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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/23764-h.zip b/23764-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2187b3a --- /dev/null +++ b/23764-h.zip diff --git a/23764-h/23764-h.htm b/23764-h/23764-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..40518c5 --- /dev/null +++ b/23764-h/23764-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1971 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Bramble Bush, by Randall Garrett + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + + sub {vertical-align: text-bottom;} + + h1,h2 {text-align: left; clear: both;} + + hr {width: 33%; margin: 1em auto; clear: both;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .figcenter {margin: 1em auto; text-align: center;} + + .poem {text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 2em 0em 2em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + .trans1 {border: solid 1px; margin: 1em 15%; padding: 1em; text-align: justify;} + + img {border: none} + + .cpoem {width: 17em; margin: 0 auto;} + + .rgt {text-align: right; margin-top: 0;} + + p.cap:first-letter {font-size: 200%; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: .7em;} + + .illo {margin-bottom: 2em; font-size: smaller; font-weight: bold; text-align: left;} + .tease {font-weight: bold; font-size: large;} + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bramble Bush, by Gordon Randall Garrett + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Bramble Bush + +Author: Gordon Randall Garrett + +Illustrator: Schelling + +Release Date: December 7, 2007 [EBook #23764] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BRAMBLE BUSH *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<h1><big>The Bramble Bush</big></h1> + +<p class="tease">Usually, if a man's gotten into bad trouble<br /> +by getting into something,<br /> +he's a fool to go back. But there are times ...</p> + +<h2>by Randall Garrett</h2> + +<p class="illo">Illustrated by Schelling</p> + + +<div class="cpoem"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>There was a man in our town,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>And he was wond'rous wise;</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>He jumped into a bramble bush,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>And scratch'd out both his eyes!</i><br /></span> +<p class="rgt">—Old Nursery Rhyme</p></div></div></div> + + +<p>Peter de Hooch was dreaming that +the moon had blown up when he +awakened. The room was dark except +for the glowing night-light near the +door, and he sat up trying to separate +the dream from reality. He focused +his eyes on the glow-plate. What had +wakened him? Something had, he +was sure, but there didn't seem to be +anything out of the ordinary now.</p> + +<p>The explosion in his dream had +seemed extraordinarily realistic. He +could still remember vividly the vibration +and the <i>cr-r-r-ump!</i> of the +noise. But there was no sign of what +might have caused the dream +sequence.</p> + +<p>Maybe something fell, he thought. +He swung his legs off his bed and +padded barefoot over to the light +switch. He was so used to walking +under the light lunar gravity that he +was no longer conscious of it. He +pressed the switch, and the room was +suddenly flooded with light. He +looked around.</p> + +<p>Everything was in place, apparently. +There was nothing on the floor +that shouldn't be there. The books +were all in their places in the bookshelf. +The stuff on his desk seemed +undisturbed.</p> + +<p>The only thing that wasn't as it +should be was the picture on the +wall. It was a reproduction of a painting +by Pieter de Hooch, which he had +always liked, aside from the fact that +he had been named after the seventeenth-century +Dutch artist. The picture +was slightly askew on the wall.</p> + +<p>He was sleepily trying to figure out +the significance of that when the +phone sounded. He walked over and +picked it up. "Yeah?"</p> + +<p>"Guz? Guz? Get over here quick!" +Sam Willows' voice came excitedly +from the instrument.</p> + +<p>"Whatsamatter, Puss?" he asked +blearily.</p> + +<p>"Number Two just blew! We need +help, Guz! Fast!"</p> + +<p>"I'm on my way!" de Hooch said.</p> + +<p>"Take C corridor," Willows +warned. "A and B caved in, and the +bulkheads have dropped. Make it +snappy!"</p> + +<p>"I'm gone already," de Hooch said, +dropping the phone back into place.</p> + +<p>He grabbed his vacuum suit from +its hanger and got into it as though +his own room had already sprung an +air leak.</p> + +<p><i>Number Two has blown!</i> he +thought. That would be the one that +Ferguson and Metty were working +on. What had they been cooking? He +couldn't remember right off the bat. +Something touchy, he thought; something +pretty hot.</p> + +<p>But that wouldn't cause an atomic +reactor to blow. It obviously hadn't +been a nuclear blow-up of any proportions, +or he wouldn't be here now, +zipping up the front of his vac suit. +Still, it had been powerful enough to +shake the lunar crust a little or he +wouldn't have been wakened by the +blast.</p> + +<p>These new reactors could get out a +lot more power, and they could do a +lot more than the old ones could, but +they weren't as safe as the old heavy-metal +reactors, by a long shot. None +had blown up yet—quite—but there +was still the chance. That's why they +were built on Luna instead of on +Earth. Considering what they could +do, de Hooch often felt that it would +be safer if they were built out on +some nice, safe asteroid—preferably +one in the Jovian Trojan sector.</p> + +<p>He clamped his fishbowl on tight, +opened the door, and sprinted toward +Corridor C.</p> + +<p>The trouble with the Ditmars-Horst +reactor was that it lacked any +automatic negative-feedback system. +If a D-H decided to go wild, it went +wild. Fortunately, that rarely happened. +The safe limits for reactions +were quite wide—wider, usually, than +the reaction limits themselves, so that +there was always a margin of safety. +And within the limits, a nicety of +control existed that made nucleonics +almost an esoteric branch of chemistry. +Cookbook chemistry, practically.</p> + +<p>Want deuterium? Recipe: To +1.00813 gms. purest Hydrogen-1 add, +slowly and with care, 1.00896 +gms. fine-grade neutrons. Cook until +well done in a Ditmars-Horst reactor. +Yield: 2.01471 gms. rare old +deuterium plus some two million million +million ergs of raw energy. Now +you are cooking with gas!</p> + +<p>All you had to do was keep the reaction +going at a slow enough rate so +that the energy could be bled off, and +there was nothing to worry about. +Usually. But control of the feebleizer +fields still wasn't perfect, because the +fields that enfeebled the reactions +and made them easy to control weren't +yet too well understood.</p> + +<hr style='width: 15%;' /> + +<p>Peter de Hooch turned into Corridor +C and kept on running. There +was plenty of air still in this corridor, +and there was apparently little likelihood +of his needing his vac suit. But +on the moon nobody responds to an +emergency call without a vac suit.</p> + +<p>He was troubled about Corridors +A and B. The explosion must have +been pretty violent to have sealed off +two of the four corridors leading +from the living quarters to the reaction +labs. Two corridors went directly +to one of the reactors, two went directly +to the second. Two more connected +the reactor labs themselves, +putting the labs and the living quarters +at the corners of an equilateral +triangle. (Peter had never been able +to figure out why A and B corridors +led to Reactor Two, while C and D +led to Reactor One. Logically, he +thought, it should have been the other +way around. Oh, well.)</p> + +<p>Going down C meant that he'd +have to get to Reactor Two the long +way around.</p> + +<p>What had the damage been? he +asked himself. Had anyone been +hurt? Or killed? He pushed the questions +out of his mind. There was no +point in speculating. He'd have +the information soon enough.</p> + +<p>He took the cutoff to the left, at a +sixty-degree angle to Corridor C, +which led him directly to Corridor +E, by-passing Reactor One. He noticed +as he went by that the operations +lamp was out. Nobody was +working with Reactor One.</p> + +<p>As he pounded on down the empty +corridor, he suddenly realized that he +hadn't seen anyone else running with +him. There were five other men in +the reactor station, and—so far—he +had seen no one. He knew where +Willows was, but where were Ferguson, +Metty, Laynard, and Quillan? +He pushed those questions out of his +mind, too, for the time being.</p> + +<p>A head popped out of the door at +the far end of the corridor.</p> + +<p>"Guz! <i>Hurry</i>, Guz!"</p> + +<p>De Hooch didn't bother to answer +Willows. He was short of breath as it +was. He knew, besides, that no answer +was expected. He had known +Willows for years, and knew how he +thought. It was Willows who had first +tagged de Hooch with that silly nickname, +"Guzzle". Not because Peter +was such a heavy drinker—although +he could hold it like a gentleman—but +because he had thought "Guzzle" +de Hooch was so uproariously funny. +"Nobody likes a guzzle as well as de +Hooch," he'd say, with an idiot grin. +As a result, everybody called Peter +"Guz" now.</p> + +<p>The head had vanished back into +the control room of Reactor Two. De +Hooch kept on running, his breath +rasping loudly in the confines of the +fishbowl helmet. Running four hundred +yards isn't the easiest thing in +the world, even if a man is in good +physical condition. There was less +weight to contend with, but the mass +that had to be pushed along remained +the same. The notion that running on +Luna was an effortless breeze was one +that only Earthhuggers clung to.</p> + +<p>He ran into the control room and +stopped, panting heavily. "What ... +happened?"</p> + +<p>Sam Willows' normally handsome +face looked drawn. "Something went +wrong. I don't know what. I was finishing +up with Reactor One when I +heard the explosion. They are both"—he +gestured toward the reactor—"both +in there."</p> + +<p>"Still alive?"</p> + +<p>"I think so. One of 'em, anyway. +Take a look."</p> + +<p>De Hooch went over to the periscope +and put his eyes to the binoculars. +He could see two figures in +heavy, dull-gray radiation-proof suits. +They were lying flat on the floor, +and neither was moving. De Hooch +said as much.</p> + +<p>"The one on the left was moving +his arm—just a little," Willows said. +"I'll swear he was."</p> + +<p>Something in the man's voice made +de Hooch turn his head away from +the periscope's eyepieces. Willows' +face was gray, and a thin film of +greasy perspiration reflected the light +from the overhead plates. The man +was on the verge of panic.</p> + +<p>"Calm down, Puss," de Hooch said +gently. "Where's Quillan and Laynard?"</p> + +<p>"They're in their rooms," Willows +said in a tight voice. "Trapped. The +bulkheads have closed 'em off in A. +No air in the corridor. We'll have to +dig 'em out. I called 'em both on the +phone. They're all right, but they're +trapped."</p> + +<p>"Did you call Base?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. They haven't got a ship. +They sent three moon-cats, though. +They ought to be here by morning."