Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (194 page)

Behind the bunk
rooms they found several storage areas, but there was very little
in them. There were power generators with completely automatic
boards, furniture storage areas, huge rows of files and some other
office equipment and supplies. One room across the "hall" from the
bunk room had a large press and several copying machines along with
reams of paper in pads, continuous printout forms, rolls and reams.
The two spent a great deal of their time studying the files,
particularly those about the time on Tesfort though, after a
certain point there WERE no more files about that world, which was
the most telling thing about the files.

Tab attached
the com lead to Kit. "That seems to settle it," he said. "Whatever
this thing is it was found on Tesfort. The experimentation there
mostly had to do with low frequency vibratory repulsion techniques
on Givzoo's and Volich's part and a fungal agent on Nortich's and
Zantoo's. They were splicing genes from the larob bush and the
fogleaf tree.

"That seems
straightforward enough."

"I'm studying
the fogleaf tree," Kit said. "It grows along streams, has a
widespread branch system, has large flat leaves that are almost
transparent. When viewed from a distance they seem to be branches
surrounded with a ball of pale greenish fog, thus the name.

"Let's see.
Trivitus gallus parvifolia variety 'Tremblens' Tesfortii is
their.... The leaves move in any breeze in a short fluttery wave,
thus tremblens.

"Gallus? Oh,
yes. There's what appears to be a parasite or possibly a symbiote
that takes the form of a large gall on the base of the branches.
The galls produce a repulsive odor which repels most pests, though
the team were unable to detect the particular chemical causing the
odor. It seems to also produce another odor to attract the tree's
pollinators. Zantoo was trying to trace the genes that caused the
galls or the agent that seeded them. He wanted to splice special
odor-causing genes into a fungus to develop a natural insect
repellant. It would be self-actuating and could be genetically
programmed to allow pollination. It was a very promising new branch
of science. This is all brilliant work. It's on a par with the
things they got commendations and grants for."

"Does it
explain anything about a signaling system?" Tab asked. "What I mean
is some kind of evolved recognition signal from the pollinators to
the galls to allow them to differentiate between friends and
enemies."

There were a
few minutes of silence as Kit read through the materials.

"Strange," he
reported. "Some of the pollinators were also pests to the trees.
Nortich writes, 'It seems apparent at this juncture that the galls
are able to produce some substance, possibly an odor, which causes
these worst of pests to come to the fogleaf tree only when the
blooms are open and ready for pollination, to pollinate those
blooms – apparently without any reward of any kind – and to stay
away from those trees at all other times. 'I can find no mechanism
for this. These predators will attack the trees to the point of
destroying them if the galls are removed, a very difficult process
indeed as the odor is not tolerable by any of us and doesn't seem
to be stopped or even lessened by normal protective devices. We are
forced to assume (Which we do NOT do in science: Note) that the
molecule is exceedingly small, thus very able to penetrate. It does
seem to be smelled, thus to be absorbed, through the skin.'

"Later she
writes, 'There is a relatively large amount of very complex
longchain RNA produced throughout the galls. I was able to study it
only with the greatest of difficulty as the odor, even through the
best protectives, was disgusting to the extent of being
overpowering. We must find what that odor is. The automatic
machines cannot detect it at all.'

"Zantoo's last entry:
I am going to implant the entire TG genetic
structure into the nucleus of the spore of Nard's mold, Filamentosa
glauca exotica Tesfortii, to see if any properties will transmit in
that manner. I have now eliminated everything of the structure we
have shown NOT to carry what we seek. It isn't likely this will
succeed, but partials simply are rejected by our injection
carriers. Time will tell
.

"Are you
thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If you're
thinking there was never any odor, that the gall produced psy
abilities with those insects, yes," Tab replied. "RNA? The damned
thing had enough intelligence to be able to pick and choose which
bugs it wanted to do what and to direct them to do it. It was
trapped in that gall formation on that species of tree on Tesfort
for all time, but our scientists gave it a means to escape. Many
fungi species are able to reproduce and grow exponentially. If
there's a connecting filament of some sort with some of the RNA in
it, if that RNA can.... Great amounts. It can grow its brain to any
size it wishes. It can control the content of RNA."

