John Brunner-Polymath (1974)

7/24/2019 John Brunner-Polymath (1974)

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THEIR SUN WAS GOING NOVA

They were already colonists of a planet far from Mother Earth. They had been there several

generations, they had built their cities and their homes and had tried to construct their better Earth

and then came the alarm.

Their new sun, the star around which their brave new world revolved, was about to e!lode" All whocould #ust $lee%with onl& hours to s!are" An& s!aceshi! available, an& crew, an&one who could 'o out

into the uncharted cos#os #ust do so atonce.

Their ship got off Its crew was makeshift, the refugees talents were poorly mied, and there was but

one among them who knew what was re!uired to tame an unknown planet.

(ut the& did not )now he )new" And he did not )now whether he dared tell the#"


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"olymath

#ohn $runner

%&' $(()*, I+.

%(+&-% &. '(--EIM, "/$-I*E0

1231 &venue of the &mericas +ew 4ork, +. 4. 13315

opyright 6, 1578, by $runner 9act and 9iction, -td. &ll Eights 0eserved.

& shorter and substantially different version of this novel :astaways 'orld; appeared in 15


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for maimum visibility in spaceGwas almost blinding under the blue?white glare of the morning sun.

+aline had tied bands of black, glistening elasticon around his limbs and trunk to gather the slack of the

material. It had been meant for someone much more heavily built.

e picked up his helmet, gave it a rapid wipe to dislodge some grains of blown sand which had adheredto the sealing?ring, and addressed &rbogast.

Ill go down and see if the boats ready, aptain.F

=o ahead,F &rbogast answered. is voice sounded dead, and there was no epression on his face. e

seemed unable to tear his gaKe from that glistening thing in the sea.

-eft wrist, please,F +adine said. *he was performing the same service for him as she had Just done for

-e. &rbogasts suit was his own, but the past winters privations had cost him a good twenty poundsof his former weight. (bedient as a puppet, he lifted his arm away from his side.

The compressor started again, and %elvia straightened to her full height. =lancing at -e, she said, I

do envy you. &fter the winter I feel dirty clear through. +othing Id like more than a long cool swim.F

'ell, she was dressed for itGor rather undressed. *he had on nothing ecept a ragged red tabard opendown both sides. It was obvious that being half starved had merely fined down her former statues!ue

proportionsL her flesh was firm and shapely, and good muscles moved under her sleek skin. It wasreassuring to find that some at least of the refugees were capable of remaining healthy here. &lthough

rubbing the noses of the less?fortunate in the fact might lead to problems later on

I shouldnt try it,F -e replied soberly. +ot after what happened to young $endle.F

%elvia nodded and grimaced. /nconsciously she lifted one foot from the ground, supporting herself

with a hand on the compressor, and used its sole to scratch at her other calf. -e looked more closely.

There was a reddened area.

%elF he said. &re you itching a lotHF

Embarrassed, she dropped her foot to the ground. *he said, & bit. *unburn, I guess.F

Then what are you doing in that skimpy ragH 'hat do you want, a case of lupus from the highultravioletH This isntGF e broke off, acutely aware that both +aline and &rbogast had turned their

eyes on him. e had been going to say, This isnt arathustra, you know,F &nd that, of course, was a

stupid comment.

e licked his lips. 4ou ought to be wearing a whole?body garment, %el,F he finished.

9or an instant he thought she was going to snap at him, tell him to mind his own business. Instead, she

sighed.

I know, I know. Im blonde, so its foolish not to. $ut after the winter its unbearable Im not Joking

when I say I feel filthy inside. I never wore the same clothes for so long in my life. Its as though thedirts worked its way down to my bonesF *he gave a shudder. $ut youre right. Ill ask %oc #erode if

he can give me a screening ointment.F

4oull be lucky,F -e murmured. 'ith a nod to &rbogast, he turned away.

$ehind him he heard +aline utter a grunt of easperation. %el %o you have any scissorsHF

+ot me, but I know who has. 'hyHF

INll get you to chop this hair off for me. )eeps falling in my eyes. The Jobs fiddling enough anywayGonly one kind of knot will do, and if I dont get the tension right the bands either slip off or constrict the

circulationF The words tailed off into a mutter, and -e caught nothing more.


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e felt almost cheerful as he approached the spot where &ldric and heffy were inspecting their

makeshift boat for leaks, despite what he was afraid he and &rbogast were shortly going to discover on

the bed of the bay. The gray chilly fogs and the appalling gales of winter had been like a prison for thespiritL now, almost literally overnight, they were released and a summer stretched ahead of them as long

as an Earthly year. They had endured the worst their new home could throw at them, and most of them

had survived. Even some of those who had thought they would never plan for the future again oncetheir birthworld had been calcined were beginning to act like human beings instead of frightenedanimals.

Inland, in the cleft?valley where they had huddled for shelter along a riverbank, damaged houses were

being mended and new ones planned. ere on the beach a doKen people under the leadership of gray?

haired $endleGrecovered from the shock of losing his son last fallGwere carrying out a methodicalsurvey of the rocks and pools. Everything was changed, of course. The winter gales had done more

than spin the windmills for weeks on end. The dunes, the shoals, even the huge rocks scattered like

currants in a sand?pudding had been stirred into a new arrangement.

+onetheless, the situation feltGwell, promising.

ere and there on the beach were brownish, greenish, and reddish pieces of organic debris. $endlesteam had looked at these first. Most were harmless fronds of a rooted sea?plant, torn up by the last

storms. Those which were mobile and possibly dangerous, though dying out of water, had been marked

with a warning splash of white paint, and one had been pegged to the ground with a sharp stake. &circle had been scraped around it in the sand.

-e paused and eamined this creature. -ike many of the sea?beasts, it wasnt easy to kill. "inkish and

greenish, !uadrilaterally symmetrical, leaking a sour?smelling fluid, the staked body humped and

pulsedL the paired fleible trunklike organs which were limbs, gullets, channels of ecretion, andreactor?pipes combined writhed vainly toward him, etending almost but not !uite as far as the circular

groove.

& long cool swim -e shuddered and strode on briskly.

&dmiring our priKe ehibitHF &ldric called, turning his dark glasses as -e approached. e was astocky redhead, and had been fat. $ut no longer. +obody among the refugees was fat this spring.

4ou could say so,F -e agreed, setting down his air?cylinders with his helmet on top. &nyone

invented a name for it yetHF

I want to call it!ol&sto#a abo#inabilis,F heffy said. e didnt raise his round head, capped with

close?curling black hair. e was using a hot?spray to apply !uickset plastic to a pair of pegs proJectingfrom the rim of the boats peapod hull. is other hand held a spatula with which he was shaping the

pliant material before eposure to air hardened it rock?solid. That,F he added, means the disgusting

thing with a lot of mouths.F

&pt,F -e murmured. &ny leaks, by the wayHF

+ot now. Two or three cracks we had to seal.F heffy shut off the hot?spray, gave a final dab with thespatula, and stood up.

'hat are the pegs forHF -e said. 0owlocksHF

4es, of course.F &ldric kicked at a pair of long, wide?ended obJects lying in the boats shadow. The

free paddles we were trying last year werent very efficient, youll recall. +or the punting?pole.F

-e gave a dismal nod. It had been when his punting?pole stuck in bottom?mud that young $endle had


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fallen overside and never come up.

*o Ive been putting these together in my spare time,F &ldric went on. Theoretically, they should

drive a loaded boat better. 'eve hung a tiller on the stern, tooGthere. +ot that Im going to make any

guarantee, you realiKe.Inever epected to have to cobble together primitive makeshifts like these. If ithadnt been for heffys interest in Earthside history, I dont imagine Id ever have dreamed of making

oars.F

-e nodded. It wasnt the first time that heffys purely intellectual awareness of subtechnical devices

had had to be translatedGgenerally by &ldric, who was a deft craftsmanGinto hardware improvisedfrom anything to hand.

Momentarily depressed again by the colossal scale of the task theyd taken on, he said, 'hat makes

you so sure were going to have a loadedboatHF

&ldric looked out to sea. *he has settled, hasnt sheHF e sighed.

*unk is more the word,F said heffy. "robably sifted half full of wet sand into the bargain. 4oull be

working in at least a doKen feet of water, -e.F

-ucks been with us so far,F -e countered with forced casualness. It may not be as bad as you

think.F

heffy snorted. &fter a pause, he said, ow do you imagine the others made outH I gather (rnelles

been trying to raise them by radio, without success.F

True enough. onse!uently no one was giving much for the chances of the only other refugees knownto have reached the sanctuary of this planet. e was sorry heffy had mentioned the subJectL hed

hoped that everyone would be too busy for at least another few days to worry about the party whose

ship had landedGor crashedGon the inland plateau.

