On Brion's when he came in, were two of paper. As he sat and for them he was of an in the air, a blast. It was from the air-conditioner grill, which was now by bars. The unit was sealed shut. Someone was either being very or very efficient. Either way, it was cold. Brion at the plate until it buckled, then it aside. After a look into the he one wire and it to another. He was by a number of and a quantity of smoke. The and expired.
Faussel was in the door with more papers, a on his face. "What do you have there?" Brion asked.
Faussel managed to out his and the to the desk, them on the already there. "These are the progress reports you asked for, from all units. Details to date, conclusions, suggestions, et cetera."
"And the other pile?" Brion pointed.
"Offplanet correspondence, invoices, requisitions." He the of the while he answered. "Daily reports, hospital log...." His voice died away and stopped as Brion pushed the off the of the into the wastebasket.
"In other words, red tape," Brion said. "Well, it's all filed."
One by one the progress reports the into the basket, until the was clear. Nothing. It was just what he had expected. But there had always been the off that one of the specialists[Pg 105] come up with a new approach. They hadn't; they were all too specializing.
Outside the sky was darkening. The entrance had been told to let in anyone who came for the director. There was nothing else Brion do until the Nyjord contact. Irritation at him. At least Lea was doing something constructive; he look in on her.
He opened the door to the with a of anticipation. It and instantly. Her was and she was gone. She's having dinner, he thought, or—she's in the hospital. The hospital was on the below, and he there first.
"Of she's here!" Dr. Stine grumbled. "Where else should a girl in her condition be? She was out of long today. Tomorrow's the last day, and if you want to any more work out of her the deadline, you had let her tonight. Better let the whole staff rest. I've been out like all day. They're apart."
"The world's apart. How is Lea doing?"
"Considering her shape, she's fine. Go in and see for if you won't take my word for it. I have other to look at."
"Are you that worried, Doctor?"
"Of I am! I'm just as to the of the as the of you. We're on a bomb and I don't like it. I'll do my job as long as it is necessary, but I'll also be to see the ships land to us out. The only skin that I about right now is my own. And if you want to be let in on a public secret—the of your staff the same way. So don't look to too much efficiency."
"I did," Brion said to the back.
Lea's room was dark, only by the light of Dis's moon in through the window. Brion let himself in and closed the door him. Walking quietly, he over to the bed. Lea was sleeping soundly, her and regular. A[Pg 106] night's sleep now would do as much good as all the medication.
He should have gone then; instead, he sat in the chair next to the of the bed. The where he was—he wait here just as well as any place else.
It was a moment of peace on a world at the of destruction. He was for it. Everything looked less in the moonlight, and he some of the from his eyes. Lea's was by the light, and young, a direct to else on this world. Her hand was of the and he took it in his own, a impulse. Looking out of the window at the in the distance, he let the peace wash over him, himself to for the moment that in one more day life would be from this planet.
Later, when he looked at Lea he saw that her were open, though she hadn't moved. How long had she been awake? He his hand away from hers, guilty.
"Is the boss-man looking after the serfs, to see if they're fit for the in the morning?" she asked. It was the of she had used with such in the ship, though it didn't as now. And she was smiling. Yet it him too well of her from the sticks. Here he might be the director, but on Earth he would be only one more gaping, lead-footed yokel.
"How do you feel?" he asked, and the of the words, as he said them.
"Terrible. I'll be by morning. Reach me a piece of fruit from that bowl, will you? My mouth tastes like an old heel. I wonder how fresh fruit got here. Probably a gift to the from the on Nyjord."
She took the apple Brion gave her and into it. "Did you think of going to Earth?"
Brion was startled. This was too close to his own about backgrounds. There[Pg 107] couldn't possibly be a though. "Never," he told her. "Up until a months ago I Anvhar. The Twenties are such a big thing at home that it is hard to that anything else while you are still taking part in them."
"Spare me the Twenties," she pleaded. "After to you and Ihjel, I know more about them than I shall to know. But what about Anvhar itself? Do you have big city-states as Earth does?"
"Nothing like that. For its size, it has a very small population. No big at all. I the largest of population are around the schools, packing plants, like that."
"Any there?" Lea asked, with a woman's ability to make any personal.
"At the universities, I suppose, though I wouldn't know for sure. And you must that when I say no big cities, I also no little cities. We aren't that way at all. I the physical unit is the family and the circle of friends. Friends quickly, since the family up when children are still young. Something in the genes, I suppose—we all being alone. I you might call it an trait."
