,,contagion ,by ,,katherine ,mac,l,e,a,n ,transcriber's ,note3 ,this etext was produced from ,galaxy ,science ,fiction ,october #aiej4 ,extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the ,u4,s4 copyright on this publication was renewed4 ,minos was such a lovely planet4 ,not a thing seemed wrong with it4 ,excepting the food1 perhaps4 ,and a disease that wasn't really4 ,it was like an ,earth forest in the fall1 but it was not fall4 ,the forest leaves were green and copper and purple and fiery red1 and a wind sent patches of bright greenish sunlight dancing among the leaf shadows4 ,the hunt party of the ,explorer filed along the narrow trail1 guns ready1 walking carefully1 listening to the distant1 half familiar cries of strange birds4 ,a faint crackle of static in their earphones indicated that a gun had been fired4 ,got anything8 asked ,june ,walton4 ,the helmet intercom carried her voice to the ears of the others without breaking the stillness of the forest4 ,took a shot at something1 explained ,george ,barton's cheerful voice in her earphones4 ,she rounded a bend of the trail and came upon ,barton standing peering up into the trees1 his gun still raised4 ,it looked like a duck4 ,this isn't ,central ,park1 said ,hal ,barton1 his brother1 coming into sight4 ,his green spacesuit struck an incongruous note against the bronze and red forest4 ,they won't all look like ducks1 he said soberly4 ,maybe some will look like dragons4 ,don't get eaten by a dragon1 ,june1 came ,max's voice quietly into her earphones4 ,not while ,i still love you4 ,he came out of the trees carrying the blood sample kit1 and touched her glove with his1 the grin on his ugly beloved face barely visible in the mingled light and shade4 ,a patch of sunlight struck a greenish glint from his fishbowl helmet4 99 99 99 99 99 ,they walked on4 ,a quarter of a mile back1 the space ship ,explorer towered over the forest like a tapering skyscraper1 and the people of the ship looked out of the viewplates at fresh winds and sunlight and clouds1 and they longed to be outside4 ,but the likeness to ,earth was danger1 and the cool wind might be death1 for if the animals were like ,earth animals1 their diseases might be like ,earth diseases1 alike enough to be contagious1 different enough to be impossible to treat4 ,there was warning enough in the past4 ,colonies had vanished1 and traveled spaceways drifted with the corpses of ships which had touched on some plague planet4 ,the people of the ship waited while their doctors1 in airtight spacesuits1 hunted animals to test them for contagion4 ,the four medicos1 for ,june ,walton was also a doctor1 filed through the alien homelike forest1 walking softly1 watching for motion among the copper and purple shadows4 ,they saw it suddenly1 a lighter moving copper patch among the darker browns4 ,reflex action swung ,june's gun into line1 and behind her someone's gun went off with a faint crackle of static1 and made a hole in the leaves beside the specimen4 ,then for a while no one moved4 ,this one looked like a man1 a magnificently muscled1 leanly graceful1 humanlike animal4 ,even in its callused bare feet1 it was a head taller than any of them4 ,red-haired1 hawk-faced and darkly tanned1 it stood breathing heavily1 looking at them without expression4 ,at its side hung a sheath knife1 and a crossbow was slung across one wide shoulder4 ,they lowered their guns4 ,it needs a shave1 ,max said reasonably in their earphones1 and he reached up to his helmet and flipped the switch that let his voice be heard4 ,something we could do for you1 ,mac8 ,the friendly drawl was the first voice that had broken the forest sounds4 ,june smiled suddenly4 ,he was right4 ,the strict logic of evolution did not demand beards2 therefore a non-human would not be wearing a three day growth of red stubble4 ,still panting1 the tall figure licked dry lips and spoke4 ,welcome to ,minos4 ,the ,mayor sends greetings from ,alexandria4 ,english8 gasped ,june4 ,we were afraid you would take off again before ,i could bring word to you4444 ,it's three hundred miles4444 ,we saw your scout plane pass twice1 but we couldn't attract its attention4 99 99 99 99 99 ,june looked in stunned silence at the stranger leaning against the tree4 ,thirty-six light years--thirty-six times six trillion miles of monotonous space travel--to be told that the planet was already settled6 ,we didn't know there was a colony here1 she said4 ,it is not on the map4 ,we were afraid of that1 the tall bronze man answered soberly4 ,we have been here three generations and yet no traders have come4 ,max shifted the kit strap on his shoulder and offered a hand4 ,my name is ,max ,stark1 ,m4,d4 ,this is ,june ,walton1 ,m4,d41 ,hal ,barton1 ,m4,d41 and ,george ,barton1 ,hal's brother1 also ,m4,d4 ,patrick ,mead is the name1 smiled the man1 shaking hands casually4 ,just a hunter and bridge carpenter myself4 ,never met any medicos before4 ,the grip was effortless but even through her airproofed glove ,june could feel that the fingers that touched hers were as hard as padded steel4 ,what--what is the population of ,minos8 she asked4 ,he looked down at her curiously for a moment before answering4 ,only one hundred and fifty4 ,he smiled4 ,don't worry1 this isn't a city planet yet4 ,there's room for a few more people4 ,he shook hands with the ,bartons quickly4 ,that is--you are people1 aren't you8 he asked startlingly4 ,why not8 said ,max with a poise that ,june admired4 ,well1 you are all so--so-- ,patrick ,mead's eyes roamed across the faces of the group4 ,so varied4 ,they could find no meaning in that1 and stood puzzled4 ,i mean1 ,patrick ,mead said into the silence1 all these--interesting different hair colors and face shapes and so forth-- ,he made a vague wave with one hand as if he had run out of words or was anxious not to insult them4 ,joke8 ,max asked1 bewildered4 ,june laid a hand on his arm4 ,no harm meant1 she said to him over the intercom4 ,we're just as much of a shock to him as he is to us4 ,she addressed a question to the tall colonist on outside sound4 ,what should a person look like1 ,mr4 ,mead8 ,he indicated her with a smile4 ,like you4 ,june stepped closer and stood looking up at him1 considering her own description4 ,she was tall and tanned1 like him2 had a few freckles1 like him2 and wavy red hair1 like his4 ,she ignored the brightly humorous blue eyes4 ,in other words1 she said1 everyone on the planet looks like you and me8 ,patrick ,mead took another look at their four faces and began to grin4 ,like me1 ,i guess4 ,but ,i hadn't thought of it before4 ,i did not think that people could have different colored hair or that noses could fit so many ways onto faces4 ,i was judging by my own appearance1 but ,i suppose any fool can walk on his hands and say the world is upside down6 ,he laughed and sobered4 ,but then why wear spacesuits8 ,the air is breathable4 ,for safety1 ,june told him4 ,we can't take any chances on plague4 ,pat ,mead was wearing nothing but a loin cloth and his weapons1 and the wind ruffled his hair4 ,he looked comfortable1 and they longed to take off the stuffy spacesuits and feel the wind against their own skins4 ,minos was like home1 like ,earth4444 ,but they were strangers4 ,plague1 ,pat ,mead said thoughtfully4 ,we had one here4 ,it came two years after the colony arrived and killed everyone except the ,mead families4 ,they were immune4 ,i guess we look alike because we're all related1 and that's why ,i grew up thinking that it is the only way people can look4 ,plague4 ,what was the disease8 ,hal ,barton asked4 ,pretty gruesome1 according to my father4 ,they called it the melting sickness4 ,the doctors died too soon to find out what it was or what to do about it4 ,you should have trained for more doctors1 or sent to civilization for some4 ,a trace of impatience was in ,george ,barton's voice4 ,pat ,mead explained patiently1 ,our ship1 with the power plant and all the books