The first thing Maureen saw as the Pod landed was Smith propelling himself out of the hatch without so much as a foot on the steps between earth and hatch entrance. He landed more nimbly than she would have expected given how often he bemoaned the state of his endlessly painful back. Then Will ejected himself out the opening in much the same frantic state. Older man and young boy both disappeared behind the nearest clump of trees and retching could be heard. When her son reappeared, he looked pale and sweaty. When their reluctant resident showed up a minute later, he looked a bit dazed and equally pale.
"Oh my, what happened to you two?" She wanted to attend to her son, but he gave her a warning look. She wasn't sure if he was worried about puking on her or if he didn't want any coddling. In either case, she backed down and waited for him to approach her.
"We got the samples Dad asked for," he said straightforwardly.
What she didn't immediately notice was that Smith had returned to the hatch, cheeks puffed out like he was holding his breath underwater and returned carrying a bucket. Said bucket was held out at arm's length. In fact, it looked as though was about to dislocate his shoulder in his attempts to put it as far from himself as possible.
Then the reek hit her, a mix of fermenting soil and putrescent flesh.
"OH!" It was all she could exclaim before putting her hand over both mouth and nose. She continued on in a muffled voice. "What is that?"
Smith swung it in her direction and for a second she was worried it would slosh over onto her feet. "This malodorous mess is what your husband requested. Further, allow me to state there isn't enough deutronium in the galaxy to repay me for the effort and suffering I put into both procuring and transporting it."
The chuckle trying to come out of Will's mouth turned into a sound reminiscent of throat clearing. "Mom, I kinda agree with Dr. Smith. Next time Dad wants a sample for further study, I think he or Don should get it."
"And for the record, enduring it in such an enclosed space was a burden I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy." He paused and tried to uncross his eyes. "On second thought. I agree with your son. We shall nominate Major West to retrieve it next time. Now, where do you wish me to put this insalubrious swill?"
Realizing she'd need to take a breath to give instructions, something she dearly wished to avoid, she gestured at the Robot who was standing guard at the perimeter of the clearing. He came to her without comment and stuck out a claw as if able to read her mind. Of course, he couldn't smell it as a human would, so this chore wasn't detestable to him.
"Mrs. Robinson, if you would be kind enough to excuse me, I think I desperately need a shower." He turned toward the hatch.
"That's fine with me. In fact, I definitely think Will should do the same when you are finished. Truthfully, I'm contemplating whether or not to burn your clothes."
When John and Don returned from setting up lightning arrestors, the first words out of Don's mouth were. "What is that awful smell?"
"The sample you asked for, dear."
The innocent way she said it immediately made John suspicious. "Sample? Oh, right. The waste material." He wrinkled his nose. "Wow, that is really quite…pungent. Where is it?"
His wife simply pointed. "Way over there and I think I'd really prefer it if you didn't bring it into the ship."
With a clipped laugh, John said, "A tiny sample shouldn't do too much 'damage'. I can't very well bring the lab equipment out here." Then he looked at his copilot. "Don, why don't you get an eyedropper full and place it in the tray on the lab counter and I'll get to processing it in a bit. And while I'm thinking about samples, what about the soil samples they got from barren area?"
Shrugging, Maureen looked toward the Pod. "They were in such a hurry to get out of there, I guess they forgot it."
"And forgot to close the door too, I see."
Don had returned with the dropper and a gas mask. He was no fool, after all. "Don't worry, I'll get that too. I'm thinking Will and Smith probably did us a favor by leaving the hatch open. Probably needs airing out."
The next two days were spent further setting up camp, making provisions to prevent unexpected intrusions by dangerous creatures, setting up a pool sized cistern to hold water and using the chariot to ferry the water back to camp in order to fill the cistern. The ever-faithful Robot helped move some of the heavier equipment. In between all the other chores, Don worked on repairing the hull. It was slow going but getting done. He had Smith piloting the Pod back and forth to the large pond not more than two miles from camp. The water had tested as potable with some filtering for bacteria and simple microscopic creatures. West figured that this was the easiest chore and the one least likely to be rejected by a lazy individual. He'd jury rigged a flexible bucket and some ropes to the landing struts. The only thing Smith had to do was let the bucket enter the water until it was full and then taxi it back. Once there, all the remaining adults would come over, tip the contents of the bag into the cistern and Smith was off again.