</p> + +<p>De Hooch looked up at the chronometer +on the wall. Oh one twelve, +Greenwich time. "Morning" meant +any time between eight and noon; +the position of the sun up on the surface +had nothing to do with Lunar +time. As a matter of fact, there was a +full Earth shining at the moment, +which meant that it wouldn't be dawn +on the surface for a week yet.</p> + +<p>"If the cats from Base get here by +noon, we'll be O.K., won't we?" de +Hooch asked.</p> + +<p>"Look at the instruments," Willows +said.</p> + +<p>De Hooch ran a practiced eye over +the console and swallowed. "What +were they running?"</p> + +<p>"Mercury 203," Willows said. +"Half-life forty-six point five days. +Beta and gamma emitter. Converts to +Thallium 203, stable."</p> + +<p>"What did they want with a kilogram +of the stuff?"</p> + +<p>"Special order. Shipment to Earth +for some reason."</p> + +<p>"Have you checked the end-point? +She's building up fast."</p> + +<p>"No. No. I haven't." He wet his +lips with the tip of his tongue.</p> + +<p>"Check it," said de Hooch. "Do any +of the controls work?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. I didn't want to +fiddle with them."</p> + +<p>"You start giving them a rundown. +I'm going to get into a suit +and go pull those two out of there—if +they're still alive." He opened the +locker and took his radiation-proof +suit out. He checked it over carefully +and began shucking his vac suit.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="cap">A few minutes delay in getting to +the men in the reactor's anteroom +didn't matter much. If they hadn't +been killed outright, and were still +alive, they would probably live a +good deal longer. The shells of the +radiation suits didn't look damaged, +and the instruments indicated very +little radiation in the room. Whatever +it was that had exploded had done +most of its damage at the other end +of the reactor. Evidently, a fissure had +been opened to the surface, forty feet +above—a fissure big enough to let all +the air out of A and B corridors, and +activate the automatic bulkheads to +seal off the airless section.</p> + +<p>What troubled him was Willows. +If he hadn't known the man so well, +de Hooch would have verbally blasted +him where he stood.</p> + +<p>His reaction to trouble had been +typical. De Hooch had already seen +Willows in trouble three times, and +each time, the reaction had been the +same: near panic. Every time, his first +thought had been to scream for help +rather than to do anything himself. +Almost anyone else would have made +one call and then climbed into a radiation +suit to get Ferguson and Metty +out of the anteroom. There was certainly +no apparent immediate danger. +But all that Willows had done +was yell for someone to come and do +his thinking and acting for him. He +had called Base; he had called de +Hooch; he had called Quillan and +Laynard. But he hadn't done anything +else.</p> + +<p>Now he had to be handled with +kid gloves. If de Hooch didn't act +calm, if he didn't go about things just +right, Willows might very likely go +over the line into total panic. As long +as he had someone to depend on, he'd +be all right, and de Hooch didn't +want to lose the only help he had +right now.</p> + +<p>"Fermium 256," said Willows in a +tight, flat voice.</p> + +<p>"What?" de Hooch asked calmly.</p> + +<p>"Fermium 256," Willows repeated. +"That's what the stuff is going to +start building towards. Spontaneous +fission. Half-life of three hours." He +took a deep breath. "The reactor won't +be able to contain it. We haven't got +that kind of bleed-off control."</p> + +<p>"No," de Hooch agreed. "I suggest +we stop it."</p> + +<p>"The freezer control isn't functioning," +Willows said. "I guess that's +what they went in there to correct."</p> + +<p>"I doubt it," de Hooch said carefully. +"They wouldn't have needed +suits for that. They must have had +something else bothering them. I'd be +willing to bet they went in to pull a +sample and something went wrong."</p> + +<p>"Why? What makes you think so?"</p> + +<p>"If there'd been trouble, they'd +have called for someone to stay here +at the console. Both of them wouldn't +have gone in if there was any trouble."</p> + +<p>"Yeah. Yeah, I guess you're right." +He looked visibly relieved. "What do +you suppose went wrong?"</p> + +<p>"Look at your meters. Four of 'em +aren't registering."</p> + +<p>Willows looked. "I hadn't noticed. +I thought they were just registering +low. You're right, though. Yeah. +You're right. The surface bleed-off. +Hydrogen loss. Blew a valve, is all. +Yeah." He grinned a little. "Must've +been quite a volcano for a second or +two."</p> + +<p>De Hooch grinned back at him. +"Yeah. Must've. Give me a hand with +these clamps."</p> + +<p>Willows began fastening the +clamps on the heavy suit. "D'you +think Ferguson and Metty are O.K., +Guz?" he asked.</p> + +<p>De Hooch noticed it was the first +time he had used the names of the +two men. Now that there was a +chance that they were alive, at least in +his own mind, he was willing to admit +that they were men he knew. +Willows didn't want to think that +anyone he knew had done such a terrible +thing as die. It hit too close to +home.</p> + +<p>The man wasn't thinking. He was +willing to grasp at anything that offered +him a chance—dream straws. +The idea was to keep him busy, keep +his mind on trivia, keep him from +thinking about what was going on inside +that reactor.</p> + +<p>He should have known automatically +that it was building toward +Fermium 256. It was the most logical, +easiest, and simplest way for a +D-H reactor to go off the deep end.</p> + +<p>A Ditmars-Horst reactor took advantage +of the fact that any number +can be expressed as the sum of powers +of two—and the number of +nucleons in an atomic nucleus was no +exception to that mathematical rule.</p> + +<p>Building atoms by adding nucleons +wasn't as simple as putting marbles in +a bag because of the energy differential, +but the energy derived from the +fusion of the elements lighter than +Iron 56 could be compensated for by +using it to pack the nuclei heavier +than that. The trick was to find +a chain of reactions that gave the +least necessary energy transfer. The +method by which the reactions were +carried out might have driven a mid-Twentieth +Century physicist a trifle +ga-ga, but most of the reactions themselves +would have been recognizable.</p> + +<p>There were several possible reactions +which Ferguson and Metty could +have used to produce Hg-203, but de +Hooch was fairly sure he knew which +one it was. The five-branch, double-alpha-addition +scheme was the one +that was easiest to use—and it was +the only one that started the damnable +doubling chain reaction, where +the nuclear weights went up exponentially +under the influence of the +peculiar conditions within the reactor. +2-4-8-16-32-64-128-256 ... +Hydrogen 2 and Helium 4 were stable. +So were Oxygen 16 and Sulfur +32. The reaction encountered a sticky +spot at Beryllium 8, which is highly +unstable, with a half life of ten to the +minus sixteenth seconds, spontaneously +fissioning back into two Helium +4 nuclei. Past Sulfur 32, there was a +lot of positron emission as the nuclei +fought to increase the number of +neutrons to maintain a stable balance. +Germanium 64 is not at all stable, +and neither is Neodymium 128, but +the instability can be corrected by +positive beta emission. When two +nuclei of the resulting Xenon 128 +are forced together, the positron emission +begins long before the coalescence +is complete, resulting in Fermium +256.</p> + +<p>But not even a Ditmars-Horst reactor +can stand the next step, because +matter itself won't stand it—not even +in a D-H reactor. The trouble is that +a D-H reactor <i>tries</i>. Mathematically, +it was assumed that the resulting +nucleus did exist—for an infinitesimal +instant of time. Literally, mathematically, +infinitesimal—so close to zero +that it would be utterly impossible to +measure it. Someone had dubbed the +hypothetical stuff Instantanium 512.</p> + +<p>Whether Instantanium 512 had any +real existence is an argument for +philosophers only. The results, in any +case, were catastrophic. The whole +conglomeration came apart in a grand +splatter of neutrons, protons, negatrons, +positrons, electrons, neutrinos—a +whole slew of Greek-lettered +mesons of various charges and masses, +and a fine collection of strange and +ultrastrange particles. Energy? Just +oodles and gobs.</p> + +<p>Peter de Hooch had heard about +the results. He had no desire to experience +them first hand. Fortunately, +the reaction that led up to them took +time. It could be stopped at any time +up to the Fm-256 stage. According to +the instruments, that wouldn't be for +another six hours yet, so there was +nothing at all to worry about. Even +after that it could be stopped, provided +one had a way to get rid of the +violently fissioning fermium.</p> + +<p>"Connections O.K.?" Willows asked. +His voice came over the earphones inside +the ponderous helmet of the radiation +suit.</p> + +<p>"Fine," said de Hooch. He adjusted +the double periscope so that +his vision was clear. "Perfect."</p> + +<p>He tested the controls, moving his +arms and legs to see if the suit responded. +The suit was so heavy that, +without powered joints, controlled by +servomechanisms, he would have +been unable to move, even under +Lunar gravity. With the power on, +though, it was no harder than walking +underwater in a diving suit. "All's +well, Puss," he said.</p> + +<p>"I'll keep an eye on you," said +Willows.</p> + +<p>"Fine. Well, here goes Colossus de +Hooch." He began walking toward +the door that led into the corridor +which connected the reactor anteroom +to the control room.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="cap">It took time to drag the two inert +figures out of the anteroom. All de +Hooch could do was grab them under +the armpits, apply power, and drag +them out. He went out the same way +he had come in, traversing the separate +chambers in reverse order. First +came the decontamination chamber, +where the radioactive dust that might +have settled on the suits was sluiced +off by the detergent sprays. When the +radiation detectors registered low +enough, de Hooch dragged Ferguson +into the outer chamber, then went +back and got Metty and put him +through the same process. Then he +dragged them on into the control +room so that Willows could get them +out of the heavy suits.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 616px;"> +<img src="images/001.png" width="616" height="500" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>"Can you help me, Guz?" Willows +asked. It was obvious that he didn't +want to open the suits. He didn't +want to see what might be inside. De +Hooch helped him.</p> + +<p>They were both alive, but unconscious. +Bones had been broken, and +Metty appeared to be suffering from +concussion. They were badly damaged, +but they'd live.</p> + +<p>De Hooch and Willows made two +trips down E and C corridors, carrying +the men on a stretcher, to get them +in bed. De Hooch splinted the broken +bones as best he could and gave each +of them a shot of narcodyne. He had +to do the medical work because Quillan, +the medic, was trapped in Corridor +A. He called Quillan on the +phone to tell him what had happened. +He described the signs and +symptoms of the victims as best he +could, and then did what Quillan told +him to do.