"RR Winterbotham - Specialization" - читать интересную книгу автора (Winterbotham R R)

DR. VON SHULER gloated. He beamed in his own glory. "Riker," he said, "I'm going to produce something beyond the power of imagination. I am going to create a man as he will be a million years in the future. I want you to see it."
He drew back the curtains of a near-by cage. This cage was not incased by glass, but by strong steel bars. Within, savagely baring his fangs, sat a huge gorilla.
It was not a true gorilla, however. There was a certain straightness about the animal's limbs. The eyes were more intelligent and more cruel. The hind legs were more elongated and the arms were shorter. The entire bearing was dimly human.
"Great Scott! Is that he?" cried Riker.
Dr. Von Shuler smiled and shook his head. "No," he said. "But it will be. This animal, three days ago, was a marmoset. I have brought him through a million years of evolution to his present form. It is a stage between gorilla and human, probably more closely related to one of the extinct great apes than to either. To-day I shall take my specimen further up the ladder. He will be human, then superhuman and then the..."
"The ultimate perfection!" whispered Kathryn. She looked at Riker, as if she expected him to object. Dr. Von Shuler, likewise, had his eyes on the young man.
Riker looked at the father and daughter. "I suppose," he said, "that I should object. I should say that I will have nothing to do with it. I should accuse you of tampering with nature and declare that I will have nothing to do with such an unholy venture." He smiled broadly, but nervously. "I confess that I do feel like a bad boy stealing apples from an orchard. But I was never so interested in anything in my life. Dr. Von Shuler, I am keenly anxious to witness the experiment."
Kathryn sighed deeply. She seemed to take on new life, as if a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders. "I knew you would," she said. "But there is danger. You must be willing to take risks."
"Danger?"
"From the artificial fever machine," Dr. Von Shuler hastened to explain. "It is different from the equipment used in most hospitals for the treatment of disease. It is more powerful and its effectiveness depends on the application of fever to the entire body at one time. The smallest ray from the machine is fatal, except to the subject. The subject of the experiment is treated with special injections of drugs, which allow life to continue with a fever of one hundred and thirty degrees!"
The gorilla stamped his foot and growled. It was as if the creature was impatient to begin his evolution.


A BARRED GATE, leading into a passageway connected with the machine-equipped cell, was opened in the gorilla's cage. The animal blinked sullenly, then slowly moved through the opening.
"Quite docile, eh?" Dr. Von Shuler smiled. "He was a beautiful creature as a marmoset - one of two I had shipped from South America."
"What happened to the other?" Dr. Von Shuler looked quickly at the younger scientist. "That one," he said quietly, "resulted in my most successful experiment. You will see soon. These two were very much attached to one another. Soon they will be rejoined. We'll know from that if emotional development runs apace of physical development."
The ape stood before a huge wooden chair in the glass cage. For an instant he eyed the seat, mistrustingly. Then, as if he knew his cue, he sat down. Dr. Von Shuler pressed a button. From the sides of the chair metal irons clamped the creature's arms and legs in place.
The gorilla grunted savagely.
"The needle!" explained Dr. Von Shuler. "It has injected a solution into the creature's back that will enable the nervous system to withstand the high fever."
A motor in the room gave a low whine as it started to build up power for the experiment.
"Are you ready, Kathryn?" asked Dr. Von Shuler.
. "Yes, father," she said. Her voice was tense.
"There's a switch behind you, Riker," said the scientist. "If anything goes wrong, pull it."
Kathryn moved into a shielded place at one end of the experiment chamber.
The whine of the motor raised its pitch steadily, then held the same tone.
"Ready!" called Dr. Von Shuler.
He touched a switch. The gorilla was bathed in light. The animal strained at its bonds at first, then closed its small eyes and drooped languidly in the chair.
It slowly seemed to change. The hair disappeared. The arms shortened. Then the brow seemed to raise in height and the chin grew more pointed. The change at first was so slow it was hardly noticeable.
"Miraculous!" gasped Riker.
The creature was more nearly a man than an ape.
"Pithecanthropus!" announced Dr. Von Shuler. "It's going to be a success."
The face of the subhuman man in the cage became more normal and the neck more slender. For a time the shaggy eyebrows alone remained of the apelike features. Then these, too, disappeared.
In the chair, where once crouched an ape, sat a man - a well-formed, handsome white savage.
"Father!" cried Kathryn. "I know him!"
"Kathryn!"
A cry of alarm broke from Dr. Von Shuler's lips. No longer was he a scientist. He was a father.
He jumped from behind his shield. He jerked the switch at Riker's shoulder. The whine of the motors lowered and the lights bathing the white savage dimmed.
The door of the glass cage opened and Kathryn sprang to the side of the man in the chair. Her voice came in a peculiar, unintelligible chatter.
"Stop her!" screamed Dr. Von Shuler.
She was unfastening the metal bars that held the savage's arms. Riker ran toward the cage door.
Slowly, the creature in the cage opened its eyes. He saw Kathryn. His lips parted in a smile.
His arm slowly lifted and grasped the girl. The other arm circled her neck. With a grunt, the brute pushed her head back. There was a sickening snap.
Dr. Von Shuler screamed.
Riker was in the cage, facing the savage. He bared long, ugly fangs and started toward the young scientist. Then he lowered his head in a charge.
Riker struck, at the same time leaping out of the way. The blow caught the creature and sent him staggering against the glass walls of the cage. There was a crash. Jagged glass tore into the smooth, white flesh of the savage. Blood spurted about the cage.
The half-human creature jumped to his feet. He swayed unsteadily. Then he charged once more toward Riker.
The young scientist dodged again, but his leap carried him into a corner. The savage smiled. Riker could not dodge from a corner. He moved slowly to-
ward the biologist. Riker ducked under the circling arms and punched viciously against the hard, abdominal muscles. He felt the hands close about his throat. But the grip was weak. The creature's hands slipped and then the half-human savage slumped to the floor. He had bled to death.