=ales must have been terrible up there,F &ldric said, reaching for the stern of the little boat. 'ell,lets push her to the water. The captain ready yet, -eHF

*hading his eyes, -e stared back along the beach toward the air?compressor.#ust about, I guess,F he replied.

The last band was tied. ritically +aline passed her hand over the slick surface of the suit, touching the

knots in turn. &s she felt the one on &rbogasts chest, she gave a murmur of surprise.

&re you all right, aptainHF she demanded.

(f course,F &rbogast grunted. 'hyHF

4oure shivering,F +aline said. In the act of laying down the latest charged cylinder, %elvia glanced

around.

+onsense,F &rbogast said. e stepped back, avoiding the eyes of the girls. Is my air ready, %elviaHF

4es, three cylinders.F

&rbogast bent stiffly to pick them up, paused while +alineGstill looking worriedGplaced his helmet

on them, uttered a word of thanks, and headed for the waiting boat.

-ooking after him, +aline said under her breath, I hope he doesnt have a fever. 4ou cant see it, but

his whole body isGwell, sort of vibrating.F

Thats nothing to do with fever,F %elvia said. *he turned !uickly to the compressor and disconnected


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the accumulator leads from its motor, then picked up and began to unfold the solar collector sheets.

=ive me a hand to spread these flat, will youHF she added over her shoulder.

Moving to obey, as she always obeyed %elvia, +aline said in a puKKled voice, $ut he isshivering, I

tell you. &nd in full sunlight.F

+ot shivering. Trembling.F %elvia pegged down the corners of the first sheet and coupled theaccumulator leads to its output terminals.

'hatH 'hyHF

The shipGwhat elseH &ll winter long hes talked about nothing ecept patching her up and getting her

aloft. +ow hes come out and seen whats happened to it. es grounded.F

&rent we allHF +aline countered bitterly.

es a spaceman. I guess that makes it tougher. &nd he isnt so young anymore.F %elvia brushed sandfrom herself.

$esides,F she went on, dont you remember when things began to get bad at the start of the winter he

kept trying to persuade everybody to take shelter in the shipHF *he gestured in the direction of the thin

shining arc which was all of the vessel now showing above water. owd you like to be in thereHome onGIll trim that hair for you now.F

Chapter 2

OCD

&ir,F &ldric said, checking the items of gear over the stern of the boat. (ne, two, three cylinders.

'eighted belts. $ootsGF

-ast time,F -e realiKed suddenly, we were Just walking on the bottom. $ut these are ordinary

magnet?soled spaceboots. I dont want to be dragged feet first against the hull every time I go close.FThought of that,F heffy said briefly. I told &ldric to change the magnets for chunks of lead. $ut wecouldnt find any. e had to make do with plain steel. =o on, &ldric.F

+et bags. -e, dont pick up anything which well have to haul up on a cable, will youH Im not sure

how stable this boat is, and Id hate to be tipped into the water. (ne waterproofed handlight. &t least it

says its waterproof. Two hatchets, the best we could think of in the way of weapons. There isabsolutely nomeans of making an energy gun fire under water. heffy tells me they used to use

compressed air for underwater guns, so Ill get to work on one as soon as I can think of something

ependable enough to use as ammunition.F

%ont epend it,F -e suggested. /se something long enough to tie a cord to. 'e have plenty of

that.F

There are things down there,F &ldric countered sourly with a Jerk of his thumb at the sea, which I

would not care to be tied to if they took off for deep water. (f course, if you want the thrill of a

submarine Joyride in the wake of a hurt and angry monster HF

"oint taken,F -e said, and grinned.

Im glad. 'e dont want to lose more people than we have to. &nd what do you think of our new

anchorHF &ldric held up a shiny metal obJect consisting of a shaft and four spiked, curved tines. (n the

shaft was a coarse spiral thread, and fitted loosely on this was a rotating collar bearing four sharp
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blades.

If this gets caught in bottom?weeds, or some beastie tries to cling to it, you haul on the cable sharply,

that releases this spring catchGseeHGand the blades spiral up the shaft.F e gave it an approving pat

and placed it in the boat.

heffy, are you going with them, or shall IHF

Ill go. 4ou can make the net trip.F heffy swung his legs over the side of the boat. "ush us out afew yards, will youH &nd mind where you put your feet.F

-e scrambled lightly aboard and took the bow thwart. (), aptain,F he called to &rbogast.

$ut &rbogast was staring toward the sunken spaceship again, his hands hooked together in front of him,

his knuckles bright white. e didnt seem to have heard.

&ll set, aptainF &ldric said sharply.

&rbogast let his hands fall to his sides. e swallowed hard before speaking. I I changed my mind.Im not going.F

'hatHF &ldric took a pace toward him. heffy, startled, paused in the act of setting the oars in the

rowlocks. (nly -e, slewed around on his thwart so he could see the captain, gave a slow nod. ehadnt been altogether unprepared for this.

&rbogast bowed his head and walked off up the beach, his dragging feet leaving smeared marks. Thedying horror pegged to the ground sensed his passage and hunched once more to try to strike at him.

+ow Just a momentF &ldric said hotly, starting after him. 4ou cant leave -e toGF

&ldricF -e launched the name on the air like a dart. &ldric, let him alone.F

The hellF &ldric snapped. -ookGit was his idea he should go, wasnt itH &re we to waste another

hour finding a suit to fit me or heffy, have it tied up, go hunting for different bootsH It took most ofyesterday to find enough wearable kitF

)eep your temper,F -e said. Think of it his way. ow would you like to go see your old homewrecked and smashed, with alien creatures crawling in every cornerHF

%id I suggest itH %id IHF &ldric wiped his face. &ndGhell, talk about homes being wrecked and

smashedF

alm down, &ldric,F heffy said. -e is right &t least we dont have toseewhats become of our

homes.F e spat over the side of the boat.

&ldric drew a deep breath. (),F he said resignedly. -ets go hunt out a suit for me.F

-e hesitated, thinking wryly how Just a few minutes ago he had rebuked %elvia for taking risks. $utG

he ecused himselfGa survey of the ship was essential before tomorrows assembly, when they were

due to take stock of their resources. e said, I can go down by myself.F4oure craKy,F &ldric said. 'ithout a phoneH 'hen we dont know half the species of sea?life around

hereH 'hen its likely the rutting season for things as dangerous as that multilimbed horror $endle had

to nail downH 4oure apt to wind up as stock?nourishment for a clutch of eggsF

Ill keep my hatchet in my hand. (h, get in the boatF -e was suddenly impatient. 'e need to knowwhats happened inside the shipF

&nd, as another argument struck him> I did two dives last fall, damn it, and the captain hasnt done

one before. Its !uite likely safer for me on my own.F


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&ldric shrugged. ()Gbut I dont have to like it.F

e bent to the stern, leaned his full weight against it, and pushed it free of the sand. It rocked violently

as he Jumped aboard. 9or a minute or so heffy fumbled with the oars, finding them hard to

synchroniKeL then he abruptly got the hang of it and the boat began to move steadily over the calmwater. (n the beach $endles team paused in their work to watch.

&rbogast was plodding on without turning. -e saw %elvia and +aline talking agitatedly, obviously

about the captainL he hoped neither they or anyone else would run after him demanding eplanations.

%eterminedly, he looked ahead toward the tarnished but still?gleaming spaceship. It was possible to see

how the curve continued below the surface, but it would be some time before they were close enoughto tell what part of the vessel was uppermost. &s a mode of progress rowing a boat was apparently

inferior even to walking.

Its moved five hundred yards at least,F &ldric said from the stern. -e, how do you imagine it

traveled so farHF

0olled, I guess. Too heavy to have floated out.F 'ho could have predicted that on a moonless worldGhence effectively a tideless oneGno beach was stableH There were no meteorologists among their

panicky handful of fugitivesL in fact there were hardly any trained personnel, so that a dilettante likeheffy and a hobbyist like &ldric had emerged as leaders where technical matters were concerned. ewent on, If I remember the old layout correctly, that whole stretch of ground where the ship rested

must have been undermined. &nd we know the bottom shelves gently. &s soon as it rolled enough for

the locks to admit water, there was nothing to stop it sinking deep into the seabed. Must have been asfluid as a pumping?slurry with the currents.F

If only the locks hadnt been open,F heffy said. 0emember the noiseH 'ind blowing across the

opening, making the whole ship sing, as though it were playing the organ at its own funeral. I hope I

never hear anything so eerie again.F

-e and &ldric were silent for a moment, remembering not only the noiseGwhich they would carry inmind until they diedGbut other things. &rbogast losing his temper when he realiKed what the sound

was, and attempting to reach the ship in a ninety?mile gale with waves breaking over the hull. &nd

railing against the fool whod left the locks open, until it was worked out he must have done it himself,because he had been trying to persuade everyone to shelter aboard during the winter instead of trusting

themselves to ramshackle huts of planking and piled dirt.

