Doctor Who_ Full Circle - Andrew Smith [5]
For the same reasons, no one questioned the classification of citizens at birth. Encephalographic scans dictated whether a person should be designated a Norm - to receive only a minimal education - or an Elite - to receive superior education in all the sciences appropriate to the survival and progression of the Community; mathematics, engineering, physics, chemistry, etc. It was established practice that only Elites could become Deciders.
Draith spared glances for the traces of welding lines which occasionally scarred the walls of the starliner. The reconstruction by their ancestors of the vessel, now being maintained by the present generation of citizens, had been a marvellous engineering achievement. And, of course, vital to their survival when the mists came...
Draith's blood chilled at the very thought. He hoped Dexeter's predictions were wrong, but he knew the man too well to hold that hope too strongly.
They arrived at Dexeter's Science Unit, drawing curious and even worried looks from citizens in the area round about. Rumours were beginning to spread, Draith knew - it was hard to keep this sort of thing quiet, and Dexeter's by now very frequent forays to the riverside harvest sites, collecting botanical specimens, had served only to fuel the speculation.
Within the Science Unit, Dexeter was waiting for them, standing by a lab workbench. The room was in darkness save for a bright blue lamp over the bench. It illuminated a number of slides, several chunks of riverfruit, a high-power microscope and a scattered collection of scientific instruments, most of which looked like cutting tools of some kind.
Garif closed and secured the doors, and the three Deciders crossed over to Dexeter, past a large operating couch, gathering round the cluttered bench, an ominous assembly in the stark blue light.
Draith inwardly assessed Dexeter: he was in his late thirties, a frenetic, urgent character usually, but for the moment he looked unsettlingly grave.
'Well?' said Draith.
Dexter gestured to the samples of riverfruit in front of him. Riverfruits grew in vast abundance in rivers all over the planet - or at least that small area of the planet they had been able to explore. They looked much like melons, and were the staple diet of the community.
'The evidence is here,' said Dexeter. 'And it's not good.'
Garif let out a despairing, patronising sigh. 'Meaning what, exactly, Dexeter?'
Dexeter lifted a half riverfruit and proffered it to them for examination. 'Look,' he said, lifting a small pair of tweezers and carefully prodding at the red-brown mush of the riverfruit's interior. The Deciders noticed a number of small, white objects imbedded among the yellow seeds.
'What are they?' Nefred inquired, voice hushed.
'They seem to be... moving,' Draith noticed, peering more closely.
Dexeter nodded. 'It's the same sign noted in the studies of Corellis and Dell, fifty years ago. It was postulated that they might be eggs of some sort.'
Draith's eyes narrowed. 'Insect eggs.'
'Perhaps.' Dexeter's eyes scanned all three Deciders. 'Unfamiliar insect life is, by what we've previously considered to be common superstition, supposed to precede each... incident.'
Draith turned away from the bench, looking into the shadows beyond their haven of blue light. 'Yes, that's true.'
Even his fellow-Deciders started at this.
'Can you confirm this?' asked Dexeter excitedly. 'Is it mentioned in the System Files?'
'You over-reach yourself, Dexeter,' Nefred warned.
'I cannot discuss the System Files,' said Draith, his expression pained. 'Sometimes I wish I could share it with someone, but Dexeter, I too must obey the procedure.'
Dexeter wished he could share Draith's secrets. The man knew things...