Forestry Management Essay -- essays research papers

US V. Aluminum Co. Of America Essay US V. Aluminum Co. Of America Presentation Case diagram  The United States V. Aluminum Co. Of America was a case that included the central legislature of the United States of America against the Aluminum Company of America and its auxiliaries. As the offended party, the government blamed the organization and one for its auxiliaries of plotting with other outside elements to build up an imposing business model in the aluminum showcase both in the United States and abroad. Mutually with a Canadian organization specifically aluminum constrained, the Aluminum Company of America was blamed for framing a cartel known as The Alliance. As indicated by the conditions of the understanding marked in 1931, the portions of the subsequent organization were given to the signatories joined by a creation amount for each offer held. Also, the partnership was allowed to sell its items at any value that it considers reasonable and no gathering to the understanding should sell or purchase aluminum from any individual who was not an individual from the union (Hall, 37). A second understanding that was marked by the gatherings in 1936 surrendered the previous arrangement of genuine portions and supplanted it with eminence framework. Despite the fact that the United States was excluded from the quantities in the principal understanding, the individuals from the coalition remembered it for the subsequent understanding. In light of this, the central administration of the US of American organized legitimate procedures against the aluminum organization of America and aluminum restricted of Canada. In its introduction, the national gov ernment blamed the two organizations for abusing the Sherman demonstration which restricts organizations from taking part in agreements and collusions that are planned for limiting exchange among states or abroad nations.  The preliminary started on June first 1938 in the locale court and it went on for a long time. In the wake of tuning in to the contentions made by the gatherings, the court excused the case. In his decision, the made a decision about expressed that the activities of the organization didn't abuse the Sherman Act nor did they confine aluminum exchange among the states and in remote markets. As per the proof created under the watchful eye of him, the appointed authority likewise noticed that the enormous piece of the overall industry delighted in by the organization was because of its capacity to foresee changes in the market combined with its boss promoting and circulation systems. After the case was excused by the locale court, the offended party petitioned for an intrigue. At first, the intrigue should be taken care of by the United States Supreme Court yet was moved to the Court of Appeals (Hand, et al, 36). This exchange came about because of the reality the Supreme Court could n't achieve the necessary majority of six appointed authorities to tune in to the case. In conveying their judgment, the circuit makes a decision about expressed that in spite of the fact that the understandings made by investors of the collusion were made abroad, they influenced aluminum imports in America. In view of this, the court of claims overruled the prior judgment of the region court and announced activities of the Aluminum Company of America and its partners illicit. An outline of the legitimate issues for the situation  There were four significant lawful issues that emerged during the case. The primary lawful issue was whether the Aluminum Company of America picked up restraining infrastructure over the virgin aluminum ingot unjustifiably. Since its initial years, the organization had been in the matter of creating and selling ingot aluminum. The organization utilized customary methods of mining and liquefying aluminum until 1892 when Bradley found that purifying should be possible without utilizing outside warmth. This procedure guaranteed a major economy in the creation of aluminum. So the aluminum organization of America could get authorization to utilize this method, it went into a concurrence with Bradley (Hand, et al, 53). As per the details of this understanding, the organization would Bradley’s innovation to make Aluminum and consequently, sell the appointee an unknown measure of aluminum at a rebate beneath its market costs. Aluminum extraction is a procedure that devours a ton o f power. In light of this, the American aluminum organization gotten the significant force providers. As indicated by the provisions of the agreement, these force organizations shouldn't offer capacity to whatever other organization that is associated with the production of aluminum. These two demonstrations made the organization the sole biggest maker of aluminum in the nation. The primary lawful issue here was to decide if the restraining infrastructure delighted in by the organization coming about because of these two understandings was legitimate or not.  The second legitimate issue that emerged in the procedures was whether the aluminum organization of America was blameworthy of being engaged with criminal operations; it built up its restraining infrastructure in the aluminum business in America. In its application, the government of the United States needed the court to discover the exercises of litigant unlawful not just in light of the fact that they assumed a job in the foundation of its restraining infrastructure yet in addition they were intended to smother its rivals. This issue was isolated into three general classifications. The main class was to consider the acquisition of water fume and the bauxite stores (Hall, 36). The Aluminum Company of America and its abroad auxiliaries purchased up all bauxite stores in all the significant sources including Arkansas and different abroad sources. The offended party contended that the organization purchased more bauxite than it required demonstrating that the buy was not for guaran teeing enough flexibly yet bolting out contenders. The subsequent classification was to think about the concealment of different players in the aluminum business and manufactured products. As noted before in the paper, the Aluminum Company of America gotten the significant force organizations to gracefully it with power. In the agreement, the force organizations shouldn't offer capacity to different players in the aluminum business. In addition, the organization additionally limb interests in two aluminum organizations in Norway. The third class of issues was the mastery the aluminum showcase particularly links and sheets. The offended party contended that the Aluminum Company of America utilized unlawful strategies to infiltrate the control the market for created aluminum items. This was done in three fundamental manners that remembered purchasing numerous offers for the Aluminum Manufacturers and Inc., Aluminum Castings Company, utilizing value press and through the Piston Patent Pool.  The third legitimate issue for the situation was whether The Aluminum Company of America along with its auxiliaries were in an illicit scheme, and whether the organization was additionally in tricks with other remote aluminum makers. The Aluminum Company of America was joined in 1928 with the point of accompanying auxiliaries to assume control over the activities of the organization abroad. Instead of the considerable number of assets passed on, the organization gave all its basic offers top its regular investors in the proportion of one offer for each three held. This strategy was intended to guarantee that the valuable responsibility for organization stayed as it had been already. The court expected to decide if these activities were lawful business systems or were intrigues planned for hoarding the aluminum showcase in the United States and abroad (Wang, 73).  The last lawful issue for the situation was setting up the correct cure on account of each respondent who might be seen as liable of disregarding the Sherman Act. Around five years had gone since the procedures begun and numerous progressions had occurred in the aluminum business in America. In view of this, it was difficult for the court to arrange the case based on the current legal record. As indicated by the introductions made by the offended party, the court should break down the litigant. Synopsis of any financial investigation pertinent to the case  The principal monetary investigation applicable to this case is the ascent of imposing business model and the impacts it has on a country’s economy. As noted before in the paper, The Aluminum Company of America actualized various estimates that saw it ascend into a predominant player in the aluminum business. Imposing business models are not unlawful but rather they should be built up through legitimate and serious ways. All the more explicitly, syndications ought not emerge from a company’s intensity yet not from intrigues and other unlawful acts (Hall, 28). No organization ought to appreciate the unchallenged monetary force in any industry since it debilitates financial development and eases back financial development. Regardless of whether imposing business models are accomplished legitimately, they ought to be disheartened paying little heed to their monetary outcomes. This would be inline with the Sherman demonstration that was chiefly planned for stopping cong lomerations of capital since it made people vulnerable. Additionally, it allowed enormous associations a chance to abuse clients. The result of the case  The case was heard by two distinct courts. At first, the case was dealt with by the area court under the steady gaze of moving to the court of requests. In the locale court, the appointed authority decides that the respondent was not liable of participating in a trick with its auxiliaries to control the American aluminum industry through an imposing business model. The appointed authority noticed that the organization achievement and predominance delighted in by The Aluminum Company of America was an aftereffect of its boss business methodologies contrasted with its rivals. In light of this, the court decided that the activities of the organization violated the Sherman Act (Hand et al, 25). The offended party was not happy with this judgment and requested it. At first, the case was to be heard in the Supreme Court however was moved to the court of claims after the Supreme Court neglected to raise enough number of judges to hear it out.  After tuning in to all the entries introduced before it, the

Concepts of Classical Humanism

Ideas of Classical Humanism The residents of old civic establishments faced a daily reality such that the impact of nature and the impact of its rulers limited the normal keeps an eye on endeavors. Stood up to with this, old Greeks maintained they had the best knowledge of all, saying they had the characteristic capacities to comprehend and control the world Classical Humanism. Old style Humanism reverberated in all aspects of Greek life. From Poets like Sophocles whos play Antigone addresses their effect on mankind at that point. Traditional Humanism was likewise passed on by the Greeks unimaginable self conviction inside their own development, none more so than the riches and influence appeared in Fifth Century Athens. In spite of the fact that this certainty in the end decreased, the conviction of Humanism stayed a related inheritance. Renaissance scholars and craftsmen tested the Church by examining the thoughts and culture of Greek Humanism. A delineation of Greek Humanism was the terrific complex of sanctuaries in theAthensacropolis, taking off high over the city beneath. An acropolis was a stronghold based on a slope at the focal point of the city. They were usually the citys most loved area and contained sanctuaries blessing the citys supporter pioneers. A prime case of this was the Parthenon sanctuary in Athena. It was perhaps the biggest sanctuary at any point manufactured inGreece, and all parts of its development were firmly observed and constrained by the citys driving specialists and draftsmen of the time. The Parthenon was based on the highest point of Acropolis; the first structure on the site was worked as a contribution to respect the goddess Athena on the grounds that the individuals of ancientAthensbelieved that she looked out for their city. This time was the Golden Age of Athens, with the organization of majority rule government in the city, with another type of government, residents were managed the chance to see and comprehend themselves as constituents of a more prominent entire, the last being Athens. The Parthenon was unmatched among Doric sanctuaries as it had a subsequent (Frieze: the piece of an old style entablature between the architrave and the cornice, normally enriched with mold in low help). The Parthenons frieze ran along the cella divider and over the inward sections. It was a flash of brilliance as went about as an etched commercial for Athenian metro reasonability, which was more than 500ft long. This [particular frieze portrayed an honorable procession of Athenian residents, helping the residents to remember their celebration held at regular intervals for the Goddess Athena. The frieze had a bare horsemen sitting on their ponies in all wonder, it had Athenian ladies driving a procession to the seats of Zeus and Athena, who directed the festival. Propelled by their self conviction just like the preeminent residents ofGreece, they certainly depicted themselves among the divine beings. The Greeks were a human advancement who had a high certainty of themselves and of there natural capacities. This was appeared from numerous points of view with their engineering at that point, none more clear than the Parthenon inAthenswhich gladly, and some may state presumptuously, showed the Athenians as a higher class of resident I Greece and all through the locale. This conviction would proceed in years to get through the writing and structures from this time.

The History of Leap Year

The History of Leap Year A jump year is a year with 366 days, rather than the typical 365. Jump years are important on the grounds that the genuine length of a year is 365.242 days, not 365 days, as normally expressed. Jump years happen at regular intervals, and years that are uniformly distinguishable by 4 (2004, for instance) have 366 days. This additional day is included to the schedule February 29th. In any case, there is one special case to the jump year rule including century years, similar to the year 1900. Since the year is marginally under 365.25 days long, including an additional day like clockwork results in around 3 additional days being included all through 400 years. Hence, just 1 out of each 4 century years is considered as a jump year. Century years are possibly considered as jump years on the off chance that they are equally detachable by 400. In this way, 1700, 1800, 1900 were not jump years, and 2100 won't be a jump year. In any case, 1600 and 2000 were jump years in light of the fact that those year numbers are uniformly detachable by 400. Julius Caesar, Father of Leap Year Julius Caesar was behind the starting point of jump year in 45 BC. The early Romans had a 355-day schedule and to keep celebrations happening around a similar season every year a 22 or multi day month was made each subsequent year. Julius Caesar chose to streamline things and added days to various months of the year to make the 365-day schedule; the real counts were made by Caesars space expert, Sosigenes. Each fourth year following the 28th day of Februarius (February 29th) one day was to be included, making each fourth year a jump year. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII further refined the schedule with the standard that jump day would happen at whatever year distinguishable by 4 as depicted previously.

