“How long have you been here, Doc?” #51 | | |
“Ten years, perhaps. Why?” #52 | | |
“Just wondering. When did you see Earth last?” #53 | | |
“A long time ago. Say forty years and you wouldn’t be far short. I took the first ship out after I graduated and I’ve never been back.” Thorpe took the pipe from his mouth and stared at it. “Always been too busy to think about it, I suppose. Now you, you’re different. You think of nothing else. #54 | | |
“I’m a doctor, Dan, and I know what makes men tick. Jelkson, now, he’s almost happy out here. If he had your job be would be happier still. He likes his work and what it means. You, all you want is to break your contract and run back home.” #55 | | |
It was true but, hearing the old man say it, put it into a new light. It made it sound almost as if it were something to be ashamed of and Kenton reacted in instinctive defence. #56 | | |
“There’s nothing wrong in a man wanting to go home,” he said. “I’m not really needed here, Jelkson could do my job with his eyes shut.” Kenton scowled down at his hands. “They made me Controller with a twenty year contract and I was fool enough to jump at the offer. I’ve served five years of my time and now I want out. What’s wrong with that?” #57 | | |
“Nothing. It’s natural for some men to want to go home just as it’s natural for children to cling to their mother’s apron strings.” Thorpe examined his pipe again. “I said it was natural but that doesn’t mean that it’s a good thing. Man is an animal and every animal has to grow up and leave home someday. The trouble is that some men don’t grow up.” #58 | | |
“More lectures.” Kenton wasn’t annoyed at what the doctor had said. He had thought it all out for himself a dozen times and, though he knew the answers, he couldn’t help the way he felt. He had no affinity with Lubridgida. He was an Earthman, pure and simple, and it had been the biggest mistake of his life ever to leave the planet of his birth. #59 | | |
A mistake he looked like paying for with the rest of his life. #60 | | |
Jelkson was waiting for him outside the inlet of hydroponic building number seven. The small, waspish botanist was talking to his assistant when Kenton arrived. Susan Blake was a natural blonde, tall, slim, utterly feminine beneath her one-piece working overall. Even with flat heels she was taller than Jelkson though not as tall as Kenton himself. The couple fell silent as he joined them and they followed him through the outer door and into the mist-spray. Ten seconds later they left the hot-air blast and entered the building. #61 | | |
It was warm with a sticky humidity that did nothing to reduce Kenton’s discomfort. Impatiently he unzipped the front of his coverall. #62 | | |
“I thought that I asked you to wait inside the building,” he snapped. “I found you both outside. Why?” #63 | | |
“You were rather a long time,” said Jelkson evenly. “Neither of us are dressed for extreme heat. Susan began to feel a little faint and I escorted her outside. Satisfied?” #64 | | |
“Has Perchon arrived yet?” #65 | | |
“No. Are there any more questions?” #66 | | |
“A lot of them. Susan, you stay here. Jelkson, please follow me.” Kenton led the way down the aisle between the tanks, halting when he was sure that they were out of earshot. #67 | | |
“You hung up on me, Jelkson. Why?” #68 | | |
“I do not have to listen to personal insults,” said the botanist stiffly. “You had called me a fool and were about to say more. I decided that it would be best to terminate the conversation.” #69 | | |
“I see.” Kenton stared at the little man and was pleased to find that he remained calm. His normal dislike for the precise botanist still remained but his frustrated temper was now under control. #70 | | |
“Let’s get to business,” he said abruptly. “You say that this crop has to be destroyed?” #71 | | |
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“I see.” Kenton led the way back to where Susan was waiting. “Jelkson tells me that you first discovered something wrong in here. Will you please show me what it was you found.” #73 | | |
“Certainly.” She led the way down one of the aisles towards a group of marked plants. Kenton followed her, trying not to notice the motion of her hips. He was acutely conscious of Jelkson close behind. #74 | | |
“Here.” Susan pointed to the underside of a thick leaf. “At first I took it for rust, but Mr. Jelkson says that it is a virus disease.” #75 | | |
“A pity,” said Kenton dryly. “I would have liked you to have run an independent test without being swayed by Jelkson’s undoubtedly expert opinion.” Stooping he examined the underside of the leaves. The fleshy greenness was marred by pin-point areas of blackness. He straightened and looked at the botanist. “Does Perchon know about this?” #76 | | |
