Page 32 - Astounding Pulp V2

32 ASTOUNDING SCIENCE-FICTION l 1£00~ OF DEL IRit:~1 33
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"Men, here we are on Dione-fourth by-and the thought-nugget. H ere," we'll get busy. Ill fate was met with by tion of parasitism. Constant, in~iclious
moon of the ringed planet," said Cap!ain h~ added-fishing a small object from our predecessors. F rom lV[orgran's re- warfare must necessarily be earned on
Egard, his shrewd, bushy-thatched eyes his pocket-"this is an imitation, made · rl port we know there is life here on Dione. against each other by Dione's individual
stabbing around to rest for an instant to c:losely resemble the orio-inal so we'll Vve know that this life is parasitic and life-units.' "
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on those of every man present. "You've know what we're looking for. P ass it uses a symbiosis-a damned queer life- ' There was a moment's silence after
all done your duty. I'm proud of you aroun~. Milk-white, the size of a pea- form-deadly to anything else that's Eo-ard finished reading.
-so proud I want to take you all back nut. The original was of crystalline ali,·e, and even to itself-" ~'Parasitic life-hell,"· muttered R ives.
with me." structure, but whether an organic pro- " I don't get that," b_roke in Rives, But his exact meaning, if any, was not
"Cap," spoke up the irrepre&sible Mc- uct or a mineral is something ,ve don't evino-· first Egarcl and then Talbot, his clear.
Dill, giving Norm a sly nudge in the know. i~se;arable companion, but with who111 "There you have it, men," concluded
ribs, ''--none of u~ figure to desert ship." "Y ou are all aware of what happened he maintained a serialized argument the captain. "Now we'll get busy. I
Grins and a tense laugh or two fol- when that thino- was turned over to about everything within and without the know there's not one of you but would
• • b volunteer to be the first to go outside
lowed, but they quieted immediately. ~c1ent1sts. They soon discovered that cosmos. "About that symbiosis- "
Nerves were keyed to a high pitch, as it .w:is thought-sensitive-capable of re- ''I can't do better," said Captain the ship. But that would b~ ide-~tep-
must always be when men face the un- ce1v1~g and amplifying telepathic im- Egard, turni11g to fumble in the files ping good judgm_ent 01~ my part. Rives,
known. pres~1~ns-an element long sought by under the chart table, "than to read you you and Talbot JUmp mto your oxygen
"You all know our purpose here," phys1c1sts. . 1\{orgran's own notes. Then you'll . suits. But just because you're supposed
continued Egard. "Vve've sworn to "Enthusiasm waxed feverish over this know just as much as I know. Here to be good at outside space work, don_'t
collect thought-nuggets, and take them astounding discovery. And during tJie they are, as published in a ~nonthly re- try anything fanc)'.· Take every pr~-
back to Earth-or die trying! But years that fo!lowed, ship afrer ship left _port of the Academy of Science, dated caution. You'll be 111 constant commu111-
cation with Norm here, by microwave.
what some of you don't know is the Earth for this remote moon, to colfect 1\l ay. 2371-or roughly ten years ago :
exact hazard , we're up against. You more of the treasured nodules. But not 'Green Animals of Dione: T here is no Stick close to the ship, until we find
were all warned of the danger attending one of them ever came back- " such thing as a distinct plant life on out where we stand."
this voyage- but not in detail. Until "Captain Egard," interrupted Hall at Satellite IV. T he primary substance
now I've withheld just a little of the this moment, elbowing his way into the composing Dione's green-animal life is T HE CONFERENCE broke up' quietly.
slight information I poss~ss, so that 9ur crowded control room. T all and lanky somewhat comparable to the proto- Ri~res and Talbot were hustled into their
morale might be maintained- not that he was able to stretch an 'arm ove; plasmic base of all earthly life, in so oxygen suits. Back-slapping and r~ugh
you're men inclined to flinch, but antici- ,, N orm's shoulder. "H ere's the atmos- far as the fluid entering its composition joking followed-such_as men sometimes
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pating dangers too far ahead is bad. So phere formula." is. in both instances, water ; but in the indulge in when their nerves are on
far as I'm aware, no man ever set foot case of Dione, an unidentified chemical edge-then the bubblelike hoods of
here on Dione and lived to tell about it." E GARD grasped the slip of paper, his reagent renders this solvent free from transparent glassoplast were clamped
Navigator Griffin cleared his throat. eyes sliding quickly over_ the penciled crystallization into ice at low tempera- down, and the two men prepared to
"But, captain, that can't be right." symbols. tures. leave ship. . . . .
Norm watched these act1v1ties with
Bronzed, square-jawed, he was leaning " Hm-m-m. Quite an envelope for a " 'This living animal-matter is per- mingled feelings. _Alth?ugh. 1~aturally of
against the chart table, his light-blue body only_twelve hundred ~1iles through ), fectly transparent to allow the passage a rather unobstrus1ve d1spos1t10n, he hacl
;,Y'~-~ regarding the older man steadily. _ - mostly mert gases, nothing poisonous of sunlio-ht to the millions of chlorophyll- often wondered if his job as communi-
What about Morgrau, the explorer, -and no oxygen, either." bearing b yegetable cells withit:i its sub-
who brought back the first thought- A mtitter of voices had starled up stance, hence its green color. Here we cations-technicist wasn't robbing him of
nugget-ten years ago ?" among the crew. observe what might be called an instance certain adventurous thrills, such as Tal-
bot and Rives must now be experiencing.
" Captain Egard answered slowly: ''The old boy don't sound any too of perfect ·symboisis between animal and
Explorer Morgran used a radio-con- cheerful," husked McDill in Norm's ear. plant; the animal cells supplying carbon "Norm, get to your post," . ordered
trolled mobile robot to do the actual "Don't take it too serious, though. He'd anhydride and nitrogenous matter to the the captain. "They'll be outside in a
ground work. H is ship touched here cut ~is throat before he'd lose a man vegetable cells, and they in turn supply- couple of minutes."
Seated at the microwave panel in the
ot;1ly for a few hours · the air lock was here on this confounded chunk of rock. ing oxygen and starch to the animal
never unsealed." ' I know him l" cells. control room, directly in front o( an
Griffin nodded. "Right, captain- N orm nodded, in full agreement. "'Thus we have organisms maintained observation port, Norm clam~ed ear-
pardon the interruption." "But I wonder what else he's got up almost entirely b y sunlight. But grO\-vth phones on his head, adjusted vari~us
. "Unfortunately, Morgran died before his sleeve." and regeneration can take place only switches. A moment later the shutllmg
his ship reached Earth," continued Egard raised his hand for silence. by the absorption of fresh protein from car brought Captain Egarcl.
Egard. "We had cinly his notes to ·go " One or two things more, and then anolher living body- hence the evolu- " They're outside," he 4 ro ... vlcd,