Accounting Theory Ontology and Epistemology

Question: Talk about the Accounting Theory for Ontology and Epistemology . Answer: Presentation The paper looks at the metaphysics and epistemology of positive research and contrasted the equivalent and positive bookkeeping exploration to make references and inferences about the connection between human practices and bookkeeping settings in the general public. The point of the paper is to attempt a testing by the factual and theory strategies and empower making of significant determinations. The point of the pundits is to bring to spotlight the weaknesses and blemishes in the examination models and strategies, every one of which is talked about with an adequate number of aftereffects of relapse and coefficients and this is the primary contention of the paper. Positive bookkeeping is broadly drilled nowadays thus whether it is accomplishing its points and goals would merit testing. The delineations from a couple of good papers are thought of and examined. The genuine capability of positive bookkeeping may be freed in the Kuhnian emergency and transformation, the possibilities of which are talked about. The conversation of the possibility gives a glaring case of the present situation. Basically, the pundits legitimize the genuine reasons with respect to why positive bookkeeping research has not had the option to accomplish its maximum capacity (Fogarty Markarian, 2007). Additionally, this likewise reveals insight into the deficiencies of positive bookkeeping. It is broadly said that person is a balanced creature. So human practices respond dependent on the conditions and circumstances and this doesn't ensure an equivalent human response even in two comparable circumstances. The principle contention of this paper depends on this human conduct and the request based on a logical research venture. The convictions of different religions are analyzed and the logical research has presumed that the world is judiciously fathomable (Spiceland et. al, 2011). The use of logical research in bookkeeping and the inadequacies in its usage are talked about. The paper targets expanding the viability of the positive research by offering a few recommendations. The models from a couple of pertinent research models are introduced (Ashton et. al, 2004). Such models come as an eye opener. These methodologies expect that people demonstration objectively yet not in all cases. Consequently, this is exposed to some restriction. Fukuyama additionally recommends that the major idea of a judicious human conduct is valid in 80% of the cases. The final products and desires are critical. Along these lines this shows cultivator some broken administration choices are being completed in spite of bringing up of the equivalent by the reviewers. Thus, plainly the administration doesn't totally think about all the essentials gave by the examiners and subsequently, the outcomes convey a few lacks (Lapsley, 2012). The factual and speculation techniques are utilized to test the various circumstances of responses of evaluators continuously dependent on the levelheadedness of individual supposition. Be that as it may, this has to a great extent neglected to clarify the genuine purposes for the equivalent. The aftereffects of these speculation strategies are generally subject to the examples chose and subsequently it neglects to accomplish its target. It gets diminished to simple proclamations that set up connections between to factors however continuously there are a great deal of elements and not only two factors (Frankel et. al, 2002). The major prerequisite is test speculations contending with one another as opposed to testing a solitary hypothesis for various conditions or theory. Testing various speculations will get noteworthy as it will help in deciding the status and will prompt a projection of the genuine situation (Davila Foster, 2007). This paper centers that there is a requirement for better hypothetical models that are paid attention to more and are profoundly determined and exceptionally powerless. Aside from this, estimation strategies must be smarter to empower thorough testing. The testing ought to be sans mistake and this should be possible when models are viable in nature. Dependable associations with intermediaries must be built up which will prompt better straight connections and foundation of estimation ideas. This will guarantee that examination papers don't concentrate on theory testing alone. This prompts a significant move towards the estimation of parameters. In this manner the advancement of estimation ideas is viewed as the better approach for a restrained research action. The consequences of this will yield organic products if there is broad replication, both to affirm the exactness of the estimations and to investigate the confinements of the examination. The examination question in this article is to inspect the adequacy of positive bookkeeping exploration and whether there exists any rationale or set of predefined thoughts dependent on which bookkeepers and evaluators act. This is discussed both for and against, the pundits possessing a significant part, however. The theory tried is by taking examples of review expenses charged against the intricacy of the reviews and the size of the review firm. This quantitative research tests the premise on which the review expenses are charged, introduction procedures by inspectors and utilization of relapse methods which likewise structure a piece of the theory. Type I mistakes are distinguished in this model because of the significant level of misspecification. The subjective research tests whether evaluators just fill in the outcomes in the hypothetical system or likewise test the legitimacy and importance of the equivalent for the ebb and flow venture. Accordingly the basic research examinat ion demonstrates that the theory and testing can never be idiot proof and for all intents and purposes doable. The point of the theory is just to demonstrate that the invalid speculation isn't right however the outcomes are to a great extent dependent on the example. Subsequently this gives off an impression of being no nearer to the real world. This confirmations that theory testing gives frail proof on the side of the elective speculation. This leads us to question the set up realities however we are horribly unconscious about which of the realities are valid and which not. In this way the estimation of theory isn't extremely critical in the positive bookkeeping research. In this way the writing audit of the paper is to test whether positive bookkeeping research is meeting its points and targets and the subjective and quantitative research models are a token of the way that seeing speculations succeed is practically shocking. To put it plainly, the whole spotlight is on positive bookkeeping. Hypothetical Framework: It is the fluctuating conduct of the bookkeeping firms and evaluators that lead to this examination and theory. The general structure of the bookkeeping calling is needy and administered by a lot of rules to be adhered to like bookkeeping guidelines, et cetera. In any case, the deviation from these guidelines and various practices in comparative circumstances is the main impetus behind this exploration (Tinker et. al, 1982). The examination goes about as a scaffold that will help in explaining different circumstances. The hypothetical substance of the paper is to test the adequacy of positive bookkeeping research and measurable and speculation strategies are utilized for the equivalent. It is relevant to make reference to that factual strategies have its own inadequacies and it is generally administered by the speculation conditions chose as the invalid theory and the probabilities of the event. The aftereffects of this speculation are broadly reliant upon the examples picked which may not really be a genuine intelligent of the whole populace. To put it plainly, the choice of the examples probably won't prompt a productive outcome in light of the fact that a said test can't be a pointer of the whole populace. Consequently, it experiences this confinement. Another disadvantage of the speculation is that just a single elective theory is thought of and in the event that it is frail, at that point it may be steady with various hypotheses. The Significance and Limitations of the Article: The constraints of the testing strategies and theory are all around clarified in the previous segments. To beat these inadequacies, an increasingly reasonable methodology must be embraced. The lacks of the testing strategies are in truth very much perceived by the creator as the pundit of the idea is introduced by the discoveries of different creators. The creator makes hypothetical inferences from the exploration by utilizing the factual strategies that positive bookkeeping research isn't accomplishing its points and goals. The consequences of the theory demonstrate the sound conduct of bookkeepers and reviewers who respond dependent on realities and conditions (Francis, 2006). These impediments give us a vibe that the testing strategies are a minor eyewash and don't prompt any significant ends that could add to the development of positive bookkeeping research. It is relevant to take note of that however the article talks about finally the constraints of the speculation techniques, it not diminish the essentialness as the writer has additionally made a genuine endeavor to give answers for a fruitful positive research program like utilizing helpless models that are rigidly tried, utilization of systematic displaying, an attention on estimation instead of testing, replication and more replication (Antle et. al, 2006). The article further goes down to clarify why things are this way and the presence of limitations, the stuff to make a hypothetically solid structure. End The paper centers around the way that if positive bookkeeping research is having insufficiencies, it would not be defended to state that a paper ought not be distributed featuring its inconsistency. Positive bookkeeping isn't liberated from impediment and considering the training it glances troublesome by and by. The way that this speculation and testing is demonstrating aftereffects of oddity is illustrative of the way that further research in potentially the correct heading is probably going to happen which will improve the nature of positive bookkeeping research and contribute to a great extent to the calling of bookkeeping and inspecting. Recognizing the way that air conditioner

Thought Suppression and OCD

Thought Suppression and OCD OCD Causes Print Thought Suppression and OCD By Owen Kelly, PhD Updated on April 04, 2019 Jamie Grill / Getty Images More in OCD Causes Symptoms and Diagnosis Treatment Types Living With OCD Related Conditions Obsessions, in which you experience seemingly uncontrollable and extremely distressing thoughts, are a core symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder  (OCD). Although a natural reaction for many affected people is to try and suppress, or push away, these thoughts, research shows that thought suppression can actually make obsessions worse. What Is Thought Suppression? Thought suppression is trying to ignore or control thoughts that we find threatening or distressing. For example, when reminded of an embarrassing incident or a time when you were rejected, you might try to actively push away these thoughts by distracting yourself or trying to think about something else. Interestingly, research has shown that the more you try to suppress your thoughts, the more those same thoughts come back (even if you don’t have OCD). Suppressing Your Thoughts Does More Harm Than Good If you try to suppress a thought when you are feeling down, anxious or stressed, that thought then becomes connected to the emotional state youre in. Because of the emotional connection, the next time you feel whatever emotion thats connected with the thought you were trying to push aside, youre actually more likely to experience the unwanted thought, likely worsening your mood.   Thought Suppression With Obsessions Given that distressing thought, called obsessions, are at the core of OCD, it has been suggested thought suppression may play a role in causing some of the symptoms of OCD. For instance, although we all experience strange, bizarre or shocking thoughts throughout the day, if you have OCD, you may overreact to such thoughts by trying to suppress them, which only causes them to come back worse than before. Of course, this leads to more thought suppression, which leads to experiencing more distressing thoughts. It can turn into a vicious cycle. What the Research Says For example, as part of a research study, people with OCD were asked to suppress their distressing thoughts some days while allowing themselves to have these thoughts on others. At the end of each day, they were asked to record the number of intrusive thoughts they experienced in a diary. Not surprisingly, people with OCD recorded twice as many intrusive thoughts on the days they tried to suppress their thoughts than the days where they let their thoughts flow freely. What Can I Do? If you have OCD, getting away from thought suppression as a coping strategy can be difficult and it may be helpful to consult with a psychologist, psychiatrist or other mental health professionals to learn some effective strategies. OCD Discussion Guide Get our printable guide to help you ask the right questions at your next doctors appointment. Download PDF Specifically, a new generation of behavior therapies addresses thought suppression as part of their overall therapeutic strategy. Therapies such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) work to build flexibility in thinking rather than trying to eliminate distressing thoughts like obsessions using a variety of mindfulness techniques, metaphors, and life enhancement exercises.   The official site for the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science  has lots of ACT resources for the public, including information, discussion groups, a search tool to find ACT therapists, recommended books and audio tapes for meditation  and centering exercises.

When to Trust Your Instincts on the SAT

When faced with a tough choice, it’s easy to second-guess yourself (and the SAT is full of tough choices). Think of how hard it can be to choose toppings for a pizza. You think sausage and pepper sounds good, and you’re all set to order, and then you see the barbeque chicken, and it’s not so easy anymore. Then it all falls apart. Hawaiian sounds good, too†¦but what about something with pesto? Or maybe it’d be good to have a bunch of veggies and be a little healthier? In situations like that, the best thing to do is usually to go with your gut. That’s just as true for the SAT as it is for pizza toppings. There’s a reason your original choice stood out, and unless you can totally write it off after rethinking, it deserves to be taken seriously. Tricky critical reading questions SAT critical reading is made up of two parts—sentence completions and passage-based reading comprehension. Both areas tend to catch test-takers up in frustrating loops of second-guessing. In the case of sentence completions, it tends to happen because students don’t know some of the words in the answer choices. Then, even if they’re already looking at a word they do know and happens to be correct, they find themselves tempted by the mystery words. Being rare doesn’t give a word any more weight.   If you have an answer that sounds good, stick with it. In the case of passage-based reading, the SAT likes to throw in wrong answers that are slightly too strongly worded, and these make people think twice, too. If that happens, then look back at your original choice. Can you find any reason why it’s wrong? If not, then don’t make things complicated for yourself. Is there actually a grammar mistake in the question? SAT-takers second-guess themselves a whole lot in the writing section when they don’t see obvious mistakes in the sentences they’re given. The problem is simple: people don’t like choosing â€Å"No error.† (In improving sentences questions, there’s no â€Å"No error† option, but choice A is just a copy of the original that you’re supposed to improve.) But they shouldn’t be so hesitant. The correct answers are spread evenly among the letters A through E, so â€Å"No error† should be correct about a fifth of the time. Now, that doesn’t mean that you should just choose â€Å"No error† whenever you’re not clear on what the problem is. But it does mean that you shouldn’t force yourself to find a problem. Check back through the original sentence systematically. Is there any passive voice? Do the pronouns all refer clearly to things? Do the subjects match the verbs? If it’s a toss-up, go with your instincts Even if you can’t articulate why an answer seems correct, your gut feeling is better than nothing. If you’re stuck between a two or three answer choices, it’s a valuable tool.

