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Evan winced as the cap on the back of the unit was pried open, but he held his peace.
"Fascinating. See here?" the third said. "Different butnot complex."
"The purpose is clearly divined via the structure," the first commented.
Eventually they handed it back to Evan.
"I believe," the first physician said solemnly, "that we can duplicate this and apply it to our own bodies."
Evan snapped it back into his wrist, smiled gently. "I don't mean to denigrate your abilities, but I don't
think you can. The beacon is the product of a fully equipped modern factory. You don't just grow one
like a flower."
"Not the entire organ. We are interested only in its heart."
"Even that. There's lithium involved. You can't toss that stuff around in a free state. It's too volatile."
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"What is he talking about?" the second physician mut-tered.
"I think he refers to bequanel," the third said.
"Oh. Is that all?"
The four physicians conferred. A discussion involving the libraries followed. Two of the physicians
disappeared, to return moments later with a pair of processors in tow. The meeting place became a hive
of activity. For the moment, Evan's presence was forgotten.
"What are they doing?"
"Trying, I think, to build a little heartlike the one in your wrist," Azure informed him.
"I was afraid of that. I didn't mean to raise false hopes. I was hoping your own hearts could be modified
to store more energy. You can't just add another organ to your bodies, even if it could be duplicated
without the use of sophisticated microprocessor-controlled machine tools."
Azure looked up at him innocently. "Why not?"
"Well-because."
"I am no physician or library, but that does not strike me as a reasonable explanation. You must not
underes-timate the skill of the physicians. They can rebuild almost any part of a body. Except the mind,
of course. You cannot rebuild memories."
"I don't think you can handle lithium in a free state either, but it looks like they're going to have to find
that out for themselves." When final discouragement set in, he decided, he didn't want to be around to
witness it. He rose. The others ignored him. "I'd like to see the rest of the Associative at work. I've still
got a lot to learn about it."
"Truly," agreed Azure ambiguously.
He spent most of the remainder of the day watching the inhabitants of the community go about their daily
tasks, marveling at the skill of the gatherers, exchanging stares with the big-eyed scanners, chatting with
other scouts. It was late afternoon when he and Azure returned to the meeting place. He sat down and
hardly took notice when the talker outside plugged itself in.
"You see," he said as gently as possible, "there are some substances that just can't be manipulated by
hand. Or any other kind of limb."
The first physician sounded apologetic. "Actually, we have already placed the newly grown organs within
our-selves and the libraries. We will be working on the war-riors next."
Evan frowned. "New organs?"
"Similar to the storage organ you showed us. Very ingeniously constructed. We had to make certain
modifications- we are not keen on metal, for example. It makes us itch."
"Look, you can't grow batteries the way you raise wheat. They have to be-"
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"Yes, that is what we will call them." Ignoring their confused guest, the physicians exchanged a brief
flurry of information. The second looked up at him.
"Would you like to see one?"
Evan said nothing. The physicians construed his silence as acceptance.
A line of warriors was waiting outside the meeting place. One entered and lay down between the
physicians. In a minute it was stiff and immobile, though whether the coma was self-induced or a result of
some medical sleight-of-hand by the physicians Evan couldn't tell.
They went to work silently. Two linked themselves directly to the motionless form by means of tubular
limbs. The other pair peeled back strips and plates of silicate material, exposing the interior structure of
their guardian. Throughout the operation the warrior never stirred.
The two physicians doing the delicate work turned to face each other. Substances began to appear from
the tips of organs, to be formed into a tiny shape as the viscous matter solidified. The finished product
was a little larger than Evan's fist. It was a dull gray except for the numer-ous thin glassy fibers that
protruded from both ends. It looked like nothing he'd ever seen before.
They turned back to their patient and delved still deeper, until they had exposed a yellowish organ
shaped like a pipe. Evan recognized the silicate heart. It did not beat, of course. Unlike a mammalian
heart it delivered its steady flow of energy to its owner quietly and without visible movement.
As he stared, the physicians disconnected several small bundles of the fibers emerging from one end of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]