The Gods Themselves Part 22

"You'll disprove them, if anything at all. I have no fears about that."

Denison said, "It's quite clear, isn't it, that I'm not a physicist by training? Why do you so readily offer me working-s.p.a.ce?"

"Because you're from Earth. I told you that we value that, and perhaps your self-education as a physicist will be of additional value. Selene vouches for you, something I attach more importance to than I should, perhaps. And we are fellow-sufferers at the hands of Hallam. If you wish to rehabilitate yourself, we will help you."

"But pardon me if I am cynical. What do you expect to get out of it?"

"Your help. There is a certain amount of misunderstanding between the scientists of the Earth and the Moon. You are a man of Earth who has come voluntarily to the Moon and you could act as a bridge between us to the benefit of both. You have already had contact with the new Commissioner and it may be possible that, as you rehabilitate yourself, you will rehabilitate us as well."

"You mean that if what I do weakens Hallam's influence, that will benefit Lunar science as well."

"Whatever you do is sure to be useful. . . . But perhaps I ought to leave you to catch up with your sleep. Call on me during the next couple of days and I will see about placing you in a laboratory. And"-he looked about- "getting you somewhat more comfortable quarters as well."

They shook hands and Neville left.

8.

Gottstein said, "I suppose that, however annoying this position of yours may have been, you are getting ready to leave it today with a small pang."

Montez shrugged eloquently. "A very large pang, when I think of the return to full gravity. The difficulty of breathing-the aching feet-the perspiration. I'll be a bath of perspiration constantly."

"It will be my turn someday,"

"Take my advice. Never stay here longer than two months at a time. I don't care what the doctors tell you or what kind of isometric exercises they put you through- get back to Earth every sixty days and stay at least a week. You've got to keep the feel of it."

"I'll bear that in mind. .. . Oh, I've been in touch with my friend."

"Which friend is that?"

"The man who was on the vessel with me when I came in. I thought I remembered him and I did. A man named Denison; a radiochemist. What I remembered of him was accurate enough."

"Ah?"

"I remembered a certain interesting irrationality of his, and tried to probe it. He resisted in quite a shrewd fas.h.i.+on. He sounded rational; so rational, in fact, that I grew suspicious. There's a kind of attractive rationality developed by certain types of crackpots; a kind of defense mechanism."

"Oh, Lord," said Montez, clearly hara.s.sed. "I'm not sure I follow you. If you don't mind, I'm going to sit down for a moment. Between trying to determine whether everything is properly packed and thinking about Earth's gravity, I'm out of breath.... What kind of irrationality?"

"He tried to tell us once that there was danger in the use of the Electron Pumps. He thought it would blow up the Universe."

"Indeed? And will it?"

"I hope not. At the time it was dismissed rather brusquely. When scientists work on a subject at the limit of understanding, they grow edgy, you know. I knew a psychiatrist once who called it the 'Who knows?' phenomenon. If nothing you do will give you the knowledge you need, you end by saying, 'Who knows what will happen?' and imagination tells you."

"Yes, but if physicists go around saying such things, even a few of them-"

"But they don't. Not officially. There's such a thing as scientific responsibility and the journals are careful not to print nonsense. ... Or what they consider nonsense. Actually, you know, the subject's come up again. A physicist named Lament spoke to Senator Hurt, to that self-appointed environmental messiah, Chen, and to a few others. He also insists on the possibility of cosmic explosion. No one believes him but the story spreads in a thin sort of way and gets better with the retelling."

"And this man here on the Moon believes it."

Gottstein smiled broadly. "I suspect he does. h.e.l.l, in the middle of the night, when I have trouble sleeping-I keep falling out of bed, by the way-I believe it myself. He probably hopes to test the theory experimentally, here."

"Well?"

"Well, let him. I hinted we would help him."

Montez shook his head. "That's" risky. I don't like the official encouragement of crackpot notions."

"You know, it's just barely possible they may not be entirely crackpot, but that's not the point. The point is that if we can get him established here on the Moon, we may find out, through him, what's going on here. He's anxious for rehabilitation and I hinted that rehabilitation would come through us if he cooperated. . . . I'll see to it that you are discreetly kept posted. As between friends, you know."

"Thank you," said Montez. "And good-by."

9.

Neville chafed. "No. I don't like him."

"Why not? Because he's an Earthie?" Selene brushed a bit of fluff from her right breast, then caught it and looked at it critically. "That's not from my blouse. I tell you the air-recirculation is abominable."

"This Denison is worthless. He is not a para-physicist. He's a self-educated man in the field, he says, and proves it by coming here with ready-made d.a.m.n-fool notions."

"Like what?"

"He thinks that the Electron Pump is going to explode the Universe."

"Did he say that?"

"I know he thinks that. . . . Oh, I know the arguments. I've heard them often enough. But it's not so, that's all."

"Maybe," said Selene, raising her eyebrows, "you just don't want it to be so."

"Don't you you start," said Neville. start," said Neville.

There was a short pause. Selene said, "Well, what will you do with him?"

"I'll give him a place to work. He may be worthless as a scientist, but he'll have his uses just the same. He'll be conspicuous enough; the Commissioner has been talking to him already."

"I know."

"Well, he has a romantic history as someone with a wrecked career trying to rehabilitate himself."

"Really?"

"Really. I'm sure you'll love it. If you ask him about it, he'll tell you. And that's good. If we have a romantic Earthman working on the Moon on a crackpot project, he'll make a perfect object to preoccupy the Commissioner. He'll be misdirection; window-dressing. And it may even be that through him, who knows, we might just possibly get a better idea of what goes on there on Earth. .. . You'd better continue to be friendly with him, Selene."