Taking a Look at Cystic Fibrosis - 660 Words

There are many diseases that greatly affect our respiratory physiology; one of those diseases is cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis, according to the National Institute of Health (2013), is an inherited disease of the secretory glands or exocrine glands. Not only does this disease affect our respiratory system, it takes a toll on our digestive system. The respiratory system includes the gas exchange from our external atmosphere and our internal environment. This gas exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide through our atmosphere and lungs does play a roll with cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is inherited, it affects many parts of the body mainly the respiratory system, and there are many signs and symptoms to this overwhelming disease. The respiratory system is the body’s source for breathing. Without our respiratory system, gas exchange would not be able to occur. Inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide. In our respiratory system our upper airways and bronchi can be said to warming, humidifying, and filtering inspired air. By warming the air inhaled it will not cause damage to our internal environment which is body temperature, with warming the air that is inhaled cold air will reach that body temperature, humidifying our body through inhalation of oxygen, our epithelial cells remain moist and do not dry out (Silverthorn, 2013), and finally the mucus that is in our pharynx come upon many inhaled microorganisms and/or other pathogens. As Silverthorn (2013) states, mucusShow MoreRelatedTaking a Look at Cystic Fibrosis733 Words   |  3 PagesCystic fibrosis is life threatening, progressive and genetic disorders that cause severe damage to the lungs and digestive systems. About 30,000 children’s and adults in the United States are affected by this chronic disease. Cystic fibrosis is an inherited condition which affects the body’s exocrine glands (mucus secretion glands). The secreted fluids such as mucus, sweat and digestive juices are normally thin and slippery. The secretions become thick and sticky in those people who are affectedRead MoreTaking a Look at Cystic Fibrosis1020 Words   |  4 PagesINTRODUCTION Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited autosomal recessive disorder that affects the lungs and digestive system most often. In the United States some 30,000 children and adults have CF. There are approximately 1,000 new cases of cystic fibrosis diagnosed each year in the US with 70% of patients diagnosed with CF by the age of two, 40% of patients with CF are 18 or older. In the 1950s most children with CF did not survive to attend elementary school, but in 2006 the median ageRead MoreTaking a Look at Cystic Fibrosis1094 Words   |  4 PagesCystic fibrosis, an inherited disease of the secretory glands that affects the liver, pancreas, intestines, lungs, sinuses, and sex organs, affects about 30,000 Americans with 1,000 new cases diagnosed each year. 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Carlos is a carrier of Cystic Fibrosis and had a brother who had the disease. Carlos would like Mollie to get test for Cystic Fibrosis before having a child. Mollie is unsure about being tested but agreed to think about it. Cystic Fibrosis affects over 50,000 people in the United States, Canada and Europe (3). One in every twenty Americans are carriers of Cystic Fibrosis, approximately twelve million people are unaware they are carriers (3). Cystic Fibrosis is autosomal recessive inheritedRead MoreGluten, Wheat And Grain Products915 Words   |  4 Pagestests for antibodies specialized to celiac disease. Another test that can be done to diagnose celiac disease is a small intestinal biopsy which uses an EGD (esophagogastroduodenoscopy) to collect samples of the small intestine. Doctors then use this to look for signs of celiac disease. Lactose intolerance is caused by the large intestine’s inability to digest lactose, a type of sugar. 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Patients with cystic fibrosis have many serious medical conditions and the majority only live to their mid-thirties. I will be looking at many different aspects of the disease such as, phenotypes, genotypes, and inheritance patterns. Also how the disease is diagnosed, treated, and the prognosis of the disease. According to the American Lung Association, â€Å"Cystic fibrosis is the second most life shortening, inherited disorder occurring

What Are the Different Chinese Dialects

There are many Chinese dialects in China, so many that it is hard to guess how many dialects actually exist. In general, dialects can be roughly classified into one of the seven large groups: Putonghua (Mandarin), Gan, Kejia (Hakka), Min, Wu, Xiang, and Yue (Cantonese). Each language group contains a large number of dialects. These are the Chinese languages spoken mostly by the Han people, which represents about 92 percent of the total population. This article will not get into the non-Chinese languages spoken by minorities in China, such as Tibetan, Mongolian and Miao, and all those subsequent dialects. Even though the dialects from the seven groups are quite different, a  non-Mandarin speaker usually can speak some Mandarin, even if with a strong accent. This is largely because Mandarin has been the official national language since 1913. Despite the large differences among Chinese dialects, there is one thing in common—they all share the same writing system based on Chinese characters. However, the same character is pronounced differently depending on which dialect one speaks. Lets take 我  for example, the word for I or me. In Mandarin, it is pronounced wo. In Wu, it is pronounced ngu. In Min, gua. In Cantonese, ngo. You get the idea.   Chinese Dialects andRegionality China is a huge country, and similar to the way in which there are different accents across America, there are different dialects spoken in China depending on the region: As mentioned earlier, Mandarin, or Putonghua, can be heard all over China as it is the official language. However, it is thought of as a northern dialect as it is mainly based off of the Beijing dialect.The Gan dialect can be heard in western parts of China. It is spoken particularly heavily in and near Jiangxi province.  Kejia, or Hakka, is the language of Hakka people who are spread out across pockets in Taiwan, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guizhou, and beyond.  Min is spoken in Chinas southern coastal province—Fujian. It is the most diverse dialect, meaning within the dialect group there are still many different variations on word pronunciation.Around the Yangtze Delta and Shanghai, the Wu dialect can be heard. In fact, Wu is also referred to as Shanghainese.  Xiang is a southern dialect concentrated in Hunan province.  Cantonese, or Yue, is also a southern dialect. It is spoken in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, and Macau.   Tones A distinguishing feature across all  Chinese languages is tone. For instance, Mandarin has four  tones and Cantonese has six tones. Tone, in terms of language, is the pitch in which syllables in words are uttered. In Chinese, different words stress different pitches. Some words even have pitch variation in one single  syllable. Thus, the tone is very important in any Chinese dialect. There are many cases when words spelled in pinyin (the standardized alphabetical transliteration of Chinese characters) are the same, but the way it is pronounced changes the meaning. For example, in Mandarin, Ã¥ ¦Ë† (mÄ ) means mother,  Ã© © ¬ (mÇŽ) means horse, and  Ã© ªâ€š (mà  ) means to scold.

Enterprenuer Notes - 6114 Words

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A Reflection On Self Awareness - 1782 Words

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Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 23~25 Free Essays

