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diff --git a/30491.txt b/30491.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..653aad9 --- /dev/null +++ b/30491.txt @@ -0,0 +1,786 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Vital Ingredient, by Charles V. De Vet + +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: Vital Ingredient + +Author: Charles V. De Vet + +Illustrator: Bob Martin + +Release Date: November 17, 2009 [EBook #30491] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VITAL INGREDIENT *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + _It is man's most precious possession--no living thing can exist + without it. But when they gave it to Orville, it killed him. For the + answer, read 1/M._ + + + Vital + Ingredient + + By Charles V. De Vet + + +"Now watch," Remm said, indicating the native. Macker had been absent, +exploring the countryside in the immediate vicinity of their landing +place, and had not witnessed the capture of the native, or the tests his +two companions made on it. + +Macker followed Remm's gaze to where the biped native sat hunched. The +creature was bent into an ungainly position, its body crooked at +incongruous angles, in such a way as to allow most of its weight to rest +on a packing-box at the base of a middle angle. Its stubby feet, on the +ends of thin, pipelike legs, rested against the floor of the space ship. +Its body was covered, almost entirely, with an artificial skin material +of various colors. Some of the colors hurt Macker's eyes. In the few +places where the flesh showed through the skin was an unhealthy, pallid +white. + +Slowly the creature's head swiveled on its short neck until it faced +them. + +"Those orifices in the upper portion of its skull are evidently organs +of sight," Remm said. "It sees that we are quite a distance away. It +will probably attempt to escape again." + +Slowly--slowly--the native's head rotated away from them in a +half-circle until it faced Toolls, working over his instruments on the +far side of the room. Then it turned its head back until it faced the +door of the ship. + +"It is setting itself for flight now," Remm said. "Notice the evidence +of strain on its face." + +The creature leaned forward and the appendages on the ends of its upper +limbs clutched the sides of the box as it propelled its body forward. + +It raised its right foot in a slow arc, employing a double-jointed, +breaking action of its leg. For a long moment it rested its entire +weight on its lumpy right foot, while its momentum carried its body +sluggishly forward. Then it repeated the motion with its left leg; then +again its right. All the while evidencing great exertion and +concentration of effort. + +"It is making what it considers a mad dash for freedom," Remm said. +"Probably at the ultimate speed of which it is capable. That would be +ridiculous except that it's normal for its own environment. This is +definitely a slow-motion world." + +The creature was a third-way to the door now. Once again its head turned +in its slow quarter-circle, to look at them. As it saw that Remm and +Macker had not moved it altered the expression on its face. + +"It seems to express its emotions through facial contortions," Remm +said. "Though I suspect that the sounds it makes with the upper part of +its trachea during moments of agitation are also outlets of emotional +stress, rather than efforts at communication." He called across the room +to Toolls. "What did you find out about its speech?" + +"Extremely primitive," Toolls replied. "Incredible as it may appear to +us it uses combinations of sounds to form word-symbols. Each word +indicates some action, or object; or denotes degree, time, or shades of +meaning. Other words are merely connectives. It seems to make little use +of inflections, the basis of a rational language. Thoughts which we can +project with a few sounds would take it dozens of words to express." + +"Just how intelligent is it?" Macker asked. + +"Only as intelligent as a high degree of self-preservation instinct +would make it." + +"Are you certain that it is a member of the dominant species of life on +the planet?" + +"There's no doubt about it," Toolls replied. "I've made very careful +observations." + +"This attempt at escape is a pretty good example of its intelligence," +Remm said. "This is the sixth time it has tried to escape--in exactly +the same way. As soon as it sees that we are farther away from it than +it is from the door, it makes its dash." + + * * * * * + +The creature was one step away from the space ship's open portal now and +bringing its foot up to cross the threshold. Remm walked over and lifted +it off the floor. + +"Its legs are still moving in a running motion," Macker said. "Doesn't +it realize yet that you've picked it up?" + +[Illustration: _It was an arm to be proud of--but what good was it?_] + +"Its nervous system and reflexes are evidently as slow as its motor +muscles," Remm replied. "There has not been time for the sensation of my +picking it up to reach the brain, and for the brain to send back its +message to the legs to stop their running motion." + +"How heavy is it?" Macker asked. + +"Only a few ounces," Remm replied. "But that's logical considering that +this is a 'light' planet. If we took it back to our own 'heavy' world, +gravity would crush it to a light film of the liquid which comprises the +greater part of its substance." + +Remm set the creature down on the box in its former queerly contorted +position. Toolls had left his instruments and strolled over beside them +to observe the native. + +"One of its appendages seems bent at a peculiar angle," Macker said. + +"I noticed that," Remm answered. "I think that I may have broken the +bone in several places when I first captured it. I was not aware then of +how fragile it was. But now that you mention it, I should be able to use +that injury to give you a good illustration of the interplay of +emotional expressions on its face. Observe now as I touch it." + +Remm reached over