"I think we'd
better get the hell out of here," Kit warned. "We have to find how
it's planning to handle the ... whatever it's planning. We have a
lot to go on now."

"If we escape
your friends will be in for it," Tab replied. "We have to find some
way to protect them. We're going to need their help. I'm sure of
it."

"The psy
power's still supposed to be keeping us asleep here," Kit said. "I
think we can do something. It IS intelligent enough to make plans
so it can figure things to have happened in certain logical ways.
It knows about fire, I'm sure. Every world with CHON life has fires
because every world with CHON life has lightning. Through logic it
knows of fire and lightning. It would know on an inhabited world
that fire has many causes, some of them as violent as lightning.
It'll believe we were destroyed if this particular bunker has a
serious fire.

"It can't
detect the fire unless.... Maybe we can both send a strong pulse of
pain through the psy circuits, then nothing. Death should show
nothing as a readout."

"True. Let's
make an explosion from things we find in here. We can avoid
detection I'm sure," Tab agreed.

"Let's close
the doors into here. I'd hate to see all these records destroyed.
There's some really valuable research here."

"There isn't
much to cause a normal fire in here," Kit pointed out. "I don't
think that will matter. Our fungus has no sensors to tell it what's
inside of the place."

"No! There's
both ether and alcohol in the printing machines," Tab noted. "We'll
leave something to tell your friends this is a setup so they can
report what we want reported."

They withdrew
the contact, closed the door to the file room, took a good bit of
the alcohol and ether from the printing press into the office and
made a sign the Klaft couldn't miss when they came in through that
office.

It said:
Friends. This is a setup so I can escape. I was able to
awaken the native on the next bunk, and will take him with me.
Report to the fungus you have found our bodies and we are dead. It
doesn't seem to know what's happening inside of this facility. The
explosion we'll cause was from a reaction of the chemicals in the
press and the copy machines, which could happen naturally if a
spark were to find fumes, particularly of the ether. We will find a
way – Clohk Nate

Tab mixed the
chemicals, set a timer made from an office clock and went to stand
by the outside doorway. He held up a hand, dropping it as the
mixture exploded, sent a searing "sensation" of pain through the
psy circuits at the same moment Kit did, stopped any transmission
from those circuits, kicked the door outward as though it was blown
away by the force of the blast and ducked out into the night with
Kit close behind. They avoided all sensors as they headed into the
forest, trotted at a steady pace until they were out of range of
the fungus or its machines and called TR for the floater in the
swamp. Less than an hour later they were aboard TR. They made their
reports en route to the floater so TR could input it while they
made some kind of plan.

"What seems to
me to stick out most here is the thing has no experience to draw
on," TR said. "That would mean it's acting more from instinct than
from anything else. It didn't kill the pests of the fogleaf tree,
it merely made them stay away until or unless it needed them. It
seems to be doing much the same thing here on Grandish. It was
making people stay away. Now it needs people so it's gathering
some. I don't see the danger of anything much else actually
happening. I don't think it CAN do much."

"Then maybe
you'd better review the report," Tab replied. "It opened that lock
and it closed it. If you don't see the danger in that check with
Thing or Z or Maita!"

"But I can
destroy it and that facility in ten seconds," TR said. "All you
have to do is get the people out. That will be that."

Kit looked
thoughtful, then answered, "I think maybe you're underestimating
it. From talking with Givzoo and Nortich I'm sure they've tried any
number of things to get rid of the thing and have failed. They can
think independently and can trick the thing with a fair amount of
ease. It can direct what they say to some extent, even from a great
distance, but they can find ways around that – or Givzoo can. He
isn't one who would miss trying to do something when the time
wasn't so advanced as now. When it wasn't so strong. He made it
clear the thing isn't mature, but that its strength is steadily
growing. I think he's tried everything he could think of including
fire, explosion or what have you. He would sacrifice himself to get
rid of that thing in a second so we know a suicide mission would
fail. We knew that from the very first because of the psy
thing.