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Clair Stirs a Brainstorm For all his admiration for the field biologists he’d worked with over the years, secretly Clay harbored one tiny bit of ego-preserving superiority over them: At the end of the day, they were going to have only nicked the surface of the knowledge they were trying to attain, but if Clay got the pictures, he went home a satisfied man. Even around Nathan Quinn he’d exercised an attitude of rascally smugness, teasing about his friend’s ongoing frustration. For Clay it was get the pictures and what’s for dinner? Until now. We will write a custom essay sample on Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 23~25 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Now he had his own mysteries to contend with, and he couldn’t help but think that the powers of irony were flexing their muscles to get back at him for his having lived carefree for so long. Kona, on the other hand, had long paid homage to his fear of irony by, like many surfers, never eating shark meat. â€Å"I don’t eat them, they don’t eat me. That’s just how it work.† But now he, too, was feeling the sawtoothed edge of irony’s bite, for, having spent most of his time from the age of thirteen knocking the edge off his mental acuity by the concerted application of the most epic smokage that Jah could provide (thanks be unto Him), he was now being called upon to think and remember with a sharpness that was clearly painful. â€Å"Think,† said Clair, rapping the surfer in the forehead with the spoon she had only seconds earlier used to stir honey into a cup of calming herbal tea. â€Å"Ouch,† said Kona. â€Å"Hey, that’s uncalled for,† said Clay, coming to Kona’s aid. Loyalty being important to him. â€Å"Shut up. You’re next.† â€Å"Okay.† They were gathered around Clay’s giant monitor, which, for all the good it was doing them, could have been a giant monitor lizard. A spectrogram of whale song from Quinn’s computer was splashed across the screen, and for the information they were getting from it, it might have been the aftermath of a paint-ball war, which is what it looked like. â€Å"What were they doing, Kona?† Clair asked, spoon – steaming with herbal calmness – poised to strike. As a teacher of fourth-graders in a public school, where corporal punishment was not allowed, she had years of violence stored up and was, truth be told, sort of enjoying letting it out on Kona, who she felt could have been the poster child for the failure of public education. â€Å"Nate and Amy both went through this with you. Now you have to remember what they said.† â€Å"It’s not these things, it’s the oscilloscope,† Kona said. â€Å"Nate pulled out just the submarine stuff and put it on the spectrum.† â€Å"It’s all submarine,† Clay said. â€Å"You mean subsonic.† â€Å"Yeah. He said there was something in there. I said like computer language. Ones and ohs.† â€Å"That doesn’t help.† â€Å"He was marking them out by hand,† Kona said. â€Å"By freezing the green line, then measuring the peaks and troughs. He said that the signal could carry a lot more information that way, but the whales would have to have oscilloscopes and computers to do it.† Clay and Clair both turned to the surfer in amazement. â€Å"And they don’t,† Kona said. â€Å"Duh.† It was as if a storm of coherence had come over him. They just stared. Kona shrugged. â€Å"Just don’t hit me with the spoon again.† Clay pushed his chair back to let the surfer at the keyboard. â€Å"Show me.† Late into the night the three of them worked, making little marks on printouts of the oscilloscope and recording them on yellow legal pads. Ones and ohs. Clair went to bed at 2:00 A.M. At 3:00 A.M. they had fifty handwritten legal-pad pages of ones and ohs. In another time this might have felt to Clay like a job well done. He’d helped analyze data on shipboard before. It killed some time and ingratiated him to whatever scientist was leading the project he was there to photograph, but he’d always been able to hand off the work for someone else to finish. It was slowly dawning on him: Being a scientist sucked. â€Å"This sucks,† said Kona. â€Å"No it doesn’t. Look at all we have,† said Clay, gesturing to all they had. â€Å"What is it?† â€Å"It’s a lot, that’s what it is. Look at all of it.† â€Å"What’s it mean?† â€Å"No idea.† â€Å"What does this have to do with Nate and the Snowy Biscuit?† â€Å"Just look at all of this,† said Clay, looking at all of it. Kona got up from his chair and rolled his shoulders. â€Å"Mon, Bwana Clay, Jah has given you a big heart. I’m goin’ to bed.† â€Å"What are you saying?† Clay said. â€Å"We got all the heart we need, brah. We need head.† † ‘Scuse me?† And so, in the morning, with the promise of a colossal piece of information for barter (the torpedo range) but without a true indication of what he really needed to know in return (everything else), Clay talked Libby Quinn into coming to Papa Lani. â€Å"So let me get this straight,† said Libby Quinn as she paced from Clay’s computer to the kitchen and back. Kona and Clay were standing to the side, following her movement like dogs watching meatball tennis. â€Å"You’ve got an old woman who claims that a whale called her and instructed her to have Nate take him a pastrami sandwich?† â€Å"On rye, with Swiss and hot mustard,† Kona added, not wanting her to miss any pertinent scientific details. â€Å"And you have a recording of voices, underwater, presumably military, asking if someone brought them a sandwich.† â€Å"Correct,† said Kona, â€Å"No bread, or meat, or cheese, specified.† Libby glared at him. â€Å"And you have the navy setting off simulated explosions in preparation to put a torpedo range in the middle of the Humpback Whale Sanctuary.† She paused meaningfully and pivoted thoughtfully – like Hercule Poirot in flip-flops. â€Å"You have a tape of Amy doing a breath-hold dive for what appears to be an hour, with no ill effects.† â€Å"Topless,† Kona added. Science. â€Å"You have Amy claiming that Nate was eaten by a whale, which we all know is simply not possible, given the diameter of the humpback’s throat, even if one were inclined to bite him, which we know they wouldn’t.† (She was just a deerstalker, a calabash, and a cocaine habit short of being Sherlock Holmes here.) â€Å"Then you have Amy taking a kayak out for no apparent reason and disappearing, presumed drowned. And you say that Nate was working on finding binary in the lower registers of the whale song, and you think that means something? Have I got that right?† â€Å"Yeah,† said Clay. â€Å"But you have the break-in to our offices to get the sound tapes, and you have my boat being sunk, too. Okay, it sounded more connected when we were talking about it last night.† Libby Quinn stopped pacing and turned to look at both of them. She wore cargo shorts, tech sandals, and a running bra and appeared ready at any moment to just take off and do something outdoorsy and strenuous. They both looked down, subdued, as if they were still under the threat of Clair’s deadly spoon of calm. Clay had always had a secret attraction to Libby, even while she’d been married to Quinn, and it was only within the last year or so he’d been able to make eye contact with her at all. Kona, on the other hand, had studied dozens of videotapes on the lesbian lifestyle, especially as it pertained to having a third party show up in the middle of an intimate moment (usually with a pizza), so he had long ago assigned a ;hot; rating to Libby, despite the fact that she was twice his age. â€Å"Help us,† Kona said, trying to sound pathetic, staring at the floor. â€Å"This is what you guys have, and you think because I know a little biology I can make something of all this?† â€Å"And that,† said Clay, pointing at the now arranged and collated pages of ones and ohs on his desk. Libby walked over and flipped through the pages. â€Å"Clay, this is nothing. I can’t do anything with this. Even if Nate was on to something, what do you think? That even if we recognize a pattern, it’s going to mean something to us? Look, Clay, I loved Nate, too, you know I did, but –  » â€Å"Just tell us where to start,† Kona said. â€Å"And tell me if you see anything in this.† Clay went to his computer and hit a key. A still of the edge view of the whale tail from his rebreather dive was on the screen. â€Å"Nate said that he had seen some markings on a whale tail, Libby. Some writing. Well, I thought there was something on this whale, too, before it knocked me out. But this is the best shot of the tail we have. It could mean something.† â€Å"Like what?† Her voice was kind. â€Å"I don’t know what, Libby. If I knew what, I wouldn’t have called you. But there’s too much weird stuff going on that almost fits together, and we don’t know what to do.† Libby studied the tail still. â€Å"There is something there. You don’t have a better shot?† â€Å"No, this is something I do know about. This is the best I have.† â€Å"You know, Margaret and I were helping a guy from Texas A.M who was designing a software program that would shift perspective of tail shots, so edge and bad-angle views could be shifted and extrapolated into usable ID photos. You know how many get tossed because of bad angles?† â€Å"You have this program?† â€Å"Yes, it’s still in beta tests, but it works. I think we can shift this shot, and if there’s something meaningful there, we’ll see it.† â€Å"Cool runnings,† Kona said. â€Å"As far as this binary thing, I think it’s a shot in the dark, but if it’s going to mean anything, you’re going to have to get your ones and ohs in the computer. Kona, can you type?† â€Å"Well, on ones and ohs? I shred most masterful, mon.† â€Å"Right. I’ll set you up with a simple text file – just ones and ohs – and we’ll figure out if we can do anything with it later. No mistakes, okay?† Kona nodded. Clay finally looked up and smiled. â€Å"Thanks, Libby.† â€Å"I’m not saying it’s anything, Clay, but I wasn’t exactly fair to Nate when he was around. Maybe I owe him one now that he’s gone. Besides, it’s windy. Fieldwork would have sucked today. I’m going to call Margaret, have her bring the program over. I’ll help you if you promise that you’ll put all your weight into stopping this torpedo range and you’ll sign Maui Whale on to the petition against low-frequency active sonar. You guys have a problem with that?† She was giving them the â€Å"spoon of death† look, and it occurred to both of them that this might be something that was innate to all women, not just Clair, and that they should be very, very afraid. â€Å"Nope,† said Kona. â€Å"Sounds good to me. I’ll put on a pot of coffee,† said Clay. â€Å"Margaret is absolutely going to shit when she hears about the torpedo range,† said Libby Quinn as she reached for Clay’s phone. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR Orientation to the Blues A small explosion went off over his head, and Nate dove under the table. When he looked up, Emily 7 was bent over staring at him with her watery whale eyes and a mild expression of distress, and Nu;ez was crouched at the other end of the table smiling. â€Å"That was the blow, Nate,† Nu;ez said. â€Å"A little more intense than the humpback’s, huh? These ships act like real whales, remember. The blowhole is right above our heads. Vented to the rest of the ship, but, you know, every twenty minutes or so it’s going to go. You get used to it.† â€Å"Sure, I knew that,† said Nate, crawling out from under the table. He’d been out off of Santa Cruz searching for the blues. You usually found them by the sound of their blows, which you could hear up to a mile and a half away. He looked up, expecting to see sky through the blowhole, but instead he saw just more smooth whaleskin. â€Å"They behave like whales, but the physiology is completely different to allow for the living quarters. I don’t really understand it, but for instance the blowhole is vented down the sides somewhere to some axillary lungs that do the oxygen exchange with the blood. I don’t know how they got us electricity at all. I mean, I said I wanted a coffeepot, and they put in an outlet. There are circuits all over the bridge for our machinery. The other bodily functions seem to be handled by smaller versions of liver, kidneys, and so forth around the outside of the cabins. The main spine runs over the top of the ship. There’s no digestive system. The ship’s digestive system is at the base; it hooks up and pumps nutrient-rich blood into the ship, which stores enough energy in blubber to run it for six months at sea, or around the world at least once. We can cruise at twenty knots as long as no one is watching.† â€Å"What do you mean, ‘no one is watching’?† â€Å"I mean you guys. Biologists. If one of you guys is watching us, we have to slow it down after a couple of hours. Especially if we’re tagged.† â€Å"This ship has been satellite-tagged? What do you do?† â€Å"We go to silent running for a while. Then we dive, and one of the whaley boys goes outside and pulls the tag off. We’ve been tagged twice by that Bruce Mate guy from Oregon State. That guy’s a menace. Probably has a satellite tag on his wife to track her trips to the can. If they’d asked me, he’d be the one riding with us now.† â€Å"You know who he is?† Nate was aghast. As a scientist, you were always fighting being overwhelmed by what you don’t know, but the magnitude of this whole operation – it was too much. â€Å"Of course. Since commercial whaling backed off, cetacean biologists have been the main focus of our intelligence program. Why do you think you’re here?† â€Å"Okay, why am I here?† â€Å"I don’t know the whole story, but it’s something to do with the song. Evidently you were a little too close to finding our signal in the song, so they yanked you.† â€Å"The aliens were that interested in what I was doing?† â€Å"What aliens?† â€Å"These aliens,† Nate said, nodding toward the pilots and Bernard and Emily 7, who had moved to another table on the other side of the corridor. â€Å"The whaley boys aren’t aliens. Who told you that?† â€Å"Well, Poynter and Poe implied that they were.† â€Å"Those jerks. No, they’re not aliens. They’re a little weird, but not from-another-planet weird.† Bernard looked up from what appeared to be a chart of some sort and gave a half-assed signature raspberry. â€Å"They do that a lot,† Nate said. â€Å"If you had a tongue four inches wide, you’d do that a lot, too. It’s sort of a display move with them, like the penis waving that Bernard was doing.† â€Å"Like male killer whales do.† â€Å"Bingo. See, a guy with your background, this is easy to explain. I didn’t understand squat at first.† â€Å"I’m sorry, but I can’t believe that this ship, the whaley boys, the whole perfection of the way they work, could possibly be products of natural selection. There had to be a design. Someone made all this.† Cielle nodded, smiling. â€Å"I’ve known a number of scientists in my lifetime, Nate, but I’m sure this is the first time I’ve heard one arguing in favor of a grand designer. What’s that called, the ‘watchmaker argument’?† She was right, of course. It was an accepted premise that intelligent design in nature was not necessarily a product of intelligence, but merely the mechanism of natural selection of traits for survival and really, really long periods of time for the selections to assert themselves. Nate’s life’s work had been built on that assumption, but now he was giving Darwin the old heave-ho simply because his – Nate’s – mind was too small to adapt to the idea of this craft. Well, yes, damn it. Screw Darwin. This was too strange. â€Å"I’m sorry, I’m just having a little trouble getting my head around this. I don’t know how you take to being a prisoner, but I don’t care for it. On top of that, I could barely sleep on the humpback with the blow going off every few minutes, and I haven’t eaten anything but raw fish and water for about five days. I’d be addled even if this didn’t seem impossible.† Bernard made a whimpering noise, and Skippy and Scooter followed along in a moment until they sounded like a basketful of hungry puppies, and then they all broke out into wheezing snickers. Emily 7 frowned at them. â€Å"Of course, I understand, Nate,† Nu;ez said. â€Å"Maybe you should finish up your coffee and go to your quarters. I have a few sports shakes in my cabin that will get some carbohydrates to your brain, and I can get you something to help you sleep – the ship’s doctor has a full stock of Pharmaceuticals.† She patted his hand maternally. Nate felt a little ashamed for having complained. â€Å"You’re not the only human on this ship, then?† â€Å"No, there are four humans and six whaley boys on board. The others are in their quarters. But they’re all excited to meet you. Everyone’s been talking about it for weeks.† â€Å"You’ve known for weeks you were going to take me?† â€Å"Well, sort of. We were on standby. We just got the go-ahead the day before we took you.† â€Å"And you, and the rest of the crew, you’re prisoners, too?† â€Å"Nate, every person on this ship, on any whale ship, has been pulled out of a sinking or sunken ship, a plane crash at sea, or some other disaster that would have killed them. This is a gift of time, and frankly, once you accept where you are and what you’re doing, I’m going to ask you where you’d rather be. Okay?† Nate searched her face for any sign of sarcasm or malice. All he found was a gentle smile. â€Å"Okay.