</p> + +<p>"They ought to be all right," Quillan +said. "With that dope in them, +they'll be out cold for the next twelve +hours, and by that time, the boys from +Base will be here. Just leave 'em +alone and don't move 'em any more."</p> + +<p>"Right. I'll call you back later. +Right now, Puss and I are going to +see what's wrong with the control +linkages on Number Two."</p> + +<p>"Right. By-o."</p> + +<p>De Hooch and Willows walked +back to the control room of Number +Two Reactor in silence.</p> + +<p>Once inside the control room, de +Hooch said: "How are those control +circuits?" Willows was supposed to +have been checking them while he +had been dragging Ferguson and +Metty out of the antechamber.</p> + +<p>"Well, I ... I'm not sure. I'll +show you what I've found so far, Guz. +You ought to take a look at them. I +... I'd like you to take a look-see. I +think"—he gestured toward the console—"I +think they're all right except +for the freezer vernier and the pressure +release control."</p> + +<p><i>He doesn't trust his own work</i>, de +Hooch thought. <i>Well, that's all right. +Neither do I.</i></p> + +<p>Painstakingly, the two of them +went over the checking circuits. Willows +was right. The freezer and pressure +controls were inoperable.</p> + +<p>"Damn," said de Hooch. "Double +damn."</p> + +<p>"They're probably both stuck at the +firewall," Willows said.</p> + +<p>"Sure. Where else? I'll have to go +in there and unstick 'em. Help me +get back into that two-legged tank +again." He wished he knew more +about what Ferguson and Metty had +been doing. He wished he knew why +the two men had gone into the anteroom +in the first place. He wished a +lot of things, but wishing was a useless +pastime at this stage of the game.</p> + +<p>If only one of the two men had +been in a condition to talk!</p> + +<p>He got back into his radiation-proof +suit again, took one last look at +the instruments on the console, and +headed for the reactor.</p> + +<hr style='width: 15%;' /> + +<p>Through the first radiation trap—left +turn, right turn, right turn, left +turn—through the "cold" room, +through the second radiation trap, +through the decontamination chamber, +and through the third radiation +trap into the anteroom. Now that +Ferguson and Metty were safely out +of the way, he could give his attention +to the damage that had been done.</p> + +<p>Had Ferguson and Metty actually +come in to tap off a sample, as he had +suggested to Willows? He looked +around at the wreckage in the antechamber. +Quite obviously, the heavy +door of the sample chamber was wide +open, and it certainly appeared that +the wreckage was scattered from that +point. Cautiously, he went over to +look at the open sample chamber. It +looked all right, except that the bottom +was covered with a bright, metallic +dust. He rubbed his finger over it +and looked at the fingertip. A very +fine dust. And yet it hadn't been +scattered very much by the explosion. +Heavy. Very likely osmium. Osmium +187 was stable, but it wasn't a normally +used step toward Mercury 203. +Four successive alpha captures would +give Polonium 203, not mercury. +Ditto for an oxygen fusion. It could +be iridium or platinum, of course. +Whatever it was, the instruments in +his helmet told him it wasn't hot.</p> + +<p>He had a hunch that Ferguson and +Metty had been building Mercury +203 from Hafnium 179 by the process +of successive fusions with Hydrogen +3 and that something had gone wrong +with the H-3 production. It appeared +that the explosion had been a simple +chemical blast caused by the air oxidation +of H-2. But the bleeder vent at +the other end of the reactor had apparently +kicked at the same time. An +enormous amount of unused energy +had been released, blowing the entire +emergency bleeder system out.</p> + +<p>Something didn't seem right. +Something stuck in his craw, and he +couldn't figure out what it was.</p> + +<p>He opened up the conduit boxes +that led through the antechamber +from the control console to the reactor +beyond the firewall. Everything +looked fine. That meant that whatever +it was that had fouled up the controls +was on the other side of the firewall.</p> + +<p>"How does it look?" Willows' +voice came worriedly over the earphones.</p> + +<p>"Have I already said 'damn'?" de +Hooch asked.</p> + +<p>"You have," Willows said with +forced lightness. "You even said +'double damn'."</p> + +<p>"<i>Factorial</i> damn, then!" said de +Hooch.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Apparently the foul-up is on the +<i>other</i> side of the firewall."</p> + +<p>"Are you going in?"</p> + +<p>"I'll have to."</p> + +<p>"All right. Watch yourself."</p> + +<p>"I will." He went over to the periscope +that surveyed the part of the +reactor beyond the firewall. Everything +looked normal enough. He +carefully checked the pressure gauge. +Normal.</p> + +<p>"Check the spectro for me, will +you?" he asked. "Make sure that's just +the normal helium atmosphere in +there."</p> + +<p>"Sure." A pause. "Nothing but +helium, Guz. What were you expecting?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think I'd care to walk into +a hydrogen atmosphere at three hundred +Centigrade."</p> + +<p>"Neither would I, but how could +there be hydrogen in there?"</p> + +<p>"There shouldn't be. But there's +something screwy going on here, and +I can't put my finger on it."</p> + +<p>"Well, whatever it is, it isn't hydrogen +in the reactor room."</p> + +<p>"O.K. Stand by. I'm going in."</p> + +<p>He walked over to the firewall +door. On the other side of it was a +small chamber where the oxygen and +nitrogen of normal air would be +swept out before he opened the inner +door to go into the inner chamber itself. +There was no need for an air +lock, since small amounts of impurities +in the He-4 didn't bother anything.</p> + +<p>It was just as he turned the lever +that undogged the firewall door that +he realized his mistake.</p> + +<p>But it was too late.</p> + +<p>The door jerked outward, and a hot +wind picked him up and slammed +him against the far wall.</p> + +<p>There was a moment of pain.</p> + +<p>Then—nothing.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="cap"><i>There was something familiar about +the man who was turning the wheel, +but de Hooch couldn't place it. The +man was wearing a black hood, as befitted +a torturer and executioner.</i></p> + +<p><i>"Idiot," said the hooded man, giving +the wheel of the rack a little more +pressure, "explain the following: If a +half plus a half is equal to a whole, +why is halfnium plus halfnium not +equal to wholmium?"</i></p> + +<p><i>Stretched as he was on the rack, de +Hooch could not think straight because +of the excruciating pain.</i></p> + +<p><i>"Because a half is eight point two +eight per cent heavier than a hole," +said de Hooch.</i></p> + +<p><i>"You are an idiot, none the less," +said the torturer. He gave the wheel +another twist. De Hooch wanted to +scream, but he couldn't.</i></p> + +<p><i>"Try again," said the torturer. +"What is a half plus four plus four +plus four plus four plus—"</i></p> + +<p>"Stop!" <i>screamed de Hooch</i>. "Stop! +<i>Stop at the osmium!</i>"</p> + +<p><i>"Ah! But it</i> didn't <i>stop at the +osmium," said the hooded man. "It +went on and on and on. Plus four +plus four plus four plus four plus four—until +there were so many plus fours +in there that the place looked like an +old-fashioned golf course."</i></p> + +<p><i>"My legs hurt," said de Hooch. The +man was no longer wearing a hood, +but de Hooch couldn't tell if it was +Willows or himself.</i></p> + +<p><i>"We will all go together when we +go," said the man.</i></p> + +<p><i>De Hooch turned his head away +and looked at the ceiling.</i></p> + +<p>And he realized that it was the +ceiling of the antechamber.</p> + +<p>"My legs hurt," he repeated. And +he could hear the hoarse whisper inside +the helmet. He realized that he +was lying flat on his back. He had +been jarred around quite a bit in the +suit.</p> + +<p>He wondered if he could sit up. He +managed to get both arms behind +him and push himself into a sitting +position. He wiggled his feet. The +servos responded. He hurt all over, +but a little experiment told him that +he was only bruised. Nothing was +broken. He hadn't been hit as hard as +Ferguson and Metty had been.</p> + +<p>"Willows?" he said. "Willows?"</p> + +<p>There was no answer from the +earphones.</p> + +<p>He looked at the chronometer dial +inside his helmet. Oh two forty-nine. +He had been unconscious less than +ten minutes.</p> + +<p>The same glance brought his eyes +to two other dials. The internal radiation +of the suit was a little high, but +nothing to worry about. But the dial +registering the external radiation was +plenty high. Without the protection +of the suit, he wouldn't have lived +through those ten minutes.</p> + +<p>Where was Willows?</p> + +<p>And then he knew, and he pushed +any thought of further help from that +quarter out of his mind. What had to +be done would have to be done by +Peter de Hooch alone. He climbed to +his feet.</p> + +<p>His head hurt, and he swayed with +nausea and pain. Only the massive +weight of the suit's shoes kept him +upright. Then it passed, and he +blinked his eyes and shook his head +to clear it. He found he was holding +his breath, and he let it out.</p> + +<p>The trouble had been so simple, +and yet he hadn't seen it. Oh, yes, he +had! He <i>must</i> have, subconsciously. +Otherwise, how would he have +guessed that the stuff in the sampling +chamber was Osmium 187? Ferguson +and Metty <i>had</i> been trying to make +Mercury 203 by adding eight successive +tritium nuclei to Hafnium 179, +progressing through Tantalum 182, +Tungsten 185, Rhenium 188, Osmium +191, Iridium 194, Platinum +197, and Gold 200, all of which were +unstable.</p> + +<p>But the Hydrogen 3 reaction had +gone wrong. The doubling had set in, +producing Helium 4. Successive additions +of the alpha particles to Hafnium +179 had produced, first, Tungsten +183, and then Osmium 187, +both of which were stable.</p> + +<p>Ferguson and Metty, seeing that +something was wrong, drew off a sample +and then reset the reaction to +produce the Hg-203 they wanted. +Then they had come down to pick +up the sample.</p> + +<p>They hadn't realized that the helium +production had gone wild. Much +more helium than necessary was being +produced, and the bleeder valve +had failed. When they opened the +sample chamber, they got a blast of +high-pressure helium right in the +face. The shock of that sudden release +had jarred the whole atmosphere +inside the reaction chamber, and the +bleeder valve had let go. But the violence +of the pressure release had +caused a fault to the surface to open +up and had closed the valve again—jammed +it, probably. There had been +enough pressure left in there to blow +de Hooch up against the nearest wall +when he opened the door. Since the +pressure indicator system was connected +to the release system, when +one had failed, the other had failed. +That's why the pressure gauge had indicated +normal.