"There's some
reason Givzoo's in an increasing panic as this thing becomes
mature. I don't think that.... OH! Great exploding galaxies!
Mature! Do you see what that means?!"

"Well, it'll
definitely get a lot stronger," Tab answered. "It'll be able to
grow a bigger brain area and can.... WHOA!"

"That's right!"
TR cried. "This thing began as one single modified SPORE! It'll
spore as soon as it matures! There will be thousands – millions of
the things! I have to study everything about that mold ... what was
it? Oh, yes. Filamentosa glauca exotica Tesfortii. Give me a few
seconds. You recorded the whole record for us."

They waited
while TR compiled the data they had.

"It's not
enough," TR complained, finally. "T Six, keep yourself informed
here while we go to Tesfort. We have to know about that fungus and
about that fogleaf tree.

"Maita, I
really hate to bother you again, but I need suggestions. Now."

The fastcom
dinged, then, *TR, modify your atomic architect like this
(Buzzzzz), then the elementizer like this (Buzzzzz). Put a small
piece of the fungus on each and a piece of the gall on each. I'll
dispatch an advanced research team from University to Tesfort
immediately. I will help with the analysis, but we can work on the
likelihood the thing has a cumulative memory system so it'll
smarten up fast. Remember that group killed a few of the galls to
see the results on the trees, which was to be eaten by the insects.
They took some RNA and some genetic material from a removed gall.
That's programmed into this thing so it won't look kindly on any of
what it will tend to lump into the group it'll consider to be
animal pests. I must go now. I'm jumping into another plane so will
be out of touch for a few hours.*

Maita was then
simply gone, but both TR and T6 would have the method of modifying
the elementizers and atomic architects. This would help them to
understand the fungus to a degree. They would also have to do some
concentrated study of the organisms.

It didn't take
long to reach Tesfort in TTH14. It was an empire protectorate world
so they went in on individual floaters while TR sent its own
floaters to the libraries and research facilities on the planet to
scour their data for all references to either the galls, the
fogleaf trees or the fungus.

Tab came back
with a large gall, then Kit came back with some of the laboratory
fungus from the same mass Nortich and Zantoo had used. They put the
samples onto the elementizer grids and into the atomic architect
machines. TR finished its own private gathering of information,
then they headed back to Grandish. Both Tab and Kit plugged into
the console for direct use of their computing capacities. When they
were again in orbit TR contacted T6, but not much had happened.
There wasn't much to see in A Port and floaters secreted near the
labs couldn't tell what was happening inside. There had been some
immediate activity when the explosion went off, but everyone was
soon inside so not much was known.

"Before you go
aground to finish this let me give a report to you, T Six and Maita
– who is now back in N space – about the fungus as it probably is
now," TR said. "Filamentosa glauca exotica Tesfortii is a small
fungus, but not microscopic. It can feed on either organic decay or
in some cases mineral-rich silica soils. It has a short season, is
a multidirectional or sympodial grower, shuns strong direct
sunlight, produces approximately three hundred thousand spores per
head with many thousands of heads produced at once. It has a four
to nine day life cycle and dies once it spores. Our samples will be
maintained growing for future experimentation with RNA
insertions.

"Trivitus
gallus parvifolia 'Tremblens' Tesfortii is a tree that produces a
symbiotic sap feeding system for what I'll term SymboTrivitus
Tesfortii symbiosea Tesfortii, which is our gall. There is definite
patternings of RNA in those things. They can grow as much or as
little of it as they choose – and they have enough of it to act as
quite a little brain. Their storage capacity for memory is
limitless for all practical purposes. It's like T Six and Maita and
me. It can add whatever volume of data storage space it needs.
While it grows it, we manufacture it.