Cain's Land

by Robert Frezza

  Coldewe said promptly, “If circumstances compel the people here to snuff out infants casually, it’s going to leave an imprint on them. As Goethe put it, 'A man, even the best, who accustoms his spirit to cruelty and finally even makes, from that which he detests, a law; and from that habit becomes hard and almost unrecognizable.' I've been telling Simon for a while now that I thought that Mother Nature shortchanged these people.

  'So runs my dream: but what am I?

  An infant crying in the night:

  An infant crying for the light:

  And with no language but a cry.

  So careful of the type she seems,

  So careless of the single life.

  The world's great altar-stairs

  TluJJ slope thro' darkness up to God.

  Man . . .

  Who trusted God was love indeed

  And love Creation's final law-

  Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw

  With ravine, shrieked against his creed.'

  'Nature, red in tooth and claw,' “ he repeated. “So careful of the type, she seems. So careless of the single life. That’s Tennyson by the way.”

  Afterward, Simon told his wife, Maria, “I just presented them with facts, didn't I?”

  Looking at his face, Maria Beetje choked off her reply and used her shoulder to support him.

  L-Day plus 441 [3-zephyr Rain 14]

  “LET’s SEE,” SUPERIOR PRIVATE DENYS GORDIMER SAID. ENGAGED IN HIS SECOND-FAVORITE PASTIME, “I make it 3,227,630 rand and fifty cents.”

  Without lifting his eye from the telescope, Blaar Schuur tossed a pebble at him. “Here's the fifty cents.”

  “How about a hand when we get back? You know you could try and work off your debt, bringing me breakfast in bed and things.”

  “Shut up.” When Gordimer failed to respond, Schuur turned his head and looked at his partner. “Denys?”

  “All of a sudden. I feel dizzy.” Gordimer set his submachine gun down and took his face shield off. “I feel sick.”

  Schuur reached across in the darkness and felt Gordimer’s throat. “Oh, God!” He touched his radio. “Command point one. Break. Schuur here. Denys is burning up. He's running 3 or 4 degrees of fever. I am going to walk him back to the spring on Hangman's Hill. I will take blood and tissue samples and send them from there.”

  He refastened Gordimer’s face shield. Strapping their submachine guns to his webbing, he looked to see if they had left any other signs of their presence. Then he wrapped Gordimer’s arm around his neck. “Colonel Hans, if you don't hear from me, that is where you will find us. Schuur out.”

  He squeezed Gordimer’s hand “It’s all right, Denys.”

  “No, it’s not!” Gordimer protested weakly. “It’s frosting damned bad.”

  “I know,” Schuur admitted

  In Orbit, HIMS Zuiho [5-zephyr Rain 14]

  VERESHCHAOIN PROJECTED DR. SOLCHAVA'S IMAGE ON THE WALL WHERE EVERYONE present could see. “Natasha, what can you tell us?”

  Solchava brushed the hair from her eyes. “Gordimer’s blood and tissue cultures contain heavy growths of Staphylococcus aureus. The growths appear resistant both to antibiotics and to the body's natural defenses. In some manner, alien genetic material appears to have been incorporated in the staphylococci nuclei. This is quite extraordinary. I hope that I am mistaken.” Solchava appeared tired. “I have sealed my lab and will examine samples using category-two procedures. Until we know more, I sttongly recommend restricting contact between the planet and Zuiho, and between Zuiho and Aoba.”

  “How could nonterrestrial genetic material end up in a terrestrial bacillus?” Pia Szuba asked.

  “Natasha, please explain for those of us who are not scientists,” Vereshchagin asked quietly.

  “I have reviewed the literature. It is not unknown.” Solchava shrugged carelessly. “Bacteria are notorious for scavenging stray DNA and plasmids from each other. It would appear that the staphylococci absorbed the organelles in some manner and have discovered a use for them. However, the mechanism here is different than any I have seen described in the literature.”

  “And Denys?” Coldewe asked.

  Solchava shook her head helplessly. “In a sense, he is being killed by his own body's defenses. Reacting to the staphylococci, his body is producing huge quantities of leukocyctes. The leukocytes are not, however, recognizing the altered staphylococci. Instead, they are aggregating in clumps, causing severe capillary blockage, and are releasing large amounts of lysosomal enzymes and pyrogen, which is inducing fever and causing tissue damage. I think. The actual process may be far more subtle. It may take us months to discover an effective treatment. Or years. I will want to see blood and tissue samples from every individual on the surface. Until we know a great deal more, we have to assume that they may be carrying something quite deadly.”

  “The naturales may be able to help us. With men's lives at risk, I think we should solicit their assistance,” Szuba urged, looking around the room.

  Vereshchagin smiled thinly. “Telling them may be a greater risk to the people we have operating on the surface. I am afraid that this is one of the risks inherent in our situation.” He paused. “Please stress to everyone that information about this is not to be disseminated to the contact team.”

  Szuba challenged him. “And if they become ill?”

  Simon Beetje laid a band on her arm.

  L-Day plus 446 [8-zephyr Rain 14]

  DENYS GORDIMER DIED TWO HOURS AFTER SUNOOWN. BLAAR SCHUUR PACKED HIS BODY in a plastic bag, beat sealed the edge, and lofted it skyward so that a low-flying shuttle could haul it in.

  Schuur sat down on a rock and played a few bands of solitaire, waiting. “Troubles usually come in bunches,” he said to himself.

  Around dawn. a little sheepish, he went back to his hide site.

  In Orbit, HIMS Zuiho [8-zephyr Rain 14]

  “IT IS, OF COURSE, VERY DISCOURAGING TO SPEND SO MUCH TIME HERE AND NOT BE ABLE TO SET FOOT on the planet’s surface,” Senior Technician Tsuyoshi Kodama told Coldewe over yet another cup of tea.

  “Yesterday, I had four platoons who would have loved a little time down below, although that was yesterday,” Coldewe replied. “Unfortunately, they may get some.”

  The soft-spoken senior technician, a specialist in his own arcane field, took Coldewe's meaning immediately.

  “ 'Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,/Witches' mummy, maw and gulf/Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark/Root of hemlock digged i' the dark,' “ Coldewe reflected. “Last time I came down here, you

  said you Inight be on to something.”

  “It is, of course, very premature for me to say so without more complete testing than we are presently able to cany out. Under normal circumstances, my team would only be expected to disburse existing agents, and one must expect failures in the course of developing new agents.” Kodama sipped his tea.

  This was, of course, a slight exaggeration. The biochemwarfare unit assigned to watch over Suid-Afrika was theoretically the best such team in the employ of His Imperial Majesty's government, and Coldewe knew Kodama never would have opened his mouth if he hadn't been reasonably sure he had a

  winner.

  Coldewe toyed with his cup. “How long would it take you to give me something that looks good-- it doesn't necessarily have to be good--along the lines we were discussing?”

  Kodama's face grew thoughtful.

  “It always helps to know how Anton thinks,” Coldewe explained obscurely.

  L-Day plus 448 [1-lake Rain 14]

  REPISKOSHAN STRAIGHTENED HIS CLOAK.

  “I am sorry,” Connie Marais told the Blue. “I do not understand.”

  Ekpalawehud, who probably understood quite well and certainly spoke English better than his new compatriot, maintained a distant and lofty silence.

  “Soh-ree. Vite do-awn vord plesh,” Repiskoshan said in labored and barely comprehensible English. His signing was
scarcely better. The daily monsoon shower gave the tent a vile odor.

  Marais suddenly tired of the effort of breaking in a new contact. “Stop. I must go. Enough for today. Neaikimmyiia.”

  Ekpalawehud stiffened. He chirped something to Repiskoshan that Marais missed, threw his cloak over his head, and strode from the tent, with Repiskoshan scurrying after him in an almost

  comical fashion.

  Marais went into the kitchen area and found Isaac Wanjau drinking tea. “Hello, Isaac.”

  Wanjau inclined his head. “Dr. Marais. You look discouraged”

  “Annoyed and discouraged. Kanyase stopped coming today. Ekpalawehud brought someone new instead. It’s so frustrating. I asked why, but you know how those discussions go. And it happened just when I thought we were finally beginning to establish a rapport.” Marais shook his head “Oh, have you seen Brit Smits? He was supposed to work on my computer.”

  Wanjau carefully set his cup down. “He did not do so?”

  “No. In fact, I haven't seen him.”

  Wanjau touched his radio. “Contact point three. Break. Wanjau here. Brit, where are you?”

  There was no response. Wanjau put his beret on his head and walked through the rain to check the other tents. A moment later, he touched his radio again. “Command point one. Break. Wanjau here. Smits is missing. I say again, Smits is missing.”

  With a heavy heart, Dr. Seki obeyed instructions to suspend relations until Smits was returned.

  During the night, a single missile arched into the sky. Aoba destroyed it.

  In Orbit, HIMS Zuiho [2-lake Rain 14]

  “ARE WE READY TO DISCUSS A RESPONSE?” VERESHCHAGIN INQUIRED.

  “Are we not perhaps being precipitous?” Dr. Kita inquired. “'The naturales have expressed concern and promised to make an investigation to find Smits, and they have assured us that the missile was an accident.”

  “I believe that we can assume that Smits did not wander off,” Hans Coldewe replied, outwardly calm. “And where missiles are concerned, I don't believe in accidents.”

  Simon Beetje held his breath, and Dr. Kita looked uncertain.

  'We should consider all possibilities. Could Private Smits have defected?” Pia Szuba asked.

  The Iceman smiled coldly. 'What would they have promised him, a harem of native women?”

  “Could he have come down with the same disease that killed Private Gordimer and wandered off?” Szuba persisted.

  “It is possible, but in that event his body should be easy to find,” Vereshchagin said.

  “Surely Dr. Seki has promised his best efforts in resolving this crisis,” Dr. Kita said, attempting to defend Seki's viewpoint, despite obvious personal qualms. “Of course, this is very serious, but do we really wish to cut off relations merely because of one man?”

  “I have met Brit’s sister. She did not want him to come,” The Iceman said softly. “Admittedly, one man counts for very little in the universe's grand design, but Brit Smits is one of ours, and I would like to think that this makes a difference.”

  “I think that we are being tested,” Vereshchagin said

  “Shouldn't we send a shuttle to pick up the contact team?” Simon Beetje asked

  “If we're right about the Blues, it would cost us a shuttle,” Coldewe explained coldly.

  “Get me Dr. Seki,” Vereshchagin told Esko Poikolainnen. When Seki's face appeared. be said, “Good morning, Doctor.”

  Seki appeared haggard. He bowed. “Good morning, Commi sioner.”

  “Has Superior Private Smits been retumed?”

  “No, Commissioner. However, we must reopen discussions with the naturales. The situation is fraught with danger. We cannot simultaneously prepare for war and prevent war.” He made a final effort. “Surely an intransigent attitude is a grave dangerto the overall success of our mission.” Aware that he was not on the finnest ground, he added, “I have been assured that the missile was launched in error, and it clearly was not intended to hann any of our ships.”

  “No, it wasn't intended to harm us,” Coldewe said grimly. “It struck me as an experiment.”

  “I fail to understand.”

  “The Blues wanted to see us maneuver. They wanted to see us fire. In layman's terms, Doctor, the Blues are peeking at our cards, and I'm wondering what they plan on doing when they think they've got a winning hand.”

  “Dr. Seki,” Vereshchagin said, calm and detached, “in light of circumstances, I consider it appropriate to name Company Sergeant Wanjau head of the contact team. I would ask you to accept this change in a constructive manner.”

  Seki appeared stunned. Fmally, he said, “Yes, Commissioner.”

  “Thank you, Doctor. Vereshchagin out.” Vereshchagin terminated the contact.

  “Funny,” Coldewe remarked, “I thought the only way you prevented war was to prepare for it”

  “So Vegetius said. Hans, do you remember Dr. Devoucoux?”

  Coldewe thought for a moment. “Yes. Yes, I do. Dapper Claude. He was Natasha's predecessor. We lost him when the Brothers nuked Reading. He used to like peanuts. Kept them in his pocket all the time. Strange what you remember after twenty years.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “We took him out on pattol once, and Vijer--you remember Vijer, he had the worst luck--Vijer had abdominal pains, so Dapper Claude wanted to do laparoscopic surgery right there in the middle of the desert. He was miffed we hadn't brought the proper equipment. Bery was rolling around in the sand, he thought it was so funny. Poor old Dapper Claude. We've lost so many over the years, it’s sometimes hard to remember them all.”

  “We have to, Hans. No one else will.” Vereshchagin looked away. “Claude once said a profound thing about Suid-Afrika. He called it 'a land God gave to Cain.' I think that that may be more true of this world”

  “These people aren't evil. Anton.”

  “No, they are simply people, which means that they can be monumentally stupid sometimes.” He thought aloud, “We could pull Zuiho and Aoba out of orbit, but that would make it impossible for us to play our little games with the shuttles and perhaps even precipitate the conflagration we seek to avoid.”

  “How much time do you think we have? Should we pull back our covert people?”

  “We have a few months, perhaps. No, it does not appear necessary to pull in our people. We have no reason to believe any of them are compromised,” Vereshchagin said, hoping he was

  right

  In Orbit, HIMS Zuiho [5-lake Rain 14]

  JAN SNYMAN AWOKE. HE SAT UP GROGGILY.

  Deltje Brink peered at him from a few meters away. “Major Snyman?”

  “Oh, hello, Juffrou Brink.”

  She sat down on the deck across from him. “'They told me I would find you here. Why are you sleeping on the floor?” Snyman patted the door next to him. “My wife, Natasha, is in quarantine. We see each other by computer, but being here makes her that much closer. I haven't seen much of you since sign-language classes ended. How have you been?”

  The banal question amused her. “Oh, I have been fine.”

  Snyman hesitated “Hans mentioned that you knew Hanna Bruwer.”

  “Yes, I was one of her students.” Brink smiled. “When she was speaker, she sometimes used to ask us what we thought about important issues. We were all terribly young, and it made us feel terribly important I think that we all loved her.”

  “Everyone did.” Snyman stretched. “What may I do for you?”

  “I did not want to disturb Colonel Coldewe, but no one seems to be able to tell me anything about Brit Smits.”

  “He's missing,” Snyman said hesitantly. “How well do you know him?”

  “Oh.” She brushed back her hair. “He asked me out to see a movie-so have a lot of other soldiers on board”

  He nodded. “That is not surprising.”

  “I don't think that he realized how much older I am than he is, but it turned out that I kn
ew his sister quite well. We were friends. She used to complain about him horribly.” Brink smiled nervously. “Please. Can't you tell me the truth? Was it the disease? There are so many stories. I don't know what to believe.”

  Snyman looked for a graceful way to evade the question and found none. He shook his head. “It probably wasn't disease. So far, everyone else's staphylococci appear normal, even Blaar Schuu?”s. We think the Blues took Brit. It’s possible they have found a way to keep him alive, but not likely.” He did not burden her with his personal belief that Smits had been killed for dissection. For a moment, he thought she hadn't heard him, and then he saw her rub her eyes fiercely. “Juffrou Brink?”

  “No,” she said “It is all right I am all right I knew . . . I suppose hearing it makes a difference.”

  “Until we find a body, there's always hope,” Snyman said lamely.

  She tried to smile. “But not very much hope, you mean. He really was a sweet boy.”

  “He was.”

  “People's lives are like a cloth.” She locked her fingers gether to try to show him. “'They all tie together. Cut a thread, and the cloth is weaker.”

  “Juffrou Brink, are you all right? If you want to sleep, my wife could prescribe a sedative for you.”

  “No, thank you, Major. I am all right.”

  L-day plus 458 [2-brook Rain 14]

  HENDRICKA SANMARTIN FELT HER ARM BEING SHAKEN. “WE NEED TO MOVE FAST,” MYBURGH SAID.

  “It’s still dark out. Are the lemps moving?”

  “No, the Blues are.” Myburgh was already rolling her space blanket as the rain dripped down. “Aoba reports truckloads of them heading here. Maybe an entire division, twenty thousand.”

  Sanmartin sat upright. Myburgh began painstakingly replacing the forest litter to obscure their campsite. “Lieutenant Aksu thinks the Blues may have found the recorder Dr. Ozawa lost” He began assembling the two tiny bicycles he carried in his bergen. “We have to get moving.”