Иржавцев Михаил Юрьевич
The Victims of Progress

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  Boris Mir
  
  
  
  
  
  
  DANEYA
  
  The Victims of Progress
  
  Novel-dystopia
  
  
  
  
  The translation from Russian
  by the author
  
  Edited by Allison E. Wright
  
  
  
  
  Preface
  
  A dystopia,
  based on a very real social perspective.
  
  Born in 1934 in the USSR, the author, like many others who had it persistently thrust into their heads, believed from his childhood that the "bright and joyful communism" would one day come, and with it any further social and historical development on Earth should cease. But, in 1976, a seed of doubt in this belief led him to the idea that once physical labor was completely replaced by intellectual one, not everyone would be suitable for it due to varied mental abilities. And so, humanity would be divided into people either capable or incapable of competing with ever more perfect artificial intelligence.
  What can fate expect for the latter at a certain critical moment in this real future-won"t they be the victims of the next historical cycle of social inequality? A detailed representation of this all-too-possible future is presented with literary packaging in this science-fiction trilogy, Daneya. The first two novels of it, The Victims of Progress and Humanity Renaissance, have been completed in 1982; the last one, Lal"s Prediction, has been supplemented in 2014. The action takes place in the future, although it's hard to foresee how far because history is constantly changing its tempo.
  
  Earth is unified-all mankind is integrated, and there are neither states nor nations. Development of everything is heightened, with society consisting almost exclusively of intellectual scientists.
  But civilization faces a scientific crisis: there are almost no great discoveries like the previous epoch was rich with-only elaboration, refinement, and strict editing of theories. Intellectuals work themselves to death in their obsessive efforts to overcome this crisis.
  Because of that, it seems to them the "inadequate" position of those people who are not fit for intensive intellectual work is absolutely natural. These "inadequates" are used as a source of organs for surgical transplantation to intellectuals, simplified satisfaction of their sexual needs, and test subjects for their experiments alongside animals. "Inadequates" become those who are separated from capable children, rejected in early childhood and only given the most primitive education.
  It is possible to do this without hindrance because one category of "inadequate" women, surrogate mothers , are impregnated with fertilized in vitro ovules of intellectual women. Children born this way are then brought up exclusively by teachers. This has resulted in the disappearance of the families that could provide protection against rejection.
  ". . . people have ceased to be human-they have become soulless intellectuals who do not understand the meaning of the word "humanity". The society became practical maniacally, having reached with small steps from murder for donation organs for transplantation to cannibalism. Misfortune because of intellect-and it's still said the least. In a word, a completely sick world, that is confident absolutely in its infallible health." So, unusually accurately, a writer Alex Varna has appreciated the human society of Daneya. She added: "You are right frighteningly in many ways!"
  
  Initially, the situation described in Daneya seemed a matter of a terribly distant future. But the current frenzied acceleration of scientific and technological progress made us doubt this; humanity will have to face it much sooner.
  The inevitability of the social division of mankind as a result is gradually becoming obvious to others. The first sign of this was in a historian Yuval Noah Harari"s book, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, published in 2015, which stated the following: "Traditionally, life has been divided into two main parts: a period of learning, followed by a period of working. Very soon this traditional will become utterly obsolete, and the only way for humans to stay in the game will be to keep learning throughout their lives and to reinvent themselves repeatedly. Many, if not most, humans may be unable to do so." And because of that, too, a similar division of humanity is predicted: some people like gods, and others useless.
  
  What can we expect of an ever-increasing non-creative mass whose work is unnecessary? Would not a highly intelligent minority someday consider it permissible to get rid of the people they deem "unnecessary"?
   
  
  
  
  In spite of the great importance we attach to the achievements of science and human prowess, it is obvious that only humanity that is striving for ethical ends can benefit in full measure from material progress and can overcome the dangers that accompany it. . .
  Albert Schweitzer
  
  
  Part I
  
  The FLINT and the STEEL
  
  1
  
  This meeting of two geniuses - Lal and Dan - was then what led to the elimination of the division of people into super-intellectuals and the incompetent 'inferior', reduced to the position of almost cattle. For this it was necessary first to put an end to the long scientific crisis on Earth.
  