'hy did we pick this place, anywayHF &ldric grumbled.

0eckon wed have done better on high groundHF heffy countered.

+o. +o, probably not. -e, what do you suppose has become of the othersH Think they lived through

the winterHF

Maybe. %ont see why not, in fact.F

I dont see why,F &ldric put in. They havent contacted us since the storms gave over, have theyHF

They could simply have lost their antennas,F -e said. 0emember, they did at least have the ships

hull for shelter. & gale could hardly have made that roll.F

*o I hear,F heffy said. -ike a s!uashed egg &nd wasnt &rbogast pleasedH Thinking hed put down

badly until he saw what the other captain had done. 'hats his nameGthe other captain, I meanHF

=omes,F -e supplied. 4es, the ship was badly cracked.F

&nd,F &ldric said, theyll have had subKero temperatures much longer than us. Theyre probably iced


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solid, half buried in snowGat least the salt spray off the sea kept that from happening to us. $ut there

were chunks of ice in the river until two or three days ago.F

4ou dont have to tell us,F heffy said. Trying to look over his shoulder, he lost control of the oars and

had to fight to stay on his thwart. ah I want designed for traveling backward. ow much fartherHF

'ere past halfway,F -e said.

Ill row back to shore,F &ldric offered. 'ho knowsH The boat may be lighter on the return tripinstead of heavier.F

*omething snapped at the port oar a second later, as though to underline the grimness of his humor.

'hen the blade lifted again, it carried with it a writhing creature, wet?shiny pink in color, which had

sunk its fangs in the wood of the blade.

%amned nuisance,F heffy said in a resigned voice. &ldric, I told you these things ought to be made

out of metal. &luminum for choice. ollow, too.F

'hen I get my electric furnaces rigged, Ill let you know,F &ldric retorted. an you shake it offHF

heffy shipped the starboard oar awkwardly, then put both hands to the other and flailed it around. The

creature emitted a gush of yellow fluid that discolored the sea, but clung fast.Turn the oar around,F -e said, picking up his hatchet. 'ith some difficulty heffy complied, and -eknocked the beast flying. It had left puncture marks in the wood, deep as nailholes.

aving second thoughts about diving aloneHF &ldric in!uired.

-e shook his head. Those teeth wouldnt get through the suit fabricGthough if theres any strength in

the Jaws I could get a nasty pinch and a lasting bruise. $ut from the way it struck at the oar, I suspect

that species preys on fishingbirds. 'hich reminds meF e sat up straight, eyes searching the sky.'here are theyH This bay was full of them last fallF

"erhaps theyre migrants,F &ldric offered. 'ell probably see them back now the weathers turned.F

*een any landbirdsHF -e asked. I saw a few yesterday.FMe, I wouldnt have noticed. $een too busy since the thaw. 'e can ask $endle about that when we get

back.F &ldric turned the tiller a little and peered past heffy. =etting close now,F he reported. avethe anchor ready, -e.F

0ight.F e picked it up carefully, avoiding the scythelike blades. That would certainly shock any

bottom?prowler which tried to hang onto it. &n unsuspected trap. -ike the one which had sunk their

starship.

e hadnt answered &ldrics !uestionG'hy did we pick the placeHFGany more than heffy had.Theyd chosen it because both sea and land teemed with life, offering a double range of potential

foodstuffsL any ocean is a repository of salts, and if they couldnt eat the native protoplasm or needed to

supplement it, then simple processing of seawater would provide trace?elements for the diet?synthesiKersL there was a rivermouth running back into a sheltered valley, and near fresh water was a

logical site for a settlementL there were treelike growths, and wood was a material you could work with

handtools (h, the choice hadnt been made lightly, and in almost every way it was a good one.

Mark you, the way in which it hadnt been good might conceivably prove disastrous.

+ow, in the clear water, he could see far down the curving side of the hull. &t about the limit of visionthere were soft darknesses and a motion not entirely due to the changing angle as the boat rocked. -e

shivered.


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I*# not cast in the ri'ht #old $or a hero"

-ast summer, when they had improvised their underwater techni!ue for the recovery of $endles son, it

had been easy. e hadnt given a second thought to the obvious logic of the plan. &ir, an impervious

suit, boots that proved Just right to keep the feet down, weights on a beltGand straight ahead with theJob.

$ut hed had a lot of time for second thoughts during the winter.

*till, this too was something that had to be done. *top rowing, heffy,F he said, pleased with the

levelness of his voice. e cast the anchor oversideL it sank, gleaming, as he paid out the cable. Mindful

of the spring?release activating the knife?blades, he gave it only the gentlest of tugs to seat it, thenknotted the cable to the bow?pin.

eres your belt,F heffy said. "ut it on while I hitch up your air.F

0ight.F

$elt. $oots, hatchet, handlight, net bag. e weighed about ten pounds short of neutral buoyancyL he

would sink gently to the bottom. 'hen he wanted to return, he would discard the belt and rise slowly,or open the valve on both air?tanks wide, filling the suit so full it would shoot to the surface like a

bubble. Easy. 'hy was he sweating so muchH $ecause of what he was now convinced he would findH

&irs coupled,F heffy said.

0ightGwish me luck.F -e set his helmet on his head and with a !uick twist seated it against the

sealing?ring. 9or better or worse, this was it.

Chapter 3

OCD

er eyes were red with lack of sleep, her voice was hoarse from addressing the dumb microphone, andher head was swimming so that the words she spoke no longer seemed to mean anything.

&ll of a sudden (rnelle reached the end of her endurance. *he thrust the microphone away from her,

put her arms on the cool smooth surface of the table, leaned her head on them, and began to sob. -ike

the tip of a cracked whip she had been Jerked through a cycle of emotions for which she was simply notfitted.

*he wished she was dead. -ike the others.

(nce there had been a planet called arathustraL people said comfortably, ara.F There were two

hundred and ninety million people who said it. 9igures of ash rose in (rnelles mind, marched across a

blaKing desert that had been fertile ground. & burning child screamed. *he had not seen that. To stay so

long would have meant she also burned.

arathustra had ended in such nightmare thatGhad it been a dreamGthose who dreamed it would have

clawed themselves, threshed wildly about, tried to throw their bodies to the floor rather than slip back

into sleep and see more horror. It had been incredibleGthe sun was yellow?white each day as always,round, usual. 4ou didnt see the change. $ut in the observatories someone said a word> nova. *omeone

else said> how longH The machines gave the answer.

*oon.

Then into the calm pleasant settled life chaos and terror reached like a scythe into grass. =o now, they


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said. +o, not stopping to take anything. +o, not to look for children or parents, not to find a lover or a

friend.Now.

&nd if you didnt, they had no time to drag you. Go.

'hite?faced officials. *pacemen moving like machines. Machines moving like men in panic, emptying

the holds of cargo vessels on a spaceport in darkness. /seless goods being hurled aside, trucks andhelicopters moving in with canned and dehydrated foods, medicines, bales of clothing. %iet?

synthesiKers being charged with trace?elements. &ll the time, everywhere, screaming, wailing, and

sometimes a shout of savage anger begging a moments peace and silence. "eople shoveled like brokentoys into the bellies of the shining ships.

&nd then the light breaking under the horiKon and the knowledge that on the dayside of arathustra

heat like a torch was shriveling life away.

Then those who had not acted for themselves or been passive like (rnelle, bewildered into letting

action be performed for them,$eltthe truth and came weeping and howling, naked from bed, clamoringlike wolves for survival. $ut the ships were fullL the ships were lifting into space.

In the crowded holds there had been time to think of those who were left at home. There was a terrible

oppressive darkness, not physical but in the mind. -ater she heard of other ships with which contacthad been made, overfilled, where the oygen was inade!uate and the refugees stifled, where the lanceof sickness ran through hunger?weakened bodies. $ut in the ship where she was, there was Just enough.

+ot much was learned of other ships, though. 9or some reason (rnelle didnt understand, to get clear

of the continuum distortions caused by the nova shifting fantastic masses of matter over giant distances

at appalling speed, it was necessary to run ahead, under maimum hyper?photonic drive, in whateverdirection they chanced to select.

In fact> into unknown darkness.

&t the season when its sun eploded, arathustra had been on the side of its orbit farthest from Earth

and most of the other human?inhabited worlds. It was a recently?opened planetGindeed, (rnelles own

parents had been born on Earth and had emigrated when they were young. The idea of trying to beatback around the nova and approach a settled system had been considered, but it was impossibleL their

ship was a freighter, not one of the passenger epresses disposing of as much power as a small star.

