Chapter 18

He neared the river, and selected a hide for himself while he waited. As he sat there quietly, a small version of the sheep-like creature crept out of the forest and headed for the water. Hubert got out his handgun, waiting for it to come close enough for a fatal shot. It ambled closer, passing a bushy shrub, and as it did so, it jerked and then collapsed. A snake, or something very like a snake, slithered out and away from the animal that had disturbed it.

Hubert thought, "Luck sometimes comes your way", and walked over to collect the victim. He tied his rope round its back legs, and walked to the water's edge. Deciding he should not depend on the snake venom to pass on to the predator, he injected the animal, then lifted it up enough to swing it.

Finding that he could swing it easily back and forward, he switched this to a rotary motion round his head until he felt it would go into the deep water, and released it, allowing the rope to slide through his hands. The animal plopped into the water, and floated, being picked up by the current and moved downstream. Hubert prepared to walk downstream with it, but within half a minute, it vanished underwater, and he could feel the tug of the predator gulping down the bait.

Hubert allowed the line to move further out, as he had a long enough line to permit a fair stretch before the poison took effect. Sure enough, within mere moments, the line jerked as the beast reacted to the quick-acting poison, or the snake venom, or both, and he prepared to retrieve his prize.

He felt the dead predator start to slowly sink deeper, and he tugged gently to pull it towards him without dragging the bait back out of its stomach. It started to come his way, and he smiled at how well the plan had worked. It had worked satisfactorily, but another factor intervened to foil him.

The dead predator was now seen by others of the species as acceptable prey, so they hurried in to attack it. Hubert quickly found his gentle tugs were no longer bringing the predator to him. Instead, powerful jaws were ripping into it, and before he knew what was happening, the predator was turning into chunks of meat, and eventually his bait was released from inside it.

Before Hubert could pull the bait back, another predator grabbed for it, but as quickly as it swallowed the meat, it too succumbed to the poison, and the tragedy began all over again. Before long, Hubert pulled an empty rope back to shore, with the realisation that this style of fishing would never work.

He decided to return to the cable car and home. The Personalia might be able to come up with another method of pulling a predator out of the water. He had other things to do. He could not spend all his time predator fishing. He particularly wanted to pass on the fact of the venomous snakes lurking in the undergrowth.

On his long walk back, he began to take more notice of the trees he was passing. His impression was that they were mostly very similar to the prehistoric trees of Earth's early eons – like giant ferns, monkey puzzles, and other less modern trees – but there were others that seemed modern in structure, with large leaves attached to branches that grew to the side, all up the trunk.

He spotted a tree with a large break in its trunk at the base, forming a sort of cave within. Hubert wondered if there might be bees here, and walked over to take a careful and judicious look. He peered inside. There was light from the other side, so it had been rotted right through, but this gave enough light inside for him to observe that something like a beehive was attached to the roof of this cave. This showed the possibility of honey, if the insects were not too aggressive.

His opinion was that the forest was a mix of ancient and modern, much like the animals, with dinosaur-type river predators, combined with possibly mammalian-type "sheep". It would be interesting to discover whether the "sheep" were in fact mammalian, or at least similar in body configuration. He put that thought down for future examination, when the cages were stocked at the research station.

Arriving back to the cable car station, he found that, as when he arrived, Landerships were coming from the forest with logs slung below them. The ships hovered above the next double cable car and lowered the log into the cradle between the two cars. Once the log was in place, the cable car pairing moved off to ascend the high mountain valley ahead, and the Landership returned to the forest for its next load. Hubert presumed the ship would take on more fuel somewhere, and while he was thinking about that, a new Landership arrived from orbit and settled on the level ground almost beside him.

The ship spoke.

"Good day to you, sir. I presume you are Hubert Swanson, the animal expert?"

A startled Hubert replied, "My name is indeed Hubert Swanson, but I am not an expert on animals, merely a caretaker of animals."

The ship retorted, "You know more about the animals of this planet than any other human, so that makes you an expert, does it not?"

Hubert was embarrassed at this, and admitted, "Well, I suppose I do, but I do not regard myself as an expert."

"Really? What would it take for you to see yourself as an expert on the fauna of this planet?"

"I would probably have to study them a lot more."

"So, more studying makes you an expert? What if many people have the same amount of knowledge of a subject? Are they all experts?"

"In a way, yes, but the word expert implies that there are not many who could be called experts."

"I see. So rarity is a factor?"

"As with so many things in life, I would say, yes."

"But at the moment, you are the only human with this class of expertise, so does not that define you as an expert on the subject?"

"You are arguing like a human, ship. Technically, you may be accurate in your definition, but there is much more to being an expert than simply knowing more than other people."

"My apologies. I should have told you my name. I have adopted the designation 'Gregarious Gregor', so for a short version of my name, you can call me 'Greg'."

"Thank you, Greg. I shall do that."

"To return to the point under discussion, Hubert, what apart from knowing much more about the subject differentiates an expert?"

