Cameron stared at her and saw shudderingly3 that it was. "You need a session with the psycho-computer," he said. "When we get back, that's the first thing we do. Can't you understand...."
"Be quiet," growled4 Jordan. "Now, Anti, explain what you've rigged up."
"Any kind of pressure is good enough as far as the outside of the body is concerned," answered Anti, flipping5 back the helmet. "Mechanical pressure will do as well as air pressure. I had Nona cut the spacesuits into strips and wind them around me—hard. Then I found a helmet that would fit over my head when the damaged part was cut away. It won't hold much air pressure, even taped very tight to my skin. But as long as it's pure oxygen—"
"It might be satisfactory," admitted Docchi. "But the temperature?"
"Do you think I'm going to worry about cold?" asked Anti. "Me? Way down below all this flesh?"
"Listen to me," said Cameron through his teeth. "You've already seriously threatened my career with all this childish nonsense. I won't permit you to ruin it altogether by a deliberate suicide."
"You and your stinking6 career," retorted Jordan tiredly. "We're not asking your permission to do anything." He turned away from the doctor. "You understand the risk, Anti? It's possible that it won't work at all."
"I've thought about it," Anti replied soberly. "On the other hand, I've thought about the asteroid7."
"All right," said Jordan. Docchi nodded. Nona bobbed her head; it was doubtful that she knew what she was agreeing to.
"Let's have some telecom viewers outside," said Docchi. "One directly in back, one on each side. We've got to know what's happening."
Jordan went to the control panel and flipped8 levers. "They're out and working," he said, gazing at the screen. "Now, Anti, go to the freight lock. Close your helmet and wait. I'll let the air out slowly. The pressure change will be gradual. If anything seems wrong, let me know over the helmet radio and I'll yank you in immediately. Once you're outside I'll give you further instructions. Tools and equipment are in a compartment that opens into space."
Anti waddled9 away.
Jordan looked down at his legless body. "I suppose we have to be realistic about it—"
"We do," answered Docchi. "Anti is the only one of us who has a chance of doing the job and surviving."
Jordan adjusted a dial. "It was Cameron who was responsible for it. If Anti doesn't come back, you can be damn sure he'll join her."
"No threats, please," said Docchi. "When are you going to let her out?"
"She's out," said Jordan. Deliberately10, he had diverted their attention while he had taken the burden of emotional strain.
Docchi glanced hastily at the telecom. Anti was hanging free in space, wrapped and strapped11 in strips torn from the useless spacesuits—that, and more flesh than any human had ever borne. The helmet sat jauntily12 on her head; the oxygen cylinder13 was strapped to her back. She was still intact.
"How is she?" he asked anxiously, unaware14 that the microphone was open.
"Fine," came Anti's reply, faint and ready. "The air's thin, but it's pure oxygen."
"Cold?" asked Docchi.
"It hasn't penetrated15 yet. No worse than the acid, at any rate. What do I do?"
Jordan gave her directions. The others watched. It was work to find the tools and examine the tubes for defectives16, to loosen the tubes in the sockets17 and pull them out and push them spinning into space. It was still harder to replace them, though there was no gravity and Anti was held to the hull18 by magneslippers.
But it seemed more than work. To Cameron, who was watching, an odd thought occurred: In her remote past, of which he knew nothing, Anti had done something like this before. Ridiculous, of course. Yet there was a rhythm to her motions, this shapeless giant creature whose bones would break with her weight if she tried to stand at even only half Earth gravity. Rhythm, a sense of purpose, a strange pattern, an incredible gargantuan19 grace.
The whale plowing20 the waves is graceful21; it cannot be otherwise in its natural habitat. The human race had produced, accidentally, one unlikely person to whom interplanetary space was not an alien thing. Anti was at last in her element.
"Now," said Jordan, keeping the tension out of his voice, "go back to the outside tool compartment. You'll find a lever. Pull. That will set the combustion22 cap in place."
"Done," said Anti, some minutes later.
"That's all. You can come in now."
"That's all? But I'm not cold. It hasn't reached any nerves yet."
"Come in," repeated Jordan, showing the anger of alarm.
She walked slowly over the hull to the cargo23 lock and, while she did, Jordan reeled in the telecom viewers. The lock was no sooner closed to the outside and the air hissing24 into the compartment than Jordan was there, opening the inner lock.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
She flipped back the helmet. There was frost on her eyebrows25 and her nose was a bright red. "Of course. My hands aren't a bit cold." She stripped off the heated gloves and waggled her fingers.
"It can't be!" protested Cameron. "You should be frozen stiff!"
"Why?" asked Anti, laughing. "It's a matter of insulation26 and I have plenty of that."
Cameron turned to Docchi. "When I was a kid, I saw a film of a dancer. She did a ballet, Life of the Cold Planets, I believe it was called. For some cockeyed reason, I thought of it when Anti was out there. I hadn't thought of it in years."
He rubbed his hand fretfully over his forehead. "It fascinated me when I first saw it. I couldn't get it out of my mind. When I grew older, I found out a tragic27 thing happened to the dancer. She was on a tour of Venus and the ship she was in disappeared. They sent out searching parties, of course. They found her after she had spent a week on a fungus28 plain. You know what that meant. The great ballerina was a living spore29 culture medium."
"Shut up," growled Jordan.
Cameron didn't seem to hear. "Naturally, she died. I can't remember her name, but I've always remembered the ballet she did. And that's funny, because it reminded me of Anti out there—"
A fist exploded in his face. If there had been more behind the blow than shoulders and a fragment of a body, his jaw30 would have been broken. As it was he floated through the air and crashed against the wall.
Angrily, he got to his feet. "I gave my word I wouldn't cause any trouble. The agreement evidently doesn't work both ways." He glanced significantly at the weapon Jordan carried. "Maybe you'd better be sure to have that around at all times."
"I told you to shut up," said Jordan. After that he ignored the doctor. He didn't have a body with which to do it, but somehow Jordan managed a bow. "A flawless performance. One of your very best, Antoinette."
"Do you think so?" sighed Anti. The frost had melted from her eyebrows and was trickling31 down her cheek. She left with Jordan.
Cameron remained behind. He felt his jaw. It was too bad about his ambitions. He knew now that he was never going to be the spectacular success he had once imagined. Not after these accidentals had escaped from Handicap Haven32. Still, he would always be able to practice medicine somewhere in the Solar System. He'd done his best on the asteroid and this ship, and he'd been a complete ass33 both times.
The ballerina hadn't really died, as he had been told. It would have been better for her if she had. He succeeded in recalling her name. It had been Antoinette.
Now it was Anti. He could have found that out by checking her case history—if Handicap Haven had one on file. Probably not, he comforted himself. Why keep case histories of hopeless cases?
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1
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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shudderingly
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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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flipping
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| 讨厌之极的 | |
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stinking
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| adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透 | |
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asteroid
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| n.小行星；海盘车(动物) | |
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flipped
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| 轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥 | |
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waddled
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| v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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12
jauntily
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| adv.心满意足地；洋洋得意地；高兴地；活泼地 | |
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cylinder
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| n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸 | |
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unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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defectives
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| 次品 | |
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sockets
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| n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴 | |
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hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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gargantuan
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| adj.巨大的，庞大的 | |
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plowing
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| v.耕( plow的现在分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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combustion
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| n.燃烧；氧化；骚动 | |
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cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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25
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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26
insulation
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| n.隔离；绝缘；隔热 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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fungus
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| n.真菌，真菌类植物 | |
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spore
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| n.(无花植物借以繁殖的)孢子，芽胞 | |
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30
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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31
trickling
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| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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32
haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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