Then, pincered between the narrowing Jaws of shrinking fuel reserves and the limits of the ships

internal ecology, the only hope was to find a planetGany planetGwith supportable gravity andade!uate oygen. (ne system in sity had a planet where human beings could surviveL about one in

two hundred had a planet where they could live.

&t the end of their resources, they had touched down here to find summer ending. They had no time to

determine whether this was a one?in?sity or a one?in?two?hundred world. &t first only the lashingscorn of the few who intended to survive at all costs had driven the maJority to behave as though there

were hope. They felt themselves not only isolated, but abandoned, even condemned.The arrival of a second ship from arathustra, that landed on a high plateau inland, was like a new

dawn. &bruptly life, not Just temporary survival, seemed credible. 'hile with sudden demonic energythe refugees worked to build a crude town of wood, sun?dried clay and scraps from the ship, a team

made its way inland to the site of the other landing to ask news of friends or relations.

There were noneL the other ship was from a different continent on arathustra. *till, its mere presence

was comfortingL a radio link was organiKed on an agreed fre!uency and for the rest of the summer andthe brief autumn they kept in touch.


12/99

The vicious speed with which winter had slammed down had prevented a second epedition being

dispatched to the plateauL moreover, weakened by carrying a huge burden of ice, their main antenna

had collapsed in a gale months ago. $ut directly it had become possible to re?rig it, they had powered

the radio again. (rnelleGto whom the presence of other human beings on this world signifiedsomethingL she couldnt have described itGhad waited feverishly to learn how they had fared. 'hen

intermittent calls had been made for some days, most people were resigned to giving the others up for

lost. $ut (rnelle had insisted on being allowed to continue, and since she had no specially valuableskills they had let her go on. +ow she had spent three long days and most of three nights calling,

calling, callingGand hearing nothing. *he might have thought that the radio was unserviceable, but she

could hear her own voice from a monitoring receiver across the room.

This wasnt life she had secured, thenGso it appeared to her. It was mere illusion. The strange planetmust already have killed half the intruders from space. It was only a matter of time before it ground the

rest of them down.

*he had tried to convince herself that if her parents had been able to emigrate from Earth, she could

live on this alien ground. $ut her parents had come to a place prepared for them. There were alreadyfifty million people settled on arathustra. 9irst one island, then a chain, had been steriliKed and

terraformed by eperts, assessing the risk from native life?forms, whether they were useful, neutral, or

dangerous. & complete new ecology had been designed to include domestic creatures, plants, evenbacteria brought from Earth, and only after half a centurys careful organiKation were immigrants

invited, with one of the fabulous human computers called polymathsF to supervise and protect them.

'hat chance did a few hundred refugees, with hardly any tools or weapons, a handful of scientists, and

no eperience of eistence at such a primitive level, stand in face of a hostile and unpredictable worldH

(rnelle (rnelleF

'ith a guilty start she raised her head. *tanding in the rough doorway, one hand holding aside the

curtain and the other carrying his medikit, was %oc #erode. is white shirt and overfoot breeches were

yellowing and frayed, and since being out of reach of tricholene treatments his mass of shining grayhair had thinned to a crescent on the back of his head. $ut he was picking up a healthy?looking tan.

Im sorry, %oc. %idnt hear you come in.F (rnelle licked her lips. er throat was stiff after her fit of

sobbing, and the words came painfully. Im all right. #ust a bit tired.F

TiredF the doctor said. Ehausted is more the word.F e strode forward, his feet noisy on the crude

planks of the floor, and set his medikit on the table. ere, Im going to make sure you havent pickedup an infection. =et your clothes off.F

(hGoh, very well.F (rnelle rose to her feet and unfastened her shirt. -ike everyone else, she had

been stifled throughout the winter by the sensation of having all possible clothing on against the cold,

that daily grew greasier and fouler?smelling, and now was wearing only outer garments. *he stood

slackly as #erode ran his diagnoser over her.

+othing on the culture slide ecept bugs I recogniKe,F he said at last. e surveyed her curiously. *o

youre right. 4oure simply worn out. $ut how long have you been at that radioHF

/h most of the past three days,F she admitted.

ave you slept properlyH %ont answer thatGI can tell you havent. &nd Ive watched you gulping

your meals in your hurry to get back here. Take one of these.F #erode selected a tube of small whitepills from his kit, giving a rueful glance at how few of them remained. $last you, woman 'hy do


13/99

you have to let me downHF

'hatHF (rnelle had a mug of water on the tableL she checked in the act of reaching for it to wash

down the pill.

4ou heard me. ere Ive been telling myself that you are one of the reliable people we have, able to

think fairly straight in spite of being completely unprepared for this predicament, while so many whoare supposed to be trained or talented have taken to running around in circles gibbering $ut, like I say,

youre letting me down.F

I dont understand,F (rnelle muttered.

To start with, whats the panic about contacting the other partyH They probably had a far tougher

winter on high ground. (ur antenna collapsed. *o may theirs have, and it might still be buried in asnowdrift. Even if they have had time to worry about setting it up again, they may not have anyone to

spare to sit by a radio and hope to hear from us. =ive them a chance to clear up the mess of winter and

get themselves organiKed.F

If they were in bad trouble,F (rnelle said stonily, the first thing theyd want to know would be ifwere (). If they werent in trouble, then theyd want to find out if we were and needed any help. +o,

Im afraid theres not much hope for them.F *he sighed and gulped down the pill.*o thats the weight youve got on your shoulders. &n imaginary one. I thought so.F

'eight on my shouldersH 'hat do you meanHF

4oure standing there like aGa badly stuffed doll ere, look at yourself.F #erode unfolded the lid ofhis medikit and snapped it to the mirror setting. 4ou ought to be ashamed of maltreating your body

that way.F

%ully, (rnelle regarded her reflection. er skin was pallid, there was a slackness around her eyes as

well as the red of tiredness and tears, and her breasts, pale?nippled, were like shrunken pears. 'hereasher belly was sagging forward.

+ot from fat."ull it in, woman,F #erode ordered. Take a deep breath, set your shoulders back, and look at the

improvement.F

e waited while she obeyed. Then, as he saw a change of epression pass across her face, he shut the

kit.

4ou need some sun,F he said. Ten or fifteen minutes a day for the first few days, no moreGIm

troubled enough with sunburn cases. $ut I want a color on you like mine in ten days, understandH &ll

over. 4ou dont get much calciferol from sunlight, but weve got to take advantage of everything.F

9lushing, (rnelle turned to pick up her clothes from the chair where she had hung them. Im sorry,Fshe said after a while. Its JustGoh, you know.F

#erode didnt say anything. *he went on, &nyway, what did you want me forHF

& bit of advice. I need a womans opinion before I make up my mind on a problem thats Just arisen.

4ou know %elviaHF

%rawing her shirt on, (rnelle gave a bitter chuckle. %o I know thatGthat ehibitionistH %oes anyone

notHF

4es, she is rather atypical of our group, isnt sheH onspicuous 'ell, she came to see meGone of the

sunburn cases I mentionedGand I checked her over. *hes pregnant.F


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(rnelle stared blankly. 'ell, Id never have epected that,F she said at length.

'hyH $ecause shes not the maternal typeHF

That shes not +o, I wouldnt have epected her to be so careless. Its not that she lacks eperience,

Ill swear to that. In factF (rnelle hesitated. In fact I think shes downright nymphomaniac.F

Is it true that youve had trouble with her in the single womens houseHF

'ho told you thatHF

"eople tell doctors things, dont theyH &nd since we dont have a psychologist Thats irrelevant,anyway. The point is this. 'e agreed collectively on arrival that we werent going to permit children

until we knew more about our environment. Embryonic tissue is fragile, and we dont want to start off

with teratoid births. That was a unanimous decision on my advice. I think well probably be safe inrelaing the rule nowGin fact, I planned to ask for volunteer parents at the stocktaking assembly

tomorrow. $ut it still stands at the moment. &nd, as you agree, %elvia is not the sort of person whod

be suitable. 'e cant have people flouting our collective decisions, can weHF

(f course not.F

*o Ive been wondering whether we oughtnt to establish a precedent by imposing a compulsoryabortion on her.F

(rnelle was silent for a moment. &re you asking for my personal opinionHF she said eventually. (r

are you asking what the reaction of the other women is likely to beHF

$oth.F

'ell I think most of us would agree that you cant have people disregarding the rules, and

particularly since %elvia isGuhGnot too popular, youd have no trouble getting such a motioncarried.F

