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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/31815-h.zip b/31815-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8fc0c1b --- /dev/null +++ b/31815-h.zip diff --git a/31815-h/31815-h.htm b/31815-h/31815-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..302ffbe --- /dev/null +++ b/31815-h/31815-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1570 @@ +<!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" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Student Body, by F. L. Wallace + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; background-color: #FFFFFF; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +.tr {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 2em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: dotted black 1px;} + + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.p1 { margin-left: 70%; } + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-right: 0.25em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +/* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Student Body, by Floyd L. Wallace + +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: Student Body + +Author: Floyd L. Wallace + +Illustrator: William Ashman + +Release Date: March 29, 2010 [EBook #31815] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDENT BODY *** + + + + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Robert Cicconetti, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="tr"><p class="center">Transcriber's Note:</p> +<p class="center">This etext was produced from the March 1953 issue of Galaxy. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.</p></div> +<p> </p> + + +<h1>STUDENT BODY</h1> +<p> </p> +<h2>By F. L. WALLACE</h2> +<p> </p> + +<h3>Illustrated by ASHMAN</h3> + +<p> </p> +<div class="blockquot"><p><i>When a really infallible scientific bureau makes a +drastically serious error, the data must be wrong ... but +wrong in what way?</i></p></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t1.jpg" alt="T" width="45" height="50" /></div> +<p>he first morning that they were fully committed to the planet, the +executive officer stepped out of the ship. It was not quite dawn. +Executive Hafner squinted in the early light; his eyes opened wider, +and he promptly went back inside. Three minutes later, he reappeared +with the biologist in tow.</p> + +<p>"Last night you said there was nothing dangerous," said the executive. +"Do you still think it's so?"</p> + +<p>Dano Marin stared. "I do." What his voice lacked in conviction, it +made up in embarrassment. He laughed uncertainly.</p> + +<p>"This is no laughing matter. I'll talk to you later."</p> + +<p>The biologist stood by the ship and watched as the executive walked to +the row of sleeping colonists.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Athyl," said the executive as he stopped beside the sleeping +figure.</p> + +<p>She yawned, rubbed her eyes, rolled over, and stood up. The covering +that should have been there, however, wasn't. Neither was the garment +she had on when she had gone to sleep. She assumed the conventional +position of a woman who is astonished to find herself unclad without +her knowledge or consent.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_001.jpg" width="600" height="306" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>"It's all right, Mrs. Athyl. I'm not a voyeur myself. Still, I think +you should get some clothing on." Most of the colonists were awake +now. Executive Hafner turned to them. "If you haven't any suitable +clothing in the ship, the commissary will issue you some. Explanations +will be given later."</p> + +<p>The colonists scattered. There was no compulsive modesty among them, +for it couldn't have survived a year and a half in crowded spaceships. +Nevertheless, it was a shock to awaken with no clothing on and not +know who or what had removed it during the night. It was surprise more +than anything else that disconcerted them.</p> + +<p>On his way back to the spaceship, Executive Hafner paused. "Any ideas +about it?"</p> + +<p>Dano Marin shrugged. "How could I have? The planet is as new to me as +it is to you."</p> + +<p>"Sure. But you're the biologist."</p> + +<p>As the only scientist in a crew of rough-and-ready colonists and +builders, Marin was going to be called on to answer a lot of questions +that weren't in his field.</p> + +<p>"Nocturnal insects, most likely," he suggested. That was pretty weak, +though he knew that in ancient times locusts had stripped fields in a +matter of hours. Could they do the same with the clothing of humans +and not awaken them? "I'll look into the matter. As soon as I find +anything, I'll let you know."</p> + +<p>"Good." Hafner nodded and went into the spaceship.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_d.jpg" alt="D" width="37" height="40" /></div> +<p>ano Marin walked to the grove in which the colonists had been +sleeping. It had been a mistake to let them bed down there, but at the +time the request had been made, there had seemed no reason not to +grant it. After eighteen months in crowded ships everyone naturally +wanted fresh air and the rustle of leaves overhead.</p> + +<p>Marin looked out through the grove. It was empty now; the colonists, +both men and women, had disappeared inside the ship, dressing, +probably.</p> + +<p>The trees were not tall and the leaves were dark bottle-green. +Occasional huge white flowers caught sunlight that made them seem +larger than they were. It wasn't Earth and therefore the trees +couldn't be magnolias. But they reminded Marin of magnolia trees and +thereafter he always thought of them as that.</p> + +<p>The problem of the missing clothing was ironic. Biological Survey +never made a mistake—yet obviously they had. They listed the planet +as the most suitable for Man of any so far discovered. Few insects, no +dangerous animals, a most equitable climate. They had named it Glade +because that was the word which fitted best. The whole land mass +seemed to be one vast and pleasant meadow.</p> + +<p>Evidently there were things about the planet that Biological Survey +had missed.</p> + +<p>Marin dropped to his knees and began to look for clues. If insects had +been responsible, there ought to be a few dead ones, crushed, perhaps, +as the colonists rolled over in their sleep. There were no insects, +either live or dead.</p> + +<p>He stood up in disappointment and walked slowly through the grove. It +might be the trees. At night they could exude a vapor which was +capable of dissolving the material from which the clothing had been +made. Far-fetched, but not impossible. He crumbled a leaf in his hand +and rubbed it against his sleeve. A pungent smell, but nothing +happened. That didn't disprove the theory, of course.</p> + +<p>He looked out through the trees at the blue sun. It was bigger than +Sol, but farther away. At Glade, it was about equal to the Sun on +Earth.</p> + +<p>He almost missed the bright eyes that regarded him from the +underbrush. Almost, but didn't—the domain of biology begins at the +edge of the atmosphere; it includes the brush and the small creatures +that live in it.</p> + +<p>He swooped down on it. The creature fled squealing. He ran it down in +the grass outside the grove. It collapsed into quaking flesh as he +picked it up. He talked to it gently and the terror subsided.</p> + +<p>It nibbled contentedly on his jacket as he carried it back to the +ship.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_e.jpg" alt="E" width="34" height="40" /></div> +<p>xecutive Hafner stared unhappily into the cage. It was an +undistinguished animal, small and something like an undeveloped +rodent. Its fur was sparse and stringy, unglamorous; it would never be +an item in the fur export trade.</p> + +<p>"Can we exterminate it?" asked Hafner. "Locally, that is."</p> + +<p>"Hardly. It's ecologically basic."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_002.jpg" width="600" height="359" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>The executive looked blank. Dano Marin added the explanation: "You +know how Biological Control works. As soon as a planet has been +discovered that looks suitable, they send out a survey ship loaded +with equipment. The ship flies low over a good part of the planet and +the instruments in the ship record the neural currents of the animals +below. The instruments can distinguish the characteristic neural +patterns of anything that has a brain, including insects.</p> + +<p>"Anyway, they have a pretty good idea of the kinds of animals on the +planet and their relative distribution. Naturally, the survey party +takes a few specimens. They have to in order to correlate the pattern +with the actual animal, otherwise the neural pattern would be merely a +meaningless squiggle on a microfilm.</p> + +<p>"The survey shows that this animal is one of only four species of +mammals on the planet. It is also the most numerous."</p> + +<p>Hafner grunted. "So if we kill them off here, others will swarm in +from surrounding areas?"</p> + +<p>"That's about it. There are probably millions of them on this +peninsula. Of course, if you want to put a barrier across the narrow +connection to the mainland, you might be able to wipe them out +locally."</p> + +<p>The executive scowled. A barrier was possible, but it would involve +more work than he cared to expend.</p> + +<p>"What do they eat?" he asked truculently.</p> + +<p>"A little bit of everything, apparently. Insects, fruits, berries, +nuts, succulents, and grain." Dano Marin smiled. "I guess it could be +called an omnivore—now that our clothing is handy, it eats that, +too."</p> + +<p>Hafner didn't smile. "I thought our clothing was supposed to be +verminproof."</p> + +<p>Marin shrugged. "It is, on twenty-seven planets. On the twenty-eighth, +we meet up with a little fella that has better digestive fluids, +that's all."</p> + +<p>Hafner looked pained. "Are they likely to bother the crops we plant?"</p> + +<p>"Offhand, I would say they aren't. But then I would have said the same +about our clothing."</p> + +<p>Hafner made up his mind. "All right. You worry about the crops. Find +some way to keep them out of the fields. Meanwhile, everyone sleeps in +the ship until we can build dormitories."</p> + +<p>Individual dwelling units would have been more appropriate in the +colony at this stage, thought Marin. But it wasn't for him to decide. +The executive was a man who regarded a schedule as something to be +exceeded.</p> + +<p>"The omnivore—" began Marin.</p> + +<p>Hafner nodded impatiently. "Work on it," he said, and walked away.</p> + +<p>The biologist sighed. The omnivore really was a queer little +creature, but it was by no means the most important thing on Glade. +For instance, why were there so few species of land animals on the +planet? No reptiles, numerous birds, and only four kinds of mammals.</p> + +<p>Every comparable planet teemed with a wild variety of life. Glade, in +spite of seemingly ideal conditions, hadn't developed. Why?</p> + +<p>He had asked Biological Controls for this assignment because it had +seemed an interesting problem. Now, apparently, he was being pressed +into service as an exterminator.</p> + +<p>He reached in the cage and picked up the omnivore. Mammals on Glade +were not unexpected. Parallel development took care of that. Given +roughly the same kind of environment, similar animals would usually +evolve.</p> + +<p>In the Late Carboniferous forest on Earth, there had been creatures +like the omnivore, the primitive mammal from which all others had +evolved. On Glade, that kind of evolution just hadn't taken place. +What had kept nature from exploiting its evolutionary potentialities? +There was the real problem, not how to wipe them out.</p> + +<p>Marin stuck a needle in the omnivore. It squealed and then relaxed. He +drew out the blood and set it back in the cage. He could learn a lot +about the animal from trying to kill it.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="31" height="40" /></div> +<p>he quartermaster was shouting, though his normal voice carried quite +well.