  Lal, a historian and journalist, was the first to recognize the social injustice of the social position of the 'inferior'. Till now, all of Lal"s timid attempts to speak his mind had been met with complete misunderstanding and indifference, causing him growing irritation. But his burning thoughts and doubts wandered in his mind, and he wanted to free himself from their oppression. This caused him an excruciating feeling of loneliness.
  Lal did not receive any radio paging from Dan on Thursday. Dan was afraid in the morning to keep Lal from his date, and then he fell asleep. Then he was so distracted in the evening by searching for information and discovering an opportunity to continue the work that he forgot about Lal.
  But, Lal waited. Dan was not only extremely talented, but also-and most importantly to Lal-endowed with the ability to treat with interest and attention things quite far from his work. The ability to listen and understand between the two men only added to this. It would be possible for Lal to tell Dan everything. And even if Dan did not agree with him, his attention alone would be a great service.
  That evening, he did not want to part with Dan-did not want to rush to the woman who had waited for him. But he did. And when she, sated by him, lay naked and beautiful alongside him, sleeping on his shoulder, he did not think about her but instead was full of reflections on his meeting with Dan. He felt Dan"s friendly touch, saw his gentle, thoughtful look.
  In the morning, he left her early to ensure that no one would interrupt their conversation if Dan were to call him. After yesterday, Lal could tell the material was very interesting to Dan. For such a scholar, it was very likely he would have begun working on it immediately, without any delay. Such scholars are never stopped by the night. If Dan found anything, he would certainly call Lal to report it. But Dan did not call, and Lal felt shy to do it.
  This Thursday went as usual. After the thermae, Lal went to a theater, and after that managed to get to a racetrack. He loved animals, especially horses and dogs. Then came the evening banquet, and he left the restaurant to go home with a woman.
  Not the same one he"d been with the night before, but another. Because women liked him, it was rare that the touch of his hand did not induce a response. More often, it was enough just to stretch out his hand in reply. It helped that he had no preference between one woman or another-all were beautiful, all were clever, none would bore him . . . and hardly any of them would want to listen to him anyway, if he dared to talk about his deepest thoughts.
  . . . After Thursday"s intense cascade of entertainment, which gave weary people an effective shake, there were three more days off. Most people preferred to spend these days among natural surroundings, travel as tourists to places all over the earth-hiking, skiing, boating . . . They hunted and fished, picked mushrooms, nuts, berries and wild fruits in the forests (on these days, some robot-collectors stopped working), and at the same time flowers, leaves, branches and roots with which to decorate their homes. Others went to admire the architecture of bygone epochs, and visited museums to see the originals of great masterpieces of art.
  A huge army of people served them, organizing and providing a multitude of activities involving them, so they could fully relax. This service was considered very important and staffed by talented people armed with great erudition and excellent knowledge of psychology. Under their guidance, group excursions could broaden one"s range of interests while providing mental relaxation at the same time.
  Many people spent this time on amateur artistic endeavors. And a great number of people also stayed at home to continue working.
  . . . Lal got on a plane to go fishing-mainly to continue thinking in private over a number of things. On a rocket plane and then in an air car, he got to a river in a boreal forest quite familiar to him. It was far from any city and not very popular with tourists. There was nobody here, only animals and the occasional robot-collector of berries, herbs and dry twigs.
  He enjoyed breathing the forest air, which smelled of warmed resin. He cast his line from the shore and sat down to wait for bites. The sun was warm, the wind blew a little, and he managed his thoughts carefully, afraid to miss a bite.
  The sky eventually became cloudy, but not before he had caught a couple fish-enough for some soup and to fry. A robot would cook them quickly.
  Lal drank some dark vodka, infused with herbs according to his special recipe, while eating hot soup and nicely fried fish. Then he felt himself nodding off. The wind was getting stronger, and the tops of cedar pines and larches rustled. Lal got into his tent and lay down, covering himself with an electric blanket. He fell asleep almost instantly.
  . . . An hour later, he was awakened by the sound of rain. He folded back the window curtain and saw darkness, a sight most dreary. He drank hot tea and lay down again, then lit up a pipe. Droplets of smoking liquid passed through the heater in his pipe, which was powered by a micro battery, and come out in the form of vapor, creating flavor in his mouth-and it was absolutely harmless.
  How uncomfortable he felt. Both the noise of the wind and the damp air entering the tent oppressed him. The sky outside was sullen, leaden. He suddenly felt melancholy to be firmly cut off from everyone. Maybe he should call an air car to fly away from here? Go somewhere the sun was shining?
  Ah! Nonsense. It would still be there, the same uncomfortable feeling he"d felt at home and at the banquet. Because now he was really cut off firmly from everyone. His recent terrible discovery had done that. For now, he had to keep it to himself-no one wanted to listen, to try to understand him.
  The painful feeling had only become a little weaker the day before, during his conversation with Dan, when some hope for the possibility of understanding had appeared. But Dan had been silent since-and Lal wouldn"t dare call him first.
  It was time to think, to chew his thoughts.
  
  In the greatest ancient book-the Bible, in its part Ecclesiastes by name, otherwise the Preacher, Lal had once read:
  "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, "See, this is new"? It hath been already of old time, which was before us. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after."
  These words, attributed to the ancient sage, King Solomon, struck him then. And they also would be repeated much later.
  For all this was a truism-and not only for him. It was while using this thesis, by comparing bygone epochs to the current, which he had stumbled across a number of unpleasant analogies. The first time this had happened, when he was doing his doctoral dissertation, it had aroused his interest in the historical analysis of existing reality. The most valuable material in this capacity could be created by those in the journalism occupation, so he had begun additional studies at the Literature Institute.
  History. It could suggest many things to one who loved it and was able to store many facts in his memory. Since childhood, history had been Lal"s main interest. He had devoured historic books and movies, absorbing and remembering a huge amount of facts, names and dates. History was his utmost passion. While he also did well in other subjects, this was thanks to his realization that the knowledge found in other subjects was also conducive to a better understanding of history.
  The topic of his doctoral dissertation was entitled "The Humanism of the Modern Epoch". Critique of the main social principles did not exist at all; these seemed to be undoubted by everyone-but nevertheless, some aspects of reality were known to have an unpleasant side.
  Lal"s dissertation had attracted attention to him. A few days after his defense, he received an invitation to work in the "The News". Marc, the editor Lal was to work with, had noted in his dissertation a number of valuable qualities for a journalist: the ability to expound clearly in conjunction with a great saturation of information, and the ability to see the most important things and analyze dynamically. But the main thing was Lal"s somewhat unusual approach in analyzing today"s reality as the next stage of historical development, being a direct continuation of the previous epochs to which he compared it.
  "Great! Public interest in history is currently negligible. In my opinion, this sometimes prevents us from correctly understanding current events. Your approach will be very useful."
  And so Lal began to work on reporting. He became absorbed in life, acquainting himself with an incredibly large quantity of events and a huge number of people. He published his first sketches, essays, and finally a book. Many knew him already, having assisted with his work by helping him accumulate valuable material.
  And then again, his doubts came, fueled by some aspects of life in their contemporary human society.
  
