The Winds of Altair Read Online Free PDF Page A

touching a button. Another of the luxuries that Foy and his Elders frowned upon.
    With another reluctant sigh he slid his right hand to the control keyboard set into the recliner's armrest. But not to change the room's scent or lighting.
    On the far side of the curving wall his desktop view-screen glowed to life and a green light winked on to signify that his computer terminal was waiting for his input.
    "Data for the record," he murmured, knowing that even a whisper would be picked up by the microphone built into his chair. "Put in the correct date and time, eh?"
    A glance at the screen showed him that the time and date had been entered, in glowing yellow letters.
    He hesitated before starting, then said, "Let me see all the physiological data on today's test subject."
    He sat up, and the chair moved with him so that its soft fabric never left his back. The computer screen showed a complex graph with intricate curves of various colors to indicate Jeff Holman's heart rate, brain rhythms, breathing, and other vital functions.
    " Bene. Next."
    The screen's picture flicked to show another graph, more curves.
    Dr. Carbo studied the information for a long while, going through graph after graph. Then he watched a replay of the tapes that showed what the wolfcat saw when Jeff was in contact with it.
    He cleared his throat as the tape ended and the screen went blank.
    "Okay, for the record." His voice became louder, firmer, as if he were talking to an auditorium full of students. He had spoken nothing but English for nearly six months now, and even though the computer could automatically translate from Italian, it was English he spoke now.
    "Since all our tests with members of the staff resulted in failure, we decided to investigate the use of one or more of the students to make contact with the animals on the surface.
    "This decision was not made lightly. Deep hypnotic interrogation of the staff members who failed to establish neuro-electronic contact with the animals revealed that their minds withdrew instinctively from the 'mind-sharing' effect that such contact entails. Psychological analysis indicates that a fully-formed adult personality is too rigid to accept the mindsharing. Adults will not—and probably cannot—allow their personas to mingle with that of an alien animal."
    Carbo examined his words as they were printed on the computer viewscreen. He made a couple of minor editorial changes, then continued:
    "The psychology committee, after lengthy discussion . . ." he grinned, remembering the furious arguments among them, " . . . accepted my suggestion of testing one or more of the students as a contactor. My reasoning was that if an adult personality fails to establish neuro-electronic contact, then perhaps a younger, more malleable personality would be better suited to the task. We have more than four hundred such personalities aboard this ship: the students."
    Carbo stopped and peered at the words for several long minutes. That sounds pretty damned supercilious, he said to himself. On the other hand, it is perfectly true. With a barely detectable shrug of his shoulders, he resumed:
    "The first two test subjects, one male and one female—computer, fill in their names and ages—were both failures. The reasons are still being studied by the psychologists. The third test subject . . ." he hesitated, then remembered, ". . . Jeffrey Holman, age 23, was an unqualified success."
    Carbo paused again. He thought, Now we can start pushing the young man and see how much he can do for us. See the big genius scientist lean on the lowly graduate student.

    The robot probes had reported that Altair VI was sufficiently Earthlike for colonization. It was slightly smaller than Earth, and had a slightly lower gravitational pull. Its chemical composition was very Earthlike and there was liquid water on its surface in copious amounts. It was covered with a global, perpetual deck of thick cloud, but that helped to shield the land below from