"I am Scanner Thirty-four."
"You a Scanner. I don't believe it."
For answer, Martel pulled his jacket open, showing his chestbox. Stone
looked up at him, amazed. Martel explained:
"I am cranched. Have you never seen it before?"
"Not with men. On animals. Amazing! But--what do you want?"
"The truth. Do you fear me?"
"Not with this," said Stone, grasping the Wirepoint. "But I shall tell
you the truth."
"Is it true that you have conquered the Great Pain?"
Stone hesitated, seeking words for an answer.
"Quick, can you tell me how you have done it, so that I may believe
you?"
"I have loaded the ships with life."
"Life?"
"Life. I don't know what the great pain is, but I did find that in the
experiments, when I sent out masses of animals or plants, the life in
the center of the mass lived longest. I built ships--small ones, of
course--and sent them out with rabbits, with monkeys--"
"Those are Beasts?"
"Yes. With small Beasts. And the Beasts came back unhurt. They came
back because the walls of the ships were filled with life. I tried
many kinds, and finally found a sort of life which lives in the waters.
Oysters. Oyster-beds. The outermost oyster died in the Great Pain.
The inner ones lived. The passengers were unhurt."
"But they were Beasts?"
"Not only Beasts. Myself."
"You!"
"I came through Space alone. Through what you call the Up-and-Out,
alone. Awake and sleeping. I am unhurt. If you do not believe me,
ask your brother Scanners. Come and see my ship in the morning. I
will be glad to see you then, along with your brother Scanners. I am
going to demonstrate before the Chiefs of the Instrumentality."