*peaking for yourself, thoughHF

(rnelle closed her eyes. If our stay here is likely to be for good, Id hate to think it had been marredby that sort of thing right at the start. $esides, that was one of the things that made the winter sointolerable> losing the babies. aving children around is part of life for meGan indispensable part. &nd

since you say you were planning to recommend starting some pregnanciesF

4es.F #erode rubbed his chin. If this were anyone but %elvia Id be inclined to overlook it. I still

could. I doubt if she knows herself yetL its only five or si days gone. $ut, as you say, she must havebeen careless, or else she was defying a rule she doesnt approve of. $oth are dangerous trends, arent

theyH Especially in such a forceful personality.F

& compulsory abortion, though Ill have to think about it, Im afraid.F

"lease do. 'ere having a preliminary committee meeting at dark this evening. Id like you to come to

it and tell us your conclusions, all rightHF4es, of course.F &nd she added as he turned to the door> %oc, did you have childrenGback homeHF

4es. &nd I know you did too. 'hich is why I came to consult you.F

Chapter 4

OCD


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-e slipped into the water, feeling etraordinarily distant from it because the spacesuit he was wearing

insulated him so efficiently. To be in water without feeling its coolness was disconcerting. e hadnt

remarked the fact during the dives he had done last year, but his mind had been taken up by other

things. e had been searching for $endles sonL on the first dive he had found him, on the secondrecovered the bodyGor rather, what was left of it. It had been no consolation at all to see that the

hungry marine beasts which had nibbled at his flesh were still clinging, discolored and dying, because

some compound in human protoplasm was poisoning them.e drew a deep breath, conscious that thinking such morbid thoughts would handicap the speed of hisreactions, and caught at the anchor cable so that he could pause before reaching the bottom and take

proper stock of his surroundings.

The silver egg?form of the ship seemed to be about one?third buried. The seabed, for a considerable

distance from shore, was composed of the same relatively firm greenish sand as the beach, but out hereit was slack and muddy, carpeted with a mass of Juicy weed, and the hull had sunk deep. In the wan,

diffuse light he could not tell whether the occasional movements he detected among the fronded a!uatic

plants were due to currents, or whether animal?life was hiding among the branches.

There were no openings to the ship ecept the locks> two for the crew, two much larger ones for cargo.

e could Just discern the top on an open cargo lock on this side of the hull, above the level of thevegetation. That was fortunate. e could enter through there and probably conduct !uite an etensive

eploration, though sand and mud would doubtless have sifted over much of the gear inside.

9or a moment a stab of anger against fate made him clench his teeth. &s though it werent bad enoughto be stranded on an unknown planet with only the basic resources of a space?freighter and some odds

and ends crammed hastily aboard before their takeoff> now much of even that scanty material was out

here, spoiled by a winters immersion. 'hat they had removed from the ship had been dictated byimmediate necessity. They had taken out conventional radio e!uipment, for instance, because they had

foreseen the need to keep in touch with eploring parties even before the !uestion of the other refugees

arose.

$ut what use was conventional radio when they wanted to broadcast their whereabouts across theinterstellar gulfH 9or that, you needed the ships subradios. &nd those had not been taken out for two

good reasons> first, the attenuation factor, and second, their appetite for power. *ub?radio was virtually

instantaneous over parsec distances, but it was almost nullified by the blanket of a planetaryatmosphere. 'hen calling planet?to?planet it was necessary to relay your message with conventional

radio to an orbiting satellite where the signal was automatically converted. &nd in any case you had to

bleed power from the ships fusion drive in order to kick your beam between the stars.

If only, before landing, they had been able to leave a subradio beacon in orbit They had broadcastconstantly during the flight, of course, but they were almost outrunning their own signals, and by the

time they arrived in this system they were half choking with 3A and anthropotoins. The ships air?

purifiers hadnt been meant to cope with eight hundred people. They had to land at once.

Maybe it didnt matter anyhow. They were at least twenty parsecs beyond the limit of previouseploration. Maybe no one would have thought to watch for signals from so far out.

ence the subradios had been left in the ship. ence they were at the bottom of the sea and more than

likely corroded past repair. %iet?synthesiKers, tools, accumulators, solar energy collectors, medical

e!uipment, books, tapes, scientific instrumentsGwhat few there wereGhad been taken inland. $utvery little else.

-e sighed and made to continue his descent. It seemed, when he looked about him, that the water was

darker. & cloud crossing the sunH It wasnt likelyL the sky had been clear a few minutes ago. e


16/99

snapped on his handlight and found that didnt help. is vision was blurred. $ut whyH

e spent a short while puKKling out what had happened. Then the glass lens of the handlight gave him

the clue. It was coated with a thin greenish film, which easily rubbed off. *o was his helmet. In fact the

entire surface of his suit was sliming completely over with what he Judged to be the local e!uivalent ofplankton. That hadnt happened on his dives last yearGbut of course summer had been nearly over, and

no doubt spring brought an euberance of new life.

e didnt imagine it would prove dangerous, Just inconvenient. "laying the handlight on the ships hull,

he saw that the bright metal was only misted, implying that the stuff did not build up layer by layer.

ooking the light to its helmet mount so that he would not have to release his grip on the cable, hedetached a couple of the rocks which weighted his belt. +eutral buoyancy would be better under these

conditions than any weight at all. e didnt like the look of the massed vegetation around the lower

edge of the open cargo lock, and wanted to see if he could drift or swim into the ship without touchingthe plants.

*omething brushed the hand with which he was grasping the cable.

is head and light turned together. 0evealed was a reddish creature with many claw?tipped feet and a

baglike body from which fronds like those of the bottom?weed swirled gracefully. It was walking upthe cable, holding tight with groups of four claws, and on coming to the obstacle, his hand, had pausedto investigate. & leechlike neck with a ring of antennae fringing a dark sucking mouth was fumbling

along his arm.

The light seemed not to affect it at all. Eyes were developing etraordinarily late among these sea?

beasts, $endle had said, although many of them had patches of skin responsive to light and dark.

It might not be able to harm him, -e thought. $ut those claws looked unpleasantly powerful. $esides,it would not be good for &ldric and heffy to find this thing swarming up into the boat. It was about

four feet long, and a nip or bite from it might be as poisonous to man as human flesh apparently was to

the local creatures.

e readied his hatchet. Then, as the beast decided his arm offered a better course than continuing upthe cable, he swung the blade and severed the first si or eight of its clawed legs, epecting it to fall.

Instantly, the fronded bag at the rear of the creature burst open and the water turned a filthy yellow

color which blinded him completely within seconds. *tartled, -e lost his grip on the cable and began

to fall toward the bottom.

&s soon as he was out of the yellow cloud, he twisted around and saw it from a few yards away, a

misshapen ball. (ut of it, like darts, plunged a score or more of stiff, wriggling?legged miniatures of

the thing he had attacked. &ll of them were heading toward him. e flailed the hatchet violently,

beating them off as he tumbled in the water, but two of them attached themselves to his faceplate. esaw how their little leech?mouths opened wide, spread to a diameter of two inches, began to fold back

as if the creatures were going to turn completely inside?out.is feet found bottom. e straightened and clawed the creatures loose, hurling them from him as far as

the resistance of the water would allow. $y this time the mouths had folded back halfway along thebodies and the capacity to swim seemed to have been lost altogether. The things dropped among the

weed and somethingG-e couldnt tell what because it moved so fastGengulfed them, emitting a

moment later a Jet of the ubi!uitous yellow ink.

-e was beginning to regret his offhand decision to make this trip alone. e had never imagined such atotally unwelcoming environment. e had told himself many times during the past winter that now it


17/99

was up to man to prove himself superior to the competing life?forms by being a more efficient animal.

$ut here for the first time he was beginning to appreciate what the truism really implied.

e was standing a few yards from the cargo lock, swaying because he had made himself too light for

stability yet not light enough to float. The compromise might be satisfactory if it enabled him to makeslow leaps like a man in barely perceptible gravity. is legs were calf?deep in the bottom?weed and his

boot?soles apparently in s!uelchy mud, but he didnt seem to be sinking in.

*omething passed between him and the gleaming roof of the surface. e glanced up and saw a pulsing

creature with a flat planelike body and clusters of irregularly?distributed tentacles dangling beneath. Ittook no notice of him. *everal other creatures, large and small, were likewise pursuing their own affairs

overhead.

'ell, if they ignored him, hed ignore them. e aimed himself at the cargo lock. & carefully?Judged

leap, dreamlike in the water, brought him with a slight bump against the upper left corner of theopening where he could grip a proJection and look inside.

&ll the time he had spent here, in crudely?rigged metal?framed bunks hard as tables, came back to

memory. This had been the hold in which four hundred men had been crammed for the voyage. *and

had sifted across the tilted floor, and patching it now were weeds and little round sessile animals with

fernlike filter?mouths which sorted drifting plankton from the water. (n the walls clung sucker?rootedcolonies of symbiotic cell?associations, vaguely similar to stranded algae.

&lready the ship was becoming a water?Jungle. -e knew at that first glance that salvage operations

were going to take much of this long summer, and at that it was a toss?up whether power?tools could bebrought down to reclaim the valuable metals from the hull itself.

