reptiles who sting men. There are eveninsects which sting men and inject diseases. Something like that seemsto have come out of the jungle. While men sleep--something happens tothem! They turn into paras. Something native to this world must beresponsible. The planet did not welcome us. There's not a native plantor beast that is useful to us! We have to culture soil-bacteria soEarth-type plants can grow here! We don't begin to know all thecreatures of the jungle! If something comes out and makes men paraswithout their knowledge----"
Calhoun said mildly:
"It would seem that such things could be discovered."
The Health Minister said bitterly:
"Not this thing! It is intelligent! It hides! It acts as if on a planto destroy us! Why ... there was a young doctor who said he'd cured apara! But we found him and the former para dead when we went to checkhis claim! Things from the jungle had killed them! They think! Theyknow! They understand! They're rational, and like devils----"
* * * * *
A third group of ground cars appeared ahead, waiting. Like the others,they were filled with men holding blast rifles. They joined theprocession--the rushing, never-pausing group of cars from thespaceport. The highway had obviously been patrolled against a possibleambush or road block. The augmented combat group went on.
"As a medical man," said Calhoun carefully, "I question the existenceof a local, nonhuman rational creature. Creatures develop or adapt tofit their environment. They change or develop to fit into some niche,some special place in the ecological system which is theirenvironment. If there is no niche and no room for a specific creaturein an environment, there is no such creature there! And there cannotbe a place in any environment for a creature which will change it. Itwould be a contradiction in terms! We rational humans change theworlds we occupy! Any rational creature will! So a rational animal isas nearly impossible as any creature can be. It's true that we'vehappened, but--another rational race? Oh, no!"
Murgatroyd said:
"_Chee!_"
The city's towers loomed higher and taller above the horizon. Then,abruptly, the fast-moving cavalcade came to the edge of the city andplunged into it.
It was not a normal city. The buildings were not eccentric. Allplanets, but very new ones, show local architectural peculiarities, soit was not odd to see all windows topped by triple arches, or quiteuseless pilasters in the brick walls of apartment buildings. Thesewould have made the city seem only individual. But it was not normal.The streets were not clean. Two windows in three had been smashed. Inplaced Calhoun saw doors that had been broken in and splintered, andnever repaired. That implied violence unrestrained. The streets werealmost empty. Occasional figures might be seen on the sidewalks beforethe speeding ground cars, but the vehicles never passed them.Pedestrians turned corners or dodged into doorways before thecavalcade could overtake them.
The buildings grew taller. The street level remained empty of humans,but now and again, many stories up, heads peered out of windows. Thenhigh-pitched yellings came from aloft. It was not possible to tellwhether they were yells of defiance or derision or despair, but theywere directed at the racing cars.
Calhoun looked quickly at the faces of the men around him. TheMinister for Health looked at once heartbroken and embittered. Thehead of the planetary police stared grimly ahead. Screechings andhowlings echoed and re-echoed between the building walls. Objectsbegan to fall from the windows: bottles, pots and pans. Chairs andstools twirled and spun, hurtling downward. Everything that was looseand could be thrown from a window came down, flung by the occupants ofthose high dwellings. With them came outcries which were assuredlycursings.
It occurred to Calhoun that there had been a period in history whenmob-action invariably meant flames. Men burned what they hated andwhat they feared. They also burned religious offerings to diversbloodthirsty deities. It was fortunate, he reflected wryly, that fireswere no longer a matter of common experience, or burning oil andflaming missiles would have been flung down on the ground cars.
"Is this unpopularity yours?" he asked. "Or do I have a share in it?Am I unwelcome to some parts of the population?"
"You're unwelcome to paras," said the police head coldly. "Paras don'twant you here. Whatever drives them is afraid the Med Service mightmake them no longer paras. And they want to stay the way they are."His lips twisted. "They aren't making this uproar, though. We gatheredeverybody we were sure wasn't ... infected into Government Center.These people were left out. We weren't sure about them. So theyconsider we've left them to become paras and they don't like it!"
Calhoun frowned again. This confused everything. There was talk ofinfection, and talk of unseen creatures come out of the jungle, makingmen paras and then controlling them as if by demoniac possession.There were few human vagaries, though, that were not recorded in theMed Service files. Calhoun remembered something, and wanted to besick. It was like an infection, and like possession by devils, too.There would be creatures not much removed from fields involved,anyhow.
"I think," he said, "that I need to talk to your counter-pararesearchers. You have men working on the problem?"
"We did," said the police head, grimly. "But most of them turned para.We thought they'd be more dangerous than other paras, so we shot them.But it did no good. Paras still turn up, in Government Center, too!Now we only send paras out the south gate. They doubtless make out--asparas."
* * * * *
For a time there was silence in the rushing cars, though a bedlam ofhowls and curses came from aloft. Then a sudden shrieking of foreseentriumph came from overhead. A huge piece of furniture, a couch, seemedcertain to crash into the car in which Calhoun rode. But it swervedsharply, ran up on the sidewalk, and the couch dashed itself tosplinters where the car should have been. The car went down to thepavement once more and rushed on.
The street ended. A high barrier of masonry rose up at a cross street.It closed the highway and connected the walls of apartment buildingson either hand. There was a gate in it, and the leading car drew offto one side and the car carrying Calhoun and Murgatroyd ran through,and there was a second barrier ahead, but this was closed. The othercars filed in after it, Calhoun saw that windows in these apartmentbuildings had been bricked up. They made a many-storied wall shuttingoff all that was beyond them.
Men from the barrier went from car to car of the escort, checking menwho had been the escort for Calhoun. The Minister for Health saidjerkily:
"Everybody in Government Center is examined at least once each day tosee if they're turning para or not. Those showing symptoms are turnedout the south gate. Everybody, myself included, has to have a freshcertificate every twenty-four hours."
The inner gate swung wide. The car carrying Calhoun went through. Thebuildings about them ended. They were in a huge open space that mustonce have been a park in the center of the city. There were structureswhich could not possibly be other than government buildings. But thepopulation of this world was small. They were not grandiose. Therewere walkways and some temporary buildings obviously thrown hastilytogether to house a sudden influx of people.
And here there were many people. There was bright sunshine, andchildren played and women watched them. There were some--not many--menin sight, but most of them were elderly. All the young ones wereuniformed and hastily going here or there. And though the childrenplayed gaily, there were few smiles to be seen on adult faces.
"I take it," said Calhoun, "that this is Government Center, where youcollected everybody in the city you were sure was normal. But theydon't all stay normal. And you consider that it isn't exactly aninfection but the result of something that's done to themby--Something."
"Many of our doctors thought so," said the Minister for Health. "Butthey've turned para. Maybe the ... Things got at them because theywere close to the truth."
His head sank forward on his chest. The police head said briefly:
"When you want to go back to your ship, say so and we'll take you. Ifyou can't do
anything for us, you'll warn other planets not to sendships here."
The ground car braked before one of those square, unornamentedbuildings which are laboratories everywhere in the galaxy. TheMinister for Health got out. Calhoun followed him, Murgatroyd ridingon his shoulder. The ground car went away and Calhoun followed intothe building.
* * * * *
There was a sentry by the door, and an officer of the police. Heexamined the Minister's one-day certificate of health. After variousvision-phone calls, he passed Calhoun and Murgatroyd. They went ashort distance and another sentry stopped them. A little farther, andanother sentry.
"Tight security," said Calhoun.
"They know me," said the Minister heavily, "but they are checking