“The infection or the results?” #77 | | |
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“He might have spotted the infection,” said Jelkson slowly. “Central said that he went to town early this afternoon, before Susan spotted it herself. He couldn’t know of my results.” #79 | | |
“If he had spotted the infection surely he would have reported it?” #80 | | |
“I would have thought so,” admitted Jelkson. “It is a thing any farmer would do.” #81 | | |
Kenton nodded, his eyes thoughtful. Number seven held tobacco and the air was heavy with the scent of the thick-leaved plants, neat and of uniform height in their tanks of nutrient solution. Slowly he walked down the aisles, inspecting random plants with minute thoroughness. Most of them showed signs of the black areas but the infection seemed to be confined to the outer leaves. The tobacco was almost ready for harvest and Kenton was reluctant to throw away the work of three months. #82 | | |
He had another, equally good reason, for trying to save the crop. #83 | | |
“The plants don’t seem to be too badly infected,” he said. “It should be possible to salvage something from it. If we remove all the outer leaves and any others showing signs of infection we could harvest the rest.” #84 | | |
“Impossible.” Jelkson was very definite. “I told you that the disease is a virus. That means the entire building must be sterilised. This infection isn’t just local, restricted to a few leaves. The plants themselves are rotten. What you are looking at is the outward symptoms of advanced degeneration.” #85 | | |
“Do you agree?” Kenton glanced at Susan. Jelkson spoke before she could answer. #86 | | |
“Of course she agrees. Any botanist would agree. If you were a botanist yourself you wouldn’t even consider trying to harvest the crop.” #87 | | |
“I am the plant manager, not a botanist,” reminded Kenton. “I have more to worry about than a few spots on some leaves.” #88 | | |
“Those few spots, as you term them, are about as harmless as the first signs of cancer,” said Jelkson acidly. “Don’t confuse the symptoms with the disease and don’t be deluded by them. This crop must be destroyed.” #89 | | |
“Isn’t that up to me?” said Kenton mildly. “As Controller I have the final word, or have you forgotten that?” He smiled at Jelkson’s furious expression, human enough to feel triumph at having cracked the other’s armour. His triumph didn’t last long, #90 | | |
“You have no choice,” said the botanist evenly. “Even though you may be the Controller yet my word is final when it comes to a decision like this. If you doubt me, we can take the matter to the Port Authority. Commander Ransom would not appreciate your attempt to flood the market with poisoned tobacco.” #91 | | |
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“Yes. Way back in the 22nd century, Earth scientists developed a new strain of tobacco plant—they had succeeded in breeding out the production of carcinogens and other irritants. That new tobacco gradually replaced the old strain completely. Smoking, formerly a health hazard and in decline, became acceptable again. Normal modern tobacco is harmless, but these plants are no longer normal. The virus may be a radiation-induced mutation, in which case we can hardly call these plants tobacco at all. We cannot tell what toxic effects the smoke may have, but we do know better than to try. Golmen taught us that.” #93 | | |
“Golmen?” Kenton glanced at Susan and then back at Jelkson. “What has Golmen to do with it?” #94 | | |
“Golmen is a planet,” explained Jelkson evenly. “Twenty years ago a similar thing happened to their tobacco crop. Instead of the crop being destroyed it was harvested, cured and processed. Fifty-nine men died and over three hundred more suffered from lung disorders before it was discovered that the mutated tobacco released harmful tars. The smoke was toxic, even more lethal than original Earth tobacco. It must not happen again.” #95 | | |
“No,” agreed Kenton. “I can see that.” Inwardly he cursed himself for having pulled rank to win a cheap triumph only to have that triumph recoil and make him look a fool. “So it is your considered opinion that the crop is a total loss?” #96 | | |
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“Can’t we salvage anything? The seeds perhaps?” #98 | | |
“Especially not the seeds, they could be potential dynamite in their mutated form.” Jelkson looked sharply at the Controller. “Why do you ask? We have reserve stocks surely?” #99 | | |
Kenton didn’t answer. His irritation and anger had left him and now he felt both physically and mentally worn out. Silently he zippered up his coverall and moved towards the inlet. Jelkson called after him just as he was about to pass through. #100 | | |
