Phantoms Part 49

"Most of this stuff looks inorganic to me," Jenny said, "but of course it can't be."

Bryce said, "Yeah. We know all too well how alive it is."

"I do see cells here and there," Jenny said. "Not many; a few."

"A few in this sample, too," Sara said. "But each cell appears to exist independently of the others."

"They're widely separated, all right," Jenny said. "They're just sort of swimming in a sea of undifferentiated matter."

"Very flexible cell walls," Sara said. "A trifurcated nucleus. That's odd. And it occupies about half the interior cell s.p.a.ce."

"What's that mean?" Bryce asked. "Is it important?"

"I don't know if it's important or not," Sara said, leaning away from the microscope and scowling. "I just don't know what to make of it."

On all three computer screens, a question flashed up: DID YOU NOT EXPECT THE FLESH OF SATAN TO BE MYSTERIOUS?

The shape-changer had sent them a mouse-size sample of its flesh, but thus far not all of it had been needed for the various tests. Half remained in a petri dish on the counter.

It quivered gelatinously.

It became a spider again and circled the dish restlessly.

It became a c.o.c.kroach and darted back and forth for a while.

It became a slug.

A cricket.

A green beetle with a lacy red pattern on its sh.e.l.l.

Bryce and Dr. Flyte were seated in front of the microscopes now, while Lisa and Tal waited their turn.

Jenny and Sara stood in front of a VDT, where a computer-enhanced representation of an electron microscope autoscan was underway. Sara had directed the system to zero in and fix upon the nucleus in one of the shape-changer's widely scattered cells.

"Any ideas?" Jenny asked.

Sara nodded but didn't look away from the screen. "At this point, I can only make an educated guess. But I'd say the undifferentiated matter, which is clearly the bulk of the creature, is the stuff that can imprint any cell structure it wants; it's the tissue that mimics. It can form itself into dog cells, rabbit cells, human cells... But when the creature is at rest, that tissue has no cellular structure of its own. As for the few scattered cells we see ... well, they must somehow control the amorphous tissue. The cells give the orders; they produce enzymes or chemical signals which tell the unstructured tissue what it should become."

"So those scattered cells would remain unchanged at all times, regardless of what form the creature took."

"Yes. So it would seem. If the shape-changer became a dog, for instance, and if we took a sample of the dog's tissue, we'd see dog cells. But here and there, spread throughout the sample, we'd come across these flexible cells with their trifurcated nuclei, and we'd have proof that it wasn't really a dog at all."

"So does this tell us anything that'll help us save ourselves?" Jenny asked.

"Not that I can see."

In the petri dish, the sc.r.a.p of amorphous flesh had a.s.sumed the ident.i.ty of a spider once again. Then the spider dissolved, and there were dozens of tiny ants, swarming across the floor of the dish and across one another. The ants rejoined to form a single creature-a worm. The worm wriggled for a moment and became a very large sow bug. The sow bug became a beetle. The pace of the changes seemed to be speeding up.

"What about a brain?" Jenny wondered aloud.

Sara said, "What do you mean?"

"The thing must have a center of intellect. Surely, its memory, knowledge, reasoning abilities aren't stored in those scattered cells."

"You're probably right," Sara said. "Somewhere in the creature, there's most likely an organ that's a.n.a.logous to the human brain. Not the same as our brain, of course. Very, very different. But with similar functions. It probably controls the cells we've seen, and they in turn control the formless protoplasm."

With growing excitement, Jenny said, "The brain cells would have at least one important thing in common with the scattered cells in the amorphous tissue: They would never change form themselves."

"That's most likely true. It's hard to imagine how memory, logical function, and intelligence could be stored in any tissue that didn't have a relatively rigid, permanent cell structure."

"So the brain would be vulnerable," Jenny said.

Hope crept into Sara's eyes.

Jenny said, "If the brain's not amorphous tissue, then it can't repair itself when it's damaged. Punch a hole in it, and the hole will stay there. The brain will be permanently damaged. If it's damaged extensively enough, it won't be able to control the amorphous tissue that forms its body, and the body will die, too."

Sara stared at her. "Jenny, I think maybe you've got something."

Bryce said, "If we could locate the brain and fire a few shots into it, we'd stop the thing. But how do we locate it? Something tells me the shape-changer keeps its brain well protected, hidden far away from us, underground."

Jenny's excitement faded. Bryce was right. The brain might be its weak spot, but they'd have no opportunity to test that theory.

Sara pored over the results of the mineral and chemical a.n.a.lyses of the tissue sample.

"An extremely varied list of hydrocarbons," she said. "And some of them are more than trace elements. A very high hydrocarbon content."

"Carbons are a basic element of all living tissue," Jenny said. "What's different about this?"

