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XV Decision
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 Two days was never enough time for a miracle. Doc decided1 as he packed his notes into a small bag and put it beside his bundle of personal belongings2. He glanced around the room for the last time, and managed a grin at Jake's gloomy expression.
 
"Maybe I can bluff3 them, or maybe they'll string along for a while," he said. "Anyhow, now that they've agreed to take me and my notes in place of the cure we're fresh out of, I've got to be on that shuttle when it goes back to their men at orbital station."
 
Jake nodded. "I don't like selling friends down the river, Doc. But it wouldn't do you any more good to blow up with the planet, I reckon. They won't call off the war rockets when they do get you, of course. But maybe they won't use them, except as a threat to put the Lobbies back in, stronger than ever."
 
He stuck out one of his awkwardly shaped hands, clapped the aspirator over his face and hurried out. Doc picked up his bags and went toward the little tractor where Lou was waiting to drive him and Chris back toward Southport and the shuttle rocket that would be landing for them. They hadn't mentioned Chris in their demands, but her father must expect her to return.
 
After they had him, he'd be on his own. His best course was probably to insist on talking only to Ryan at Medical Lobby, and then being completely honest.[Pg 114] The room here would be kept sealed, in case the Lobby wanted to investigate where he had failed. And his notes were honest, which was something that could usually be determined4. Chris could testify to that, anyhow, since she'd kept a lot of them for him.
 
At best, there would be a chance for some compromise and perhaps some clue for them that might eventually end the plague. They had enough men to work on it, and billions in equipment. At worst, he should gain a little time.
 
"Cheer up, Chris," he told her as he climbed through the little airlock. "Maybe Harkness will turn up the cure before our negotiations5 break down. He has the whole of Northport Hospital to play with. They haven't tried to chase him out of there yet. After all, we almost found something with no equipment except wild imaginations."
 
She shook her head as the tractor began moving. "Shut up! I've got enough trouble without your coming down with logorrhea. Don't be a fool."
 
"Why change now?" he asked her. "Everything I've done has been because I am a fool. I guess my luck lasted longer than I could expect. And I'm still fool enough to think that the solution has to turn up eventually. We know it has to be in that room. Damn it, we must know it—if we could only think straight now."
 
She reached over and touched his hand, but made no comment. They had been over that statement of desperation too many times already. But it kept nagging6 at him—something in the room, something in the room! Something so common that nobody noticed it!
 
They passed a crowd chasing down a runner. Something in that room could have saved the unlucky man. It could have saved Mars, perhaps.[Pg 115]
 
He growled7 for the hundredth time, cursing his fatigue-numbed mind. Too little sleep, too much coffee and bracky....
 
He reached for the package of weed, realizing that he would miss it on Earth, if he ever got there. Like everything here on the planet, he'd begun by detesting8 it and wound up finding it the thing he wanted to keep forever. He lighted the bracky and sat smoking, watching Lou drive. When the first was finished, he lighted another from the butt9.
 
She put out a hand and took it away. "Please, Dan. I can stand the stuff, but I'll never like it, and the tractor's stuffy10 enough already. I've taken enough of it. And it keeps reminding me of our test—the three of you stinking11 up the place, puffing12 and blowing that out, while I couldn't even get a breath of air...."
 
She was getting logorrhea herself now and—
 
The answer finally hit him! He jerked around, making a grab for Lou's shoulder, motioning for the man to head back.
 
"Bracky—it has to be! Chris, that's it. Jake picked out the second group of men from his friends—and they are all cronies because they hang around so much in their so-called smoking room. The first time, it killed the bugs13 for all of us who smoked—and it didn't work for you because you never learned the habit."
 
Lou had the tractor turned and the rheostat all the way to the floor.
 
She was sitting up now, but she wasn't fully14 satisfied. "The percentage of immunes seems about right. But why do some of the smokers15 get the disease while some don't?"
 
"Why not? It depends on whether they pick up the habit before or after the disease gets started. Tom must[Pg 116] have got his while he was in Northport. They wouldn't let him smoke there—if he had the habit before, for that matter."
 
She found no fault with that. He twisted it back and forth16 in his mind, trying to find a fault. There seemed to be none. The only trouble was that they couldn't send a message that bracky was the cure and hope that Earth would prove it true. No polite note of apology would do after that. They had to be sure. Too many other ideas had proved wrong already.
 
Jake saw them coming and came running toward the laboratory, but Lou stopped the tractor before it reached the building and let the older man in.
 
"Get me a dozen men who have the plague. I want the worst cases you have, and ones that Harkness tested himself," Doc ordered. "And then start praying that the cure we've got works fast."
 
