"But one day, by pure chance, I isolated a component which I recognized
as being the factor essential to the normal functioning of body cells.
It hit me like a toothache. I found that I could synthesize the SDE in
the lab, and the only problem then was to get it into a man's cells. If
I could do that, keep the SDE level up to that of youth, a man would
stop aging! Since viruses penetrate our cells when they infect us, it
was no trick at all to effect a chemical coupling of the SDE to the
virus. I used Martian Blue, since it was handy, and its effects are
usually brief.
"Presto! Old age is held at bay for another twenty or thirty years--I
really don't know how long. These mice were my first experiment, and as
you see, they're still alive. Next, I tried it on myself."
David put the mice back in their cage, locked it, and returned to the
lab.
"Tomorrow, the whole thing is bound to come out because Tanya Hachovnik
is coming back. You know her sister Leah--gray, dried-up, soured on
life. Well, I've had ways of checking, and when Tanya Hachovnik walks
into the Institute, everyone will see her as the same luscious redhead
of twenty-five we knew ten years ago. I realize that what I did was a
criminal act. I didn't think the thing through or I wouldn't have been
such a fool. But when I made those final experiments, I used the
Hachovnik twins for a controlled pair."
"You must have been crazy!"
"Perhaps I was. I'd tried it on myself, of course, with no bad effects
except a few days' fever, but I realized that without a control I never
could be sure the SDE was actually working. It might be just that my
particular genetic constitution caused me to age more slowly than the
average. So I chose the twins. To Leah I gave the attenuated Martian
Blue, but to Tanya I gave the simple Blue coupled with SDE. The
experiment worked. Identical twins--one grows old like other people; the
other remains young. I know now, Karl, how to prolong youth
indefinitely. But what in the name of Leader Marley shall I do with my
knowledge?"
Karl Haslam absently twisted his white hair and spoke slowly, as though
he found trouble in choosing his words.
"You realize, of course, that it is your duty to acquaint Leader Marley
with all the details of your discovery?"
"Is it? Can you imagine what this will do to our society? What about the
generations of children coming into a world where no places have been
vacated for them by death? What about the struggles for power? Who will
decide, and on what basis, whether to confer or to withhold this gift?
There'll be riots, civil wars. I know that I'm only a scientist; all I
ever wanted from life was to be left alone, in a peaceful laboratory,
and let other people worry about the world and its troubles. But
now--don't you see that by the mere fact that I made this discovery,
I've lost the right to sit by quietly and let other people make the
decisions?"
"But, David, you and I aren't able to handle such a problem! We're only
Research!"
"I know. We're inadequate, yet we have the responsibility. The men who
created atomic power probably felt inadequate, too, but could they have
made as bad a mess of handling it as others did? Suppose I did turn this
over to Marley--he'd use it to become the most absolute tyrant in the
history of the race."
Karl ran his fingers through his hair and smiled crookedly. "Well, you
could always start a revolution, I suppose, and start by assassinating
the Leader."
"With what kind of weapon? Men like you and me are not allowed to own so
much as an old-fashioned pistol. Except for the Military, Marley's the
only man allowed to wear a Needler. And, besides, I'm a Research, not a
Military. I hate violence and I'm naturally conditioned against
killing."
"Then you shouldn't have got into this mess. It would have been far
better never to have discovered this SDE. I presume your notes are
safely locked up, by the way?"
David grinned. "Don't worry about my notes; they're written in Coptic.
You remember when I was still in Medschool and made my first important
discovery, how to prevent the development of hereditary baldness by the
injection of certain parahormones? Leader Marley rewarded me with a Free
Choice, and I chose to learn a dead language. Not half a dozen men in
the world could read my notes."
"If your notes are safe, why don't you just destroy your mice and get
rid of your proof that way?"
"And the Hachovnik twins?"
"You could at least keep Tanya out of sight."
"Don't be a fool. That would only be a temporary measure and has nothing
to do with the real problem. Lanza and Marley may suspect the truth
right now, for all I know; they keep such close watch on my work.
Anyway, the secret is bound to come out sooner or later."
Dr. Haslam clasped his hands and stared at them for a long while. His
lined face looked grayer than ever.