</p> + +<p>And, of course, it had been the +pressure differential that had caused +the controls to stick. Well, they ought +to be all right now, then. He decided +he'd better take a look.</p> + +<hr style='width: 15%;' /> + +<p>The firewall door was still open. +He walked over to it and stepped into +the small chamber that led to the +inner reactor room. The inside door, +much weaker than the outer firewall +door, had been blown off its hinges. +He stepped past it and went on in.</p> + +<p>What he saw made him jerk his +glance away from the periscope in his +helmet and check his radiation detectors +again. Not much change. Relief +swept over him as he looked back at +the reactor itself. The normally dead +black walls were glowing a dull red. +It was pure thermal heat, but it +shouldn't be doing that.</p> + +<p>Moving quickly, he went over to +the place where the control cables +came in through the firewall. It took +him several minutes to assure himself +that they would function from the +control room now. There was nothing +more to do but get out of here and +get that reaction damped.</p> + +<p>He went out again, closing the +firewall door behind him and dogging +it tight. There would be no more +helium production now.</p> + +<p>He went through the radiation +trap to the decontamination chamber +to wash off whatever it was he had +picked up.</p> + +<p>The decontamination room was a +mess.</p> + +<p>De Hooch stared at the twisted +pipes and the stream of water that +gushed out of a cracked valve. The +blast had jarred everything loose. +Well, he could still scrub himself off.</p> + +<p>Except that the scrubbers weren't +working.</p> + +<p>He swore under his breath and +twisted the valve that was supposed +to dispense detergent. It did, thank +Heaven. He doused himself good +with it and then got under the flowing +water.</p> + +<p>The radiation level remained exactly +where it was.</p> + +<p>He walked over and pulled one of +the brushes off the defunct scrubber +and sudsed it up. It wasn't until he +started to use it that he got a good +look at his arms. He hadn't paid any +attention before.</p> + +<p>He walked over to the mirror to +get a good look.</p> + +<p>"You look magnificent," he told +his reflection acidly.</p> + +<p>The radiation-proof armor looked +as though it had been chrome plated.</p> + +<p>But de Hooch knew better than +that. He knew exactly what had happened. +He was nicely plated all over +with a film of mercury, which had +amalgamated itself with the metallic +surface of the suit. He was thoroughly +wet with the stuff and no amount of +water and detergent would take it off.</p> + +<p>There was something wrong with +Number Two Reactor, all right. It +had leaked out some of the Mercury +203 that Ferguson and Metty had +been making.</p> + +<p>He thought a minute. It hadn't +been leaking out just before he +opened the door in the firewall, because +Willows would certainly have +noticed the bright mercury line when +he checked with the spectroscope. +The stuff must have been released +when the pressure dropped.</p> + +<p>He walked back to the anteroom +and looked at the sampling chamber. +There were a few droplets of mercury +around the inlet.</p> + +<p>Thus far, the three pressure explosions +had wrecked about everything +that was wreckable, he thought. No, +not quite. There was still the chance +that the whole station would go if he +didn't get back into the control room +and stop that "powers of two" chain. +The detonation of Instantanium 512 +would finish the job by doing what +high-pressure helium could never do.</p> + +<p>He glanced at the thermometer. +The temperature behind the firewall +had risen to two-forty Centigrade. It +wasn't supposed to be above two hundred. +It wasn't too serious, really, because +a little heat like that wouldn't +bother a Ditmars-Horst reactor, but it +indicated that things back there weren't +working properly.</p> + +<p>He turned away and walked back +to the decontamination chamber. +There must be some way he could get +the mercury off the suit—because he +couldn't take the suit off until the +mercury was gone.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="cap">First, he tried scrubbing. That was +what showed him how upset he really +was. He had actually scrubbed the +armor on his left arm free of mercury +when he realized what he was doing +and threw the brush down in disgust.</p> + +<p>"Use your head, de Hooch!" he +told himself. What good would it do +to scrub the stuff off of the few +places he could reach? In the bulky +armor, he was worse than muscle-bound. +He couldn't touch any part of +his back; he couldn't bend far enough +to touch his legs. His shoulders were +inaccessible, even. Scrubbing was +worse than useless—it was time-wasting.</p> + +<p>He picked up the brush again and +began scrubbing at the other arm. It +gave him something to do while he +thought. While he was thinking, he +wasn't wasting time.</p> + +<p>What would dissolve mercury? Nitric +acid. Good old HNO<sub>3</sub>. Fine. Except +that the hot lab was at the other +end of the reactor, where the fissure +had let all the air out. The bulkheads +had dropped, and he couldn't get in. +And, naturally, the nitric acid would +be in the lab.</p> + +<p>For the first time, he found himself +hating Willows' guts. If he were +around, he could get some acid from +the cold lab, or even from the other +hot lab at Number One. If Willows—</p> + +<p>He stood up and dropped the +brush. "Dolt! Boob! Moron! Idiot!" +Not Willows. Himself. There was no +reason on earth—or Luna—why he +couldn't walk over to Number One +hot lab and get the stuff himself. The +habit of never leaving the lab without +thorough decontamination was so +thoroughly ingrained in him that he +had simply never thought about it +until that moment. But what did a little +contamination with radioactive +mercury mean at a time like this? He +could take F corridor to Number +One, use the decontamination chamber +and the acid from the lab, shuck +off his armor there, and come back +through E corridor. F could be cleaned +up later.</p> + +<p>So simple.</p> + +<p>He went through the light trap to +the next chamber and turned the +handle on the sliding door. The door +wouldn't budge. It had been warped +by the force of the helium blast, and it +was stuck in its grooves.</p> + +<p>Well, there were tools. The thing +could be unstuck.</p> + +<p>Peter de Hooch was a determined +man, a strong man, and a smart man. +But the door was more determined +and stronger than he was, and his intelligence +didn't give him much of an +edge right then. After an hour's hard +work, he managed to get the door +open about eighteen inches. Then it +froze fast and refused to move again. +All the power and leverage he could +bring to bear was useless. The door +had opened all it was going to open. +Beyond it, he could see the next radiation +trap—and freedom.</p> + +<p>Eighteen inches would have been +plenty of space for him to get through +if he had not been wearing the radiation-proof +suit. But he didn't dare +take that suit off. By the time he got +out of the suit, the intensely radioactive +mercury on its surface would +have made his death only a matter of +time. And not much time at that.</p> + +<p>He told himself that if it were simply +a matter of running to the control +room to shut off the D-H reactor, he'd +do it. That could have been done before +he lost consciousness. But it +wasn't that easy. Damping the reaction +took time and control. The stuff +had to be eased back slowly. Shutting +off the Ditmars-Horst would simply +blow a hole in the crust of Luna and +kill everyone if he did it now. There +were four or five men out there who +would die if he pulled anything foolish +like that. The explosion wouldn't +be as powerful as the Instantanium +512 reaction would be, but it would +be none the less deadly for all that.</p> + +<p>There had to be either a way to +scrape the mercury off the suit or a +way to open the door another six +inches.</p> + +<p>Or, he added suddenly, a way to get +safely out of the suit.</p> + +<hr style='width: 15%;' /> + +<p>At the end of another twenty minutes, +he had still thought of nothing. +He wandered around the decontamination +room, looking at everything, +hoping he might see something that +would give him a clue. He didn't.</p> + +<p>He went into the antechamber of +the reactor and glared at the door in +the firewall. The instruments said +that things were getting pretty fierce +on the other side of that wall. Temperature: +Two ninety-five and still +rising. Pressure? He carefully cracked +the inlet of the sampling chamber +and got a soft hiss. The helium was +expanding from the heat, that was all. +Part of the trouble with the reactor, +he thought, was the high percentage +of oxygen and nitrogen that had +mixed in during the ten minutes or +so that the door was open. All hell +was fixing to bust loose in there, and +he, Peter de Hooch, was right next to +it.</p> + +<p>He walked back into the decontamination +chamber.</p> + +<p>What would dissolve mercury?</p> + +<p>Mercury would dissolve gold. +Would gold dissolve mercury?</p> + +<p>Very funny.</p> + +<p>He was like a turtle, de Hooch +thought. Perfectly safe as long as he +was in his shell, but take him out of +it and he would die.</p> + +<p><i>Hell of a way to spend the night</i>, +he thought. <i>A night in shining armor.</i></p> + +<p>That struck him as funny. He began +to laugh. And laugh.</p> + +<p>He almost laughed himself sick +before he realized that it was fear and +despair that were driving him into +hysteria, not a sense of humor. He +forced himself to calmness.</p> + +<p>He must be calm.</p> + +<p>He must think.</p> + +<p>Yes.</p> + +<p>How do you go about getting rid +of a radioactive metal that is in effect +welded to the outside of your +suit?</p> + +<p>The trouble was, he was a nucleonics +engineer, not a chemist. He remembered +quite a bit of his chemistry, +of course, but not as much as he +would have liked.</p> + +<p>Could the stuff be neutralized?</p> + +<p>Sure, he told himself. Very simple. +All he had to do was go climb into +the reactor, and let the reactor do the +job. Mercury 203 plus an alpha particle +gives nice, stable Lead 207. +Just go climb right into the Ditmars-Horst +and let the Helium 4 do the +job.</p> + +<p>But the thought stuck in his mind.</p> + +<p>He kept telling himself not to panic +as Willows had done.</p> + +<p>And several minutes later, chuckling +to himself in a half demented +fashion, he opened the firewall door +and went in to let the helium do the +job.</p> + +<hr style='width: 15%;' /> + +<p>It was nearly eight in the morning, +Greenwich time, when the three surface +vehicles, with their wide Caterpillar +treads lumbered to a halt near +the kiosk that marked the entrance to +the underground site of the laboratories.</p> + +<p>"O.K.," said one of the men in the +first machine, holding a microphone +to his lips, "let's go in. If what Willows +said is true, the whole place may +blow any minute now, but I'm not +asking for volunteers. Nobody will be +any safer up here than they will down +there, and we have to do a job. Besides, +Willows wasn't completely rational. +Nobody would put on a vac +suit and run away like that if he was +in his right mind. So we can discount +a lot of what he said when we picked +him up on the road.