</p> + +<p>"How do you know it's mice?" the biologist asked him.</p> + +<p>"Look," said the quartermaster angrily.</p> + +<p>Marin looked. The evidence did indicate mice.</p> + +<p>Before he could speak, the quartermaster snapped, "Don't tell me +they're only mice-like creatures. I know that. The question is: how +can I get rid of them?"</p> + +<p>"Have you tried poison?"</p> + +<p>"Tell me what poison to use and I'll use it."</p> + +<p>It wasn't the easiest question to answer. What was poisonous to an +animal he had never seen and knew nothing about? According to +Biological Survey, the animal didn't exist.</p> + +<p>It was unexpectedly serious. The colony could live off the land, and +was expected to. But another group of colonists was due in three +years. The colony was supposed to accumulate a surplus of food to feed +the increased numbers. If they couldn't store the food they grew any +better than the concentrates, that surplus was going to be scanty.</p> + +<p>Marin went over the warehouse thoroughly. It was the usual early +construction on a colonial world. Not esthetic, it was sturdy enough. +Fused dirt floor, reinforced foot-thick walls, a ceiling slab of the +same. The whole was bound together with a molecular cement that made +it practically airtight. It had no windows; there were two doors. +Certainly it should keep out rodents.</p> + +<p>A closer examination revealed an unexpected flaw. The floor was as +hard as glass; no animal could gnaw through it, but, like glass, it +was also brittle. The crew that had built the warehouse had evidently +been in such a hurry to get back to Earth that they hadn't been as +careful as they should have been, for here and there the floor was +thin. Somewhere under the heavy equipment piled on it, the floor had +cracked. There a burrowing animal had means of entry.</p> + +<p>Short of building another warehouse, it was too late to do anything +about that. Mice-like animals were inside and had to be controlled +where they were.</p> + +<p>The biologist straightened up. "Catch me a few of them alive and I'll +see what I can do."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="16" height="40" /></div> +<p>n the morning, a dozen live specimens were delivered to the lab. They +actually did resemble mice.</p> + +<p>Their reactions were puzzling. No two of them were affected by the +same poison. A compound that stiffened one in a matter of minutes left +the others hale and hearty, and the poison he had developed to control +the omnivores was completely ineffective.</p> + +<p>The depredations in the warehouse went on. Black mice, white ones, +gray and brown, short-tailed and long-eared, or the reverse, they +continued to eat the concentrates and spoil what they didn't eat.</p> + +<p>Marin conferred with the executive, outlined the problem as he saw it +and his ideas on what could be done to combat the nuisance.</p> + +<p>"But we can't build another warehouse," argued Hafner. "Not until the +atomic generator is set up, at any rate. And then we'll have other +uses for the power." The executive rested his head in his hands. "I +like the other solution better. Build one and see how it works."</p> + +<p>"I was thinking of three," said the biologist.</p> + +<p>"One," Hafner insisted. "We can't spare the equipment until we know +how it works."</p> + +<p>At that he was probably right. They had equipment, as much as three +ships could bring. But the more they brought, the more was expected of +the colony. The net effect was that equipment was always in short +supply.</p> + +<p>Marin took the authorization to the engineer. On the way, he privately +revised his specifications upward. If he couldn't get as many as he +wanted, he might as well get a better one.</p> + +<p>In two days, the machine was ready.</p> + +<p>It was delivered in a small crate to the warehouse. The crate was +opened and the machine leaped out and stood there, poised.</p> + +<p>"A cat!" exclaimed the quartermaster, pleased. He stretched out his +hand toward the black fuzzy robot.</p> + +<p>"If you've touched anything a mouse may have, get your hand away," +warned the biologist. "It reacts to smell as well as sight and sound."</p> + +<p>Hastily, the quartermaster withdrew his hand. The robot disappeared +silently into the maze of stored material.</p> + +<p>In one week, though there were still some mice in the warehouse, they +were no longer a danger.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="31" height="40" /></div> +<p>he executive called Marin into his office, a small sturdy building +located in the center of the settlement. The colony was growing, +assuming an aspect of permanency. Hafner sat in his chair and looked +out over that growth with satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"A good job on the mouse plague," he said.</p> + +<p>The biologist nodded. "Not bad, except there shouldn't be any mice +here. Biological Survey—"</p> + +<p>"Forget it," said the exec. "Everybody makes mistakes, even B. S." He +leaned back and looked seriously at the biologist. "I have a job I +need done. Just now I'm short of men. If you have no objections...."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_003.jpg" width="600" height="472" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>The exec was always short of men, would be until the planet was +overcrowded, and he would try to find someone to do the work his own +men should have done. Dano Marin was not directly responsible to +Hafner; he was on loan to the expedition from Biological Controls. +Still, it was a good idea to cooperate with the executive. He sighed.</p> + +<p>"It's not as bad as you think," said Hafner, interpreting the sound +correctly. He smiled. "We've got the digger together. I want you to +run it."</p> + +<p>Since it tied right in with his investigations, Dano Marin looked +relieved and showed it.</p> + +<p>"Except for food, we have to import most of our supplies," Hafner +explained. "It's a long haul, and we've got to make use of everything +on the planet we can. We need oil. There are going to be a lot of +wheels turning, and every one of them will have to have oil. In time +we'll set up a synthetic plant, but if we can locate a productive +field now, it's to our advantage."</p> + +<p>"You're assuming the geology of Glade is similar to Earth?"</p> + +<p>Hafner waggled his hand. "Why not? It's a nicer twin of Earth."</p> + +<p>Why not? Because you couldn't always tell from the surface, thought +Marin. It seemed like Earth, but was it? Here was a good chance to +find out the history of Glade.</p> + +<p>Hafner stood up. "Any time you're ready, a technician will check you +out on the digger. Let me know before you go."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="37" height="40" /></div> +<p>ctually, the digger wasn't a digger. It didn't move or otherwise +displace a gram of dirt or rock. It was a means of looking down below +the surface, to any practical depth. A large crawler, it was big +enough for a man to live in without discomfort for a week.</p> + +<p>It carried an outsize ultrasonic generator and a device for directing +the beam into the planet. That was the sending apparatus. The +receiving end began with a large sonic lens which picked up sound +beams reflected from any desired depth, converted it into electrical +energy and thence into an image which was flashed onto a screen.</p> + +<p>At the depth of ten miles, the image was fuzzy, though good enough to +distinguish the main features of the strata. At three miles, it was +better. It could pick up the sound reflection of a buried coin and +convert it into a picture on which the date could be seen.</p> + +<p>It was to a geologist as a microscope is to a biologist. Being a +biologist, Dano Marin could appreciate the analogy.</p> + +<p>He started at the tip of the peninsula and zigzagged across, heading +toward the isthmus. Methodically, he covered the territory, sleeping +at night in the digger. On the morning of the third day, he discovered +oil traces, and by that afternoon he had located the main field.</p> + +<p>He should probably have turned back at once, but now that he had found +oil, he investigated more deliberately. Starting at the top, he let +the image range downward below the top strata.</p> + +<p>It was the reverse of what it should have been. In the top few feet, +there were plentiful fossil remains, mostly of the four species of +mammals. The squirrel-like creature and the far larger grazing animal +were the forest dwellers. Of the plains animals, there were only two, +in size fitting neatly between the extremes of the forest dwellers.</p> + +<p>After the first few feet, which corresponded to approximately twenty +thousand years, he found virtually no fossils. Not until he reached a +depth which he could correlate to the Late Carboniferous age on Earth +did fossils reappear. Then they were of animals appropriate to the +epoch. At that depth and below, the history of Glade was quite similar +to Earth's.</p> + +<p>Puzzled, he checked again in a dozen widely scattered localities. The +results were always the same—fossil history for the first twenty +thousand years, then none for roughly a hundred million. Beyond that, +it was easy to trace the thread of biological development.</p> + +<p>In that period of approximately one hundred million years, something +unique had happened to Glade. What was it?</p> + +<p>On the fifth day his investigations were interrupted by the sound of +the keyed-on radio.</p> + +<p>"Marin."</p> + +<p>"Yes?" He flipped on the sending switch.</p> + +<p>"How soon can you get back?"</p> + +<p>He looked at the photo-map. "Three hours. Two if I hurry."</p> + +<p>"Make it two. Never mind the oil."</p> + +<p>"I've found oil. But what's the matter?"</p> + +<p>"You can see it better than I can describe it. We'll discuss it when +you get back."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_r.jpg" alt="R" width="35" height="40" /></div> +<p>eluctantly, Marin retracted the instruments into the digger. He +turned it around and, with not too much regard for the terrain, let it +roar. The treads tossed dirt high in the air. Animals fled squealing +from in front of him. If the grove was small enough, he went around +it, otherwise he went through and left matchsticks behind.</p> + +<p>He skidded the crawler ponderously to halt near the edge of the +settlement. The center of activity was the warehouse. Pickups wheeled +in and out, transferring supplies to a cleared area outside. He found +Hafner in a corner of the warehouse, talking to the engineer.</p> + +<p>Hafner turned around when he came up. "Your mice have grown, Marin."</p> + +<p>Marin looked down. The robot cat lay on the floor. He knelt and +examined it. The steel skeleton hadn't broken; it had been bent, +badly. The tough plastic skin had been torn off and, inside, the +delicate mechanism had been chewed into an unrecognizable mass.</p> + +<p>Around the cat were rats, twenty or thirty of them, huge by any +standards. The cat had fought; the dead animals were headless or +disemboweled, unbelievably battered. But the robot had been +outnumbered.</p> + +<p>Biological Survey had said there weren't any rats on Glade. They had +also said that about mice. What was the key to their error?</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_004.jpg" width="600" height="437" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>The biologist stood up. "What are you going to do about it?"</p> + +<p>"Build another warehouse, two-foot-thick fused dirt floors, monolithic +construction. Transfer all perishables to it."</p> + +<p>Marin nodded. That would do it. It would take time, of course, and +power, all they could draw out of the recently set up atomic +generator. All other construction would have to be suspended. No +wonder Hafner was disturbed.</p> + +<p>"Why not build more cats?" Marin suggested.</p> + +<p>The executive smiled nastily. "You weren't here when we opened the +doors. The warehouse was swarming with rats. How many robot cats would +we need—five, fifteen? I don't know. Anyway the engineer tells me we +have enough parts to build three more cats. The one lying there can't +be salvaged."