*ince the sand?floor was relatively clear, he pushed himself down to it and ventured a little farther into

the ship. 9ortunately, a few of the internal doors were still closed. *trange animals, lost in the corridors,

scuttered at his approach or adopted stiff threatening postures which he might have found ludicrous butthat on this planet he had no standard yet by which to Judge such matters. e made his way along the

spinal tunnel of the ship, not wanting to open any sealed doors in case they were still airtight, toward

the forward control sections.

ere were the most precious items. &nd here the chaos was terrible.

omputers, loosed from their mounts in readiness for transfer to the town, then left behind when winterintervened, had fallen across the floor and been shattered. The subradios wereGas he had fearedG

corroded and crusted with crystals of sea?salt. The navigation room was a shambles out of which he

could pick nothing but a few odds and ends to drop in his net bag.

%epressed, he made his way toward the stern, where the engines were located. *omething bad hadhappened here, tooL a gap big enough to walk through in the wall of the fuel?reserve store was the first

sign of a succession of chemical eplosions that had wrecked most of the drive gear beyond repair. is

light revealed smears of multicolored corrosion, cracked plates, instrument panels pockmarked as

though by shrapnel.

e could sum up his report for tomorrows stocktaking assembly here and now. +othing in the ship

worth salvaging ecept as raw materials.

(h, perhaps the odd instrument might be reparable and come in handy for some unpredictable function.

$ut nothing as immediately useful as power?tools or accumulators could have survived.

*craping the latest film of green from his helmet, he turned deJectedly back the way he had come.


18/99

is first thought when he approached the cargo lock from inside was that the sea had gone dark. Then

he saw that the opening was blocked by something. is light showed a slick dark surface, pulsating and

straining, splitting open along horiKontal lines to emit hordes of tiny flapping things toward which the

hanging strands on the walls reached out eagerly.

&t the sight of this, a tremendous anger filled him. e spoke aloud, hearing the words echo eerie in his

helmet.

%amn you Its still ours In spite of everything, its still oursF

e raised his hatchet and stormed forward at the creature sowing its multitudinous young. They

swarmed like midges around him as he chopped, ripped, tore at the leathery flesh, with his hand as wellas the hatchetL plunged through the very middle of it, through writhing blackness and out into

discolored water where hopeful lesser carnivores were already gathering to pick at carrionL then,

covered with foul ichor and trailing some riband?formed internal organ of the beast, in dismal triumphto the surface and the boat, leaving the shabby symbol of his defiance to die on the bed of the sea.

Chapter 5

OCD

arathustras day had run about twenty?two and a half hours Earth?basic time and, as was customary on

coloniKed planets, had been cut into an arbitrary standard twenty hours. ere on the other hand noon?

to?noon ran about twenty?eight Earth basic hours. *ome attempt had been made to modify one of the

clocks from the ship, but there had been more demanding tasks. +ow clocks and natural time weretotally out of gear, though a record was being kept of the number of days elapsed.

'as it a matter of mere convenience that people were suddenly thinking in terms of daylight and dark,

or the first sign of reversion to actual primitivismH #erode pondered the !uestion as he looked out over

their ramshackle little town from the crude verandah of the head!uarters office. Most people were

coming for evening chow, walking slowly and wearily back from their work, although 9ritchs teamwas still busy patching the roof of the single mens house the other side of the valley. The thud of

hammers and an occasional shouted order reached his ears.

e had already had his meal, wanting a little time to think before the steering committee assembled atdusk. It had consisted as usual of a damp mealy cake from a diet?synthesiKer wrapped in two crisp

leaflike growths from the salad?tree and a chunk of preserved allfruit about the siKe of his thumb. *o far

only the salad?tree and three other much less palatable native plants had been found both safe andnutritious. Most of the vegetation contained an allergen which had given him a bad time at the end of

last summer until he discovered he had supplies of a suitable drug with which to treat it. -ike

everybody else, when leaving arathustra he had simply grabbed what he could lay hands on, andwasnt sure what hed actually brought.

That, though, was going to have to change. &s a matter of urgency they would be compelled to tinker

with one of the synthesiKers so that it would secrete an antidote to the allergen. %redged routinely on

food, perhaps along with sea?salt, it would enable them to choose from a range of nearly thirtyvegetables.

&nd the trace?element hoppers on the synthesiKers were almost emptyGduring the worst part of the

winter they had had to subsist on nothing but synthesiKer?cakeGso another immediate Job would be to

set up etra salt?pans, fractionate the precipitate into appropriate sub?mitures, top the hoppers up


19/99

#erode passed a tired hand over his face. There was no end to the list of essential tasks.

There was a steady stream away from the kitchens as well as toward them, which seemed oddL he saw

people coming out directly they had entered. Then he realiKed they were taking their food to the

riverbank, to sit there and eat in the last of the sunlight with their long shadows for company. 'ell, atleast the evening sun wouldnt cause much burning. &nd you couldnt blame them. The e!uable, man?

controlled climate of arathustra had delivered warm summer evenings to order, and after the

dragging?long winter to be under a roof seemed like a waste.

That river was a blessing, #erode thought. It wasnt very wide ecept at the mouth, and it was shallowenough for wading even now, when the snows must be melting around its source on the plateau inland.

(f course, it had divided the settlement during the worst nights of winter, but they had Just managed to

rig a ropewalk across it before the fiercest gales, and that had been strong enough to hold out. *iting the

town on both banks, though, had been a calculated risk. They didnt want to drag timber too far, andthere were two stands of trees they were drawing on, one either side of the valley.

Most importantly of all, they had never lacked drinkable fresh water, even if they had sometimes had to

bring it indoors as blocks of ice. Though it might be politic, once enough salt?pans had been set up, to

use distilled water for drinking, reserve river?water only for bathing in.

4es, considering the circumstances of its foundation, this was !uite a flourishing little town. TownH'ell, it wasnt such a grandiose word as city,F at least. $ut for a mere fifteen buildings it was still a

pious hope. &t first they had slept in the ship, but the cramped !uarters were inducing fearful tension

among the refugees. e himself had insisted that an early start be made on housing. *o they had founddense clay along the river, spread it to make floors, and set up long one?story buildings, using split?log

planks on a frame of natural tree?posts, and -e, who was clever at such things, had helped him doctor

a diet?synthesiKer to secrete a tough organic glue which had enduredGmost of itGthrough the winter.& barracks for single men, another for single women, five others divided crudely into screened?off

cubicles for couples who had either been together when the evacuation started or linked up aboard ship

for mutual comfort.

There had been problems when new attachments formed during the winter, of course. $ut the fewfights could be ascribed to aniety and claustrophobia. The traditions of arathustra, like most well?

settled colony planets, had been opposed to violent seual Jealousy. &nd plans were in hand for

etending theGwell, the married accommodation.

#erode sighed. 4es, there was going to have to be some kind of discipline to make these ad hoc unionsstick, something stiffer than the casual suit?yourself practices of arathustra. $ecause there would be

children this year if the assembly agreed, and children must notbecome a community charge. There

would be too much resentment from nonparents.

e wished he knew more about primitive psychology. e had picked up a few pointers from heffy,but basically their social evolution would have to be a cut?and?try process, like everything else.

9our of the original fifteen houses were currently derelict. They had been incomplete at the start of thewinter, and cannibaliKed by 9ritch to reinforce the walls of the bigger buildings. This one, the

head!uarters hut which served as a kind of administrative office, was in fairly good shape, though.#erode gave the split?log planks of the wall an approving nudge.

is mere touch dislodged one of the planks. It fell with a crash.

eart sinking, he bent to eamine it. (n the brownish smear of glue which had held it in place, a

cluster of yellow specks moved uncertainly, as though startled by the sudden light. *ome parasite

which had found the glue digestible. &dd one to the list of immediate Jobs.


20/99

I see youve discovered our latest problem, %oc,F a voice said from behind him. e turned. It was

9ritch, the burly dark?brown man who had been an architect on arathustra and had supervised all their

building here.

4ou have a lot of itH Is it seriousHF #erode demanded.

"retty.F 9ritch shrugged. e was holding his evening meal sandwich?wise in one hand, and had beenbiting at it as he walked. -ittle annet leaned on a plank where that mold or whatever had been at

work, and it gave way and she fell ten feet. 'asnt hurt, luckily. -anded on a bed.F

*o are all our houses going to collapse on our headsHF

+o, I dont think so. Ive put a team to work cutting nails out of scrap sheet metal. 'e can reinforce

the worst?affected walls until you or $endle find something to mi with the glue and make itunpalatable. $endle says he thinks theres antimony in some of the sea?plants, and we can burn a

sample and see if adding the ash helps. &nyway,F he concluded, raising his food to his mouth again, I

see I neednt have hurried over. I thought Id find everyone else here.F

&rbogast is coming,F #erode said, looking toward the river. $endle is back from the beach, and so are&ldric and heffyGsaw them go for chow a few minutes ago. %id you see -eHF

4es. e managed to get inside the ship. *ays its in hopeless condition.F

'e werent epecting much. *till,F #erode amended, frowning, if -e says its bad we can take it

literally. If &rbogast had said it, Id have assumed he was disheartened. 'hat did he say, do you knowH%id he concurHF

e didnt go down.F 9ritch spoke around a mouthful.

