Readyworld

fiction by michael werneburg

Again, a sound went through the crowd, and someone asked, "What do you mean, Sitara?"

I turned and saw an acquaintance from the geologic staff. "Hi, Gerdt. It's got the same make-up as bird or reptile egg back on Terra. Suspended in a mix of common minerals. It's the building stuff of life."

Mead, the one who'd known what I would find in my scan of the glass, said, "It's made of something like egg?"

"Well, no, but it's got a very chemical similar make-up. If you wanted a medium in which to grow something..." I stopped mid-sentence. My God, it was true; the floor in that room could be used as raw nourishment for something. And with the proteins and the other foodstuffs in there it wouldn't keep long. It could only be intended for use in the short term! Why hadn't I thought of that for my report?

"I think I'd better get back down there," I said, faintly.

Mead turned to one of the junior staff, and asked, "Can you bring up a view of the Big Room here at site 4?"

In a moment, one of the displays showed a view of the room that must have been taken from near the ceiling. It was my turn to gasp in surprise. The floor of the room had changed in the short time since I'd been there. The entire floor was slick with deep mud, and the cracks had grown to the point that the broad cracks all bled together; the raised parts between them were simply lumps of higher matter in a small sea of mud. There were hundreds of the lumps on that floor. Hundreds of roundish, irregular lumps all spaced maybe a meter or two from one another.

And I knew that there was something inside those lumps.

"Doctor," said Mead, "I think you're right,"

"Major," he added, turning to his superior, "we're looking at a development within the security perimeter. I suggest that the doctor and I attend along with a small security team."

"Very well, Captain," said the Major, looking at the image of the room with a frown.

"Might we take Alain along?" I asked, "I'd like to have an exobiologist on hand." I looked at Alain. "I'm on vacation, you see."

At that, Hu looked at me with a surprised look on his face, then at Mead.

The officer glanced at the other scientist, and said, "You think something's going to hatch in the mud?"

I shrugged.