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Dilmarr's ass.
Without explanation, let alone apology, they turned Brad Szalicz loose.
Head still buzzing from a drug hangover, he heard the grey-haired woman say
that this one doesn't know anything and with any luck we'll need the
space. So one of the uniforms gave him, in a plastic bag, the personal effects
they'd taken when they brought him in; with no belt to his trousers, nor laces
in his shoes, he was escorted outside. He sat on their front steps to correct
those items of dress, then checked the rest of his stuff. He was pretty sure
somebody'd lifted at least fifty bucks, maybe more, but he wasn't stupid
enough to go back inside and make a complaint.
Hell they

could have taken all of it
.
On the tubetrain rides home and while he waited for his transfer, Brad tried
to put together his memories of what had happened. Some of it, especially the
parts when he was doped, didn't fit too well: how could Troy and Eden dos
Caras, a bearded man and a pregnant woman, be hermaphrodites? Of course Troy
wore no beard when the Feen's Security
Chief nailed him along with crazy Amory, but for months he'd had one and not
phony, because Brad had seen it grow from scratch, nearly.
If anybody was haywire here, Brad's hunch said it wasn't Troy dos Caras.
When he got home he didn't expect to find Lyndeen or Stosh there, but he'd
lost track of a day or two. "Brad! Where have you been? What's happened?"
"Just a minute." He kissed her as if he'd been gone a very long time, greeted
the little boy in much the same way, then went to get himself a beer, and sat
down.
"This could take some time. If you understand it, you're doing better than I
am."
Like a rimshot on the drums, the judge bounced his gavel across the bench.
"Would the witness stop crying long enough to restate her answer so that the
court may hear it?"
In the stand, Elli Sugarman wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry. All right, what I
said is that I haven't ever gone to bed with anyone except my husband.
Ever!"
The husband's lawyer, attorney for the plaintiff in the divorce suit, said,
"But you don't deny that you're pregnant."
With a hand to her bulging belly, the woman said, "How could I? Even if I
wanted to. But "
"But," said the attorney, "you've already had one child by my client, and we
all know that the Sterility Plague precludes a second pregnancy by the same
father. Therefore "
The gavel. "Objection from the bench. Counselor, you're repeating yourself. Do
you have a further point here?"
"I am merely making certain that known facts are stated clearly on the record.
The matter of adultery is now established. No further cross-examination."
Only lightly now, the gavel tapped. "Opposing counsel: do you have anything to
add, before recess and decision?"
Black and slim, the woman stood. "I do, your honor. I protest the arbitrary
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prior exclusion of blood-type evidence."
"On what grounds?"
"The amniocentesis-results." Speaking quickly, she allowed minimum opportunity
for interruption. "Those data prove that the fetus has the same blood type as
the couple's first child and its father, and Ms.
Sugarman's blood type is not the same. If there is one known fact about the
Sterility Plague, it is that for many years no woman has given birth to more
than one child sired by men of the same blood type. So "
The opposing lawyer's cries of "Objection!" drowned out whatever else the
woman tried to say; finally the gavel silenced both parties. Nodding toward
the respondent's counsel, the judge said, "Are you saying then, counselor,
that a miracle has occurred? Is that your explanation?"
She shook her head. "Explanation? I don't have one. Except that perhaps the
Sterility Plague is beginning to run its course. All I'm saying is that no
medical data whatsoever gives any indication that Mr.
Sugarman is not the father of his wife's imminent child. So I move that the
previously excluded evidence be admitted and considered, to the effect that
this divorce action be dismissed."
Tearful and disheveled, still in the witness seat, Elli Sugarman stood.
"Sure! Go ahead! And then, Ray Sugarman you self-righteous sonofabitch, I'm
filing for divorce. For mental cruelty, calling me a liar and putting me on
trial. You
The gavel. "
Sit down
! Now then "
"Elli baby, I'm sorry!" Redfaced and sweating, the husband came over the
railing and rushed to his wife's side. "If we have another baby coming, I take
it all back, I really do. Elli
The gavel wasn't helping much; the judge motioned for the bailiff to take
action. Before that worthy quieted the two, Elli Sugarman said, rather loudly,
" and fire that asshole lawyer of yours, and pay my costs!
"And I get to name the baby!"
Eventually the court was cleared. Then, back in his chambers the judge treated
himself to a doublesized drink.
With Heath in police custody and the alarm out for however many
Mark Twos had been fingered, Moss Frantz saw no point in sneaking back to the
Feen for refuge. Particularly when she knew that dispersal from the
Feen might be the next step. So Moss, after tapping her membership trust
credit for comfortable hideout money, was living a fugitive's existence.
And except for worry about Heath, was enjoying it more than not.
Ray Sugarman had been a business contact; that's why Moss was in the courtroom
to observe the divorce trial. Leaving, she found it hard to keep a straight
face. Because, quite obviously, Ray had benefited from the pseudogene powder
Moss had put into the water cooler just outside the man's office.
Among others
many others, Moss hoped Elli Sugarman was carrying a Mark Two fetus.
Whether the agencies hunting him had saturation coverage on his possible exit
routes or just got lucky, Bardeen never knew. But a few minutes out of the
station he saw a man coming along the car toward him, and he smelled cop.
Luckily the aisle was full of people standing. Before the man could reach him,
Bardeen made his way to the exit door; seconds later, the train stopped and he
got off. Moving quickly across the platform he was barely in time to board a
train going the other way, which he rode through two stops and left at the
third. Then, arbitrarily, he chose to wait while three southbound trains came
through, and got on the fourth.
Without further incident he rode to St. Louis and took a cab to the
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Hilton, where he checked in as Barrett Kendall.
He found his suite quite satisfactory. After letting Jenny know he was safely
where he'd planned to go, and then calling Erwin Bennest's covert phone to
leave a message on the answering gadget, Bardeen settled into the solace of a
hot bath, where he read news printouts and sipped bourbon. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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