He looked up at last with a faint smile. "Well, my boy, I never asked
you to discover this stuff, but since you have--I hereby burn my
bridges! You're right, we can't give it to Marley. But you can't handle
it alone. What we need is time, and we haven't got it. We shall both be
liquidated before this is over, there's no doubt of that, but we must do
what we can. When is Tanya arriving?"
"Tomorrow night, on the Playground Jet."
"And you see Leader Marley when?"
"Next Wednesday."
"Five days yet. Then this is what we'll do. Too bad Lanza is in the
other camp, but there's you and me, and I think Hudson and Faure from
Serology will come in with us. We'll need others--sociologists,
anthropologists, psychologists--the most promising material from all
Categories if we're to create a new society based on the prospect of
immortality. But I'll see the first two and bring them to your apartment
tomorrow night for Tanya's welcome-home party. I leave it to you to
muzzle Leah."
"That won't do," said David. "I don't have a current Free Choice."
"But I have. Two, as a matter of fact, a reward for curing the insomnia
of Leader Marley's wife. I choose to give a party, I choose tomorrow
night, and I choose your apartment."
A knock rattled the door, and the watchguard thrust in his head. "How
much longer is this here experiment going to take? Do you guys want to
be reported?"
"Just finishing, Officer," called Karl. "You can leave the door open
now."
"What a stink!" said the guard. "Thank God I'm in Military!"
* * * * *
It hardly seemed like a party, David thought. His guests were ill at
ease, and their conversation labored, then stopped altogether when the
Menial came into the library with a tray of glasses and niblets.
"Put them on the liquor cabinet, James," said David. "And that will be
all. Enjoy yourself tonight."
The Menial put down the tray and then stooped to fumble with the lock.
"Let that alone! I've told you a thousand times not to monkey with my
liquor cabinet!"
"Don't you want me to get out the ice cubes, Doctor?"
"I'll do it. You can go now."
"But are you sure you won't want me later in the evening, Doctor? Who's
to serve the supper? Who's going to clear up afterward?"
"We'll manage. Don't worry about us."
James shuffled out of the room.
"I suppose that means _I'll_ manage," said Leah, with a self-pitying
sigh. "I've noticed that whenever people decide to rough it and do
without a Menial, they take it for granted the women will do the work,
never the men--unless the women are still young and pretty. Well, at any
rate, I'll have Tanya to help me. I still don't see why you wouldn't let
me go to the Port to meet her, Dr. Wong."
"I just thought it would be more of a celebration if we had a surprise
party all waiting for her to walk into. Dr. Haslam will bring her here
directly from the Port, and here we all are, her old friends from the
Institute, waiting to welcome her home."
"I'd hardly say all," said Leah. "I'm the only person from Office that's
here. And why have a party in your Library, Dr. Wong? Nothing here but
books, books, books."
"Because I keep my liquor here, in the only room I have a right to lock
up. My Menial is a good man, but he can't resist an opened bottle."
"Well, it's still a gloomy party."
David turned appealingly to his other guests, Hudson and Faure, but they
only looked uncomfortable.
"Perhaps we need a drink." David unlocked the cupboard and picked up a
bottle which he set down hastily when he heard voices in the hall. He
hurried to the outer door and opened it a few inches to reveal the
sturdy shoulders of the watchguard of the floor and, beyond him, Karl
Haslam.
"Everything in order, Officer?" asked Karl.
"Your permit is in order, Dr. Haslam. A private party. Let me just
check--yes, three guests have arrived, and you two make five. That all?
You have until midnight. But it beats me why you people in Research
prefer a party without a watchguard, or why Leader Marley ever gives
permission. Why, in all my years in Military, I've never been to an
unwatched party, and I must say it never held us down any."
Karl laughed a little too forcedly. "I'll bet it didn't! But all
Research people are a little peculiar. You must have noticed that
yourself."
"Well--"
"And you know how generous Leader Marley is, and how kind he is to loyal
citizens. He wants us to be happy, so he pampers us now and then."
"I guess he knows what he's doing, all right. Well, I'll check you out
at twelve, then."
"Go on in, Tanya," said Karl.