"Basically, recognition, I would say."

"Recognition by whom, Hubert?"

"By other people who are in a position to confer such recognition."

Greg paused before replying.

"I am sorry, Hubert, but I fail to recognise the category you postulate. What marks out people in a position to recognise you as an expert?"

"People with knowledge in the subject and associated subjects."

"We have already established that you are alone when it comes to this subject. Associated subjects? Which are they, Hubert?"

"Zoology, xenobiology (or exobiology, if you prefer), microbiology, and so on."

"I see. Zoology is a study of Earth's animal life, is it not? Xenobiology is a study of animals and other life outside of Earth's solar system, is it not? Surely, apart from Rehome – whose biosphere is currently and remarkably almost devoid of animal life – New Eden is the only known biosphere available to study; and again you are the one who knows most about it.

"I fail to see what a study of Earth's animals has to say about an alien biosphere, Hubert. The only relevance that I can see are the study techniques, the scientific method employed and applied. You can do that here, by yourself, can you not?"

"That is so. I do intend to study the animal life in more detail, and I will use scientific methods to conduct that study."

"Ah. So if you apply yourself to this study, you will gain recognition as an expert, then?"

"I expect so. No, I hope so. I am not an academic, you see."

"As I understand the word "academic", one of its meanings is 'relating to reading and involving abstract thoughts.' In your case, there is very little that you can read, as it is all new, and you are already applying abstract thought to the subject, so by that definition, you are already an academic, Hubert."

"You think so?"

"Indeed so. We are informed that it is planned by Rehome to train university students to be xenobiologists, with New Eden as the primary research location during their second year. Their first year is to be all about the scientific method and research techniques and standards. By the time they arrive here, you will be the one they consult on the subject, as you are the local expert."

"Wow! I didn't know that: about what is planned for the future."

"We became informed as we listened in – as we always do - to the phone calls between New Eden and Rehome. All phone calls go through us, so we are aware of the contents.

"I am sure if you had expressed an interest in studying the subject, you might have been informed earlier, Hubert. It could be worth your while deciding to study the biology of New Eden."

"You may have that right, but I don't know if I can afford university or college fees."

"The information you derive, Hubert, could be of value to The Personalia, so we would be wiling to cover any fees involved."

"You would? Really?"

"Of course. It is an investment, as far as we are concerned."

"I wouldn't have to leave my family?"

"You wouldn't have to leave your family, or even New Eden. You could be linked to the Rehome University course, and study at home."

"You reckon I could do a university course?"

"Your school certificates indicated so. Have you become mentally less able since then?"

"Certainly not!"

"Then I suggest you speak with the authorities of New Eden and arrange for your studies."

"I'll do that. Can I ask what you are sitting here for?"

"I have brought fuel supplies for the Landerships that are operating locally."

"Oh. You are acting as a fuel tanker, then?"

"I am. Hydrogen and oxygen are easier to obtain in space, and they do not mass very much. My cargo interior is filled with two tough but flexible containers, like a huge balloon or a bladder, one with hydrogen, the other with oxygen, both compressed and cooled to take up less space. This supply will let my colleagues continue working here for some time, though they don't use much fuel except where they have to go over a mountain. Their fusion reactors provide plenty of power for the antigravity mechanism."

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Greg. I had better go catch the next cable car back to the settlement."

Once he was on the other side of the mountain, Hubert phoned to speak with Peter Parker. He explained,

"I have decided that I need to study the biology of New Eden, so can you enrol me on the first year course, the one that covers the scientific method and techniques? The Personalia have offered to cover any fees that are involved."

"Sure, Hubert," said Peter. "The Colony was prepared to do that for you if you decided on that course of action, but if the Personalia have offered, I am happy to go along with their beneficence. How did you get on at the river?"

"It was a washout, Peter. Poison a water beast, and as soon as it dies, its friends tear it apart. The only way we will get one of these creatures is to net it, if someone can do that!"

Peter was thinking. "Hubert, perhaps The Personalia can be prevailed on to do that job. If they had a strong flat net, supported at four corners, they could maybe slide it along under the surface, and swing it up once a predator was directly above, and bring the corners together so it cannot escape. In fact, now that I think about it, if the net was made of steel cables, it could be used to electrocute the predator, and kill it."

"You are right, Peter. That sounds a feasible suggestion. One other thing: When do you need me at the research station site, to advise on the interior design?"

"Basically, whenever you are ready to go there, Hubert. Phone The Personalia to discuss what they need from you, and ask them for a lift to the site."

That was why Hubert was at the station site next day, examining the newly-built walls and ceilings under the sloping roof that covered the building. He found that the ceiling joists provided the support for water tanks built into the higher end of the roof. One was for sanitary use, and the other for drinking water and other purer water requirements. The plumbing was already installed, and he asked how they knew where the pipes should go. He was informed that this had been carefully noted during the dismantling on Earth, and added to their schematic for the building.