† â€Å"You go to your quarters now. I’ll send around your supplies in a bit. Bernard, would you show Dr. Quinn to his quarters?† â€Å"I’m not really a doctor,† Nate whispered. â€Å"Take whatever respect you can get from them, Nate.† Bernard waited at the entry to the corridor, rubbing his shiny-smooth stomach and grinning. A white coffee mug stood out in contrast against Bernard’s abdomen, suspended as it was in the grasp of his penis. â€Å"I’ve always wanted to do that,† said Nate, deciding that he wasn’t going to let the whaley boy get the satisfaction of intimidating him. â€Å"Would be really handy for driving.† Nate bowed toward the corridor. â€Å"Lead on, Bernard.† Bernard skulked down the hall in what would have been a full pout posture, had he any lips to do the actual pouting. He spilled a trail of coffee along the way. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE The Inner Secrets of Cetacean Sluts Nate was just settling into the idea of the organic bunk he was going to be sleeping on before actually settling into the bed. He was not a God kind of guy, but he found himself thanking one nonetheless for the crisp cotton sheets and pillowcase on a feather pillow. He didn’t think he really wanted to sleep with his face against whaleskin. There was a soft whistle outside the portal, and the great flap of skin retracted to open to the corridor. Emily 7 stood there with a tray that held two cans of protein shake, a glass of water, and a single small pill. She grinned but did not try to step into the cabin. The small portal required a bit of a crouching and climbing action for Nate to enter, so he guessed she’d dump the tray trying to get through. Then again, she might just be trying to be polite. She waited while Nate took the cans from the tray and set them on the low table, then swung around to take the pill and water from her. Emily 7 whistled and gave him a sidelong glance, causing her right eye to bulge out at him, as he’d actually seen humpbacks do when checking out a boat at the surface. She gestured for him to take the pill. â€Å"You’re not leaving until you see me take my medicine?† Emily 7 nodded. â€Å"Well, I guess if you guys wanted to get rid of me, it would have been a lot easier to kill me without bringing me all the way out here to poison me.† Nate took the pill, downed the water, and opened his mouth to show that the pill was gone. â€Å"That okay, nurse?† Emily whistled and nodded, then gently took the empty glass from Nate’s hand. She reached up to hit the node, and the portal closed between them. Nate heard her whistle the first few bars of a lullaby. She’s sweet, Nate thought, in a tall, malevolent rubber-puppet sort of way. For almost a week the only sleep Nate had been able to get was while he was restrained in the chair in the humpback, and even then it was restless – with the ship blowing every few minutes and the whaley boys whistling communications – so, despite the blow of the blue-whale ship, he fell into a deep sleep filled with vivid dreams. He dreamed of himself and Amy, their naked bodies entwined, slick with sweat under soft candlelight. Strangely, even as he dreamed, he had the semilucid thought that before, whenever he’d taken a sleeping pill, he didn’t remember ever dreaming. But that thought was pushed away by the feel of Amy’s smooth skin, his fingers softly caressing her muscular legs, her four long, webbed fingers wrapped lovingly around his – â€Å"Hey!† Nate opened his eyes. A softly lit fence of spiky teeth smiled over at him, steamy fish breath washed over his face. â€Å"Uh-oh,† said Emily 7, her voice high and rasping, verging on duck-speak. Nate leaped out of bed and bounced off the wall on the other side of the cabin. Emily 7 pulled the sheet up over her head and burrowed against the wall, digging her melon under the pillow. Then she lay still. Nate stood trying to catch his breath. As soon as he’d hit the floor, the biolighting had come up to high. He pushed back against the flexible wall, then suddenly became self-conscious and pulled his T-shirt off the back of the chair to cover his erection, which was rapidly losing its will to live. She was just lying there. â€Å"Hello? I can see you.† Curled up. Not moving. There under the sheets. All whaley. â€Å"You aren’t fooling anyone. You’re bigger than I am. You’re not hidden.† Just the soft sound of her blowhole opening and closing. Nate realized that it might be easier to hide under the covers if one had a blowhole, as one could cover one’s mouth and face and still breathe. Addled by sleep deprivation, residual sleep medication, two cups of coffee, and now a few endorphins, he started to speculate on how a creature might adapt for hiding under the covers, then shook off the biologist rising up in him. â€Å"Come on, we’re different species and stuff. That’s creepy.† Now a bit of a squeak, more like a whimper, followed by a tiny â€Å"Uh-oh,† like a small elf had been mashed under the covers with a heavy book and had uh-ohed its last pathetic gasp. â€Å"Well, you can’t stay here.† He remembered how he’d felt when Libby had left him and by way of explanation she’d said, â€Å"Nate, I don’t know, I don’t even feel like we’re the same species.† At the time he’d felt as if his stomach were being turned inside out. It had ruined him socially for more than a year. Longer than that if he counted the fiasco attraction to Amy. He stepped over to the bunk. Emily 7 scrunched into the corner between the wall and the bed. Nate worked the edge of the sheet loose and cautiously slid one leg under the covers. The lump that was Emily 7’s head moved as if she was listening. â€Å"You have to stay on your side, okay?† â€Å"Okay,† wheezed Emily 7 in the mashed-elf voice. Nate awoke to the exhultations of killer whales – high-pitched hunting calls. The pod seemed to be gleefully celebrating a hunt, or at least calling another pod to come along and help. It occurred to him that he was actually riding in a craft that qualified as food for the orcas, and the ship might be in danger of attack. He’d have to ask Nuà ±ez about that. He swung his feet off the bunk, and the lights came up. He realized that he was alone and sighed with relief. There was a fresh set of khakis hung over the chair and a bottle of water on the table. There was a small basin on the wall opposite the bunk, no bigger than a cereal bowl and made out of the same skin as the rest of the ship. He hadn’t even noticed it the night before. There were three lit nodules above the basin, like those used to activate the portals, but Nate could see nowhere for the water to come out. He pushed one of the nodules, and the basin started filling from a sphincter in the bottom. He pushed another, and the water was sucked out the same orifice. He tried to foster scientific detachment toward the whole thing but failed miserably: He was creeped out. Nate desperately needed a shave and a shower, but he didn’t want to try to wash his whole six-foot-two-inch body in an eight-inch bowl with a†¦ well, a butt hole at the bottom. He’d had just about enough of advanced poop-chute technology, thank you. He splashed some water on his face and dressed in the khakis, wondering as he did if the whale ship could actually grow a mirror for him to shave in if he needed it. The whole crew appeared to be up and milling about the bridge when Nate came in. There were four whaley boys at the table with the charts to the right of the hatch, the two pilots at their consoles. Nuà ±ez stood by the table to the left of the hatch, where there were seated a blond woman in her thirties and two men, one dark, perhaps in his early twenties, and one bald and gray-bearded, a healthy fifty, maybe. Not a very military-looking bunch. Everyone turned when Nate came in. All conversations – words or whistles – stopped abruptly. The echo of killer-whale calls bounced around the bridge. Emily 7 turned away from Nate’s gaze. Nuà ±ez was leaning against the wall near the nook that housed the coffeepot, actively trying not to look at him. â€Å"Hi,† Nate said, catching eye contact with the bald guy, who smiled. â€Å"Have a seat,† said the bald guy, gesturing toward the empty seat at the table. â€Å"We’ll get you something to eat. I’m Cal Burdick.† He shook Nate’s hand. â€Å"This is Jane Palovsky and Tim Milam.† â€Å"Jane, Tim,† Nate said, shaking hands. Nuà ±ez smiled at him, then looked away quickly as if the coffeepot needed some immediate attention or she was going to crack up – or both. Everyone at the table nodded, sort of staring at the spot in front of them, like So here we are on a giant blue-whale ship, hundreds of feet below the surface of the ocean, with killer whales calling about us, and Nate fucked an alien, so†¦ â€Å"Nothing happened,† Nate said to the whole bridge. â€Å"What?† said Jane. â€Å"Your quarters satisfactory, then?† asked Tim, an eyebrow raised. â€Å"Nothing happened,† Nate repeated, and even though nothing had happened, from the tone of his voice he wouldn’t have believed it either. â€Å"Really.† â€Å"Of course,† said Tim. All of the whaley boys except Emily 7 were snickering. When he looked around, all the males were waving their willies back and forth in time in the air, as if swaying to a pornographic Christmas carol. Emily 7 put her big whaley head down on the table and covered it with her arms. â€Å"Nothing happened!† Nate shouted at them. Silence again on the bridge, just the echo of killer-whale calls. â€Å"Are we in danger?† Nate asked Nuà ±ez, trying desperately to change the subject. â€Å"Are they going to attack the ship? Those are feeding calls, right?† Often, when killer whales found a whale that was too big to be taken by their family pod, or when they happened on to an especially rich school of fish, they would call to other pods for help. Nate recognized the calls from some work he’d done with a biologist friend in Vancouver. â€Å"No, these are residents,† Nuà ±ez said. â€Å"They’re just excited about a bait ball they’ve found. Probably sardines.† Resident killer whales ate only fish; transients ate mammals, whales and seals. Over the last few years scientists tended to refer to them as completely different species, even though they appeared the same to the layman. â€Å"You know what they are by their call?† â€Å"More than that,† Cal said, â€Å"we know what they’re saying. The whaley boys can translate.† â€Å"All killer whales are named Kevin. You knew that, right?† said Jane. She had a slight Eastern European accent, Russian maybe. She looked a little amused, her blue eyes dark under the yellow cast of the bioluminescence, but she didn’t appear to be joking. She patted the seat next to her, indicating that Nate should sit down. â€Å"Like all the pilots are named Scooter and Skippy?† Nate said. â€Å"Actually, they have numbers like Emily – their choice, by the way – but since there are never more than one pair of them on a ship, we don’t bother with the numbers.† Nate suddenly realize that in all his time on both of the whale ships, except when one of the pilots had gone outside to catch fish, the pilots always seemed to be at the controls. â€Å"Don’t they ever sleep?† â€Å"Sure,† said Jane. â€Å"We’re pretty sure they sleep with half their brain at a time, like whales, so between two of them the ship always has a full pilot. Without one of them at the controls, it’s basically a big lump of meat.† â€Å"You said that you’re pretty sure. You don’t know?† â€Å"Well, they don’t know for sure,† said Jane, â€Å"and they’re not very excited about our doing experiments on them. Now that you’ve joined us, though, maybe you’ll be able to figure out what’s going on with them. We sort of play it all by ear. The whaley boys and the Colonel run things. Cielle, you didn’t tell him all this?† â€Å"He was pretty beat,† Nu;ez said. â€Å"I tried to get him settled in as soon as I could.† Nate wanted to protest the â€Å"settled in† comment. After all, he was a prisoner here, but these people didn’t behave at all like captors. They immediately impressed him as having the same dynamic that he’d seen in research teams, a â€Å"we’re all in this together, let’s make the best of it† attitude. He didn’t want to yell at these people. Still, it made him a little uncomfortable that she was so forthcoming with information. When your kidnappers showed you their faces, they were giving you the message that you weren’t going home. Nu;ez set a plate down in front of him. It had a salad of mixed seaweeds, carrots, and mushrooms, a piece of cooked fish, which looked like halibut, and what appeared to be rice. â€Å"Eat up,† she said. â€Å"A couple of nutrition drinks aren’t going to get you back up to speed. We do eat a lot of raw fish, even on the blue, but you need some carbs until you adjust to this diet. There’s plenty of rice when you finish that.† â€Å"Thanks.† Nate dug in while the others, all but Cal, excused themselves to work in other parts of the ship. The older man had obviously been charged with Nate’s second orientation lecture. Cal scratched his beard, looked around at the pilots, then leaned over to Nate and spoke in a lowered voice. â€Å"They’re very promiscuous. You know how dolphin females will mate with all the males in the pod so no one can be assured of who the father of her calf is? They think it keeps the males from murdering her calf when it’s born.† â€Å"That’s the theory,† Nate said. â€Å"They’re sort of like that, and back at base you have a big pod to deal with. You start down that path†¦ well, you’ve got a lot of whaley boys to sex up.† â€Å"I didn’t sex her up,† Nate hissed, spraying rice out over the table. â€Å"I’m not sexing up any whaley boys†¦ er, girls – ; â€Å"Whatever. Look, they’re very close. Here on the ship they don’t have separate quarters – they share one big cabin. Sex is very casual with them, but they understand that we’re a little more hung up about it. Some of them seem to affect human shyness. We generally don’t mix sexually with them. It’s not forbidden, but it’s†¦ you know, frowned upon. It’s only natural for a guy to be curious –  » Nate put down his fork. â€Å"Cal, I did not have sex with anyone – I mean, anything.† â€Å"Right. And be careful around the males. Especially if you’re in the water with them. They’ll bung-hole you just to watch you twitch.† â€Å"Jeez.† â€Å"I’m just telling you for your own good.† â€Å"Thanks, but I’m not going to be around long enough to worry about it.† Might as well throw it in their faces, Nate thought. The older man laughed, almost shooting coffee out his nose. When he recovered, he said, â€Å"Well, I hope you mean you plan on dying soon, because no one ever leaves.† Nate leaned into Cal’s face. â€Å"Doesn’t it bother you, that you’re a prisoner?† â€Å"There’s not one of us here who wouldn’t be dead if the whaley boys hadn’t picked us up.† â€Å"Not me.† â€Å"Especially you. You were always twelve hours from dead since we started watching you. Certainly it had to occur to you how much easier it would have been just to kill you?† Nate just stared for a second. Actually, it had occurred to him, and he didn’t see the logic in keeping him alive if all they wanted to do was stop his research. He wasn’t going to make that argument verbally, but still†¦ â€Å"Don’t overthink it, Nate. If you ever doubted that life was an adventure, it definitely is now.† â€Å"Right,† Nate said. â€Å"But before you ask me where I’d rather be, let me remind you that there’s a sphincter in the bottom of my sink.† â€Å"You haven’t seen the shower, then? Just you wait.† After he ate, Cal loaned him a copy of Treasure Island to read, but when Nate returned to his cabin, he could barely concentrate on the book at all. Funny what you learn about yourself in a short conversation. One, that he would rather have been accused of having sex with another species than with another male (even of another species). Interesting prejudice. Two, that he actually was grateful, not only to be alive, but grateful to be having completely new experiences every moment, even as a prisoner. Three, that learning was still a high, but he burned to share it with someone. And finally, that he was feeling a little jealous, a little less special, now that he knew that Emily 7 was having sex with all the male whaley boys on board. That fickle little slut. He dozed off with Robert Louis Stevenson on his chest and the sound of killer whales calling in the distance. Outside, the pod of twenty killer whales, most the sons or daughters of the matriarch female, were calling frantically to each other as they worried away at a huge bait ball of herring. Biologists had long speculated on the incredibly complex vocabulary of the killer whale, identifying specific linguistic groups that even  «spoke » the same dialect, but they had never been able to put meaning to the calls other than to identify them as â€Å"feeding,† â€Å"distress,† or  «social » noises. However, had they had the benefit of translation, this is what they would have heard: â€Å"Hey, Kevin, fish!† â€Å"Fish! I love fish!† â€Å"Look, Kevin, fish!† â€Å"Mmmm, fish.† â€Å"You, Kevin, take a run down that trench, fake left, go right, hit the bait ball, nothing but fish!† â€Å"Did someone say ‘fish’?† â€Å"Yeah, fish. Over here, Kevin.† â€Å"Mmmmm, fish.† And it went on like that. Actually, orcas aren’t quite as complex as scientists imagine. Most killer whales are just four tons of doofus dressed up like a police car. How to cite Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 23~25, Essay examples

Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 23~25 Free Essays

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Clair Stirs a Brainstorm For all his admiration for the field biologists he’d worked with over the years, secretly Clay harbored one tiny bit of ego-preserving superiority over them: At the end of the day, they were going to have only nicked the surface of the knowledge they were trying to attain, but if Clay got the pictures, he went home a satisfied man. Even around Nathan Quinn he’d exercised an attitude of rascally smugness, teasing about his friend’s ongoing frustration. For Clay it was get the pictures and what’s for dinner? Until now. We will write a custom essay sample on Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 23~25 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Now he had his own mysteries to contend with, and he couldn’t help but think that the powers of irony were flexing their muscles to get back at him for his having lived carefree for so long. Kona, on the other hand, had long paid homage to his fear of irony by, like many surfers, never eating shark meat. â€Å"I don’t eat them, they don’t eat me. That’s just how it work.† But now he, too, was feeling the sawtoothed edge of irony’s bite, for, having spent most of his time from the age of thirteen knocking the edge off his mental acuity by the concerted application of the most epic smokage that Jah could provide (thanks be unto Him), he was now being called upon to think and remember with a sharpness that was clearly painful. â€Å"Think,† said Clair, rapping the surfer in the forehead with the spoon she had only seconds earlier used to stir honey into a cup of calming herbal tea. â€Å"Ouch,† said Kona. â€Å"Hey, that’s uncalled for,† said Clay, coming to Kona’s aid. Loyalty being important to him. â€Å"Shut up. You’re next.† â€Å"Okay.† They were gathered around Clay’s giant monitor, which, for all the good it was doing them, could have been a giant monitor lizard. A spectrogram of whale song from Quinn’s computer was splashed across the screen, and for the information they were getting from it, it might have been the aftermath of a paint-ball war, which is what it looked like. â€Å"What were they doing, Kona?† Clair asked, spoon – steaming with herbal calmness – poised to strike. As a teacher of fourth-graders in a public school, where corporal punishment was not allowed, she had years of violence stored up and was, truth be told, sort of enjoying letting it out on Kona, who she felt could have been the poster child for the failure of public education. â€Å"Nate and Amy both went through this with you. Now you have to remember what they said.† â€Å"It’s not these things, it’s the oscilloscope,† Kona said. â€Å"Nate pulled out just the submarine stuff and put it on the spectrum.† â€Å"It’s all submarine,† Clay said. â€Å"You mean subsonic.† â€Å"Yeah. He said there was something in there. I said like computer language. Ones and ohs.† â€Å"That doesn’t help.† â€Å"He was marking them out by hand,† Kona said. â€Å"By freezing the green line, then measuring the peaks and troughs. He said that the signal could carry a lot more information that way, but the whales would have to have oscilloscopes and computers to do it.† Clay and Clair both turned to the surfer in amazement. â€Å"And they don’t,† Kona said. â€Å"Duh.† It was as if a storm of coherence had come over him. They just stared. Kona shrugged. â€Å"Just don’t hit me with the spoon again.† Clay pushed his chair back to let the surfer at the keyboard. â€Å"Show me.† Late into the night the three of them worked, making little marks on printouts of the oscilloscope and recording them on yellow legal pads. Ones and ohs. Clair went to bed at 2:00 A.M. At 3:00 A.M. they had fifty handwritten legal-pad pages of ones and ohs. In another time this might have felt to Clay like a job well done. He’d helped analyze data on shipboard before. It killed some time and ingratiated him to whatever scientist was leading the project he was there to photograph, but he’d always been able to hand off the work for someone else to finish. It was slowly dawning on him: Being a scientist sucked. â€Å"This sucks,† said Kona. â€Å"No it doesn’t. Look at all we have,† said Clay, gesturing to all they had. â€Å"What is it?† â€Å"It’s a lot, that’s what it is. Look at all of it.† â€Å"What’s it mean?† â€Å"No idea.† â€Å"What does this have to do with Nate and the Snowy Biscuit?† â€Å"Just look at all of this,† said Clay, looking at all of it. Kona got up from his chair and rolled his shoulders. â€Å"Mon, Bwana Clay, Jah has given you a big heart. I’m goin’ to bed.† â€Å"What are you saying?† Clay said. â€Å"We got all the heart we need, brah. We need head.† † ‘Scuse me?† And so, in the morning, with the promise of a colossal piece of information for barter (the torpedo range) but without a true indication of what he really needed to know in return (everything else), Clay talked Libby Quinn into coming to Papa Lani. â€Å"So let me get this straight,† said Libby Quinn as she paced from Clay’s computer to the kitchen and back. Kona and Clay were standing to the side, following her movement like dogs watching meatball tennis. â€Å"You’ve got an old woman who claims that a whale called her and instructed her to have Nate take him a pastrami sandwich?† â€Å"On rye, with Swiss and hot mustard,† Kona added, not wanting her to miss any pertinent scientific details. â€Å"And you have a recording of voices, underwater, presumably military, asking if someone brought them a sandwich.† â€Å"Correct,† said Kona, â€Å"No bread, or meat, or cheese, specified.† Libby glared at him. â€Å"And you have the navy setting off simulated explosions in preparation to put a torpedo range in the middle of the Humpback Whale Sanctuary.† She paused meaningfully and pivoted thoughtfully – like Hercule Poirot in flip-flops. â€Å"You have a tape of Amy doing a breath-hold dive for what appears to be an hour, with no ill effects.† â€Å"Topless,† Kona added. Science. â€Å"You have Amy claiming that Nate was eaten by a whale, which we all know is simply not possible, given the diameter of the humpback’s throat, even if one were inclined to bite him, which we know they wouldn’t.† (She was just a deerstalker, a calabash, and a cocaine habit short of being Sherlock Holmes here.) â€Å"Then you have Amy taking a kayak out for no apparent reason and disappearing, presumed drowned. And you say that Nate was working on finding binary in the lower registers of the whale song, and you think that means something? Have I got that right?† â€Å"Yeah,† said Clay. â€Å"But you have the break-in to our offices to get the sound tapes, and you have my boat being sunk, too. Okay, it sounded more connected when we were talking about it last night.† Libby Quinn stopped pacing and turned to look at both of them. She wore cargo shorts, tech sandals, and a running bra and appeared ready at any moment to just take off and do something outdoorsy and strenuous. They both looked down, subdued, as if they were still under the threat of Clair’s deadly spoon of calm. Clay had always had a secret attraction to Libby, even while she’d been married to Quinn, and it was only within the last year or so he’d been able to make eye contact with her at all. Kona, on the other hand, had studied dozens of videotapes on the lesbian lifestyle, especially as it pertained to having a third party show up in the middle of an intimate moment (usually with a pizza), so he had long ago assigned a ;hot; rating to Libby, despite the fact that she was twice his age. â€Å"Help us,† Kona said, trying to sound pathetic, staring at the floor. â€Å"This is what you guys have, and you think because I know a little biology I can make something of all this?† â€Å"And that,† said Clay, pointing at the now arranged and collated pages of ones and ohs on his desk. Libby walked over and flipped through the pages. â€Å"Clay, this is nothing. I can’t do anything with this. Even if Nate was on to something, what do you think? That even if we recognize a pattern, it’s going to mean something to us? Look, Clay, I loved Nate, too, you know I did, but –  » â€Å"Just tell us where to start,† Kona said. â€Å"And tell me if you see anything in this.† Clay went to his computer and hit a key. A still of the edge view of the whale tail from his rebreather dive was on the screen. â€Å"Nate said that he had seen some markings on a whale tail, Libby. Some writing. Well, I thought there was something on this whale, too, before it knocked me out. But this is the best shot of the tail we have. It could mean something.† â€Å"Like what?† Her voice was kind. â€Å"I don’t know what, Libby. If I knew what, I wouldn’t have called you. But there’s too much weird stuff going on that almost fits together, and we don’t know what to do.† Libby studied the tail still. â€Å"There is something there. You don’t have a better shot?† â€Å"No, this is something I do know about. This is the best I have.† â€Å"You know, Margaret and I were helping a guy from Texas A.M who was designing a software program that would shift perspective of tail shots, so edge and bad-angle views could be shifted and extrapolated into usable ID photos. You know how many get tossed because of bad angles?† â€Å"You have this program?† â€Å"Yes, it’s still in beta tests, but it works. I think we can shift this shot, and if there’s something meaningful there, we’ll see it.† â€Å"Cool runnings,† Kona said. â€Å"As far as this binary thing, I think it’s a shot in the dark, but if it’s going to mean anything, you’re going to have to get your ones and ohs in the computer. Kona, can you type?† â€Å"Well, on ones and ohs? I shred most masterful, mon.† â€Å"Right. I’ll set you up with a simple text file – just ones and ohs – and we’ll figure out if we can do anything with it later. No mistakes, okay?† Kona nodded. Clay finally looked up and smiled. â€Å"Thanks, Libby.† â€Å"I’m not saying it’s anything, Clay, but I wasn’t exactly fair to Nate when he was around. Maybe I owe him one now that he’s gone. Besides, it’s windy. Fieldwork would have sucked today. I’m going to call Margaret, have her bring the program over. I’ll help you if you promise that you’ll put all your weight into stopping this torpedo range and you’ll sign Maui Whale on to the petition against low-frequency active sonar. You guys have a problem with that?† She was giving them the â€Å"spoon of death† look, and it occurred to both of them that this might be something that was innate to all women, not just Clair, and that they should be very, very afraid. â€Å"Nope,† said Kona. â€Å"Sounds good to me. I’ll put on a pot of coffee,† said Clay. â€Å"Margaret is absolutely going to shit when she hears about the torpedo range,† said Libby Quinn as she reached for Clay’s phone. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR Orientation to the Blues A small explosion went off over his head, and Nate dove under the table. When he looked up, Emily 7 was bent over staring at him with her watery whale eyes and a mild expression of distress, and Nu;ez was crouched at the other end of the table smiling. â€Å"That was the blow, Nate,† Nu;ez said. â€Å"A little more intense than the humpback’s, huh? These ships act like real whales, remember. The blowhole is right above our heads. Vented to the rest of the ship, but, you know, every twenty minutes or so it’s going to go. You get used to it.