The Collection (71 page)

He glanced through some of the reports and questions to kill
time. The one dealing with the space station interested him most, but he found
it too technical to understand.

^"
But you won
^'
t,
^"
he told Junior.
^"
Pal, I
^'
ve got to give that to you;
when it comes to anything except women, you
^'
re really
good."

The switch was open, but since no question had been asked,
of course Junior didn't answer.

Carmody put down the files and glowered at Junior.
"Junior,
^"
he said, "that's your weakness all right,
women. And you can't have genetics without women, can you?"

"No," Junior said.

"Well, you do know that much. But even I know it. Look,
here's one that
^'
ll stump you. That blonde I met at the party last
night. What about her?
^"

"The question," said Junior, "is inadequately
worded; please clarify.
^"

Carmody grinned.
^"
You want me to get
graphic, but I'll fool you. I'll just ask you this-should I see her again?
^"

"No," said Junior, mechanically but implacably.

Carmody's eyebrows went up.
^"
The devil you
say. And may I ask why, since you haven't met the lady, you say that?"

^"
Yes. You may ask why."

That was one trouble with Junior; he always answered the
question you actually asked, not the one you implied.

"Why?" Carmody demanded, genuinely curious now as
to what answer he was going to receive. "Specifically, why should I not
again see the blonde I met last night?"

"Tonight," said Junior, "you will be busy.
Before tomorrow night you will be married."

Carmody almost literally jumped out of his chair. The
cybernetics machine had gone stark raving crazy. It
must
have. There was
no more chance of his getting married tomorrow than there was of a kangaroo
giving birth to a portable typewriter. And besides and beyond that, Junior
never made predictions of the future-except, of course, on such things as
orbits and statistical extrapolation of trends.

Carmody was still staring at Junior
^'
s impassive
panel with utter disbelief and considerable consternation when the red light
that was the equivalent of a doorbell flashed in the ceiling. His shift was up
and Bob Dana had come o relieve him. There wasn't time to ask any further
questions and, anyway, "Are you crazy?" was the only one he could
think of at the moment.

Carmody didn't ask it. He didn't want to know.

MISSION TO LUNA

Carmody switched off both mikes and stood gazing at Junior
^'
s
impassive panel for a long time. He shook his head, went to the door and opened
it.

Bob Dana breezed in and then stopped to look at Carmody. He
said, "Something the matter, Ray? You look like you
^'
d just seen
a ghost, if I may coin a cliche."

Carmody shook his head. He wanted to think before he talked
to anybody-and if he did decide to talk, it should be to Chief Operative Reeber
and not to anyone else. He said, "Just I'm a little beat, Bob."

"Nothing special up?"

^"
Nope. Unless maybe I
^'
m going to
be fired. Reeber wants to see me on my way out.
^"
He grinned.
^"
Says
the President wants to talk to me."

Bob chuckled appreciatively. "If he
^'
s in a
kidding mood, then your job's safe for one more day. Good luck."

The soundproof door closed and locked behind Carmody, and
he nodded to the two armed guards who were posted on duty outside it. He tried
to think things out carefully as he walked down the long stretch of corridor to
the Chief Operator's office.

Had something gone wrong with Junior? If so, it was his duty
to report the matter. But if he did, he'd get himself in trouble, too. An
Operative wasn't supposed to ask private questions of the big cybernetics
machine-even big, important questions. The fact that it had been a joking
question would make it worse.

But Junior had either given him a joking answer-and it
couldn't be that, because Junior didn't have a sense of humor-or else Junior
had made a flat, unadulterated error. Two of them, in fact. Junior had said
that Carmody would be busy tonight and-well, a wheel
could
come off his
idea of spending a quiet evening reading. But the idea of his getting married
tomorrow was utterly preposterous. There wasn't a woman on Earth he had the
slightest intention of marrying. Oh, someday, maybe, when he'd had a little
more fun out of life and felt a
little more ready to settle down, he
might feel differently. But it wouldn't be for years. Certainly not tomorrow,
not even on a bet.

Junior
had
to be wrong, and if he was wrong it was a
matter of importance, a matter far more important than Carmody
^'
s
job.

So be honest and report? He made his decision just before he
reached the door of Reeber's office. A reasonable compromise. He didn't
know
yet that Junior was wrong. Not to a point of mathematical certainty-just a
billion to one odds against. So he
^'
d wait until even that
possibility was eliminated, until it was proven beyond all possible doubt that
Junior was wrong. Then he'd report what he'd done and take the rap, if there
was a rap. Maybe he'd just be fined and warned.

He opened the door and stepped in. Chief Operative Reeber
stood up and, on the other side of the desk, a tall gray-haired man stood also.
Reeber said,
^"
Ray, I
^'
d like you to meet the
President of the United States. He came here to talk to you. Mr. President,
Captain Ray Carmody."

And it
was
the President. Carmody gulped and tried to
avoid looking as though he was doing a double take, which he was. Then
President Saunderson smiled quietly and held out his hand.
^"
Very
glad to know you, Captain," he said, and Carmody was able to make the
considerable understatement that he felt honored to meet the President.

Reeber told him to pull up a chair and he did so. The
President looked at him gravely.
^"
Captain Carmody, you have
been chosen to-have the opportunity to volunteer for a mission of extreme
importance. There is danger involved, but it is less than the danger of your
trip to the Moon. You made the third-wasn
^'
t it?-out of the five successful
trips made by the United States pilots?"

Carmody nodded.