  By that time, mankind had been integrated long ago.
  All nations and races had disappeared, and only a few small racially pure groups were maintained artificially by geneticists-but they differed from others only in appearance.
  The progress of science and technology had freed people not only from material concerns, but also from non-intellectual labor. Most people were scientists, and the goals of scientific progress were more important than anything else-people had become more and more obsessed with this, willing to sacrifice absolutely anything for it. Especially . . .
  Especially since the previous epoch had been a period of great scientific discoveries, among them one of the most remarkable-completely overcoming the problems of immuno-incompatibility . The principal had even become a science, which had been left in development far behind production, not keeping pace with it.
  When its progress slowed down, that was the beginning of the contemporary epoch. The level of production and everything connected to it began to catch up with the achieved level of science and became almost equal to it. The saturation of cybernetic technique maxed out. Robots and computers were absolutely everywhere, freeing people"s time and energy for solely creative occupations.
  Enormous power plants provided the energy for the huge complex of production. They worked mainly on thermonuclear fuel, both of terrestrial origin and being brought by special rockets from other planets. Like other plants, these were all located underground. Energy also came from other types of stations: wind-powered, tidal, and geothermal. The bulk of this energy was received in ultra-compact batteries, just like it was obtained from other planets.
  The huge resource of energy allowed, regardless of low efficiency, society to completely mechanize and automate all agricultural work. Combined with modern agricultural technology and selection, this provided a high intensity of production of food and raw agricultural materials. Many new species of plants were used for agriculture and animals domesticated as the army of robots added wild products to traditionally agricultural ones.
  But to ensure abundance by only increasing the intensity was impossible. They used the second reserve, extensity , by irrigation of deserts and clearing the Amazon jungle, within acceptable limits for the ecology of the planet; by moving north, covering the ground with greenhouses; by using the surface and depths of the oceans and seas.
  
  
   Society had also accomplished something much more important: after identifying a number of problems, they had taken the necessary measures to improve conditions of existence. Fighting for purity of air, the people had refused to produce energy by burning fuel-this was now used exclusively as chemical feedstock. Long before the modern epoch, internal combustion engines had ceased to exist; and now, the old methods of obtaining metals from ore had also disappeared completely due to the abundance of electricity. No hydroelectric power plants caused environmental deterioration.
  People treated with care their main source of oxygen regeneration-plants, the abundance of which they considered a mandatory element of existence. Because of this, paper had almost disappeared from use. Existing methods of machine recording eliminated the need for it as a writing material, which would require an incredible amount, and thus forests had been saved. Special robots monitored trees continuously, removing and collecting dry branches and twigs, which were then used as raw material in the chemical industry and the production of synthetic fibers. This facilitated the rehabilitation and improvement of the forests" appearance.
  
  A week comprised three working days, six hours each. Officially. This was the only the time the network was available-for experiments, operations, meetings and consultations. For other jobs, people could work from home; this was more convenient and most common-but during working hours, radio-communication must be available.
  The rest of the time, people spent at their own discretion. Much of it was meant for rest and entertainment: four days off a week and two months of annual leave. This large amount of rest was powerful-so people could actively work in the relatively short time allowed for their mandatory work.
  But most people were scientists, so their work was mostly happening in their brains, which never completely stopped. Work was their main interest, sense and enjoyment in life. And they continued to work anytime and anywhere. These people could be found talking, debating and discussing their problems wherever it was possible. Often they did not leave their computers at night, or they tossed and turned in bed without sleep, and this overworking frequently caused them to succumb to nervous and mental exhaustion.
  They were even able to think about their work during sports games. When hit with a sudden flash of inspiration regarding a decision over which they had long agonized, these people experienced such enthusiasm that nothing could hold their vigor. Not even a ball or a puck making it accurately into a goal, nor a billiard ball going confidently in the hole, nor figures on the board breaking through the defense of a partner-there was no greater joy than creative success.
  
  Outwardly, people now were very different from their ancestors: tall, shapely, with beautiful muscular bodies and excellent posture. Because throughout their whole lives, from childhood until death, they highly valued time spent on sports and various physical exercises, especially the ancient "Hatha Yoga". Medically trained instructors watched on constantly, periodically assigning new sets of exercises, specific routines and changes in diet composition. Thanks to all this, people now had the necessary physical endurance for intensive intellectual work. This also contributed to the increase in life span to around 200 years-while maintaining overall health and capacity for work almost to the end, and sexual potency to a very late age.
  
  But, of course, this was not only because of exercise and diet; medicine also played a role, especially surgery. Fully overcoming immuno-incompatibility had made it possible to transplant any organ or body part. In this way, bodies were repaired and appearance defects corrected. Therefore, everyone was beautiful. No one wore glasses-except as protection from the sun. The pinnacle of achievement in transplant surgery was the transplantation of a head onto another body-a younger one, so that thanks to the greatest scientists of Earth, one could have the opportunity to live another life.
  People"s appearances had also been affected by the abundance of fabrics made from natural and synthetic fibers, natural and synthetic furs and leather, metals, plastics, artificial stones not inferior to natural ones, and all sorts of fabulous colors. The easy readjustment of universal machines in manufacturing clothes, shoes and jewelry had almost abolished fashion trends-each person could dress entirely according to his own taste. Professionals at dressmaking establishments provided consultations and suggested cuts, using a huge collection of samples plus their own research and development. Then a computer, having analyzed the body of the person in different positions and in motion, created programs for manufacturing the selected styles and delivered them into the person"s personal memory. These programs allowed anyone to manufacture anything quickly at any time, so no one ever needed to have any extra things.
  
  For a long time, all of humanity spoke the same language, created artificially by linguists on the principle of Esperanto"s construction-based on existing languages, from which they had taken all the most common roots of words, with the same easy, simple and logically coherent grammar not allowing any exceptions to the rules. Almost all the languages of Earth had served as bases for it, and after absorbing the most valuable components from each, it was extraordinarily beautiful, sonorous and expressive.
  The completely new outline of letters adopted anew the ancient order of writing, boustrophedon-from left to right on odd lines and right to left on even ones-and multicolored text allowed for a high speed of reading.
  