and touched--very lightly--the broken portion of the +native's appendage. The muscles of the creature's face pulled its +flaccid flesh into distorted positions, bunching some and stretching +others. "It is very probably registering pain," Remm said. + +Suddenly the starch seemed to leave the native's body and it slowly +slumped across the packing-box. + +"Why is it doing that, Toolls?" Remm asked. + +Toolls concentrated for a minute, absorbing the feelings and thought +pulsations emanating from the creature. "The conscious plane of its mind +has blanked out," he said. "I presume the pain you caused by touching +its wounded member resulted in a breakdown of its nervous system. The +only thought waves I receive now are disjointed impressions and pictures +following no rational series. However, I'm certain that it will be only +temporary." + +"Don't you think that in justice to the creature we should repair its +wound before we free it?" Macker asked. + +"I had intended to have it done," Remm replied. "You shouldn't have any +trouble fixing it, should you, Toolls?" + +"No," Toolls answered. "I may as well attend to it right now." He rolled +the portable _converter_ over beside the creature and carefully laid its +arm in the "pan." The _converter_ automatically set its gauges and +instruments of calculation, and gave its click of "ready." + +Toolls fed a short length of _basic_ into the machine and it began its +work. The native was still unconscious. + +The bone of the wounded arm slowly evaporated, beginning with the wrist +joint. The evaporated portion was instantly replaced by the +manufactured bone of the _converter_. At the same time it repaired all +ruptured blood vessels and damaged ligaments and muscles. + +"It was not possible, of course, for me to replace the bone with another +of the same composition as its own," Toolls said, after the machine had +completed its work. "But I gave it one of our 'heavy' ones. There will +be no force on this planet powerful enough to break it again." + + * * * * * + +The native's first evidence of a return to consciousness was a faint +fluttering of the lids that covered its organs of vision. The lids +opened and it looked up at them. + +"Its eyesight is as slow as its muscular reactions," Remm said. "Watch." +Remm raised his hand and waved it slowly in front of the native's face. +The eyes of the native, moving in odd, jerking movements, followed the +hand's progress. Remm raised the hand--speeding its action slightly--and +the eyesight faltered and lost it. The native's eyes rolled wildly until +once again they located the hand. + +Remm took three steps forward. The native's eyes were unable to follow +his change of position. Its gaze wandered about the room, until again +its settled on Remm's waiting figure. + +"Can you imagine anything being so slow," Remm said, "and still ..." +Suddenly Macker interrupted. "Something is wrong. It is trying to get +up, but it can't." The native was registering signs of distress, kicking +its legs and twisting its body into new positions of contortion. + +"I see what the trouble is," Toolls said. "It's unable to lift the +appendage with the new bone in. I never thought of that before but its +'light' muscles aren't strong enough to lift the limb. We've got the +poor creature pinned to the box by the weight of its own arm." + +"We can't do that to it," Remm said. "Isn't there any way you can give +it a lighter bone?" + +"None that wouldn't take a retooling of the _converter_," Toolls said. +"I'm not certain that I could do it, and even if I could, we don't have +the time to spare. I could give it stronger muscles in the arm, but that +may throw off the metabolism of the whole body. If it did, the result +would be fatal. I'd hate to chance it." + +"I have an idea," Macker said. By the inflections of his tones the +others knew that some incongruity of the situation had aroused Macker's +sense of humor. "Why don't we give the creature an entirely new body? We +could replace the flesh and viscera, as well as the cartilaginous +structure, with our own type substance. It would probably be an +indestructible being as far as its own world is concerned. And it would +be as powerful as their mightiest machines. We'd leave behind us a +superman that could change the course of this world's history. You could +do it, couldn't you, Toolls?" + +"Quite simply." + +"Our policy has always been not to interfere in anyway with the races we +study," Remm protested. + +"But our policy has also been never to harm any of them, if at all +possible to avoid it," Macker insisted. "In common justice you have to +complete the job Toolls began on the arm, or you're condemning this poor +thing to death." + +"But do we have the right to loose such an unpredictable factor as it +would be among them?" Remm asked. "After all, our purpose is exploration +and observation, not playing the parts of gods to the primitives we +encounter." + +"True, that is the rule which we have always followed in the past," +Macker agreed, "but it is in no way a requirement. We are empowered to +use our judgment in all circumstances. And in this particular instance I +believe I can convince you that the course I suggest is the more just +one." He turned to Toolls. "Just what stage of cultural development +would you say this creature's race has attained?" + +"It still retains more of an animal-like adaptation to its surroundings +than an intellectual one," Toolls replied. "Its civilization is divided +into various sized units of cooperation which it calls governments. Each +unit vies with the others for a greater share of its world's goods. That +same rivalry is carried down to the individual within the unit. Each +strives for acquisition against his neighbor. + +"Further they retain many of their tribal instincts, such as +gregariousness, emotional rather than intellectual propagation, and +worship of the mightiest fighter. This last, however, is manifested by +reverence for individuals attaining position of authority, or acquiring +large