"In the interest of science? Good Lord!" said Morrie Grover.
Gail half rose from her seat, then settled down. "Doctor!" she
exclaimed. "Why didn't you discuss this with me beforehand? That's the
least I would expect--"
"This, as I said, is a proposal made purely in the interest of our
mission," Spartan said.
"Well, I resent it," she said. I rather guessed that she was showing a
natural, female resistance to so cold and unfeeling a proposition.
"You shouldn't," said Spartan. "There's nothing wrong with the idea. I
have much to offer you--or any other woman. I have substantial wealth.
I have a long list of accomplishments. I am famous and will be even
more so at the end of this trip. And certainly I'm not repulsive."
His chin tilted upward slightly as he displayed his profile. I'm
sure he didn't pose intentionally; his conceit was subconscious, but
nevertheless amazing.
Gail pressed her lips tightly together. For an instant I had a terrible
fear that she was going to laugh. Then I was even more frightened at
the thought that she might possibly accept this proposal. It would be
a waste of such a beautiful, attractive young woman.
"Actually, Doctor," she said after some deliberation, "you're
suggesting I prostitute myself for science. If I ever decide to do
that, I'll do it on my own terms."
Spartan seemed to stagger mentally, as if she'd landed an uppercut on
his subconscious conceit. "But, Miss Loring," he said, "if you were
married to me, it would erase whatever objections there'd be to the
idea of a woman going to Mars with five men. The unconventionality
would become respectability. The puritans would have no reason to
object to the space trip and the men in Washington wouldn't need to
fear the loss of votes."
"Couldn't we make the trip with a five-man crew?" I asked.
Spartan glared at me as if I'd suggested we organize a Communist cell.
"I told you I want to get maximum results from our trip," he said.
"I won't be satisfied with less." He turned to the others to amplify
his statement. "There must be a full crew and Miss Loring is the only
qualified astronaut available. And the only way she can go with us is
as a married woman." Now he turned to Miss Loring. "Certainly you'll
not refuse?" he demanded.
"I understand the problem thoroughly, Dr. Spartan," Gail told him. "But
I won't consider marriage in the generally accepted sense. If we must
conform to convention, we can have a ceremony; everything and anything
that may follow a normal wedding will be of my own choosing."
"I'm not sure I understand," said Spartan.
"I mean it will be a marriage in name only. I won't even share quarters
with my husband. I've been aboard the plasma ship. As spaceships go,
it's a palace. There's room for six men, provisions and equipment for
two-and-a-half years. At each end there are observation cabins used in
getting the parallax in astrogation. I'll use one of them for living
quarters. The rest of you will bunk in the main cabin of the ship.
Furthermore, the marriage will end when we return to the earth. A quiet
divorce or, possibly, annulment will be arranged. Do you object to
divorce, Dr. Spartan?"
"No," said Spartan with ill-concealed temper.
"Does anyone else object to divorce on religious or other grounds?"
She paused, awaiting an answer. Axel finally spoke. "I do not object to
divorce," he said. "However, I do not believe in this kind of marriage,
either."
"What about you, Bill Drake?"
"Anything for science," I said. But deep in my heart I knew that if I
was ever fortunate enough to go through a marriage ceremony with Gail,
I'd move heaven and earth, and all the planets between, to make the
union a permanent one.
"And you, Dr. Joel?"
Joel cleared his throat. "I'd take you under any conditions, Miss
Loring."
"Morrie Grover?"
"I have no objections." He looked at her hungrily.
"Am I to understand that you intend to pick one of the others?" asked
Dr. Spartan. "I've already asked you to be _my_ bride. I suppose your
conditions are reasonable. I will accept them."
"That's very generous of you, Doctor," said Gail. "And my reason for
turning you down is not to be taken as a criticism of you as a man or
as a lover-in-name-only. It's simply that as leader of the expedition
you must have disciplinary control over all members of the crew. As
your wife, I'd be tempted to ask for privileges, even though I am not
a believer in favoritism--especially in space where the line between
life and death is as thin as a quarter-inch meteor. It would not be to
the best interests of this expedition for you to have a wife. However,
I have proposals for marriage from Bill Drake, Dr. Joel and Morrie
Grover. Am I right? Any of you is free to back out."
"I won't back out," said Morrie breathlessly.
"I won't either," I said quickly.