Fantastic Voyage - By Isaac Asimov Page 0,34

we want as little of the miniaturized water pumped into Benes as possible."

Cora said, "Oh, dear."

Her hair had fallen into disarray and as she tried, futilely, to move it back and out of her eyes, she nearly fell over. Grant tried to catch her but Duval had her upper arm in a firm grip.

As suddenly as the erratic rocking had started, it ceased.

"We're in the needle," said Owens with relief. He turned on the ship's outer lights.

Grant peered ahead. There was little to see. The saline solution ahead seemed to sparkle like a dusting of dim fireflies. Far up above and far down below was the distant curve of something which shone more brightly. The walls of the needle?

A quick sense of worry nagged at him. He turned to Michaels. "Doctor..."

Michaels' eyes were closed. They opened reluctantly and his head turned in the direction of the voice. "Yes, Mr. Grant."

"What do you see?"

Michaels stared forward, spread his hands slightly, and said, "Sparkles."

"Do you make out anything clearly? Does everything seem to dance about?"

"Yes, it does. It dances."

"Does that mean our eyes are affected by the miniaturization?"

"No, no, Mr. Grant." Michaels sighed wearily, "If you're worried about blindness, forget it. Look around you here in the Proteus. Look at me. Is there anything wrong with how it looks in here?"

"No."

"Very well. In here, you are seeing miniaturized lightwaves with an equally miniaturized retina and all is well. But when miniaturized light-waves go out there into a less-miniaturized or completely unminiaturized world, they are not easily reflected. They're quite penetrating, in fact. We see only intermittent reflections here and there. Therefore, everything out there seems to flicker to us."

"I see. Thank you, doc," said Grant.

Michaels sighed again. "I trust I get my sea-legs soon. The flickering light and the Brownian motion together are giving me a headache."

"Here we go!" cried Owens, suddenly.

They were sliding forward now, 'the sensation was unmistakable. The far-off curving walls of the hypodermic needle seemed more solid now as the spotty reflection of miniaturized light from their walls blurred and melted together. It was like riding a roller-coaster down an infinite incline.

Up ahead, the solidity seemed to come to an end in a tiny circle of flicker. The circle enlarged slowly, then more rapidly, then yawned into an incredible abyss-and all was flicker.

Owens said, "We're in the carotid artery now." The Time Recorder read 56.
Chapter 9 : ARTERY
Duval looked about with exultation. "Conceive it," he said, "Inside a human body; inside an artery. -Owens! Put out the interior lights, man! Let us see God's handiwork."

The interior lights went off, but a form -of ghostly light streamed in from outside; the spotty reflection of the ship's miniaturized light beams fore and aft.

Owens had brought the Proteus into virtual motionlessness with reference to the arterial blood-stream, allowing it to sweep along with the heart-driven flow. He said, "You can remove harnesses, I think."

Duval was out of his in a bound, and Cora was with him at once. They flung themselves at the window in a kind of marveling ecstasy. Michaels rose more deliberately, threw a glance at the other two, then turned to his chart, studying it closely.

He said tightly, "Excellent precision."

"Did you think we might have missed the artery?" asked Grant.

For a moment, Michaels stared absently at Grant, Then: "Uh - no! That would have been unlikely. But we might have penetrated past a key branch point, been unable to buck the arterial current, and lost time having to plot an alternate and poorer route. As it is, the ship is just where it ought to be." His voice quavered.

Grant said, encouragingly, "We seem to be doing well so far."

"Yes." A pause, then hastily, "From this spot, we combine ease of insertion, rapidity of current, and directness of route, so that we should reach our destination with an absolute minimum of delay."

"Well, good." Grant nodded, and turned to the window. Almost at once he was lost in amazement at the wonder of it all.

The distant wall seemed half a mile away and glowed a brilliant amber in fits and sparks, for it was mostly hidden by the vast melange of objects that floated by near the ship.

It was a vast exotic aquarium they faced, one in which not fish but far stranger objects. filled the vision. Large rubber tires, the centers depressed but not pierced through, were the most numerous objects. Each was about twice the diameter of the ship, each an orange-straw color, each sparkling and blazing intermittently,