</p> + +<p>It didn't take an engineer to see that, thought Marin.</p> + +<p>Hafner continued, "If we need more, we'll have to rob the computer in +the spaceship. I refuse to permit that."</p> + +<p>Obviously he would. The spaceship was the only link with Earth until +the next expedition brought more colonists. No exec in his right mind +would permit the ship to be crippled.</p> + +<p>But why had Hafner called him back? Merely to keep him informed of the +situation?</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="34" height="40" /></div> +<p>afner seemed to guess his thoughts. "At night we'll floodlight the +supplies we remove from the warehouse. We'll post a guard armed with +decharged rifles until we can move the food into the new warehouse. +That'll take about ten days. Meanwhile, our fast crops are ripening. +It's my guess the rats will turn to them for food. In order to protect +our future food supply, you'll have to activate your animals."</p> + +<p>The biologist started. "But it's against regulations to loose any +animal on a planet until a complete investigation of the possible ill +effects is made."</p> + +<p>"That takes ten or twenty years. This is an emergency and I'll be +responsible—in writing, if you want."</p> + +<p>The biologist was effectively countermanded. Another rabbit-infested +Australia or the planet that the snails took over might be in the +making, but there was nothing he could do about it.</p> + +<p>"I hardly think they'll be of any use against rats this size," he +protested.</p> + +<p>"You've got hormones. Apply them." The executive turned and began +discussing construction with the engineer.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_m.jpg" alt="M" width="42" height="40" /></div> +<p>arin had the dead rats gathered up and placed in the freezer for +further study.</p> + +<p>After that, he retired to the laboratory and worked out a course of +treatment for the domesticated animals that the colonists had brought +with them. He gave them the first injections and watched them +carefully until they were safely through the initial shock phase of +growth. As soon as he saw they were going to survive, he bred them.</p> + +<p>Next he turned to the rats. Of note was the wide variation in size. +Internally, the same thing was true. They had the usual organs, but +the proportions of each varied greatly, more than is normal. Nor were +their teeth uniform. Some carried huge fangs set in delicate jaws; +others had tiny teeth that didn't match the massive bone structure. As +a species, they were the most scrambled the biologist had ever +encountered.</p> + +<p>He turned the microscope on their tissues and tabulated the results. +There was less difference here between individual specimens, but it +was enough to set him pondering. The reproductive cells were +especially baffling.</p> + +<p>Late in the day, he felt rather than heard the soundless whoosh of the +construction machinery. He looked out of the laboratory and saw smoke +rolling upward. As soon as the vegetation was charred, the smoke +ceased and heat waves danced into the sky.</p> + +<p>They were building on a hill. The little creatures that crept and +crawled in the brush attacked in the most vulnerable spot, the food +supply. There was no brush, not a blade of grass, on the hill when the +colonists finished.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="31" height="40" /></div> +<p>erriers. In the past, they were the hunting dogs of the agricultural +era. What they lacked in size they made up in ferocity toward rodents. +They had earned their keep originally in granaries and fields, and, +for a brief time, they were doing it again on colonial worlds where +conditions were repeated.</p> + +<p>The dogs the colonists brought had been terriers. They were still as +fast, still with the same anti-rodent disposition, but they were no +longer small. It had been a difficult job, yet Marin had done it well, +for the dogs had lost none of their skill and speed in growing to the +size of a great dane.</p> + +<p>The rats moved in on the fields of fast crops. Fast crops were made to +order for a colonial world. They could be planted, grown, and +harvested in a matter of weeks. After four such plantings, the +fertility of the soil was destroyed, but that meant nothing in the +early years of a colonial planet, for land was plentiful.</p> + +<p>The rat tide grew in the fast crops, and the dogs were loosed on the +rats. They ranged through the fields, hunting. A rush, a snap of their +jaws, the shake of a head, and the rat was tossed aside, its back +broken. The dogs went on to the next.</p> + +<p>Until they could not see, the dogs prowled and slaughtered. At night +they came in bloody, most of it not their own, and exhausted. Marin +pumped them full of antibiotics, bandaged their wounds, fed them +through their veins, and shot them into sleep. In the morning he +awakened them with an injection of stimulant and sent them tingling +into battle.</p> + +<p>It took the rats two days to learn they could not feed during the day. +Not so numerous, they came at night. They climbed on the vines and +nibbled the fruit. They gnawed growing grain and ravaged vegetables.</p> + +<p>The next day the colonists set up lights. The dogs were with them, +discouraging the few rats who were still foolish enough to forage +while the sun was overhead.</p> + +<p>An hour before dusk, Marin called the dogs in and gave them an +enforced rest. He brought them out of it after dark and took them to +the fields, staggering. The scent of rats revived them; they were as +eager as ever, if not quite so fast.</p> + +<p>The rats came from the surrounding meadows, not singly, or in twos and +threes, as they had before; this time they came together. Squealing +and rustling the grass, they moved toward the fields. It was dark, and +though he could not see them, Marin could hear them. He ordered the +great lights turned on in the area of the fields.</p> + +<p>The rats stopped under the glare, milling around uneasily. The dogs +quivered and whined. Marin held them back. The rats resumed their +march, and Marin released the dogs.</p> + +<p>The dogs charged in to attack, but didn't dare brave the main mass. +They picked off the stragglers and forced the rats into a tighter +formation. After that the rats were virtually unassailable.</p> + +<p>The colonists could have burned the bunched-up rats with the right +equipment, but they didn't have it and couldn't get it for years. Even +if they'd had it, the use of such equipment would endanger the crops, +which they had to save if they could. It was up to the dogs.</p> + +<p>The rat formation came to the edge of the fields, and broke. They +could face a common enemy and remain united, but in the presence of +food, they forgot that unity and scattered—hunger was the great +divisor. The dogs leaped joyously in pursuit. They hunted down the +starved rodents, one by one, and killed them as they ate.</p> + +<p>When daylight came, the rat menace had ended.</p> + +<p>The next week the colonists harvested and processed the food for +storage and immediately planted another crop.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/image_005.jpg" width="400" height="655" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>Marin sat in the lab and tried to analyze the situation. The colony +was moving from crisis to crisis, all of them involving food. In +itself, each critical situation was minor, but lumped together they +could add up to failure. No matter how he looked at it, they just +didn't have the equipment they needed to colonize Glade.</p> + +<p>The fault seemed to lie with Biological Survey; they hadn't reported +the presence of pests that were endangering the food supply. +Regardless of what the exec thought about them, Survey knew their +business. If they said there were no mice or rats on Glade, then there +hadn't been any—<i>when the survey was made</i>.</p> + +<p>The question was: when did they come and how did they get here?</p> + +<p>Marin sat and stared at the wall, turning over hypotheses in his mind, +discarding them when they failed to make sense.</p> + +<p>His gaze shifted from the wall to the cage of the omnivores, the +squirrel-size forest creature. The most numerous animal on Glade, it +was a commonplace sight to the colonists.</p> + +<p>And yet it was a remarkable animal, more than he had realized. Plain, +insignificant in appearance, it might be the most important of any +animal Man had encountered on the many worlds he had settled on. The +longer he watched, the more Marin became convinced of it.</p> + +<p>He sat silent, observing the creature, not daring to move. He sat +until it was dark and the omnivore resumed its normal activity.</p> + +<p><i>Normal?</i> The word didn't apply on Glade.</p> + +<p>The interlude with the omnivore provided him with one answer. He +needed another one; he thought he knew what it was, but he had to have +more data, additional observations.</p> + +<p>He set up his equipment carefully on the fringes of the settlement. +There and in no other place existed the information he wanted.</p> + +<p>He spent time in the digger, checking his original investigations. It +added up to a complete picture.</p> + +<p>When he was certain of his facts, he called on Hafner.</p> + +<p>The executive was congenial; it was a reflection of the smoothness +with which the objectives of the colony were being achieved.</p> + +<p>"Sit down," he said affably. "Smoke?"</p> + +<p>The biologist sat down and took a cigarette.</p> + +<p>"I thought you'd like to know where the mice came from," he began.</p> + +<p>Hafner smiled. "They don't bother us any more."</p> + +<p>"I've also determined the origin of the rats."</p> + +<p>"They're under control. We're doing nicely."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_o.jpg" alt="O" width="35" height="40" /></div> +<p>n the contrary, thought Marin. He searched for the proper beginning.</p> + +<p>"Glade has an Earth-type climate and topography," he said. "Has had +for the past twenty thousand years. Before that, about a hundred +million years ago, it was also like Earth of the comparable period."</p> + +<p>He watched the look of polite interest settle on the executive's face +as he stated the obvious. Well, it <i>was</i> obvious, up to a point. The +conclusions weren't, though.</p> + +<p>"Between a hundred million years and twenty thousand years ago, +something happened to Glade," Marin went on. "I don't know the cause; +it belongs to cosmic history and we may never find out. Anyway, +whatever the cause—fluctuations in the sun, unstable equilibrium of +forces within the planet, or perhaps an encounter with an interstellar +dust cloud of variable density—the climate on Glade changed.</p> + +<p>"It changed with inconceivable violence and it kept on changing. A +hundred million years ago, plus or minus, there was carboniferous +forest on Glade. Giant reptiles resembling dinosaurs and tiny mammals +roamed through it. The first great change wiped out the dinosaurs, as +it did on Earth. It didn't wipe out the still more primitive ancestor +of the omnivore, because it could adapt to changing conditions.</p> + +<p>"Let me give you an idea how the conditions changed. For a few years a +given area would be a desert; after that it would turn into a jungle. +Still later a glacier would begin to form. And then the cycle would be +repeated, with wild variations. All this might happen—did +happen—within a span covered by the lifetime of a single omnivore. +This occurred many times. For roughly a hundred million years, it was +the norm of existence on Glade. This condition was hardly conducive to +the preservation of fossils."</p> + +<p>Hafner saw the significance and was concerned. "You mean these +climatic fluctuations suddenly stopped, twenty thousand years ago? Are +they likely to begin again?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," confessed the biologist. "We can probably determine it +if we're interested."