Is Professor Mary Vaughan there, by any chance? said a mans voice.
Um, speaking.
Great! My name is Sanjit. Im a producer for Discovery, Ca, the nightly science-news program on Discovery Channel Canada.
Wow, said Mary. Thats a great show.
Thanks. Weve been following this stuff about a Neanderthal turning up in Sudbury. Frankly, we didnt believe it at first, but, well, a wire-service report just came through that you had authenticated the specimens DNA.
Yes, said Mary. He does indeed have Neanderthal DNA.
What about thethe man himself? Hes not a fake?
No, said Mary. Hes the genuine article.
Wow. Well, look, wed love to have you on the show tomorrow. Were owned by CTV, so we can send someone over from our local affiliate and do an interview between you up there and Jay Ingram, one of our hosts, down here in Toronto.
Um, said Mary, well, sure. I guess.
Great, said Sanjit. Now, let me just take you through what wed like to talk about.
Mary turned and looked out the living-room window; she could see Louise and Reuben fussing over the barbecue. All right.
First, let me see if Ive got your own history right. Youre a full professor at York, right?
Yes, in genetics.
Tenured?
Yes.
And your Ph.D. is in ?
Molecular biology, actually.
Now, in 1996, you went to Germany to collect DNA from the Neanderthal type specimen there, is that correct?
Mary glanced over at Ponter, to see if he was offended that she was talking on the phone. He gave her an indulgent smile, so she continued. Yes.
Tell me about that, said Sanjit.
In all, the pre-interview must have taken twenty minutes. She heard Louise and Reuben pop in and out of the kitchen a couple of times, and Reuben stuck his head in the living room at one point to see whether Mary was okay; she held her hand over the phones microphone and told him what was going on. He smiled and went back to his cooking. At last Sanjit finished with his questions, and they finalized the arrangements for taping the interview. Mary put down the phone and turned back to Ponter. Sorry about that, she said.
But Ponter was lurching toward her, one arm outstretched. She realized in an instant what an idiot shed been; hed maneuvered her over here, next to the bookcases, away from the door. With one shove from that massive arm, shed be away from the window, too, invisible to Reuben and Louise outside.
Please, said Mary. Please. Ill scream
Ponter took another shuddering step forward, and then
And then
And then Mary did scream. Help! Help!
Ponter was now slumping to the carpeted floor. His brow above the ridge was slick with perspiration, and his skin had turned an ashen color. Mary knelt down next to him. His chest was moving up and down rapidly, and hed started to gasp.
Help! she yelled again.
She heard the glass door sliding open. Reuben dashed in. Whatsoh, God!
He hurried over to the downed Ponter. Louise arrived a few seconds later. Reuben felt Ponters pulse.
Ponter is sick, said Hak, using its female voice.
Yes, said Reuben, nodding. Do you know whats wrong with him?
No, said Hak. His pulse is elevated, his breathing shallow. His body temperature is 39.
Mary was startled for a moment to hear the implant citing what she presumed was a Celsius figure, in which case it was in the fever rangebut, then again, it was a logical temperature scale for any ten-fingered being to develop.
Does he have allergies? asked Reuben.
Hak bleeped.
Allergies, said Reuben. Foods or things in the environment that normal people are unaffected by, but cause sickness in him.
No, said Hak.
Was he ill before he left your world?
Ill? repeated Hak.
Sick. Not well.
No.
Reuben looked at an intricately carved wooden clock, sitting on one of his bookshelves. Its been about fifty-one hours since he arrived here. Christ, Christ, Christ.
What is it? asked Mary.
God, I am an idiot, said Reuben, rising. He hurried off to another room in the house and returned with a worn brown-leather medical bag, which he opened up. He extracted a wooden tongue depressor and a small flashlight. Ponter, he said firmly, open mouth.
Ponters golden eyes were half-covered by his lids now, but he did what Reuben asked. Evidently, Ponter had never been examined in quite this way before; he resisted the placing of the wooden spatula on his tongue. But, perhaps calmed by some words from Hak that only he could hear, he soon stopped struggling, and Reuben shined the light inside the Neanderthals cavernous mouth.
His tonsils and other tissues are highly inflamed, said Reuben. He looked at Mary, then at Louise. Its an infection of some sort.
But either you, Professor Vaughan, or I have been with him just about all the time hes been here, said Louise, and were not sick.
Exactly, snapped Reuben. Whatever hes got, he probably got hereand its something the three of us have natural immunity to, but he doesnt. The doctor rummaged in his case, found a vial of pills. Louise, he said, without turning around, get a glass of water, please.
Louise hurried off to the kitchen.
Im going to give him some industrial-strength aspirin, said Reuben to Hak, or to Maryshe wasnt sure which. It should bring down his fever.
Louise returned with a tumbler full of water. Reuben took it from her. He pushed two pills past Ponters lips. Hak, tell him to swallow the pills.
Mary was unsure whether the Companion understood Reubens words, or merely guessed at his intention, but a moment later Ponter did indeed swallow the tablets, and, with his own large hand steadied by Reubens, managed to chase them down with some water, although much of it ran down his chinless jaw, dampening his blond beard.
But he didnt splutter at all, Mary noted. A Neanderthal couldnt choke; that was the plus side of not being able to make as many sounds. The mouth cavity was laid out so that neither liquid nor food could go down the wrong way. Reuben helped pour more water into Ponter, emptying the glass.
Damn it, thought Mary. God damn it.
How could they have been so stupid? When Cortez and his conquistadors had come to Central America, theyd brought diseases to which the Aztecs had no immunityand yet the Aztecs and the Spaniards had only been separated for a few thousand years, time enough for pathogens to develop in one part of the planet that those in the other couldnt defend against. Ponters world had been separated from this one for at least twenty-seven thousand years; diseases had to have evolved here that he would have no resistance to.
And and and
Mary shuddered.
And vice versa, too, of course.
The same thought had clearly occurred to Reuben. He hurried to his feet, crossed the room, and picked up the teal one-piece phone Mary had used earlier.
Hello, operator, he said into the phone. My name is Dr. Reuben K. Montego, and this is a medical emergency. I need you to connect me with the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control at Health Canada in Ottawa. Yes, thats rightwhoevers in charge of infectious-disease control there
Chapter 24
Adikor Hulds dooslarm basadlarm was temporarily halted, ostensibly for the evening meal, but also because Adjudicator Sard clearly wanted to give him a chance to calm down, to regain composure, and to consult with others about how he might undo the damage of his violent outburst earlier in the day.
When the dooslarm basadlarm started back up, Adikor sat again on the stool. He wondered what genius had thought of having the accused sit on a stool while others circled about him? Perhaps Jasmel knew; she was studying history, after all, and such proceedings were ancient in their origins.