that," Bullard said without a trace ofconfidence. "As far as the complication goes, let me say just this: it'sfull of moving parts."
"What are you getting at?" Hansen asked.
"Just this. These ships are perfect mechanisms. There is hardly anything inthem that could be called a moving part. Now a door has to open and close.Sure, we devised a simple, safe way to do it a few hundred years after theoriginal fleet was built. The men who designed the original door mechanismfelt, perhaps, that it was incongruous to include it in the first place.Maybe that is why they threw away the plans. God knows, it is incongruous.Look! Here's a photo we took of one in a ship back at base."
Hansen scanned the photograph. It was a meaningless jumble. He handed itback. "Well, make yourself at home. I'm afraid that the only thing I canhelp with will be radio communication to Captain Fromer's ship."
"Good enough," Bullard said. "I'm expecting someone else tomorrow. Afteryou bring him down, feel free to drop over and see me anytime."
* * * * *
Bullard went back to his ship, and Hansen went to bed. He dreamed of HisExalted Excellency R'thagna Bar, growing angrier day by day as the time ofmating came closer. In his dream he suddenly came upon a magnificentsolution to the problem, a solution involving a telepathic system offertilization. He woke up before he had completely worked out the details.
Bullard's friend arrived the same morning. He was a small, dark activelittle man whom Hansen immediately disliked.
"Meet Dr. Quemos," Bullard said when Hansen dropped in on them. "Dr. Quemosis a specialist in the history of technology. He thinks he knows how ourcute little door mechanism is made."
"Can't say for sure," Quemos said, "but I'd guess that those components aremade of metal--real metal."
"I thought that metal was used only in jewelry," Hansen said.
Dr. Quemos grinned slyly. "That's what most people think. Actually, refinedmetal of various types was used in large masses, formed masses, forthousands of years. Historically speaking, the pseudo-mets are relativelynew."
"It's difficult to imagine metal functioning as machinery," Hansen mused.
"And you say that this door mechanism has moving parts, lots of them?"
"Moving parts are nothing to be afraid of," Quemos said. "Here, look atthis." He put something small on the table, much in the manner of a youngboy dropping a garter snake in the midst of school girls. Bullard andHansen crowded around. "Now, take turns," said Quemos sharply, "and don'tdrop it. It's priceless, I assure you." The ancient wrist watch with itstransparent back was passed from hand to hand.
"Frightening little monster, isn't it," Bullard said.
"Those small round wheels are called gears," elucidated Quemos, "one gearturns another, which turns another, and so on. I rather imagine that yourdoor is operated on some similar principle."
"I seem to be the one who asks all the schoolboy questions," Hansen began,"would somebody tell me why Captain Fromer doesn't take His Excellency tohis home planet, land the ship, and then let his technical staff tear offthe door mechanism?"
"We've gone through that," Bullard said wearily. "Unfortunately we needspecial tools. And there's no way to get them into the ship."
"Can I speak to Captain Fromer?" Quemos asked.
"Right away," Hansen said. He pressed his hand in various patterns on hisbelt. "This is Hansen. Let us talk to Captain Fromer, please."
"Fromer here. Who is it?"
"Dr. Quemos speaking. How is your passenger?"
"My passenger is fine. But he keeps telling me that he is very anxious toplant his seed. When can you get us out of here?"
"Plant his seed?" said Quemos.
"There's nothing salacious about this, I've been assured. He simply has abiological craving at this time in his life to--to plant his seed."
"I got problems like that, too," Bullard said, "but I don't go aroundtelling everybody."
* * * * *
"Stop clowning," Fromer snapped, "you guys better find a way to fix thisdamn door or you'll have a galactic war on your hands. Anybody have anyideas yet?"
"We're sure that the door mechanism is made of metal," Quemos said, "andthe construction is probably based on the principal of a worm gear."
"A what?"
"A worm gear, Captain," Quemos said patiently. "It's an ancient metaldevice that was sometimes used for closing large doors. There is also thepossibility that the door is closed and opened by dogs. These seem to havebeen used, at least, to operate doors of undersea crafts. Although we'renot quite certain about the function of dogs."
The captain maintained a stony silence.
"Also," Quemos continued, "we have unearthed, so to speak, a reference to ametal component called a babbitt--"
"Now see here!" Captain Fromer roared, "who do you think you're kiddingwith this talk about worms, dogs and rabbits--"
"Babbitts, Captain, babbitts! Perhaps a type of bearing. Anyway, we're atwork on the problem, I assure you." Quemos motioned to Hansen that he wasthrough talking.
* * * * *
During the next three days, Hansen twice visited Bullard and Quemos.On each occasion, he found the two men in trance-like conditions,ostensibly thinking through the problem that they had been assigned tosolve, but more probably, Hansen guessed, brooding about the reactionof Sector Headquarters to their daily progress reports which Hansen hadbeen relaying for them. Hansen had only sympathy for the people back atSector Headquarters, for if these two experts were the Galaxy's two toptrouble-shooters, the Federation, was not, as Hansen put it to himself,in very good shape to fight a war with one hundred billion enragedcitizens who worshiped His Exalted Excellency R'thagna Bar almost asmuch as they did his seed.
Hansen went back to his reading, only to be interrupted with increasingfrequency by message transmissions from an increasingly alarmed SectorHeadquarters. Most messages were addressed to Bullard, and were bravelydesigned to disguise the senders' hysteria, while at the same timeurging Bullard on to more magnificent efforts. A few messages, fairlyrepresentative of the state of affairs as time wore on reflected anincreasing suspicion on the part of Sector Headquarters that Quemos andBullard, although certainly tops in their fields, were not tops enough.
SEC HDQ BULLARD, COM. RLY. 43.4SC
PRESIDENT WOULD LIKE ESTIMATE OF WHEN DOOR WILL BE OPENED. YOU SURE YOU CAN HANDLE? EMPHASIZE THAT POLITICAL SITUATION NOW GETTING TOUCHY. REPEAT TOUCHY. R'THAGNA BAR CALLING ON PRESIDENT TODAY TO MAKE DEMAND THAT SEED BE PLANTED ON TIME. SURE YOU DON'T NEED MORE HELP?
CMD GENERAL
CMD GENERAL
NO HELP NEEDED. MAKING PROGRESS, ASSURE PRESIDENT. TODAY FOUND OUT METAL IN MECHANISM IS VERY HARD. IN CONSTANT RADIO TOUCH WITH FROMER. PASSENGER IMPATIENT BUT QUIETER. SLEEPS MORE NOW. THIS SIGNIFICANT? QUEMOS DEVELOPING THEORY OF MECHANISM. SAYS WILL TAKE TIME TO WORK OUT. HOW MUCH TIME WE HAVE? WHEN MUST SEED BE PLANTED?
BULLARD
SEC. HDQ. BULLARD, COM. RLY. 43.4SC
MUST HAVE ESTIMATE WHEN DOOR OPENS. THIS AN ORDER. AMBASSADOR THREATENING WAR. CAN'T GIVE DEADLINE OF SEED PLANTING TIME SINCE SUBJECT VERY TABOO. OUR BIOLOGISTS SAY R'THAGNA BAR SLEEPY SIGNIFICANT. MAY BE PRELUDE TO SEEDING TIME. TELL ABOUT QUEMOS THEORY IN NEXT COMMUNICATION. WILL EVALUATE HERE. NICE TO KNOW METAL IS HARD. KEEP UP GOOD WORK. PRESSURE HERE TO SEND YOU HELP. PRESIDENT SAYS WHOLE FEDERATION PRAYING FOR DOOR TO BE FIXED. SAYS TO HURRY UP.
CMD GENERAL
CMD GENERAL
NO ESTIMATE POSSIBLE. QUEMOS THEORY ALMOST COMPLETE. STATES THAT MECHANISM BUILT ON PRINCIPLE OF WORM GEAR. REPEAT. WORM GEAR. TODAY INSTRUCTED FROMER'S CREW TO JIGGLE MOVING PARTS OF MECHANISM AT RANDOM. PARTS WOULD NOT JIGGLE. FROMER STATES THAT R'THAGNA BAR SLEEPS ALL TIME AND COLOR CHANGES TO BLUE AND RED ON STOMACH. THIS S
IGNIFICANT?
BULLARD
SEC HDQ BULLARD, COM. RLY 43.4SC
IMPORTANT YOU AMPLIFY LAST MESSAGE. RED AND BLUE ON STOMACH? WHY R'THAGNA BAR UNDRESSED? INVESTIGATE! PRESIDENT ORDERS HELP SENT. HELP ON WAY. REPEAT. WHY R'THAGNA BAR UNDRESSED?
CMD GENERAL
CMD GENERAL
FROMER ADVISES TELL YOU SHIPS PHYSICIAN HAS PUT R'THAGNA BAR IN REFRIGERATOR.
QUEMOS
SEC HDQ QUEMOS. COM. RLY.