Chris was at the electron mike at once, but one of her hands reached out for the weed. She began puffing valiantly17, making sick faces. Now other men began coming in, their faces struggling to find hope, but not daring to believe yet. Jake followed them.
 
"We'll test at ten-minute intervals18. That will be about two hours for the last from the group," Doc decided. One of the doctors Harkness had brought to the villages was busy cutting tiny sections from the lumps on the men's necks, while Chris ran them through the microscope to make sure the bugs were still alive. The regular optical mike was strong enough for that.
 
Doc handed each man a bracky weed, with instructions to keep smoking, no matter how sick it made him.
 
There were no results at the end of ten minutes when the first test was made. The second, at the end of twenty minutes, was still infected with live bugs. At[Pg 117] the half-hour, Chris frowned.
 
"I can't be sure—take a look, Dan."
 
He bent19 over, moving the slide to examine another spot. "I think so. The next one should tell."
 
There was no doubt about the fourth test. The bugs were dead, without a single exception that they could find.
 
One by one, the men were tested and went storming out, shouting the news. For a minute, the gathering20 crowd was skeptical21, remembering the other failures. Then, abruptly22, men were screaming, crying and fighting for the precious bracky, like the legions of the damned grabbing for lottery23 tickets when the prize was a passport to paradise.
 
Jake swore as he moved toward the door. "We're low on bracky here. Have to get a supply from Edison, I guess, and cart it to the shuttle. Enough for a sample, and to make them want more. It'll be tough, but we'll get it there in time—by the time the shuttle should be picking you up. Doc, you've won our war! From now on, if Earth wants to keep her population up, we'll be a free planet!"
 
Chris turned slowly from the microscope, holding a slide in her hands. "My bugs," she said unbelievingly. "Dan, they're dead!"
 
Jake patted her shoulder. "That makes it perfect, girl. Now come on. We've got to start celebrating a victory!"
 
It was the general feeling of most of the heads of the villages when they met the next day in Southport, using the courtroom that had been presided over so long by Judge Ben Wilson. It was victory, and to the victor belonged the spoils. The bracky had gone out to Earth[Pg 118] on a converted war rocket that could make the trip in less than two weeks, and one packet had been specially24 labeled for Captain Everts. But Earth had already confirmed the cure. The small amounts of the herb found in the botanical collections had been enough to satisfy all doubts.
 
Harkness, Chris and Doc had been fighting against the desire to rob Earth blind that filled most of the men here for hours now. Now they had the backing of Jake and Ben Wilson. And now finally they leaned back, sensing that the argument had been won.
 
Bargaining was all right in its place, but it had no place in affairs of life and death such as this. They had to see that Earth received all the bracky she needed. It was only right to charge a fair price for it, but they couldn't restrict it by withholding25 or overcharging. And they could still gain their ends without blackmail26.
 
Martian alkaloids were tricky27 things, and bracky smoke contained a number of them. It would take Earth at least ten years to discover and synthesize the right one—and it would still probably cost more than it would to import the weed from Mars. As long as the source of that weed was here, and in the hands of the colonials, there would be no danger of Earth's bombing the planet.
 
Harkness got up to underscore a point Wilson had made. "The plague lived a million years, and it won't disappear now. The jumping headache, or Selznick's migraine, is unpleasant enough to make us reasonably sure that there will be a steady consumption of the weed. Our problem will be to keep the children from using too much of it, probably." He pulled a weed out and lighted it, puckering28 his face as the smoke bit his[Pg 119] tongue. "I'm told that this gets to be an enjoyable habit. If I can believe that, surely you can believe me when I say we don't have to bargain with lives."
 
The village men were human, and most of them could remember the strain they had been under when they expected those they loved to die at any hour. It had made them crave29 vengeance30, but now as they had a chance to reexamine it, they began to find it harder to impose the horror of any such threat on others. The final vote was almost unanimous.
 
Doc listened as they wrangled31 over the wording of the message to Earth, feeling disconnected from it. He passed Chris a bracky and lighted it for her. She took it automatically, smiling as the smoke hit her lungs. It was one thing they had in common now, at least.
 
Ben Wilson finally read the message.
 
"To the people of Earth, greetings!
 
"On behalf of the free people of Mars, I have the honor to announce that this planet hereby declares itself a sovereign and independent world. We shall continue to regard Earth as our mother, and to consider the health and welfare of her people in no way second to our own in matters which affect both planets. We trust that Earth will share this feeling of mutual32 friendship. We trust that all strains of hostility33 will be ended. The advantages to each from peaceful commerce make any course other than the most cordial of relations unthinkable.
 