  Perfect communication technology promoted the implementation of full democratic governance, and issues relevant to everyone were brought to the public for debate and a vote. Regular transmission to all personal archives took place through a special, always-open channel of communication, which was mandatory for all to become familiar with. Everyone was given all the information needed to determine their own opinions, which were transmitted in the acceptable form to a single center that processed all the views received. The results were reported in the programs that followed, and the options that arose from this process were put to a vote, which all members of society participated in-all those who had graduated from university. Final decisions were made according to the results. Thus, the universal high level of intellect provided adequate competence to decide issues.
  Special coordinators approved in the election procedure managed current affairs. The main coordinating body was the Central Border of Coordination-purely collegial, with no chairman.
  There were no agencies or courts to deal with violence. Through legislation and enormous technical abilities, a range of mandatory measures were enacted to ensure safety for all. Specially appointed people carried out checks, and if necessary, groups of competent individuals analyzed violations and conducted the appropriate measures against offenders-after the usual conversations and warnings. If any offender did not agree with the opinion of the group who had judged him, the proceedings could be conducted by a wide range of people, determined by the submission of a global discussion. But this was not precisely defined-because of the rarity of such occurrences.
  The only exceptional case of capital punishment had involved the physical destruction of a few people who had been secretly using drugs, including ethanol in large doses, and who had even returned to this vice after receiving treatment for it. This had only happened after a turbulent campaign, after which approval was given by the overwhelming majority of mankind.
  A few other cases, involving people accused of plagiarism or deliberate misinformation on the basis of ambition, had also resulted in severe punishment-long boycotts. A person condemned to a boycott was deprived of radio communications and could not use their personal archive, computer, or underground storage, and he was forbidden to appear in public. Food in sufficient quantities was delivered promptly to the convict"s residential unit-but without giving him any say in the choice of dishes. He received toiletries and clean clothes, whose color and style indicated that he may not communicate with anyone. He could not work, read, watch or listen to any programs. He was closed in with himself, despite the fact that he was not guarded-this was incredibly scary for any modern person.
  
  But some people were excluded from this society in early childhood: the ones who lacked the capabilities to engage in intense intellectual work -and thus could not be proper members of contemporary mankind. This selection process could take up to 10 years of a child"s life, based on careful observation by teachers, and then the future of a child was determined definitively.
  "Proper" children received the necessary education, while improper, "inadequate" ones were trained most primitively after being rejected. They learned nothing but basic hygiene, games and the simple work required to maintain health. Thanks to the machines, nobody needed these people for labor, and at the beginning of the current epoch they had been deemed a burden on the society.
  But then, an application for them was found. First, they constituted humanity"s biofund, serving as a source for internal organs and body parts for surgical transplants to proper people whose bodies had been worn out by intensive work. Secondly, inadequates" brains were used in biocybers. Thirdly, they served as test subjects for various research experiments. Fourth, inadequate women bore children for proper women and served as nurses and child-minders. And finally, fifth, inadequates also served as "houris" to satiate proper people"s sexual lust. On this basis, they were divided into specialized groups, after which they were given additional training related to their fixed purpose.
  It was the current epoch was that had brought about the separation of inadequates. When scientific progress had slowed down, intellectuals and scientists began to work harder in an attempt to speed it back up, and this deepened the chasm separating them from those who were not capable of such work. They attempted all possible means in an effort to overcome the crisis, and everything seemed permissible and justified to them.
  But time passed, and nothing changed. The brilliant scientific successes of the previous epoch were a reproach of their current impotence. This was concerning to all people. The vast majority was seized with disappointment; it felt like a universal depression. And this mood could not be overcome with the help of sensational entertainment, which they had a lot more of than the people of the previous epoch.
  In the previous epoch, people had enjoyed fewer holidays and simpler food and clothing; there was moderation in everything, in spite of the opportunities available. But they were happier in the knowledge that they sacrificed these benefits to give time, work, energy and materials to the tangible successes of science. Subsisting only on necessities but as contemporaries and participants of the greatest discoveries, they were full of pride in their success and belief in themselves and in the future.
  
  Trees creaked. The ropes were drawn to their limit in preventing the wind from carrying away the tent. Though it was night, Lal did not sleep, too adsorbed in his thoughts, and from time to time he drew vapor from his smoking pipe.
  
