Then the clouds seemed to part and between their edges, glimpses of the wine-dark sea could again be seen.

Marlene watched, her mouth partly open, her breath shallow. She said in a whisper, ‘That's all water, isn't it, Uncle Siever?’

‘Thousands of kilometers in every direction, Marlene - and ten kilometers deep in spots.’

‘If you fall into it, I suppose you drown.’

‘You needn't worry about that. This vehicle won't fall into the ocean.’

‘I know it won't,’ said Marlene matter-of-factly. There was another sight, Genarr thought, to which Marlene could well be introduced.

Marlene broke in on his thought. ‘You're getting nervous again, Uncle Siever.’

Genarr felt amused at the manner in which he was learning to take Marlene's penetration for granted. He said, ‘You've never seen Megas, and I was wondering if I ought to show it to you. You see, only one side of Erythro faces Megas, and the Dome was built on the side of Erythro that doesn't face it, so that Megas is never in our sky. If we continue to fly in this direction, however, we'll enter the cis-Megan hemisphere and we'll see it rise above the horizon.’

‘I would like to see that.’

‘You will, then, but be prepared. It's large. Really large. Nearly twice as wide as Nemesis and it looks almost like it's about to fall on us. Some people simply can't endure the sight. It won't fall, though. It can't. Try to remember that.’

They moved along at a higher altitude and a heightened speed. The ocean lay below in wrinkled sameness, occasionally obscured by clouds.

Eventually, Genarr said, ‘If you'll look ahead and a little to the right, you'll see Megas beginning to show at the horizon. We'll turn toward it.’

It looked like a small patch of light along the horizon at first, but grew like a slow upward swell. Then the widening arc of a deep red circle lifted itself above the horizon. It was distinctly deeper than Nemesis, which could still be seen to the right and in back of the plane, and somewhat lower in the sky.

As Megas loomed larger, it soon became apparent that what was being revealed was not a full circle of light, a bit more than a semicircle.

Marlene said with interest, ‘Now that's what they mean by “phases,” isn't that right?’

‘Exactly right. We only see the part that's lit by Nemesis. As Erythro goes around Megas, Nemesis seems to move closer to Megas and we see less and less of the lit half of the planet. Then when Nemesis skims just above or below Megas, we just see a thin curve of light at Megas' boundary; that's all we see of its lighted hemisphere. Sometimes Nemesis actually moves behind Megas. Nemesis is then eclipsed, and all the dim stars of night come out, not just the bright ones that show even when Nemesis is in the sky. During the eclipse, you can see a large circle of darkness with no stars in it at all, and that shows you where Megas is. When Nemesis reappears on the other side, you begin to see a thin curve of light again.’

‘How marvelous,’ said Marlene. ‘It's like a show in the sky. And look at Megas - all those moving stripes.’

They stretched across the lighted portion of the globe, thick and reddish brown, interspersed with orange, and slowly writhing.

‘They're storm bands,’ said Genarr, ‘with terrific winds that blow this way and that. If you watch closely, you'll see spots form and expand, drift along, then spread out and vanish.’

‘It is like a holovision show,’ said Marlene raptly. ‘Why don't people watch it all the time?’

‘Astronomers do. They watch it through computerized instruments located on this hemisphere. I've seen it myself in our Observatory. You know, we had a planet like this back in the Solar System. It's called Jupiter, and it's even larger than Megas.’

By now, the planet had lifted entirely above the horizon, looking like a bloated balloon that had, somehow, partially collapsed along its left half.

Marlene said, ‘It's lovely. If the Dome were built on this side of Erythro, everyone could watch it.’

‘Actually not, Marlene. It doesn't seem to work that way. Most people don't like Megas. I told you that some I people get the impression that Megas is falling and it frightens them.’

Marlene said impatiently, ‘Only a few people would have such a silly notion.’

‘Only a few to begin with, but silly notions can be contagious. Fears spread, and some people who wouldn't be afraid if left to themselves, become afraid because their neighbor is. Haven't you ever noticed that sort of thing?’

‘Yes, I have,’ she said with a touch of bitterness. ‘If one boy thinks a bimbo is pretty, they all do. They start competing-’ She paused, as if in embarrassment.

‘The contagious fear is one reason we built the Dome on the other hemisphere. Another is that with Megas always in the sky, astronomic observations are more difficult to make in this hemisphere. But I think it's time we begin our return. You know your mother. She'll be in a panic.’

‘Call her and tell her we're all right.’

‘I don't have to. This ship is sending out signals continuously. She knows we're all right - physically. But that's not what she's worried about,’ he said, tapping his temple significantly.