</p> + +<p>"The five of us in this car are going +straight to Number One Reactor to +see what can be done to stop whatever +is going on. The rest of you start +trying to see if you can get those +trapped men out of A and B corridors. +All right, let's move in."</p> + +<p>Less than five minutes later, five +men went into the control room of +Number One Reactor. They found +Peter de Hooch sound asleep in the +control chair, and the instruments +showed that the Ditmars-Horst reactor +was inactive.</p> + +<p>One of the men shook de Hooch +gently, awakening him in the middle +of a snore.</p> + +<p>"What?" he said groggily.</p> + +<p>"We're here, Guz. Everything's +O.K."</p> + +<p>"Sure everything's O.K. Nothing to +it. All I did was wait until the temperature +got above three fifty-seven +Centigrade—above the boiling point +of mercury. Then I went in and let +the hot helium <i>boil</i> the stuff off me. +Nothing to it. Near boiled myself +alive, but it did the trick."</p> + +<p>"What," asked the man in a puzzled +voice, "are you talking about?"</p> + +<p>"I am a knight in dull armor," said +Peter de Hooch, dozing off again.</p> + +<p>Then he roused himself a little, and +said, without opening his eyes: "Hi +yo, Quicksilver, away." And he was +sound asleep again.</p> + + +<div class="cpoem"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>And when he saw what he had done,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>With all his might and main,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>He jumped back in that bramble bush</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>And scratch'd them in again!...</i><br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="trans1"><b>Transcriber's Note:</b><br /> +This etext was produced from <i>Analog</i> August 1962. +Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. +copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and +typographical errors have been corrected without note.</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Bramble Bush, by Gordon Randall Garrett + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BRAMBLE BUSH *** + +***** This file should be named 23764-h.htm or 23764-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/7/6/23764/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Bramble Bush + +Author: Gordon Randall Garrett + +Illustrator: Schelling + +Release Date: December 7, 2007 [EBook #23764] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BRAMBLE BUSH *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from _Analog_ August 1962. Extensive + research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on + this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical + errors have been corrected without note. Subscript characters are + shown within {braces}. + + + + +The Bramble Bush + + Usually, if a man's gotten into bad trouble + by getting into something, + he's a fool to go back. But there are times ... + +by Randall Garrett + +Illustrated by Schelling + + + _There was a man in our town, + And he was wond'rous wise; + He jumped into a bramble bush, + And scratch'd out both his eyes!_ + --Old Nursery Rhyme + + +Peter de Hooch was dreaming that the moon had blown up when he awakened. +The room was dark except for the glowing night-light near the door, and +he sat up trying to separate the dream from reality. He focused his eyes +on the glow-plate. What had wakened him? Something had, he was sure, but +there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary now. + +The explosion in his dream had seemed extraordinarily realistic. He +could still remember vividly the vibration and the _cr-r-r-ump!_ of the +noise. But there was no sign of what might have caused the dream +sequence. + +Maybe something fell, he thought. He swung his legs off his bed and +padded barefoot over to the light switch. He was so used to walking +under the light lunar gravity that he was no longer conscious of it. He +pressed the switch, and the room was suddenly flooded with light. He +looked around. + +Everything was in place, apparently. There was nothing on the floor that +shouldn't be there. The books were all in their places in the bookshelf. +The stuff on his desk seemed undisturbed. + +The only thing that wasn't as it should be was the picture on the wall. +It was a reproduction of a painting by Pieter de Hooch, which he had +always liked, aside from the fact that he had been named after the +seventeenth-century Dutch artist. The picture was slightly askew on the +wall. + +He was sleepily trying to figure out the significance of that when the +phone sounded. He walked over and picked it up. "Yeah?" + +"Guz? Guz? Get over here quick!" Sam Willows' voice came excitedly from +the instrument. + +"Whatsamatter, Puss?" he asked blearily. + +"Number Two just blew! We need help, Guz! Fast!" + +"I'm on my way!" de Hooch said. + +"Take C corridor," Willows warned. "A and B caved in, and the bulkheads +have dropped. Make it snappy!" + +"I'm gone already," de Hooch said, dropping the phone back into place. + +He grabbed his vacuum suit from its hanger and got into it as though his +own room had already sprung an air leak. + +_Number Two has blown!_ he thought. That would be the one that Ferguson +and Metty were working on. What had they been cooking? He couldn't +remember right off the bat. Something touchy, he thought; something +pretty hot. + +But that wouldn't cause an atomic reactor to blow. It obviously hadn't +been a nuclear blow-up of any proportions, or he wouldn't be here now, +zipping up the front of his vac suit. Still, it had been powerful enough +to shake the lunar crust a little or he wouldn't have been wakened by +the blast. + +These new reactors could get out a lot more power, and they could do a +lot more than the old ones could, but they weren't as safe as the old +heavy-metal reactors, by a long shot. None had blown up yet--quite--but +there was still the chance. That's why they were built on Luna instead +of on Earth. Considering what they could do, de Hooch often felt that it +would be safer if they were built out on some nice, safe +asteroid--preferably one in the Jovian Trojan sector. + +He clamped his fishbowl on tight, opened the door, and sprinted toward +Corridor C. + +The trouble with the Ditmars-Horst reactor was that it lacked any +automatic negative-feedback system. If a D-H decided to go wild, it went +wild. Fortunately, that rarely happened. The safe limits for reactions +were quite wide--wider, usually, than the reaction limits themselves, so +that there was always a margin of safety. And within the limits, a +nicety of control existed that made nucleonics almost an esoteric branch +of chemistry. Cookbook chemistry, practically. + +Want deuterium? Recipe: To 1.00813 gms. purest Hydrogen-1 add, slowly +and with care, 1.00896 gms. fine-grade neutrons. Cook until well done in +a Ditmars-Horst reactor. Yield: 2.01471 gms. rare old deuterium plus +some two million million million ergs of raw energy. Now you are cooking +with gas! + +All you had to do was keep the reaction going at a slow enough rate so +that the energy could be bled off, and there was nothing to worry about. +Usually. But control of the feebleizer fields still wasn't perfect, +because the fields that enfeebled the reactions and made them easy to +control weren't yet too well understood. + + * * * + +Peter de Hooch turned into Corridor C and kept on running. There was +plenty of air still in this corridor, and there was apparently little +likelihood of his needing his vac suit. But on the moon nobody responds +to an emergency call without a vac suit. + +He was troubled about Corridors A and B. The explosion must have been +pretty violent to have sealed off two of the four corridors leading from +the living quarters to the reaction labs. Two corridors went directly to +one of the reactors, two went directly to the second. Two more connected +the reactor labs themselves, putting the labs and the living quarters at +the corners of an equilateral triangle. (Peter had never been able to +figure out why A and B corridors led to Reactor Two, while C and D led +to Reactor One. Logically, he thought, it should have been the other way +around. Oh, well.) + +Going down C meant that he'd have to get to Reactor Two the long way +around. + +What had the damage been? he asked himself. Had anyone been hurt? Or +killed? He pushed the questions out of his mind. There was no point in +speculating. He'd have the information soon enough. + +He took the cutoff to the left, at a sixty-degree angle to Corridor C, +which led him directly to Corridor E, by-passing Reactor One. He noticed +as he went by that the operations lamp was out. Nobody was working with +Reactor One. + +As he pounded on down the empty corridor, he suddenly realized that he +hadn't seen anyone else running with him. There were five other men in +the reactor station, and--so far--he had seen no one. He knew where +Willows was, but where were Ferguson, Metty, Laynard, and Quillan? He +pushed those questions out of his mind, too, for the time being. + +A head popped out of the door at the far end of the corridor. + +"Guz! _Hurry_, Guz!" + +De Hooch didn't bother to answer Willows. He was short of breath as it +was. He knew, besides, that no answer was expected. He had known Willows +for years, and knew how he thought. It was Willows who had first tagged +de Hooch with that silly nickname, "Guzzle". Not because Peter was such +a heavy drinker--although he could hold it like a gentleman--but because +he had thought "Guzzle" de Hooch was so uproariously funny. "Nobody +likes a guzzle as well as de Hooch," he'd say, with an idiot grin. As a +result, everybody called Peter "Guz" now. + +The head had vanished back into the control room of Reactor Two. De +Hooch kept on running, his breath rasping loudly in the confines of the +fishbowl helmet. Running four hundred yards isn't the easiest thing in +the world, even if a man is in good physical condition. There was less +weight to contend with, but the mass that had to be pushed along +remained the same. The notion that running on Luna was an effortless +breeze was one that only Earthhuggers clung to. + +He ran into the control room and stopped, panting heavily. "What ... +happened?" + +Sam Willows' normally handsome face looked drawn. "Something went wrong. +I don't know what. I was finishing up with Reactor One when I heard the +explosion. They are both"--he gestured toward the reactor--"both in +there." + +"Still alive?" + +"I think so. One of 'em, anyway. Take a look." + +De Hooch went over to the periscope and put his eyes to the binoculars. +He could see two figures in heavy, dull-gray radiation-proof suits. They +were lying flat on the floor, and neither was moving. De Hooch said as +much. + +"The one on the left was moving his arm--just a little," Willows said. +"I'll swear he was." + +Something in the man's voice made de Hooch turn his head away from the +periscope's eyepieces. Willows' face was gray, and a thin film of greasy +perspiration reflected the light from the overhead plates. The man was +on the verge of panic. + +"Calm down, Puss," de Hooch said gently. "Where's Quillan and