63

Ranay D'Aubisson, like all the inhabitants of the Erythro Dome during their period of habitation, visited Rotor periodically. It was necessary - a touch of home, a return to the roots, a gathering of renewed strength.

This time, however, D'Aubisson, had 'moved upward' (the usual phrase for passing from Erythro to Rotor) a bit earlier than her schedule had called for. She had, indeed, been summoned by Commissioner Pitt.

She sat in Janus Pitt's office, noting with her skilled eyes the small signs of aging that had accumulated since she had last seen him several years before. She did not, in the ordinary course of her work, have frequent occasions to see him, of course.

His voice, however, was as strong as ever, his eyes as sharp, and she noted no decline in mental vigor.

Pitt said, 'I have received your report on the incident outside the Dome, and I recognize the caution with which you approached your diagnosis of the situation. But now, off the record and unofficially, exactly what happened to Genarr? This room is shielded and you can talk freely.'

D'Aubisson said dryly, 'I'm afraid that my report, cautious as it was, happens to be truthful and complete. We don't really know what happened to Commander Genarr. The brain scan showed changes, but these were extraordinarily small and did not correspond to anything in our past experience. And they were reversible, since they did, in fact, quickly reverse.'

'But something did happen to him?'

'Oh yes, but that's the point. We can't say anything more than "something".'

'Some form of the Plague, perhaps?'

'None of the symptoms that have been detected in the past were found in this case.'

'But in the old days of the Plague, brain scanning was still comparatively primitive. You would not have detected the symptoms you have detected now in the past, so it might still be a mild form of the Plague, might it not?'

'We could say so, but we could not present real evidence to that effect, and, in any case, Genarr is now normal.'

'He seems normal, I suppose, but we don't really know if there might not be a relapse.'

'Neither is there any reason to suppose there might be.'

A fleeting look of impatience crossed the Commissioner's face. 'You're sparring with me, D'Aubisson. You know perfectly well that Genarr's position is one of considerable importance. The situation in the Dome is always precarious, since we never know if and when the Plague will strike again. Genarr's value was that he seemed immune to it, but we can scarcely consider him immune now. Something happened, and we must be prepared to replace him.'

'That is your decision to make, Commissioner. I am not suggesting replacement as a medical necessity.'

'But you'll keep him under close observation, and you'll keep the possibility of such a necessity in mind, I hope.'

'I would consider that part of my medical duties.'

'Good. Especially since if there is to be a replacement, I have been considering you.'

'Considering me?' A small flash of excitement crossed her face before she could suppress it.

'Yes, why not? It's well known that I've never been enthusiastic about the project of colonizing Erythro. I have always felt it necessary to retain the mobility of humanity and not to allow ourselves to be trapped into slavery to a large planet again. Nevertheless, it would be wise if we could colonize the planet not as a place intended primarily for population but as a vast resource - rather as we treated the Moon in the old Solar System. But we can't do that if the Plague hangs over our heads, can we?'

'No, we can't, Commissioner.'

'So our real task, to begin with, is to solve that problem. We never have. The Plague just died down and we have accepted that - but this latest incident shows us that the danger is not yet gone. Whether Genarr suffered a touch of the Plague or not, he certainly suffered something, and I want the matter now given top priority. You would be the natural person to head that project.'

'I'd be glad to accept the responsibility. It would mean doing what I am, in any case, trying to do, but with greater authority. I hesitate at supposing that I ought to be the Erythro Dome Commander.'

'As you said, that's for me to decide. I take it you would not refuse the post if it were offered to you?'

'No, Commissioner. I would be greatly honored.'

'Yes, I'm sure,' said Pitt dryly. 'And what happened to the girl?'

For a moment, D'Aubisson seemed taken aback by the sudden change in subject. She all but stammered as she repeated, 'The girl?'

'Yes, the girl who was outside the Dome with Genarr, the one who removed her protective suit.'

'Marlene Fisher?'

'Yes, that's her name. What happened to her?'

D'Aubisson hesitated. 'Why, nothing, Commissioner.'

'So it says in the report. But I'm asking you now. Nothing?'

'Nothing detectable by brain scan or in any other way.'

'You mean that at the same time that Genarr, wearing an E-suit, was struck down, the girl, this Marlene Fisher, without an E-suit, suffered nothing?'

D'Aubisson shrugged. 'Nothing at all, as far as we could tell.'

'Don't you consider that strange?'

