shoes. We can't seem to finish anything we start."
The Engineer and the Physicist went out into the corridor. The Captain, returning from the first-aid room in a rubber apron and with his sleeves rolled up, carrying a nickel-plated tray full of surgical instruments, stopped and frowned at them.
"You know about the purifier. If you want to smoke, go outside."
So they made for the tunnel, and the Chemist joined them. Just to be safe, he took along the jector, which the Engineer had left in the engine room.
"How could that weird animal have set the generator going?" wondered the Engineer. He rubbed his cheeks: the stubble was so long that it didn't feel prickly. Everyone was growing a beard. They didn't seem to have the time to shave.
"At least the generator produced some current. That means the windings are sound."
"What about the short circuit?"
"It blew a fuse, that's all. The mechanical components are completely broken, but we'll get around that. As for the sockets, we have spares—it's only a matter of finding them. Theoretically we could repair the cylinder, too, but without the proper tools that would take forever. I think the reason I didn't make a thorough inspection at first was that I feared everything had been pulverized. You know what our position would have been."
"The reactor…" the Chemist began, but the Engineer grimaced.
"The reactor is another matter. We'll get to the reactor. First we need current. Without current we can do nothing. The leak in the cooling system can be fixed in five minutes, by spot-welding. But for that, too, I need current."
"You're going to work on the machinery … now?" asked the Physicist, hope in his voice.
"Yes. We'll decide on the sequence of repairs—I've already spoken to the Captain about that. First we need at least one working unit. Of course, we'll have to risk reactivating the unit without atomic energy. God knows how! With a capstan arrangement, perhaps… I have no idea how long the electronic controls were out, or what's going on in the pile."
"The neutron irises can function independently," said the Physicist. "The pile automatically went into idle. Of course, too high a temperature, if the cooling system went, may have…"
"Wonderful! The neutron irises are fine, but the pile may have melted!"
They argued, drawing diagrams in the sand with their fingers, until the Doctor stuck his head out of the tunnel entrance and called to them. They jumped to their feet.
"Well, what did you learn?"
"Not very much in one respect, but in another quite a lot," replied the Doctor, who looked peculiar, only his head showing above the ground as he spoke. "I'm still not sure whether it's one creature or two. In any case it's an animal. It possesses two circulatory systems, but they're not entirely separate. The big creature—the carrier—seems to have traveled by hopping or striding."
"There's a big difference," said the Engineer.
"True," the Doctor agreed. "As for the hump, it turned out to contain the digestive tract."
"A stomach on its back?"
"That wasn't its back. When the current hit it, it fell belly-up."
"Then the smaller creature was like a rider," the Engineer said.
"Yes, in a sense it rode the carrier piggyback. Or not piggyback," the Doctor corrected himself. "More likely, it sat inside the larger body—there's a pouchlike nest there. The only thing to which I can compare it is a kangaroo's pouch, but the similarity is very slight and nonfunctional."
"And you're assuming that this was an intelligent creature?" said the Physicist.
"It had to be intelligent to open and shut doors, not to mention starting the generator," said the Doctor, for some reason remaining in the tunnel. "The only problem is that it has no nervous system in our sense of the word."
"How's that?!" The Cyberneticist jumped up.
"There are organs there," the Doctor went on, "whose purpose I can't even begin to fathom. There's a spinal cord, but in the cranium—a tiny
The Engineer and the Physicist went out into the corridor. The Captain, returning from the first-aid room in a rubber apron and with his sleeves rolled up, carrying a nickel-plated tray full of surgical instruments, stopped and frowned at them.
"You know about the purifier. If you want to smoke, go outside."
So they made for the tunnel, and the Chemist joined them. Just to be safe, he took along the jector, which the Engineer had left in the engine room.
"How could that weird animal have set the generator going?" wondered the Engineer. He rubbed his cheeks: the stubble was so long that it didn't feel prickly. Everyone was growing a beard. They didn't seem to have the time to shave.
"At least the generator produced some current. That means the windings are sound."
"What about the short circuit?"
"It blew a fuse, that's all. The mechanical components are completely broken, but we'll get around that. As for the sockets, we have spares—it's only a matter of finding them. Theoretically we could repair the cylinder, too, but without the proper tools that would take forever. I think the reason I didn't make a thorough inspection at first was that I feared everything had been pulverized. You know what our position would have been."
"The reactor…" the Chemist began, but the Engineer grimaced.
"The reactor is another matter. We'll get to the reactor. First we need current. Without current we can do nothing. The leak in the cooling system can be fixed in five minutes, by spot-welding. But for that, too, I need current."
"You're going to work on the machinery … now?" asked the Physicist, hope in his voice.
"Yes. We'll decide on the sequence of repairs—I've already spoken to the Captain about that. First we need at least one working unit. Of course, we'll have to risk reactivating the unit without atomic energy. God knows how! With a capstan arrangement, perhaps… I have no idea how long the electronic controls were out, or what's going on in the pile."
"The neutron irises can function independently," said the Physicist. "The pile automatically went into idle. Of course, too high a temperature, if the cooling system went, may have…"
"Wonderful! The neutron irises are fine, but the pile may have melted!"
They argued, drawing diagrams in the sand with their fingers, until the Doctor stuck his head out of the tunnel entrance and called to them. They jumped to their feet.
"Well, what did you learn?"
"Not very much in one respect, but in another quite a lot," replied the Doctor, who looked peculiar, only his head showing above the ground as he spoke. "I'm still not sure whether it's one creature or two. In any case it's an animal. It possesses two circulatory systems, but they're not entirely separate. The big creature—the carrier—seems to have traveled by hopping or striding."
"There's a big difference," said the Engineer.
"True," the Doctor agreed. "As for the hump, it turned out to contain the digestive tract."
"A stomach on its back?"
"That wasn't its back. When the current hit it, it fell belly-up."
"Then the smaller creature was like a rider," the Engineer said.
"Yes, in a sense it rode the carrier piggyback. Or not piggyback," the Doctor corrected himself. "More likely, it sat inside the larger body—there's a pouchlike nest there. The only thing to which I can compare it is a kangaroo's pouch, but the similarity is very slight and nonfunctional."
"And you're assuming that this was an intelligent creature?" said the Physicist.
"It had to be intelligent to open and shut doors, not to mention starting the generator," said the Doctor, for some reason remaining in the tunnel. "The only problem is that it has no nervous system in our sense of the word."
"How's that?!" The Cyberneticist jumped up.
"There are organs there," the Doctor went on, "whose purpose I can't even begin to fathom. There's a spinal cord, but in the cranium—a tiny
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