† â€Å"Sure, I knew that,† said Nate, crawling out from under the table. He’d been out off of Santa Cruz searching for the blues. You usually found them by the sound of their blows, which you could hear up to a mile and a half away. He looked up, expecting to see sky through the blowhole, but instead he saw just more smooth whaleskin. â€Å"They behave like whales, but the physiology is completely different to allow for the living quarters. I don’t really understand it, but for instance the blowhole is vented down the sides somewhere to some axillary lungs that do the oxygen exchange with the blood. I don’t know how they got us electricity at all. I mean, I said I wanted a coffeepot, and they put in an outlet. There are circuits all over the bridge for our machinery. The other bodily functions seem to be handled by smaller versions of liver, kidneys, and so forth around the outside of the cabins. The main spine runs over the top of the ship. There’s no digestive system. The ship’s digestive system is at the base; it hooks up and pumps nutrient-rich blood into the ship, which stores enough energy in blubber to run it for six months at sea, or around the world at least once. We can cruise at twenty knots as long as no one is watching.† â€Å"What do you mean, ‘no one is watching’?† â€Å"I mean you guys. Biologists. If one of you guys is watching us, we have to slow it down after a couple of hours. Especially if we’re tagged.† â€Å"This ship has been satellite-tagged? What do you do?† â€Å"We go to silent running for a while. Then we dive, and one of the whaley boys goes outside and pulls the tag off. We’ve been tagged twice by that Bruce Mate guy from Oregon State. That guy’s a menace. Probably has a satellite tag on his wife to track her trips to the can. If they’d asked me, he’d be the one riding with us now.† â€Å"You know who he is?† Nate was aghast. As a scientist, you were always fighting being overwhelmed by what you don’t know, but the magnitude of this whole operation – it was too much. â€Å"Of course. Since commercial whaling backed off, cetacean biologists have been the main focus of our intelligence program. Why do you think you’re here?† â€Å"Okay, why am I here?† â€Å"I don’t know the whole story, but it’s something to do with the song. Evidently you were a little too close to finding our signal in the song, so they yanked you.† â€Å"The aliens were that interested in what I was doing?† â€Å"What aliens?† â€Å"These aliens,† Nate said, nodding toward the pilots and Bernard and Emily 7, who had moved to another table on the other side of the corridor. â€Å"The whaley boys aren’t aliens. Who told you that?† â€Å"Well, Poynter and Poe implied that they were.† â€Å"Those jerks. No, they’re not aliens. They’re a little weird, but not from-another-planet weird.† Bernard looked up from what appeared to be a chart of some sort and gave a half-assed signature raspberry. â€Å"They do that a lot,† Nate said. â€Å"If you had a tongue four inches wide, you’d do that a lot, too. It’s sort of a display move with them, like the penis waving that Bernard was doing.† â€Å"Like male killer whales do.† â€Å"Bingo. See, a guy with your background, this is easy to explain. I didn’t understand squat at first.† â€Å"I’m sorry, but I can’t believe that this ship, the whaley boys, the whole perfection of the way they work, could possibly be products of natural selection. There had to be a design. Someone made all this.† Cielle nodded, smiling. â€Å"I’ve known a number of scientists in my lifetime, Nate, but I’m sure this is the first time I’ve heard one arguing in favor of a grand designer. What’s that called, the ‘watchmaker argument’?† She was right, of course. It was an accepted premise that intelligent design in nature was not necessarily a product of intelligence, but merely the mechanism of natural selection of traits for survival and really, really long periods of time for the selections to assert themselves. Nate’s life’s work had been built on that assumption, but now he was giving Darwin the old heave-ho simply because his – Nate’s – mind was too small to adapt to the idea of this craft. Well, yes, damn it. Screw Darwin. This was too strange. â€Å"I’m sorry, I’m just having a little trouble getting my head around this. I don’t know how you take to being a prisoner, but I don’t care for it. On top of that, I could barely sleep on the humpback with the blow going off every few minutes, and I haven’t eaten anything but raw fish and water for about five days. I’d be addled even if this didn’t seem impossible.† Bernard made a whimpering noise, and Skippy and Scooter followed along in a moment until they sounded like a basketful of hungry puppies, and then they all broke out into wheezing snickers. Emily 7 frowned at them. â€Å"Of course, I understand, Nate,† Nu;ez said. â€Å"Maybe you should finish up your coffee and go to your quarters. I have a few sports shakes in my cabin that will get some carbohydrates to your brain, and I can get you something to help you sleep – the ship’s doctor has a full stock of Pharmaceuticals.† She patted his hand maternally. Nate felt a little ashamed for having complained. â€Å"You’re not the only human on this ship, then?† â€Å"No, there are four humans and six whaley boys on board. The others are in their quarters. But they’re all excited to meet you. Everyone’s been talking about it for weeks.† â€Å"You’ve known for weeks you were going to take me?† â€Å"Well, sort of. We were on standby. We just got the go-ahead the day before we took you.† â€Å"And you, and the rest of the crew, you’re prisoners, too?† â€Å"Nate, every person on this ship, on any whale ship, has been pulled out of a sinking or sunken ship, a plane crash at sea, or some other disaster that would have killed them. This is a gift of time, and frankly, once you accept where you are and what you’re doing, I’m going to ask you where you’d rather be. Okay?† Nate searched her face for any sign of sarcasm or malice. All he found was a gentle smile. â€Å"Okay.† â€Å"You go to your quarters now. I’ll send around your supplies in a bit. Bernard, would you show Dr. Quinn to his quarters?† â€Å"I’m not really a doctor,† Nate whispered. â€Å"Take whatever respect you can get from them, Nate.† Bernard waited at the entry to the corridor, rubbing his shiny-smooth stomach and grinning. A white coffee mug stood out in contrast against Bernard’s abdomen, suspended as it was in the grasp of his penis. â€Å"I’ve always wanted to do that,† said Nate, deciding that he wasn’t going to let the whaley boy get the satisfaction of intimidating him. â€Å"Would be really handy for driving.† Nate bowed toward the corridor. â€Å"Lead on, Bernard.† Bernard skulked down the hall in what would have been a full pout posture, had he any lips to do the actual pouting. He spilled a trail of coffee along the way. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE The Inner Secrets of Cetacean Sluts Nate was just settling into the idea of the organic bunk he was going to be sleeping on before actually settling into the bed. He was not a God kind of guy, but he found himself thanking one nonetheless for the crisp cotton sheets and pillowcase on a feather pillow. He didn’t think he really wanted to sleep with his face against whaleskin. There was a soft whistle outside the portal, and the great flap of skin retracted to open to the corridor. Emily 7 stood there with a tray that held two cans of protein shake, a glass of water, and a single small pill. She grinned but did not try to step into the cabin. The small portal required a bit of a crouching and climbing action for Nate to enter, so he guessed she’d dump the tray trying to get through. Then again, she might just be trying to be polite. She waited while Nate took the cans from the tray and set them on the low table, then swung around to take the pill and water from her. Emily 7 whistled and gave him a sidelong glance, causing her right eye to bulge out at him, as he’d actually seen humpbacks do when checking out a boat at the surface. She gestured for him to take the pill. â€Å"You’re not leaving until you see me take my medicine?† Emily 7 nodded. â€Å"Well, I guess if you guys wanted to get rid of me, it would have been a lot easier to kill me without bringing me all the way out here to poison me.† Nate took the pill, downed the water, and opened his mouth to show that the pill was gone. â€Å"That okay, nurse?† Emily whistled and nodded, then gently took the empty glass from Nate’s hand. She reached up to hit the node, and the portal closed between them. Nate heard her whistle the first few bars of a lullaby. She’s sweet, Nate thought, in a tall, malevolent rubber-puppet sort of way. For almost a week the only sleep Nate had been able to get was while he was restrained in the chair in the humpback, and even then it was restless – with the ship blowing every few minutes and the whaley boys whistling communications – so, despite the blow of the blue-whale ship, he fell into a deep sleep filled with vivid dreams. He dreamed of himself and Amy, their naked bodies entwined, slick with sweat under soft candlelight. Strangely, even as he dreamed, he had the semilucid thought that before, whenever he’d taken a sleeping pill, he didn’t remember ever dreaming. But that thought was pushed away by the feel of Amy’s smooth skin, his fingers softly caressing her muscular legs, her four long, webbed fingers wrapped lovingly around his – â€Å"Hey!† Nate opened his eyes. A softly lit fence of spiky teeth smiled over at him, steamy fish breath washed over his face. â€Å"Uh-oh,† said Emily 7, her voice high and rasping, verging on duck-speak. Nate leaped out of bed and bounced off the wall on the other side of the cabin. Emily 7 pulled the sheet up over her head and burrowed against the wall, digging her melon under the pillow. Then she lay still. Nate stood trying to catch his breath. As soon as he’d hit the floor, the biolighting had come up to high. He pushed back against the flexible wall, then suddenly became self-conscious and pulled his T-shirt off the back of the chair to cover his erection, which was rapidly losing its will to live. She was just lying there. â€Å"Hello? I can see you.† Curled up. Not moving. There under the sheets. All whaley. â€Å"You aren’t fooling anyone. You’re bigger than I am. You’re not hidden.† Just the soft sound of her blowhole opening and closing. Nate realized that it might be easier to hide under the covers if one had a blowhole, as one could cover one’s mouth and face and still breathe. Addled by sleep deprivation, residual sleep medication, two cups of coffee, and now a few endorphins, he started to speculate on how a creature might adapt for hiding under the covers, then shook off the biologist rising up in him. â€Å"Come on, we’re different species and stuff. That’s creepy.† Now a bit of a squeak, more like a whimper, followed by a tiny â€Å"Uh-oh,† like a small elf had been mashed under the covers with a heavy book and had uh-ohed its last pathetic gasp. â€Å"Well, you can’t stay here.† He remembered how he’d felt when Libby had left him and by way of explanation she’d said, â€Å"Nate, I don’t know, I don’t even feel like we’re the same species.† At the time he’d felt as if his stomach were being turned inside out. It had ruined him socially for more than a year. Longer than that if he counted the fiasco attraction to Amy. He stepped over to the bunk. Emily 7 scrunched into the corner between the wall and the bed. Nate worked the edge of the sheet loose and cautiously slid one leg under the covers. The lump that was Emily 7’s head moved as if she was listening. â€Å"You have to stay on your side, okay?