Виктор Сапарин - The Trial of Tantalus

But now as he lay on the hard rocks, Barch longed for the comfort of a primitive animal skin. His arm, shoulder and side were numb and he had nearly frozen during the night.

He lay wide awake, staring up at the bright sky. The sun was already high up and a cloudless sky hung starkly over the boundless emptiness of the ocean. His knee had swollen still more and he could not move his leg.

His head throbbed from heat, pain and exhaustion and it was with difficulty that he marshalled his thoughts. What had happened after he had retired to his cabin to rest? Ah yes, he remembered now! He had awakened three and a half hours later, having slept half an hour more than he had expected.

As soon as he had opened his eyes, Carey was on the screen.

"Look here," he said, "there's nothing more for you to do there. Besides, you're interested in flora, not fauna. App and Charlie can take care of the elephants. I want you to drop everything and fly to the Tuamoto Islands. They've found a virus there which speeds up the growth of bamboo. Something queer is happening on this planet of ours. Perhaps some cosmic dust has come down to us? This is the last assignment, though. After this you can go back to your Tantalus."

... The assignment proved to be just the sort of adventure Barch's romantic soul had craved. And now here he was stranded on an unknown island, literally "on the rocks." As he lay there, waiting for help, the thought of the Tantalus gave him no rest. Again and again he went over every step in his investigation, every link in the chain of circumstances connected with his painstaking search for the elusive virus, every fact, every clue. Now he had plenty of time to think everything over carefully. Much more time than he had had in the previous hectic days.

Suddenly a thought struck him, making him start as if he had been stung. He even tried to rise, but a sharp pain in his leg forced him back.

In a flash, like a beam of light penetrating the darkness, came the answer to the riddle that had baffled him for so long. He knew now where the Tantalus had come from. How could he save been so blind? Why, Svensen had virtually placed the answer right under his nose. He had all but pointed his finger at it. So that was the explanation for that guided tour of the germ gaol, that was why they had lingered so long in the virus block!

Of course! The Tantalus was no more than the result of a rapid evolution of some virus that had long existed on Earth. It seemed to Barch now that something of the sort had occurred to him vaguely as he had watched the innumerable transformations of the tiny live "springs." He remembered how closely Svensen had observed him that time in the laboratory.

Svensen had obviously had the same idea, but for some reason he had kept it to himself. Why? Perhaps he had wanted to receive confirmation of his theory. Or perhaps he was afraid of putting Barch on the wrong track? Svensen as a scientist was not prone to hasty conclusions.

One thing was now clear to Barch: all the new viruses whose discovery had created such a sensation were in reality one and the same virus. Or rather, they derived from one and the same virus.

It all began, of course, with some simple harmless virus that had existed for perhaps thousands of years in the tropical jungles of South America. This was the ancestor of the Tantalus and of the virus that had caused the disease of the elephants. And of the virus that was accelerating the growth of bamboo too, most likely. The manganese had acted on the "parent" virus found in the basin of the Amazon half a century ago and produced the form of virus that had infected the elephants! Had the investigators followed this pattern, they would have solved the problem at once.

What a pity the truth had dawned on him so late! If only the confounded Universal had not gone out of commission. How badly he needed it now!... At that very same moment Barch heard a faint buzz from the apparatus. For a moment he thought it was his imagination, but the buzz was repeated.

It was the "urgent message" signal. He snatched the device up and feverishly tuned in. He discovered that only one wave-length worked: the one for emergency messages.

It had its own circuit and by some lucky chance this had escaped damage.

A voice intruded on his thoughts: "Venus-8 is returning to Earth."

For a moment the full import of the message escaped him.

"Thank goodness," he thought absently, "Karbyshev will soon be on Earth. He will help solve the mystery of the Tantalus." Then the significance of what he had just heard dawned upon him, filling him with alarm. What had happened to "Venus-8"? It was not due back on Earth for another ten months!

The message had merely said that the space ship was on its way to Earth. This had been established by astronomical observation, for there was no radio communication with it. Nor could there be, Barch recalled, until it was a good distance from Venus. Barch stood his Universal up against the rock so that he could see the screen without turning his head, and switched on the receiver knob.

He passed a quiet night-the second on the island- and awoke to hear the announcer say in a voice that shook slightly with emotion:

"The Eighth found intelligent beings on Venus."

Barch almost leapt to his feet in excitement! So that was why they were returning! What foul luck to be stranded on this accursed island when such tremendous things were happening!

Hours later came the first announcements about the inhabitants of Venus. Their bodies were covered with a thick growth of something resembling beaver fur, they wore no clothes, but carried hunting weapons-stone-pointed spears.

There were several more announcements. But by now Barch had lapsed into a state of semi-consciousness. He heard the words but they had no meaning for him. He did not know how long he had been here, but he felt it must be many days. At last a familiar sound penetrated his consciousness-it was Charlie's voice.

"Hallo, Barch! Where are you? What's happened?"

Charlie's face appeared on the screen, he looked pale and distraught and he stared fixedly at Barch as if he was trying to see him.

"Why are you silent?"

Charlie disappeared and Barch, his head whirling, was not sure whether he had actually seen him or whether he was only dreaming.

At one point the sharp voice of the announcer brought him back to reality for a few moments. A blurred spot appeared moving diagonally across the screen like a centipede: the rocket was coming within range of observation from the Earth.

Barch closed his eyes again... He was awakened by a loud noise near by. He opened his eyes and saw a large crowd of people on the screen. They were packed into a vast stadium. Barch recognized the Melbourne Stadium which seated half a million people.

An open vortex plane appeared on the screen. Karby-shev stood on the platform, holding on to the rails. Barch gazed at the familiar energetic face with the blue eyes that always had a twinkle in them. Beside Karbyshev stood Ngarroba, huge and beaming. The other two participants of the expedition were there too: Sung-ling, calm as always, and the small dapper Gargi, whom Barch only knew from photographs. The four men stepped down from the plane to a platform.

Karbyshev delivered a speech, while the automatic television cameras scanned him and the other members of the expedition and showed films they had taken on Venus.

Charlie appeared again on the screen. He looked worried.

"Barch, Barch! Where are you?" he called, staring anxiously about him. "Give us your bearings at least. We've searched everywhere..."

Charlie disappeared again.

With an effort of will Barch dismissed all extraneous thoughts and tried to sleep. He must hold out a little longer. There was still a chance of their finding him.