"We shall consider proof of such friendship an order by Earth to all rockets circling this planet that they shall deliver themselves safely into our hands, in order that we may begin converting them to peaceful purposes for the trade that is to come. In turn, we pledge that all efforts will be made to ensure a prompt de[Pg 120]livery of those products most in demand, including the curative bracky plant."
 
He turned to Doc then. "You want to sign it, Dr. Feldman? Make it as acting34 president or something, until we can get around to voting you into permanent office."
 
"You and Jake fight over the job," Doc told him. "No, Ben, I mean it."
 
He got up and moved out into the outer room, where he could avoid the stares of amazement35 that were turned to him. He'd never asked for the honor, and he didn't want it.
 
Chris came with him. Her face was shocked and something was slowly draining out of it as he looked at her.
 
"Forget it, Chris," he said. "You're going back to Earth. There is nothing for you here."
 
She hadn't quite given up. "There could be, Dan. You know that."
 
"No. No, Chris, I don't think there ever can be. You can't find a man strong enough to rule who'll be weak enough to let you rule in his place. It didn't work on Earth, and it won't work here. Forget the dreams you had of what could be done with a new planet. Those are the dreams that made a mess of the old one."
 
"I'll be back," she told him. "Some day I'll be back."
 
He shook his head again. "No. You wouldn't like what you find here. Freedom is heady stuff, but you have to have a taste for it. You can't acquire a fondness for it secondhand. And for a while, there's going to be freedom here. Besides, once you get back to Earth, you'll forget what happened here."
 
She sighed at last. For the first time since he had known her, she seemed to give in completely. And for[Pg 121] that brief moment, he loved what she could have been, but never would be.
 
"All right, Dan," she said quietly. "I can't fight you. I never could, I see now. I'll take the rocket back. What are you going to do?"
 
He hadn't bothered to think, but he knew the answer. "Research. What else?"
 
There would be a lot of research done here. It had been suppressed too long, and had piled up a back-pressure that would have to be relieved. And from that research, he suspected, would come the end of the stable oligarchy36 of Earth. It could never stand against the changes that would be pouring out of Mars.
 
She put her hands on his shoulders and moved forward to kiss him. He bent down to meet her, and found her eyes were wet. Maybe his were, too. Then she broke free.
 
"You're a fool, Dan Feldman," she whispered, and began moving down the hallway and out of the council hall of Mars.
 
Doc Feldman nodded slowly as he let her go. He was a fool. He had always been a fool, and always would be. And that was why he could never take over leadership here. Fools and idealists should never govern a world. It took practical men such as Jake to do that.
 
But the practical men needed the foolish idealists, too. And maybe for a time here on Mars their kind of men and his kind of fools could make one more stab at the ancient puzzle of freedom.
 
