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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30491 ***
+
+    _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. De Vet
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30491 ***