"It's about the only gem that can't be synthesized, isn't it?" he asked the doctor.
"Yes—that's the main reason for its enormous value. And it's my guess that it couldn't be synthesized for a long time even if we knew a lot more about it than we do. The reason we don't know much is absurdly simple: the stuff is just too damned expensive for a mere scientist to be permitted more than superficial analysis. But we do know this: synthesizing it would be tantamount to creating life."
"Don't look now," Will Archer interrupted calmly, "but there's a sizable planet breathing down our necks. So if you gentlemen would retire to your respective stations, I can guarantee to add considerable weight to the discussion."
"Not that the stuff is really alive, in any accepted sense," Dr. Grimwood went on a few minutes later, his breathing somewhat labored, but his enthusiasm not altogether squelched by three hundred and fifty added pounds. "But it certainly isn't jade at all, or anything similar. That misnomer has stuck because of its greenish glow—although if you examine it under a very strong light, it appears dead black. Actually, it's a microbiotic crystalline formation, the result of some age-long process believed to be conducted by a virus-like life-form. The 'jade' itself seems to be a borderline structure, having no obvious properties of life—yet there is the contradictory cold light, or bioluminescence, which would indicate some degree of electrochemical change. I'm not a bio-chemist myself, but I'll tell you there are one or two fellows on the other ship who would cut all our throats, in a charmingly objective manner, in order to lay their hands on this bauble. Some think that Farian jade may very possibly hold the secret of life itself."
With an effort, the doctor lifted his hand high enough so that, without altering his reclining position, he could peer over his own chin at the jewel. Archer found his eyes held by it almost hypnotically, as it pulsated through the gamut of hues, now blending, now contrasting with the dominant green.
"From what I've heard," said Archer, "the virus, or whatever makes it, is pretty deadly to humans. Is it true that you can't even tell you're infected until the final convulsions?"
"In effect, yes," replied Dr. Grimwood. "Although if you're exposed to it, which means stumbling across one of the rare and unpredictable localities where the jade is found, the chances are about four out of five that you will be infected. The fifth person, for some inexcusably unknown reason, seems to be immune. But there is one symptom that occurs with some punctuality three and a half hours after exposure, and about 15 minutes before the convulsions: it's a bodily glow, or aura, due to some bioluminescent substance saturating the tissues.
"However, it is so faint that it can be seen only in the dark, and then not by the victim himself, since it shows up only in contrast to a dark background. I think that is the explanation of the fact that we found all the lights out when we boarded this ship."
"You mean," said Archer, with some alarm, "that fellow might have died of the virus infection—in this chair?"