  One positive quality had been reached in the current epoch to an unusually high degree-frugality. Despite all the abundance. It was not stinginess-just that the modern people could not understand the barbaric treatment of raw materials in the previous epochs. Why had people once preferred to mine more and more ore instead of reusing existing metal and waste products? Instead of discarding all old, worn-out metal objects, why not protect the metal from corrosion?
  Now, all waste products were maximally utilized. They subjected any used object to scrutiny by robots for identification of any possibility to restore it to its original quality. If restoration was impossible or impractical, then it was broken down and its materials recycled.
  And when processing raw materials or products, they sought to use everything-to the last drop. What was impossible to use, they collected to keep, because what was no good today might tomorrow be a valuable raw material. Absolutely everything was collected: food waste; clothes that were no longer going to be worn; even human feces and urine. Each dwelling section had a salvage collector for residential waste: it analyzed, separated, and prepared for transportation and shipment. It also fully retrieved the water from sewage, which relieved the external water-supply system, which only needed to make up the difference between the amounts of consumed and returned water.
  People also used corpses in full. Mainly to supplement the surgical biofund, and partly as industrial raw material. The corpses of inadequates who had not died natural deaths were used as food for animals on fur farms and for other inadequates. It had even gotten to the point where propers had begun to eat such meat, as biologists had asserted that it was the most easily absorbed by the human body, and therefore the most valuable kind of meat-that it should be prioritized over all other meats in the diets of children and patients. This was one of the extremes of total utilization.
  In his doctoral dissertation, Lal had pointed it out as the second of the darker sides of contemporary reality. The first one was the lack of sufficient intimate ties between people despite every person having a large number of non-intimate connections-this had worried him more than anything at that time, and he had worked it out by analyzing in detail the literature of different epochs. As for the second side-eating the meat of inadequates-Lal had returned when he became a journalist.
  The style of interview he had used almost from the beginning was different from the style used by most journalists. During interviews, Lal spoke a lot on his own, prompting numerous questions and then answering them. This helped get to know people better and learn much more about them than what he was immediately interested in.
  So he had the opportunity to make sure it wasn"t only him who detested eating human flesh-many others had never eaten it, though they did not openly oppose it. Lal received immediate support when he came out against cannibalism in "The News".
  Cannibalism was a return to savagery, he argued in a series of articles. It existed only in the most backward tribes-no civilized nations had ever recognized it. This phenomenon was ethically unacceptable, its brutality totally unworthy of rational beings.
  In response to his fiery articles containing an abundance of quotations from ancient philosophers and various ethical teachings, his opponents hit him from the left. To be consistent, then the slaughter and eating of animals was immoral in the same way. They also beat him with quotations-of Tolstoy and Gandhi, in particular. In answer, Lal first expressed the position that the slaughter of animals was not contrary to the biological laws under which they existed; these laws only aimed to preserve the species as a whole-under them, the individual value of a single animal did not exist.
  The controversy that grew as a result of his articles was very stormy, with many participants. In the heat of debate, some of Lal"s opponents made the point that inadequates might not be considered human beings. He remembered that.
  His opponents turned out to be in the minority, since the use of inadequates" meat was only at its beginning and had not yet firmly taken root. The next global poll forbade this; it became legal to feed inadequates" meat only to animals and other inadequates. This decision suited everyone, including Lal.
  
  When this victory was won, it brought Lal fame, and many began to seek meetings with him.
  One of these was the impetus to new doubts. It happened on one of the islands equipped for younger-aged children, in a meeting attended by several teachers. There Lal heard words that shook him:
  "How horrible it is for us-the rejection! Like dooming children to death."
  "It is our common misfortune-all teachers experience it, and it is very hard."
  "Although we understand its necessity."
  It was there that Lal also met some inadequates for the first time. Women giving birth, wet-nurses and child-minders. Just like the ones who had given birth to him, breast-fed him and nursed him. He did not remember the first two, and only had vague, shaky memories of the third.
  Not having spent any time with inadequates until then, Lal, like most of his contemporaries, had not ever come into contact with any of the first four of their groups. And with the fifth, the houris, he had dealt only in his early youth; since then, he had been successful enough with women that it hadn"t been necessary. So he knew no more about the inadequates than most others, which was too little, considering his profession. Realizing this, Lal began to collect data about them.
  As a correspondent of "The News" he visited places little known by most people. And he accumulated significant data containing a large number of striking facts.
  But Lal"s editor, Marc, opposed the publication of such data categorically:
  "Don"t get me wrong, colleague. We live in a hard and stressful time. We must overcome the crisis by all means. People do not have mercy on both themselves and others. We may generate a discussion that will divert power and negatively affect the rhythm of all work."
  "But it is the truth!"
  "This is one of the ways we"ve paid for progress. We have no right to interfere now."
  Marc was successful in persuading Lal. Especially because Lal had been arguing not so much with Marc as with himself-with that half of his consciousness accustomed since his childhood to see the existing social structure of society as extremely perfect and infallibly correct, something which could not include the inadequates because of their low mental faculties. They were human beings by birth only.
  But Lal could not stop: the inadequates gradually became the main focus of his attention. Continuing to collect information intensively related to them, he had thoroughly studied the history of the issue and all related areas. Then he tried to analyze this as a historical phenomenon, but was faced with great difficulties.
  There had been nothing similar in any of the previous epochs. There were no direct historical analogies, except for one thing: their complete lack of any rights. And the total deprivation of their value as individuals. Inadequate donors died under the surgeon"s knife to restore the health and extend the lives of the propers. The houris, both women and men, give themselves to the propers without any question about their consent. As historical concubines.
  But concubines were slaves. Perhaps this was where it would be possible to find some analogy; the inadequates" position might be compared with that of slaves in the past. But this analogy was incomplete, since no one exploited the inadequates" labor. But nevertheless!
  And gradually he began to see that the inadequates were not something unrelated to human society brought about by misfortune-not a problem that had yet to be solved. Instead, they were just another social group-an organic part of society! And a logically inevitable conclusion followed: the presence of inadequates determined the existing social system, different from what had existed in the previous epoch.
  It was a terrible discovery for him, the typical child of his time. History for him and his contemporaries was a history of scientific and technological progress only; social relations seemed to have some kind of rock-solid stability, which the inadequates existed outside of, having no relation to it.
  Not at all! They did have. And their emergence as a social group was a step in the socio-historical evolution that was never going to stop. In Lal"s opinion, it was a step backwards. A retreat to social inequality and injustice. Their economic incentives had vanished, but they had appeared again on a completely different basis. A dialectical turn.
  
  But who cared about the inadequates? The propers, the intellectuals, never saw anything but their own problems-the most important of which was to overcome the general crisis. Even those who rallied for the prohibition of eating human flesh did not do so with the inadequates in mind. And that included Lal.
  The lack of understanding he encountered in this area was as terrible as a boycott. He retired into himself, returning to the same thoughts endlessly, circling around them as if chained.
  His editor, Marc, seemed worried, but did not try again to persuade Lal. Instead, he proposed a business trip to the Near Space. He wanted Lal to get a temporary change in scenery.
  Lal agreed immediately. He had been interested in the cosmonauts for a very long time. These people, who lived long lives in a small world separated from everyone else, managed to get adapt and form attachments with one another. And even when on Earth, they tried to stick together. Their care for each other, their readiness at any moment to help with anything, the warm-heartedness of their relationships-it all singled out and separated them from the others, and they did not feel very comfortable among the rest of society.
  To learn properly and fit in with them, Lal would need to spend a year on ships and space stations in the cosmos and on other planets. During this time, his communication would be limited to people nearby him and those exchanging radiograms with Earth. Marc was counting on this; anything could happen in this time-maybe Lal would take an interest in another, less unpleasant problem?
  