They stepped into the apartment and David quietly closed the door.
"Hi, Sis," drawled Leah. "You made us wait long enough!" She walked
toward the girl, hand outstretched, then stopped with a gasp of
disbelief.
Tanya's red hair was still brilliant and gleaming, her creamy skin
unlined, and her full red lips curved up into a friendly smile as she
leaned forward for a sisterly kiss. But Leah jerked away and glared with
anger.
A puzzled frown creased Tanya's lovely white forehead.
"What's the matter, Leah? Aren't you glad to see me? You look so
strange, as though you'd been terribly ill!"
Leah shook her head, tears of rage gathering in her pale eyes. "I'm
okay," she whispered. "It's you. You haven't changed. I have. You're
still young, you're pretty, _you're just the way I used to be_!" She
whirled to face David, her voice choking.
"What have you done to her, Dr. Wong?"
The four men in the room were all staring at the sisters, scarcely
believing what they saw, although they had all been prepared for the
contrast. The twin sisters were no longer twins. One had retained her
youth; the other was faded, aging.
"This is awful," Haslam muttered. "Absolutely ghastly." He put a
comforting hand on Leah's shoulder, and with a deep sob she hid her face
against him and cried.
Hudson and Faure could not take their eyes from Tanya, and David leaned
against the wall to stop his trembling.
"Sit down, all of you," he said. "First we'll have a drink. I'm sure we
all need it. Then we'll face--what has to be faced."
* * * * *
An hour later, they had achieved a calmness, of sorts. They had given up
some of their normal sobriety to achieve the calm, but they were
grateful to the drug for cushioning the shock.
David paced the floor, glass in hand, talking rapidly as he finished his
long explanation.
"So you see what happened," he said. "When I began the experiment, I had
no idea how staggering the results might be. That is, I knew in my mind,
but I never imagined the _realness_ of what would happen. I thought of
it as just an experiment."
Leah sniffed, her resentment somewhat dulled by drink. "So I was just an
experiment! Don't you ever think about people's feelings? I know I'm not
as good as you are; I'm only Office, but I'm human."
Karl patted her hand. "Of course you are, Leah. But that is one of the
defects of people in Research--they forget about human emotions." He
looked up sternly at David. "They go ahead with their experiments, and
hang the consequences. If Dr. Wong had had any sense, he would never
have kept this a secret for ten years, and we might have had ten years
to prepare ourselves for such a responsibility. Instead, we have only a
few days or, at most, weeks. Hudson! Faure! How do you feel about this
thing now? Are you still game?"
Both men seemed a little dazed, but Faure pulled himself together,
speaking slowly, like a man in a dream.
"We're with you. It's still hard to believe: we've got immortality!"
"I'd hardly call it immortality," said Hudson drily, "since, as I
understand it, SDE does not kill disease entities, nor ward off bullets
or the disintegrating nuclear shaft of the needler--as we will very
likely find out before very long. But what do we do now? When people see
these two girls together, it won't be an hour before Marley hears about
it."
David spoke up with a new authority. "He must not hear about it. I know
how poorly equipped I am to handle this situation, but since I created
it, I must assume responsibility, and I have made my plans.
"First, you, Tanya. Try to realize that if the Leader finds out that I
have this secret of keeping youth, he will want it for himself. Nobody
in Menial, nobody in Office, nobody in Research--almost nobody at
all--will be allowed to benefit from it. Marley will use it as a special
reward for certain Rulers, and he will try to keep its very existence a
secret so that people in general will not be envious or rebellious. That
means that he will have to get rid of you."
"Get rid of me? But I haven't done any harm!"
"Just by existing and letting people look at your unchanging youth, you
will be a threat to him, for you will give away his secret. How he'll
deal with you, I don't know. Concentration camp, exile, or more
probably, simple execution on grounds of treason, such as unauthorized
choices of activity or study. It doesn't matter, he'll find a way. The
only safety for you is in keeping hidden. You must stay quietly in
Leah's apartment until we can find a refuge for you. Do you see that?"
She looked around in bewilderment. "Is that right, Dr. Haslam? And what
will they think at the Institute? I'm supposed to go back to my job in
Intercom."