we needed1 went off into the sky to avoid the contagion1 and never came back4 ,the crew must have died4 ,long years of hardship were indicated by that statement1 a colony with electric power gone and machinery stilled1 with key technicians dead and no way to replace them4 ,june realized then the full meaning of the primitive sheath knife and bow4 ,any recurrence of melting sickness8 asked ,hal ,barton4 ,no4 ,any other diseases8 ,not a one4 ,max was eyeing the bronze red-headed figure with something approaching awe4 ,do you think all the ,meads look like that8 he said to ,june on the intercom4 ,i wouldn't mind being a ,mead myself6 99 99 99 99 99 ,their job had been made easy by the coming of ,pat4 ,they went back to the ship laughing1 exchanging anecdotes with him4 ,there was nothing now to keep ,minos from being the home they wanted1 except the melting sickness1 and1 forewarned against it1 they could take precautions4 ,the polished silver and black column of the ,explorer seemed to rise higher and higher over the trees as they neared it4 ,then its symmetry blurred all sense of specific size as they stepped out from among the trees and stood on the edge of the meadow1 looking up4 ,nice6 said ,pat4 ,beautiful6 ,the admiration in his voice was warming4 ,it was a yacht1 ,max said1 still looking up1 second hand1 an old-time beauty without a sign of wear4 ,synthetic diamond-studded control board and murals on the walls4 ,it doesn't have the new speed drives1 but it brought us thirty-six light years in one and a half subjective years4 ,plenty good enough4 ,the tall tanned man looked faintly wistful1 and ,june realized that he had never had access to a full library1 never seen a movie1 never experienced luxury4 ,he had been born and raised on ,minos4 99 99 99 99 99 ,may ,i go aboard8 ,pat asked hopefully4 ,max unslung the specimen kit from his shoulder1 laid it on the carpet of plants that covered the ground and began to open it4 ,tests first1 ,hal ,barton said4 ,we have to find out if you people still carry this so-called melting sickness4 ,we'll have to de-microbe you and take specimens before we let you on board4 ,once on1 you'll be no good as a check for what the other ,meads might have4 ,max was taking out a rack and a stand of preservative bottles and hypodermics4 ,are you going to jab me with those8 ,pat asked with interest4 ,you're just a specimen animal to me1 bud6 ,max grinned at ,pat ,mead1 and ,pat grinned back4 ,june saw that they were friends already1 the tall pantherish colonist1 and the wry1 black-haired doctor4 ,she felt a stab of guilt because she loved ,max and yet could pity him for being smaller and frailer than ,pat ,mead4 ,lie down1 ,max told him1 and hold still4 ,we need two spinal fluid samples from the back1 a body cavity one in front1 and another from the arm4 ,pat lay down obediently4 ,max knelt1 and1 as he spoke1 expertly swabbed and inserted needles with the smooth speed that had made him a fine nerve surgeon on ,earth4 ,high above them the scout helioplane came out of an opening in the ship and angled off toward the west1 its buzz diminishing4 ,then1 suddenly1 it veered and headed back1 and ,reno ,unrich's voice came tinnily from their earphones3 ,what's that you've got8 ,hey1 what are you docs doing down there8 ,he banked again and came to a stop1 hovering fifty feet away4 ,june could see his startled face looking through the glass at ,pat4 ,hal ,barton switched to a narrow radio beam1 explained rapidly and pointed in the direction of ,alexandria4 ,reno's plane lifted and flew away over the odd-colored forest4 ,the plane will drop a note on your town1 telling them you got through to us1 ,hal ,barton told ,pat1 who was sitting up watching ,max dexterously put the blood and spinal fluids into the right bottles without exposing them to air4 ,we won't be free to contact your people until we know if they still carry melting sickness1 ,max added4 ,you might be immune so it doesn't show on you1 but still carry enough germs--if that's what caused it--to wipe out a planet4 ,if you do carry melting sickness1 said ,hal ,barton1 we won't be able to mingle with your people until we've cleared them of the disease4 ,starting with me8 ,pat asked4 ,starting with you1 ,max told him ruefully1 as soon as you step on board4 ,more needles8 ,yes1 and a few little extras thrown in4 ,rough8 ,it isn't easy4 ,a few minutes later1 standing in the stalls for spacesuit decontamination1 being buffeted by jets of hot disinfectant1 bathed in glares of sterilizing ultraviolet radiation1 ,june remembered that and compared ,pat ,mead's treatment to theirs4 ,in the ,explorer1 stored carefully in sealed tanks and containers1 was the ultimate1 multi-purpose cureall4 ,it was a solution of enzymes so like the key catalysts of the human cell nucleus that it caused chemical derangement and disintegration in any non-human cell4 ,nothing could live in contact with it but human cells2 any alien intruder to the body would die4 ,nucleocat ,cureall was its trade name4 ,but the cureall alone was not enough for complete safety4 ,plagues had been known to slay too rapidly and universally to be checked by human treatment4 ,doctors are not reliable2 they die4 ,therefore spaceways and interplanetary health law demanded that ship equipment for guarding against disease be totally mechanical in operation1 rapid and efficient4 ,somewhere near them1 in a series of stalls which led around and around like a rabbit maze1 ,pat was being herded from stall to stall by peremptory mechanical voices1 directed to soap and shower1 ordered to insert his arm into a slot which took a sample of his blood1 given solutions to drink1 bathed in germicidal ultraviolet1 shaken by sonic blasts1 breathing air thick with sprays of germicidal mists1 being directed to put his arms into other slots where they were anesthesized and injected with various immunizing solutions4 ,finally1 he would be put in a room of high temperature and extreme dryness1 and instructed to sit for half an hour while more fluids were dripped into his veins through long thin tubes4 ,all legal spaceships were built for safety4 ,no chance was taken of allowing a suspected carrier to bring an infection on board with him4 99 99 99 99 99 ,june stepped from the last shower stall into the locker room1 zipped off her spacesuit with a sigh of relief1 and contemplated herself in a wall mirror4 ,red hair1 dark blue eyes1 tall4444 ,i've got a good figure1 she said thoughtfully4 ,max turned at the door4 ,why this sudden interest in your looks8 he asked suspiciously4 ,do we stand here and admire you1 or do we finally get something to eat8 ,wait a minute4 ,she went to a wall phone and dialed it carefully1 using a combination from the ship's directory4 ,how're you doing1 ,pat8 ,the phone picked up a hissing of water or spray4 ,there was a startled chuckle4 ,voices1 too6 ,hello1 ,june4 ,how do you tell a machine to go jump in the lake8 ,are you hungry8 ,no food since yesterday4 ,we'll have a banquet ready for you when you get out1 she told ,pat and hung up1 smiling4 ,pat ,mead's voice had a vitality and enjoyment which made shipboard talk sound like sad artificial gaiety in contrast4 ,they looked into the nearby small laboratory where twelve squealing hamsters were protestingly submitting to a small injection each of ,pat's blood4 ,in most of them the injection was followed by one of antihistaminics and adaptives4 ,otherwise the hamster defense system would treat all non-hamster cells as enemies1 even the harmless human blood cells1 and fight back against them violently4 ,one hamster1 the twelfth1 was given an extra large dose of adaptive1 so that if there were a disease1 he would not fight it or the human cells1 and thus succumb more rapidly4 ,how ya doing1 ,george8 ,max asked4 ,routine1 ,george ,barton grunted absently4 ,on the way up the long spiral ramps to the dining hall1 they passed a viewplate4 ,it showed a long scene