10.

Selene laughed, and the sound was metallic in Denison's earpiece. Her figure was lost in the s.p.a.cesuit she wore.

She said, "Now come, Ben, there's no reason to be afraid. You're an old hand by now-you've been here a month."

'Twenty-eight days," mumbled Denison. He felt smothered in his own suit.

"A month," insisted Selene. "It was well past half-Earth when you came; it is well past half-Earth now." She pointed to the brilliant curve of the Earth in the southern sky.

"Well, but wait. I'm not as brave out here as I am underground. What if I fall?"

"What if you do? The gravity is weak by your standards, the slope is gentle, your suit is strong. If you fall, just let yourself slide and roll. It's almost as much fun that way, anyhow."

Denison looked about doubtfully. The Moon lay beautiful in the cold light of the Earth. It was black and white; a mild and delicate white as compared with the Sunlit views he had seen when he had taken a trip a week before to inspect the Solar batteries that stretched from horizon to horizon along the floor of Mare Imbrium. And the black was somehow softer, too, through lack of the blazing contrast of true day. The stars were supernaturally bright and the Earth-the Earth-was infinitely inviting with its swirls of white on blue, and its peeping glimpse of tan.

"Well," he said, "do you mind if I hang on to you?"

"Of course not. And we won't go all the way up. It will be the beginner's slope for you. Just try try to keep in time with me. I'll move slowly." to keep in time with me. I'll move slowly."

Her steps were long, slow, and swinging, and he tried to keep in synchronization. The up-sloping ground beneath them was dusty and, with each step he kicked up a fine powder that settled quickly in the airlessness. He matched her stride for stride, but with an effort "Good," said Selene, her arm locked in his, steadying him. "You're very good for an Earthie-no, I ought to say Immie-"

"Thank you."

"That's not much better, I suppose. Immie for Immigrant is as insulting as Earthie for Earthman. Shall I just say you're simply very good for a man your age."

"No! That's much worse." Denison was gasping a little and he could feel his forehead moistening.

Selene said, "Each time you reach the point where you're about to put your foot down, give a little push with your other foot. That will lengthen your stride and make it all the easier. No, no-watch me."

Denison paused thankfully and watched Selene, somehow slim and graceful despite the grotesquerie of the suit once she moved, take off into low, loping leaps. She returned and knelt at his feet.

"Now you take a slow step, Ben, and I'll hit your foot when I want it to shove."

They tried several times, and Denison said, "That's worse than running on Earth. I better rest.".

"All right. It's just that your muscles aren't used to the proper coordination. It's yourself you're fighting, you know, not gravity. . . . Well, sit down and catch your breath. I won't take you up much farther."

Denison said, "Will I do any damage to the pack if I lie down on my back?"

"No; of course not, but it's not a good idea. Not on the bare ground. It's only at 120 degrees absolute; 150 degrees below zero, if you prefer, and the smaller the area of contact the better. I'd sit down."

"All right." Gingerly, Denison sat down with a grunt. Deliberately, he faced northward, away from the Earth. "Look at those stars!"

Selene sat facing him, at right angles'. He could see her face now and then, dimly through the faceplate, when the Earthlight caught it at the proper angle.

She said, "Don't you see the stars on Earth?"

"Not like this. Even when there are no clouds, the air on Earth absorbs some of the light. Temperature differences in the atmosphere make them twinkle, and city lights, even distant city lights, wash them out"

"Sounds disgusting."

"Do you like it out here, Selene? On the surface?"

"I'm not crazy about it really, but I don't mind it too much, now and then. It's part of my job to bring tourists out here, of course."

"And now you have to do it for me."

"Can't I convince you it's not the same thing at all, Ben? We've got a set route for the tourists. It's very tame, very uninteresting. You don't think we'd take them out here to the slide, do you? This is for Lunarites-and Immies. Mostly Immies, actually."

"It can't be very popular. There's no one here but ourselves."

"Oh, well. There are particular days for this sort of thing. You should see this place on race days. You wouldn't like it then, though."

"I'm not sure I like it now. now. Is gliding a sport for Immies, particularly?" Is gliding a sport for Immies, particularly?"

"Rather. Lunarites don't like the surface generally."

"How about Dr. Neville?"

"You mean, how he feels about the surface?"

"Yes."

"Frankly, I don't think he's ever been up here. He's a real city boy. Why do you ask?"

"Well, when I asked permission to go along on the routine servicing of the Solar batteries, he was perfectly willing to have me go, but he wouldn't go himself. I rather asked him to, I think, so I could have someone answer my questions, if there were any, and his refusal was rather strong."

"I hope there was someone else to answer your questions."

"Oh, yes. He was an Immie, too, come to think of it. Maybe that explains Dr. Neville's att.i.tude toward the Electron Pump."

"What do you mean?"

"Well-" Denison leaned back and kicked his legs up alternately, watching them rise and fall slowly with a certain lazy pleasure. "Hey, that's not bad. Look, Selene- What I mean is that Neville is so intent on developing a Pump Station on the Moon when the Solar batteries are so adequate for the job. We couldn't use Solar batteries on the Earth, where the Sun is never as unfailing, as prolonged, as bright, as radiant in all wave lengths. There's not a single planetary body in the Solar system, no body of any size, that is more suitable for the use of the batteries than the Moon is. Even Mercury is too hot.-But the use does tie you to the surface, and if you don't like the surface-"