  The thoughts about space had distracted Lal a little. After trying for a long time, he still couldn"t fall asleep.
  The night was almost over. Behind the folded curtain, it began to turn gray. It was nice now that the wind had died down and the rain had stopped. He waited for a full dawn and then got out of the tent.
  Fresh, moist air chilled his face. He made several stretching movements and then decided to swim.
  He undressed and ran into the water. It was cold, but that was something he liked, and now he felt cheerful. Like everyone, he had been perfectly acclimated to the cold since his childhood.
  But, at the moment when he decided to return to the bank, he saw it would be impossible: the river had swelled with the heavy rain-he would not be able to cope with its flow! He needed to call an air car-urgently! But he would still need to hold out until its arrival. He strained with all his will to breathe regularly.
  For a moment, he dived headlong, succeeding at sending a call underwater with his radio-bracelet for an air car. He now had to hope it would come before his muscles, which had already begun to feel numb, stiffened completely; otherwise, he wouldn"t be able to cling to the rope ladder. He must hold out!
  It was impossible for Lal to overcome the flow without overtiring, so he stopped struggling and began instead to move with it, where possible, to draw himself a little closer to the bank. And when the air car finally appeared in the sky, Lal found that he was already quite close to the bank. Just one more tug . . . and a moment later he felt the bottom under his feet.
  Lal pulled himself out on the bank and while breathing convulsively, he rested for a few minutes on all fours. Then he forced himself to his feet and walked along the bank toward the place where his tent was; the air car flew behind him. As soon as he could, he began to accelerate his pace, until he was running. When Lal reached the tent, steam was pouring off him.
  After rubbing himself to redness with a dry towel, drinking a few sips of life-giving vodka and eating a piece of hot fish, he sprawled blissfully on a mattress next to the tent and rested. He was just about to fall asleep, but he knew too well that he would only slumber gently, just for ten minutes-and immediately came vigorous clarity.
  That was exactly it. And then the thoughts, becoming obsessive, came again. For a moment, he remembered his swimming-and for some reason it was only then he felt fear. He could have drowned! And he would have, for sure, if he had continued to try to overcome the flow of the river by force. No way . . . it was too strong!
  His thoughts of the river"s flow connected with his thoughts of the inadequates. It was impossible to win by force against the flow of history, as well! Lal must also try to use it, by finding those currents which would bring him to the desired bank. In his current situation, this was the only way he might possibly achieve his goal.
  And what was that? The injustice did exist. This was a real fact-although Lal still wanted someone to prove him wrong. But he did not believe, almost at all, that it was possible. He must thoroughly investigate his terrible conclusion one last time. To restore justice.
  It was imperative! A society of highly intellectual people must not tolerate the inhumane treatment of those similar to themselves, even if inferior in ability. Human beings must not be intellectual beasts.
  The path to the end would not likely be easy. It was necessary to reserve composure and patience. Much more than Lal had needed today. And he would not let indifference fetter him like the cold. To find those tendencies of historical evolution, he must look for phenomena and events that would help. Like the currents carrying him slowly to the bank. And he should not hope for quick success. He had to believe firmly and not lose his conviction-his heart. This was imperative, imperative, imperative!
  For the first time in recent days, Lal felt himself begin to settle down. And his thoughts returned to yesterday's meeting with Dan.
  
  2
  
  "That"s not it," Dan said softly but resolutely when Lal finished listing the works published by him and his disciples-there were, after all, quite a lot. And what about the results of their practical uses?!
  Not it-just what we are not eager to discover. Almost everyone said this, almost all the time. It was the motif of the contemporary epoch that was seen as a universal deep crisis. Small steps forward came at the incredible price of labor with too few tangible results; there were almost no major fundamental discoveries happening anymore, just refinement, updating, and rigorous editing of theories. And the rest was improvement, lapping, polishing, and superfinishing . It was a consuming, painstaking job-certainly necessary, but frustrating against the backdrop of past discoveries, creating old theories like unfinished lumps, not polished in the details-but giant, furthering the science far at once. And contemporary had been making convulsive efforts to overcome this state, which had wrought huge changes in their lifestyle and many social institutions.
   "You see, even then, for me, my practical results-for which I have obtained a doctoral degree-were not always my priority. There were a number of secondary moments obviously related to the fundamental properties of space. Then I was engaged in it all for my whole life. And for the present, to no avail." Dan fell silent to thinking.
  Lal waited patiently, also in silence. Dan was of great interest to Lal, a journalist and historian of the contemporary epoch who had for a long time sought to meet him.
  Dan had started off brilliantly, becoming a doctor at twenty-three and succeeding in solving a very difficult problem of increasing energy storage density. But then he had immediately switched to the problem of the spacetime, where he had been able at first to get quite encouraging results. Thanks to this, he had obtained permission and funding to carry out highly complex and power-consuming experiments using supercomputers.
  He had occasionally published partial results of his research that were valuable for practical use. He gave them generously out to his disciples, but he himself had almost never engaged in their further development-and then he had fallen silent for a long time. Aside from his scientific work, he also created a course and taught some sections of fundamental physics; many prominent scientists were his former graduate students.
  At first, he had seemed to Lal exactly the same as all major scientists his age: absorbed in his work so much that he saw or perceived almost nothing else. But Lal hadn"t expected anything different when preparing to interview a scientist of such a caliber.
  He was now almost 150 years old. Like many people his age, he was dressed warmly-in a large knitted wool sweater, likely homemade. Completely unadorned. His head was entirely gray but his eyes were young, lively, and his gait was elastic. While talking, he walked in even, measured steps through the alley. He answered Lal"s questions pretty willingly.
  "You know when sometimes you see a vague glimmer of something, and it seems you"ve grabbed the tip of the thread. . ." Dan began to speak as if he had woken up. "But then nothing happens. The thread breaks, the thought escapes. It leaves you only secondary results, not what you were looking for." He looked into Lal"s eyes.
  "The great discoveries were all made when it was possible to overcome the power of existing theories. But now sometimes the most fundamental seems quite obvious and immutable. It"s been known for so long, but nevertheless . . . We are captives of our ideas, our great knowledge."
  Apparently, that thought tormented him. And Lal had nothing to say-he tried to turn the conversation in another direction.
  Dan listened with interest. The young journalist, whose name was already known to all because of his polemical articles and books, struck him with the breadth of his knowledge. There are people who are able to take in virtually everything! And Dan himself asked countless questions, which Lal never tired of answering.
  