of mountains in the distance on the horizon1 and between them1 rising step by step as they grew farther away1 the low rolling hills1 bronze and red with patches of clear green where there were fields4 ,someone was looking out1 standing very still1 as if she had been there a long time--,bess ,st4 ,clair1 a ,canadian woman4 ,it looks like ,winnipeg1 she told them as they paused4 ,when are you doctors going to let us out of this blithering barberpole8 ,look1 she pointed4 ,see that patch of field on the south hillside1 with the brook winding through it8 ,i've staked that hillside for our house4 ,when do we get out8 99 99 99 99 99 ,reno ,ulrich's tiny scout plane buzzed slowly in from the distance and began circling lazily4 ,sooner than you think1 ,max told her4 ,we've discovered a castaway colony on the planet4 ,they've done our tests for us by just living here4 ,if there's anything here to catch1 they've caught it4 ,people on ,minos8 ,bess's handsome ruddy face grew alive with excitement4 ,one of them is down in the medical department1 ,june said4 ,he'll be out in twenty minutes4 ,may ,i go see him8 ,sure1 said ,max4 ,show him the way to the dining hall when he gets out4 ,tell him we sent you4 ,right6 ,she turned and ran down the ramp like a small girl going to a fire4 ,max grinned at ,june and she grinned back4 ,after a year and a half of isolation in space1 everyone was hungry for the sight of new faces1 the sound of unfamiliar voices4 99 99 99 99 99 ,they climbed the last two turns to the cafeteria1 and entered to a rich subdued blend of soft music and quiet conversations4 ,the cafeteria was a section of the old dining room1 left when the rest of the ship had been converted to living and working quarters1 and it still had the original finely grained wood of the ceiling and walls1 the sound absorbency1 the soft music spools and the intimate small light at each table where people leisurely ate and talked4 ,they stood in line at the hot foods counter1 and behind her ,june could hear a girl's voice talking excitedly through the murmur of conversation4 --new man1 honest6 ,i saw him through the viewplate when they came in4 ,he's down in the medical department4 ,a real frontiersman4 ,the line drew abreast of the counters1 and she and ,max chose three heaping trays1 starting with hydroponic mushroom steak1 raised in the growing trays of water and chemicals2 sharp salad bowl with rose tomatoes and aromatic peppers2 tank-grown fish with special sauce2 four different desserts1 and assorted beverages4 ,presently they had three tottering trays successfully maneuvered to a table4 ,brant ,st4 ,clair came over4 ,i beg your pardon1 ,max1 but they are saying something about ,reno carrying messages to a colony of savages1 for the medical department4 ,will he be back soon1 do you know8 ,max smiled up at him1 his square face affectionate4 ,everyone liked the shy ,canadian4 ,he's back already4 ,we just saw him come in4 ,oh1 fine4 ,st4 ,clair beamed4 ,i had an appointment with him to go out and confirm what looks like a nice vein of iron to the northeast4 ,have you seen ,bess8 ,oh--there she is4 ,he turned swiftly and hurried away4 ,a very tall man with fiery red hair came in surrounded by an eagerly talking crowd of ship people4 ,it was ,pat ,mead4 ,he stood in the doorway1 alertly scanning the dining room4 ,sheer vitality made him seem even larger than he was4 ,sighting ,june1 he smiled and began to thread toward their table4 ,look6 said someone4 ,there's the colonist6 ,shelia1 a pretty1 jeweled woman1 followed and caught his arm4 ,did you really swim across a river to come here8 ,overflowing with good-will and curiosity1 people approached from all directions4 ,did you actually walk three hundred miles8 ,come1 eat with us4 ,let me help choose your tray4 ,everyone wanted him to eat at their table1 everyone was a specialist and wanted data about ,minos4 ,they all wanted anecdotes about hunting wild animals with a bow and arrow4 ,he needs to be rescued1 ,max said4 ,he won't have a chance to eat4 ,june and ,max got up firmly1 edged through the crowd1 captured ,pat and escorted him back to their table4 ,june found herself pleased to be claiming the hero of the hour4 99 99 99 99 99 ,pat sat in the simple1 subtly designed chair and leaned back almost voluptuously1 testing the way it gave and fitted itself to him4 ,he ran his eyes over the bright tableware and heaped plates4 ,he looked around at the rich grained walls and soft lights at each table4 ,he said nothing1 just looking and feeling and experiencing4 ,when we build our town and leave the ship1 ,june explained1 we will turn all the staterooms back into the lounges and ballrooms and cocktail bars that used to be inside4 ,oh1 ,i'm not complaining1 ,pat said negligently4 ,he cocked his head to the music1 and tried to locate its source4 ,that's big of you1 said ,max with gentle irony4 ,they fell to1 ,pat beginning the first meal he had had in more than a day4 ,most of the other diners finished when they were halfway through1 and began walking over1 diffidently at first1 then in another wave of smiling faces1 handshakes1 and introductions4 ,pat was asked about crops1 about farming methods1 about rainfall and floods1 about farm animals and plant breeding1 about the compatibility of imported ,earth seeds with local ground1 about mines and strata4 ,there was no need to protect him4 ,he leaned back in his chair and drawled answers with the lazy ease of a panther2 where he could think of no statistic1 he would fill the gap with an anecdote4 ,it developed that he enjoyed spinning campfire yarns and especially being the center of interest4 ,between bouts of questions1 he ate with undiminished and glowing relish4 ,june noticed that the female specialists were prolonging the questions more than they needed1 clustering around the table laughing at his jokes1 until presently ,pat was almost surrounded by pretty faces1 eager questions1 and chiming laughs4 ,shelia the beautiful laughed most chimingly of all4 ,june nudged ,max1 and ,max shrugged indifferently4 ,it wasn't anything a man would pay attention to1 perhaps4 ,but ,june watched ,pat for a moment more1 then glanced uneasily back to ,max4 ,he was eating and listening to ,pat's answers and did not feel her gaze4 ,for some reason ,max looked almost shrunken to her4 ,he was shorter than she had realized2 she had forgotten that he was only the same height as herself4 ,she was dimly aware of the clear lilting chatter of female voices increasing at ,pat's end of the table4 ,that guy's a menace1 ,max said1 and laughed to himself1 cutting another slice of hydroponic mushroom steak4 ,what's eating you8 he added1 glancing aside at her when he noticed her sudden stillness4 ,nothing1 she said hastily1 but she did not turn back to watching ,pat ,mead4 ,she felt disloyal4 ,pat was only a superb animal4 ,max was the man she loved4 ,or--was he8 ,of course he was1 she told herself angrily4 ,they had gone colonizing together because they wanted to spend their lives together2 she had never thought of marrying any other man4 ,yet the sense of dissatisfaction persisted1 and along with it a feeling of guilt4 ,len ,marlow1 the protein tank-culture technician responsible for the mushroom steaks1 had wormed his way into the group and asked ,pat a question4 ,now he was saying1 ,i don't dig you1 ,pat4 ,it sounds like you're putting the people into the tanks instead of the vegetables6 ,he glanced at them1 looking puzzled4 ,see if you two can make anything of this4 ,it sounds medical to me4 ,pat leaned back and smiled1 sipping a glass of hydroponic burgundy4 ,wonderful stuff4 ,you'll have to show us how to make it4 ,len turned back to him4 ,you people live off the country1 right8 ,you hunt and bring in steaks and eat them1 right8 ,well1 say ,i have one of those steaks right here and ,i want to eat it1 what happens8 99 99 99 99 99 ,go ahead and eat it4 ,it just wouldn't digest4 ,you'd