"Degree," Sara said. "There's such an abundance of carbon in such various forms..."

"Does that help us somehow?"

"I don't know," Sara said thoughtfully. She riffled through the print-out, looking at the rest of the data.

Sow bug.

Gra.s.shopper.

Caterpillar.

Beetle. Ants. Caterpillar. Sow bug.

Spider, earwig, c.o.c.kroach, centipede, spider.

Beetle-worm-spider-snail-earwig.

Lisa stared at the lump of tissue in the petri dish. It was going through a rapid series of changes, much faster than before, faster and faster by the minute.

Something was wrong.

"Petrolatum," Sara said.

Bryce said, "What's that?"

"Petroleum jelly," Jenny said.

Tal said, "You mean ... like Vaseline?"

And Flyte said to Sara, "But surely you're not saying the amorphous tissue is anything as simple as petrolatum."

"No, no, no," Sara said quickly. "Of course not. This is living tissue. But there are similarities in the ratio of hydrocarbons. The composition of the tissue is far more complex than the composition of petrolatum, of course. An even longer list of minerals and chemicals than you'd find in the human body. An array of acids and alkalines ... I can't begin to figure out how it makes use of nourishment, how it respires, how it functions without a circulatory system, without any apparent nervous system, or how it builds new tissue without using a cellular format. But these extremely high hydrocarbon values..."

Her voice trailed away. Her eyes appeared to swim out of focus, so that she was no longer actually looking at the test results.

Watching the geneticist, Tal had the feeling that she was suddenly excited about something. It didn't show in her face or in any aspect of her body or posture. Nevertheless, there was definitely a new air about her that told him she was onto something important.

Tal glanced at Bryce. Their eyes met. He saw that Bryce, too, was aware of the change in Sara.

Almost unconsciously, Tal crossed his fingers.

"Better come look at this," Lisa said urgently.

She was standing by the petri dish that contained the portion of the tissue sample they hadn't yet used.

"Hurry, come here!" Lisa said when they didn't immediately respond.

Jenny and the others gathered around and stared at the thing in the petri dish.

Gra.s.shopper-worm-centipede-snail-earwig.

"It just goes faster and faster and faster," Lisa said.

Spider-worm-centipede-spider-snail-spider-worm-spider-worm...

And then even faster.

... spiderwormspiderwormspiderwormspider...

"It's only half-changed into a worm before it starts changing back into a spider again," Lisa said. "Frantic like. See? Something's happening to it."

"Looks as if it's lost control, gone crazy," Tal said.

"Having some sort of breakdown," Flyte said.

Abruptly, the composition of the small wad of amorphous tissue changed. A milky fluid seeped from it; the wad collapsed into a runny pile of lifeless mush.

It didn't move.

It didn't take on another form.

Jenny wanted to touch it; didn't dare.

Sara picked up a small lab spoon, poked at the stuff in the dish.

It still didn't move.

She stirred it.

The tissue liquefied even further, but otherwise did not respond.

"It's dead," Flyte said softly.

Bryce seemed electrified by this development. He turned to Sara. "What was in the petri dish before you put the tissue sample there?"

"Nothing."

"There must've been a residue."

"No."

"Think, d.a.m.n it. Our lives depend on this."

"There was nothing in the dish. I took it from the sterilizer."

"A trace of some chemical..."

"It was perfectly clean."

"Wait, wait, wait. Something in the dish must've reacted with the shape-changer's tissue," Bryce said. "Right? Isn't that clear?"

"And whatever was in the dish," Tal said, "that's our weapon."

"It's the stuff that'll kill the shape-changer," Lisa said.

"Not necessarily," Jenny said, hating to shatter the girl's hopes.

"Sounds too easy," Flyte agreed, combing his wild white hair with a trembling hand. "Let's not leap to conclusions."

"Especially when there're other possibilities," Jenny said.

"Such as?" Bryce asked.

"Well... we know that the main ma.s.s of the creature can shed pieces of itself in about any form it chooses, can direct the activities of those detached parts, and can summon them back the way it summoned the part of itself that it sent to kill Gordy. But now suppose that a detached portion of the shape-changer can only survive for a relatively short period of time on its own, away from the mother-body. Suppose the amorphous tissue needs a steady supply of a particular enzyme in order to maintain its cohesiveness, an enzyme that isn't manufactured in those independently situated control cells that're scattered throughout the tissue- "

"-an enzyme that's produced only by the shape-changer's brain," Sara said, picking up on Jenny's chain of thought.

"Exactly," Jenny said. "So... any detached portion would have to reintegrate itself with the main ma.s.s in order to replenish its supply of that vital enzyme, or whatever the substance may be."