Category Phoenix

by Boyd Ellanby

Leader and thought hisown life a small price to pay for such a pleasure.

  Lanza coughed. "I'm afraid Dr. Wong is not well, Leader. Worrying overthe slowness of his work has distorted his reactions. But I am sure thatyou will understand, as you always do, and be indulgent."

  "I'll overlook your remarks, Wong," said Marley, relaxing. "But you'dbetter change your attitude. You Research people cause me more troublethan any other three Categories put together. Sometimes I wonder if aspell in the granite quarries mightn't--"

  A light flashed on his desk. He watched the blinking code for a second,then rose abruptly and left the room.

  The two men sat in silence. David glanced at Lanza, and Lanza shifted inhis chair.

  "Thanks for the good word," said David wearily. "How do you like being aRuler, by the way? When we were at Medschool together, I thought youwere a man with ideas."

  "When I was at Medschool I didn't know what was good for me," Lanzareplied stiffly.

  "And you think you do now?"

  A slow flush crept over Lanza's face. "Look here, Wong! Each man has tomake his own terms with himself. Don't act so smug! You shut yourselfaway inside the nice white walls of your laboratory and ignore all theconflicts of life. You shut your ears and your eyes, live in perfectharmony with your test tubes, and let the world go hang. Well, thatisn't my way."

  "Your way, apparently, is to worm yourself into the confidence of thatsteel-hearted imbecile who rules our lives and our thoughts, and spendtwenty-four hours a day saying, 'Yes, Yes,' and waiting for him to dieso you can step into his shoes!"

  "We're alone," said Lanza. "I won't report you. But I have no intentionof justifying myself. Have you any idea why you've been let alone for solong? You haven't produced anything tangible in several years. Haven'tyou ever wondered why no one put on the pressure? Haven't--"

  He broke off as Marley lumbered back into the room and fell into achair. The Leader's manner had altered. He stared at David with griminquiry, the beady eyes traveling slowly over him, taking in his rumpledhair, his strained face, the rigid set of his shoulders.

  At last Marley spoke, his voice soft with menace.

  "You're looking well, Dr. Wong. Remarkably well. In fact, it occurs tome that you don't seem to have aged a bit since my last visit to yourlaboratory. Tell me, how do you keep your youth?"

  * * * * *

  David could feel the rush of blood through his body, feel the thud ofhis racing heart. He kept his voice low so that it would not tremble.

  "Thank you, Leader Marley, for your kindness in noticing my appearance.I suppose I chose my parents well. They both lived to be over ninety,you know."

  "This is no joking matter. I've just had a report. An epidemic of BlueMartian fever has broken out among the people of your Institute. Whyhave you not mentioned it?"

  "If you will forgive me, Leader Marley, I've had no chance. I reportedit in the usual manner to the health authorities, and have here in mybriefcase a memorandum which I hoped to bring to your attention, amongseveral other matters, when you had finished giving your instructions tome."

  Marley continued implacably, "And how did this epidemic begin? It was myunderstanding that no insect existed here on Earth that could transmitthe virus. Yet several people from your lab came down with the diseaseon the same day. What is your explanation?"

  "It's very simple. To prepare the vaccine, as I am sure you willremember from your last visit to us, we have to keep in the lab alimited number of the _Fafli_, the Martian insects which act as hosts atone stage of the virus's life. Last week a Menial carelessly knockedover one of the cages and several _Fafli_ escaped. The Menial wasdischarged, of course, and put in Punishment, but the damage had alreadybeen done."

  "You have a very ready explanation."

  "Would you rather I had none at all, Leader Marley?"

  "Well, let that go." Marley drummed his plump fingers on the desk as hecontinued. "There was another report for me just now. A report so wild,so incredible, so staggering that I can scarcely bring myself to take itseriously. From an Office Category at the Institute."

  David's heart beat wildly, but he forced a smile to his lips. "Oh, yes.You must mean Miss Hachovnik. I've been worried about that poor girl forsome time."

