living partwithin the cocoon."
"You're positive they aren't the product of some of the Rell-beingsinside?"
"Almost positive. The mesh insists not. In fact, it claims this is anun-Rell like type of intelligence, though that appears to be acontradiction in terms. The thought pattern is completely outside ourexperience. In fact, it is so alien we haven't broken it down yet to themeaning behind it."
"But if the Rell inside are too large to have developed intelligence,how could this gigantic monster in which they live have done so?"
"We cannot yet say. Remember, the theory that intelligence cannotdevelop in creatures above a certain size is unproven, even though neverbefore challenged. We've watched other races die through failure toadapt to change so apparently it is true of Rell-like creatures on thisworld. But who can say about organisms on another world or of theunprecedented size of this one? Completely different physical laws mayapply."
It was later that afternoon after the Rell had spent much time observingBrown while Brown was busy observing the landscape that the interpretivebank made the triumphant announcement, "We have it! We've broken thethought waves down to their meanings and know what he's thinking. Whatwould you like to know first?"
"Check and see if there are any Rell inside the other thing or on hishome world. They might have constructed him."
"Apparently there are none, or at least no intelligent Rell, on hisworld. We can't guide his mind but the memory bank recorded all thethoughts we've received and some time ago he was thinking of somethinghe termed 'vermin'. Apparently these are sometimes Rell-like creatures,although far larger. He regards them as a great nuisance, but mindless.The big thing, by the way, he calls a 'ship' and it is utterly lifeless.We needn't fear the flame until this creature leaves."
"What about him? What is he like?"
"That's the most exciting part! He thought of his bodily needs once andwe glimpsed a concept dealing with his physical construction. It'sincredible! His body is composed almost entirely of water ... there'senough water in him alone to prolong the life of the Rell many ages.Further, the air in his 'ship' is heavily impregnated with moisture andhe even has reserve supplies of water for his needs."
At this, not only Raeillo/ee13, but all except perhaps the mostresponsible units felt a shiver of primitive longing and perhaps evengreed. Not for millennia had there been such a plentitude of water soclose!
"Then can't we appropriate at least part of it?" asked the speculativebank.
"Unfortunately both the 'man', as he calls himself, and his 'ship' aresealed so tightly that we could not penetrate either. Worse yet, almosthalf his time here is already gone. We don't quite understand hispurpose here. His thoughts seem to say he is searching for Rell for someunfathomable reason yet he seems to know nothing of the Rell and cannoteven detect us."
* * * * *
It was the next day when the time was almost all gone that the two bigdiscoveries were made. During a routine check, the mesh came across athought of the man's return and a visualization of his home world. Itwas so startling that the interpretive bank was recalled from its effortto try to devise a means through the spacesuit and set at the newproblem.
A hasty check of the man's subconscious thoughts revealed the big news."Do you know," the interpretive bank announced, "not only does thisbeing's home world have a moist atmosphere like that in his ship but twothirds of the surface of his world is _liquid water_!"
Even the speculative bank was silent for a full two seconds after thisnews. Then a hasty impulse was sent to the disciplinary corps and theentire mind called into action. An extreme emergency upon which the fateof the race hinged called for the utmost effort by even the humblestmembers of the group.
The Rell worked diligently and many blind alleys were explored, but itwas not for some time that anyone thought of enquiring of thenot-too-bright feeding bank how they were managing to keep the mindoperating at considerably more than normal power with no frost withinfeeding distance.
"We're taking moisture from the air," was the answer.
"Where is the moisture coming from?" the interpretive bank was asked.
The answer didn't take long. Rapid measurements supplied it. "Some of itis vaporized frost but that wouldn't be enough for our needs. The onlyother possibility is that moisture must be seeping away from either theman or his ship despite his sureness that they were both airtight andour own investigations which confirmed it."
They had maintained a cautious distance from the ship for the most partdespite the interpretive bank's assurance of no immediate danger. Butnow they swarmed over both it and the spacesuit determined to detect theleak.
They found none.
And now the man was returning to his ship.
"This is the last time," the mesh warned. It was now or never.
For a second there was conflict over control of the circuits to thedisciplinary corps which carried with it command of the organism duringthe emergency. The speculative bank customarily assumed thisresponsibility, but a slight schism had developed between it and theinterpretive bank. The latter's greater age and skill came into play andvictory was quickly won.
From the disciplinary corps came the order, "Stay close to the 'man'."
The interpretive bank explained, "He breathes the air so he'll have toget to it some way."
The defeated speculative bank maintained a sulky silence.
Thus it was that the entire mind of the Rell rode into the interior ofthe ship through the airlock while clustered around Brown.
The Rell had grasped that the man lived and traveled inside his ship andthe necessity for it to be airtight. But so desperate were the tworaces' needs that the necessity for an airlock and the consequent slightseepage each time it was used had not occurred to even the interpretivebank.
Inside, many Rell, suddenly intoxicated by the heady moisture-laden air,commenced uniting with each other then splitting away, each such unionresulting in another unit of Rell, naturally. The interpretive bankagain seized control.
"Stop it! Stop it this instant!" it snapped. "Reproduction must be keptto the former minimum for now. That is a firm order."
Reluctantly the process was halted. The interpretive bank explained, "Itwould not take long for us to use up the entire supply of water if weindulged in uncontrolled reproduction. That might endanger the wholetrip."
"What do we do now?" the speculative bank finally asked.
"There is no way of knowing positively whether the man uses this sameatmosphere until he returns to his world or not. For our own safety itwould seem best, since Rell-like creatures already inhabit him, that wejoin them. If any place is safe it will be his interior. And there isplenty of moisture within to sustain us. But we must be good parasites,"the interpretive bank warned. "Remember, no undue reproduction no matterhow many quarts of moisture seem to be going to waste inside this 'man'.He may need it himself and if he does not survive the ship might notcomplete its trip."
Brown was just emerging from his space suit so the Rell chose hisclosest available body opening and flowed as a group into his mouth andnostrils.
"Ahchoo!" sneezed Brown, violently evicting half the Rell.
They re-entered a bit more cautiously in order not to irritate thesensitive membrane again.
"Dammit," said Brown, "don't tell me I've caught a cold clear out hereon Mars. Hope I didn't pick up any Martian germs."
But he needn't have worried. By the time he reached Earth he was farless germ-ridden, even if considerably more itchy on the exterior, thanwhen he'd left. The Rell were good at self defense and a surprisingnumber of mindless but voracious creatures in Brown's interior had beeneliminated.
Brown dreaded having to give the news he carried but he needn't have. Hewas a conquering hero.
So much fuss was made over the first flight to Mars that Congresspromptly voted twice the appropriation for the second ship that the AirForce had requested, despite strong opposition from the Navy andheadlines which
read:
NO LIFE ON MARS
Actually, as it happened, the headlines were one hundred percentcorrect, but they neglected to mention, chiefly because the headlinewriters didn't know it, that there were now two races of intelligentlife on Earth.
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