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explanation to Azevedo.
Laneff, do you realize that the best minds of Rathor have been trying to do
this he pointed to the results of her gas chromatography for centuries!
The gas chromatograph hasn t been around that long, said Jarmi.
Well, he amended, so facilely that Laneff was instantly certain that Rathor
had the instrument long before the rest of the modern world, I mean trying to
analyze moondrop.
There s a lot of stuff in this mixture that I don t know anything about,
answered Laneff. But I ve been analyzing the vile mixtures my synthesis
produces for years, and I ve invented a few kinds of column packs to handle
it!
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You don t seem to realize what this implies, said Azevedo.
If it s true, said Laneff, depressed, it means that I murdered Digen
Farris.With an overdose of kerduvon! She was wishing more frantically than
ever that Shanlun was back. He and Mairis were the only ones who could say for
sure if that was the case.
Azevedo brought his fields back into the channeling mode by some dissolving
sort of effect. Softly, he said, It also means that you ve synthesized
moondrop something long thought impossible. In fact, it was once a religious
premise!
It isn t really moondrop, argued Laneff, somewhat horrified. I told you
there s a lot of odd organics in the natural stuff. I ve got one of the active
ingredients!
Two, returned Azevedo. There re two isomers.
But nobody knows what the other does! replied Laneff.
YourK/A has two known properties, he said. It stops selyn flow in
placentas. And it mitigates the transfer abort reflex. Kerduvon has several
other properties, some of which may be attributable to the other isomer.
What properties? askedJarmi.
Azevedo merely said, Why don t you synthesize some of the other isomer, and
let s run a few quick tests on it. Then we ll compare it to the known
properties of moondrop.
Shanlun had said she could disjunct using kerduvon, but not until after the
baby was born. Kerduvon is an abortifacient and a disjunctant. Could it be
that K/A is the abortifacient and K/B is the disjunctive agent?
Unbidden, a feeling she d had while making love with Shanlun came back to
her the feeling that she was Gen. It had been a feeling of wholeness that went
beyond Sime and Gen. Everything in the universe was a component of something
larger.
With a blinding insight that shook her to the core she knew beyond all reason
that K/B had to be natural to the Gen metabolism, as K/A was to the Sime. If
K/A fit into receptors on the selyn-transport nerves, then perhaps K/B tied
into the central nervous system of the Gen perhaps the brain surface
receptors. The state of junctedness might cause irreparable imbalance in that
complex biochemistry, causing the producers of the substances to atrophy. And
that s why people die in disjunction as adults?
Laneff, said Jarmi, perhaps for the tenth time. You can t stand there
slack-jawed all night. Tell us what you re thinking.
Azevedo s hand came to her arm, cradling the tentacles gently. First, let s
get some dinner into her.
Laneff went without protest, lost in thought. Interrogated over the meal, she
said, I m just feeling so stupid. This has been staring me in the face for
years. I couldn t see it!
But you didn t know anything about moondrop. You didn t know that your
compound actually occurs in nature!
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Well, it or something awfully like it occurs in the Sime body! You know we
produce within ourselvesall the pharmacopoeia we really require. Kerduvon
isn t so much a drug as it is a vitamin! Maybe there are even traces of it in
trin tea! She held up her glass to look at it.
You re exaggerating, said Jarmi. This is going to be decades in the
researching stage. She shoved her chair closer to Laneff. She s in need,
can t you zlin? Laneff, you ll have the strength to deal with this in a few
days, when we ve had our transfer.
A week, you mean, said Laneff, realizing that she d never discussed the
problem of transfer with Jarmi. Time goes so fast!
Azevedo leaned across the table. Not quite a week. Laneff, you re deeper
into need than mere passage of time would indicate. Your transfer should be
moved up a few days. Don t let depression swallow you whole. It s just part of
life. Take it in stride.
Laneff zlinned the old channel next to Desha, who was for him a
not-quite-adequate-but-best-there-was Donor.Azevedo knew whereof he spoke. But
are Jarmi and I even that closely matched?
Without being asked, Azevedo zlinned Laneff and Jarmi, comparing, and
pronounced, Jarmi s selyn production is increasing slightly. She ll be ready
for you when you are for her. But he probed them seriously Jarmi, you do
realize that this may in fact be the last transfer you ll have with Laneff
until after the baby is born? Your capacity is just not going to match hers
when that channel fetus starts to draw selyn in earnest.
I understand, replied Jarmi gravely.
¦ Azevedo, said Laneff, hesitant. He brought his attention to her, and she
had to just blurt it out. Maybe it d be better if you give me transfer this
time, too?
Laneff! cried Jarmi, and the bereft tone sliced through Lanefll s heart.
Azevedo, studying her, zlinned Desha. Are you still Tecton enough to accept a
channel s judgment?
Yes.
I think you ll do better on Gen transfer this time. And of all our Gens,
Jarmi really is your best match here. Her willingness is also a big factor in
that. Now, it is up to you, Laneff. I know Tecton renSimes aren t trained to
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