</p> + +<p>The exec nodded grimly. "We're interested, all right."</p> + +<p>Maybe we are, thought the biologist. He said, "The point is that +survival was difficult. Birds could and did fly to more suitable +climates; quite a few of them survived. Only one species of mammals +managed to come through."</p> + +<p>"Your facts are not straight," observed Hafner. "There are four +species, ranging in size from a squirrel to a water buffalo."</p> + +<p>"One species," Marin repeated doggedly. "They're the same. If the food +supply for the largest animal increases, some of the smaller so-called +species grow up. Conversely, if food becomes scarce in any category, +the next generation, which apparently can be produced almost +instantly, switches to a form which does have an adequate food +supply."</p> + +<p>"The mice," Hafner said slowly.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_m.jpg" alt="M" width="42" height="40" /></div> +<p>arin finished the thought for him. "The mice weren't here when we got +here. They were born of the squirrel-size omnivore."</p> + +<p>Hafner nodded. "And the rats?"</p> + +<p>"Born of the next larger size. After all, we're environment, +too—perhaps the harshest the beasts have yet faced."</p> + +<p>Hafner was a practical man, trained to administer a colony. Concepts +were not his familiar ground. "Mutations, then? But I thought—"</p> + +<p>The biologist smiled. It was thin and cracked at the edges of his +mouth. "On Earth, it would be mutation. Here it is merely normal +evolutionary adaptation." He shook his head. "I never told you, but +omnivores, though they could be mistaken for an animal from Earth, +have no genes or chromosomes. Obviously they do have heredity, but how +it is passed down, I don't know. However it functions, it responds to +external conditions far faster than anything we've ever encountered."</p> + +<p>Hafner nodded to himself. "Then we'll never be free from pests." He +clasped and unclasped his hands. "Unless, of course, we rid the +planet of all animal life."</p> + +<p>"Radioactive dust?" asked the biologist. "They have survived worse."</p> + +<p>The exec considered alternatives. "Maybe we should leave the planet +and leave it to the animals."</p> + +<p>"Too late," said the biologist. "They'll be on Earth, too, and all the +planets we've settled on."</p> + +<p>Hafner looked at him. The same pictures formed in his mind that Marin +had thought of. Three ships had been sent to colonize Glade. One had +remained with the colonists, survival insurance in case anything +unforeseen happened. Two had gone back to Earth to carry the report +that all was well and that more supplies were needed. They had also +carried specimens from the planet.</p> + +<p>The cages those creatures were kept in were secure. But a smaller +species could get out, must already be free, inhabiting, undetected, +the cargo spaces of the ships.</p> + +<p>There was nothing they could do to intercept those ships. And once +they reached Earth, would the biologists suspect? Not for a long time. +First a new kind of rat would appear. A mutation could account for +that. Without specific knowledge, there would be nothing to connect it +with the specimens picked up from Glade.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_006.jpg" width="600" height="407" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>"We have to stay," said the biologist. "We have to study them and we +can do it best here."</p> + +<p>He thought of the vast complex of buildings on Earth. There was too +much invested to tear them down and make them verminproof. Billions of +people could not be moved off the planet while the work was being +done.</p> + +<p>They were committed to Glade not as a colony, but as a gigantic +laboratory. They had gained one planet and lost the equivalent of ten, +perhaps more when the destructive properties of the omnivores were +finally assessed.</p> + +<p>A rasping animal cough interrupted the biologist's thoughts. Hafner +jerked his head and glanced out the window. Lips tight, he grabbed a +rifle off the wall and ran out. Marin followed him.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="31" height="40" /></div> +<p>he exec headed toward the fields where the second fast crop was +maturing. On top of a knoll, he stopped and knelt. He flipped the dial +to <i>extreme charge</i>, aimed, and fired. It was high; he missed the +animal in the field. A neat strip of smoking brown appeared in the +green vegetation.</p> + +<p>He aimed more carefully and fired again. The charge screamed out of +the muzzle. It struck the animal on the forepaw. The beast leaped high +in the air and fell down, dead and broiled.</p> + +<p>They stood over the animal Hafner had killed. Except for the lack of +markings, it was a good imitation of a tiger. The exec prodded it with +his toe.</p> + +<p>"We chase the rats out of the warehouse and they go to the fields," he +muttered. "We hunt them down in the fields with dogs and they breed +tigers."</p> + +<p>"Easier than rats," said Marin. "We can shoot tigers." He bent down +over the slain dog near which they had surprised the big cat.</p> + +<p>The other dog came whining from the far corner of the field to which +he had fled in terror. He was a courageous dog, but he could not face +the great carnivore. He whimpered and licked the face of his mate.</p> + +<p>The biologist picked up the mangled dog and headed toward the +laboratory.</p> + +<p>"You can't save her," said Hafner morosely. "She's dead."</p> + +<p>"But the pups aren't. We'll need them. The rats won't disappear merely +because tigers have showed up."</p> + +<p>The head drooped limply over his arm and blood seeped into his +clothing as Hafner followed him up the hill.</p> + +<p>"We've been here three months," the exec said suddenly. "The dogs have +been in the fields only two. And yet the tiger was mature. How do you +account for something like that?"</p> + +<p>Marin bent under the weight of the dog. Hafner never would understand +his bewilderment. As a biologist, all his categories were upset. What +did evolution explain? It was a history of organic life on a +particular world. Beyond that world, it might not apply.</p> + +<p>Even about himself there were many things Man didn't know, dark +patches in his knowledge which theory simply had to pass over. About +other creatures, his ignorance was sometimes limitless.</p> + +<p>Birth was simple; it occurred on countless planets. Meek grazing +creatures, fierce carnivores—the most unlikely animals gave birth to +their young. It happened all the time. And the young grew up, became +mature and mated.</p> + +<p>He remembered that evening in the laboratory. It was accidental—what +if he had been elsewhere and not witnessed it? They would not know +what little they did.</p> + +<p>He explained it carefully to Hafner. "If the survival factor is high +and there's a great disparity in size, the young need not ever be +young. They may be born as fully functioning adults!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="37" height="40" /></div> +<p>lthough not at the rate it had initially set, the colony progressed. +The fast crops were slowed down and a more diversified selection was +planted. New buildings were constructed and the supplies that were +stored in them were spread out thin, for easy inspection.</p> + +<p>The pups survived and within a year shot up to maturity. After proper +training, they were released to the fields where they joined the older +dogs. The battle against the rats went on; they were held in check, +though the damage they caused was considerable.</p> + +<p>The original animal, unchanged in form, developed an appetite for +electrical insulation. There was no protection except to keep the +power on at all times. Even then there were unwelcome interruptions +until the short was located and the charred carcass was removed. +Vehicles were kept tightly closed or parked only in verminproof +buildings. While the plague didn't increase in numbers, it couldn't be +eliminated, either.</p> + +<p>There was a flurry of tigers, but they were larger animals and were +promptly shot down. They prowled at night, so the colonists were +assigned to guard the settlement around the clock. Where lights failed +to reach, the infra-red 'scope did. As fast as they came, the tigers +died. Except for the first one, not a single dog was lost.</p> + +<p>The tigers changed, though not in form. Externally, they were all big +and powerful killers. But as the slaughter went on, Marin noticed one +astonishing fact—the internal organic structure became progressively +more immature.</p> + +<p>The last one that was brought to him for examination was the +equivalent of a newly born cub. That tiny stomach was suited more for +the digestion of milk than meat. How it had furnished energy to drive +those great muscles was something of a miracle. But drive it had, for +a murderous fifteen minutes before the animal was brought down. No +lives were lost, though sick bay was kept busy for a while.</p> + +<p>That was the last tiger they shot. After that, the attacks ceased.</p> + +<p>The seasons passed and nothing new occurred. A spaceship civilization +or even that fragment of it represented by the colony was too much for +the creature, which Marin by now had come to think of as the +"Omnimal." It had evolved out of a cataclysmic past, but it could not +meet the challenge of the harshest environment.</p> + +<p>Or so it seemed.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="31" height="40" /></div> +<p>hree months before the next colonists were due, a new animal was +detected. Food was missing from the fields. It was not another tiger: +they were carnivorous. Nor rats, for vines were stripped in a manner +that no rodent could manage.</p> + +<p>The food was not important. The colony had enough in storage. But if +the new animal signaled another plague, it was necessary to know how +to meet it. The sooner they knew what the animal was, the better +defense they could set up against it.</p> + +<p>Dogs were useless. The animal roamed the field they were loose in, and +they did not attack nor even seem to know it was there.</p> + +<p>The colonists were called upon for guard duty again, but it evaded +them. They patrolled for a week and they still did not catch sight of +it.</p> + +<p>Hafner called them in and rigged up an alarm system in the field most +frequented by the animal. It detected that, too, and moved its sphere +of operations to a field in which the alarm system had not been +installed.</p> + +<p>Hafner conferred with the engineer, who devised an alarm that would +react to body radiation. It was buried in the original field and the +old alarm was moved to another.</p> + +<p>Two nights later, just before dawn, the alarm rang.</p> + +<p>Marin met Hafner at the edge of the settlement. Both carried rifles. +They walked; the noise of any vehicle was likely to frighten the +animal. They circled around and approached the field from the rear. +The men in the camp had been alerted. If they needed help, it was +ready.</p> + +<p>They crept silently through the underbrush. It was feeding in the +field, not noisily, yet they could hear it. The dogs hadn't barked.</p> + +<p>They inched nearer. The blue sun of Glade came up and shone full on +their quarry. The gun dropped in Hafner's hand. He clenched his teeth +and raised it again.</p> + +<p>Marin put out a restraining arm. "Don't shoot," he whispered.</p> + +<p>"I'm the exec here. I say it's dangerous."</p> + +<p>"Dangerous," agreed Marin, still in a whisper. "That's why you can't +shoot. It's more dangerous than you know."</p> + +<p>Hafner hesitated and Marin went on. "The omnimal couldn't compete in +the changed environment and so it evolved mice. We stopped the mice +and it countered with rats. We turned back the rat and it provided the +tiger.</p> + +<p>"The tiger was easiest of all for us and so it was apparently stopped +for a while. But it didn't really stop. Another animal was being +formed, the one you see there. It took the omnimal two years to create +it—how, I don't know. A million years were required to evolve it on +Earth."