"Well, how does an animal--any animal--protect itself?"
"Why, in any number of ways. If it has claws or a strong jaw and long
teeth, it can fight. If it is fleet of foot, it can run. If it is big
and has a tough hide, most other animals can't hurt it anyway. Umm-mm,
doesn't that about cover it?"
"You left out protective coloration, defensive odors, and things like
that. Actually, those are most important from our point of view, for
Black Eyes' ability is a further ramification of that sort of thing.
Your pet is not fast. It isn't strong. It can't change color and it has
no offensive odor to chase off predatory enemies. It has no armor. In
short, can you think of a more helpless creature to put down in those
Venusian swamps?"
After Judd had shaken his head, Dr. Jamison continued: "Very well, Black
Eyes should not be able to survive on Venus--and yet, obviously the
creature did. We can assume there are more of the breed, too. Anyway,
Black Eyes survives. And I'll tell you why.
"Black Eyes has a very uncommon ability to sense danger when it
approaches. And sensing danger, Black Eyes can thwart it. Your creature
sends out certain emanations--I won't pretend to know what they
are--which stamp aggression out of any predatory creatures. Neither of
you could fire upon it--right?"
"Umm-mm, that's true," Judd said.
Lindy nodded.
"Well, that's one half of it. There's so much about life we don't
understand. Black Eyes uses energy of an unknown intensity, and the
result maintains Black Eyes' life. Now, although that is the case, your
animal did not live a comfortable life in the Venusian swamp. Because no
animal would attack it, it could not be harmed. Still, from what you
tell me about that swamp ...
"Anyhow, Black Eyes was glad to come away with you, and everything went
well until you landed in New York. The noises, the clattering, the
continual bustle of a great city--all this frightened the creature. It
was being attacked--or, at least that's what it must have figured.
Result: it struck back the only way it knew how. Have you ever heard
about sub-sonic sound-waves, Mr. Whitney, waves of sound so low that our
ears cannot pick them up--waves of sound which can nevertheless stir our
emotions? Such things exist, and, as a working hypothesis, I would say
Black Eyes' strange powers rest along those lines. The whole city is
idle because Black Eyes is afraid!"
In his exploration of Mars, of Venus, of the Jovian moons, Judd Whitney
had seen enough of extra-terrestrial life to know that virtually
anything was possible, and Black Eyes would be no exception to that
rule.
"What do you propose to do?" Judd demanded.
"Do? Why, we'll have to kill your creature, naturally. You can set a
value on it and we will meet it, but Black Eyes must die."
"No!" Lindy cried. "You can't be sure, you're only guessing, and it
isn't fair!"
"My dear woman, don't you realize this is a serious situation? The
city's people will starve in time. No one can even bring food in because
the trucks make too much noise! As an alternative, we could evacuate,
but is your pet more valuable than the life of a great city?"
"N-no...."
"Then, please! Listen to reason!"
"Kill it," Judd said. "Go ahead."
Dr. Jamison withdrew from his pocket a small blasting pistol used by the
Department of Domestic Animals for elimination of injured creatures. He
advanced on Black Eyes, who sat on its haunches in the center of the
room, surveying the scientist.