"Gruesome, isn't it?" Bergdorf asked happily. "But it's nothing to worry
about. Starfish have been eating oysters on the half shell for millions
of years. In fact I'll bet that a starfish eats more oysters in its
lifetime than does the most confirmed oyster-addict."
"It's not the fact that they eat them," I said feebly. "It's the way
they do it. It makes me ill!"
"Why should it? After all a starfish and a human being have a lot in
common. Like them, you have eaten oysters on the half shell, and they're
usually alive when you gulp them down. I can't see where our digestive
juices are any easier on the oyster than those of a starfish."
"Remind me never to eat another raw oyster," I said. "On second thought
you won't have to. You've ruined my appetite for them forever."
Bergdorf chuckled.
"Well, now that you've disposed of one of my eating habits," I said
bitterly, "let's get back to the problem. I presume that you'll have to
find where the oysters are before you start in working them over with
starfish."
"You've hit the reason why I'm here. That's the big problem. I want to
find their source."
"Don't you know?"
"I can make a pretty good guess. You see, we picked this limb out of the
Equatorial current. As you know, Varnel Island is situated right at the
western termination of the current. We don't get much littoral stuff
unless it comes from the Islands or West Beta. And as far as I can
figure the islands are the best bet. These spat probably came from the
Piralones, that island group in the middle of the current about halfway
across."
I nodded. "It would be a good bet. They're uninhabited. If Harl wanted
an isolated spot to conduct oyster planting experiments, I couldn't
think of a better location. Nobody in his right mind would visit that
place willingly. The islands support the damnedest assortment of siths
you ever saw."
"If that's where it is," Bergdorf said, "we can thank heaven for the
natives' suspicious nature. That location may help us save this world!"
I laughed at him. "Don't be so grim, Heinz--or so godlike. We're not
going to save any worlds."
"Someone has to save them."
"We don't qualify. What we'll do is chase this business down. We'll find
out where the oysters come from, get an idea of how bad things are and
then let the Niobians know about it. If anyone is going to save this
planet it won't be a bunch of Confederation exploration specialists."