Chapter 2
THAT WAS THE NORMAL WAY of birth on Sparta—but wherever in the universe there is intelligence there are also abnormalities.
Achron looked at his wristwatch, the instrument and ornament that marked him as something more than a common helot, as almost the social equal of the members of the military caste. He said, “I have to be getting along. I’m on duty at the crËche at 2400 hours.”
“I hope you enjoy the diaper changing and the bottle feeding.”
“But I do, Brasidus. You know that I do.” His rather high voice dropped to a murmur. “I always feel that one or two of them might be . . . yours. There are a couple in this new generation that have your nose and eyes.”
Brasidus put a large, investigatory and derisory hand to his face. “Impossible. I’ve still got them.”
“Oh, you know what I mean.”
“Why not keep a lookout for your own offspring, Achron?”
“It’s not the same, Brasidus. In any case, it’s not often I’m called upon to contribute . . .”
The two friends walked back to the Club House, but did not go farther inside than the cloakroom. Brasidus watched Achron slip into his tunic and sandals, then, on an impulse, Brasidus followed suit. Somehow he was no longer in the mood for the dance, and his prominent nose wrinkled a little at the acrid smell of perspiration, the sweet-sour reek of vomit and spilled wine that drifted into the anteroom from the main hall. The thudding of bare feet on the polished floor, in time to the drums and the screaming, brassy trumpets, usually excited him, but this night it failed to do so, as even did the confused shouting and scuffling that told him that the inevitable brawl had just broken out. On other occasions he had hurled himself gleefully into the press of struggling, sweating naked bodies—but this, too, had lost its attraction for him.
More and more he was feeling that there was something missing, just as there had been something missing when he had been a guest at Achron’s club. He had thought, at the time, that it was the boisterous good fellowship, the hearty food and the strong, rough wine. Now he had sated himself with all of these, but was still unsatisfied.
He shrugged his heavy shoulders, then tugged the hem of his tunic down to its normal midthigh position. He said, “I’ll stroll down to the crËche with you, Achron. I don’t feel like going back to the barracks just yet. And, anyhow, tomorrow’s my free day.”
“Oh, thank you, Brasidus. But are you sure? Usually you hate to leave while there’s any wine left in the jars.”
“Just don’t feel like any more drinking or dancing. Come on.”
It was dark outside the building. The sky, although clear, was almost starless, and Sparta had no moons. The widely spaced streetlamps on their fluted columns seemed to accentuate the blackness rather than to relieve it, and the glimmering white pillars of street-fronting buildings appeared to be absorbing rather than reflecting what little light there was. In their shadows there was furtive movement, but it was no more than the scavengers going about their appointed tasks. Then, overhead, there was the drone of engines.
Brasidus stopped abruptly, laid a detaining hand on Achron’s upper arm. He looked up, staring at the great, shadowy bulk that drove across the night sky, its course set for the blinking beacon atop the Acropolis, its tiers of ports strings of luminous beads, its ruby and emerald navigation lights pendants at the end of the necklace.
Achron said impatiently, “Come on. I don’t want to be late clocking in. It’s only the night mail from Helos. You must have seen it dozens of times.”
“At least,” agreed Brasidus. He fell into step again beside his companion. “But . . .”
“But you always wanted to join the Air Navy yourself, Brasidus. But you’re too big, too heavy. A pity.” There was a hint of spite in Achron’s voice.
Brasidus recognized it, but ignored it. He murmured, “And there are even better things to be than an airman. I’ve often wondered why we didn’t build any more spaceships after we colonized Latterhaven, why we allowed the Latterhaveneers to have the monopoly of the trade between the two worlds. We should own and operate our own spaceships.”
Achron laughed unkindly. “And what chance do you think you’d have of being a spaceman? Two ships are ample for the trade, and the spice crop’s only once a year. What would you do between voyages?”
“We could . . . explore.”
“Explore?” Achron’s slim arm described an arc against the almost empty sky. “Explore what? And on the other side of the world there’s the Lens—and we all know that it’s no more—or less—than a vast expanse of incandescent gases.”
“So we’ve been told. But . . . I’ve managed an occasional talk with the Latterhaven spacemen when I’ve been on spaceport guard duty, and they don’t think so.”
“They wouldn’t. Anyhow, you could be a lot worse things than a soldier—and in the Police Battalion of the Army at that. And as far as the possibility or otherwise of other worlds is concerned, I’d sooner listen to our own priests than to that atheistical bunch from Latterhaven.”
They were almost at the crËche now, a huge, sprawling adjunct to the still huger temple. Its windows glowed with soft yellow light, and above the main doorway, in crimson neon, gleamed the insignia of the State Parenthood Service, the red circle from which, at an angle, a barbed arrow jutted up and out. Brasidus wondered, as he had wondered before, how the crËche had come to take for its own the symbol of Ares, the God of War. It was, he supposed, that the highest caste into which a child could grow was, after the priesthood, the military. Then he thought about his own alleged parenthood.
“These babies like me . . .” he said abruptly.
“Yes, Brasidus?”
“I . . . I think I’ll come in with you, to see for myself.”
