‘You mean that at the same time that Genarr, wearing an E-suit, was struck down, the girl, this Marlene Fisher, without an E-suit, suffered nothing?’
D'Aubisson shrugged. ‘Nothing at all, as far as we could tell.’
‘Don't you consider that strange?’
‘She's a strange young woman. Her brain scan-’
‘I know about her brain scan. I know also that she has peculiar abilities. Have you noted that?’
‘Oh yes. I have indeed.’
‘And how do her abilities strike you? Mind reading, by any chance?’
‘No, Commissioner. That's impossible. The concept of telepathy is a mere fantasy. I wish it were mind reading, in fact, since that would not be so dangerous. Thoughts can be placed under control.’
‘What is it about her that is more dangerous?’
‘Apparently, she reads body language and we can't control that. Every motion speaks.’ She said it with a touch of bitterness that Pitt did not fail to note.
He said, ‘Did you have a personal experience of that?’
‘Certainly.’ D'Aubisson looked grim. ‘It is impossible to be near the young woman without experiencing some of the inconvenience of her habit of perception.’
‘Yes, but what happened?’
‘Nothing of tremendous importance, but it was annoying.’ D'Aubisson flushed and, for a moment, her lips pressed together as though she were thinking of defying her interrogator. But that moment passed. She said, almost in a whisper, ‘after I had examined Dome Commander Genarr, Marlene asked me how he was. I told her that he was not seriously harmed and that there was every hope that he would recover completely.
'She said, “Why does that disappoint you?”
'I was taken aback and said, “I'm not disappointed. I'm pleased.”
‘She said, “But you are disappointed. That is quite clear. You're impatient.”
‘It was the first time I had encountered that sort of thing directly, though I had heard about it from others, and I couldn't think of anything to do but challenge her. “Why should I be impatient? For what?”
‘She looked at me solemnly with her large, dark and unsettling eyes. Then she said, “It seems to be about Uncle Siever-” ’
Pitt interrupted. ‘Uncle Siever? Is there a relationship?’
‘No. I think it's only a term of affection. She said, “It seems to be about Uncle Siever and I wonder if you want to replace him as Dome Commander.”
‘At that, I just turned and walked away.’
Pitt said, ‘How did you feel when she told you this?’
‘I was furious. Naturally.’
‘Because she had maligned you? Or because she was correct?’
‘Well, in a way-’
‘No, no. Don't hedge, Doctor. Was she wrong or was she right? Were you sufficiently disappointed at Genarr's recovery for the girl to notice, or was the whole thing a stroke of her peculiar imagination?’
The words seemed to force themselves out of D'Aubisson's lips. ‘She sensed something that was really there.’ She stared at Pitt defiantly. ‘I'm only human, and I have my impulses. And you yourself have now indicated that I might be offered the post, which would seem to mean you consider me qualified for it.’
‘I'm sure you are maligned in spirit - if not in fact,’ said Pitt, without any sign of humor. ‘But now consider- You have this young woman, who is peculiar, who is very strange, both as shown by the brain scan and by her behavior - and, in addition, she seems unaffected by the Plague. Clearly, there may be a connection between her neuronic pattern and her Plague resistance. Might she not be a useful tool for studying the Plague?’
‘I can't say. I suppose it's conceivable.’
‘Shouldn't it be tested?’
‘Perhaps, but how?’
Pitt said quietly, ‘Let her be exposed to the influence of Erythro as much as possible.’
D'Aubisson said thoughtfully, ‘That is what she wants to do, as it happens, and Commander Genarr seems to be willing to let her.’
‘Good. Then you will supply the medical backing.’
‘I understand. And if the young woman gets the Plague?’
‘We must remember that the solution of the problem is more important than the welfare of a single individual. We have a world to win, and for that we might have to pay a sad but necessary price.’
‘And if Marlene is destroyed and that does not help us understand or counteract the Plague?’
Pitt said, ‘That risk must be faced. After all, it might also be that she will remain untouched and that that untouchability, carefully studied, may give us the means of a breakthrough in understanding the Plague. In that case, we win without loss.’
It was only afterward, when D'Aubisson had left for her Rotorian apartment, that Pitt's iron resolution permitted him to think of himself as Marlene Fisher's confirmed enemy. True victory would be to have Marlene destroyed and the Plague remain unsolved. At a stroke he would be rid of an inconvenient girl who might otherwise, someday, produce young like herself; and of an inconvenient world that might otherwise, someday, produce a population as undesirable, as dependent, and as immobile as Earth's population had been.
64The three of them sat together in the Erythro Dome - Siever Genarr watchful, Eugenia Insigna deeply concerned, and Marlene Fisher clearly impatient.
Insigna said, ‘Now, remember, Marlene, do not stare at Nemesis. I know you've been warned about the infrared, but it's also a fact that Nemesis is a mild flare star. Every once in a while there's an explosion on its surface and a burst of white light. It just lasts a minute or two, but that will be enough to shock your retinas, and you can't tell when it's going to happen.’
Genarr said, ‘Can astronomers tell when it's going to happen?’
‘Not so far. It's one of the many chaotic aspects of nature. We have not yet worked out the rules underlying stellar turbulence and there are some among us who think the rules can never be worked out entirely. They are simply too complex.’
‘Interesting,’ said Genarr.
‘It's not that we're not grateful to the flares. Three per cent of the energy reaching Erythro from Nemesis is the result of those flares.’
‘That doesn't sound like much.’
‘It is, though. Without the flares, Erythro would be an icy world and much less easy to live on. The flares do make problems for Rotor, which has to adjust its use of sunlight quickly whenever there's a flare, and strengthen its particle-absorption field.’
Marlene was looking from one to the other as they spoke, and she finally broke in with a small note of exasperation, ‘How long are you two going to keep this up? It's just to keep me sitting here. I can tell that very easily.’
Insigna said hastily, ‘Where will you go when you're out there?’
‘Just around. To the little river, or creek, or whatever it is.’
‘Why?’
‘Because it's interesting. Just flowing water in the open, and you can't see the ends, and you know it's not being pumped back to the beginning.’
‘But it is,’ said Insigna, ‘by the heat of Nemesis.’
‘That doesn't count. I mean human beings aren't doing it. Besides, I just want to stand there and watch it.’
‘Don't drink from it,’ said Insigna severely. ‘I don't intend to. I can last an hour without drinking. If I get hungry, or thirsty - or anything else - I'll come back. You're making such a fuss over nothing.’
Genarr smiled. ‘I suppose you want to recycle everything right here in the Dome.’
‘Yes, of course. Wouldn't anyone?’
Genarr's smile broadened. He said, ‘You know, Eugenia, I'm quite certain that living in Settlements has changed humanity permanently. The necessity of cycling is now ingrained in us. On Earth, you just threw things away, assuming it would recycle naturally, and, of course, sometimes it didn't.’
‘Genarr,’ said Insigna, ‘you're a dreamer. It may be posssible for human beings to learn good habits under pressure, but relieve the pressure and the bad habits are back at once. Downhill is easier than uphill. It's called the second law of thermodynamics, and if we ever do colonize Erythro, I predict that we will litter it from end to end in no time at all.’
‘No, we won't,’ said Marlene.