  It was quite dark, and stars covered the sky.
  "So much of everything has been lost?"
  "Unfortunately. Perished during the war, fires, natural disasters-destroyed on purpose or accidentally. But much was not clear to begin with, preserved in ancient documents where it was originally regarded as allegory and became clear only after re-discovery. And more is waiting for discovery, buried in the recesses."
  "These findings, I think, are incredibly interesting."
  "Yes, almost always."
  "Tell me about some of them. The night is warm, and I like to listen to you."
  "I"m glad of it. I"ll tell you willingly about the most recent discovery-especially as it may be of interest to you as a mathematician.
  When laying the viaduct pipe, several notebooks-stacks of stapled sheets of paper-were found, and also a long, rolled-up sheet of paper with an orthogonal grid of 10-3 meters with charts drawn on it. After the old numbers and letters had been replaced by modern ones, it turned out to be a series of the numerical differences between prime natural numbers up to 6000, in which the repeating groups, depicted as the uniform graphic shapes, stood out. One of the notebooks contained full selection, classification, identification and names of these groups .
  There were two letters. One of them contained the names "Mikhayloh" and "Odnokamushkin"; another was addressed to "the great Vladimir Neyeshpapa" whom the author also called "Odnokamushkin" periodically. The letters were written with different handwriting. In Russian, from the twentieth century. The second letter was not finished and apparently not sent. Its content is interesting."
  Lal opened a fan-screen and sent from his radio-bracelet a command to replay the card-index of his personal archive located in the memory unit at his home. After finding the name of the document, he clicked it and a sheet of paper ruled with an orthogonal grid and covered with rather sloppily written words appeared on the screen. The letters-later Cyrillic. The translation glowed:
  ". . . I was jealous of your glory of the unrecognized genius as the author of the stunning hypothesis of the gravitational "constant" dependence on the fourth power of the absolute temperatures of interacting bodies, so I decided to make humanity happy with something similar.
  I tried, a tiny bit, in my free time, to investigate prime numbers a long time ago; but, in general, I didn"t take it seriously. There were always excuses: not enough time, reluctance, absence of a table of prime numbers, and where to get it-the devil only knows. I obtained a small number of primes using the "sieve of Eratosthenes" and tried to do something to them. And for some reason, I was drawn almost immediately to compare the differences between them.
  Recently at the bookstore, an arithmetic textbook with a table of primes up to 6000 turned up-I bought it immediately, then drew charts of gaps between adjacent primes on graph paper, which I took from work. Like continuous chaos. Then I scrutinized: in the chaos, there were many repeating groups, or at least some symmetrical ones. However, I couldn"t identify the pattern of recurrence, so for the present I have not moved from what I have discovered, though I dream of quickly discovering a formula to calculate prime numbers.
  My next question is this: is it possible to connect these groups with subatomic particles? There are similar groups whose graphic shapes are symmetrical in the vertical and horizontal directions, or only in the horizontal if a group itself is symmetrical. An analogy to the subatomic particles of the same mass arose: the positively and negatively charged and the corresponding antiparticles in the first case, and the neutrally charged ones and their antiparticles in the second. It may be rather interesting that some groups may include others, or even more than one at once. Besides, it seems to me, since everything in nature is interrelated, there cannot be any such mathematical regularities that do not manifest themselves in some physical phenomena. And because of that, I want to try to find the periodic law for subatomic particles using these groups.
  I do not know whether I"ll manage to succeed, but I want to so badly!
  I"m eager to meet and talk with you, because"-The letter came abruptly to an end.
  "What can you say?"
  "Very interesting. Show me the charts."
  They were one above the other, the linear chart and the histogram. Groups, identical or symmetrical, were visible at once-even without colored demarcation.
  
  
  