"Up to a point," she said, into the apple. "Carry that of thing too and you end up with no population at all. A amount of is necessary for that."
"Of it is. And there must be some of relationship or control—that or complete promiscuity. On Anvhar the is on personal responsibility, and that to take of the problem. If we didn't have an adult way of looking at ... things, our of life would be impossible. Individuals are together either by accident or design, and with this must be some of relations...."
"You're me," Lea protested. "Either I'm still from the dope, or you are unable to[Pg 108] speak a word of less than four syllables. You know—whenever this with you, I the that you are trying to up something. For Occam's sake, be specific! Bring me together two of these and tell me what happens."
Brion took a breath. He was in over his and from shore. "Well—take a like myself. Since I like cross-country I make my home in this big house our family has, right at the of the Broken Hills. In I looked after a herd, but after my time was my own all winter. I did a of skiing, and used to work for the Twenties. Sometimes I would go visiting. Then again, people would in on me—houses are and on Anvhar. We don't have on our doors. You accept and give without qualification. Whoever comes. Male ... female ... in groups or just traveling alone...."
"I the drift. Life must be for a single girl on your planet. She must surely have to home a lot."
"Only if she wants to. Otherwise she can go she and be as another individual. I it is out of fashion in the of the galaxy—and would a big laugh on Earth—but a platonic, man and woman is an thing on Anvhar."
"Sounds dull. If you are all such and friends, how do made?"
Brion his ears reddening, not sure if he was being or not. "The same way they any place else! But it's not just a like a of that to meet under the same bush. It's the woman's choice to if she is in marriage."
"Is marriage the only thing your are in?"
"Marriage or ... anything else. That's up to the girl. We have a special problem on Anvhar—probably the same thing on every planet[Pg 109] where the has a adaptation. Not all are and there is always a large of miscarriages. A large number of are by insemination. Which is all right when you can't have normally. But most have an having their husband's children. And there is only one way to out if this is possible."
Lea's widened. "Are you that your girls see if a man can father children marriage?"
"Of course. Otherwise Anvhar would have been centuries ago. Therefore the woman the choosing. If she is in a man, she says so. If she is not interested, the man would think of anything. It's a different from other planets, but so is our Anvhar. It well for us, which is the only test that applies."
"Just about the opposite of Earth," Lea told him, the apple into a dish and the of her fingers. "I you Anvharians would Earth as a of sexuality. The of your system, and going full blast all the time. There are too many people there for comfort. Birth came late and is still being fought—if you can possibly that. There are just too many of the still around, as well as ideas that have been long in custom. The world's overcrowded. Men, women, children, a you look. And all of the physically ones to be in the Great Game of Love. The male is always the aggressor. Not physically—at least not often—and take the most of for granted. At parties there are always a of of your neck. A girl has to keep her sharp."
"She has to what?"
"A of speech, Brion. Meaning you all the time, if you don't want to be under by the flood."[Pg 110]
"Sounds rather"—Brion the word he said it, but none other suitable—"repellent."
"From your point of view, it would be. I'm we so used to it that we take it for granted. Sociologically speaking...." She stopped and looked at Brion's and almost posture. Her and her mouth opened in an oh of realization.
"I'm being a fool," she said. "You weren't speaking at all! You had a very in mind. Namely me!"
"Please, Lea, you must understand...."
"But I do!" She laughed. "All the time I you were being a and hard-hearted of ice, you were being very sweet. Just playing the game in good old Anvharian style. Waiting for a from me. We'd still be playing by different if you hadn't had more than I, and that along the line we must have got our mixed. And I you were some of celibate." She let her hand go out and her through his hair. Something she had been wanting to do for a long time.
"I had to," he said, trying to the light touch of her fingers. "Because I so much of you, I couldn't have done anything to you. Such as my on you. Until I to worry where the would lie, since I nothing about your planet's mores."
"Well, you know now," she said very softly. "The men aggress. Now that I understand, I think I like your way better. But I'm still not sure of all the rules. Do I that yes, Brion, I like you so very much? You are more man, in one great big wide-shouldered lump, than I have met before. It's not the time or the place to discuss marriage, but I would like—"
His arms were around her, her to him. Her hands him and their each other's in the darkness.
"Gently ..." she whispered. "I easily...."[Pg 111]