</p> + +<p>Hafner hadn't lowered the rifle and he showed no signs of doing so. +He looked lovingly into the sights.</p> + +<p>"Can't you see?" urged Marin. "We can't destroy the omnimal. It's on +Earth now, and on the other planets, down in the storage areas of our +big cities, masquerading as rats. And we've never been able to root +out even our own terrestrial rats, so how can we exterminate the +omnimal?"</p> + +<p>"All the more reason to start now." Hafner's voice was flat.</p> + +<p>Marin struck the rifle down. "Are their rats better than ours?" he +asked wearily. "Will their pests win or ours be stronger? Or will the +two make peace, unite and interbreed, make war on us? It's not +impossible; the omnimal could do it if interbreeding had a high +survival factor.</p> + +<p>"Don't you still see? There is a progression. After the tiger, it bred +this. If this evolution fails, if we shoot it down, what will it +create next? This creature I think we can compete with. <i>It's the one +after this that I do not want to face.</i>"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="16" height="40" /></div> +<p>t heard them. It raised its head and looked around. Slowly it edged +away and backed toward a nearby grove.</p> + +<p>The biologist stood up and called softly. The creature scurried to the +trees and stopped just inside the shadows among them.</p> + +<p>The two men laid down their rifles. Together they approached the +grove, hands spread open to show they carried no weapons.</p> + +<p>It came out to meet them. Naked, it had had no time to learn about +clothing. Neither did it have weapons. It plucked a large white flower +from the tree and extended this mutely as a sign of peace.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what it's like," said Marin. "It seems adult, but can it be, +all the way through? What's inside that body?"</p> + +<p>"I wonder what's in his head," Hafner said worriedly.</p> + +<p>It looked very much like a man.</p> + +<p class="p1">—F. L. WALLACE</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Student Body, by Floyd L. Wallace + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDENT BODY *** + +***** This file should be named 31815-h.htm or 31815-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/8/1/31815/ + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Robert Cicconetti, 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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Wallace + +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: Student Body + +Author: Floyd L. Wallace + +Illustrator: William Ashman + +Release Date: March 29, 2010 [EBook #31815] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDENT BODY *** + + + + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Robert Cicconetti, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from the March 1953 issue of Galaxy. Extensive + research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this + publication was renewed. + + + STUDENT BODY + + + By F. L. WALLACE + + + Illustrated by ASHMAN + + + _When a really infallible scientific bureau makes a + drastically serious error, the data must be wrong ... but + wrong in what way?_ + + * * * * * + + + + +The first morning that they were fully committed to the planet, the +executive officer stepped out of the ship. It was not quite dawn. +Executive Hafner squinted in the early light; his eyes opened wider, +and he promptly went back inside. Three minutes later, he reappeared +with the biologist in tow. + +"Last night you said there was nothing dangerous," said the executive. +"Do you still think it's so?" + +Dano Marin stared. "I do." What his voice lacked in conviction, it +made up in embarrassment. He laughed uncertainly. + +"This is no laughing matter. I'll talk to you later." + +The biologist stood by the ship and watched as the executive walked to +the row of sleeping colonists. + +"Mrs. Athyl," said the executive as he stopped beside the sleeping +figure. + +She yawned, rubbed her eyes, rolled over, and stood up. The covering +that should have been there, however, wasn't. Neither was the garment +she had on when she had gone to sleep. She assumed the conventional +position of a woman who is astonished to find herself unclad without +her knowledge or consent. + +[Illustration] + +"It's all right, Mrs. Athyl. I'm not a voyeur myself. Still, I think +you should get some clothing on." Most of the colonists were awake +now. Executive Hafner turned to them. "If you haven't any suitable +clothing in the ship, the commissary will issue you some. Explanations +will be given later." + +The colonists scattered. There was no compulsive modesty among them, +for it couldn't have survived a year and a half in crowded spaceships. +Nevertheless, it was a shock to awaken with no clothing on and not +know who or what had removed it during the night. It was surprise more +than anything else that disconcerted them. + +On his way back to the spaceship, Executive Hafner paused. "Any ideas +about it?" + +Dano Marin shrugged. "How could I have? The planet is as new to me as +it is to you." + +"Sure. But you're the biologist." + +As the only scientist in a crew of rough-and-ready colonists and +builders, Marin was going to be called on to answer a lot of questions +that weren't in his field. + +"Nocturnal insects, most likely," he suggested. That was pretty weak, +though he knew that in ancient times locusts had stripped fields in a +matter of hours. Could they do the same with the clothing of humans +and not awaken them? "I'll look into the matter. As soon as I find +anything, I'll let you know." + +"Good." Hafner nodded and went into the spaceship. + + * * * * * + +Dano Marin walked to the grove in which the colonists had been +sleeping. It had been a mistake to let them bed down there, but at the +time the request had been made, there had seemed no reason not to +grant it. After eighteen months in crowded ships everyone naturally +wanted fresh air and the rustle of leaves overhead. + +Marin looked out through the grove. It was empty now; the colonists, +both men and women, had disappeared inside the ship, dressing, +probably. + +The trees were not tall and the leaves were dark bottle-green. +Occasional huge white flowers caught sunlight that made them seem +larger than they were. It wasn't Earth and therefore the trees +couldn't be magnolias. But they reminded Marin of magnolia trees and +thereafter he always thought of them as that. + +The problem of the missing clothing was ironic. Biological Survey +never made a mistake--yet obviously they had. They listed the planet +as the most suitable for Man of any so far discovered. Few insects, no +dangerous animals, a most equitable climate. They had named it Glade +because that was the word which fitted best. The whole land mass +seemed to be one vast and pleasant meadow. + +Evidently there were things about the planet that Biological Survey +had missed. + +Marin dropped to his knees and began to look for clues. If insects had +been responsible, there ought to be a few dead ones, crushed, perhaps, +as the colonists rolled over in their sleep. There were no insects, +either live or dead. + +He stood up in disappointment and walked slowly through the grove. It +might be the trees. At night they could exude a vapor which was +capable of dissolving the material from which the clothing had been +made. Far-fetched, but not impossible. He crumbled a leaf in his hand +and rubbed it against his sleeve. A pungent smell, but nothing +happened. That didn't disprove the theory, of course. + +He looked out through the trees at the blue sun. It was bigger than +Sol, but farther away. At Glade, it was about equal to the Sun on +Earth. + +He almost missed the bright eyes that regarded him from the +underbrush. Almost, but didn't--the domain of biology begins at the +edge of the atmosphere; it includes the brush and the small creatures +that live in it. + +He swooped down on it. The creature fled squealing. He ran it down in +the grass outside the grove. It collapsed into quaking flesh as he +picked it up. He talked to it gently and the terror subsided. + +It nibbled contentedly on his jacket as he carried it back to the +ship. + + * * * * * + +Executive Hafner stared unhappily into the cage. It was an +undistinguished animal, small and something like an undeveloped +rodent. Its fur was sparse and stringy, unglamorous; it would never be +an item in the fur export trade. + +"Can we exterminate it?" asked Hafner. "Locally, that is." + +"Hardly. It's ecologically basic." + +[Illustration] + +The executive looked blank. Dano Marin added the explanation: "You +know how Biological Control works. As soon as a planet has been +discovered that looks suitable, they send out a survey ship loaded +with equipment. The ship flies low over a good part of the planet and +the instruments in the ship record the neural currents of the animals +below. The instruments can distinguish the characteristic neural +patterns of anything that has a brain, including insects. + +"Anyway, they have a pretty good idea of the kinds of animals on the +planet and their relative distribution. Naturally, the survey party +takes a few specimens. They have to in order to correlate the pattern +with the actual animal, otherwise the neural pattern would be merely a +meaningless squiggle on a microfilm. + +"The survey shows that this animal is one of only four species of +mammals on the planet. It is also the most numerous." + +Hafner grunted. "So if we kill them off here, others will swarm in +from surrounding areas?" + +"That's about it. There are probably millions of them on this +peninsula. Of course, if you want to put a barrier across the narrow +connection to the mainland, you might be able to wipe them out +locally." + +The executive scowled. A barrier was possible, but it would involve +more work than he cared to expend. + +"What do they eat?" he asked truculently. + +"A little bit of everything, apparently. Insects, fruits, berries, +nuts, succulents, and grain." Dano Marin smiled. "I guess it could be +called an omnivore--now that our clothing is handy, it eats that, +too." + +Hafner didn't smile. "I thought our clothing was supposed to be +verminproof." + +Marin shrugged. "It is, on twenty-seven planets. On the twenty-eighth, +we meet up with a little fella that has better digestive fluids, +that's all." + +Hafner looked pained. "Are they likely to bother the crops we plant?" + +"Offhand, I would say they aren't. But then I would have said the same +about our clothing." + +Hafner made up his mind. "All right. You worry about the crops. Find +some way to keep them out of the fields. Meanwhile, everyone sleeps in +the ship until we can build dormitories." + +Individual dwelling units would have been more appropriate in the +colony at this stage, thought Marin. But it wasn't for him to decide. +The executive was a man who regarded a schedule as something to be +exceeded. + +"The omnivore--" began Marin. + +Hafner nodded impatiently. "Work on it," he said, and walked away. + +The biologist sighed. The omnivore really was a queer little +creature, but it was by no means the most important thing on Glade. +For instance, why were there so few species of land animals on the +planet? No reptiles, numerous birds, and only four kinds of mammals. + +Every comparable planet teemed with a wild variety of life. Glade, in +spite of seemingly ideal conditions, hadn't developed. Why? + +He had asked Biological Controls for this assignment because it had +seemed an interesting problem. Now, apparently, he was being pressed +into service as an exterminator. + +He reached in the cage and picked up the omnivore. Mammals on Glade +were not unexpected. Parallel development took care of that. Given +roughly the same kind of environment, similar animals would usually +evolve. + +In the Late Carboniferous forest on Earth, there had been creatures +like the omnivore, the primitive mammal from which all others had +evolved. On Glade, that kind of evolution just hadn't taken place. +What had kept nature from exploiting its evolutionary