Laynard?" + +"They're in their rooms," Willows said in a tight voice. "Trapped. The +bulkheads have closed 'em off in A. No air in the corridor. We'll have +to dig 'em out. I called 'em both on the phone. They're all right, but +they're trapped." + +"Did you call Base?" + +"Yes. They haven't got a ship. They sent three moon-cats, though. They +ought to be here by morning." + +De Hooch looked up at the chronometer on the wall. Oh one twelve, +Greenwich time. "Morning" meant any time between eight and noon; the +position of the sun up on the surface had nothing to do with Lunar time. +As a matter of fact, there was a full Earth shining at the moment, which +meant that it wouldn't be dawn on the surface for a week yet. + +"If the cats from Base get here by noon, we'll be O.K., won't we?" de +Hooch asked. + +"Look at the instruments," Willows said. + +De Hooch ran a practiced eye over the console and swallowed. "What were +they running?" + +"Mercury 203," Willows said. "Half-life forty-six point five days. Beta +and gamma emitter. Converts to Thallium 203, stable." + +"What did they want with a kilogram of the stuff?" + +"Special order. Shipment to Earth for some reason." + +"Have you checked the end-point? She's building up fast." + +"No. No. I haven't." He wet his lips with the tip of his tongue. + +"Check it," said de Hooch. "Do any of the controls work?" + +"I don't know. I didn't want to fiddle with them." + +"You start giving them a rundown. I'm going to get into a suit and go +pull those two out of there--if they're still alive." He opened the +locker and took his radiation-proof suit out. He checked it over +carefully and began shucking his vac suit. + + * * * * * + +A few minutes delay in getting to the men in the reactor's anteroom +didn't matter much. If they hadn't been killed outright, and were still +alive, they would probably live a good deal longer. The shells of the +radiation suits didn't look damaged, and the instruments indicated very +little radiation in the room. Whatever it was that had exploded had done +most of its damage at the other end of the reactor. Evidently, a fissure +had been opened to the surface, forty feet above--a fissure big enough +to let all the air out of A and B corridors, and activate the automatic +bulkheads to seal off the airless section. + +What troubled him was Willows. If he hadn't known the man so well, de +Hooch would have verbally blasted him where he stood. + +His reaction to trouble had been typical. De Hooch had already seen +Willows in trouble three times, and each time, the reaction had been the +same: near panic. Every time, his first thought had been to scream for +help rather than to do anything himself. Almost anyone else would have +made one call and then climbed into a radiation suit to get Ferguson and +Metty out of the anteroom. There was certainly no apparent immediate +danger. But all that Willows had done was yell for someone to come and +do his thinking and acting for him. He had called Base; he had called de +Hooch; he had called Quillan and Laynard. But he hadn't done anything +else. + +Now he had to be handled with kid gloves. If de Hooch didn't act calm, +if he didn't go about things just right, Willows might very likely go +over the line into total panic. As long as he had someone to depend on, +he'd be all right, and de Hooch didn't want to lose the only help he had +right now. + +"Fermium 256," said Willows in a tight, flat voice. + +"What?" de Hooch asked calmly. + +"Fermium 256," Willows repeated. "That's what the stuff is going to +start building towards. Spontaneous fission. Half-life of three hours." +He took a deep breath. "The reactor won't be able to contain it. We +haven't got that kind of bleed-off control." + +"No," de Hooch agreed. "I suggest we stop it." + +"The freezer control isn't functioning," Willows said. "I guess that's +what they went in there to correct." + +"I doubt it," de Hooch said carefully. "They wouldn't have needed suits +for that. They must have had something else bothering them. I'd be +willing to bet they went in to pull a sample and something went wrong." + +"Why? What makes you think so?" + +"If there'd been trouble, they'd have called for someone to stay here +at the console. Both of them wouldn't have gone in if there was any +trouble." + +"Yeah. Yeah, I guess you're right." He looked visibly relieved. "What do +you suppose went wrong?" + +"Look at your meters. Four of 'em aren't registering." + +Willows looked. "I hadn't noticed. I thought they were just registering +low. You're right, though. Yeah. You're right. The surface bleed-off. +Hydrogen loss. Blew a valve, is all. Yeah." He grinned a little. +"Must've been quite a volcano for a second or two." + +De Hooch grinned back at him. "Yeah. Must've. Give me a hand with these +clamps." + +Willows began fastening the clamps on the heavy suit. "D'you think +Ferguson and Metty are O.K., Guz?" he asked. + +De Hooch noticed it was the first time he had used the names of the two +men. Now that there was a chance that they were alive, at least in his +own mind, he was willing to admit that they were men he knew. Willows +didn't want to think that anyone he knew had done such a terrible thing +as die. It hit too close to home. + +The man wasn't thinking. He was willing to grasp at anything that +offered him a chance--dream straws. The idea was to keep him busy, keep +his mind on trivia, keep him from thinking about what was going on +inside that reactor. + +He should have known automatically that it was building toward Fermium +256. It was the most logical, easiest, and simplest way for a D-H +reactor to go off the deep end. + +A Ditmars-Horst reactor took advantage of the fact that any number can +be expressed as the sum of powers of two--and the number of nucleons in +an atomic nucleus was no exception to that mathematical rule. + +Building atoms by adding nucleons wasn't as simple as putting marbles in +a bag because of the energy differential, but the energy derived from +the fusion of the elements lighter than Iron 56 could be compensated for +by using it to pack the nuclei heavier than that. The trick was to find +a chain of reactions that gave the least necessary energy transfer. The +method by which the reactions were carried out might have driven a +mid-Twentieth Century physicist a trifle ga-ga, but most of the +reactions themselves would have been recognizable. + +There were several possible reactions which Ferguson and Metty could +have used to produce Hg-203, but de Hooch was fairly sure he knew which +one it was. The five-branch, double-alpha-addition scheme was the one +that was easiest to use--and it was the only one that started the +damnable doubling chain reaction, where the nuclear weights went up +exponentially under the influence of the peculiar conditions within the +reactor. 2-4-8-16-32-64-128-256 ... Hydrogen 2 and Helium 4 were stable. +So were Oxygen 16 and Sulfur 32. The reaction encountered a sticky spot +at Beryllium 8, which is highly unstable, with a half life of ten to +the minus sixteenth seconds, spontaneously fissioning back into two +Helium 4 nuclei. Past Sulfur 32, there was a lot of positron emission as +the nuclei fought to increase the number of neutrons to maintain a +stable balance. Germanium 64 is not at all stable, and neither is +Neodymium 128, but the instability can be corrected by positive beta +emission. When two nuclei of the resulting Xenon 128 are forced +together, the positron emission begins long before the coalescence is +complete, resulting in Fermium 256. + +But not even a Ditmars-Horst reactor can stand the next step, because +matter itself won't stand it--not even in a D-H reactor. The trouble is +that a D-H reactor _tries_. Mathematically, it was assumed that the +resulting nucleus did exist--for an infinitesimal instant of time. +Literally, mathematically, infinitesimal--so close to zero that it would +be utterly impossible to measure it. Someone had dubbed the hypothetical +stuff Instantanium 512. + +Whether Instantanium 512 had any real existence is an argument for +philosophers only. The results, in any case, were catastrophic. The +whole conglomeration came apart in a grand splatter of neutrons, +protons, negatrons, positrons, electrons, neutrinos--a whole slew of +Greek-lettered mesons of various charges and masses, and a fine +collection of strange and ultrastrange particles. Energy? Just oodles +and gobs. + +Peter de Hooch had heard about the results. He had no desire to +experience them first hand. Fortunately, the reaction that led up to +them took time. It could be stopped at any time up to the Fm-256 stage. +According to the instruments, that wouldn't be for another six hours +yet, so there was nothing at all to worry about. Even after that it +could be stopped, provided one had a way to get rid of the violently +fissioning fermium. + +"Connections O.K.?" Willows asked. His voice came over the earphones +inside the ponderous helmet of the radiation suit. + +"Fine," said de Hooch. He adjusted the double periscope so that his +vision was clear. "Perfect." + +He tested the controls, moving his arms and legs to see if the suit +responded. The suit was so heavy that, without powered joints, +controlled by servomechanisms, he would have been unable to move, even +under Lunar gravity. With the power on, though, it was no harder than +walking underwater in a diving suit. "All's well, Puss," he said. + +"I'll keep an eye on you," said Willows. + +"Fine. Well, here goes Colossus de Hooch." He began walking toward the +door that led into the corridor which connected the reactor anteroom to +the control room. + + * * * * * + +It took time to drag the two inert figures out of the anteroom. All de +Hooch could do was grab them under the armpits, apply power, and drag +them out. He went out the same way he had come in, traversing the +separate chambers in reverse order. First came the decontamination +chamber, where the radioactive dust that might have settled on the suits +was sluiced off by the detergent sprays. When the radiation detectors +registered low enough, de Hooch dragged Ferguson into the outer chamber, +then went back and got Metty and put him through the same process. Then +he dragged them on into the control room so that Willows could get them +out of the heavy suits. + +[Illustration] + +"Can you help me, Guz?" Willows asked. It was obvious that he didn't +want to open the suits. He didn't want to see what might be inside. De +Hooch helped him. + +They were both alive, but unconscious. Bones had been broken, and Metty +appeared to be suffering from concussion. They were badly damaged, but +they'd live. + +De Hooch and Willows made two trips down E and C corridors, carrying the +men on a stretcher, to get them in bed. De Hooch splinted the broken +bones as best he could and gave each of them a shot of narcodyne. He had +to do the medical work because Quillan, the medic, was trapped in +Corridor A. He called Quillan on the phone to tell him what had +happened. He described the signs and symptoms of the victims as best he +could, and then did what Quillan told him to do. + +"They ought to be all right," Quillan said. "With that dope in them, +they'll be out cold for the next twelve hours, and by that time, the +boys from Base