Part 9 (1/2)

He was right. I'd seen the way the millipedes had attacked his footgear. It was identical to mine and the millipedes had ignored me. I pulled off my boot and handed it across.

He held it up to the mesh. The millipedes tested it with their antennae, then lost interest in it and wandered away. Ted tried it again on the other side. The millipedes did the same thing.

Ted frowned and held the boot close to his face. He sniffed. Once, twice, a third time, curiously. ”Smells fishy. What'd you step in?”

”Nothing,” I said. Then remembered. ”Uh-eggs.”

”Eggs-? You mean like in chicken, cluck-cluck-cluck?”

”No. I mean like in Chtorran.”

His expression was incredulous. ”You stepped on Chtorran eggs-?”

”It was inside the nest-”

”Inside the nest-? Yipe! I take it all back, Jimmy boy. You're not smart at all. There's a safer way to kill Chtorrans than by walking into their nests and stomping on their eggs. What do you think flamethrowers are for?”

”I didn't mean to step on the eggs. It was an accident.”

”I hope you told that to Mamma Chtorran.”

”Besides, Duke was going to burn them anyway, so I climbed down and saved a few.”

For a moment there was silence.

Then Ted said, ”Do you have them with you?”

I upended the pouch and tumbled them out onto the table. There must have been a dozen, at least.

Ted stared; so did the two other men who still remained. I didn't know their names. The eggs were blood-red and smooth, still moist-looking and slightly translucent. There was something dark inside. Gingerly, Ted picked one up and sniffed it. ”Raw fish, all right.” He held it against the side of the millipede cage. They tested it incuriously, then lost interest. ”Well, that's what saved your life, Jimbo-the fact that you're such a clumsy r.e.t.a.r.d. You must have had egg all over you.”

I thought back. ”You're right. I know I had it up to my knees and all over my arms.” I shuddered at the thought of what might have happened if I hadn't. And that was probably why my three specimens hadn't tried to chew their way out of the sample pouch -the smell of the eggs around them.

”Uh huh-” Ted was holding the egg up to the light.

”See anything?” I asked.

”It says, 'Disregard previous egg.' ” He replaced it on the table. ”I can't tell.”

”You know what these remind me of?” I said. ”Ant eggs.”

”Ant eggs?”

”Uh huh. They have that same kind of almost-translucency. And their sh.e.l.ls are soft too. Look, see how they bounce? What does that suggest?”

”Handball?”

I ignored it. ”It means we can begin to learn something about how they evolved. Birds and reptiles have hard-sh.e.l.led eggs-it's for extra strength and water retention. This might indicate a lower level of development. Insects or amphibians.”

”Worms are a little bit of each?”

”Maybe.” I picked up the egg again. ”On the other hand, maybe the Chtorran atmosphere is humid enough so that moisture retention is not a very important survival factor. And this sh.e.l.l seems to be awfully thick, almost cartilaginous. That might provide the protection the embryo needs, particularly if Chtorr does have a higher gravity than Earth. That's what some of the fellows around here think. It would explain the Chtorrans' extreme strength and mobility.” I frowned and held the egg up to the light. ”I don't know. The shape of an egg and the texture of its sh.e.l.l should tell you things about the conditions it's meant to hatch under-and that should give you clues about the nature of the parent and the offspring. But I don't know how to begin to figure this one out. My brain hurts-there are too many questions. Like, for instance, how come if these millipede things are so incredibly voracious they aren't interested in the eggs?” I pressed the egg to the mesh again. ”It doesn't make sense.”

”Maybe they can tell it's a Chtorran, and they're afraid of it even before it hatches.”

”Sorry, I can't imagine these creatures pa.s.sing up a free meal. There must be something about these eggs that's distasteful.”

Ted blinked. ”Wow! An egg with its own defense mechanism.” He looked up. ”What are you planning to do with them?”

”I was thinking of rigging up an incubator.”

Ted whistled softly. ”Jimmy, I've got to admire your . . . bravado. Or something. You're either the smartest d.a.m.n fool around here-or the dumbest. It's not enough you have to rescue Chtorran eggs from the incinerator; now you want to hatch them. When Duke hears about this, he's going to have a fit.”

I hadn't thought about Duke. ”Why? What's wrong with the idea?”

”Oh, nothing; it's just that the purpose of this Special Forces operation is to kill worms, not breed them.”

”Not entirely,” I insisted. ”You and I were sent up here to study the Chtorrans.”

”That doesn't mean we have to make pets of them.”

”And how else are we going to get close enough to study them? Do you know a better way to observe one long enough to learn anything? On a hunt, as soon as you see a worm, you burn it. No, the only way we're going to be the scientists we were sent up here to be is to put some worms in a cage and watch to see what makes them tick-and if we can't capture a live one, then we'll have to grow our own.”

”Simmer down, I'm on your side. I think. It's just that I don't think the idea is going to be very popular around here; this isn't a P.O.W. camp-and that's another thing; even if you do hatch a few worms, where are you going to keep them?”

”We'll think of something,” I mumbled. I was trying to think of something.

”We?” He raised an eyebrow.

”Yes. We. Remember, you're an exobiologist too.”

”Oh, yeah-I forgot.” Ted looked unhappy. ”But I think this is one of those times when I'd rather be a botulinus tester.” He said, ”I mean, raising the worms is going to be the easy part-”

”Huh?”

He clapped me on the shoulder. ”Jimbo, put the bugs to bed. I'm going to talk to Duke.”

”Want me to come along?”

”Uh, better not. Duke's had a ... rough day. I think I can be more tactful. You just tuck 'em in for the night and leave the rest to me.”

”Well ... okay.”

I left the millipedes in the mess hall for the night, with a canvas draped over the coop and a sign that said DANGER! On it. The eggs were slightly more difficult, but I borrowed Ted's electric blanket and put them in a cardboard box with it draped across the top as a makes.h.i.+ft incubator. To keep the eggs from drying out, I lined the box with a layer of plastic, then a layer of towels, and then sprayed it all with warm water-enough to keep the towels damp, but not soggy. It was just a guess. I'd have to work out something more permanent in the morning.