potentialities? +There was the real problem, not how to wipe them out. + +Marin stuck a needle in the omnivore. It squealed and then relaxed. He +drew out the blood and set it back in the cage. He could learn a lot +about the animal from trying to kill it. + + * * * * * + +The quartermaster was shouting, though his normal voice carried quite +well. + +"How do you know it's mice?" the biologist asked him. + +"Look," said the quartermaster angrily. + +Marin looked. The evidence did indicate mice. + +Before he could speak, the quartermaster snapped, "Don't tell me +they're only mice-like creatures. I know that. The question is: how +can I get rid of them?" + +"Have you tried poison?" + +"Tell me what poison to use and I'll use it." + +It wasn't the easiest question to answer. What was poisonous to an +animal he had never seen and knew nothing about? According to +Biological Survey, the animal didn't exist. + +It was unexpectedly serious. The colony could live off the land, and +was expected to. But another group of colonists was due in three +years. The colony was supposed to accumulate a surplus of food to feed +the increased numbers. If they couldn't store the food they grew any +better than the concentrates, that surplus was going to be scanty. + +Marin went over the warehouse thoroughly. It was the usual early +construction on a colonial world. Not esthetic, it was sturdy enough. +Fused dirt floor, reinforced foot-thick walls, a ceiling slab of the +same. The whole was bound together with a molecular cement that made +it practically airtight. It had no windows; there were two doors. +Certainly it should keep out rodents. + +A closer examination revealed an unexpected flaw. The floor was as +hard as glass; no animal could gnaw through it, but, like glass, it +was also brittle. The crew that had built the warehouse had evidently +been in such a hurry to get back to Earth that they hadn't been as +careful as they should have been, for here and there the floor was +thin. Somewhere under the heavy equipment piled on it, the floor had +cracked. There a burrowing animal had means of entry. + +Short of building another warehouse, it was too late to do anything +about that. Mice-like animals were inside and had to be controlled +where they were. + +The biologist straightened up. "Catch me a few of them alive and I'll +see what I can do." + + * * * * * + +In the morning, a dozen live specimens were delivered to the lab. They +actually did resemble mice. + +Their reactions were puzzling. No two of them were affected by the +same poison. A compound that stiffened one in a matter of minutes left +the others hale and hearty, and the poison he had developed to control +the omnivores was completely ineffective. + +The depredations in the warehouse went on. Black mice, white ones, +gray and brown, short-tailed and long-eared, or the reverse, they +continued to eat the concentrates and spoil what they didn't eat. + +Marin conferred with the executive, outlined the problem as he saw it +and his ideas on what could be done to combat the nuisance. + +"But we can't build another warehouse," argued Hafner. "Not until the +atomic generator is set up, at any rate. And then we'll have other +uses for the power." The executive rested his head in his hands. "I +like the other solution better. Build one and see how it works." + +"I was thinking of three," said the biologist. + +"One," Hafner insisted. "We can't spare the equipment until we know +how it works." + +At that he was probably right. They had equipment, as much as three +ships could bring. But the more they brought, the more was expected of +the colony. The net effect was that equipment was always in short +supply. + +Marin took the authorization to the engineer. On the way, he privately +revised his specifications upward. If he couldn't get as many as he +wanted, he might as well get a better one. + +In two days, the machine was ready. + +It was delivered in a small crate to the warehouse. The crate was +opened and the machine leaped out and stood there, poised. + +"A cat!" exclaimed the quartermaster, pleased. He stretched out his +hand toward the black fuzzy robot. + +"If you've touched anything a mouse may have, get your hand away," +warned the biologist. "It reacts to smell as well as sight and sound." + +Hastily, the quartermaster withdrew his hand. The robot disappeared +silently into the maze of stored material. + +In one week, though there were still some mice in the warehouse, they +were no longer a danger. + + * * * * * + +The executive called Marin into his office, a small sturdy building +located in the center of the settlement. The colony was growing, +assuming an aspect of permanency. Hafner sat in his chair and looked +out over that growth with satisfaction. + +"A good job on the mouse plague," he said. + +The biologist nodded. "Not bad, except there shouldn't be any mice +here. Biological Survey--" + +"Forget it," said the exec. "Everybody makes mistakes, even B. S." He +leaned back and looked seriously at the biologist. "I have a job I +need done. Just now I'm short of men. If you have no objections...." + +[Illustration] + +The exec was always short of men, would be until the planet was +overcrowded, and he would try to find someone to do the work his own +men should have done. Dano Marin was not directly responsible to +Hafner; he was on loan to the expedition from Biological Controls. +Still, it was a good idea to cooperate with the executive. He sighed. + +"It's not as bad as you think," said Hafner, interpreting the sound +correctly. He smiled. "We've got the digger together. I want you to +run it." + +Since it tied right in with his investigations, Dano Marin looked +relieved and showed it. + +"Except for food, we have to import most of our supplies," Hafner +explained. "It's a long haul, and we've got to make use of everything +on the planet we can. We need oil. There are going to be a lot of +wheels turning, and every one of them will have to have oil. In time +we'll set up a synthetic plant, but if we can locate a productive +field now, it's to our advantage." + +"You're assuming the geology of Glade is similar to Earth?" + +Hafner waggled his hand. "Why not? It's a nicer twin of Earth." + +Why not? Because you couldn't always tell from the surface, thought +Marin. It seemed like Earth, but was it? Here was a good chance to +find out the history of Glade. + +Hafner stood up. "Any time you're ready, a technician will check you +out on the digger. Let me know before you go." + + * * * * * + +Actually, the digger wasn't a digger. It didn't move or otherwise +displace a gram of dirt or rock. It was a means of looking down below +the surface, to any practical depth. A large crawler, it was big +enough for a man to live in without discomfort for a week. + +It carried an outsize ultrasonic generator and a device for directing +the beam into the planet. That was the sending apparatus. The +receiving end began with a large sonic lens which picked up sound +beams reflected from any desired depth, converted it into electrical +energy and thence into an image which was flashed onto a screen. + +At the depth of ten miles, the image was fuzzy, though good enough to +distinguish the main features of the strata. At three miles, it was +better. It could pick up the sound reflection of a buried coin and +convert it into a picture on which the date could be seen. + +It was to a geologist as a microscope is to a biologist. Being a +biologist, Dano Marin could appreciate the analogy. + +He started at the tip of the peninsula and zigzagged across, heading +toward the isthmus. Methodically, he covered the territory, sleeping +at night in the digger. On the morning of the third day, he discovered +oil traces, and by that afternoon he had located the main field. + +He should probably have turned back at once, but now that he had found +oil, he investigated more deliberately. Starting at the top, he let +the image range downward below the top strata. + +It was the reverse of what it should have been. In the top few feet, +there were plentiful fossil remains, mostly of the four species of +mammals. The squirrel-like creature and the far larger grazing animal +were the forest dwellers. Of the plains animals, there were only two, +in size fitting neatly between the extremes of the forest dwellers. + +After the first few feet, which corresponded to approximately twenty +thousand years, he found virtually no fossils. Not until he reached a +depth which he could correlate to the Late Carboniferous age on Earth +did fossils reappear. Then they were of animals appropriate to the +epoch. At that depth and below, the history of Glade was quite similar +to Earth's. + +Puzzled, he checked again in a dozen widely scattered localities. The +results were always the same--fossil history for the first twenty +thousand years, then none for roughly a hundred million. Beyond that, +it was easy to trace the thread of biological development. + +In that period of approximately one hundred million years, something +unique had happened to Glade. What was it? + +On the fifth day his investigations were interrupted by the sound of +the keyed-on radio. + +"Marin." + +"Yes?" He flipped on the sending switch. + +"How soon can you get back?" + +He looked at the photo-map. "Three hours. Two if I hurry." + +"Make it two. Never mind the oil." + +"I've found oil. But what's the matter?" + +"You can see it better than I can describe it. We'll discuss it when +you get back." + + * * * * * + +Reluctantly, Marin retracted the instruments into the digger. He +turned it around and, with not too much regard for the terrain, let it +roar. The treads tossed dirt high in the air. Animals fled squealing +from in front of him. If the grove was small enough, he went around +it, otherwise he went through and left matchsticks behind. + +He skidded the crawler ponderously to halt near the edge of the +settlement. The center of activity was the warehouse. Pickups wheeled +in and out, transferring supplies to a cleared area outside. He found +Hafner in a corner of the warehouse, talking to the engineer. + +Hafner turned around when he came up. "Your mice have grown, Marin." + +Marin looked down. The robot cat lay on the floor. He knelt and +examined it. The steel skeleton hadn't broken; it had been bent, +badly. The tough plastic skin had been torn off and, inside, the +delicate mechanism had been chewed into an unrecognizable mass. + +Around the cat were rats, twenty or thirty of them, huge by any +standards. The cat had fought; the dead animals were headless or +disemboweled, unbelievably battered. But the robot had been +outnumbered. + +Biological Survey had said there weren't any rats on Glade. They had +also said that about mice. What was the key to their error? + +[Illustration] + +The biologist stood up. "What are you going to do about it?" + +"Build another warehouse, two-foot-thick fused dirt floors, monolithic +construction. Transfer all perishables to it." + +Marin nodded. That would do it. It would take time, of course, and +power, all they could draw out of the recently set up atomic +generator. All other construction would have to be suspended. No +wonder Hafner was disturbed. + +"Why not build more cats?" Marin suggested. + +The executive smiled nastily. "You weren't here when we opened the +doors. The warehouse was swarming with rats. How many robot cats would +we need--five, fifteen? I don't know. Anyway the engineer tells me we +have enough parts to build three more cats. The one lying there can't +be salvaged." + +It didn't take an engineer to see that, thought Marin. + +Hafner continued, "If we need more, we'll have to rob the computer in +the spaceship. I refuse to permit that." + +Obviously he would. The spaceship was the only link with Earth until +the next expedition brought more colonists. No exec in his right mind +would permit the ship to be crippled. + +But why had Hafner called him back? Merely to keep him informed of the +situation? + + * * * * * + +Hafner seemed to guess his thoughts. "At night we'll floodlight the +supplies we remove from the