"Eureka," the doctor crowed, as he scanned the printouts from the soil analyzer later that day.
That got everyone's attention, at least everyone in the lower deck. "Good news I hope," John said.
"This sample is largely composed of clay, and the rocks imbedded in it are predominantly made up of porous clay." He gestured the robot to come over. "And we all know what that means. But we can confirm it right now. What do you detect, my gregarious Geiger counter."
The lights on his chest panel flashed and the ear sensors alongside his bubble whirled back and forth faster than normal. "I detect deutronium. In fact, it is quite pure. And probably abundant, once mined."
"Is that radioactive?" Maureen asked in a worried voice.
"Affirmative," the Robot stated then swung his torso to face her. "Although I can reassure you that the radioactivity isn't at sufficient levels to harm humans unless the direct exposure is quite prolonged.
Leaning back in his chair John stroked his chin thoughtfully. "We can always use more deutronium. And if it's plentiful, so much the better."
"I think you're missing the point, Professor."
The youngest Robinson cut in. "Yeah, that's also the area the Leviathan swung around. Do you think that it may be avoiding the deutronium field? Some of it may be leeching into the ground. And maybe they, I don't know, taste it, feel it, sense it? One of them? All of them?"
"Could be," Robinson senior nodded.
Smith leaned back and intertwined his fingers. "We can't discount the curvature around the beach areas, so it might simply be the sand it's avoiding. I noted when flying the Pod in initially that anywhere with beaches or sand dunes such as along the coast, revealed no indications of environmental disruptions. No furrows through it for instance." Reaching out, he snagged one of Maureen's delicious oatmeal cookies. No raisins, which was a shame as far as he was concerned, but he was happy to have the treat anyway. Chewing for a few seconds, he swallowed the bite before continuing. "Of course, the sand may have absolutely nothing to do with it. Perhaps there are more deutronium deposits there as well. And maybe the Leviathan is more than an eating machine. Does it have a rudimentary intelligence, associating sand with deutronium and automatically avoiding it?"
"Does it matter?" inquired Judy, sounding vaguely bored. Clearly, she didn't care how they reached a conclusion as long as they got to one.
"Of course, honey." John took a sip of coffee, a move both Smith and Maureen mirrored. "Understanding the animal helps us arrive at a solution. You know that."
"But if it's avoiding sand or avoiding deutronium…or both…what's the difference. That's there and we're here. How can something so far from us help?"
"Transport it here, silly," Penny piped up from her stateroom door, which was partial open and easily within listening distance. "That's what we have to do."
The chair creaked beneath John's muscular physique. "That was one of the suggestions on the table. So to speak. Both Don and Dr. Smith mentioned something of the sort. Making the ground here less palatable. The biggest issue has been the very thing Penny just said. We have to transport it. If it's the makeup of the sand, for instance, and that gives the thing a whopping belly ache, we'd need to drag a lot of it into the creature's path to be effective." He emphasized the word 'lot' with a great deal of force. "But if it's deutronium, it would be easier to mine, concentrate and then transport."
Not to be left out of the conversation, Smith added, "And distribute. We could transport and dump it in the same manner used to transport the water. Wouldn't have to seed the soil, given the way it eats. We can just distribute piles of it and see if those piles will divert it."
"Won't the radioactivity poison the soil?" Judy asked.
Her dad answered. "No, once it's processed into the pellets, it's relatively inert except for our purposes. But the Leviathan is clearly sensitive to it in the topmost layers of ground so a little may go a long way in deflecting him…or her…away. What it doesn't initially ingest can be shoveled up and stored aboard for our use when we leave." He patted the table with his strong hands. "Which is a task for tomorrow. We've got the grid map and will bring the drilling equipment with us in the Pod. I'd prefer the Chariot but getting there will take far too long. If it takes a few trips to bring everything, so be it."