"Whatever it is," argued Daneshaw, "it ought to be as important as ...
as the _Colonia_ trip to Venus. It's certainly as vital as that, though
of course having the Federal Government of the United Assembly messing
with the problem would put off a solution indefinitely."
* * * * *
A look of wonder grew on the doctor's face. "The _Colonia_! A colony!
How about that? The hospital has funds. We could buy a piece of land
somewhere in the wilds of Brazil or even Canada and you could have a
shot at frontier problems. That ought to be absorbing enough. And of
course you could have help from government experts here if you ran into
trouble. How about it?" he asked eagerly.
"It smacks of the county poor farm, though the idea of a colony is
rather appealing. I hate to be a wet blanket, but the prospect of
government experts seems like a continuation of the kindly but firm
handling we get from the nurses here," and Tim Daneshaw smiled ruefully
remembering Ione Phillips and how well she "handled" the subjects. "I'm
afraid that unless we could get as far away from supervision as Venus
we'd go right on feeling like a second thumb."
"Then go to Venus! On the first ship out." Jules sobered suddenly.
"It would take an ungodly amount of finagling ... do you think they'd
really go?"
"It would be worth asking them tonight." (There was no harm in joining
in a flight of imagination, when a real solution might take years.)
"And you know, we could be more of a nuisance to the government than
you could ever be. We could threaten to commit suicide _en masse_
and blackmail the government into backing us for fear of one of those
social breakdown investigations by the United Assembly, and we could
fix the Assembly by threatening to flood the international publications
with articles about the mental horrors of old age and break down the
whole socialized medicine convention at the international level. It
might be rather fun ... though completely unethical."
The doctor got up and came around to sit on the front of the desk. He
was beaming. "Tim, we'll try it. I think I can get help from Brill.
I'll tell you about it later. We've got to get right to work, though."
"We?"
"I can't pull it off alone," he paused, staring intently into
Daneshaw's face. "I want you to go to the U. A. headquarters ... right
now. Parker can take you to Des Moines in my copter and you'll get a
rocket there. Miss Herrington will make your reservation. I want you
to get all the stuff you can on number of passengers, agricultural
projects, known difficulties of settlement on Venus--everything about
the _Colonia_. And especially how to go about making application for
the first group of colonists. I'll call Spence, the ranking medical
officer of the U. A. We were friends in school. He can meet you and
find out in advance who you should see. On the way you can work up
something to tell the meeting tonight." Dr. Farrar seemed to see the
plan growing in the air in front of him.
"That's quite an order for an old man--but it should be fun. What shall
I tell the people I have to see why I want to know all this?"
"Tell them it's a secret ... Social Medical priority A four-ones.
That'll get 'em interested and if they can find out somehow what it's
all about by private investigation they'll be more likely to back us
because they'll be in on what they think is top-secret."
"Smart, aren't you Jules." Tim got up and grasped his hand. "It'll be
quite thrilling while it lasts. I feel pretty selfish, having all the
fun to myself." He turned and strode to the door. "I'll go up and get a
hat while the copter is coming--guess I don't even need a toothbrush."
"Tim," Dr. Farrar was hesitant, "do you have a pin-stripe tabarjak ...
or anything like that?"
"Diplomat duds, you mean?" grinned the departing Daneshaw. "I've got a
full set for Princeton reunions. I'll knock their eyes out."
* * * * *
It was hardly half past two when Jeremy Brill returned to the hospital.
Dr. Farrar, returning from a belated lunch, found him fidgeting in
the waiting room, making notes on a pocket pad. He rose quickly and
followed the doctor into the inner office, carefully closing the door.
"I've heard enough, Doctor," he blurted out as he reached for the
straight chair near the desk. "Enough to last a long time. They're
sane, but what sanity! That Avery!"
"Have a little talk with Avery, did you?" inquired Dr. Farrar. He
thought the two of them must have been well matched.
"First I heard all about the business of 'relax and save your energy
forever'."