stay hungry4 ,why8 ,len was aggrieved4 ,chemical differences in the basic protoplasm of ,minos4 ,different amino linkages1 left-handed instead of right-handed molecules in the carbohydrates1 things like that4 ,nothing will be digestible here until you are adapted chemically by a little test-tube evolution4 ,till then you'd starve to death on a full stomach4 ,pat's side of the table had been loaded with the dishes from two trays1 but it was almost clear now and the dishes were stacked neatly to one side4 ,he started on three desserts1 thoughtfully tasting each in turn4 ,test-tube evolution8 ,max repeated4 ,what's that8 ,i thought you people had no doctors4 ,it's a story4 ,pat leaned back again4 ,alexander ,p4 ,mead1 the head of the ,mead clan1 was a plant geneticist1 a very determined personality and no man to argue with4 ,he didn't want us to go through the struggle of killing off all ,minos plants and putting in our own1 spoiling the face of the planet and upsetting the balance of its ecology4 ,he decided that he would adapt our genes to this planet or kill us trying4 ,he did it all right4' ,did which8 asked ,june1 suddenly feeling a sourceless prickle of fear4 ,adapted us to ,minos4 ,he took human cells-- 99 99 99 99 99 ,she listened intently1 trying to find a reason for fear in the explanation4 ,it would have taken many human generations to adapt to ,minos by ordinary evolution1 and that only at a heavy toll of death and hunger which evolution exacts4 ,there was a shorter way3 ,human cells have the ability to return to their primeval condition of independence1 hunting1 eating and reproducing alone4 ,alexander ,p4 ,mead took human cells and made them into phagocytes4 ,he put them through the hard savage school of evolution--a thousand generations of multiplication1 hardship and hunger1 with the alien indigestible food always present1 offering its reward of plenty to the cell that reluctantly learned to absorb it4 ,leucocytes can run through several thousand generations of evolution in six months1 ,pat ,mead finished4 ,when they reached to a point where they would absorb ,minos food1 he planted them back in the people he had taken them from4 ,what was supposed to happen then8 ,max asked1 leaning forward4 ,i don't know exactly how it worked4 ,he never told anybody much about it1 and when ,i was a little boy he had gone loco and was wandering ha-ha-ing around waving a test tube4 ,fell down a ravine and broke his neck at the age of eighty4 ,a character1 ,max said4 ,why was she afraid8 ,it worked then8 ,yes4 ,he tried it on all the ,meads the first year4 ,the other settlers didn't want to be experimented on until they saw how it worked out4 ,it worked4 ,the ,meads could hunt1 and plant while the other settlers were still eating out of hydroponics tanks4 ,it worked1 said ,max to ,len4 ,you're a plant geneticist and a tank culture expert4 ,there's a job for you4 ,uh-uh6 ,len backed away4 ,it sounds like a medical problem to me4 ,human cell control--right up your alley4 ,it is a one-way street1 ,pat warned4 ,once it is done1 you won't be able to digest ship food4 ,i'll get no good from this protein4 ,i ate it just for the taste4 ,hal ,barton appeared quietly beside the table4 ,three of the twelve test hamsters have died1 he reported1 and turned to ,pat4 ,your people carry the germs of melting sickness1 as you call it4 ,the dead hamsters were injected with blood taken from you before you were de-infected4 ,we can't settle here unless we de-infect everybody on ,minos4 ,would they object8 ,we wouldn't want to give you folks germs1 ,pat smiled4 ,anything for safety4 ,but there'll have to be a vote on it first4 ,the doctors went to ,reno ,ulrich's table and walked with him to the hangar1 explaining4 ,he was to carry the proposal to ,alexandria1 mingle with the people1 be persuasive and wait for them to vote before returning4 ,he was to give himself shots of cureall every two hours on the hour or run the risk of disease4 99 99 99 99 99 ,reno was pleased4 ,he had dabbled in sociology before retraining as a mechanic for the expedition4 ,this gives me a chance to study their mores4 ,he winked wickedly4 ,i may not be back for several nights4 ,they watched through the viewplate as he took off1 and then went over to the laboratory for a look at the hamsters4 ,three were alive and healthy1 munching lettuce4 ,one was the control2 the other two had been given shots of ,pat's blood from before he entered the ship1 but with no additional treatment4 ,apparently a hamster could fight off melting sickness easily if left alone4 ,three were still feverish and ruffled1 with a low red blood count1 but recovering4 ,the three dead ones had been given strong shots of adaptive and counter histamine1 so their bodies had not fought back against the attack4 ,june glanced at the dead animals hastily and looked away again4 ,they lay twisted with a strange semi-fluid limpness1 as if ready to dissolve4 ,the last hamster1 which had been given the heaviest dose of adaptive1 had apparently lost all its hair before death4 ,it was hairless and pink1 like a still-born baby4 ,we can find no micro-organisms1 ,george ,barton said4 ,none at all4 ,nothing in the body that should not be there4 ,leucosis and anemia4 ,fever only for the ones that fought it off4 ,he handed ,max some temperature charts and graphs of blood counts4 ,june wandered out into the hall4 ,pediatrics and obstetrics were her field2 she left the cellular research to ,max1 and just helped him with laboratory routine4 ,the strange mood followed her out into the hall1 then abruptly lightened4 ,coming toward her1 busily telling a tale of adventure to the gorgeous ,shelia ,davenport1 was a tall1 red-headed1 magnificently handsome man4 ,it was his handsomeness which made ,pat such a pleasure to look upon and talk with1 she guiltily told herself1 and it was his tremendous vitality4444 ,it was like meeting a movie hero in the flesh1 or a hero out of the pages of a book--,deer-slayer1 ,john ,clayton1 ,lord ,greystoke4 ,she waited in the doorway to the laboratory and made no move to join them1 merely acknowledged the two with a nod and a smile and a casual lift of the hand4 ,they nodded and smiled back4 ,hello1 ,june1 said ,pat and continued telling his tale1 but as they passed he lightly touched her arm4 ,oh1 pioneer6 she said mockingly and softly to his passing profile1 and knew that he had heard4 99 99 99 99 99 ,that night she had a nightmare4 ,she was running down a long corridor looking for ,max1 but every man she came to was a big bronze man with red hair and bright blue eyes who grinned at her4 ,the pink hamster6 ,she woke suddenly1 feeling as if alarm bells had been ringing1 and listened carefully1 but there was no sound4 ,she had had a nightmare1 she told herself1 but alarm bells were still ringing in her unconscious4 ,something was wrong4 ,lying still and trying to preserve the images1 she groped for a meaning1 but the mood faded under the cold touch of reason4 ,damn intuitive thinking6 ,a pink hamster6 ,why did the unconscious have to be so vague8 ,she fell asleep again and forgot4 ,they had lunch with ,pat ,mead that day1 and after it was over ,pat delayed ,june with a hand on her shoulder and looked down at her for a moment4 ,i want you1 ,june1 he said and then turned away1 answering the hails of a party at another table as if he had not spoken4 ,she stood shaken1 and then walked to the door where ,max waited4 ,she was particularly affectionate with ,max the rest of the day1 and it pleased him4 ,he would not have been if he had known why4 ,she tried to forget ,pat's blunt statement4 ,june was in the laboratory with ,max1 watching the growth of a small tank culture of the alien protoplasm from a ,minos weed1 and listening to ,len ,marlow pour out his troubles4 ,and ,elsie tags around after that big goof all day1 listening to his stories4 ,and then she tells me ,i'm just jealous1 ,i'm imagining things6 ,he