Outside the war rockets of Earth began landing quietly on the free soil of Mars.
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
2 belongings oy6zMv     
n.私人物品,私人财物
参考例句:
  • I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
  • Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。
3 bluff ftZzB     
v.虚张声势,用假象骗人;n.虚张声势,欺骗
参考例句:
  • His threats are merely bluff.他的威胁仅仅是虚张声势。
  • John is a deep card.No one can bluff him easily.约翰是个机灵鬼。谁也不容易欺骗他。
4 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
5 negotiations af4b5f3e98e178dd3c4bac64b625ecd0     
协商( negotiation的名词复数 ); 谈判; 完成(难事); 通过
参考例句:
  • negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
  • Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。
6 nagging be0b69d13a0baed63cc899dc05b36d80     
adj.唠叨的,挑剔的;使人不得安宁的v.不断地挑剔或批评(某人)( nag的现在分词 );不断地烦扰或伤害(某人);无休止地抱怨;不断指责
参考例句:
  • Stop nagging—I'll do it as soon as I can. 别唠叨了—我会尽快做的。
  • I've got a nagging pain in my lower back. 我后背下方老是疼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 growled 65a0c9cac661e85023a63631d6dab8a3     
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
参考例句:
  • \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道:“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 detesting b1bf9b63df3fcd4d0c8e4d528e344774     
v.憎恶,嫌恶,痛恨( detest的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • I can't help detesting my relations. 我不由得讨厌我的那些亲戚。 来自辞典例句
  • From to realistic condition detesting and rejecting, then pursue mind abyss strange pleasure. 从对现实状态的厌弃,进而追求心灵深渊的奇诡乐趣。 来自互联网
9 butt uSjyM     
n.笑柄;烟蒂;枪托;臀部;v.用头撞或顶
参考例句:
  • The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
  • He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。
10 stuffy BtZw0     
adj.不透气的,闷热的
参考例句:
  • It's really hot and stuffy in here.这里实在太热太闷了。
  • It was so stuffy in the tent that we could sense the air was heavy with moisture.帐篷里很闷热,我们感到空气都是潮的。
11 stinking ce4f5ad2ff6d2f33a3bab4b80daa5baa     
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
参考例句:
  • I was pushed into a filthy, stinking room. 我被推进一间又脏又臭的屋子里。
  • Those lousy, stinking ships. It was them that destroyed us. 是的!就是那些该死的蠢猪似的臭飞船!是它们毁了我们。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻
12 puffing b3a737211571a681caa80669a39d25d3     
v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 );喷着汽(或烟)移动;吹嘘;吹捧
参考例句:
  • He was puffing hard when he jumped on to the bus. 他跳上公共汽车时喘息不已。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe. 父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 bugs e3255bae220613022d67e26d2e4fa689     
adj.疯狂的,发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 );病菌;虫子;[计算机](制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的)错误
参考例句:
  • All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞,都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
15 smokers d3e72c6ca3bac844ba5aa381bd66edba     
吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
  • Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。
16 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
17 valiantly valiantly     
adv.勇敢地,英勇地;雄赳赳
参考例句:
  • He faced the enemy valiantly, shuned no difficulties and dangers and would not hesitate to lay down his life if need be. 他英勇对敌,不避艰险,赴汤蹈火在所不计。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Murcertach strove valiantly to meet the new order of things. 面对这个新事态,默克塔克英勇奋斗。 来自辞典例句
18 intervals f46c9d8b430e8c86dea610ec56b7cbef     
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息
参考例句:
  • The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴,有阵雨。
  • Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。
19 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
20 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
21 skeptical MxHwn     
adj.怀疑的,多疑的
参考例句:
  • Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
  • Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。
22 abruptly iINyJ     
adv.突然地,出其不意地
参考例句:
  • He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
  • I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。
23 lottery 43MyV     
n.抽彩;碰运气的事,难于算计的事
参考例句:
  • He won no less than £5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
  • They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。
24 specially Hviwq     
adv.特定地;特殊地;明确地
参考例句:
  • They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
  • The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。
25 withholding 7eXzD6     
扣缴税款
参考例句:
  • She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
  • The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。
26 blackmail rRXyl     
n.讹诈,敲诈,勒索,胁迫,恫吓
参考例句:
  • She demanded $1000 blackmail from him.她向他敲诈了1000美元。
  • The journalist used blackmail to make the lawyer give him the documents.记者讹诈那名律师交给他文件。
27 tricky 9fCzyd     
adj.狡猾的,奸诈的;(工作等)棘手的,微妙的
参考例句:
  • I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手,你能帮我吗?
  • He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题,只做了个笼统的表述。
28 puckering 0b75daee4ccf3224413b39d80f0b1fd7     
v.(使某物)起褶子或皱纹( pucker的现在分词 );小褶纹;小褶皱
参考例句:
  • Puckering her lips, she replied, "You really are being silly! 苏小姐努嘴道:“你真不爽气! 来自汉英文学 - 围城
  • Astringent: Mouth-puckering sensation; the result of tannin being present in the wine. 麻辣:由于丹宁在葡萄酒中的作用而使喉间受到强烈刺激的感觉。 来自互联网
29 crave fowzI     
vt.渴望得到,迫切需要,恳求,请求
参考例句:
  • Many young children crave attention.许多小孩子渴望得到关心。
  • You may be craving for some fresh air.你可能很想呼吸呼吸新鲜空气。
30 vengeance wL6zs     
n.报复,报仇,复仇
参考例句:
  • He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
  • For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。
31 wrangled 7723eaaa8cfa9eeab16bb74c4102de17     
v.争吵,争论,口角( wrangle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • They wrangled over what to do next. 他们就接下来该干什么而争吵。 来自辞典例句
  • They wrangled and rowed with other passengers. 他们与其他旅客争辨吵闹。 来自辞典例句
32 mutual eFOxC     
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的
参考例句:
  • We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
  • Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。
33 hostility hdyzQ     
n.敌对,敌意;抵制[pl.]交战,战争
参考例句:
  • There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
  • His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。
34 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
35 amazement 7zlzBK     
n.惊奇,惊讶
参考例句:
  • All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
  • He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。
36 oligarchy 4Ibx2     
n.寡头政治
参考例句:
  • The only secure basis for oligarchy is collectivism.寡头政体的唯一可靠基础是集体主义。
  • Insecure and fearful of its own people,the oligarchy preserves itself through tyranny.由于担心和害怕自己的人民,统治集团只能靠实行暴政来维护其统治。


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