explained, "then when your white light starts
flashing, press four. And every corridor in the ship will be a maze of
sterile fields."
59 "Perfect!" Morn replied. "Now I want volunteers to go up into the
pod and do the same thing there. Hopefully you can get it done while
that thing's having its snack."
60 Eight men hurried off for the forward hatch. A few minutes later the
colony's Governor appeared. "Listen," Morn said, "what was different
about the colony and the shafts that was not the same on the planet's
surface? If you have a meteorite storm, and they burned up, you must
have had an atmosphere. What was different?"
61 "Nothing," he explained, "that we can think of. You didn't need
protective suits unless you wanted to stay out a long time. A couple of hours was all right out of the
rollers. The atmosphere was breathable, it was just
so damn dry you dehydrated! No damned humidity....nearly zero. The
shafts were wet. We created moisture when we dug. Sometimes we had to
seal the damned rocks to keep the water out."
62 "Moisture," cried Morn, "of course! Moisture! A gaseous creature
couldn't exist in a dry atmosphere. It would dissipate." Morn went over
to the Second Engineer. "How long," he asked, "would it take to bring
the pod and the ship down to zero humidity?"
63 The Engineer checked some gages. "About ten minutes, sir," he
answered.
64 Morn went over to the communicator and called sickbay. "Doctor," he
asked, "how long can we survive at zero humidity?"
65 "Only a few hours," the Doctor answered, "and that depends a great
deal on your physical condition. Those in the pod won't be able to last
long at all."
66 "Then get up there," Morn answered, "and help them any way you can.
I'm drying out the ship." He nodded to