Randall Garrett by Cum Grano Salis
Author:Cum Grano Salis
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2012-02-22T12:29:01+00:00
* * *
The chemist, Dr. Petrelli, looked at the fruit in his hand, snarled suddenly, and smashed it to the floor. Its skin burst, splattering pulp all over the gray plastic.
âIt looks,â he said in a high, savage voice, âas if that hulking idiot will be the only one left alive when the ship returns!â He turned to look at Smathers, who was peering through a binocular microscope. âSmathers, what makes him different?â
âHow do I know?â growled Dr. Smathers, still peering. âThereâs something different about him, thatâs all.â
Petrelli forcibly restrained his temper. âVery funny,â he snapped.
âNot funny at all,â Smathers snapped back. âNo two human beings are identicalâyou know that.â He lifted his gaze from the eyepiece of the instrument and settled in on the chemist. âHeâs got AB blood type, for one thing, which none of the volunteers had. Is that what makes him immune to whatever poison is in those things? I donât know.
âWere the other three allergic to some protein substance in the fruit, while MacNeil isnât? I donât know.
âDo his digestive processes destroy the poison? I donât know.
âItâs got something to do with his blood, I think, but I canât even be sure of that. The leucocytes are a little high, the red cell count is a little low, the hemoglobin shows a little high on the colorimeter, but none of âem seems enough to do any harm.
âIt might be an enzyme that destroys the ability of the cells to utilize oxygen. It might be anything!â
His eyes narrowed then, as he looked at the chemist. âAfter all, why havenât you isolated the stuff from the fruit?â
âThereâs no clue as to what to look for,â said Petrelli, somewhat less bitingly. âThe poison might be present in microscopic amounts. Do you know how much botulin toxin it takes to kill a man? A fraction of a milligram!â
Smathers looked as though he were about to quote the minimum dosage, so Petrelli charged on: âIf you think anyone could isolate an unknown organic compound out of aââ
âGentlemen! Please!â said Dr. Pilar sharply. âI realize that this is a strain, but bickering wonât help. What about your latest tests on MacNeil, Dr. Smathers?â
âAs far as I can tell, heâs in fine health. And I canât understand why,â said the physician in a restrained voice.
Pilar tapped one of the report sheets. âYou mean the vitamins?â
âI mean the vitamins,â said Smathers. âAccording to Dr. Petrelli, the fruits contain neither A nor B1. After living solely on them for four weeks now, he should be beginning to show some deficienciesâbut heâs not.
âNo signs?â queried Dr. Pilar. âNo symptoms?â
âNo signsâat least no abnormal ones. Heâs not getting enough protein, but, then, none of us is.â He made a bitter face. âBut he has plenty of symptoms.â
Dr. Petrelli raised a thin eyebrow. âWhatâs the difference between a sign and a symptom?â
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