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then discarded," complained Shirley. "But it seems wasteful, even though I've taken every removable scrap out of it." She had, indeed, on the grounds of "you never know", even removed such items as light fixtures, fan motors, and analytical instrument modules from the workwall, and stowed them in the overflowing storage compartments of the _Victoria_. "We're still throwing away a perfectly good computer in Joe, and all the flying capability of the plane." "I know," said George. "And I did have one idea. Now that we've seen that the icerugs can operate independently of their carpets, it wouldn't be too difficult to teach them how to interact with Joe and fly the airplane." "Yes!" interrupted Shirley. "That's terrific! They can use the plane to go to foreign cities, trade vermicysts back and forth to promote international harmony, and find out more about the rest of the planet!" "Of course, without the support of their carpets, they'll need to take along a lot of food," said Katrina. "And there's a lot more to flying a plane than just turning on the computer," said George more cautiously. "I'd hate to have them get caught in one of the storms here and crash. And the thought that they _might_, would haunt me." "It wouldn't take much time to put a complete instruction program into Joe, would it?" asked Katrina eagerly. She liked the idea of leaving the icerugs some really tangible gift. "Actually, there's more to it than that," said Shirley seriously. "There _is_ a nuclear reactor in the tail. Although it's well shielded, it still emits a significant amount of radiation, and the longer they run the plane the worse it gets, and we have no idea how sensitive they are to radiation." "And I've just thought of something else," said George firmly. "Or, rather, someone. Deirdre." Katrina's enthusiasm for the project slumped. "We stay with the original plan," said George. "Joe will fly the plane to a distant, uninhabited part of the planet, like the South Pole, and stay there. The icerugs will be told it is there, and if they ever develop enough technology to find it and use it, they'll be ready. But we won't just hand it over -- that would be irresponsible." The others knew George's feelings about responsibility, and were resigned. Katrina, indeed, decided not even to mention the idea to Cinnamon, and especially not to Deirdre -- no sense in asking for trouble! George settled into the communications console for a consultation with _Prometheus_. Jinjur's face appeared on the screen, and she sounded eager to have the explorers, especially George, return. "We've monitored all your reports, of course," she said. "And studied all the images. The icerugs and coelasharks both look to me like something out of a nightmare! You'll be glad to leave those genocidal killers and baby Page 159 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html eaters behind, eh?" George protested, "No! They're wonderful, the icerugs -- amazingly creative, and gentle -- you forget they're not really human ... and, of course, that's a mistake. But I really learned to admire them. How's Nels doing?" he asked, to change the subject. "Fine!" answered Jinjur, and chortled. "You won't believe those new legs he's got, George. They're long and strong -- beautifully muscled -- and the man is now nearly six feet tall. But the funny thing is that his legs are as _hairy_ as ... as a hobbit! Long, gold-colored fur all over them, even on his toes! But he doesn't care -- he's totally thrilled, and refuses to wear long pants or shoes, just marches proudly around in shorts, beaming from ear to ear!" George laughed, and shook his head in amazement, rejoicing that the experiment had worked so well. Suddenly he was eager to get back to the giant spaceship and all the people he had been separated from for so long. In the lab section on the engineering deck, the three biologists were carefully organizing their collection of specimens, putting small amounts of representative tissues in insulated cases for permanent storage aboard _Prometheus_, and putting aside most of the tissues to discard here on their native world. George came down the passway ladder to tell them Jinjur's description of Nels. Typically, Katrina giggled. Deirdre considered the picture, and smiled, and then forgot it -- she'd probably not even notice the new legs. But Cinnamon was thoughtful -- would this change the man's personality? And if so, how? She had several private hopes. "It's pleased the flouwen will be, then." Deirdre recalled that it was the flouwen's vital analysis of Nels's genetic map which led to the limb-growing process. "How's Little Red? Calmed down, I hope?" "Yes, thank goodness," said Cinnamon. "What with his accident, and then the refusal of the coelasharks to listen to him, I think he's about fed up with this world. But, then, all three of them are ready to go. It's hard for them to be so idle, cooped up in that small habitat tank, while we get the ship ready." Katrina snorted. "I think they handle it very well," she said tartly. "When I last spoke to them, they asked me a question about the human genome, and Little Red was quite rude when I didn't know the answer!" "What'd he say?" asked Deirdre curiously. "Never mind," said Katrina stiffly. "Now, with Josephine's help, I'll fold up the analytical bench into the workwall, if you two want to do something else." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |