Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (71 page)

"If we can find
exactly what that thing is we can possibly remove it somehow,
assuming it won't kill the person. Maybe we could find something
that would block it from the virus. Probabilities suggest it’s only
a specific spot on the DNA where the virus can insert.

"Is there
something, some poison, we can lock onto? That one special thing
that will keep it from the virus? Starve the virus to death and
give it serum 'A' at the same time? Would that kill the virus
already in the cells?"

She smiled
fondly at him. "That's something we've looked into, Love. What the
nerve cells have – remember that the virus reproduces all over the
body and in our culture dishes – is a certain set of proteins in
the genetic material that allows the virus to insert itself into
the chain where it's reproduced with the cell as a part of the gene
chain. It quite literally becomes a part of the cell itself and may
cause severe damage should we remove it. We may have to find a
"lock" that doesn't allow it to reproduce with the body's natural
genetic chains. We've still got a long way to go. The reason it
takes so long to damage fatally is because the cell can function
well for quite awhile, only slowly losing its abilities as the
viral material begins to use coding material from the cell to
reproduce itself. Nerve cells repair themselves only very slowly if
at all and don't reproduce to any extent. What your body forms by
adulthood is pretty well what you have for life. That's part of the
aging process. The nerve cells fail and aren't replaced."

He nodded.

Hal had been
working toward a new attack on the virus. The "weedkiller" thing
had gone as far as it ever could unless they found some hormone or
combination of hormones or an enzyme that would selectively disrupt
the virus chains while not harming other genetic structures in the
body. That was what he feared and what he really knew somewhere
deep inside.

"Maybe
something that'll lock out the virus directly on the chains?
Something that won't damage the person? A coating substance?

"Listen to me!
Damage. I'm learning to talk like you people do!"

"To talk AS YOU
PEOPLE TALK, Love," she said and giggled at the dirty look she
got.

Hal went to the
shelves where he carefully read each label of the thousands of
vials of chemicals. They were labeled with an "H" number, a hyphen,
and a code short sequence so everything they knew about it could be
called quickly from the computers. H1 through H11 were plant
hormones. H12 through H58 were animal hormones. Then came several
hundred animal extractions, then thousands of plant extractions. It
was well-established that most medicines proved effective against
biological agent diseases came from plants, which was why it has
always been imperative in importance to never allow ANY plant
species to become extinct. One never knew.

Was it at all
possible their cure had already been destroyed by some careless
cutting of trees or killing off of some "minor" species of plant or
animal life? Forty years ago the cure for the bone deterioration of
the jawbones, a progressive disease in the Kroon resulting in the
loss of the teeth and the general deterioration in health over a
period of several years was found in one of the most noxious and
unpleasant weeds on the planet. Farmers had struggled for years to
eradicate it. Now a few of them grew it as a cash crop and it
greatly reduced or even eliminated the suffering of millions.

A form of
animal in the sea that built reefs was found to be the only thing
that would "set" and be accepted by the body as bone to fill and
regrow the deteriorated parts. The explorations and drillings for
natural gas and oils nearly extincted the one subspecies that would
do the job. Even now it was quite rare in nature.

There are
balances that must not be disrupted today or the entire race may
die next year. These were the things a historian would know and
were the critical things that conceivably might solve this problem
for them.

"You take 'em
where you find 'em," Hal quoted as he noted several numbers in the
H140s to call up from the memory banks. "And when," he added.

"Soon, I hope!
My nerves can't stand a whole bunch more of this! Before much
longer I'll be a case for the headfiddlers!"

He sat at the
console to began punching the special codes and thought how just a
halfyear ago he could use a simple recorder secretary or adjust the
TV and that was about all. He had always spurned computer
technology, insisting one could hire a trained operator to input
the data and recall it. He was paid to be a research historian, not
a clerk! He had no time for those silly, useless things! Now it was
second nature for him to use the machines. He could look at his
listings and let his fingers do the computer work while he thought
of other things.

That part of
his talent was what pointed out his genius to those around him. It
seemed to them he could compartmentalize any number of unrelated
simultaneous operations. Mi once heard him humming along with the
radio. A very complex and difficult passage from the classic
composer, Fir Witt. He was typing from a complicated research
manuscript from a laboratory in Frite.

She wondered
how he could possibly follow the music so well while reading the
involved MS and typing – and why was he typing anything from the
MS? It could be called up and printed by the computer.

She looked over
his shoulder. He was typing in some work on his book about the dig
in the Jeurne Valley Rift. He was also reading a complicated
treatise on chemical viral retardants. He wasn't missing a note of
the symphony.

"We've tried to
duplicate that, but find it only works at temperatures that are
much higher than Kroon bodies will stand," she said.

"I know. I'm
trying to get a general idea of which properties in the chemicals
do the job best so I can look for something that doesn't require
such excess heat. Class restrictive modification or something
such."

He never missed
a beat on the typing and fell right back into the humming. Later he
didn't remember her asking him anything, had to read what he had
written and could recall the MS word for word. He had no idea he
was humming anything. He was able to compartmentalize his mind in a
minimum of three areas at once, turn his sight to one, his hands to
one and his voice to one. Mi wondered how far such a talent could
be taken while the subject remained clinically sane.

Four
compartments were shown! His hearing, too! Amazing! She could do
two things – never four!

He was fully
aware of how his mind worked and never questioned it. It was, after
all, his basic nature. What he could never quite understand was why
so many couldn't concentrate on more than ONE thing at a time!