warehouse. We'll post a guard armed with +decharged rifles until we can move the food into the new warehouse. +That'll take about ten days. Meanwhile, our fast crops are ripening. +It's my guess the rats will turn to them for food. In order to protect +our future food supply, you'll have to activate your animals." + +The biologist started. "But it's against regulations to loose any +animal on a planet until a complete investigation of the possible ill +effects is made." + +"That takes ten or twenty years. This is an emergency and I'll be +responsible--in writing, if you want." + +The biologist was effectively countermanded. Another rabbit-infested +Australia or the planet that the snails took over might be in the +making, but there was nothing he could do about it. + +"I hardly think they'll be of any use against rats this size," he +protested. + +"You've got hormones. Apply them." The executive turned and began +discussing construction with the engineer. + + * * * * * + +Marin had the dead rats gathered up and placed in the freezer for +further study. + +After that, he retired to the laboratory and worked out a course of +treatment for the domesticated animals that the colonists had brought +with them. He gave them the first injections and watched them +carefully until they were safely through the initial shock phase of +growth. As soon as he saw they were going to survive, he bred them. + +Next he turned to the rats. Of note was the wide variation in size. +Internally, the same thing was true. They had the usual organs, but +the proportions of each varied greatly, more than is normal. Nor were +their teeth uniform. Some carried huge fangs set in delicate jaws; +others had tiny teeth that didn't match the massive bone structure. As +a species, they were the most scrambled the biologist had ever +encountered. + +He turned the microscope on their tissues and tabulated the results. +There was less difference here between individual specimens, but it +was enough to set him pondering. The reproductive cells were +especially baffling. + +Late in the day, he felt rather than heard the soundless whoosh of the +construction machinery. He looked out of the laboratory and saw smoke +rolling upward. As soon as the vegetation was charred, the smoke +ceased and heat waves danced into the sky. + +They were building on a hill. The little creatures that crept and +crawled in the brush attacked in the most vulnerable spot, the food +supply. There was no brush, not a blade of grass, on the hill when the +colonists finished. + + * * * * * + +Terriers. In the past, they were the hunting dogs of the agricultural +era. What they lacked in size they made up in ferocity toward rodents. +They had earned their keep originally in granaries and fields, and, +for a brief time, they were doing it again on colonial worlds where +conditions were repeated. + +The dogs the colonists brought had been terriers. They were still as +fast, still with the same anti-rodent disposition, but they were no +longer small. It had been a difficult job, yet Marin had done it well, +for the dogs had lost none of their skill and speed in growing to the +size of a great dane. + +The rats moved in on the fields of fast crops. Fast crops were made to +order for a colonial world. They could be planted, grown, and +harvested in a matter of weeks. After four such plantings, the +fertility of the soil was destroyed, but that meant nothing in the +early years of a colonial planet, for land was plentiful. + +The rat tide grew in the fast crops, and the dogs were loosed on the +rats. They ranged through the fields, hunting. A rush, a snap of their +jaws, the shake of a head, and the rat was tossed aside, its back +broken. The dogs went on to the next. + +Until they could not see, the dogs prowled and slaughtered. At night +they came in bloody, most of it not their own, and exhausted. Marin +pumped them full of antibiotics, bandaged their wounds, fed them +through their veins, and shot them into sleep. In the morning he +awakened them with an injection of stimulant and sent them tingling +into battle. + +It took the rats two days to learn they could not feed during the day. +Not so numerous, they came at night. They climbed on the vines and +nibbled the fruit. They gnawed growing grain and ravaged vegetables. + +The next day the colonists set up lights. The dogs were with them, +discouraging the few rats who were still foolish enough to forage +while the sun was overhead. + +An hour before dusk, Marin called the dogs in and gave them an +enforced rest. He brought them out of it after dark and took them to +the fields, staggering. The scent of rats revived them; they were as +eager as ever, if not quite so fast. + +The rats came from the surrounding meadows, not singly, or in twos and +threes, as they had before; this time they came together. Squealing +and rustling the grass, they moved toward the fields. It was dark, and +though he could not see them, Marin could hear them. He ordered the +great lights turned on in the area of the fields. + +The rats stopped under the glare, milling around uneasily. The dogs +quivered and whined. Marin held them back. The rats resumed their +march, and Marin released the dogs. + +The dogs charged in to attack, but didn't dare brave the main mass. +They picked off the stragglers and forced the rats into a tighter +formation. After that the rats were virtually unassailable. + +The colonists could have burned the bunched-up rats with the right +equipment, but they didn't have it and couldn't get it for years. Even +if they'd had it, the use of such equipment would endanger the crops, +which they had to save if they could. It was up to the dogs. + +The rat formation came to the edge of the fields, and broke. They +could face a common enemy and remain united, but in the presence of +food, they forgot that unity and scattered--hunger was the great +divisor. The dogs leaped joyously in pursuit. They hunted down the +starved rodents, one by one, and killed them as they ate. + +When daylight came, the rat menace had ended. + +The next week the colonists harvested and processed the food for +storage and immediately planted another crop. + +[Illustration] + +Marin sat in the lab and tried to analyze the situation. The colony +was moving from crisis to crisis, all of them involving food. In +itself, each critical situation was minor, but lumped together they +could add up to failure. No matter how he looked at it, they just +didn't have the equipment they needed to colonize Glade. + +The fault seemed to lie with Biological Survey; they hadn't reported +the presence of pests that were endangering the food supply. +Regardless of what the exec thought about them, Survey knew their +business. If they said there were no mice or rats on Glade, then there +hadn't been any--_when the survey was made_. + +The question was: when did they come and how did they get here? + +Marin sat and stared at the wall, turning over hypotheses in his mind, +discarding them when they failed to make sense. + +His gaze shifted from the wall to the cage of the omnivores, the +squirrel-size forest creature. The most numerous animal on Glade, it +was a commonplace sight to the colonists. + +And yet it was a remarkable animal, more than he had realized. Plain, +insignificant in appearance, it might be the most important of any +animal Man had encountered on the many worlds he had settled on. The +longer he watched, the more Marin became convinced of it. + +He sat silent, observing the creature, not daring to move. He sat +until it was dark and the omnivore resumed its normal activity. + +_Normal?_ The word didn't apply on Glade. + +The interlude with the omnivore provided him with one answer. He +needed another one; he thought he knew what it was, but he had to have +more data, additional observations. + +He set up his equipment carefully on the fringes of the settlement. +There and in no other place existed the information he wanted. + +He spent time in the digger, checking his original investigations. It +added up to a complete picture. + +When he was certain of his facts, he called on Hafner. + +The executive was congenial; it was a reflection of the smoothness +with which the objectives of the colony were being achieved. + +"Sit down," he said affably. "Smoke?" + +The biologist sat down and took a cigarette. + +"I thought you'd like to know where the mice came from," he began. + +Hafner smiled. "They don't bother us any more." + +"I've also determined the origin of the rats." + +"They're under control. We're doing nicely." + + * * * * * + +On the contrary, thought Marin. He searched for the proper beginning. + +"Glade has an Earth-type climate and topography," he said. "Has had +for the past twenty thousand years. Before that, about a hundred +million years ago, it was also like Earth of the comparable period." + +He watched the look of polite interest settle on the executive's face +as he stated the obvious. Well, it _was_ obvious, up to a point. The +conclusions weren't, though. + +"Between a hundred million years and twenty thousand years ago, +something happened to Glade," Marin went on. "I don't know the cause; +it belongs to cosmic history and we may never find out. Anyway, +whatever the cause--fluctuations in the sun, unstable equilibrium of +forces within the planet, or perhaps an encounter with an interstellar +dust cloud of variable density--the climate on Glade changed. + +"It changed with inconceivable violence and it kept on changing. A +hundred million years ago, plus or minus, there was carboniferous +forest on Glade. Giant reptiles resembling dinosaurs and tiny mammals +roamed through it. The first great change wiped out the dinosaurs, as +it did on Earth. It didn't wipe out the still more primitive ancestor +of the omnivore, because it could adapt to changing conditions. + +"Let me give you an idea how the conditions changed. For a few years a +given area would be a desert; after that it would turn into a jungle. +Still later a glacier would begin to form. And then the cycle would be +repeated, with wild variations. All this might happen--did +happen--within a span covered by the lifetime of a single omnivore. +This occurred many times. For roughly a hundred million years, it was +the norm of existence on Glade. This condition was hardly conducive to +the preservation of fossils." + +Hafner saw the significance and was concerned. "You mean these +climatic fluctuations suddenly stopped, twenty thousand years ago? Are +they likely to begin again?" + +"I don't know," confessed the biologist. "We can probably determine it +if we're interested." + +The exec nodded grimly. "We're interested, all right." + +Maybe we are, thought the biologist. He said, "The point is that +survival was difficult. Birds could and did fly to more suitable +climates; quite a few of them survived. Only one species of mammals +managed to come through." + +"Your facts are not straight," observed Hafner. "There are four +species, ranging in size from a squirrel to a water buffalo." + +"One species," Marin repeated doggedly. "They're the same. If the food +supply for the largest animal increases, some of the smaller so-called +species grow up. Conversely, if food becomes scarce in any category, +the next generation, which apparently can be produced almost +instantly, switches to a form which does have an adequate food +supply." + +"The mice," Hafner said slowly. + + * * * * * + +Marin finished the thought for him. "The mice weren't here when we got +here. They were born of the squirrel-size omnivore." + +Hafner nodded. "And the rats?" + +"Born of the next larger size. After all, we're environment, +too--perhaps the harshest the beasts have yet faced." + +Hafner was a practical man, trained to administer a colony. Concepts +were not his familiar ground. "Mutations, then? But I thought--" + +The biologist smiled. It was thin and cracked at the edges of his +mouth. "On Earth, it would be mutation. Here it is merely normal +evolutionary adaptation." He shook his head. "I never told you, but +omnivores, though they could be mistaken for an animal from Earth, +have