Part 49 (1/2)

”Most of this stuff looks inorganic to me,” Jenny said, ”but of course it can't be.”

Bryce said, ”Yeah. We know all too well how alive it is.”

”I do see cells here and there,” Jenny said. ”Not many; a few.”

”A few in this sample, too,” Sara said. ”But each cell appears to exist independently of the others.”

”They're widely separated, all right,” Jenny said. ”They're just sort of swimming in a sea of undifferentiated matter.”

”Very flexible cell walls,” Sara said. ”A trifurcated nucleus. That's odd. And it occupies about half the interior cell s.p.a.ce.”

”What's that mean?” Bryce asked. ”Is it important?”

”I don't know if it's important or not,” Sara said, leaning away from the microscope and scowling. ”I just don't know what to make of it.”

On all three computer screens, a question flashed up: DID YOU NOT EXPECT THE FLESH OF SATAN TO BE MYSTERIOUS?

The shape-changer had sent them a mouse-size sample of its flesh, but thus far not all of it had been needed for the various tests. Half remained in a petri dish on the counter.

It quivered gelatinously.

It became a spider again and circled the dish restlessly.

It became a c.o.c.kroach and darted back and forth for a while.

It became a slug.

A cricket.

A green beetle with a lacy red pattern on its sh.e.l.l.

Bryce and Dr. Flyte were seated in front of the microscopes now, while Lisa and Tal waited their turn.

Jenny and Sara stood in front of a VDT, where a computer-enhanced representation of an electron microscope autoscan was underway. Sara had directed the system to zero in and fix upon the nucleus in one of the shape-changer's widely scattered cells.

”Any ideas?” Jenny asked.

Sara nodded but didn't look away from the screen. ”At this point, I can only make an educated guess. But I'd say the undifferentiated matter, which is clearly the bulk of the creature, is the stuff that can imprint any cell structure it wants; it's the tissue that mimics. It can form itself into dog cells, rabbit cells, human cells... But when the creature is at rest, that tissue has no cellular structure of its own. As for the few scattered cells we see ... well, they must somehow control the amorphous tissue. The cells give the orders; they produce enzymes or chemical signals which tell the unstructured tissue what it should become.”

”So those scattered cells would remain unchanged at all times, regardless of what form the creature took.”

”Yes. So it would seem. If the shape-changer became a dog, for instance, and if we took a sample of the dog's tissue, we'd see dog cells. But here and there, spread throughout the sample, we'd come across these flexible cells with their trifurcated nuclei, and we'd have proof that it wasn't really a dog at all.”

”So does this tell us anything that'll help us save ourselves?” Jenny asked.

”Not that I can see.”

In the petri dish, the sc.r.a.p of amorphous flesh had a.s.sumed the ident.i.ty of a spider once again. Then the spider dissolved, and there were dozens of tiny ants, swarming across the floor of the dish and across one another. The ants rejoined to form a single creature-a worm. The worm wriggled for a moment and became a very large sow bug. The sow bug became a beetle. The pace of the changes seemed to be speeding up.

”What about a brain?” Jenny wondered aloud.

Sara said, ”What do you mean?”

”The thing must have a center of intellect. Surely, its memory, knowledge, reasoning abilities aren't stored in those scattered cells.”

”You're probably right,” Sara said. ”Somewhere in the creature, there's most likely an organ that's a.n.a.logous to the human brain. Not the same as our brain, of course. Very, very different. But with similar functions. It probably controls the cells we've seen, and they in turn control the formless protoplasm.”

With growing excitement, Jenny said, ”The brain cells would have at least one important thing in common with the scattered cells in the amorphous tissue: They would never change form themselves.”

”That's most likely true. It's hard to imagine how memory, logical function, and intelligence could be stored in any tissue that didn't have a relatively rigid, permanent cell structure.”

”So the brain would be vulnerable,” Jenny said.

Hope crept into Sara's eyes.

Jenny said, ”If the brain's not amorphous tissue, then it can't repair itself when it's damaged. Punch a hole in it, and the hole will stay there. The brain will be permanently damaged. If it's damaged extensively enough, it won't be able to control the amorphous tissue that forms its body, and the body will die, too.”

Sara stared at her. ”Jenny, I think maybe you've got something.”

Bryce said, ”If we could locate the brain and fire a few shots into it, we'd stop the thing. But how do we locate it? Something tells me the shape-changer keeps its brain well protected, hidden far away from us, underground.”

Jenny's excitement faded. Bryce was right. The brain might be its weak spot, but they'd have no opportunity to test that theory.

Sara pored over the results of the mineral and chemical a.n.a.lyses of the tissue sample.

”An extremely varied list of hydrocarbons,” she said. ”And some of them are more than trace elements. A very high hydrocarbon content.”

”Carbons are a basic element of all living tissue,” Jenny said. ”What's different about this?”

”Degree,” Sara said. ”There's such an abundance of carbon in such various forms...”

”Does that help us somehow?”

”I don't know,” Sara said thoughtfully. She riffled through the print-out, looking at the rest of the data.

Sow bug.

Gra.s.shopper.

Caterpillar.

Beetle. Ants. Caterpillar. Sow bug.

Spider, earwig, c.o.c.kroach, centipede, spider.

Beetle-worm-spider-snail-earwig.

Lisa stared at the lump of tissue in the petri dish. It was going through a rapid series of changes, much faster than before, faster and faster by the minute.

Something was wrong.