mycertificate that as of morning I wasn't a para."
"I've seen quarantines before," said Calhoun, "but never one likethis! Not against disease!"
"It isn't against disease," said the Minister, thinly. "It's againstSomething intelligent ... from the jungle ... who chooses victims byreason for its own purposes."
Calhoun said very carefully:
"I won't deny more than the jungle."
Here the Minister for Health rapped on a door and ushered Calhounthrough it. They entered a huge room filled with the complex of desks,cameras, and observing and recording instruments that the study of aliving organism requires. The setup for study of dead things is quitedifferent. Here, halfway down the room's length, there was a massivesheet of glass that divided the apartment into two. On the far side ofthe glass there was, obviously, an aseptic environment room now beingused as an isolation chamber.
A man paced up and down beyond the glass. Calhoun knew he must be apara because he was cut off in idea and in fact from normal humanity.The air supplied to him could be heated almost white-hot and thenchilled before being introduced into the aseptic chamber for him tobreath, if such a thing was desired. Or the air removed could be madeincandescent so no possible germ or its spores could get out. Wastesremoved would be destroyed by passage through a carbon arc afterinnumerable previous sterilizing processes. In such rooms, centuriesbefore, plants had been grown from antiseptic-soaked seeds and chickshatched from germ-free eggs, and even small animals delivered byaseptic Caesarean section to live in an environment in which there wasno living microorganism. From rooms like this men had first learnedthat some types of bacteria outside the human body were essential tohuman health. But this man was not a volunteer for such research.
He paced up and down, his hands clenching and unclenching. WhenCalhoun and the Minister for Health entered the outer room, he glaredat them. He cursed them, though inaudibly because of the sheet ofglass. He hated them hideously because they were not as he was;because they were not imprisoned behind thick glass walls throughwhich his every action and almost his every thought could be watched.But there was more to his hatred than that. In the midst of fury sogreat that his face seemed almost purple, he suddenly yawneduncontrollably.
Calhoun blinked and stared. The man behind the glass wall yawned againand again. He was helpless to stop it. If such a thing could be, hewas in a paroxysm of yawning, though his eyes glared and he beat hisfists together. The muscles controlling the act of yawning workedindependently of the rage that should have made yawning impossible.And he was ashamed, and he was infuriated, and he yawned moreviolently than seemed possible.
"A man's been known to dislocate his jaw, yawning like that," saidCalhoun detachedly.
A bland voice spoke behind him.
"But if this man's jaw is dislocated, no one can help him. He is apara. We cannot join him."
* * * * *
Calhoun turned. He found himself regarded with unctuous condescensionby a man wearing glittering thick eyeglasses--and a man's eyes have tobe very bad if he can't wear contacts--and a uniform with a caduceusat his collar. He was plump. He was beaming. He was the only manCalhoun had so far seen on this planet whose expression was neitherdespair nor baffled hate and fury.
"You are Med Service," the beaming man observed zestfully. "Of theInterstellar Medical Service, to which all problems of public healthmay be referred! But here we have a real problem for you! A contagiousmadness! A transmissible delusion! An epidemic of insanity! A plagueof the unspeakable!"
The Minister for Health said uneasily:
"This is Dr. Lett. He was the greatest of our physicians. Now he isnearly the last."
"Agreed," said the bland man, as zestfully as before. "But now theInterstellar Medical Service sends someone before whom I should bow!Someone whose knowledge and experience and training is so infinitelygreater than mine that I become abashed! I am timid! I am hesitant tooffer an opinion before a Med Service man!"
It was not unprecedented for an eminent doctor to resent the impliedexistence of greater skill or knowledge than his own. But this manwas not only resentful. He was derisive.
"I came here," said Calhoun politely, "on what I expected to be astrictly routine visit. But I'm told there's a very grave publichealth situation here. I'd like to offer any help I can give."
"Grave!" Dr. Lett laughed scornfully. "It is hopeless for poorplanetary doctors like myself! But not, of course, for a Med Shipman!"
