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legitimate wilderness, than to be chipped away by the wilderness of Earth's deterioration.34 Fanny came, though it was evident that she had serious misgivings. Tully picked her up on his tandem bike, because the gasoline shortage prevented the use of her family's car. This in itself was a bad omen: she would not arrive in a good mood.35 They swung into the drive, and Scot saw that Fanny was pedaling too. There was something elegant about the synchronous movement of their legs and the gliding motion of the bicycle; like a canoe, it coasted smoothly to the door. We are bilaterally symmetrical, Scot thought. Two arm, two eyes, two legs things in pairs please us esthetically. Hence the beauty of dancing and of the bicycle built for two. Odd he had never appreciated it before.36 "Here she is!" Tully said cheerfully. Fanny dismounted with neat efficiency and nodded to Scot. She wore a nicely tailored riding habit complete with cap, and was so pretty he wanted to take her in his arms right there. But of course she would have none of that. Tully parked the bike and busied himself with preparations for departure, sorting out things to store and things to dispose of. He had an orderly mind, and would leave the farm in good order even though he knew he would never see it again. Scot took Fanny in to meet Janice. The two women shook hands diffidently, then Janice returned to her own work. Apparently Janice didn't quite approve of Scot's taste in fiancées. He showed Fanny the literature. "Planet Conquest is the first one a giant step for mankind," he told her. "It's just about Earth's size, but it's mostly land, so it has much more area to settle. They're going to transport a million people there in the course of the next month or so. It costs something like a million dollars to ship each one, but we can get it free if we act in time. Maybe they'll find another planet just as good, and maybe they'll pay the pioneers' way there too but why gamble on that? Soon the money'll run out, and the colonization program will stop, and our chance will be gone. I think it's now or never and I want to go along with Tully. So we can stay together. If only you'll come too! Will you?" "Yes," she said. a a T T n n s s F F f f o o D D r r P P m m Y Y e e Y Y r r B B 2 2 . . B B A A Click here to buy Click here to buy w w m m w w o o w w c c . . . . A A Y Y B B Y Y B B r r "It's really a nice world, with deep forests and such pretty dragonflies look at the photographs! The soil is rich, it's never been depleted, and there are hundreds of species of fruit trees and hardly any dangerous animals." He paused, something incredible sinking in. "What did you say?" "Yes." "Yes, it's a good world, or ?" "Yes, I'll emigrate with you." Scot had been so sickly certain she would refuse, at least on the first several importunings, that he didn't quite know what to make of this. "You'll come with us to Conquest?" "This becomes repetitive," she said, frowning prettily. "Do you want me to change my mind?"37 "Oh, no, no, no, of course not! I just thought This is great!" He drew her over for a kiss. She yielded with a graceful lack of enthusiasm. She never did like to have her makeup disturbed; it was too expensive and time-consuming to apply. Why she chose to use such attractants when she obviously didn't care to have them work as intended was one of the annoying little mysteries about her. Were all women like that? But at the moment Scot could not work up much ire. "I'll tell Tully!" he exclaimed. "We'll have to get married before we go. Hey, I'm so glad you Come on!" He drew her along after him, like a tug towing a yacht.38 Tully met them outside with a smile. "I can see the news radiating from your face," he said. "Congratulations." "How does one proceed?" Fanny asked him. "We'll have to make application as two families," Tully said. "The Tullus Krebs and the Scot Krebs families. Then we all go for the physical " "Physical?" She frowned. "To make sure we're healthy. They don't want any contagious diseases carried to Conquest. That's one of the blessings of emigration: we leave sickness behind us. But they also need to make sure none of us have any degenerative illnesses that might interfere with our ability to live and work on a pioneer planet. No failing hearts, kidneys, lungs or brains; no cancer or leprosy. And we have to be generally fit able to walk several miles without collapsing. So they will give us the most complete physical examinations and necessary spot treatment we can a a T T n n s s F F f f o o D D r r P P m m Y Y e e Y Y r r B B 2 2 . . B B A A Click here to buy Click here to buy w w m m w w o o w w c c . . . . A A Y Y B B Y Y B B r r imagine. All part of the grubstake."39 "You make it wonderfully clear," she said, smiling as only she could smile. "You sure do," Scot agreed. "I'd forgotten about that disease bit. That's halfway to paradise already! No more common colds, no more fevers What's another annoying contagious disease?" "Syphilis," Janice said, emerging from the house. "Tully, can you help [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] |