'She's a strange young woman. Her brain scan-'

'I know about her brain scan. I know also that she has peculiar abilities. Have you noted that?'

'Oh yes. I have indeed.'

'And how do her abilities strike you? Mind reading, by any chance?'

'No, Commissioner. That's impossible. The concept of telepathy is a mere fantasy. I wish it were mind reading, in fact, since that would not be so dangerous. Thoughts can be placed under control.'

'What is it about her that is more dangerous?'

'Apparently, she reads body language and we can't control that. Every motion speaks.' She said it with a touch of bitterness that Pitt did not fail to note.

He said, 'Did you have a personal experience of that?'

'Certainly.' D'Aubisson looked grim. 'It is impossible to be near the young woman without experiencing some of the inconvenience of her habit of perception.'

'Yes, but what happened?'

'Nothing of tremendous importance, but it was annoying.' D'Aubisson flushed and, for a moment, her lips pressed together as though she were thinking of defying her interrogator. But that moment passed. She said, almost in a whisper, 'after I had examined Dome Commander Genarr, Marlene asked me how he was. I told her that he was not seriously harmed and that there was every hope that he would recover completely.

'She said, "Why does that disappoint you?"

'I was taken aback and said, "I'm not disappointed. I'm pleased."

'She said, "But you are disappointed. That is quite clear. You're impatient."

'It was the first time I had encountered that sort of thing directly, though I had heard about it from others, and I couldn't think of anything to do but challenge her. "Why should I be impatient? For what?"

'She looked at me solemnly with her large, dark and unsettling eyes. Then she said, "It seems to be about Uncle Siever-" '

Pitt interrupted. 'Uncle Siever? Is there a relationship?'

'No. I think it's only a term of affection. She said, "It seems to be about Uncle Siever and I wonder if you want to replace him as Dome Commander."

'At that, I just turned and walked away.'

Pitt said, 'How did you feel when she told you this?'

'I was furious. Naturally.'

'Because she had maligned you? Or because she was correct?'

'Well, in a way-'

'No, no. Don't hedge, Doctor. Was she wrong or was she right? Were you sufficiently disappointed at Genarr's recovery for the girl to notice, or was the whole thing a stroke of her peculiar imagination?'

The words seemed to force themselves out of D'Aubisson's lips. 'She sensed something that was really there.' She stared at Pitt defiantly. 'I'm only human, and I have my impulses. And you yourself have now indicated that I might be offered the post, which would seem to mean you consider me qualified for it.'

'I'm sure you are maligned in spirit - if not in fact,' said Pitt, without any sign of humor. 'But now consider- You have this young woman, who is peculiar, who is very strange, both as shown by the brain scan and by her behavior - and, in addition, she seems unaffected by the Plague. Clearly, there may be a connection between her neuronic pattern and her Plague resistance. Might she not be a useful tool for studying the Plague?'

'I can't say. I suppose it's conceivable.'

'Shouldn't it be tested?'

'Perhaps, but how?'

Pitt said quietly, 'Let her be exposed to the influence of Erythro as much as possible.'

D'Aubisson said thoughtfully, 'That is what she wants to do, as it happens, and Commander Genarr seems to be willing to let her.'

'Good. Then you will supply the medical backing.'

'I understand. And if the young woman gets the Plague?'

'We must remember that the solution of the problem is more important than the welfare of a single individual. We have a world to win, and for that we might have to pay a sad but necessary price.'

'And if Marlene is destroyed and that does not help us understand or counteract the Plague?'

Pitt said, 'That risk must be faced. After all, it might also be that she will remain untouched and that that untouchability, carefully studied, may give us the means of a breakthrough in understanding the Plague. In that case, we win without loss.'

It was only afterward, when D'Aubisson had left for her Rotorian apartment, that Pitt's iron resolution permitted him to think of himself as Marlene Fisher's confirmed enemy. True victory would be to have Marlene destroyed and the Plague remain unsolved. At a stroke he would be rid of an inconvenient girl who might otherwise, someday, produce young like herself; and of an inconvenient world that might otherwise, someday, produce a population as undesirable, as dependent, and as immobile as Earth's population had been.

64

The three of them sat together in the Erythro Dome - Siever Genarr watchful, Eugenia Insigna deeply concerned, and Marlene Fisher clearly impatient.

Insigna said, 'Now, remember, Marlene, do not stare at Nemesis. I know you've been warned about the infrared, but it's also a fact that Nemesis is a mild flare star. Every once in a while there's an explosion on its surface and a burst of white light. It just lasts a minute or two, but that will be enough to shock your retinas, and you can't tell when it's going to happen.'