passed his hand across his eyes4 ,i came away from ,earth to be with ,elsie4444 ,i'm getting a headache4 ,look1 can't you persuade ,pat to cut it out1 ,june8 ,you and ,max are his friends4 ,here1 have an aspirin1 ,june said4 ,we'll see what we can do4 ,thanks4 ,len picked up his tank culture and went out1 not at all cheered4 99 99 99 99 99 ,max sat brooding over the dials and meters at his end of the laboratory1 apparently sunk in thought4 ,when ,len had gone1 he spoke almost harshly4 ,why encourage the guy8 ,why let him hope8 ,found out anything about the differences in protoplasm8 she evaded4 ,why let him kid himself8 ,what chance has he got against that hunk of muscle and smooth talk8 ,but ,pat isn't after ,elsie1 she protested4 ,every scatter-brained woman on this ship is trailing after ,pat with her tongue hanging out4 ,brant ,st4 ,clair is in the bar right now4 ,he doesn't say what he is drinking about1 but do you think ,pat is resisting all these women crowding down on him8 ,there are other things besides looks and charm1 she said1 grimly trying to concentrate on a slide under her binocular microscope4 ,yeah1 and whatever they are1 ,pat has them1 too4 ,who's more competent to support a woman and a family on a frontier planet than a handsome bruiser who was born here8 ,i meant1 ,june spun around on her stool with unexpected passion1 there is old friendship1 and there's fondness1 and memories1 and loyalty6 ,she was half shouting4 ,they're not worth much on the second-hand market1 ,max said4 ,he was sitting slumped on his lab stool1 looking dully at his dials4 ,now ,i'm getting a headache6 ,he smiled ruefully4 ,no kidding1 a real headache4 ,and over other people's troubles yet6 ,other people's troubles4444 ,she got up and wandered out into the long curving halls4 ,i want you ,june1 ,pat's voice repeated in her mind4 ,why did the man have to be so overpoweringly attractive1 so glaring a contrast to ,max8 ,why couldn't the universe manage to run on without generating troublesome love triangles8 99 99 99 99 99 ,she walked up the curving ramps to the dining hall where they had eaten and drunk and talked yesterday4 ,it was empty except for one couple talking forehead to forehead over cold coffee4 ,she turned and wandered down the long easy spiral of corridor to the pharmacy and dispensary4 ,it was empty4 ,george was probably in the test lab next door1 where he could hear if he was wanted4 ,the automatic vendor of harmless euphorics1 stimulants and opiates stood in the corner1 brightly decorated in pastel abstract designs1 with its automatic tabulator graph glowing above it4 ,max had a headache1 she remembered4 ,she recorded her thumbprint in the machine and pushed the plunger for a box of aspirins1 trying to focus her attention on the problem of adapting the people of the ship to the planet ,minos4 ,an aquarium tank with a faint solution of histamine would be enough to convert a piece of human skin into a community of voracious active phagocytes individually seeking something to devour1 but could they eat enough to live away from the rich sustaining plasma of human blood8 ,after the aspirins1 she pushed another plunger for something for herself4 ,then she stood looking at it1 a small box with three pills in her hand--,theobromine1 a heart strengthener and a confidence-giving euphoric all in one1 something to steady shaky nerves4 ,she had used it before only in emergency4 ,she extended a hand and looked at it4 ,it was trembling4 ,damn triangles6 ,while she was looking at her hand there was a click from the automatic drug vendor4 ,it summed the morning use of each drug in the vendors throughout the ship1 and recorded it in a neat addition to the end of each graph line4 ,for a moment she could not find the green line for anodynes and the red line for stimulants1 and then she saw that they went almost straight up4 ,there were too many being used--far too many to be explained by jealousy or psychosomatic peevishness4 ,this was an epidemic1 and only one disease was possible6 ,the disinfecting of ,pat had not succeeded4 ,nucleocat ,cureall1 killer of all infections1 had not cured6 ,pat had brought melting sickness into the ship with him6 ,who had it8 ,the drugs vendor glowed cheerfully1 uncommunicative4 ,she opened a panel in its side and looked in on restless interlacing cogs1 and on the inside of the door saw printed some directions4444 ,to remove or examine records before reaching end of the reel-- ,after a few fumbling minutes she had the answer4 ,in the cafeteria at breakfast and lunch1 thirty-eight men out of the forty-eight aboard ship had taken more than his norm of stimulant4 ,twenty-one had taken aspirin as well4 ,the only woman who had made an unusual purchase was herself6 ,she remembered the hamsters that had thrown off the infection with a short sharp fever1 and checked back in the records to the day before4 ,there was a short rise in aspirin sales to women at late afternoon4 ,the women were safe4 ,it was the men who had melting sickness6 ,melting sickness killed in hours1 according to ,pat ,mead4 ,how long had the men been sick8 99 99 99 99 99 ,as she was leaving1 ,jerry came into the pharmacy1 recorded his thumbprint and took a box of aspirin from the machine4 ,she felt all right4 ,self-control was working well and it was pleasant still to walk down the corridor smiling at the people who passed4 ,she took the emergency elevator to the control room and showed her credentials to the technician on watch4 ,medical ,emergency4 ,at a small control panel in the corner was a large red button1 precisely labeled4 ,she considered it and picked up the control room phone4 ,this was the hard part1 telling someone1 especially someone who had it--,max4 ,she dialed1 and when the click on the end of the line showed he had picked the phone up1 she told ,max what she had seen4 ,no women1 just the men1 he repeated4 ,that right8 ,yes4 ,probably it's chemically alien1 inhibited by one of the female sex hormones4 ,we'll try sex hormone shots1 if we have to4 ,where are you calling from8 ,she told him4 ,that's right4 ,give ,nucleocat ,cureall another chance4 ,it might work this time4 ,push that button4 ,she went to the panel and pushed the large red button4 ,through the long height of the ,explorer1 bells woke to life and began to ring in frightened clangor1 emergency doors thumped shut1 mechanical apparatus hummed into life and canned voices began to give rapid urgent directions4 ,a plague had come4 99 99 99 99 99 ,she obeyed the mechanical orders1 went out into the hall and walked in line with the others4 ,the captain walked ahead of her and the gorgeous ,shelia ,davenport fell into step beside her4 ,i look like a positive hag this morning4 ,does that mean ,i'm sick8 ,are we all sick8 ,june shrugged1 unwilling to say what she knew4 ,others came out of all rooms into the corridor1 thickening the line4 ,they could hear each room lock as the last person left it1 and then1 faintly1 the hiss of disinfectant spray4 ,behind them1 on the heels of the last person in line1 segments of the ship slammed off and began to hiss4 ,they wound down the spiral corridor until they reached the medical treatment section again1 and there they waited in line4 ,it won't scar my arms1 will it8 asked ,shelia apprehensively1 glancing at her smooth1 lovely arms4 ,the mechanical voice said1 ,next4 ,step inside1 please1 and stand clear of the door4 ,not a bit1 ,june reassured ,shelia1 and stepped into the cubicle4 ,inside1 she was directed from cubicle to cubicle and given the usual buffeting by sprays and radiation1 had blood samples taken and was injected with ,nucleocat and a series of other protectives4 ,at last she was directed through another door into a tiny cubicle with a chair4 ,you are to wait here1 commanded the recorded voice metallically4 ,in twenty minutes the door will unlock and you may then leave4 ,all people now treated may visit all parts of the ship