will be here. Just leave 'em alone and don't move 'em any +more." + +"Right. I'll call you back later. Right now, Puss and I are going to see +what's wrong with the control linkages on Number Two." + +"Right. By-o." + +De Hooch and Willows walked back to the control room of Number Two +Reactor in silence. + +Once inside the control room, de Hooch said: "How are those control +circuits?" Willows was supposed to have been checking them while he had +been dragging Ferguson and Metty out of the antechamber. + +"Well, I ... I'm not sure. I'll show you what I've found so far, Guz. +You ought to take a look at them. I ... I'd like you to take a look-see. +I think"--he gestured toward the console--"I think they're all right +except for the freezer vernier and the pressure release control." + +_He doesn't trust his own work_, de Hooch thought. _Well, that's all +right. Neither do I._ + +Painstakingly, the two of them went over the checking circuits. Willows +was right. The freezer and pressure controls were inoperable. + +"Damn," said de Hooch. "Double damn." + +"They're probably both stuck at the firewall," Willows said. + +"Sure. Where else? I'll have to go in there and unstick 'em. Help me get +back into that two-legged tank again." He wished he knew more about what +Ferguson and Metty had been doing. He wished he knew why the two men had +gone into the anteroom in the first place. He wished a lot of things, +but wishing was a useless pastime at this stage of the game. + +If only one of the two men had been in a condition to talk! + +He got back into his radiation-proof suit again, took one last look at +the instruments on the console, and headed for the reactor. + + * * * + +Through the first radiation trap--left turn, right turn, right turn, +left turn--through the "cold" room, through the second radiation trap, +through the decontamination chamber, and through the third radiation +trap into the anteroom. Now that Ferguson and Metty were safely out of +the way, he could give his attention to the damage that had been done. + +Had Ferguson and Metty actually come in to tap off a sample, as he had +suggested to Willows? He looked around at the wreckage in the +antechamber. Quite obviously, the heavy door of the sample chamber was +wide open, and it certainly appeared that the wreckage was scattered +from that point. Cautiously, he went over to look at the open sample +chamber. It looked all right, except that the bottom was covered with a +bright, metallic dust. He rubbed his finger over it and looked at the +fingertip. A very fine dust. And yet it hadn't been scattered very much +by the explosion. Heavy. Very likely osmium. Osmium 187 was stable, but +it wasn't a normally used step toward Mercury 203. Four successive alpha +captures would give Polonium 203, not mercury. Ditto for an oxygen +fusion. It could be iridium or platinum, of course. Whatever it was, the +instruments in his helmet told him it wasn't hot. + +He had a hunch that Ferguson and Metty had been building Mercury 203 +from Hafnium 179 by the process of successive fusions with Hydrogen 3 +and that something had gone wrong with the H-3 production. It appeared +that the explosion had been a simple chemical blast caused by the air +oxidation of H-2. But the bleeder vent at the other end of the reactor +had apparently kicked at the same time. An enormous amount of unused +energy had been released, blowing the entire emergency bleeder system +out. + +Something didn't seem right. Something stuck in his craw, and he +couldn't figure out what it was. + +He opened up the conduit boxes that led through the antechamber from the +control console to the reactor beyond the firewall. Everything looked +fine. That meant that whatever it was that had fouled up the controls +was on the other side of the firewall. + +"How does it look?" Willows' voice came worriedly over the earphones. + +"Have I already said 'damn'?" de Hooch asked. + +"You have," Willows said with forced lightness. "You even said 'double +damn'." + +"_Factorial_ damn, then!" said de Hooch. + +"What's the matter?" + +"Apparently the foul-up is on the _other_ side of the firewall." + +"Are you going in?" + +"I'll have to." + +"All right. Watch yourself." + +"I will." He went over to the periscope that surveyed the part of the +reactor beyond the firewall. Everything looked normal enough. He +carefully checked the pressure gauge. Normal. + +"Check the spectro for me, will you?" he asked. "Make sure that's just +the normal helium atmosphere in there." + +"Sure." A pause. "Nothing but helium, Guz. What were you expecting?" + +"I don't think I'd care to walk into a hydrogen atmosphere at three +hundred Centigrade." + +"Neither would I, but how could there be hydrogen in there?" + +"There shouldn't be. But there's something screwy going on here, and I +can't put my finger on it." + +"Well, whatever it is, it isn't hydrogen in the reactor room." + +"O.K. Stand by. I'm going in." + +He walked over to the firewall door. On the other side of it was a small +chamber where the oxygen and nitrogen of normal air would be swept out +before he opened the inner door to go into the inner chamber itself. +There was no need for an air lock, since small amounts of impurities in +the He-4 didn't bother anything. + +It was just as he turned the lever that undogged the firewall door that +he realized his mistake. + +But it was too late. + +The door jerked outward, and a hot wind picked him up and slammed him +against the far wall. + +There was a moment of pain. + +Then--nothing. + + * * * * * + +_There was something familiar about the man who was turning the wheel, +but de Hooch couldn't place it. The man was wearing a black hood, as +befitted a torturer and executioner._ + +_"Idiot," said the hooded man, giving the wheel of the rack a little +more pressure, "explain the following: If a half plus a half is equal to +a whole, why is halfnium plus halfnium not equal to wholmium?"_ + +_Stretched as he was on the rack, de Hooch could not think straight +because of the excruciating pain._ + +_"Because a half is eight point two eight per cent heavier than a hole," +said de Hooch._ + +_"You are an idiot, none the less," said the torturer. He gave the wheel +another twist. De Hooch wanted to scream, but he couldn't._ + +_"Try again," said the torturer. "What is a half plus four plus four +plus four plus four plus--"_ + +"Stop!" _screamed de Hooch_. "Stop! _Stop at the osmium!_" + +_"Ah! But it_ didn't _stop at the osmium," said the hooded man. "It went +on and on and on. Plus four plus four plus four plus four plus +four--until there were so many plus fours in there that the place looked +like an old-fashioned golf course."_ + +_"My legs hurt," said de Hooch. The man was no longer wearing a hood, +but de Hooch couldn't tell if it was Willows or himself._ + +_"We will all go together when we go," said the man._ + +_De Hooch turned his head away and looked at the ceiling._ + +And he realized that it was the ceiling of the antechamber. + +"My legs hurt," he repeated. And he could hear the hoarse whisper inside +the helmet. He realized that he was lying flat on his back. He had been +jarred around quite a bit in the suit. + +He wondered if he could sit up. He managed to get both arms behind him +and push himself into a sitting position. He wiggled his feet. The +servos responded. He hurt all over, but a little experiment told him +that he was only bruised. Nothing was broken. He hadn't been hit as hard +as Ferguson and Metty had been. + +"Willows?" he said. "Willows?" + +There was no answer from the earphones. + +He looked at the chronometer dial inside his helmet. Oh two forty-nine. +He had been unconscious less than ten minutes. + +The same glance brought his eyes to two other dials. The internal +radiation of the suit was a little high, but nothing to worry about. But +the dial registering the external radiation was plenty high. Without the +protection of the suit, he wouldn't have lived through those ten +minutes. + +Where was Willows? + +And then he knew, and he pushed any thought of further help from that +quarter out of his mind. What had to be done would have to be done by +Peter de Hooch alone. He climbed to his feet. + +His head hurt, and he swayed with nausea and pain. Only the massive +weight of the suit's shoes kept him upright. Then it passed, and he +blinked his eyes and shook his head to clear it. He found he was holding +his breath, and he let it out. + +The trouble had been so simple, and yet he hadn't seen it. Oh, yes, he +had! He _must_ have, subconsciously. Otherwise, how would he have +guessed that the stuff in the sampling chamber was Osmium 187? Ferguson +and Metty _had_ been trying to make Mercury 203 by adding eight +successive tritium nuclei to Hafnium 179, progressing through Tantalum +182, Tungsten 185, Rhenium 188, Osmium 191, Iridium 194, Platinum 197, +and Gold 200, all of which were unstable. + +But the Hydrogen 3 reaction had gone wrong. The doubling had set in, +producing Helium 4. Successive additions of the alpha particles to +Hafnium 179 had produced, first, Tungsten 183, and then Osmium 187, both +of which were stable. + +Ferguson and Metty, seeing that something was wrong, drew off a sample +and then reset the reaction to produce the Hg-203 they wanted. Then they +had come down to pick up the sample. + +They hadn't realized that the helium production had gone wild. Much more +helium than necessary was being produced, and the bleeder valve had +failed. When they opened the sample chamber, they got a blast of +high-pressure helium right in the face. The shock of that sudden release +had jarred the whole atmosphere inside the reaction chamber, and the +bleeder valve had let go. But the violence of the pressure release had +caused a fault to the surface to open up and had closed the valve +again--jammed it, probably. There had been enough pressure left in there +to blow de Hooch up against the nearest wall when he opened the door. +Since the pressure indicator system was connected to the release system, +when one had failed, the other had failed. That's why the pressure gauge +had indicated normal. + +And, of course, it had been the pressure differential that had caused +the controls to stick. Well, they ought to be all right now, then. He +decided he'd better take a look. + + * * * + +The firewall door was still open. He walked over to it and stepped into +the small chamber that led to the inner reactor room. The inside door, +much weaker than the outer firewall door, had been blown off its hinges. +He stepped past it and went on in. + +What he saw made him jerk his glance away from the periscope in his +helmet and check his radiation detectors again. Not much change. Relief +swept over him as he looked back at the reactor itself. The normally +dead black walls were glowing a dull red. It was pure thermal heat, but +it shouldn't be doing that. + +Moving quickly, he went over to the place where the control cables came +in through the firewall. It took him several minutes to assure himself +that they would function from the control room now. There was nothing +more to do but get out of here and get that reaction damped. + +He went out again, closing the firewall door behind him and dogging it +tight. There would be no more helium