%idnt heHF #erode eclaimed. 'hyHF

I gather he couldnt face it.F

I dont like the sound of that,F #erode muttered. I think Id better have a private word with him later.F

4oure not going to like the sound of this either,F 9ritch said. +anseltine is agitating for membershipof the steering committee, and a lot of people have fallen for his argument that someone who was a fullcontinental manager back home must necessarily be competent for the Job.F

e isnt.F #erodes tone was final. *omeone who did nothing the whole winter long but sit on his butt

and complain simply doesnt have what it takes.F

*ure, I agree. $ut Im afraid youre going to have to face a lot of opposition tomorrow.F

There was silence for a moment. Then &rbogast came in sight around the corner of the adJacent hut,

walking with head bowed. 'hen they greeted him he muttered his reply and went straight inside totake his place at the committee table.

#erode lifted an eyebrow at 9ritch, who shrugged.

4oull Just have to do what you can to straighten him out, %oc,F he murmured. 'ere so short of

capable people.F

#erode nodded and answered e!ually softly> I asked (rnelle to attend the meeting, by the way. Ivealways pegged her as basically sensible, and I gather shes become the de facto administrator in the

single womens house. 'ere going to need people to take care of human problems now, as well as

simply organiKing the work we have to do.F

+ot a bad idea,F 9ritch approved. $ut the person Im really pinning my hopes on is young -e. es


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the most original mind we have. The rest of mGwell, lets face it. 'ere shackled by the

preconceptions we brought from home. es naturally inventive, isnt heHF

Puiet,F #erode said. ere he comes.F

& few minutes later they were all assembled around the rough table> &rbogast at the head by custom,

#erode on his right. *ince, during the voyage here, everyone had grown used to obeying their captain,relying on their doctor, it had been automatic to let them remain in charge. Then came 9ritch, $endle,

&ldric, heffy, self?elected for their specialist knowledge or professional skills. $endle looked terribly

tired. Then (rnelle, subdued and wan, and last, facing &rbogast, -e, who had been co?opted when heproposed the ropewalk over the river, and since then had come up with several suggestions for

improvised gadgetry that surprised even heffy, with his etensive grounding in early human history.

No, Nanseltine wouldn*t $it in, #erode thought. That*s our +usti$ication $or bein' here" We wor) well

to'ether" He*s a #an accusto#ed to 'ivin' orders, nothin' else" And he*s not even a co#!etent !lanner,reall&, +ust a #outh!iece $or co#!uters o$ the )ind we don*t have.

$ut it had worried him that no woman had emerged who was an obvious choice for a position of

authority like the rest of them. Thinking ahead to the days when there might be time for petty politics,when the single women would be a pressure group to reckon with, he had hit on (rnelle, becauseGashe had told 9ritchGshe had become a kind of housemother figure. e was not, though, entirely sure

she was a good choice.

*till, time would tell.

e waited. There was silence. They looked epectantly at &rbogast, who had his hands on the table

palms up, the fingers curled over. e didnt raise his head.

In a grating voice he said suddenly, IGI think I should vacate this place in favor of someone who

deserves it.F

e thrust back his chair with a scraping noise and walked out, looking neither right nor left.

$endle and (rnelle, astonished, made to stop him. #erode and 9ritch echanged glances and signaled to

the others not to speak. 'hen &rbogast was gone, #erode made up his mind. e moved to the head ofthe table and cleared his throat.

Im afraid the captain is unwell,F he said. es been much affected byGwell, by whats become of

his ship. 4ou know about this already, I thinkHF

+ods from -e, &ldric, heffy, 9ritch. #erode glanced down at notes he had made, spread on the table

before him.

*o Ill have a !uiet talk with him later. 9or now, lets not discuss it, but get straight down to business.Ill report on the health situation, then well hear from -e regarding the ship, 9ritch about

accommodation, $endle about our summer biosphere, &ldric about material resources, heffy aboutpossible new proJects. Then well draw up a priorities list, and before we adJourn I think wed betterGuhGspend a little time on a problem which is going to come up at the assembly tomorrow, which is the

reason for my asking (rnelle to Join us. 0ightF

It wasnt too bad. It wasnt too bad at all. 'hen they had run through all the reports and the list was

complete but for some undecided !uestions concerning relative urgency, #erode Judged they were readyto hear his recommendation, not included in his initial statement, about permitting some eperimental


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births. e added the rider that the permission should be limited to the immediate future so that children

now conceived would be delivered before the fall.

&nd that brings us to a special problem of group discipline,F he wound up. 'arning them that the

matter should not be mentioned outside this room, he eplained about %elvia.

&ll of them looked to (rnelle for comment. *he had not previously spoken.

&s to the !uestion of children,F she said slowly, I think weve got to say yes. +ot only because it mayhelp to give us the psychological roots well need to live hereF

& good point. &pproving nods.

$ut also because there were few enough of us to start with, and now the winter has wiped out the

other partyGF

(rnelleF #erode cut in, seeing dismayed looks all around the table. Theres no proof that the othershavent survived.F

'ell, nobody said anything at this meeting about sending an epedition to find outF (rnelle retorted.

That means youre taking it for granted, doesnt itHF

(f course not,F #erode soothed. Its because we need all our manpower until weve coped with ourreally urgent problems.F

+onsense. If anyone here believed they were alive, youd be eager to get up to the plateau and see ifwe can help each other.F (rnelle spoke with finality. &nyway, I dont see why we need to argue about

%elvia. Ive been mulling the !uestion over, and Im damned certain theres no !uestion of imposing an

abortion on her. *hes much more likely to come asking you for one. *hed find a child too much of ahandicap on herGher other activities. $elieve me. Ive had the whole winter to watch her at close

!uarters, you know.F

Thats as may be,F #erode said. 'hat Im worried about is the risk that if the news gets around, there

may be still more resentment against her, because we didnt enforce what was, after all, a decision

taken collectively by us all.F(h, sureF (rnelle leaned forward, elbows on the table. $ut theres something that doesnt seem to

have occurred to all you men. It wasnt conscious choice that led all the women to agree to a ban on

babies. It was despair. &pathy. The belief that there wasnt any!ointin having children, because wewere all !uite likely to die, adults, children, the lot. &ll right, youre now about to convince everybody

that we arent doomed, what with your nice tidy plans that youve been discussing. *o youve got to

face this brand?new problemF *he slapped the table. 'hat are you going to do, once youve madepeople confident, if they decideGcollectivelyGtheyre no longer going to do eactly as you self?

appointed eperts tell themHF

Chapter 6OCD

Im glad you thought of inviting (rnelle,F -e said in a low voice. #erode glanced up from shuffling

his notes back into their original order. The substance they were written on had been their first fortunatediscovery hereL there was a river?plant whose leaves grew in tight yellow scrolls which, unrolled, could

be dried and trimmed to make an ecellent substitute for paper. Though they did stink for a long while

after cutting.


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The others were already at the door. (rnelle herself was outside, beyond earshot. +onetheless #erode

replied e!ually softly.

'hy do you think it was a good ideaH *he hasnt been a very constructive contributor, and Im

revising my opinion of her.F

+o, it was useful having her here.F -e perched himself on a corner of the table, one long legswinging from the knee, his lean face serious under his roughly?trimmed dark hair. )now what the

trouble is with most of our people, %ocHF

Tell me your diagnosis,F #erode invited sourly.

0emoteness from reality,F -e said, unperturbed. +ot in any clinical sense, I dont meanGnot in the

form of an overt psychological disorder. Its a straightforward conse!uence of the way were used toliving.F e leaned forward a little.

onsider how detached most of us have always been from the necessities of life. ara wasnt a very

wealthy planetL even so, it kept ticking along fine with its people putting in something like five hours a

day four days a week in technical, managerial, supervisory tasks. &nd at that arathustrans workedharder than a lot of other people. *uppose we were from Earth, for eample, where youre absolutely

free to opt for total leisureGwhere theres so much available that it literally makes no differencewhether any given person does any work.

