[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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
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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 ]

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