  "What do you mean, 'poor girl'?"

  "It's very distressing to me, because she has been a good and loyalworker for many years. But she is becoming unstable. She has a tendencyto burst into tears over nothing, is sometimes hysterical, seems to havesecret grievances, and is extremely jealous of all women whom sheconsiders more attractive. She was never too bright, to be sure, butuntil recently she has done her work well, so I've hated to take anyaction. Just this morning I had to send her home because she was ill."

  "Do you mean to say," asked Marley, "that none of her story is true?"

  "I don't know. What is her story?"

  "She reports that you have been working on a private project of yourown, instead of on White Martian. That you have discovered a way to makepeople immortal, by infecting them with Blue Martian. What is yourexplanation?"

  David only stared, his mind so blurred with panic that he could notspeak. His stunned silence was broken by a laugh. It was Dr. Lanza,leaning backward in his chair, holding himself over the stomach as heshook his head.

  "These hysterical women!" His laughter trailed off to a commiseratingchuckle. "You're too forbearing, Wong. You shouldn't keep a worker who'sso far gone. Take a leaf from Leader Marley's book and remember:Kindness is often weakness; when it is necessary for the good of theState, be harsh!"

  "I hardly know what to say," said David. "I had no idea she'd gone sofar."

  "Then there's no truth in it?" Marley persisted. "What she says isimpossible?"

  "Well," said David judiciously, "we people in Research have learned notto call anything _impossible_, but this dream of immortality is as oldas the human race. We have a thousand legends about it, including thestory of the Phoenix, that fabulous bird which, when consumed by fire,rose triumphant from its own ashes to begin life anew. A pretty story,of course. But I need only put it to a mind as logical as yours, LeaderMarley. Throughout all the millenia of man's existence, the Sun hasalways risen each morning in the east, and thus we know that it alwayswill. That is the order of nature. Likewise, from the earliestgenerations of man, no individual has ever lived longer than a hundredand some years, and thus we know that he never will. That is the orderof Nature and we can't alter it to the best of my knowledge."

  Leader Marley was thoughtful. He touched the intercom.

  "Send in Officer Magnun."

  David held his breath.

  "Magnun, Office Category Hachovnik is to be taken from her home at onceand put in indefinite Psycho-detention."

  Marley stood up. "Very well, Dr. Wong. You may go. But I shall suspendyour privilege of Privacy, at least until after you have devised aprotection against White Martian. It is not wise to disregard the wishesof the Leader. Lanza, show him out."

  At the street door, they paused. Lanza looked at David speculatively.

  "You _do_ keep your youth well, David."

  "Some people do."

  "I remember that legend of the Phoenix. What do you suppose the Phoenixdid with his new life, once he'd risen from the ashes of his old self?"

  "I'm no philosopher."

  "Neither am I. But you and I both know that the principle of inductionwas exploded centuries ago. It's true that the Sun _has_ always risen inthe east. But is there anything to keep it, someday, from rising in thewest?"

  * * * * *

  That night David sat late at his desk. Through the open door behind him,he could hear the watchguard slowly pacing the dimly lit corridor. Hecould feel time pressing at his back. He was reprieved, he knew, but forhow long?

  He got up, at one point, when the corridor behind him was quiet, andwent to the bookcase. He pressed the brass handle, saw the shelvessilently swing away from the wall, then set it bac
k again. Themechanism, installed a century ago by a cautious politician, was stillin good order.

  Back at his desk, he thought of Leah and her lost youth, lost because ofhis own impersonal attitude. He felt sorry for her, but there wasnothing he could do for her now. It was a relief to know that Tanya, atleast, remained hidden and secure in her sister's apartment.

  It was after midnight before he closed his notebook and locked it awayin the top drawer. His plans were completed. There would not be timegiven him, he knew, to finish his work on White Martian. That would haveto be dropped, and resumed at some