Genarr said, 'Can astronomers tell when it's going to happen?'

'Not so far. It's one of the many chaotic aspects of nature. We have not yet worked out the rules underlying stellar turbulence and there are some among us who think the rules can never be worked out entirely. They are simply too complex.'

'Interesting,' said Genarr.

'It's not that we're not grateful to the flares. Three per cent of the energy reaching Erythro from Nemesis is the result of those flares.'

'That doesn't sound like much.'

'It is, though. Without the flares, Erythro would be an icy world and much less easy to live on. The flares do make problems for Rotor, which has to adjust its use of sunlight quickly whenever there's a flare, and strengthen its particle-absorption field.'

Marlene was looking from one to the other as they spoke, and she finally broke in with a small note of exasperation, 'How long are you two going to keep this up? It's just to keep me sitting here. I can tell that very easily.'

Insigna said hastily, 'Where will you go when you're out there?'

'Just around. To the little river, or creek, or whatever it is.'

'Why?'

'Because it's interesting. Just flowing water in the open, and you can't see the ends, and you know it's not being pumped back to the beginning.'

'But it is,' said Insigna, 'by the heat of Nemesis.'

'That doesn't count. I mean human beings aren't doing it. Besides, I just want to stand there and watch it.'

'Don't drink from it,' said Insigna severely. 'I don't intend to. I can last an hour without drinking. If I get hungry, or thirsty - or anything else - I'll come back. You're making such a fuss over nothing.'

Genarr smiled. 'I suppose you want to recycle everything right here in the Dome.'

'Yes, of course. Wouldn't anyone?'

Genarr's smile broadened. He said, 'You know, Eugenia, I'm quite certain that living in Settlements has changed humanity permanently. The necessity of cycling is now ingrained in us. On Earth, you just threw things away, assuming it would recycle naturally, and, of course, sometimes it didn't.'

'Genarr,' said Insigna, 'you're a dreamer. It may be posssible for human beings to learn good habits under pressure, but relieve the pressure and the bad habits are back at once. Downhill is easier than uphill. It's called the second law of thermodynamics, and if we ever do colonize Erythro, I predict that we will litter it from end to end in no time at all.'

'No, we won't,' said Marlene.

Genarr said in a tone of polite inquiry, 'Why not, dear?'

And Marlene said with impatient force, 'Because we won't. Now can I go out?'

Genarr looked at Insigna and said, 'We might as well let her go, Eugenia. We can't hold her back for ever. Besides, for what it's worth, Ranay D'Aubisson, who just got back from Rotor, went over all the records from the start and told me yesterday that Marlene's brain scan seems so stable that she is convinced that Marlene will come to no harm on Erythro.'

Marlene, who had turned toward the door, as though ready to walk to the airlock, now turned back. 'Wait, Uncle Siever, I almost forgot. You must be careful of Dr D'Aubisson.'

'Why? She's an excellent neurophysicist.'

'That's not what I mean. She was pleased when you were in trouble after your trip outside and pretty disappointed when you got better.'

Insigna looked surprised and said automatically, 'What makes you say that?'

'Because I know.'

'But I don't understand that. Siever, don't you get along with D'Aubisson?'

'Certainly, I do. We get along very well. Never a cross word. But if Marlene says-'

'Mightn't Marlene be wrong?'

Marlene said at once, 'But I'm not.'

Genarr said, 'I'm sure you're right, Marlene.' Then, to Insigna, 'D'Aubisson is an ambitious woman. If anything happens to me, she's the logical choice as my successor. She's had a great deal of experience down here and she's surely the best person to deal with the Plague if it lifts its head again. What's more, she's older than I am and may not feel there's much time to waste. I couldn't blame her if she was anxious to succeed me, and if her heart lifted a bit when I was ill. The chances are she's not even consciously aware of these feelings.'

'Yes, she is,' said Marlene ominously. 'She knows all about it. You watch out, Uncle Siever.'

'Well, I will. Are you ready now?'

'Of course I'm ready.'

'Then let me walk you to the airlock. You come with us, Eugenia, and try not to look so tragic.'

And so it was that Marlene stepped out on to the surface of Erythro, alone and unprotected, for the first time. It was, by Earth Standard time, 9.20 p.m., 15 January 2237. By Erythro time, it was midmorning.