amounts of their medium of exchange, rather than by physical +superiority." + +"That's what I mean," Macker said. "Our policy in the past has been to +avoid tampering, only because of the fear of bringing harm. If we +created a super being among them, to act as a controlling and +harmonizing force, we'd hasten their development by thousands of years. +We'd be granting them the greatest possible boon!" + +"I don't know," Remm said, obviously swayed by Macker's logic. "I'm +still hesitant about introducing a being into their midst whose thought +processes would be so subtle and superior to their own. How do you feel +about it, Toolls?" + +"What would they have to lose?" Toolls asked with his penchant for +striking the core of an argument. + +"The right or wrong of such moral and philosophical considerations has +always been a delicate thing to decide," Remm acquiesced reluctantly. +"Go ahead if you think it is the right thing to do." + + * * * * * + +"All finished?" Macker asked. + +"That depends on how much you want me to do," Toolls replied. "I've +substituted our 'heavy' substances for his entire body structure, +including the brain--at the same time transferring his former memory and +habit impressions. That was necessary if he is to be able to care for +himself. Also I brought his muscular reaction time up to our norm, and +speeded his reflexes." + +"Have you implanted any techniques which he did not possess before, such +as far-seeing, or mental insight?" Macker asked. + +"No," Toolls said. "That is what I want your advice about. Just how much +should I reveal about ourselves and our background? Or should he be left +without any knowledge of us?" + +"Well ..." Now that the others had deferred to Macker's arguments, he +had lost much of his certainty. "Perhaps we should at least let him know +who we are, and what we have done. That would save him much alarm and +perplexity when it comes time to reorient himself. On the other hand, +perhaps we should go even farther and implant the knowledge of some of +our sciences. Then he could do a better job of advancing his people. But +maybe I'm wrong. What do you think about it, Remm?" + +"My personal opinion," Remm said, "is that we can't give him much of our +science, because it would be like giving a baby a high explosive to play +with. His race is much too primitive to handle it wisely. Either he, or +someone to whom he imparts what we teach him, would be certain to bring +catastrophe to his world. And if we let him learn less, but still +remember his contact with us, in time his race would very likely come to +regard us as gods. I would hesitate to drag in any metaphysical +confusion to add to the uncertainties you are already engendering. My +advice would be to wipe his mind of all memory of us. Let him explain +his new found invincibility to himself in his own way." + +Macker had no criticism to offer to this suggestion. "Does he retain any +of his immunity to this world's malignant germs?" he asked. + +"They are too impotent to represent any hazard to his present body +mechanism," Toolls replied. "If and when he dies, it will not be from +disease." + +"He will be subject to the deterioration of old age, the same as we are, +won't he?" Macker asked. + +"Of course," Toolls said, "but that's the only thing that will be able +to bring him down. He cannot be harmed by any force this 'light' world +can produce; he is impervious to sickness; and he will live +indefinitely." + +"Indefinitely?" + +"As his world reckons time. Their normal life span is less than a +hundred years. Ours is over five thousand. He will probably live +approximately twice that long, because he will be subjected to less +stress and strain, living as he does on a world of lighter elements." + +"Then we have truly made a superman," Macker's tones inflected +satisfaction. "I wish we were returning this way in a thousand years or +so. I'd like to see the monumental changes he will effect." + +"We may at that," Remm said, "or others of our people will. He will +probably be a living legend by then. I'd like to hear what his race has +to say about him. Do they have names with which to differentiate +individuals?" + +"Yes," Toolls said. "This one has a family designation of Pollnow, and +a member designation of Orville." + +"It will be necessary for us to leave in exactly ten minutes," Remm +reminded them. "Our next stopping place--the red star--will reach its +nearest conjunction with this planet by the time we meet it out in +space." + +"Then we will have time to do nothing more for him before we go," Macker +said. "But as far as I can see we've forgotten nothing, have we, +Toolls?" + +"Nothing," Toolls answered. "No--we forgot nothing." + + * * * * * + +But Toolls was wrong. They had forgotten one thing. A minor detail, +relatively.... + +On Toolls' world his race, in the course of its evolution, had adjusted +itself to its own particular environment. Logically, the final result +was that they evolved into beings best able to survive in that +environment. As such their food--a "heavy," highly concentrated +food--was ideally suited to supply the needs of their "heavy," +tremendously avid organisms. + +Orville Pollnow had no such food available. His body--no larger than +before--had an Earth mass of one hundred and eighty thousand pounds. One +hundred and eighty thousand pounds--the weight of twelve hundred average +sized men--of fiercely burning, intense virility. Even continuous +eating--of his own world's food--could not supply the demands of that +body. + +Twenty-four hours after the aliens left, Pollnow was dead--of +starvation. + + +THE END + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from _If Worlds of Science Fiction_ July + 1952. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. + copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and + typographical errors have been corrected without note. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Vital Ingredient, by Charles V. 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