"Dr. Wong is right," he said kindly. "Please believe us. It's hard for
you to understand that we are asking you to do something secret, but
just try to remember that you are, after all, an Office Category and are
not equipped by training or constitution to think out problems like
this. We'll tell you what is the right thing to do. You just do as we
tell you, and you'll be perfectly safe."
Leah snickered. "Oh, _she'll_ be safe enough, being as pretty as she is!
What are you going to do about me? Don't I count?"
"We'll come to that in a few minutes. Right now, we need food. Leah, you
and Tanya be good girls and go out to the kitchen and heat up some
supper for us. After we've eaten, we'll talk about you."
* * * * *
As soon as the girls were out of the room, the four men drew together at
the table.
"No use burdening them with too much knowledge," Karl remarked. "Even as
it is, they are a great danger to us, and the less they know the better.
David, will you proceed?"
"I have little to add to the plans we made last night at the lab. The
thing we need most is time; and next to that, a hiding place. We may
very soon be classed as traitors, with every watchguard on the continent
hunting for us. We will take care that they don't find us. Now, you said
last night that each one of you has accumulated a Free Choice during the
past year, which hasn't yet been used."
"That's right," said Faure. "I intended to use mine next winter to live
among the Australian aborigines for a week. I've been wanting that for
years, but the planners always refused me; it was a project without
practical purpose."
"And I intended to use mine to attempt a water-color painting," added
Hudson. "In my boyhood I hoped to be put in Arts Category, but the
Planners laughed at me. I suppose it's wrong, yet I still have the yen."
"You have my sympathy," said Karl. "I was going to take an Aimless
Tramp. Just shed my identity and wander on foot through the great north
area of woods and lakes."
David sighed. "Well, if we are successful in hiding and in changing the
world as we'd like, you can all three be free to do as you like without
asking permission. But at present that's only the wildest of dreams.
And, first, we must find our refuge. Today is Saturday. Tomorrow
morning, each of you will go to BureauMed and claim your Free Choice.
And each of you will choose an Aimless Tramp."
"But I don't like hiking," objected Hudson.
"You won't be hiking. You'll take off in your roboplanes and then
disappear. You will be without supervision. You will then proceed,
disguised as you think suitable, to find a place for our new
colony--somewhere in South America?--and make preliminary arrangements
to receive us. You must be back by Tuesday afternoon at the latest. On
Tuesday, as soon as you have reported back to BureauMed, get to the
Institute as fast as you can."
"Why the deadline?"
"Because by Tuesday afternoon, sometime before evening, probably, I
expect all three of you to be suffering from an attack of Blue Martian
Fever, and I want you to get expert hospital care. You will be the
nucleus of the new regime."
Karl laughed. "I wish you could have picked a base for your SDE that was
less unpleasant than Blue Martian."
"Who's got Blue Martian?" asked Tanya, as the girls came in from the
kitchen with their trays of food. "I'll never forget how sick it made
me."
"You should worry," said Leah. "It kept you young and beautiful, didn't
it?"
"You won't have to envy her, Leah," said David going to the liquor
cabinet. "I'm going to give you and the others a shot of the SDE-Martian
Blue. Sometime Tuesday afternoon you should feel the first symptoms. But
after forty-eight hours in the hospital, you'll be good as new. And you
will all stop growing older."
They watched, fascinated, as he opened the cooling compartment of the
liquor cupboard.
"I always like plenty of ice in my drinks," he remarked, drawing out a
tray of cubes and opening a small door behind the tray. He removed
several small bottles filled with a milky liquid, and a copper box of
sterile needles and syringes.
[Illustration]
"Who'll be first?"
There was a knock at the door, and David stopped.
"What is it?" he called.
"Me," came the watchguard's voice. "Just thought I'd do you a favor and
tell you it's only ten minutes till checkout time. Time to get
yourselves decent!"
They could hear the rumble of his laugh as he moved on down the hall.
Trembling, David picked up a bottle, poured alcohol onto the rubber cap,
and deftly filled the sterile syringe. He reached for a piece of cotton,
dipped it in iodine, and looked up, waiting. Karl Haslam had already
bared his left arm. David swabbed the spot on the upper deltoid.