Marlene slumped in her chair and a look of deep discontent crossed her face. ‘What a pain. I know everyone will say, “It's just because she loves you,” but it's such a bother. Why can't she just take my word for it that I'll be all right?’

‘Because she loves you,’ said Genarr, as he quietly instructed the aircraft to return home, ‘just as you love Erythro.’

Marlene's face brightened at once. ‘Oh, I do.’

‘Yes, yes. It's quite visible in your every reaction to the world.’

And Genarr wondered how Eugenia Insigna would react to that .

51

She reacted in fury. ‘What do you mean, she loves Erythro? How can she love a dead world? Is it possible you brainwashed her? Is there some reason you've talked her into loving it?’

‘Eugenia, be reasonable. Do you really believe it is possible to brainwash Marlene into anything? Have you ever succeeded in doing so?’

‘Then what happened?’

‘Actually, I tried to subject her to situations that would displease or frighten her. If anything, I tried to “brainwash” her into disliking Erythro. I know from experience that Rotorians, brought up in the tight little world of a Settlement, hate the endlessness of Erythro; they don't like the redness of the light; they don't like that enormous puddle of an ocean; they don't like darkening clouds; they don't like Nemesis; and, most of all, they don't like Megas. All these things tend to depress and frighten them. And I showed all these things to Marlene. I took her out over the ocean and then, far enough out to show her Megas entirely above the horizon.’

‘And?’

‘And nothing bothered her. She said she got used to the red light, and it stopped looking so terribly red. The ocean didn't in the least frighten her, and, most of all, she found Megas interesting and amusing.’

‘I can't believe it.’

‘You must. It's true.’

Insigna sank into thought, then said reluctantly, ‘Maybe it's a sign that she's already infected with the - the-’

‘With the Plague. I arranged for another brain scan as soon as we got back. We still haven't got the complete analysis, but the preliminary inspection shows no change. The mind pattern changes markedly and noticeably even in a light case of the Plague. Marlene simply doesn't have it. However, an interesting thought just occurred to me. We know that Marlene is perceptive, that she can note all sorts of little things. Feelings flow from others to her. But have you ever detected anything that might seem the reverse? Do feelings flow from her to others?’

‘I don't understand what you're getting at.’

‘She knows when I'm uncertain and a little anxious, no matter how I try to hide the fact, or that I'm calm and unafraid. Is there any way, though, that she can force me or encourage me to become uncertain and a little anxious - or calm and unafraid? If she detects, can she also impose?’

Insigna stared at him. ‘I think that's crazy!’ she said, her voice choked in disbelief.

‘Perhaps. But have you ever noticed that sort of effect with Marlene? Think about it.’

‘I don't have to think. I've never noticed any such thing.’

‘No,’ muttered Genarr, ‘I suppose you haven't. She would certainly love to make you feel less nervous about herself, and she certainly fails to bring that about. However- It is true, though, if we just cling to Marlene's perceptive ability, that it has strengthened since she has arrived on Erythro. Agreed?’

‘Yes. Agreed.’

‘But it's more than that. She's now strongly intuitive. She knows that she is immune to the Plague. She is certain that nothing on Erythro will harm her. She stared down at the ocean in convinced knowledge that the aircraft wouldn't drop into it and drown her. Has she had this kind of attitude back on Rotor? Hasn't she felt uncertain and insecure on Rotor when there was reason to feel so, just as any other youngster might?’

‘Yes! Certainly.’

‘But here she's a new girl. Totally sure of herself. Why?’

‘I don't know why.’

‘Is Erythro affecting her? No, no, I mean nothing like the Plague. Is there some other effect? Something completely different? I'll tell you why I ask. I felt it myself.’

‘Felt what yourself?’

‘A certain optimism about Erythro. I didn't mind the desolation, or anything else. It's not that I was desperately put off by it before, that Erythro made me seriously uneasy, but I never liked the planet. On this trip with Marlene, however, I came nearer to liking it than ever before in my ten years of residence here. It was possible, I thought, that Marlene's delight was contagious, or that she might somehow be forcing it on me. Or else whatever it is about Erythro that is affecting her may be affecting me, too - in her presence.’

Insigna said sarcastically, ‘I think, Siever, that you had better have a brain scan yourself.’

Genarr raised his eyebrows. ‘Do you think I haven't? I've undergone a check periodically ever since I've been here. There've been no changes except those inseparable from the aging process.’

‘But have you checked your mind pattern since getting back from the plane trip?’

‘Of course. First thing. I'm no fool. The complete analysis isn't back yet, but the preliminary work shows no change.’

‘Then what are you going to do next?’