Vital Ingredient
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the new bone in. I never thought of that before but its'light' muscles aren't strong enough to lift the limb. We've got thepoor creature pinned to the box by the weight of its own arm."
"We can't do that to it," Remm said. "Isn't there any way you can giveit a lighter bone?"
"None that wouldn't take a retooling of the _converter_," Toolls said."I'm not certain that I could do it, and even if I could, we don't havethe time to spare. I could give it stronger muscles in the arm, but thatmay throw off the metabolism of the whole body. If it did, the resultwould be fatal. I'd hate to chance it."
"I have an idea," Macker said. By the inflections of his tones theothers knew that some incongruity of the situation had aroused Macker'ssense of humor. "Why don't we give the creature an entirely new body? Wecould replace the flesh and viscera, as well as the cartilaginousstructure, with our own type substance. It would probably be anindestructible being as far as its own world is concerned. And it wouldbe as powerful as their mightiest machines. We'd leave behind us asuperman that could change the course of this world's history. You coulddo it, couldn't you, Toolls?"
"Quite simply."
"Our policy has always been not to interfere in anyway with the races westudy," Remm protested.
"But our policy has also been never to harm any of them, if at allpossible to avoid it," Macker insisted. "In common justice you have tocomplete the job Toolls began on the arm, or you're condemning this poorthing to death."
"But do we have the right to loose such an unpredictable factor as itwould be among them?" Remm asked. "After all, our purpose is explorationand observation, not playing the parts of gods to the primitives weencounter."
"True, that is the rule which we have always followed in the past,"Macker agreed, "but it is in no way a requirement. We are empowered touse our judgment in all circumstances. And in this particular instance Ibelieve I can convince you that the course I suggest is the more justone." He turned to Toolls. "Just what stage of cultural developmentwould you say this creature's race has attained?"
"It still retains more of an animal-like adaptation to its surroundingsthan an intellectual one," Toolls replied. "Its civilization is dividedinto various sized units of cooperation which it calls governments. Eachunit vies with the others for a greater share of its world's goods. Thatsame rivalry is carried down to the individual within the unit. Eachstrives for acquisition against his neighbor.
"Further they retain many of their tribal instincts, such asgregariousness, emotional rather than intellectual propagation, andworship of the mightiest fighter. This last, however, is manifested byreverence for individuals attaining position of authority, or acquiringlarge amounts of their medium of exchange, rather than by physicalsuperiority."
"That's what I mean," Macker said. "Our policy in the past has been toavoid tampering, only because of the fear of bringing harm. If wecreated a super being among them, to act as a controlling andharmonizing force, we'd hasten their development by thousands of years.We'd be granting them the greatest possible boon!"
"I don't know," Remm said, obviously swayed by Macker's logic. "I'mstill hesitant about introducing a being into their midst whose thoughtprocesses would be so subtle and superior to their own. How do you feelabout it, Toolls?"
"What would they have to lose?" Toolls asked with his penchant forstriking the core of an argument.
"The right or wrong of such moral and philosophical considerations hasalways been a delicate thing to decide," Remm acquiesced reluctantly."Go ahead if you think it is the right thing to do."
* * * * *
"All finished?" Macker asked.
"That depends on how much you want me to do," Toolls replied. "I'vesubstituted our 'heavy' substances for his entire body structure,including the brain--at the same time transferring his former memory andhabit impressions. That was necessary if he is to be able to care forhimself. Also I brought his muscular reaction time up to our norm, andspeeded his reflexes."
"Have you implanted any techniques which he did not possess before, suchas far-seeing, or mental insight?" Macker asked.
"No," Toolls said. "That is what I want your advice about. Just how muchshould I reveal about ourselves and our background? Or should he be leftwithout any knowledge of us?"
"Well ..." Now that the others had deferred to Macker's arguments, hehad lost much of his certainty. "Perhaps we should at least let him knowwho we are, and what we have done. That would save him much alarm andperplexity when it comes time to reorient himself. On the other hand,perhaps we should go even farther and implant the knowledge of some ofour sciences. Then he could do a better job of advancing his people. Butmaybe I'm wrong. What do you think about it, Remm?"
"My personal opinion," Remm said, "is that we can't give him much of ourscience, because it would be like giving a baby a high explosive to playwith. His race is much too primitive to handle it wisely. Either he, orsomeone to whom he imparts what we teach him, would be certain to bringcatastrophe to his world. And if we let him learn less, but stillremember his contact with us, in time his race would very likely come toregard us as gods. I would hesitate to drag in any metaphysicalconfusion to add to the uncertainties you are already engendering. Myadvice would be to wipe his mind of all memory of us. Let him explainhis new found invincibility to himself in his own way."
Macker had no criticism to offer to this suggestion. "Does he retain anyof his immunity to this world's malignant germs?" he asked.
"They are too impotent to represent any hazard to his present bodymechanism," Toolls replied. "If and when he dies, it will not be fromdisease."
"He will be subject to the deterioration of old age, the same as we are,won't he?" Macker asked.
"Of course," Toolls said, "but that's the only thing that will be ableto bring him down. He cannot be harmed by any force this 'light' worldcan produce; he is impervious to sickness; and he will liveindefinitely."
"Indefinitely?"
"As his world reckons time. Their normal life span is less than ahundred years. Ours is over five thousand. He will probably liveapproximately twice that long, because he will be subjected to lessstress and strain, living as he does on a world of lighter elements."
"Then we have truly made a superman," Macker's tones inflectedsatisfaction. "I wish we were returning this way in a thousand years orso. I'd like to see the monumental changes he will effect."
"We may at that," Remm said, "or others of our people will. He willprobably be a living legend by then. I'd like to hear what his race hasto say about him. Do they have names with which to differentiateindividuals?"
"Yes," Toolls said. "This one has a family designation of Pollnow, anda member designation of Orville."
"It will be necessary for us to leave in exactly ten minutes," Remmreminded them. "Our next stopping place--the red star--will reach itsnearest conjunction with this planet by the time we meet it out inspace."
"Then we will have time to do nothing more for him before we go," Mackersaid. "But as far as I can see we've forgotten nothing, have we,Toolls?"
"Nothing," Toolls answered. "No--we forgot nothing."
* * * * *
But Toolls was wrong. They had forgotten one thing. A minor detail,relatively....
On Toolls' world his race, in the course of its evolution, had adjusteditself to its own particular environment. Logically, the final resultwas that they evolved into beings best able to survive in thatenvironment. As such their food--a "heavy," highly concentratedfood--was ideally suited to supply the needs of their "heavy,"tremendously avid organisms.
Orville Pollnow had no such food available. His body--no larger thanbefore--had an Earth mass of one hundred and eighty thousand pounds. Onehundred and eighty thousand pounds--the weight of twelve hundred averagesized men--of fiercely burning, intense virility. Even continuouseating--of his own world's food--could not supply the demands of thatbody.
Twenty-four hours after the aliens left, Pollnow was dead--
ofstarvation.
THE END
Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from _If Worlds of Science Fiction_ July 1952. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note.