+ow look at those of us whove had responsibility devolve on us. 'hat do we have in commonH+othing, as far as I can Judge, ecept fleibility. 'eve adJusted more rapidly than the rest, and in each

case you can see why. 9ritch, a creative person used to seeing his ideas turned into hardware, willing if

all else fails to use his own hands to make sure that goes on being true. $endle a research scientist whocan let his lifelong interest in new flora and fauna drive him day after day. heffy, an amateur historian

who has at least some comprehension of what life must be like if you dont have automated factories all

around you. &ldric, a model?maker, a craftsman born out of his time. &nd you, used to working onother peoples behalf. +o, dont deny it. +ow youre stuck with the Job &rbogast couldnt handle, and

modesty is going to be a handicap.F

#erode studied -e thoughtfully. This was an aspect of the younger man he hadnt previously

encountered. e said, uriously enough I was thinking about that Just before the meeting.F

+ot in connection with +anseltine, by any chanceHF

4es. ow did you guessHF

%idnt guess. *melled it coming, you might say. Thats why I said Im glad (rnelle came along

tonight. $ecause shes typical of our human resources. 4ou arent. 9ritch isnt. $ut Im afraid

+anseltine is absolutely archetypal.F

I hope youre very wrong,F #erode said after a pause. &ll Ive heard from him latelyGor from hiswife, come to thatGis a stream of complaints disguised as helpful criticism, and a lot of

hypochondriacal disease symptoms. ow he ever held down his continental managers post, I shallnever know.F e hesitated.

$ut, speaking of the reasons for us winding up as members of the committee> how about youH If youdisapprove of people being modest, I guess that entitles me to tell you that you possess the most

original mind among us all. Item> you said you had no training for space, but when it turned out that

that crewman had gone on ground?leave and not come back, you were the one who served as scratch

crew, rightH &nd I dont recall any complaints from &rbogast. &nd you hit on the ropewalk, and I thinkit was you who realiKed we could adapt a spacesuit to dive in search of young $endle, andGwell, and


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so on. +ow its got to the point where, if we hit a snag, were likely to go ask you for a solution instead

of puKKling one out ourselves. 4et I realiKe I know practically nothing about you.F

-e laughed and rose to his feet, stretching. 'ell, %oc, thats not surprising. 'e were almost all total

strangers, werent weH 'e Just got thrown together.F

I think I might have a straight answer.F #erode looked the younger man in the eyes. e had to tip hishead back to do so. 4ouve eplained why 9ritch and $endle and the rest of us are fitted to cope here.

Ive Just eplained why you are. $utGwell, it cant be nothing more than lack of ingrained preJudice

about the way the universe ought to function ow old are you, anywayHF

-e hesitated. e said finally, Twenty, Earth?basic years.F

'hatHF #erode took a pace backward. +ow look here, -e Im medically trained, and I say twentysridiculous. 4oure a biological thirty in eceptional shape, give or take a yearF

+o, in fact Im not.F -e seemed oddly embarrassed. ThatsGuhGprotective coloration. 4ou see,

Im a trainee polymath. Tetraploid genes, modified neurons, vision etended into the infrared,

heightened reflees, accelerated nerve?signal transmission, compacted bone structure, inducedimmunity to more or less everything (h, they gave me the full treatment. $ut I cant take credit for

any of it. It was all done for me.F#erodes mouth had fallen unashamedly open. +ow he realiKed and snapped it shut. &!olathF he

eploded. 'hy in all of space didnt you say so beforeHF

$ecause when I say trainee I mean trainee.F -es voice was level but sharp. ave you any idea how

far I was from completing my studiesH (f course you havent. -onger than Ive lived up to now It

takes a !uarter?century to make a finished polymath. If &rbogast hadnt moved out of that chair tonight,

I wouldnt have told you. &nd I dont want you to tell anybody else.F

+o +o, you cant say that.F #erode was sweatingL the single lamp which theyd lighted at sunset

gleamed on his face. -e, of all the people here youre the only one whos been given any kind of

preparation for a situation like ours. That means youre the one best fitted for overall responsibility.

-ike it or not, youre better fitted than I am, anyhowF

Think again,F -e said stonily. Think why I was given an appearance ten years over my

chronological age. 4ou, and all the rest, are thinking of me nonetheless as Fyoung -e.Q ow old are

you, %ocH *eventyH

*ity?nine.F

&nd a long way from old. &verage life?epectancy on ara isGwasGone hundred twelve for men,one hundred eighteen for women. 'hats it going to be around here, without geriatric clinics, tissue

regenerants, orthophased dietsGnot to mention withall kinds of as?yet undetermined deficiencies,

allergies, maybe infectionsH In one generation itll be cut by three?!uarters at least, and someone yourage will be a remarkable old man $ut right now none of the older people, least of all those who used to

possess rank on ara, will accept orders from a mere Qyoungster. 4ou know that &nd one more thingFe poked a finger toward #erode.

& polymath is trained to take charge of a newly opened planet. One !articular !lanet. e doesnt evenmove to it until hes past forty. es not left in sole charge until hes sity. &t ninety hes usually retired

because the Job has been done. Rery often he dies a few years later, burned out. $ut satisfied. $ecause

hes had a lifelong love affair with an entire planet, something no conceivable human relationship could

match. es known it more intimately than most husbands ever get to know their wives.F

e moved toward the door, a shadow approaching deeper shadow outside. (n the threshold he glanced


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back for a moment.

'hich may eplain to you the most important thing. This is not #&world. I dont wantthe Job.F

(utside, the alien star?patterns loomed out of soft velvet sky. Moodily -e walked toward the single

mens house, from which drifted the sound of laughter. $ut he had only gone a few yards when he

heard his name spoken, and he turned to find (rnelle standing there uncertainly, hands linked beforeher.

%o you mind walking down the hill with meHF she said in a low voice. IGI was wanting to ask you a

favor. I dont want to seem to be meddling in other peoples affairs, but I think someones got to take

responsibility, and and, to be honest, after sitting through your committee meeting, I find everyoneelse in the bunch presumptuous and bossy.F

-e sighed, knowing the sound was too faint to be heard, and said politely, 'ell, if theres anything I

can do to helpF

*he fell in beside him, not looking at him. It was talking about %elvia that made up my mind for me,Fshe said. 4ou know +alineHF

(f course. +ot very well.F

'hat do you think of herHF

-e pondered for a moment, wondering what this was leading up to. e said, 9rankly, she hasnt made

much impression on me. *hes probably shy by nature, though she does overcompensate by sometimes

being brash. /nsure of herself, badly upset like the rest of us with less adult eperience to help stabiliKeherGshes only siteen, isnt sheH $ut shes above average intelligence. *hell make out.F

&ttractiveHF

Now wh& as) thatH -es interest began to !uicken. In fact, she was rather plain, with a characterless

round face and a figure which, though hunger had melted off the puppy?fat, was nothing to remark on.

er long dark hair was her best feature, but shed said something today about cutting it off.

e compromised. I guess maybe not very, if youre Judging by the standards of ara. $ut standards

are going to change, and change fast, under these conditions.F

(rnelle halted. They had come to the riverbank at the spot where she had to turn toward the single

womens house. +ow she turned and faced him.

-ook, -e. Ill be blunt. +aline isnt pretty. *he is young, but that wont last. &nd I well, I had twindaughters at home, not as old as her, but nearly. &nd theres %elvia, who doesnt care much about other

people. *he uses them. -uckily most adults know how to prevent that happening. +aline doesnt.F

I still dont see,F -e murmured. In fact he was starting to suspect what she was referring to, but he

wanted her to spell it out.Ive tried to keep things !uiet,F (rnelle said. I didnt want to cause any worse rows in thatclaustrophobic place than weve been enduring all along.F & gesture toward the womens house. &nd

%el does have some good traitsL shes a capable person, and she certainly has vitality, though shes very

coarse and insensitive with it. *o +aline must have been flattered when %el took to courting her.F

4ou mean that literallyHF

an you imagine %el settling for half?measuresH (h, she isnt the only one I mean, one realiKes its

part of human nature, and all of us being cooped up together like that $ut for %el its nothing more


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than a stopgap.F *he caught herself, then gave a sour chuckle. 4es, thats a very apt term *he does

have some signs of a conscience, I must admit. I mean, she hasnt Just thrown +aline aside now the

winters over and theres a chance to sneak off in the woods with men again. $ut +aline is Just clinging

on by a hair now, and sooner or later shes going to have a terrible shock when %el starts paradingaround with a man she prefers.F

9rowning, -e said, 4ou dont think shes found him alreadyHF

er pregnancyH (h, shes probably been dragging the nearest man up the hill twice a day since it got

warm enough to he down without frostbite. Trying all of them in turn.F

It crossed -es mind that if that were true then %elvia was making a better adJustment to the realitiesof their new home than (rnelle, or indeed practically anybody else.

'ell, youve eplained the problem,F he said. $ut I dont see what I can do.F

%on