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change has occurred in Earthmen, it is only in some aspects of their internal chemistry which enables them
to, display greater resistance to their own particular environment. Thus they show greater resistance to
radiation effects, more rapid healing of burned tissues-"
"Dr. Shekt, I am acquainted with all you say."
"Then has it ever occurred to, you that these mutational processes occur in living species on Earth other
than human?"
There was a short silence, and then Arvardan said, "Why, no, I hadn't, though, of course, it is quite
inevitable, now that you mention it."
"That is so. It happens. Our domestic animals, exist in greater variety than on any other inhabited world.
The orange you ate is a mutated variety, which exists nowhere else. It is this, among other things, which
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makes the orange so unacceptable for export. Outsiders suspect it as they suspect us-and we ourselves
guard it as a valuable property peculiar to ourselves. And of course what applies to animals and plants
applies also to microscopic life."
And now, indeed, Arvardan felt the thin pang of fear enter.
He said, "You mean-bacteria?"
"I mean the whole domain of primitive life. Protozoa, bacteria, and the self-reproducing proteins that
some people call viruses."
"And what are you getting at?"
"I think you have a notion of that, Dr. Arvardan. You seem suddenly interested. You see, there is a
belief among your people that Earthmen are bringers of death, that to associate with an Earthman is to
die, that Earthmen are the bearers of misfortune, possess a sort of evil eye-"
"I know all that. It is merely superstition."
"Not entirely. That is the dreadful part. Like all common beliefs, however superstitious, distorted, and
perverted, it has a speck of truth at bottom. Sometimes, you see, an Earthman carries within his body
some mutated form of microscopic parasite which is not quite like any known elsewhere, and to which,
sometimes, Outsiders are not particularly resistant. What follows is simple biology, Dr. Arvardan."
Arvardan was silent.
Shekt went on, "We are caught sometimes, too,, of course, A new species of germ will make its way out
of the radioactive mists and an epidemic will sweep the planet, but, by and large, Earthmen have kept
pace. For each variety of germ and virus, we build our defense over the generations, and we survive.
Outsiders don't have the opportunity."
"Do you mean," said Arvardan with a strangely faint sensation, "that contact with you now-" He pushed
his chair back. He was thinking of the evening's kisses.
Shekt shook his head. "Of course, not. We don't create the disease; we merely carry it. And even such
carriage occurs very rarely. If I lived on your world, I would no more carry the germ than you would; I
have no special affinity for it. Even here it is only one out of every quadrillion germs, or one out of every
quadrillion of quadrillions, that is dangerous. The chances of your infection right now are less than that of
a meteorite penetrating the roof of this house and hitting you. Unless the germs in question are
deliberately searched for, isolated, and concentrated."
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Again a silence, longer this time. Arvardan said in a queer, strangled voice, "Have Earthmen been doing
that?"
He had stopped thinking in terms of paranoia. He was ready to believe.
"Yes. But for innocent reasons, at first. Our biologists are, of course, particularly interested in the
peculiarities of Earth life, and, recently, isolated the virus of Common Fever."
"What is Common Fever?"
"A mild endemic disease on Earth. That is, it is always with us. Most Earthmen have it in their childhood,
and its symptoms are not very severe. A mild fever, a transitory rash, and inflammation of the joints and
of the lips, combined with an annoying thirst. It runs its course in four to six days, and the subject is
thereafter immune. I've had it. Pola has had it. Occasionally there is a more virulent form of this same
disease-a slightly different strain of virus is concerned, presumably-and then it is called Radiation Fever."
"Radiation Fever. I've heard of it," said Arvardan.
"Oh, really? It is called Radiation Fever because of the mistaken notion that it is caught after exposure to
radioactive areas. Actually, exposure to radioactive areas is often followed by Radiation Fever, because
it is in those areas that the virus is most apt to mutate to dangerous forms. But it is the virus and not the
radiation which does it. In the case of Radiation Fever, symptoms develop in a matter of two hours. The
lips are so badly affected that the subject can scarcely talk, and he may be dead in a matter of days.,
"Now, Dr. Arvardan, this is the crucial point. The Earthman has adapted himself to Common Fever and
the Outsider has not. Occasionally a member of the Imperial garrison is exposed to it, and, in that case,
he reacts to it as, an Earthman would to Radiation Fever. Usually he dies -within twelve hours. He is then
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