Part 6 (1/2)

Pell shrugged and gestured at the lab report. ”Progress, maybe--but I don't know how far. Just a bunch of new puzzles to be perfectly frank.”

Rysland sat down at the other desk and drummed on it with his fingertips. He looked at Pell gravely. ”As a matter of fact, since we last talked to you the situation has become even more urgent. A Supremist congressman introduced a bill today before the world delegates which may prove very dangerous. Perhaps you know the one I refer to.”

”I was too busy to follow the news today,” said Pell, looking meaningfully at Larkin.

Larkin didn't seem to notice.

Rysland said, ”I'll brief you then. The bill purports to prohibit material aid of any kind to a non-Terran government. That means both credit and goods. And since the only real non-Terran government we know is Venus, it's obviously directed specifically at the Venusians.”

Pell thought it over. High level stuff again. He nodded to show he followed.

”On the surface,” continued Rysland, ”this would seem to be a sort of anti-espionage bill. Actually, it's a deliberately provocative act. I know the Venusians will take it that way. But right now certain quarters are secretly trying to negotiate a trade treaty with Venus which would be a major step toward peaceful relations. If this bill became law, such a treaty would be impossible.”

”But World Congress isn't likely to pa.s.s such a bill, is it? Won't they see through it?”

Rysland frowned. ”That's what we're not sure of. Messages are pouring in urging pa.s.sage--all of them from Supremists, of course. The Supremists are relatively few, but they make a lot of noise. Sometimes noise like that is effective. It could swing a lot of delegates who don't see the real danger of this bill and are at the moment undecided. The Defender side, with its desire to isolate and fortify, is especially susceptible.”

”That _is_ bad,” said Pell thoughtfully.

Rysland put his palm on the desk. ”Now then, if we can somehow discredit the Supremists--get to the bottom of this thing quickly enough--I'm sure that bill will be killed. I came here tonight, I suppose, out of pure anxiety. In other words, Mr. Pell, just how far are you?”

Pell smiled and shook his head. ”Not very, I'm afraid. This Supremist thing is the d.a.m.ndest I ever came across. No central headquarters, no officers, no propaganda mill--entirely word of mouth as far as I can see. No way of finding out how it started, or even how the new members are proselyted. Ask any member how he became a Supremist. He just looks kind of dreamy and mutters something about the truth suddenly dawning upon him one day.”

”But don't you have any theories?”

”I've got a hunch,” Pell said, picking up the lab report.

Chief Larkin snorted softly. The snort said clearly enough that an efficient investigator didn't depend on hunches these days: he went after something doggedly on the computer, or by other approved techniques.

Pell pretended not to hear the snort. ”First of all we discovered that nearly all Supremists received some kind of an inoculation before they became Supremists. Then we found a whole village, one of those moon resort towns, that had gone over. There was the record of inoculation there, too. I got hold of some of the vaccine and had the lab a.n.a.lyze it. It's mostly vaccine all right, but there _is_ a foreign substance in it. Listen.” He read from the report: ”_Isolated point oh six four seven grams uncla.s.sified crystal compound, apparently form of nucleotide enzyme. Further a.n.a.lysis necessary._”

”You think this enzyme, or whatever it is, has something to do with it?”

”I don't know. All I have is a pretty wild theory. To begin, when our lab can't a.n.a.lyze something right away, it's pretty rare--possibly even unknown to chemistry in general. Now it's just possible that this substance does something to the brain that makes a man into a Supremist, and that somebody's behind the whole thing, deliberately planting the stuff so that people here and there become injected with it.”

”Pell.” Larkin made a pained face. ”Really.”

Pell shrugged. ”Well, as I say, it's a hunch, that's all.”

”It's a pipe dream,” said Larkin. ”I never heard of anything so fantastic.”

”That's what folks said a couple of centuries ago when the Venusians were first trying to make contact and their s.h.i.+ps were sighted all over the place. 'I never heard of anything so fantastic,' they all said.”

Theodor Rysland still looked interested. ”Granted there is some connection between the Supremist mental state and this, er, enzyme. What then, Mr. Pell?”

”Well,” said Pell, stretching his legs out, ”I had an idea maybe your friend Dr. Nebel could give us some help on that.”

”Nebel?”

”He's interested in this thing, isn't he?”