Dolphins to the Stars

From World of Ptavvs by Larry Niven:

“I’ll be damned in writing,” said Garner.  “Charley, is this is a new idea?  I’ve never heard of a dolphin wanting to go starhopping.”

“Not … brand new. The question has been discussed on the abstract level, and many are in favour of it, if only from the fear that swimmers will be left out of something.  But I, myself, never felt the urge until three days ago.”

“Greenberg. He had the space bug bad, did he?”

“Please use the present tense.  Yes, he has the bug all right.  I’ve had a couple of days to get used to Larry in my head. I won’t say I quite understand this urge to reach Jinx, but I can explain a little of it.

“I dislike using an outmoded term, but part of it is” — Charley used the English words — “‘aninfest desstinee. Part is the fact that on Jinx he could have as many children as he wants, four or five even, and nobody would complain.  Partly it is the same urge I sometimes get in this tank.  No room to swim.  Larrry wants to walk down a street without the slightest fear of stepping on someone’s toes, having his pocket picked, or getting caught in a pedestrian traffic jam and being carried six blocks the wrong way.  Notice that I’ve put considerably more thought into analyzing this than Larrry ever did.”

“And how do you feel about it? You’re a dolphin.  You probably never looked at the stars—”

“Missterr ‘Arnerr, I assure you that we swimmers know what stars look like. There are many astronomy and astrophysics tapes in the illustrated texts your agents sold us.  And, after all, we do have to come up for air sometimes!”

“Sorry. But the point remains: you’ve got plenty of elbow room, you’ve never had your toes stepped on, and nothing but a killer whale could possibly be interested in picking your pocket. So what’s in it for you?”

“Perhaps adventure. Perhaps the forming of a new civilization.  You know that there has been only one swimmer civilization for many thousands of years.  The seas are not isolated, as are the continents. If there is a better way of doing things, the way for us to find out is to build many communities on many worlds.  Is this logical?”

~ by shadowfirebird on May 15, 2008.