"This time the risk you will take is considerably less.
There has been much technological advance in rocketry since you left the
service two years ago. The odds against a successful round trip-even without
the help of the space station, and I fear its completion is still two years
distant-are much less. In fact, you will have odds of ten to one in your favor,
as against approximately even odds at the time of your previous trip."

Carmody sat up straighter. "My
previous
trip!
Then this volunteer mission is another flight to the Moon? Certainly, Mr.
President, I
^'
ll gladly-"

President Saunderson held up a hand. "Wait, you haven't
heard all of it. The flight to the Moon and return is the only part that
involves physical danger, but it is the least important part. Captain, this
mission is, possibly, of more importance to humanity than the first flight to
the Moon, even than the first flight to the stars-if and when we ever make
it-will be. What's at stake is the survival of the human race so that someday
it
can
reach the stars. Your flight to the Moon will be an attempt to
solve the problem which otherwise-"

He paused and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.

"Perhaps you'd better explain, Mr. Reeber. You're more
familiar with the exact way the problem was put to your machine, and its exact
answers."

Reeber said, "Carmody, you know what the problem is.
You know how much data has been fed into Junior on it. You know some of the
questions we
^'
ve asked him, and that we
^'
ve been able to
eliminate certain things. Such as-well, it's caused by no virus, no bacteria,
nothing like that. It's not anything like an epidemic, because it struck the
whole Earth at once, simultaneously. Even native inhabitants of islands that
had no contact with civilization.

"We know also that whatever happens-whatever molecular
change occurs-happens in the zygote after impregnation, very shortly after. We
asked Junior whether an invisible
ray
of some sort could cause this. His
answer was that it was possible. And in answer to a further question, he
answered that this ray or force is possibly being used by-enemies of
mankind."

"Insects? Animals? Martians?"

Reeber waved a hand impatiently. "Martians, maybe, if
there
are
any Martians. We don't know that yet. But extra-terrestrials,
most likely. Now Junior couldn't give us answers on this because, of course, we
haven't the relevant data. It would be guesswork for him as well as for us-and
Junior, being mechanical, can't guess. But here's a possibility:

"Suppose some extra-terrestrials
have
landed
somewhere on Earth and have set up a station that broadcasts a ray that is
causing the phenomenon of all children being girl-children. The ray is
undetectable; at least thus far we haven
^'
t been able to detect it.
They'd be killing off the human race and getting themselves a nice new planet
to live on, without having to fire a shot, without taking any risk or losses
themselves. True, they'll have to wait a while for us to die off, but maybe
that doesn't mean anything to them. Maybe they've got all the time there is,
and aren't in the slightest hurry."

Carmody nodded slowly.
^"
It sounds fantastic,
but I guess it's possible. I guess a fantastic situation like this
has
to
have a fantastic explanation. But what do we do about it? How do we even prove
it?"

Reeber said, "We fed the possibility into junior as a
working assumption-not as a fact-and asked him how we could check it. He came
up with the suggestion that a married couple spend a honeymoon on the Moon-and
see if circumstances are any different there.
^"

^"
And you want me to pilot them there?"

^"
Not exactly, Ray. A little more than
that-"

Carmody forgot that the President was there. He said,
"Good God, you mean you want me to- Then junior
wasn't
crazy, after
all!"

Shamefacedly, then, he had to explain about the
extra-curricular question he'd casually asked junior and the answer he'd got
to it.

Reeber laughed.
^"
Guess we
^'
ll
overlook your violation of Rule 17 this time, Ray. That is, if you accept the
mission. Now here's the-
^"

"Wait," Carmody said. "I still want to know something.
How did Junior know I was going to be picked out? And for that matter, why am
I?"

"Junior was asked for the qualifications he'd recommend
for the-ah-bridegroom. He recommended a rocket pilot who had already made the
trip successfully, even though he was a year or two over the technical
retirement age of twenty-five. He recommended that loyalty be considered as an
important factor, and that the holding of a governmental position of great
trust would answer that. He further recommended that the man be single.
^"

"Why
single? Look, there are four other pilots
who
^'
ve
made that trip, and they're all loyal, regardless of
what job they're holding now. I know them all personally. And all of them are
married except me. 'Why not send a man who's already got a ball and chain?
^"

^"
For the simple reason, Ray, that the woman
to be sent must be chosen with even more care. You know how tough a Moon
landing is; only one woman in a hundred would live through it and still be able
to-I mean, there's almost a negligible chance that the wife of any one of the
other four pilots would be the best qualified woman who could possibly be
found.
^"

^"
Hmmm. Well, I suppose Junior's got
something there. Anyway, I see now how he knew
I'd
be chosen. Those
qualifications fit me exactly. But listen, do I have to
stay
married to
whatever female is Amazonian enough to make the trip? There's a limit
somewhere, isn't there?"

^"
Of course. You will be legally married
before your departure, but upon your return a divorce will be granted without question
if both-or either one-of you wish. The offspring of the union, if any, will be
cared for. Whether male or female."

^"
Hey, that
^'
s right,
^"
Carmody said.
^"
There
^'
s only an even chance of
hitting the jackpot in any case."

^"
Other couples will be sent. The first trip
is the most difficult and most important one. After that, a base will be
established. Sooner or later we'll get our answer. We'll have it if even one
male child is conceived on the Moon. Not that that will help us find the
station that's sending the rays, or to detect or identify the rays, but we'll
know what
^'
s wrong and can narrow our inquiry. I take it that you
accept?"

Carmody sighed.
^"
I guess so. But it seems a
long way to go for-Say, who
^'
s the lucky girl?"