Blish,James – And all the Stars a Stage

jumped sidewise, and landed in a tangle of those clover-like plants we’ve

been clearing away, the ones with all the long thorns. It thrashed around

in there for just a moment as though it were going to jump out, and then

all at once it just -collapsed. From the noises it made, you would have

thought it was suffocating.”

“Very likely. Those thorns must carry some kind of nerve poison-something

that blocks the breathing reflex. Odd; weve been scratched often enough by

them without any apparent barm. We’ll send some more samples to

Chemistry-and I suppose we’d better take to wearing boots and heavy puttees

until we get the results.” She hefted a pair of electric shears

thoughtfully, and then bent to shaving the animars, belly for the first

incision.

” That was my guess,” Jorn agreed. “But what puz

zles me is, why should it have been so jumpy about

so small a noise as my gun makes? The sighing noise

the critter makes itself is almost as loud. But it

jumped like it had been stung.”

Dr. Chase-Huebner didn’t answer. She was busy painting the shaven surface

with alcohol. After a moment she took up a scalpel, and Jorn, who was in-

clined to be sensitive about raw innards, went back to work as quickly as

his dignity would allow. Questions about the creature continued to fill his

mind.

, We can take the boots off,” Dr. Cbase-Huebner reported at the end of the

next day. “There are no alkaloids on the thorns; the plants are entirely

harm-

And all the Stars a Stage 117

less, just as we first thought. And we won’t have to worry about these