production now. + +He went through the radiation trap to the decontamination chamber to +wash off whatever it was he had picked up. + +The decontamination room was a mess. + +De Hooch stared at the twisted pipes and the stream of water that gushed +out of a cracked valve. The blast had jarred everything loose. Well, he +could still scrub himself off. + +Except that the scrubbers weren't working. + +He swore under his breath and twisted the valve that was supposed to +dispense detergent. It did, thank Heaven. He doused himself good with it +and then got under the flowing water. + +The radiation level remained exactly where it was. + +He walked over and pulled one of the brushes off the defunct scrubber +and sudsed it up. It wasn't until he started to use it that he got a +good look at his arms. He hadn't paid any attention before. + +He walked over to the mirror to get a good look. + +"You look magnificent," he told his reflection acidly. + +The radiation-proof armor looked as though it had been chrome plated. + +But de Hooch knew better than that. He knew exactly what had happened. +He was nicely plated all over with a film of mercury, which had +amalgamated itself with the metallic surface of the suit. He was +thoroughly wet with the stuff and no amount of water and detergent would +take it off. + +There was something wrong with Number Two Reactor, all right. It had +leaked out some of the Mercury 203 that Ferguson and Metty had been +making. + +He thought a minute. It hadn't been leaking out just before he opened +the door in the firewall, because Willows would certainly have noticed +the bright mercury line when he checked with the spectroscope. The stuff +must have been released when the pressure dropped. + +He walked back to the anteroom and looked at the sampling chamber. There +were a few droplets of mercury around the inlet. + +Thus far, the three pressure explosions had wrecked about everything +that was wreckable, he thought. No, not quite. There was still the +chance that the whole station would go if he didn't get back into the +control room and stop that "powers of two" chain. The detonation of +Instantanium 512 would finish the job by doing what high-pressure helium +could never do. + +He glanced at the thermometer. The temperature behind the firewall had +risen to two-forty Centigrade. It wasn't supposed to be above two +hundred. It wasn't too serious, really, because a little heat like that +wouldn't bother a Ditmars-Horst reactor, but it indicated that things +back there weren't working properly. + +He turned away and walked back to the decontamination chamber. There +must be some way he could get the mercury off the suit--because he +couldn't take the suit off until the mercury was gone. + + * * * * * + +First, he tried scrubbing. That was what showed him how upset he really +was. He had actually scrubbed the armor on his left arm free of mercury +when he realized what he was doing and threw the brush down in disgust. + +"Use your head, de Hooch!" he told himself. What good would it do to +scrub the stuff off of the few places he could reach? In the bulky +armor, he was worse than muscle-bound. He couldn't touch any part of his +back; he couldn't bend far enough to touch his legs. His shoulders were +inaccessible, even. Scrubbing was worse than useless--it was +time-wasting. + +He picked up the brush again and began scrubbing at the other arm. It +gave him something to do while he thought. While he was thinking, he +wasn't wasting time. + +What would dissolve mercury? Nitric acid. Good old HNO{3}. Fine. Except +that the hot lab was at the other end of the reactor, where the fissure +had let all the air out. The bulkheads had dropped, and he couldn't get +in. And, naturally, the nitric acid would be in the lab. + +For the first time, he found himself hating Willows' guts. If he were +around, he could get some acid from the cold lab, or even from the other +hot lab at Number One. If Willows-- + +He stood up and dropped the brush. "Dolt! Boob! Moron! Idiot!" Not +Willows. Himself. There was no reason on earth--or Luna--why he couldn't +walk over to Number One hot lab and get the stuff himself. The habit of +never leaving the lab without thorough decontamination was so thoroughly +ingrained in him that he had simply never thought about it until that +moment. But what did a little contamination with radioactive mercury +mean at a time like this? He could take F corridor to Number One, use +the decontamination chamber and the acid from the lab, shuck off his +armor there, and come back through E corridor. F could be cleaned up +later. + +So simple. + +He went through the light trap to the next chamber and turned the handle +on the sliding door. The door wouldn't budge. It had been warped by the +force of the helium blast, and it was stuck in its grooves. + +Well, there were tools. The thing could be unstuck. + +Peter de Hooch was a determined man, a strong man, and a smart man. But +the door was more determined and stronger than he was, and his +intelligence didn't give him much of an edge right then. After an hour's +hard work, he managed to get the door open about eighteen inches. Then +it froze fast and refused to move again. All the power and leverage he +could bring to bear was useless. The door had opened all it was going to +open. Beyond it, he could see the next radiation trap--and freedom. + +Eighteen inches would have been plenty of space for him to get through +if he had not been wearing the radiation-proof suit. But he didn't dare +take that suit off. By the time he got out of the suit, the intensely +radioactive mercury on its surface would have made his death only a +matter of time. And not much time at that. + +He told himself that if it were simply a matter of running to the +control room to shut off the D-H reactor, he'd do it. That could have +been done before he lost consciousness. But it wasn't that easy. Damping +the reaction took time and control. The stuff had to be eased back +slowly. Shutting off the Ditmars-Horst would simply blow a hole in the +crust of Luna and kill everyone if he did it now. There were four or +five men out there who would die if he pulled anything foolish like +that. The explosion wouldn't be as powerful as the Instantanium 512 +reaction would be, but it would be none the less deadly for all that. + +There had to be either a way to scrape the mercury off the suit or a way +to open the door another six inches. + +Or, he added suddenly, a way to get safely out of the suit. + + * * * + +At the end of another twenty minutes, he had still thought of nothing. +He wandered around the decontamination room, looking at everything, +hoping he might see something that would give him a clue. He didn't. + +He went into the antechamber of the reactor and glared at the door in +the firewall. The instruments said that things were getting pretty +fierce on the other side of that wall. Temperature: Two ninety-five and +still rising. Pressure? He carefully cracked the inlet of the sampling +chamber and got a soft hiss. The helium was expanding from the heat, +that was all. Part of the trouble with the reactor, he thought, was the +high percentage of oxygen and nitrogen that had mixed in during the ten +minutes or so that the door was open. All hell was fixing to bust loose +in there, and he, Peter de Hooch, was right next to it. + +He walked back into the decontamination chamber. + +What would dissolve mercury? + +Mercury would dissolve gold. Would gold dissolve mercury? + +Very funny. + +He was like a turtle, de Hooch thought. Perfectly safe as long as he was +in his shell, but take him out of it and he would die. + +_Hell of a way to spend the night_, he thought. _A night in shining +armor._ + +That struck him as funny. He began to laugh. And laugh. + +He almost laughed himself sick before he realized that it was fear and +despair that were driving him into hysteria, not a sense of humor. He +forced himself to calmness. + +He must be calm. + +He must think. + +Yes. + +How do you go about getting rid of a radioactive metal that is in effect +welded to the outside of your suit? + +The trouble was, he was a nucleonics engineer, not a chemist. He +remembered quite a bit of his chemistry, of course, but not as much as +he would have liked. + +Could the stuff be neutralized? + +Sure, he told himself. Very simple. All he had to do was go climb into +the reactor, and let the reactor do the job. Mercury 203 plus an alpha +particle gives nice, stable Lead 207. Just go climb right into the +Ditmars-Horst and let the Helium 4 do the job. + +But the thought stuck in his mind. + +He kept telling himself not to panic as Willows had done. + +And several minutes later, chuckling to himself in a half demented +fashion, he opened the firewall door and went in to let the helium do +the job. + + * * * + +It was nearly eight in the morning, Greenwich time, when the three +surface vehicles, with their wide Caterpillar treads lumbered to a halt +near the kiosk that marked the entrance to the underground site of the +laboratories. + +"O.K.," said one of the men in the first machine, holding a microphone +to his lips, "let's go in. If what Willows said is true, the whole place +may blow any minute now, but I'm not asking for volunteers. Nobody will +be any safer up here than they will down there, and we have to do a job. +Besides, Willows wasn't completely rational. Nobody would put on a vac +suit and run away like that if he was in his right mind. So we can +discount a lot of what he said when we picked him up on the road. + +"The five of us in this car are going straight to Number One Reactor to +see what can be done to stop whatever is going on. The rest of you start +trying to see if you can get those trapped men out of A and B corridors. +All right, let's move in." + +Less than five minutes later, five men went into the control room of +Number One Reactor. They found Peter de Hooch sound asleep in the +control chair, and the instruments showed that the Ditmars-Horst reactor +was inactive. + +One of the men shook de Hooch gently, awakening him in the middle of a +snore. + +"What?" he said groggily. + +"We're here, Guz. Everything's O.K." + +"Sure everything's O.K. Nothing to it. All I did was wait until the +temperature got above three fifty-seven Centigrade--above the boiling +point of mercury. Then I went in and let the hot helium _boil_ the stuff +off me. Nothing to it. Near boiled myself alive, but it did the trick." + +"What," asked the man in a puzzled voice, "are you talking about?" + +"I am a knight in dull armor," said Peter de Hooch, dozing off again. + +Then he roused himself a little, and said, without opening his eyes: "Hi +yo, Quicksilver, away." And he was sound asleep again. + + + _And when he saw what he had done, + With all his might and main, + He jumped back in that bramble bush + And scratch'd them in again!..._ + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Bramble Bush, by Gordon Randall Garrett + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BRAMBLE BUSH *** + +***** This file should be named 23764.txt or 23764.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/7/6/23764/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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