The Colors of Space

At the top of the ramp, a Lhari glanced briefly at his papers, motioned

him through. Bart passed through the airlock, and into a brightly lit

corridor half full of passengers. The line was moving slowly, and for

the first time Bart had a chance to think.

He had never seen violent death before. In this civilized world, you

didn't. He knew if he thought about Briscoe, he'd start bawling like a

baby, so he swallowed hard a couple of times, set his chin, and

concentrated on the trip to Procyon Alpha. That meant this ship was

outbound on the Aldebaran run--Proxima Centauri, Sirius, Pollux,

Procyon, Capella and Aldebaran.

The line of passengers was disappearing through a doorway. A woman ahead

of Bart turned and said nervously, "We won't be put into cold-sleep

right away, will we?"

He reassured her, remembering his inbound trip five years ago. "No, no.

The ship won't go into warp-drive until we're well past Pluto. It will

be several days, at least."

Beyond the doorway the lights dwindled, and a Mentorian interpreter took

his dark glasses, saying, "Kindly remove your belt, shoes and other

accessories of leather or metal before stepping into the decontamination

chamber. They will be separately decontaminated and returned to you.

Papers, please."

With a small twinge of fright, Bart surrendered them. Would the

Mentorian ask why he was carrying two wallets? Inside the other one, he

still had his Academy ID card which identified him as Bart Steele, and

if the Mentorian looked through them to check, and found out he was

carrying two sets of identity papers....

But the Mentorian merely dumped all his pocket paraphernalia, without

looking at it, into a sack. "Just step through here."

Holding up his trousers with both hands, Bart stepped inside the

indicated cubicle. It was filled with faint bluish light. Bart felt a

strong tingling and a faint electrical smell, and along his forearms

there was a slight prickling where the small hairs were all standing on

end. He knew that the invisible R-rays were killing all the

microorganisms in his body, so that no disease germ or stray fungus

would be carried from planet to planet.

The bluish light died. Outside, the Mentorian gave him back his shoes

and belt, handed him the paper sack of his belongings, and a paper cup

full of greenish fluid.

"Drink this."

"What is it?"

The medic said patiently, "Remember, the R-rays killed all the

microorganisms in your body, including the good ones--the antibodies

that protect you against disease, and the small yeasts and bacteria that

live in your intestines and help in the digestion of your food. So we

have to replace those you need to stay healthy. See?"