Dennis caught the pixolet in a midair glide from Rich Schwall's hands. The little creature chirped excitedly. After all the crates were loaded ahead of him, Dennis stepped over the airlock's combing.
"Beginning closure procedure," one of the techs announced.
"Good luck, Dr. Nuel!"
Schwall gave him thumbs up.
Bernald Brady came forward to guide the heavy door. "Well, Nuel," he said lowly as the gears slowly turned, "you checked everything, didn't you? You poked through the machine from top to bottom, read the biology report, and didn't need to consult me at all, did you?"
Dennis didn't like the fellow's tone. "What are you getting at?"
Brady smiled, speaking softly so only Dennis could hear him. "I never mentioned it to the others, since it seemed so absurd. But it's only fair to tell you."
"Tell me about what?"
"Oh, It could he nothing at all, Nuel. Or maybe something pretty unusual... like the possibility that this anomaly world has a different set of physical laws than hold sway on Earth!"
By now the hatch had half closed. The timer was running.
This was ridiculous. Dennis wasn't going to let Brady get to him. "Stuff it, Bernie," he said with a laugh. "I don't believe a word of your blarney."
"Oh? Remember those purple mists you found last year, where gravity repelled?"
"Those were different entirely. No major difference in physical law could endanger me on Pix's world -- not when the biology is so compatible.
"But if there s something minor you haven't told me about," Dennis continued, stepping forward, "you'd better spill it now or I swear I'll..."
Strangely, Brady's antagonism seemed to fall away, replaced by apparently genuine puzzlement.
"I don't know what it is, Nuel. It had to do with the instruments we sent through. Their efficiencies seemed to change the longer they were there! It was almost as if one of the thermodynamic laws was subtly different."
Too late, Dennis realized that Brady wasn't just egging him. He really had discovered something that honestly perplexed him. But by now the hatch had closed almost all the way.
Which law, Brady? Dammit, stop this process until you tell me! What law?"
Through the bare crack that remained, Brady whispered, "Guess."
With a sigh the seals fell into place and the hatch became vacuum tight.
In the zievatronics lab, Dr. Marcel Flaster watched Brady turn away from the closed hatch of the anomaly machine. "What was that all about?"
Brady started. Flaster could have swore the fellow grew even paler than normal.
"Oh, it was nothing. We were talking. Just something to pass the time while the hatch closed."
Flaster frowned. "Well, I hope there won't be any surprises at this late stage. I'm counting on Nuel to succeed. I need Flasteria badly with my confirmation hearings coming up next month."
"Maybe he'll manage to pull it off." Brady shrugged.
Flaster laughed. "Indeed. From what I've seen around here, he's sure to succeed. In the last few days he's really got this place humming. I should have brought that young fellow back into this lab months ago!"
Brady shrugged. "Nuel might succeed. Then again, maybe he won't."
Flaster smiled archly. "Ah, well. If he fails, we'll just have to send somebody else, won't we?"
Brady swallowed and nodded. He watched the lab Director turn and walk away.
I wonder if I did the right thing? Brady thought, giving Nuel the wrong modules for fixing the return mechanism.
Oh, he'll figure it out eventually and fix them up. All he has to do is swap the right chips around. I made it look like a factory error so they'll never trace it to me -- though he'll probably suspect.
By the time he's fixed the modules, I'll have had time to work on Flaster. And Nuel's stock won't be so high when the delay stretches into weeks, whatever his excuse!
Brady felt a little guilty about the stunt. It was kind of a nasty trick to play. But all indications showed that Flasteria was a pretty tame place. The robots hadn't seen any big animals, and anyway, Nuel was always talking about what a champion Boy Scout he had been. Let him camp out in the wild for a while, then!
Maybe he'd even figure out what had been happening to the robots, too... that strange alteration in their efficiency profiles.
Oh, Nuel would come back in lather, all right. But by then he, Brady, would have had a chance to win his way back into the Director's good graces. He knew, by now, what buttons to push.
Brady looked at his watch. Gabriella had made a luncheon date with him, and he didn't want to be late.
He straightened his tie and hurried out of the lab. Soon he was whistling.
Sooee Generis:
5
"Which law? you sonova --" Dennis pounded on the door.
He stopped. It was useless. By now the sending probe had activated. He was already on the anomaly world -- already on...
Dennis stared at the blank door. He felt behind himself and sat heavily on one of the crates. Then, as his situation soaked in, he suddenly found himself beginning to laugh! He couldn't stop. His eyes filled as he gave in to the giddy feeling.
No one had ever been as cut off as he was, cast from Earth to a faraway world.
People might read about adventures in faraway places, but the truth was that most, at the first hint of anything truly dangerous, would dig a hole and cry out for Mother.
As an initial reaction, then, perhaps laughter wasn't bad. At least he felt more relaxed afterward.
From a crate nearby, the pixolet watched, apparently fascinated.
I'm going to have to come up with a new name for this place, Dennis thought as he wiped his eyes. Flasteria just won't do.
The initial crisis of isolation had passed. He was able to look to his left, to the other door, the only one that would now open -- onto another world.
Brady's talk of a "different set of physical laws" continued to bother Dennis. Brady had probably just been trying to get to him. Even if he was telling the truth, it would have to be something pretty subtle, since biological processes were so compatible on both worlds.
Dennis remembered a science-fiction story he had once read in which a minute change in electrical conductivity resulted in a tenfold increase in human intelligence. Could it be something like that?
Dennis sighed. He didn't feel any smarter. The fact that he couldn't remember the story's title sort of refuted that possibility.
The pixolet glided from its perch to land on his lap. It purred, looking up at him with emerald eyes.
"Now I'm the alien," Dennis said. He picked up the little native. "How about it, Pix? Am I welcome? Want to show me around your place?"
Pix squeaked. It sounded eager to be off.
"Okay," Dennis said. "Let's go."
He strapped on his tool belt, with the needle gun holstered to one side. Then, taking an appropriate "explorerlike" stance, he pulled the lever to unlock the far door. There was a hiss of equalizing pressure, and his ears popped briefly. Then the hatch swung open to let in the sunshine of another world.
Continue reading sample 5, 6 and 7, or purchase The Practice Effect from Amazon.com.
The Real Culture War