which have been protected4 ,it is forbidden to visit any quarantined or unsterile part of the ship without permission from the medical officers4 ,presently the door unlocked and she emerged into bright lights again1 feeling slightly battered4 ,she was in the clinic4 ,a few men sat on the edge of beds and looked sick4 ,one was lying down4 ,brant and ,bess ,st4 ,clair sat near each other1 not speaking4 ,approaching her was ,george ,barton1 reading a thermometer with a puzzled expression4 ,what is it1 ,george8 she asked anxiously4 ,some of the women have slight fever1 but it's going down4 ,none of the fellows have any--but their white count is way up1 their red count is way down1 and they look sick to me4 ,she approached ,st4 ,clair4 ,his usually ruddy cheeks were pale1 his pulse was light and too fast1 and his skin felt clammy4 ,how's the headache8 ,did the ,nucleocat treatment help8 ,i feel worse1 if anything4 ,better set up beds1 she told ,george4 ,get everyone back into the clinic4 ,we're doing that1 ,george assured her4 ,that's what ,hal is doing4 ,she went back to the laboratory4 ,max was pacing up and down1 absently running his hands through his black hair until it stood straight up4 ,he stopped when he saw her face1 and scowled thoughtfully4 ,they are still sick8 ,it was more a statement than a question4 ,she nodded4 ,the ,cureall didn't cure this time1 he muttered4 ,that leaves it up to us4 ,we have melting sickness and according to ,pat and the hamsters1 that leaves us less than a day to find out what it is and learn how to stop it4 ,suddenly an idea for another test struck him and he moved to the work table to set it up4 ,he worked rapidly1 with an occasional uncoordinated movement betraying his usual efficiency4 ,it was strange to see ,max troubled and afraid4 ,she put on a laboratory smock and began to work4 ,she worked in silence4 ,the mechanicals had failed4 ,hal and ,george ,barton were busy staving off death from the weaker cases and trying to gain time for ,max and her to work4 ,the problem of the plague had to be solved by the two of them alone4 ,it was in their hands4 ,another test1 no results4 ,another test1 no results4 ,max's hands were shaking and he stopped a moment to take stimulants4 ,she went into the ward for a moment1 found ,bess and warned her quietly to tell the other women to be ready to take over if the men became too sick to go on4 ,but tell them calmly4 ,we don't want to frighten the men4 ,she lingered in the ward long enough to see the word spread among the women in a widening wave of paler faces and compressed lips2 then she went back to the laboratory4 ,another test4 ,there was no sign of a micro-organism in anyone's blood1 merely a growing horde of leucocytes and phagocytes1 prowling as if mobilized to repel invasion4 99 99 99 99 99 ,len ,marlow was wheeled in unconscious1 with ,hal ,barton's written comments and conclusions pinned to the blanket4 ,i don't feel so well myself1 the assistant complained4 ,the air feels thick4 ,i can't breathe4 ,june saw that his lips were blue4 ,oxygen short1 she told ,max4 ,low red corpuscle count1 ,max answered4 ,look into a drop and see what's going on4 ,use mine2 ,i feel the same way he does4 ,she took two drops of ,max's blood4 ,the count was low1 falling too fast4 ,breathing is useless without the proper minimum of red corpuscles in the blood4 ,people below that minimum die of asphyxiation although their lungs are full of pure air4 ,the red corpuscle count was falling too fast4 ,the time she and ,max had to work in was too short4 ,pump some more ,,co#b into the air system1 ,max said urgently over the phone4 ,get some into the men's end of the ward4 99 99 99 99 99 ,she looked through the microscope at the live sample of blood4 ,it was a dark clear field and bright moving things spun and swirled through it1 but she could see nothing that did not belong there4 ,hal1 ,max called over the general speaker system1 cut the other treatments1 check for accelerating anemia4 ,treat it like monoxide poisoning--,,co#b and oxygen4 ,she reached into a cupboard under the work table1 located two cylinders of oxygen1 cracked the valves and handed one to ,max and one to the assistant4 ,some of the bluish tint left the assistant's face as he breathed and he went over to the patient with reawakened concern4 ,not breathing1 ,doc6 ,max was working at the desk1 muttering equations of hemoglobin catalysis4 ,len's gone1 ,doc1 the assistant said more loudly4 ,artificial respiration and get him into a regeneration tank1 said ,june1 not moving from the microscope4 ,hurry6 ,hal will show you how4 ,the oxidation and mechanical heart action in the tank will keep him going4 ,put anyone in a tank who seems to be dying4 ,get some women to help you4 ,give them ,hal's instructions4 ,the tanks were ordinarily used to suspend animation in a nutrient bath during the regrowth of any diseased organ4 ,it could preserve life in an almost totally destroyed body during the usual disintegration and regrowth treatments for cancer and old age1 and it could encourage healing as destruction continued 444 but they could not prevent ultimate death as long as the disease was not conquered4 ,the drop of blood in ,june's microscope was a great1 dark field1 and in the foreground1 brought to gargantuan solidity by the stereo effect1 drifted neat saucer shapes of red blood cells4 ,they turned end for end1 floating by the humped misty mass of a leucocyte which was crawling on the cover glass4 ,there were not enough red corpuscles1 and she felt that they grew fewer as she watched4 ,she fixed her eye on one1 not blinking in fear that she would miss what might happen4 ,it was a tidy red button1 and it spun as it drifted1 the current moving it aside in a curve as it passed by the leucocyte4 ,then1 abruptly1 the cell vanished4 ,june stared numbly at the place where it had been4 ,behind her1 ,max was calling over the speaker system again3 ,dr4 ,stark speaking4 ,any technician who knows anything about the life tanks1 start bringing more out of storage and set them up4 ,emergency4 ,we may need forty-seven1 ,june said quietly4 ,we may need forty-seven1 ,max repeated to the ship in general4 ,his voice did not falter4 ,set them up along the corridor4 ,hook them in on extension lines4 ,his voice filtered back from the empty floors above in a series of dim echoes4 ,what he had said meant that every man on board might be on the point of heart stoppage4 99 99 99 99 99 ,june looked blindly through the binocular microscope1 trying to think4 ,out of the corner of her eyes she could see that ,max was wavering and breathing more and more frequently of the pure1 cold1 burning oxygen of the cylinders4 ,in the microscope she could see that there were fewer red cells left alive in the drop of his blood4 ,the rate of fall was accelerating4 ,she didn't have to glance at ,max to know how he would look--skin pale1 black eyebrows and keen brown eyes slightly squinted in thought1 a faint ironical grin twisting the bluing lips4 ,intelligent1 thin1 sensitive1 his face was part of her mind4 ,it was inconceivable that ,max could die4 ,he couldn't die4 ,he couldn't leave her alone4 ,she forced her mind back to the problem4 ,all the men of the ,explorer were at the same point1 wherever they were4 ,moving to ,max's desk1 she spoke into the intercom system3 ,bess1 send a couple of women to look through the ship1 room by room1 with a stretcher4 ,make sure all the men are down here4 ,she remembered ,reno4 ,sparks1 heard anything from ,reno8 ,is he back8 ,sparks replied weakly after a lag4 ,the last ,i heard from ,reno was a call this morning4 ,he was raving about mirrors1 and ,pat ,mead's folks not being real people1 just carbon copies1 and claiming he was crazy2 and ,i should send him the psychiatrist4 ,i thought he was kidding4 ,he didn't call back4 ,thanks1 ,sparks4 ,reno was lost4 ,max dialed and spoke to the bridge over the phone4 ,are you okay up