The biochemist shrugged. “Of course,” he said, looking at Daisy Fennell, “there is also the fact that there are additional stores of food on the Starlab orbiter. The subject called Dopey has urged that a spacecraft be launched to obtain them-“
“That’s being looked into,” Daisy said quickly.
“-but even that, you must understand, is only an interim solution, while our researches must ultimately-“
But he didn’t get a chance to finish saying what his researches must ultimately do. The door opened and the deputy director came in, quietly, but changing the climate of the room.
Everyone perked up. “Sorry I’m late. Hope I’m not interrupting,” he apologized, knowing that he was, “but I think now it’s time we gave everybody a look at the gadget we took out of our friends.”
So that was what Harold Ott was doing in the room. The man was already on his feet, politely elbowing Daisy Fennell out of the way to get at the master controls. As he touched the keypad the room lights darkened and the projectors of a 3-D system arose from the tabletop. There was a brief polychromatic haze over the middle of the table, then it cleared and turned into an image of something that looked like a copper-covered almond, slowly rotating as they watched.
“I thought of bringing one of the actual gadgets in for you to look at,” Marcus Pell said chattily, “but we’re really not supposed to take them out of the secure lab.”
One of the men raised a hand. “That’s pretty big to go in somebody’s head,” he said doubtfully.
“It’s enlarged so we can see it better,” Pell explained. “The actual object is only a little over two centimeters long. It’s a bug, all right, and we’ve got three of them, That’s half the world’s supply.”
“Where’s the other half?” the man asked.
“Scattered, I’m afraid. There’s one in General Delasquez’s head, and he’s back in Florida. There’s another in the Chinese pilot-not the one that just came back, the other one. We don’t know where he is-somewhere in China, anyway. And there’s the one the Ukrainians took out of the dead Dr. Artzybachova and they let get stolen. That one we’re trying to locate; we have some leads.”
The general said testily, “The people who stole it, they’re terrorists, right? I don’t like having that kind of thing in their hands. What if they take it apart and see what’s inside?”
Pell looked courteously at the electronics man. “Harold?” Ott pursed his lips. “It’s not that easy. Here in the lab we’ve done about all the noninvasive studies we can, and they don’t tell us much. Next step would be to use a can opener on one of them, but there’s a considerable risk of destroying it if we do.”
“Tissue and hair samples from the extraterrestrials give us clues as to the basic proteins, fats and other molecules that make up their bodies, but they are not enough; without invasive surgery we can’t tell what less common compounds are required by their glands, nervous systems, etc. However, we have succeeded in isolating a number of their basic chemicals, and, through polymerase chain reaction and other techniques, are capable of manufacturing them in dietary quantities. The proteins are the most difficult. Proteins are basically composed of two parts, an alpha helix and a number of beta sheets. We have synthesized quantities of these. However, it isn’t enough to put the right ingredients in a kettle and cook them up; the planar beta sheets, for example, must be folded in just the right way. Still, we have produced basic ration packs for each species, which should sustain life for a period. Whether it contains all the required vitamins and minerals is another question; we cannot guarantee that the ETs will not start developing something like scurvy or kwashiorkor over time.”
The Biowar Report
“So you re stymied?”
“Maybe not.” He gave the deputy director an inquiring look and got a nod of permission. “It seems that one of the Doc creatures-the one that isn’t a brain surgeon-is supposed to be an expert on that sort of thing. We think probably he could disassemble one for us, and then we could get a better look at it. It’s a pretty impressive little gadget. Apparently it monitors full five-sense inputs and transmits them to at least orbital distance. We don’t have any idea, really, what its range is. It uses some frequency that we haven’t been able to detect. It isn’t in any of the conventional radio bands. And it requires no external power source.”
One of the men said thoughtfully, “I can see why you’d like to take it apart. If the alien can do it, what’s holding you up?”
“Trouble is, we can’t communicate with the Doc directly. He never speaks. The Dopey talks for him.”
“But if he doesn’t speak at all-“
“Well, that’s another thing we’d like to know more about. Somehow the Dopey creature communicates with them.”
Daisy turned to the neurosurgeon from Walter Reed: “Dr. Ever-good?”
“Are you asking if the extraterrestrials are bugged, too? It doesn’t look that way. Nothing shows up on X rays.”
“Well, they’ve got something,” Ott said stubbornly. “What about this little muff thing that the Dopey creature wears all the time? He won’t let us investigate it. Of course, we could simply take it-“ he added, looking at Marcus Pell.
“Not yet, anyway,” the deputy director said. “Go on, Daisy.”
The vice deputy turned to the State Department man, whose one finger was again elevated. Hilda resigned herself to five minutes of hearing about all the turmoil that was building up all around the world, but what he said was, “The Canadians are asking for one of those things, since we’ve got three now. They claim they’re entitled to it under the Ottawa Agreement in return for letting us use the base at Calgary to get the people down. The President promised-“
Marcus Pell waved a hand negligently. “We know what the President promised. We’ll certainly keep them informed, in due course. Is that all?”
“Well, no. There’s also this Chinese custody suit.”
Pell looked tolerantly amused. “Wouldn’t you say that’s a bit premature? The damn kid hasn’t even been born yet.”
“That’s their point. They say the baby has a right to be born on the territory of the People’s Republic so that he may enjoy full citizenship. What they want is for the mother to come to Beijing, not later than ninety days from now, and stay there for the delivery.”
“Hmm.” The deputy director considered for a moment, then shrugged. “Next time you see the ambassador, why don’t you point out to him that unfortunately our domestic-relations courts are pretty well backed up with cases, so their suit might not get heard until the baby’s getting ready for college.” He gazed benevolently at the man from State, then said, “Now, I’m afraid, I’ve got some other matters to deal with. Brigadier Morrisey? If you can come to my office for a moment-“
Pell didn’t speak to Hilda all the way to his private suite; he was listening intently to the messages coming from his earpiece, and she didn’t interrupt.
When they got to the office a man was sitting there. He got up as they entered, and Hilda recognized him. Solly Garand. A field manager like herself-like she used to be, anyway. The deputy director said, “Colonel Garand, Brigadier Morrisey-you know each other.”
“Sure do,” said Garand, grinning and extending his hand to Hilda. “Congratulations on your promotion, Hilda.”
Pell didn’t give her time to respond. “Solly’s been running some of our ethnics, including the Ukrainian group that’s financing the irredentists. The ones that stole the bug from the authorities. You want to tell her where you stand now, Solly?”
“Right. I guess you know we’ve got assets in the ex-pat group here in America, and now we’ve got one in Ukraine, too. That’s courtesy of the Russians, because they don’t want the Ukrainians getting anything they don’t have-“
Doktor-nauk Artzybachova Recovering
Administration officials at Hospital No. 14 confirm that Doktor-nauk R. V. Artzybachova has left the hospital for rest and recovery. Officials declined to speculate on her whereabouts or how long she would remain in seclusion, citing her advanced age and the exhausting experiences she has undergone.
State Information Agency, Ukraine
“Background her later, Solly. Cut to the chase.”
“Well, we haven’t located the device yet, but now we have a problem, It’s this Dr. Artzybachova. The irredentists have tried to kidnap her. So she’s left the hospital and now she’s holed up in her dacha with a few bodyguards she trusts because they’re from old zek families-“
Hilda interrupted. “From what?”
“Families of old concentration-camp people. From the Gulag. People who served time with Artzybachova’s grandfather; she knows the irredentists are after her, and the zek children are the only ones she trusts. Only we think one of her guards is actually a terrorist.”