† â€Å"Okay,† wheezed Emily 7 in the mashed-elf voice. Nate awoke to the exhultations of killer whales – high-pitched hunting calls. The pod seemed to be gleefully celebrating a hunt, or at least calling another pod to come along and help. It occurred to him that he was actually riding in a craft that qualified as food for the orcas, and the ship might be in danger of attack. He’d have to ask Nuà ±ez about that. He swung his feet off the bunk, and the lights came up. He realized that he was alone and sighed with relief. There was a fresh set of khakis hung over the chair and a bottle of water on the table. There was a small basin on the wall opposite the bunk, no bigger than a cereal bowl and made out of the same skin as the rest of the ship. He hadn’t even noticed it the night before. There were three lit nodules above the basin, like those used to activate the portals, but Nate could see nowhere for the water to come out. He pushed one of the nodules, and the basin started filling from a sphincter in the bottom. He pushed another, and the water was sucked out the same orifice. He tried to foster scientific detachment toward the whole thing but failed miserably: He was creeped out. Nate desperately needed a shave and a shower, but he didn’t want to try to wash his whole six-foot-two-inch body in an eight-inch bowl with a†¦ well, a butt hole at the bottom. He’d had just about enough of advanced poop-chute technology, thank you. He splashed some water on his face and dressed in the khakis, wondering as he did if the whale ship could actually grow a mirror for him to shave in if he needed it. The whole crew appeared to be up and milling about the bridge when Nate came in. There were four whaley boys at the table with the charts to the right of the hatch, the two pilots at their consoles. Nuà ±ez stood by the table to the left of the hatch, where there were seated a blond woman in her thirties and two men, one dark, perhaps in his early twenties, and one bald and gray-bearded, a healthy fifty, maybe. Not a very military-looking bunch. Everyone turned when Nate came in. All conversations – words or whistles – stopped abruptly. The echo of killer-whale calls bounced around the bridge. Emily 7 turned away from Nate’s gaze. Nuà ±ez was leaning against the wall near the nook that housed the coffeepot, actively trying not to look at him. â€Å"Hi,† Nate said, catching eye contact with the bald guy, who smiled. â€Å"Have a seat,† said the bald guy, gesturing toward the empty seat at the table. â€Å"We’ll get you something to eat. I’m Cal Burdick.† He shook Nate’s hand. â€Å"This is Jane Palovsky and Tim Milam.† â€Å"Jane, Tim,† Nate said, shaking hands. Nuà ±ez smiled at him, then looked away quickly as if the coffeepot needed some immediate attention or she was going to crack up – or both. Everyone at the table nodded, sort of staring at the spot in front of them, like So here we are on a giant blue-whale ship, hundreds of feet below the surface of the ocean, with killer whales calling about us, and Nate fucked an alien, so†¦ â€Å"Nothing happened,† Nate said to the whole bridge. â€Å"What?† said Jane. â€Å"Your quarters satisfactory, then?† asked Tim, an eyebrow raised. â€Å"Nothing happened,† Nate repeated, and even though nothing had happened, from the tone of his voice he wouldn’t have believed it either. â€Å"Really.† â€Å"Of course,† said Tim. All of the whaley boys except Emily 7 were snickering. When he looked around, all the males were waving their willies back and forth in time in the air, as if swaying to a pornographic Christmas carol. Emily 7 put her big whaley head down on the table and covered it with her arms. â€Å"Nothing happened!† Nate shouted at them. Silence again on the bridge, just the echo of killer-whale calls. â€Å"Are we in danger?† Nate asked Nuà ±ez, trying desperately to change the subject. â€Å"Are they going to attack the ship? Those are feeding calls, right?† Often, when killer whales found a whale that was too big to be taken by their family pod, or when they happened on to an especially rich school of fish, they would call to other pods for help. Nate recognized the calls from some work he’d done with a biologist friend in Vancouver. â€Å"No, these are residents,† Nuà ±ez said. â€Å"They’re just excited about a bait ball they’ve found. Probably sardines.† Resident killer whales ate only fish; transients ate mammals, whales and seals. Over the last few years scientists tended to refer to them as completely different species, even though they appeared the same to the layman. â€Å"You know what they are by their call?† â€Å"More than that,† Cal said, â€Å"we know what they’re saying. The whaley boys can translate.† â€Å"All killer whales are named Kevin. You knew that, right?† said Jane. She had a slight Eastern European accent, Russian maybe. She looked a little amused, her blue eyes dark under the yellow cast of the bioluminescence, but she didn’t appear to be joking. She patted the seat next to her, indicating that Nate should sit down. â€Å"Like all the pilots are named Scooter and Skippy?† Nate said. â€Å"Actually, they have numbers like Emily – their choice, by the way – but since there are never more than one pair of them on a ship, we don’t bother with the numbers.† Nate suddenly realize that in all his time on both of the whale ships, except when one of the pilots had gone outside to catch fish, the pilots always seemed to be at the controls. â€Å"Don’t they ever sleep?† â€Å"Sure,† said Jane. â€Å"We’re pretty sure they sleep with half their brain at a time, like whales, so between two of them the ship always has a full pilot. Without one of them at the controls, it’s basically a big lump of meat.† â€Å"You said that you’re pretty sure. You don’t know?† â€Å"Well, they don’t know for sure,† said Jane, â€Å"and they’re not very excited about our doing experiments on them. Now that you’ve joined us, though, maybe you’ll be able to figure out what’s going on with them. We sort of play it all by ear. The whaley boys and the Colonel run things. Cielle, you didn’t tell him all this?† â€Å"He was pretty beat,† Nu;ez said. â€Å"I tried to get him settled in as soon as I could.† Nate wanted to protest the â€Å"settled in† comment. After all, he was a prisoner here, but these people didn’t behave at all like captors. They immediately impressed him as having the same dynamic that he’d seen in research teams, a â€Å"we’re all in this together, let’s make the best of it† attitude. He didn’t want to yell at these people. Still, it made him a little uncomfortable that she was so forthcoming with information. When your kidnappers showed you their faces, they were giving you the message that you weren’t going home. Nu;ez set a plate down in front of him. It had a salad of mixed seaweeds, carrots, and mushrooms, a piece of cooked fish, which looked like halibut, and what appeared to be rice. â€Å"Eat up,† she said. â€Å"A couple of nutrition drinks aren’t going to get you back up to speed. We do eat a lot of raw fish, even on the blue, but you need some carbs until you adjust to this diet. There’s plenty of rice when you finish that.† â€Å"Thanks.† Nate dug in while the others, all but Cal, excused themselves to work in other parts of the ship. The older man had obviously been charged with Nate’s second orientation lecture. Cal scratched his beard, looked around at the pilots, then leaned over to Nate and spoke in a lowered voice. â€Å"They’re very promiscuous. You know how dolphin females will mate with all the males in the pod so no one can be assured of who the father of her calf is? They think it keeps the males from murdering her calf when it’s born.† â€Å"That’s the theory,† Nate said. â€Å"They’re sort of like that, and back at base you have a big pod to deal with. You start down that path†¦ well, you’ve got a lot of whaley boys to sex up.† â€Å"I didn’t sex her up,† Nate hissed, spraying rice out over the table. â€Å"I’m not sexing up any whaley boys†¦ er, girls – ; â€Å"Whatever. Look, they’re very close. Here on the ship they don’t have separate quarters – they share one big cabin. Sex is very casual with them, but they understand that we’re a little more hung up about it. Some of them seem to affect human shyness. We generally don’t mix sexually with them. It’s not forbidden, but it’s†¦ you know, frowned upon. It’s only natural for a guy to be curious –  » Nate put down his fork. â€Å"Cal, I did not have sex with anyone – I mean, anything.† â€Å"Right. And be careful around the males. Especially if you’re in the water with them. They’ll bung-hole you just to watch you twitch.† â€Å"Jeez.† â€Å"I’m just telling you for your own good.† â€Å"Thanks, but I’m not going to be around long enough to worry about it.† Might as well throw it in their faces, Nate thought. The older man laughed, almost shooting coffee out his nose. When he recovered, he said, â€Å"Well, I hope you mean you plan on dying soon, because no one ever leaves.† Nate leaned into Cal’s face. â€Å"Doesn’t it bother you, that you’re a prisoner?† â€Å"There’s not one of us here who wouldn’t be dead if the whaley boys hadn’t picked us up.† â€Å"Not me.† â€Å"Especially you. You were always twelve hours from dead since we started watching you. Certainly it had to occur to you how much easier it would have been just to kill you?† Nate just stared for a second. Actually, it had occurred to him, and he didn’t see the logic in keeping him alive if all they wanted to do was stop his research. He wasn’t going to make that argument verbally, but still†¦ â€Å"Don’t overthink it, Nate. If you ever doubted that life was an adventure, it definitely is now.† â€Å"Right,† Nate said. â€Å"But before you ask me where I’d rather be, let me remind you that there’s a sphincter in the bottom of my sink.† â€Å"You haven’t seen the shower, then? Just you wait.† After he ate, Cal loaned him a copy of Treasure Island to read, but when Nate returned to his cabin, he could barely concentrate on the book at all. Funny what you learn about yourself in a short conversation. One, that he would rather have been accused of having sex with another species than with another male (even of another species). Interesting prejudice. Two, that he actually was grateful, not only to be alive, but grateful to be having completely new experiences every moment, even as a prisoner. Three, that learning was still a high, but he burned to share it with someone. And finally, that he was feeling a little jealous, a little less special, now that he knew that Emily 7 was having sex with all the male whaley boys on board. That fickle little slut. He dozed off with Robert Louis Stevenson on his chest and the sound of killer whales calling in the distance. Outside, the pod of twenty killer whales, most the sons or daughters of the matriarch female, were calling frantically to each other as they worried away at a huge bait ball of herring. Biologists had long speculated on the incredibly complex vocabulary of the killer whale, identifying specific linguistic groups that even  «spoke » the same dialect, but they had never been able to put meaning to the calls other than to identify them as â€Å"feeding,† â€Å"distress,† or  «social » noises. However, had they had the benefit of translation, this is what they would have heard: â€Å"Hey, Kevin, fish!† â€Å"Fish! I love fish!† â€Å"Look, Kevin, fish!† â€Å"Mmmm, fish.† â€Å"You, Kevin, take a run down that trench, fake left, go right, hit the bait ball, nothing but fish!† â€Å"Did someone say ‘fish’?† â€Å"Yeah, fish. Over here, Kevin.† â€Å"Mmmmm, fish.† And it went on like that. Actually, orcas aren’t quite as complex as scientists imagine. Most killer whales are just four tons of doofus dressed up like a police car. How to cite Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 23~25, Essay examples