there8 ,forget about engineering controls4 ,drop everything and head for the tanks while you can still walk4 ,june went back to the work table and whispered into her own phone4 ,bess1 send up a stretcher for ,max4 ,he looks pretty bad4 ,there had to be a solution4 ,the life tanks could sustain life in a damaged body1 encouraging it to regrow more rapidly1 but they merely slowed death as long as the disease was not checked4 ,the postponement could not last long1 for destruction could go on steadily in the tanks until the nutritive solution would hold no life except the triumphant microscopic killers that caused melting sickness4 ,there were very few red blood corpuscles in the microscope field now1 incredibly few4 ,she tipped the microscope and they began to drift1 spinning slowly4 ,a lone corpuscle floated through the center4 ,she watched it as the current swept it in an arc past the dim off-focus bulk of the leucocyte4 ,there was a sweep of motion and it vanished4 ,for a moment it meant nothing to her2 then she lifted her head from the microscope and looked around4 ,max sat at his desk1 head in hand1 his rumpled short black hair sticking out between his fingers at odd angles4 ,a pencil and a pad scrawled with formulas lay on the desk before him4 ,she could see his concentration in the rigid set of his shoulders4 ,he was still thinking2 he had not given up4 99 99 99 99 99 ,max1 ,i just saw a leucocyte grab a red blood corpuscle4 ,it was unbelievably fast4 ,leukemia1 muttered ,max without moving4 ,galloping leukemia yet6 ,that comes under the heading of cancer4 ,well1 that's part of the answer4 ,it might be all we need4 ,he grinned feebly and reached for the speaker set4 ,anybody still on his feet in there8 he muttered into it1 and the question was amplified to a booming voice throughout the ship4 ,hal1 are you still going8 ,look1 ,hal1 change all the dials1 change the dials1 set them to deep melt and regeneration4 ,one week4 ,this is like leukemia4 ,got it8 ,this is like leukemia4 ,june rose4 ,it was time for her to take over the job4 ,she leaned across his desk and spoke into the speaker system4 ,doctor ,walton talking1 she said4 ,this is to the women4 ,don't let any of the men work any more2 they'll kill themselves4 ,see that they all go into the tanks right away4 ,set the tank dials for deep regeneration4 ,you can see how from the ones that are set4 ,two exhausted and frightened women clattered in the doorway with a stretcher4 ,their hands were scratched and oily from helping to set up tanks4 ,that order includes you1 she told ,max sternly and caught him as he swayed4 ,max saw the stretcher bearers and struggled upright4 ,ten more minutes1 he said clearly4 ,might think of an idea4 ,something not right in this setup4 ,i have to figure how to prevent a relapse1 how the thing started4 ,he knew more bacteriology than she did2 she had to help him think4 ,she motioned the bearers to wait1 fixed a breathing mask for ,max from a cylinder of ,,co#b and the opened one of oxygen4 ,max went back to his desk4 ,she walked up and down1 trying to think1 remembering the hamsters4 ,the melting sickness1 it was called4 ,melting4 ,she struggled with an impulse to open a tank which held one of the men4 ,she wanted to look in1 see if that would explain the name4 ,melting ,sickness4444 ,footsteps came and ,pat ,mead stood uncertainly in the doorway4 ,tall1 handsome1 rugged1 a pioneer4 ,anything ,i can do8 he asked4 ,she barely looked at him4 ,you can stay out of our way4 ,we're busy4 ,i'd like to help1 he said4 ,very funny4 ,she was vicious1 enjoying the whip of her words4 ,every man is dying because you're a carrier1 and you want to help4 99 99 99 99 99 ,he stood nervously clenching and unclenching his hands4 ,a guinea pig1 maybe4 ,i'm immune4 ,all the ,meads are4 ,go away4 ,god1 why couldn't she think8 ,what makes a ,mead immune8 ,aw1 let 'im alone1 ,max muttered4 ,pat hasn't done anything4 ,he went waveringly to the microscope1 took a tiny sliver from his finger1 suspended it in a slide and slipped it under the lens with detached habitual dexterity4 ,something funny going on1 he said to ,june4 ,symptoms don't feel right4 ,after a moment he straightened and motioned for her to look4 ,leucocytes1 phagocytes-- ,he was bewildered4 ,my own-- ,she looked in1 and then looked back at ,pat in a growing wave of horror4 ,they're not your own1 ,max6 she whispered4 ,max rested a hand on the table to brace himself1 put his eye to the microscope1 and looked again4 ,june knew what he saw4 ,phagocytes1 leucocytes1 attacking and devouring his tissues in a growing incredible horde1 multiplying insanely4 ,not his phagocytes6 ,pat ,mead's6 ,the ,meads' evolved cells had learned too much4 ,they were contagious4 ,and not ,pat ,mead's4444 ,how much alike were the ,meads8444 ,mead cells contagious from one to another1 not a disease attacking or being fought1 but acting as normal leucocytes in whatever body they were in6 ,the leucocytes of tall1 red-headed people1 finding no strangeness in the bloodstream of any of the tall1 red-headed people4 ,no strangeness4444 ,a toti-potent leucocyte finding its way into cellular wombs4 ,the womblike life tanks4 ,for the men of the ,explorer1 a week's cure with deep melting to de-differentiate the leucocytes and turn them back to normal tissue1 then regrowth and reforming from the cells that were there4 ,from the cells that were there4 ,from the cells that were there4444 ,pat-- ,i know4 ,pat began to laugh1 his face twisted with sudden understanding4 ,i understand4 ,i get it4 ,i'm a contagious personality4 ,that's funny1 isn't it8 ,max rose suddenly from the microscope and lurched toward him1 fists clenched4 ,pat caught him as he fell1 and the bewildered stretcher bearers carried him out to the tanks4 99 99 99 99 99 ,for a week ,june tended the tanks4 ,the other women volunteered to help1 but she refused4 ,she said nothing1 hoping her guess would not be true4 ,is everything all right8 ,elsie asked her anxiously4 ,how is ,jerry coming along8 ,elsie looked haggard and worn1 like all the women1 from doing the work that the men had always done4 ,he's fine1 ,june said tonelessly1 shutting tight the door of the tank room4 ,they're all fine4 ,that's good1 ,elsie said1 but she looked more frightened than before4 ,june firmly locked the tank room door and the girl went away4 ,the other women had been listening1 and now they wandered back to their jobs1 unsatisfied by ,june's answer1 but not daring to ask for the actual truth4 ,they were there whenever ,june went into the tank room1 and they were still there--or relieved by others2 ,june was not sure--when she came out4 ,and always some one of them asked the unvarying question for all the others1 and ,june gave the unvarying answer4 ,but she kept the key4 ,no woman but herself knew what was going on in the life tanks4 ,then the day of completion came4 ,june told no one of the hour4 ,she went into the room as on the other days1 locked the door behind her1 and there was the nightmare again4 ,this time it was reality and she wandered down a path between long rows of coffinlike tanks1 calling1 ,max6 ,max6 silently and looking into each one as it opened4 ,but each face she looked at was the same4 ,watching them dissolve and regrow in the nutrient solution1 she had only been able to guess at the horror of what was happening4 ,now she knew4 ,they were all the same lean-boned1 blond-skinned face1 with a pin-feather growth of reddish down on cheeks and scalp4 ,all horribly--and handsomely--the same4 ,a medical kit lay carelessly on the floor beside ,max's tank4 ,she stood near the bag4 ,max1 she said1 and found her throat closing4 ,the canned voice of the mechanical mocked her1 speaking glibly about waking and sitting up4 ,i'm sorry1 ,max4444 ,the tall man with rugged features and bright blue eyes sat up sleepily and lifted an eyebrow at her1 and ran his hand over his red-fuzzed head in a gesture