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air-pressure which went with such a killing gravity. He hoped that it was
enough to sustain life. There must have been a slow leakage of air since the
accident, he thought.
Maybe the being's internal pressure had equalized sufficiently to save it.
"Get an air sample to Kursedd, quickly!" Conway said. Once they knew the
composition it used it would be a simple matter to increase pressure when they
had the being in the tender. He added quickly, "And I want four men to stand
by at the tender. We'll need special equipment to get the survivor out of here
and
I might need it in a hurry."
With Hendricks he entered the tiny lock. The Lieutenant checked the seals,
worked the manual control beside the door, and straightened up. A creaking in
Conway's suit told of mounting pressure as air from the compartment beyond
rushed in. It was clear air, he noted with some satisfaction, and not the
super-
thick fog which Kursedd had predicted. The air-tight door slid aside,
hesitated as the still-hot section moved into its recess, then came fully open
with a rush.
"Don't come in unless I call you," Conway said quietly, and stepped through.
In his phones there was a grunt of assent from Hendricks, followed closely by
the voice of Kursedd announcing that it was recording.
The first glimpse of the new physiological type was always a confused blur to
Conway. His mind insisted on trying to relate its physical features to others
in his experience, and whether it was successful or not in this the process
took a little time.
"Conway!" O'Mara's voice came sharply. "Have you gone to sleep?"
Conway had forgotten about O'Mara, Summerfield and the assorted radio
operators who were still linked up with him. He cleared his throat and hastily
began to talk:
"The being is ring-shaped, rather like a large balloon tire. Overall diameter
of the ring is about nine feet, with the thickness between two and three feet.
Mass appears to be about four times my own. I can see no movements, nor
indications of gross physical injury."
He took a deep breath and went on, "Tegument is smooth, shiny and gray in
color where it is not covered with a thick, brownish encrustation. The brown
stuff, which covers more than half of the total skin area, looks cancerous but
may be some type of natural camouflage. Or it might be the result of severe
decompression.
"The outer surface of the ring contains a double row of short, tentacular
limbs at present folded flat against the body. There are five pairs, and no
evidence of specialization. Neither can I see any visual organs or means of
ingestion. I'm going to have a closer look."
There was no visible reaction as he approached the creature, and he began to
wonder if they had reached it too late. There was still no sign of eyes or
mouth, but he could see small gill-like openings and something which looked
like an ear. He reached out and gently touched one of the tightly-folded
limbs.
The being seemed to explode.
Conway was sent spinning backward against the floor, his whole right arm numb
from the blow which, had he not been wearing a heavy-duty suit, would have
smashed his wrist. Frantically he worked the G-belt controls to hold him
against the deck, then began inching backward toward the door. The babble of
questions in his phones gradually sorted itself into two main ones: Why had he
shouted, and what were the banging noises currently going on?
Conway said shakily, "Uh. . . I have established that the survivor is alive .
.
The watching Hendricks made a choking sound. "I don't believe," said the
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Lieutenant in an awed voice, "that I have ever seen anything more so.
"Talk sense, you two!" O'Mara snapped. "What is happening?"
That was a difficult question to answer, Conway thought as he watched the
tire-like being half-rolling, half-bouncing about the compartment. Physical
contact with the survivor had triggered off a panic reaction, and while Conway
had without doubt been the cause the first time, now contact with anything-
walls, floor, or loose debris floating about the room-had the same result.
Five pairs of strong, flexible limbs lashed out in a vicious, two-foot radius
arc, the force of which sent the being skidding across the room again. And no
matter which part of the massive ring body it was it struck out blindly in all
directions at once.
Conway made it to the shelter of the portable lock just as a fortunate
combination of circumstances left the alien floating helpless in the middle of
the compartment, spinning slowly and bearing a remarkable resemblance to one
of the old-time space stations. But it was drifting toward one of the walls
again, and he had to get things organized before it started bouncing around a
second time.
Ignoring O'Mara for the moment, Conway said quickly, "We'll need a fine-
mesh net, size five, a plastic envelope to go over it, and a set of pumps. In
its present state we can expect no cooperation from the being. When it is [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]