"Call them, Carol!" Bill shouted at her. "Don't you realize what this
could mean? Don't you realize that something, only God knows what, has
happened to the cellular structure of this animal, has turned it into a
voracious plant-like thing that seems to grow and grow once it hits our
atmosphere? Don't you realize that today they're going to open that
satellite, that other one, in Washington? Suppose this is what happens
when living tissue is exposed to cosmic rays or whatever is up there.
Don't you see what could happen?" Bill was hoarse from fright and
shouting. "Smother everything, grow and grow and smother ..."
Carol was at the ship-to-shore. "What time is it, Carol?"
"I don't know. 5:30 I guess."
"They plan to open the ejection chamber at six. We've got to tell them
what happened here before they open it! Hurry with the damned Coast
Guard!"
"May Day! May Day! Coast Guard come in. This is the _Seven Seas_. Come
in and hurry!"
"Coast Guard to the _Seven Seas_. Come in."
Bill grabbed the phone. "Listen carefully," he said in a quiet
determined voice. "This is God's own truth. I repeat: This is God's own
truth. The remains of the dog we discovered last night have started to
grow. It is growing as we look at it. It has covered the entire island
as far as we can see, with fur. Stinking yellow and black fur. We've got
to get word to Washington before they open up the satellite. The same
thing could happen there. Do you understand? I must get in touch with
Washington. Immediately!"
There was no mistaking the urgency and near-panic in Bill's voice. The
Coast Guard returned with "We understand you _Seven Seas_. We will clear
a line directly to Dr. Killian in Washington. Stand by."
With his hand shaking, Bill turned on the standard broadcast band of the
portable RDF. A voice cut in: "... latest reports from Walter Reed
General Hospital where the first human-manned satellite ejection chamber
has just been opened. All leading physiologists and physicists were
assembled at the hospital by midnight last night and plans to open the
ejection chamber at 6 a.m. this morning were moved up. The chamber was
opened at 4 a.m. Eastern Standard Time today. Our first report confirmed
that volunteer moon traveller, the man in the moon, Robert Joy, was no
longer alive. Hope had been abandoned for him some 80 hours previous,
when recording instruments on his body processes indicated no reactions.
Of scientific curiosity is the fact that though dead for more than three
days, his body is in a perfect state of preservation ...
"Flash! We interrupt this special newscast for a late bulletin: The body
of Robert Joy has begun to shoot out unexplained appendages, like
rapidly growing cancerous growths. His integument appears to be
enlarging, growing away from his body ..."
"Hello _Seven Seas_," broke in the ship-to-shore. "We are still trying
to locate Dr. Killian...."
END
Transcriber's Note:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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