"I mean that there's no reason why Blue Martian should be the only
vehicle for giving you the SDE. There must be other viruses that will
work equally well. It's only a question of finding one."
"And how long will that take you?"
"How long does anything take in Research? Maybe a week, maybe a year."
"And maybe ten! I can't wait, Dr. Wong. I'm thirty-five now; I'm growing
older. What good will a long life do me, if it only preserves me as the
middle-aged woman I'll be by then? And all those years that I'll be
getting older and older, there'll be Tanya, lively and pretty, to remind
me that I was once like that, too. I can't face it!"
"The watchguard will hear you!" Haggard-faced, he watched her shaking
shoulders, hearing her muffled sobs.
"You're a criminal, Dr. Wong! It was a crime, what you did to Tanya and
me."
"I didn't realize in the beginning or I'd never have touched the thing.
I know it now, even better than you do, but what can I do?"
She looked up and wiped her eyes, her mouth set hard. "I know what I can
do. I can report you to the Leader."
"What good will that do? You know how terrible you feel now about being
left out--though I swear I never meant it to be like this. But just try
to imagine. If you report me so that Leader Marley gets the secret of
SDE, then thousands of people will be put in just the same situation you
are in. You're only one person suffering. But then there'd be hundreds
of thousands, millions! Surely you wouldn't want to have that on your
conscience?"
"Do you think I'd care?"
"You would when you felt calmer. You're wrought up, ill. Let me send you
home. Promise me you'll go home quietly, talk it over with Tanya, and
not say anything to anyone else. I'll think of a way out for you. Just
be patient."
"Patient!"
He thought of calling Karl Haslam. Karl would know best how to deal with
her, how to bring her back to reason. He reached toward the intercom,
then dropped his hand in despair. Karl was in the hospital, with Faure
and Hudson, shivering with the cold of Blue Martian fever. But he had to
get her away.
He pressed the intercom dial. "Dr. Wong speaking. Miss Hachovnik is ill
and is being sent home. Please send an aircab for her at once."
He helped Leah to her feet, and spoke pleadingly.
"Promise you'll be good, Leah?"
The fury in her eyes nearly knocked him down. Without a word, without a
gesture, she walked out.
* * * * *
David felt as though he'd been put through a wringer as he followed
Officer Magnun into the Leader's suite at State House. Several nights of
sleeplessness, the worries of planning for a refuge, and the scene with
Leah had left him limp and spiritless. The girl was a danger, he knew,
but she was only one of many.
He nodded at Dr. Lanza, who was busy reading reports from BureauMed, and
saluted Leader Marley, who was talking with a watchguard.