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At that moment, hearing an unfamiliar noise, he looked up. There were two Eeltau in pressure suits standing there, and another crawling out of the tu
Desperately, Lane snatched at the weapon he carried in his belt. With his left hand he twisted the rheostat on the side of the barrel, hoping that this would turn it on full force. Then he raised the bulb toward the group…
She spoke in English that held only a trace of foreign accent. “Settle down, Mr. Lane. You’re in for a long ride. You’ll be more comfortably situated once we’re in our ship.”
He opened his mouth to ask her how she knew his name but closed it when he realized she must have read the entries in the log at the base. And it was to be expected that some Eeltau would be trained in Earth languages. For over a century their sentinel spaceships had been tuning in to radio and TV.
It was then that Martia spoke to the captain. Her face was wild and reddened with weeping and marks where she had fallen.
The interpreter said to Lane, “Mahrseeya asks you to tell her why you killed her… baby. She ca
“I ca
“I will tell her why,” answered the interpreter. “I will tell her that it is the nature of the beast.”
“That is not so!” cried Lane. “I am no vicious beast. I did what I did because I had to! I could not accept her love and still remain a man! Not the kind of man…”
“Mahrseeya” said the interpreter, “will pray that you be forgiven the murder of her child and that you will someday, under our teaching, be unable to do such a thing. She herself, though she is stricken with grief for her dead baby, forgives you. She hopes the time will come when you will regard her as a—sister. She thinks there is some good in you.”
Lane clenched his teeth together and bit the end of his tongue until it bled while they put his helmet on. He did not dare to try to talk, for that would have meant he would scream and scream. He felt as if something had been planted in him and had broken its shell and was growing into something like a worm. It was eating him, and what would happen before it devoured all of him he did not know.
The King of Beasts
THE BIOLOGISTS WAS showing the distinguished visitor through the zoo and laboratory.
“Our budget,” he said, “is too limited to re-create all known extinct species. So we bring to life only the higher animals, the beautiful ones that were wantonly exterminated. I’m trying, as it were, to make up for brutality and stupidity. You might say that man struck God in the face every time he wiped out a branch of the animal kingdom.”
He paused, and they looked across the moats and the force fields. The quagga wheeled and galloped, delight and sun flashing off his flanks. The sea otter poked his humorous whiskers from the water. The gorilla peered from behind bamboo. Passenger pigeons strutted. A rhinoceros trotted like a dainty battleship. With gentle eyes a giraffe looked at them, then resumed eating leaves.
itself.” In the great building, they passed between rows of tall and wide tanks. They could see clearly through the windows and the jelly within.
“Those are African Elephant embryos,” said the biologist. “We plan to grow a large herd and then release them on the new government preserve.” “You positively radiate,” said the distinguished visitor. “You really love the animals, don’t you?” “I love all life.”
“Tell me,” said the visitor, “where do you get the data for recreation?” “Mostly, skeletons and skins from the ancient museums. Excavated books and films that we succeeded in restoring and then translating. Ah, see those huge eggs? The chicks of the giant moa are growing within them. There, almost ready to be taken from the tank, are tiger cubs. They’ll be dangerous when grown but will be confined to the preserve.”
The visitor stopped before the last of the tanks. “Just one?” he said. “What is it?” “Poor little thing,” said the biologist, now sad. “It will be so alone. But I shall give it all the love I have.” “Is it so dangerous?” said the visitor. “Worse than elephants, tigers, and bears?” “I had to get special permission to grow this one,” said the biologist. His voice quavered. The visitor stepped sharply back from the tank. He said, “Then it must be… But you wouldn’t dare!” The biologist nodded. “Yes. It’s a man.”