
day.  He swam down to the bottom of the cove and approached the
unaware turtle from the rear, inserting his penis into the soft
tissues at the rear of the shell.  I started to laugh underwater
until I realized that I was swallowing water.  Dan's erect sex
organ would emerge from his body slit very suddenly. while erect,
it formed an efficient hook.  Dan could often be seen swimming
upside down on the surface, catching and towing pieces of seaweed
with his penis.
     It was not until late in the summer that I realized a
peculiar creative process was occurring.  By playing with Dan day
in and day out I was struck with the fact that my basic
assumptions and even my expectations determined the results
attained with this animal.  This had always been true, of course,
in my dealing with my peers at the university.  I noticed a
subtle change in my own attitude in regard to Dan's performance. 
My mind now seemed more sensitized toward Dan and I became eager
to establish some form of communication with him.
     I now began playing back the tapes of Dan's sounds.  Because
of the possibility of a very large brain capacity and because of
my musings about the possible areas of achievement already
realized in this species, but as yet undiscovered by man, my mind
began to open.
     The opening of my mind was a subtle and yet a painful
process.  I began to have weird feelings.  The feeling was that I
was up against the edge of a large uncharted region in which I
was about to embark with only tape recorder.  The feeling of
weirdness came to me as Dan's sounds seemed more and more to be
forming words in my own language.  I felt I was in the presence
of someone who was on the other side of a transparent barrier
which up to this point I hadn't even seen.
     I began to look at Dan's body with new eyes and began to
think in terms of his possible mental processes, rather than in
terms of a functioning, playful, sexual animal companion.  I
began to talk to Dan not as one would talk to a pet, but more as
one would speak to a friend or lover.  If Dan did have higher
mental processes, then he in turn up to now must have been
thinking of me as a stupid being indeed.
      Most of my research on dolphins up to this point was
sketchy.  I decided to closely examine the tapes of Dan's sounds
and listen to them from the viewpoint that these may be evidence
of complex mental activity going on in Dan's mind.  As I listened
to the tapes. one string of sounds made me pause.  It sounded
suspiciously like "see you tomorrow", which I had often shouted
out to Dan as I left the cove each day.  I replayed that tape
many times and each time I had the uncanny feeling Dan was at the
very least evoking mimicry.
     The next few days were very exciting for me.  As I began
talking to Dan more and more he began to develop a new series of
voices over and above his usual sounds.  These new emissions
covered such a wide range of vocalization that I was hard put to
analyze it at all.  His whistles and clicks were mingled with a
series of barks, wails, moans, buzzings, trumpetings, quacking,
etc.  All of the sounds first occurred underwater, but were now
being emitted in the air from his biowhole and recorded on tape.
     Some of his quacking noises had become similar, but not
identical, to human speech.  I now began an intensive effort to
induce him to vocalize in response to my vocalizations and
activities, especially during our sex play.  With days, Dan
responded by beginning to mimic my voice.
     Despite my careful mental preparations, it was literally a
shock to hear him say what sounded uncannily like "goodnight". 
One morning I was working on the word "squirt" with him.  He took
the word, reproduced it at a high frequency and in a very short
abrupt fashion. It was so high pitched and so fast that I
couldn't recognize it unless I slowed it down during playback of
the tape.  Next he went through at least five different
variations of the word.  His productions sounded like "irt",
"squir", "ir", and something which sounded like "squeeirte", and
then finally something that sounded very close to "squirt" in a
Donald-Ducklike voice.
     Dan's latest voice resembled that of a very small child --
its very high pitched and thin quality, and yet could be of such
an intensity in the air that it is sometimes painful to listen to
when I'm closer than three or four feet from his biowhole.  When
talking to Dan I sometimes get the feeling that he is very
impatient with my slow methods.  He acts like he wishes I would
hurry up and understand him.
     The summer was nearly over and my thoughts began to drift
toward the coming fall and the university.  I felt I was very
close to communicating with Dan, but that something prevented me
from a breakthrough.  I also realized, as my thoughts turned to
school, that up until this summer I had been a lonely person. 
Dan had changed all of that.  Sometimes we reach out from our
loneliness for someone else who may or may not exist.  That
someone may not even understand what we say.  But at least we
reach out, and it is gratifying to see Dan reach out also,
however primitively.
     I began playing the tape I had recorded this past afternoon. 
As I prepared for bed and reached to flick off the recorder, I
heard a series of words or sounds I had not heard before.  I
immediately played back that portion of the tape over and over,
convinced that these new sounds were not mimicry.  Finally, I
slowed down the speed of the recorder and was stunned when the
few new sounds came out of the speaker clear and unquestionably
recognizable.  It was not mimicry.  I had never spoken these
exact words in the same exact order to Dan.
     I was too shocked to do anything but collapse on the bed,
all thoughts of school and my future vanishing.  My life was
turned upside down by those few words.  I suddenly got to my feet
and ran from the house toward the cove, my mind reeling under the
weight and implications as Dan's words "I love you" coursed
through my mind.
                             The End


                        ABOUT THE AUTHOR

     Adam Starchild is a specialist in new ventures and
international business.  He is the editor of Business in 1990: A
Look to the Future (University Press of the Pacific, 1979) and
author of articles on futurist topics in The Futurist, Future
Life, Futurific, The Rotarian, and many other publications.  He
is also the author of over a dozen books, mostly on business and
finance, and introduced and edited the English language
publication of The Science Fiction of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.

For samples of the author's non-fiction, please visit The Offshore 
Entrepreneur at http://www.cyberhaven.com/offshore

Copyright 1995 by Adam Starchild