Proteus in the Underworld Read Online Free PDF Page B

(6) large body sizes can be supported only in a low-gravity or water environment. The development of form-change techniques, simultaneously with easy space travel, permitted the followers of Reuben Mikhlin to proceed beyond theory to practice. The Fugate Colony was established in 2131 in the Transition Zone, close to the outer boundary of the Kuiper Belt. . .

    The information went scrolling on, but Sondra didn't even see it—because the image viewing area had become active. The original images had been taken in free-fall, without scale, but some careful archivist had added in a reference image of an Earth human. Sondra saw a huge body, sixty feet long and broad in proportion, floating whale-like in the field of view. The hairless skull was full-sized with respect to the body, but oddly soft and amorphous in appearance, as though bone had been replaced by soft and flexible cartilage.
    Sondra stared at it for a long time. And then, almost against her will, she saw her fingers move to the communications palette. She found herself dialing Behrooz Wolf.
    * * *
    Sondra got at least one thing right. She had not expected Wolf to be pleased to hear from her. And he was not.
    "You can't possibly have been there and back." His voice was accusing. "Not even on the fastest ship in the fleet."
    "I haven't. I'm still on Earth."
    "So why are you bothering me?" Wolf was standing in a large white-painted room, part of the house that Sondra had never seen before. "I told you, the answer to your problem lies in the Carcon Colony."
    "It used to. Not any more." Sondra waved her hand at the screen, although she knew it was invisible to him. "There's been another one. Out in the Fugate Colony."
    "The what?"
    "Fugate Colony." Sondra felt better. She wasn't the only one who didn't know everything. "It's out in the Kuiper Belt, same as the Carcon Colony. This form passed the humanity test, just like the other one. Then they lost control of it."
    "How?"
    "I don't know. The form is on the way to Earth orbit—but it can't land on the surface. Will you come and look?"
    "No, I won't. Why aren't you on the way to the Carcon Colony?"
    "Denzel Morrone didn't approve my request."
    "What?" Wolf was frowning. "I told you to tell him I said it was essential."
    "I did. But that made it worse. He hates your guts." There, she had said it.
    "Nonsense! Why, I got him that job. They consulted me before they made him head of the office."
    "Then that explains just why he hates you. Look, never mind all that"—Bey was scowling horribly at her—"there are more important things to worry about. Can I come to Wolf Island and see you again? I'll bring everything I can get about the new form, and about the Fugate Colony."
    "No. I told you, it's your problem." Wolf reached out to cut the connection, then hesitated. A thoughtful look came into his eyes. "Has this new wild form been assigned to you, too?"
    "Yes. Deciding what's happening is going to be my responsibility."
    "And you say that the form can't land on Earth. Why not?"
    "I don't know." Her first direct lie to Behrooz Wolf. "But I promise you this: if you let me come and see you, I'll find out before I arrive."
    Wolf was nodding slowly. "You can come and see me. On one condition: you come here unofficially, and you do not tell anyone in your office you are doing it."
    He cut off communication without another word. Sondra found herself staring at a blank screen.
    She had won. She could visit Bey Wolf again. It was the reason that she had called him. It was exactly what she wanted.
    So why didn't it feel like success? Why did she feel as though Behrooz Wolf was seeing something in this whole situation that remained invisible to Sondra Dearborn?

CHAPTER 4
    Bey Wolf had chosen his home for its remoteness and its seclusion. Now it seemed as though the whole world was determined to beat a path to his door.
    Or at least, to his communications portal.
    He had hardly broken the connection to Sondra when the communicator was