Threshold shift

Chapter 6

Their level of communication was higher than ever before. His awareness of the pack had always been intense after he had created the bond, but it had grown in leaps in the past months.

Especially since they were effectively pushing back the other dinosaurs, keeping Owen's mind free of clutter. When he trained with Nancy and the mosa they left him alone, but the moment the background chatter got too much, the pack moved in.

So it changed them, too. They had to become more active to protect their alpha, in turn learning how to handle the bond.

Blue, as his beta, had always been closest to him. Delta wasn't openly thrilled to feel their alpha that close, but Owen had discovered that it was more of a smokescreen. She was right there when it came to shoving intrusions aside. Charlie accepted his presence, almost indifferent sometimes, and Echo was a very eager-to-please pack member. She was of the lowest rank and always wanted her alpha to be happy with her.

"Blue keeps getting deeper," Alan Grant remarked, looking faintly worried about that.

He had just returned from a lecture stint in New York, San Francisco and Houston. The next four months he would be on the island and Echo had been very excited to hear it. She had been at the front gates, trilling happily when he had pulled up.

Alan had given her suspicious, still rather apprehensive looks, then walked into Owen's house. He looked exhausted, like he needed a good night's rest, no jet-lag and no demanding audience.

"She's always been with me, Alan. Nothing new there."

"Looking at you, and her, and the pack, things got... more intense?"

"I work with them, Alan. I'm their alpha. They learn from me. I want them to learn, to grow."

"To read signs? To understand words?"

They had discussed that in their talks lately. Yes, the pack was learning, at different speed and different levels, but Blue had mastered reading signs early on. She had been just a few months old when she had studied the park signs and managed to make the right connections between a word and what it meant. When Owen had opened up, she had actually started to associate more and more, until she remembered it like a child learning reading and writing would.

The pack, as an extension of the alpha-beta relationship/partnership, had managed a few basics. Charlie was quite good at Pictionary-style reading. Echo and Delta were unable to memorize much when it came to writing, but they were pretty damn near-perfect at maze-running. Orientation runs, blind runs, and anything to do with having to figure out the target's location through memory of a maze was their favorite kind.

"I recall a paleontologist who wrote a book and several papers on the intelligence of velociraptors."

Alan pulled a face. "Yes, I did."

"And you said they have above-average intelligence."

"This is more than above-average."

"Wu and Keller did a lot of things to their DNA, mixed it all in a way that got them new results."

"Like the i-rex."

"Less malicious psychopath, but yes. The pack is a new breed. Unlike any of the prior raptors."

"And because of their direct link into a human brain, your brain, Owen, they learn at an accelerated rate. They read signs, they understand written language. English written language! They can tell apart numbers!"

"Which all might come in handy." Owen shrugged. "Your point being?"

"It's scary."

Of course it was. They were animals. But Owen had studied long-term experiments like Koko the gorilla or Alex the African gray parrot. Animal psychologists, behavioral analysts and trainers had documented the learning ability in these animals. Koko was able to speak in sign language, expressing emotions, wants and needs.