He once
considered his ability to do many things at once to have made him a
freak and had hidden the talent. As a child he had been careful not
to let others know of his abilities. He USED it, but he kept it
well-hidden.

He could also
hold a debate inside his own skull, each part bringing in its own
points. He solved problems using that method. Not long ago one part
brought up some old thing about weed killers. The results of those
internal "board meetings" were certainly well enough known on Kroon
now!

* * *

Sop Lett felt
uneasy. This was all wrong. Enn Far had made a terrible mistake.
The constitution was distracting the people. There was debate and
discussion all over the media. Each word was dissected, each little
nuance argued. He and Jak Tall were everything from pretty smart to
the greatest natural geniuses who ever lived and from thoughtful
citizens to the greatest statesmen who ever lived and from one end
of the highest spectrum of opinion to the other. Not one word was
going to be changed. The debates were simply something to do and a
way to get on TV by those who were already beginning to wonder if
perhaps THEY might run for council.

The political
mind never rests. It may never produce anything worth a diddly
damn, but it never rests.

The only
article that was never mentioned was the one about the public
health officer. It had been handled from the first by Hit Kinn, the
top news commentator on Kroon, in an editorial: "This network
believes the article isn't strong enough, but this isn't a proper
time to debate that issue. One does not turn crowd control over to
a mob. We now find ourselves in a critical and dangerous period
where logical, reasonable, thoughtful and studied response to this
issue isn't possible. We each tend to react with a sort of
hyper-extended emotionalism based on our own fears. Perhaps the
genius of Tall and Lett shines through far brighter than at any
other juncture. That island is worse by far than the combination of
all the hells of all the old religions at once, yet they were able
to temper their words with care and true compassion.

"The basic
tenet of this document is fairness. Fairness to all people at all
times and under all circumstances. The article is strong, giving
the only place where any one person may actually hold the awesome
power to suspend the document itself and it is fair, making
absolutely certain the power can never be wrongfully used or
abused.

"My opinion and
that of this network is that this article stands firm. As written!
We should and will reserve our comment and criticism to any and all
other provisions of the document."

Freedom of the
press and speech was debated heatedly, most saying it went too far
and could interfere with the power of the state. On that item the
news called Lett, who said those arguing against such a freedom
should stop to consider that, should they be successful, they
certainly would not be permitted the very argument they were using!
After all, they WERE the state! That was the point of the whole
idea of a constitution.

"Consider that
we have limited what one may say about another to statements that
are true," Sop reasoned. "There are civil and criminal suits which
may be brought should one make false claims, accusations,
statements or retaliations of other types for other transgressions
against an individual or organization.

"I may state
that, IN MY OPINION, you are a scoundrel and a rockslug and should
be thrown in jail for life, but I may not say even as opinion that
you have committed a criminal act until such time as a court has
convicted you. You may say the same about me so long as you make
plain it is opinion and not proven fact. The provision about
statements being 'provable' means I may state I witnessed an act in
which you committed a crime. If it is untrue you can take me into
court and destroy me financially and destroy my credibility. If in
court I prove my case you are then yourself destroyed. That is for
YOUR consideration. It would be worse than unwise for you to bring
a suit where I could prove my statements. It would be to your own
ruin. The same holds true for the news media. They have the duty
and the responsibility to be absolutely certain of anything they
present. There is already a section in the news for opinion. It is
called the editorial section. One may be as inaccurate or as
obnoxious as one pleases there, considering only that silly
extremes in those sections will cost circulation and, therefore,
profits.

"There is in
that section a very strong resolution against prior censorship.
That is a two-edged sword as it allows freedom to print whatever
one considers fit to print, but it also allows action against false
information.

"There is
strong provision against coercion to present other opposing
viewpoints, even in that section, by any government or agency of
any government. Politicians will want to demand that and will
attempt to label it fairness, but it is diametrically opposed to
fairness. In that section the media may include or exclude whatever
it desires. The people will soon learn the bent of that company and
will express dissent or assent through that company's circulation
figures and, therefore, its bank accounts.

"You must
beware always when a politician uses terms such as 'fair' because
the object is not fairness, but confusion. That is the political
mind at work. It will never change.

"The document
is designed to have structural balances written in. There is no
suspension of the natural physical laws of action and reaction in
the constitution."

All of this was
good. All of it was planned, but the timing was all wrong. At the
end of the thirty days the constitution would be passed, would
immediately be signed and would as immediately take effect. Then
the plague would be back at the forefront and, should there have
been no progress toward a cure a real sense of hopelessness would
be reinforced because the people finally had a chance at true
freedom and happiness and this plague could rob them of it. It
would be devastating psychologically. There were twenty nine more
days to find something positive – fifty days to total chaos. There
must have been a suspension of reason somewhere along the line to
allow this to happen in this manner!

Sop picked up
the handcom to call Enn Far.

*

Enn Far sighed
in relief. It was going to work. People would throw themselves
deeply into the constitution wholeheartedly and would let the
plague take a second place in the mind. It was a savior to have
that distraction on hand.

Ponn's misuse
of the serum could have started rioting in the streets and the
government's credibility was in question. They hadn't foreseen and
protected against such things. Chairman Enn Far himself personally
endorsed the miserable damned crook! That was what galled!

If those people
on the island can only come up with something positive!

The next step
he took must be very carefully considered or all could be lost. He
must not allow the nation or, indeed, the world to be thrown into
barbarism. It could too easily happen. It was a matter of holding
attention and steering it away from something that could do nothing
other than increase the fear and hopelessness and the weight of
impotence and frustration.