“Why not? It’s outside visiting hours—not that anybody does ever visit—but you’re a police officer. Old Telemachus at the desk won’t know if you’re on duty or not.”
Telemachus, bored by his night duty, welcomed the slight deviation from normal routine. He knew Brasidus slightly but, nonetheless, insisted that he produce his identity card. Then he asked, his wrinkled head protruding turtle-like from his robes, “And what is the purpose of your visit, Sergeant? Has some criminal taken refuge within our sacred precincts?”
“Achron tells me that two of his charges might be . . . mine.”
“Ah. Potential criminals.” The old man cackled at his own humor. “But seriously, Sergeant, it is a great pity that more of our citizens do not evince greater interest in their sons. Even though the direct physical link was abolished ages ago, there should still be responsibility. Yes. Responsibility. Before I was asked to resign from the Council, I succeeded in having the system of regular visiting hours introduced—not that anybody has taken advantage of them . . .”
“Phillip will be waiting for his relief,” broke in Achron sulkily.
“So he will. But it will not hurt that young man to be kept waiting. Do you know, at the 2200-hours feed he failed to ensure that the bottles were at the correct temperature! I could hear Doctor Heraklion carrying on, even out here. Luckily the Doctor came into the ward at just the right time.” Telemachus added spitefully, “I honestly think that Phillip will make a better factory hand than a children’s nurse.”
“Is the correct temperature so important, sir?” asked Brasidus curiously. “After all, we can eat hot things and cold things, and it never seems to do us any harm.”
“But we are fully developed, my dear boy. The children are not. Before the priests learned how to improve upon nature, a child, up to quite an advanced age, would be getting his nourishment directly from the father’s bloodstream. So—can’t you see?—these immature digestive organs must be coddled. They are not ready to handle what we should consider normal food and drink.”
“Phillip will be in a bad temper,” complained Achron. “I hate him when he’s that way.”
“All right then, you can relieve your precious Phillip. Are you sure you don’t want to stay on for a talk, Brasidus?”
“No, thank you, Telemachus.”
“Off you go, then. And try not to make any arrests.”
Brasidus followed his friend through long corridors and then into the softly lighted ward where he was supposed to be on duty. They were met at the door by Phillip, a young man who, save for his dark coloring, was almost Achron’s twin. He glowered at his relief. “So you’ve condescended to show up at last. I should give you something to help you to remember to get here on time.”
“Do just that,” said Brasidus roughly.
Phillip stared insolently at the Sergeant and sneered, “A pity you brought your friend with you. Well, I’m off, dearie. It’s all yours, and you’re welcome to it.”
“What about the handover procedure?” demanded Achron sharply.
“What is there to hand over? Fifty brats, slumbering peacefully—until they all wake up together and start yelling their heads off. Thermostat in the dispenser’s on the blink, so you’ll have to check bottle temperatures before you break out rations for the little darlings. Clean nappy bin was replenished before the change of watch—or what should have been the change of watch. I’m off.”
He went.
“Not really suitable for this profession, is he?” asked Achron softly. “I sometimes think that he doesn’t like children.” He gestured toward the double row of white cots. “But who couldn’t love them?”
“Not you, obviously.”
“But come with me, Brasidus. Leave your sandals by the door and walk softly. I don’t want them woken.” He tiptoed on bare feet over the polished floor. “Now,” he whispered, “I’ll show you. This is one of them.” He paused at the foot of the crib, looked down lovingly.
And Brasidus looked down curiously. What he saw was just a bud, a baby, with a few strands of wispy black hair plastered across the overlarge skull, with unformed features. The eyes were closed, so he could not tell if there were any optical resemblance between himself and the child. The nose? That was no more than a blob of putty. He wondered, as he had often, how Achron and the other nurses ever told their charges apart. Not that it much mattered, not that it would matter until the boys were old enough for aptitude tests—and by that time all characteristics, psychological and physiological, would be well developed.
“Isn’t he like you?” murmured Achron.
“Um. Yes.”
“Don’t you feel . . . proud?”
“Frankly, no.”
“Oh, Brasidus, how can you be so insensitive?”
“It’s a gift. It goes with my job.”
“I don’t believe you. Honestly, I don’t. But quiet. Heraklion’s just come in.”
Brasidus looked up and saw the tall, white-robed figure of the Doctor at the end of the aisle. He bowed stiffly, and the salutation was returned. Then Heraklion beckoned. Remembering to walk softly, the young man made his way between the rows of cots.
“Brasidus, isn’t it?” asked Heraklion.
“Yes, Doctor.”
“What are you doing here, Sergeant?”
“Just visiting, with Achron.”
“I really don’t approve, you know. Our charges are very . . . delicate. I shall appreciate it if you don’t go wandering all over the building.”
“I shan’t be doing that, Doctor.”
“Very well. Goodnight to you, Sergeant.”
“Goodnight to you, Doctor.”
And as he watched the tall, spare figure of Heraklion striding away along the corridor, Brasidus, the policeman in his makeup suddenly in the ascendant, asked himself, What is he hiding? And then the first of the babies awoke, and almost immediately after the other forty-nine of them. Brasidus bade a hasty farewell to Achron and fled into the night.