Calhoun shook his head. This man would not be easy to deal with. Tactwas called for. But the situation was appalling.
"I have a question," said Calhoun ruefully. "I'm told that paras aremadmen, and there's been mention of suspicion and secretiveness whichsuggests schizo-paranoia and--so I have guessed--the term para forthose affected in this way."
"It is not any form of paranoia," said the planetary doctor,contemptuously. "Paranoia involves suspicion of everyone. Parasdespise and suspect only normals. Paranoia involves a sensation ofgrandeur, not to be shared. Paras are friends and companions to eachother. They co-operate delightedly in attempting to make normals likethemselves. A paranoiac would not want anyone to share his greatness!"
Calhoun considered, and then agreed.
"Since you've said it, I see that it must be so. But my questionremains. Madness involves delusions. But paras organize themselves.They make plans and take different parts in them. They act rationallyfor purposes they agree on--such as assassinating me. But how can theyact rationally if they have delusions? What sort of delusions do theyhave?"
The Minister for Health said thinly:
"Only what horrors out of the jungles might suggest! I ... I cannotlisten, Dr. Lett. I cannot watch, if you intend to demonstrate!"
The man with thick glasses waved an arm. The Minister for Health wenthastily out. Dr. Lett made a mirthless sound.
"He would not make a medical man! Here is a para in this aseptic room.He is an unusually good specimen for study. He was my assistant and Iknew him when he was sane. Now I know him as a para. I will show youhis delusion."
He went to a small culture oven and opened the door. He busied himselfwith something inside. Over his shoulder he said with unction:
"The first settlers here had much trouble establishing a human-useecology on this world. The native plants and animals were useless.They had to be replaced with things compatible with humans. Then therewas more trouble. There were no useful scavengers--and scavengers areessential! The rat is usually dependable, but rats do not thrive onTallien. Vultures--no. Of course not. Carrion beetles ... Scarabeusbeetles ... The flies that produce maggots to do such good work inrefuse disposal.... None thrive on Tallien Three! And scavengers areusually specialists, too. But the colony could not continue withoutscavengers! So our ancestors searched on other worlds, and presentlythey found a creature which would multiply enormously and with a fineversatility upon the wastes of our human cities. True, it smelled likean ancient Earth-animal called skunk--butyl mercaptan. It was notpretty--to most eyes it is revolting. But it was a scavenger and therewas no waste product it would not devour."
Dr. Lett turned from the culture oven. He had a plastic container inhis hand. A faint, disgusting odor spread from it.
"You ask what the delusions of para may be?" he grinned derisively. Heheld out the container. "It is the delusion that this scavenger, thiseater of unclean things, this unspeakable bit of slimy, squirmingflesh--paras have the delusion that it is the most delectable offoodstuffs!"
He thrust the plastic container under Calhoun's nose. Calhoun did notdraw in his breath while it remained there. Dr. Lett said in mockingadmiration:
"Ah! You have the strong stomach a medical man should have! Thedelusion of the para is that these squirming, writhing objects aredelightful! Paras develop an irresistible craving for them! It is asif men on an Earth-like world develop an uncontrollable hunger forvultures and rats and--even less tolerable things. Thesescavengers--paras eat them! So normal men would rather di
e than becomeparas!"
* * * * *
Calhoun gagged in purely instinctive revulsion. The things in theplastic container were gray and small. Had they been still, they mighthave been no worse to look at than raw oysters in a cocktail. But theysquirmed. They writhed.
"I will show you," said Dr. Lett amiably.
He turned to the glass plate which divided the room into halves. Theman behind the thick glass now pressed eagerly against it. He lookedat the container with a horrible, lustful desire. The thick-eyeglassedman clucked at him, as if at a caged animal one wishes to soothe. Theman beyond the glass yawned hysterically. He seemed to whimper. Hecould not take his eyes from the container in the doctor's hands.
"So!"
The Hate Disease Page 5
