Isaac Asimov - Fantastic Voyage II - Destination Brain

Morrison smiled, however. For the first time since his kidnapping, it seemed to him that there might be a lighter side to this dismal situation in which he had been unwillingly plunged.

"Good day," he said. "It's a pleasure meeting you." He tried to give his Russian an educated sound and to get rid of what the serving woman had so easily detected as his American accent.

The young woman made no direct answer but, turning to Boranova, said in a voice that was slightly husky, "Is this the American?"

"It is," said Boranova. "He is Dr. Albert Jonas Morrison, professor of neurophysics."

"Assistant professor," said Morrison deprecatorily.

Boranova ignored the correction. "And this, Dr. Morrison, is Dr. Sophia Kaliinin, who is our electromagnetics expert."

"She scarcely looks old enough," said Morrison gallantly.

The young lady did not seem amused. She said, "I look, perhaps, younger than I am. I am thirty-one years old."

Morrison looked abashed and Boranova cut in quickly, "Come, we are ready to begin. Please check the circuits and set matters in motion. - And quickly."

Kaliinin hurried out.

Dezhnev looked after her with a grin. "I'm glad she doesn't seem to like Americans. It cuts out a hundred million potential competitors at least. Now if she also didn't like Russians and would come to realize that I am as Karelo-Finnish as she is."

"You Karelo-Finnish?" said Boranova, forced into a smile. "Who would believe that, you madman?"

"She would - if she were in the proper mood."

"This would require an impossible mood." Boranova turned to Morrison. "Please do not take Sophia's behavior personally, Dr. Morrison. Many of our citizens pass through an ultrapatriotic phase and feel it to be very Soviet to dislike Americans. It is more pose than reality. Frn sure, once we begin to work together as a team, that Sophia will let down her barriers."

"I understand completely. Things are similar in my country. As a matter of fact, at the moment, I'm not very fond of Soviets - and understandably, I think. But" - and he smiled - "I could make an exception for Dr. Kaliinin very easily."

Boranova shook her head. "American like you or Russian like Arkady, there is a peculiar masculine way of thought that transcends national boundaries and cultural differences."

Morrison was unmoved. "Not that I will be working with her - or with anyone. I have grown tired of telling you, Dr. Boranova, that I don't accept the existence of miniaturization and that I cannot and will not be of assistance to you in any way."

Dezhnev laughed. "You know, one could almost believe Albert. He speaks so seriously."

Boranova said, "Observe, Dr. Morrison. This is Katinka."

She tapped a cage which Morrison, startled, now observed for the first time. Dr. Kahinin had rather absorbed his attention till now and even after she had left he had been idly keeping his eye on the door through which she had gone, waiting for her reappearance.

He focused on the cage of wire mesh. Katinka was, apparently, a white rabbit of moderate size and placid appearance, who was munching away at greenery with the rapt concentration of her kind.

Morrison was aware of the slight scrabbling noise she made and of the rabbit odor, which he must have noted, unconsciously, earlier and ignored.

He said, "Yes, I see her. A rabbit."

"Not just a rabbit, Doctor. She is a most unusual creature. Unique. She has made history to a far greater extent than has the catalog of war and disaster that usually is thought of by that name. If we exclude such purely incidental creatures as worms, fleas, and submicroscopic parasites, Katinka is the first living creature that has been miniaturized. In fact, she has been miniaturized on three separate occasions and would have been miniaturized dozens of times more if we had been able to afford it. She has contributed enormously to our knowledge of the miniaturization of life forms and, as you can see, her experiences have in no way adversely affected her."

Morrison said, "I do not wish to be insulting, but your bare statement that the rabbit has been miniaturized three times is not really evidence that this has indeed happened. I do not mean to cast doubt upon your integrity, but, in a case like this, I think you understand that nothing less than witnessing the fact is sufficiently convincing."

"Certainly. And it is for that reason' that - at considerable expense - Katinka will now be miniaturized a fourth time."

Sophia Kaliinin swirled back in and turned to Morrison. "Are you wearing a watch or do you have anything metallic on you?" she asked crisply.

"I have no possessions on me at all, Dr. Kaliinin. Nothing but the clothes I wear, the single pocket of which is empty. Even this identification bracelet that has been put on me seems to be of plastic."

"It is merely that there is a strong electromagnetic field and metal would interfere."

Morrison said, "Any physiological effects?"

"None. Or at least none have yet been detected."

Morrison, who was waiting for them to give up their pretense of miniaturization and wondering how long they could carry on the fraud (he was growing more censorious over the matter by the minute), said, with just a touch of malice, "Might not overexposure lead to birth defects should you ever get pregnant, Dr. Kaliinin?"

Kaliinin flushed. "I have a baby. She is perfectly normal."

"Were you exposed during pregnancy?"

"Once."

Boranova said, "Is the inquisition over, Dr. Morrison? May we begin?"

"You still maintain that you will miniaturize the rabbit?"

"Certainly."

"Then go ahead. I'm all eyes."

(How foolish of them, he thought sardonically. They would soon be claiming, of course, that something had gone wrong, but where would they go from there? What was it all about?)

Boranova said, "To begin with, Dr. Morrison, would you lift the cage?"

Morrison made no move to do so. He looked from one to the other of the three Soviets in suspicion and uncertainty.

Dezhnev said, "Go ahead. It won't hurt, Albert. You won't even get your hands dirty and, after all, hands were meant to become dirty at work."

Morrison put his hands on either side of the cage and lifted. It weighed about ten kilograms, he judged. He grunted and said, "May I put it down now?"

"Of course," said Boranova.

"Gently," said Kaliinin. "Do not disturb Katinka."

Morrison lowered it carefully. The rabbit, which had momentarily stopped feeding when the cage was lifted, sniffed the air curiously and returned tentatively to its unhurried chewing.

Boranova nodded and Sophia moved to one side of the room where a bank of controls were all but hidden by the cables. She looked over her shoulder at the cage as though estimating its position, then walked over to move it slightly. She returned to the controls and closed a switch.

A whining sound made itself heard and the cage began to glitter and shimmer as though something, all but invisible, had interposed itself between it and themselves. The shimmer extended beneath the cage, separating it from the stone-top table on which it had been resting.

Boranova said, "The cage is now enclosed in the miniaturization field. Only the objects within the field will be miniaturized."

Morrison stared and a little worm of uncertainty began to stir within him. Were they going to try some clever illusion on him and make him think he had witnessed miniaturization? He said, "And how exactly did you produce that so-called miniaturization field?"

"That," said Boranova, "we do not intend to tell you. I think you understand what classified information is. Go ahead, Sophia."

The whine heightened in pitch and intensified somewhat. Morrison found it unpleasant, but the others seemed to endure it stolidly. In looking at them, he had taken his eyes off the cage. Now when he looked at it again, it seemed to have grown smaller.