[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Fawkes said, �Animals, I suppose.� He walked away, his back to the group. �It was
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
raining when I poked my way through. It went splat, splat on the flat leaves above me and the
ground was soggy and spongy underneath. It was dark, gloomy. There was a cold wind. The
pictures I took don�t get it across. I felt as though there were a thousand ghosts, waiting��
The mood was contagious.
Cimon said savagely, �Stop that!�
In the background, Mark Annuncio�s pointed nose fairly quivered with the intensity of his
curiosity. He turned to Sheffield, who was at his side, and whispered, �Ghosts? No
authentic case of seeing��
Sheffield touched Mark�s thin shoulder lightly. �Only a way of speaking, Mark. But don�t
feel badly that he doesn�t mean it literally. You�re watching the birth of a superstition, and
that�s something, isn�t it?�
FOURTEEN Contents - Prev/Next
A semi-sullen Captain Follenbee sought out Cimon the evening after Fawkes� second
return and said in his harumphy way, �Never do, Dr. Cimon. My men are unsettled. Very
unsettled.�
The port shields were open. Lagrange I was six hours gone, and Lagrange II�s ruddy light,
deepened to crimson in setting, flushed the Captain�s face and tinged his short gray hair
with red.
Cimon, whose attitude toward the crew in general and the Captain in particular was one of
controlled impatience, said, �What is the trouble, Captain?�
�Been here two weeks, Earth time. Still no one leaves without suits. Always irradiate
before you come back. Anything wrong with the air?�
�Not as far as we know.�
�Why not breathe it then?�
�Captain, that�s for me to decide.�
The flush on the Captain�s face became a real one. He said, �My papers say I don�t have
to stay if ship�s safety is endangered. A frightened and mutinous crew is something I don�t
want�
�Can�t you handle your own men?�
�Within reason.�
�Well, what really bothers them? This is a new planet and we�re being cautious. Can�t
they understand that?�
�Two weeks and still cautious. They think we�re hiding something. And we are. You know
that. Besides, surface leave is necessary. Crew�s got to have it. Even if it�s just on a bare
rock a mile across. Gets them out of the ship. Away from the routine. Can�t deny them
that.�
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
�Give me till tomorrow,� said Cimon contemptuously.
FIFTEEN Contents - Prev/Next
The scientists gathered in the observatory the next day.
Cimon said, �Vernadsky tells me the data on air is still negative, and Rodriguez has
discovered no air-borne pathogenic organism of any type.�
There was a general air of dubiety over the last statement.
Novee said, �The settlement died of disease. I�ll swear to that.�
�Maybe so,� said Rodriguez at once, �but can you explain how? It�s impossible. I tell you
that and I tell you. See here. Almost all Earth-type planets give birth to life and that life is
always protein in nature and always either cellular or virus in organization. But that�s all.
There the resemblance ends.
�You laymen think it�s all the same; Earth or any planet. Germs are germs and viruses are
viruses. I tell you you don�t understand the infinite possibilities for variation in the protein
molecule. Even on Earth, every species has its own diseases. Some may spread over
several species but there isn�t one single pathogenic life form of any type on Earth that can
attack all other species.
�You think that a virus or a bacterium developing independently for a billion yeans on
another planet with different amino acids, different enzyme systems, a different scheme of
metabolism altogether is just going to happen to find Homo sapiens succulent like a lollipop.
I tell you it is childishness.�
Novee, his physician�s soul badly pierced at having been lumped under the phrase, �You
laymen,� was not disposed to let it go that easily, �Homo sapiens brings its own germs
with it wherever it goes, Rod. Who�s to say the virus of the common cold didn�t mutate
under some planetary influence into something that was suddenly deadly? Or influenza.
Things like have happened even on Earth. The 2755 para-meas�� [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]