of bewilderment4 ,what's the matter1 ,june8 he asked drowsily4 ,she gripped his arm4 ,max-- ,he compared the relative size of his arm with her hand and said wonderingly1 ,you shrank4 ,i know1 ,max4 ,i know4 ,he turned his head and looked at his arms and legs1 pale blond arms and legs with a down of red hair4 ,he touched the thick left arm1 squeezed a pinch of hard flesh4 ,it isn't mine1 he said1 surprised4 ,but ,i can feel it4 ,watching his face was like watching a stranger mimicking and distorting ,max's expressions4 ,max in fear4 ,max trying to understand what had happened to him1 looking around at the other men sitting up in their tanks4 ,max feeling the terror that was in herself and all the men as they stared at themselves and their friends and saw what they had become4 ,we're all ,pat ,mead1 he said harshly4 ,all the ,meads are ,pat ,mead4 ,that's why he was surprised to see people who didn't look like himself4 ,yes1 ,max4 ,max1 he repeated4 ,it's me1 all right4 ,the nervous system didn't change4 ,his new blue eyes held hers4 ,my love didn't1 either4 ,did yours8 ,did it1 ,june8 ,no1 ,max4 ,but she couldn't know yet4 ,she had loved ,max with the thin1 ironic face1 the rumpled black hair and the twisted smile that never really hid his quick sympathy4 ,now he was ,pat ,mead4 ,could he also be ,max8 ,of course ,i still love you1 darling4 ,he grinned4 ,it was still the wry smile of ,max1 though fitting strangely on the handsome new blond face4 ,then it isn't so bad4 ,it might even be pretty good4 ,i envied him this big1 muscular body4 ,if ,pat or any of these ,meads so much as looks at you1 ,i'm going to knock his block off4 ,understand8 99 99 99 99 99 ,she laughed and couldn't stop4 ,it wasn't that funny4 ,but it was still ,max1 trying to be unafraid1 drawing on humor4 ,maybe the rest of the men would also be their old selves1 enough so the women would not feel that their men were strangers4 ,behind her1 male voices spoke characteristically4 ,she did not have to turn to know which was which3 ,this is one way to keep a guy from stealing your girl1 that was ,len ,marlow2 ,i've got to write down all my reactions1 ,hal ,barton2 ,now ,i can really work that hillside vein of metal1 ,st4 ,clair4 ,then others complaining1 swearing1 laughing bitterly at the trick that had been played on them and their flirting1 tempted women4 ,she knew who they were4 ,their women would know them apart1 too4 ,we'll go outside1 ,max said4 ,you and ,i4 ,maybe the shock won't be so bad to the women after they see me4 ,he paused4 ,you didn't tell them1 did you8 ,i couldn't4 ,i wasn't sure4 ,i--was hoping ,i was wrong4 ,she opened the door and closed it quickly4 ,there was a small crowd on the other side4 ,hello1 ,pat1 ,elsie said uncertainly1 trying to look past them into the tank room before the door shut4 ,i'm not ,pat1 ,i'm ,max1 said the tall man with the blue eyes and the fuzz-reddened skull4 ,listen-- ,good heavens1 ,pat1 what happened to your hair8 ,shelia asked4 ,i'm ,max1 insisted the man with the handsome face and the sharp blue eyes4 ,don't you get it8 ,i'm ,max ,stark4 ,the melting sickness is ,mead cells4 ,we caught them from ,pat4 ,they adapted us to ,minos4 ,they also changed us all into ,pat ,mead4 ,the women stared at him1 at each other4 ,they shook their heads4 ,they don't understand1 ,june said4 ,i couldn't have if ,i hadn't seen it happening1 ,max4 ,it's ,pat1 said ,shelia1 dazedly stubborn4 ,he shaved off his hair4 ,it's some kind of joke4 ,max shook her shoulders1 glaring down at her face4 ,i'm ,max4 ,max ,stark4 ,they all look like me4 ,do you hear8 ,it's funny1 but it's not a joke4 ,laugh for us1 for ,god's sake6 ,it's too much1 said ,june4 ,they'll have to see4 ,she opened the door and let them in4 ,they hurried past her to the tanks1 looking at forty-six identical blond faces1 beginning to call in frightened voices3 ,jerry6 ,harry6 ,lee1 where are you1 sweetheart-- ,june shut the door on the voices that were growing hysterical1 the women terrified and helpless1 the men shouting to let the women know who they were4 ,it isn't easy1 said ,max1 looking down at his own thick muscles4 ,but you aren't changed and the other girls aren't4 ,that helps4 ,through the muffled noise and hysteria1 a bell was ringing4 ,it's the airlock1 ,june said4 ,peering in the viewplate were nine ,meads from ,alexandria4 ,to all appearances1 eight of them were ,pat ,mead at various ages1 from fifteen to fifty1 and the other was a handsome1 leggy1 red-headed girl who could have been his sister4 ,regretfully1 they explained through the voice tube that they had walked over from ,alexandria to bring news that the plane pilot had contracted melting sickness there and had died4 ,they wanted to come in4 99 99 99 99 99 ,june and ,max told them to wait and returned to the tank room4 ,the men were enjoying their new height and strength1 and the women were bewilderedly learning that they could tell one ,pat ,mead from another1 by voice1 by gesture of face or hand4 ,the panic was gone4 ,in its place was a dull acceptance of the fantastic situation4 ,max called for attention4 ,there are nine ,meads outside who want to come in4 ,they have different names1 but they're all ,pat ,mead4 ,they frowned or looked blank1 and ,george ,barton asked1 ,why didn't you let them in8 ,i don't see any problem4 ,one of them1 said ,max soberly1 is a girl4 ,patricia ,mead4 ,the girl wants to come in4 ,there was a long silence while the implication settled to the fear center of the women's minds4 ,shelia the beautiful felt it first4 ,she cried1 ,no6 ,please don't let her in6 ,there was real fright in her tone and the women caught it quickly4 ,elsie clung to ,jerry1 begging1 ,you don't want me to change1 do you1 ,jerry8 ,you like me the way ,i am6 ,tell me you do6 99 99 99 99 99 ,the other girls backed away4 ,it was illogical1 but it was human4 ,june felt terror rising in herself4 ,she held up her hand for quiet1 and presented the necessity to the group4 ,only half of us can leave ,minos1 she said4 ,the men cannot eat ship food2 they've been conditioned to this planet4 ,we women can go1 but we would have to go without our men4 ,we can't go outside without contagion1 and we can't spend the rest of our lives in quarantine inside the ship4 ,george ,barton is right--there is no problem4 ,but we'd be changed6 ,shelia shrilled4 ,i don't want to become a ,mead6 ,i don't want to be somebody else6 ,she ran to the inner wall of the corridor4 ,there was a brief hesitation1 and then1 one by one1 the women fled to that side1 until there were only ,bess1 ,june and four others left4 ,see6 cried ,shelia4 ,a vote6 ,we can't let the girl in6 ,no one spoke4 ,to change1 to be someone else--the idea was strange and horrifying4 ,the men stood uneasily glancing at each other1 as if looking into mirrors1 and against the wall of the corridor the women watched in fear and huddled together1 staring at the men4 ,one man in forty-seven poses4 ,one of them made a beseeching move toward ,elsie and she shrank away4 ,no1 ,jerry6 ,i won't let you change me6 ,max stirred restlessly1 the ironic smile that made his new face his own unconsciously twisting into a grimace of pity4 ,we men can't leave1 and you women can't stay1 he said bluntly4 ,why not let ,patricia ,mead in4 ,get it over with6 ,june took a small mirror from her belt pouch and studied her own face1 aware of ,max talking forcefully1 the men standing silent1 the women pleading4 ,her face 444 her own face with its dark blue eyes1 small nose1 long mobile lips 444 the mind and the body are inseparable2 the shape of a face is part of the mind4 ,she put the mirror back4 ,i'd kill myself6 ,shelia was sobbing4 ,i'd rather die6 ,you won't die1 ,max was saying4 ,can't you see there's only one solution-- ,they were looking at ,max4 ,june stepped silently out of the tank room1 and then turned and went to the airlock4 ,she opened the valves that would let in ,pat ,mead's sister4