no genes or chromosomes. Obviously they do have heredity, but how +it is passed down, I don't know. However it functions, it responds to +external conditions far faster than anything we've ever encountered." + +Hafner nodded to himself. "Then we'll never be free from pests." He +clasped and unclasped his hands. "Unless, of course, we rid the +planet of all animal life." + +"Radioactive dust?" asked the biologist. "They have survived worse." + +The exec considered alternatives. "Maybe we should leave the planet +and leave it to the animals." + +"Too late," said the biologist. "They'll be on Earth, too, and all the +planets we've settled on." + +Hafner looked at him. The same pictures formed in his mind that Marin +had thought of. Three ships had been sent to colonize Glade. One had +remained with the colonists, survival insurance in case anything +unforeseen happened. Two had gone back to Earth to carry the report +that all was well and that more supplies were needed. They had also +carried specimens from the planet. + +The cages those creatures were kept in were secure. But a smaller +species could get out, must already be free, inhabiting, undetected, +the cargo spaces of the ships. + +There was nothing they could do to intercept those ships. And once +they reached Earth, would the biologists suspect? Not for a long time. +First a new kind of rat would appear. A mutation could account for +that. Without specific knowledge, there would be nothing to connect it +with the specimens picked up from Glade. + +[Illustration] + +"We have to stay," said the biologist. "We have to study them and we +can do it best here." + +He thought of the vast complex of buildings on Earth. There was too +much invested to tear them down and make them verminproof. Billions of +people could not be moved off the planet while the work was being +done. + +They were committed to Glade not as a colony, but as a gigantic +laboratory. They had gained one planet and lost the equivalent of ten, +perhaps more when the destructive properties of the omnivores were +finally assessed. + +A rasping animal cough interrupted the biologist's thoughts. Hafner +jerked his head and glanced out the window. Lips tight, he grabbed a +rifle off the wall and ran out. Marin followed him. + + * * * * * + +The exec headed toward the fields where the second fast crop was +maturing. On top of a knoll, he stopped and knelt. He flipped the dial +to _extreme charge_, aimed, and fired. It was high; he missed the +animal in the field. A neat strip of smoking brown appeared in the +green vegetation. + +He aimed more carefully and fired again. The charge screamed out of +the muzzle. It struck the animal on the forepaw. The beast leaped high +in the air and fell down, dead and broiled. + +They stood over the animal Hafner had killed. Except for the lack of +markings, it was a good imitation of a tiger. The exec prodded it with +his toe. + +"We chase the rats out of the warehouse and they go to the fields," he +muttered. "We hunt them down in the fields with dogs and they breed +tigers." + +"Easier than rats," said Marin. "We can shoot tigers." He bent down +over the slain dog near which they had surprised the big cat. + +The other dog came whining from the far corner of the field to which +he had fled in terror. He was a courageous dog, but he could not face +the great carnivore. He whimpered and licked the face of his mate. + +The biologist picked up the mangled dog and headed toward the +laboratory. + +"You can't save her," said Hafner morosely. "She's dead." + +"But the pups aren't. We'll need them. The rats won't disappear merely +because tigers have showed up." + +The head drooped limply over his arm and blood seeped into his +clothing as Hafner followed him up the hill. + +"We've been here three months," the exec said suddenly. "The dogs have +been in the fields only two. And yet the tiger was mature. How do you +account for something like that?" + +Marin bent under the weight of the dog. Hafner never would understand +his bewilderment. As a biologist, all his categories were upset. What +did evolution explain? It was a history of organic life on a +particular world. Beyond that world, it might not apply. + +Even about himself there were many things Man didn't know, dark +patches in his knowledge which theory simply had to pass over. About +other creatures, his ignorance was sometimes limitless. + +Birth was simple; it occurred on countless planets. Meek grazing +creatures, fierce carnivores--the most unlikely animals gave birth to +their young. It happened all the time. And the young grew up, became +mature and mated. + +He remembered that evening in the laboratory. It was accidental--what +if he had been elsewhere and not witnessed it? They would not know +what little they did. + +He explained it carefully to Hafner. "If the survival factor is high +and there's a great disparity in size, the young need not ever be +young. They may be born as fully functioning adults!" + + * * * * * + +Although not at the rate it had initially set, the colony progressed. +The fast crops were slowed down and a more diversified selection was +planted. New buildings were constructed and the supplies that were +stored in them were spread out thin, for easy inspection. + +The pups survived and within a year shot up to maturity. After proper +training, they were released to the fields where they joined the older +dogs. The battle against the rats went on; they were held in check, +though the damage they caused was considerable. + +The original animal, unchanged in form, developed an appetite for +electrical insulation. There was no protection except to keep the +power on at all times. Even then there were unwelcome interruptions +until the short was located and the charred carcass was removed. +Vehicles were kept tightly closed or parked only in verminproof +buildings. While the plague didn't increase in numbers, it couldn't be +eliminated, either. + +There was a flurry of tigers, but they were larger animals and were +promptly shot down. They prowled at night, so the colonists were +assigned to guard the settlement around the clock. Where lights failed +to reach, the infra-red 'scope did. As fast as they came, the tigers +died. Except for the first one, not a single dog was lost. + +The tigers changed, though not in form. Externally, they were all big +and powerful killers. But as the slaughter went on, Marin noticed one +astonishing fact--the internal organic structure became progressively +more immature. + +The last one that was brought to him for examination was the +equivalent of a newly born cub. That tiny stomach was suited more for +the digestion of milk than meat. How it had furnished energy to drive +those great muscles was something of a miracle. But drive it had, for +a murderous fifteen minutes before the animal was brought down. No +lives were lost, though sick bay was kept busy for a while. + +That was the last tiger they shot. After that, the attacks ceased. + +The seasons passed and nothing new occurred. A spaceship civilization +or even that fragment of it represented by the colony was too much for +the creature, which Marin by now had come to think of as the +"Omnimal." It had evolved out of a cataclysmic past, but it could not +meet the challenge of the harshest environment. + +Or so it seemed. + + * * * * * + +Three months before the next colonists were due, a new animal was +detected. Food was missing from the fields. It was not another tiger: +they were carnivorous. Nor rats, for vines were stripped in a manner +that no rodent could manage. + +The food was not important. The colony had enough in storage. But if +the new animal signaled another plague, it was necessary to know how +to meet it. The sooner they knew what the animal was, the better +defense they could set up against it. + +Dogs were useless. The animal roamed the field they were loose in, and +they did not attack nor even seem to know it was there. + +The colonists were called upon for guard duty again, but it evaded +them. They patrolled for a week and they still did not catch sight of +it. + +Hafner called them in and rigged up an alarm system in the field most +frequented by the animal. It detected that, too, and moved its sphere +of operations to a field in which the alarm system had not been +installed. + +Hafner conferred with the engineer, who devised an alarm that would +react to body radiation. It was buried in the original field and the +old alarm was moved to another. + +Two nights later, just before dawn, the alarm rang. + +Marin met Hafner at the edge of the settlement. Both carried rifles. +They walked; the noise of any vehicle was likely to frighten the +animal. They circled around and approached the field from the rear. +The men in the camp had been alerted. If they needed help, it was +ready. + +They crept silently through the underbrush. It was feeding in the +field, not noisily, yet they could hear it. The dogs hadn't barked. + +They inched nearer. The blue sun of Glade came up and shone full on +their quarry. The gun dropped in Hafner's hand. He clenched his teeth +and raised it again. + +Marin put out a restraining arm. "Don't shoot," he whispered. + +"I'm the exec here. I say it's dangerous." + +"Dangerous," agreed Marin, still in a whisper. "That's why you can't +shoot. It's more dangerous than you know." + +Hafner hesitated and Marin went on. "The omnimal couldn't compete in +the changed environment and so it evolved mice. We stopped the mice +and it countered with rats. We turned back the rat and it provided the +tiger. + +"The tiger was easiest of all for us and so it was apparently stopped +for a while. But it didn't really stop. Another animal was being +formed, the one you see there. It took the omnimal two years to create +it--how, I don't know. A million years were required to evolve it on +Earth." + +Hafner hadn't lowered the rifle and he showed no signs of doing so. +He looked lovingly into the sights. + +"Can't you see?" urged Marin. "We can't destroy the omnimal. It's on +Earth now, and on the other planets, down in the storage areas of our +big cities, masquerading as rats. And we've never been able to root +out even our own terrestrial rats, so how can we exterminate the +omnimal?" + +"All the more reason to start now." Hafner's voice was flat. + +Marin struck the rifle down. "Are their rats better than ours?" he +asked wearily. "Will their pests win or ours be stronger? Or will the +two make peace, unite and interbreed, make war on us? It's not +impossible; the omnimal could do it if interbreeding had a high +survival factor. + +"Don't you still see? There is a progression. After the tiger, it bred +this. If this evolution fails, if we shoot it down, what will it +create next? This creature I think we can compete with. _It's the one +after this that I do not want to face._" + + * * * * * + +It heard them. It raised its head and looked around. Slowly it edged +away and backed toward a nearby grove. + +The biologist stood up and called softly. The creature scurried to the +trees and stopped just inside the shadows among them. + +The two men laid down their rifles. Together they approached the +grove, hands spread open to show they carried no weapons. + +It came out to meet them. Naked, it had had no time to learn about +clothing. Neither did it have weapons. It plucked a large white flower +from the tree and extended this mutely as a sign of peace. + +"I wonder what it's like," said Marin. "It seems adult, but can it be, +all the way through? What's inside that body?" + +"I wonder what's in his head," Hafner said worriedly. + +It looked very much like a man. + +--F. L. WALLACE + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Student Body, by Floyd L. Wallace + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDENT BODY *** + +***** This file should be named 31815.txt or 31815.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/8/1/31815/ + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Robert Cicconetti, 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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