  "Lal, I"d like to have this information."
  "Do you need its address in the Central Archive?"
  "No. Let me copy it from your archive now."
  Lal smiled in understanding. It was the usual method; many people liked to copy vast amounts of information into their personal archives to use on their days off-from Thursday to Monday, when the connection of the Central Archive was disabled. This was just one of many ineffective attempts to prevent people from working on those days. Dan gave him a chip with his personal code, and Lal, bringing it to his radio-bracelet, began the download.
  When it had finished, he held the chip back out, but Dan deflected his hand.
  "You can keep it." This meant a lot-recognition of Lal as a friend. Having brought the chip to his radio-bracelet, he could establish a direct connection with Dan at any time, even with the external communication turned off, and the image of Lal would immediately appear on Dan"s bracelet screen. Lal was flattered.
  "Thank you, senior!"
  "I"ll always be glad to see and talk to you." Dan held out Lal"s chip in response. "But now I have to go; it"s getting late, and I"m tired."
  That was not the real reason, but it was all he wanted to confess to himself or Lal. He sat in a self-propelled chair, which rolled away at his command. Lal pulled motorized wheels out of thick-soled shoes and followed. Both were silent.
  "Let"s say good-bye, Odnokamushkin ," Dan said next to a transport station, smiling slyly. "By the way, does that mean something?"
  "Yes. It means Einstein -a playful translation into Russian, their language."
  "Well then, they were also funny people."
  A capsule jumped out of the transport station and rolled aside. The lid leaned back, and Dan sat down inside it. But he was slow, prolonging the last moments of their meeting, continuing to look at Lal kindly.
  Dan would always remember Lal as he was now, at their first meeting. Well built and tall-at least 230 cm-Lal wore tight-fitting silver-gray overalls with the only decoration in the form of a headband with a rosette on his forehead, in which a camera and a microphone-his reporter tools-were embedded.
  "Is someone waiting for you?"
  "Yes."
  "A woman?"
  Even a friend may not ask such a question, and Lal could not answer, but somehow it did not jar him.
  "Yes, a woman."
  "Good luck, then!" He touched Lal"s shoulder. "Where"s your capsule?"
  "It"s not far."
  "Then take my chair. See you!" He lay down in his capsule. Lal raised his hand in a gesture of farewell. The lid covered the capsule, and it disappeared into the hole. Lal sat in the chair and rolled to the edge of the park, where open-work frames contained multiple tiers of block-homes.
  He felt nice. Dan seemed a man able to understand many things, with whom he would finally be able to share the doubts tormenting him-and who would be able to understand and maybe help him. Like many of his contemporaries, despite having many contacts, Lal too often felt surprisingly lonely. Absorbed by their work and their own thoughts, most people had few opportunities to share the thoughts and feelings of others, With each person equally benevolent to all others, they were rarely intimate.
  
  3
  
  Dan"s capsule sped through the underground tunnel, one of many making up a network under the city that carried almost all passenger traffic. Pipes of tunnels had been dug through the ground by moles, which created a firm and waterproof shell by melting the inner layer when they were done. Capsules had autonomous drive and moved automatically after destination addresses were specified. All underground traffic in the city was controlled by a central transport computer, which, while receiving and processing instantly all the information about the moving capsules, defined the optimal combined routes for all of them and ensured quick arrival at their destinations. Thanks to that and the huge number of sensors in tunnels, capsules could move very quickly with absolutely no collisions. While reclining in a chair, a man in a capsule could watch a program of news and announcements on a screen in front of him-a "newspaper".
  It wasn"t only transport that was hidden underground. All plants were also buried, with production fully automated and operated by computers. This had cleared the surface of the earth for people"s lives and rest and, in addition, ensured normal environmental conditions and safety in case of accidents, which, really, had been an exceptional rarity since long ago.
  Aboveground, people walked or rolled slowly. Greenery grew everywhere-trees and shrubs, grass and flowers. Even the frames residential units were installed on were almost entirely entwined with plants.
  . . . Dan"s capsule rose through a tubular prop of the frame to his residential block, located in one of the last tiers. Everyone had their own block with an outdoor terrace garden planted with small trees and shrubs; in winter and in bad weather, this was covered with sliding transparent walls and a roof. Mounted on the frames of several tens of tiers, blocks were arranged so that they shaded each other minimally. Blocks varied in size and shape, so they were easy to install and replace.
  Their walls and ceiling were made of a material that was able to become transparent or opaque wholly or in part, to glow, to change color and pattern, or to serve as a TV screen. The sliding partitions could be rearranged and removed easily to instantly change the entire layout of the home.
  Furniture and other household items were sparse because all necessary objects were stored in underground chambers under the house and, only when needed, quickly delivered and then removed by robots. Only a memory unit and a stationary computer were constantly present, along with items made by Dan"s own design or even with his own hands, serving as decoration and creating an individual look to his block-like plants, planted according to his own taste on the terrace. A robot regularly cleaned the block.
  Each in their own block, people worked, slept and rested alone; they listened to music, watched shows and movies, read. None usually visited except people of the other gender.
  
  Here Dan was at home. Now . . . No, he must first eat supper-especially since he was hungry. So he ordered milk with a flat rye cake from his bracelet.
  In the meantime, he approached the aquarium, illuminating the room with weak light. Behind the thick glass was an underwater landscape he had created: artfully stacked stones-gray with sparkles of pyrite, red, transparent quartz; long stems of Cabomba twisting with delicate feathery leaves. From the hills, a stream of air bubbles rose to the surface. Two luxury veil angelfish with silver stripes on a dark background move slowly. There are five swordfish: one little green male, two fork-tailed males-one with black fins, the other entirely bright red-and two large females of the same assortment. And two pearl-gray gouramis stir by their mustache-like pectoral fins.
  The robot rolled up to him with his milk and flat cake. Without changing clothes, Dan lifted the cup and took a large sip. He could not chew slowly or carefully-he had no patience!
  At last, he took his last sip and opened the charts on the wall, glaring eagerly at them. Groups, the amazing groups-islands of patterns in seemingly total chaos!
  In the notebook, the author had given a complete list of them; Dan looked at it again. The names the author had given them were interesting: the ladder-with the same difference between adjacent gaps-in the histogram was really similar to a ladder; the symmetriads! The groups had been grouped further, each selecting ones symmetrical to themselves, indicated by the intervals and the first prime numbers at the beginning of each group; the author had specified numbers of repetitions of the groups and their symbols, which he had used before classifying.
  It was clearly the work of amateur, though it was done thoroughly. But maybe it was good that he was an amateur-he therefore did not repeat anything that was well known to all mathematicians concerned with prime numbers. The results were, of course, interesting.
  What if he was really right? Since everything in nature is interrelated, there must not exist mathematical regularities that do not manifest themselves in some physical phenomena, he thought. This idea had not been formulated publicly, nor proved or disproved by anyone. If he was right, it may be very methodologically fruitful.
  But why subatomic particles? It was simply his first suggestion, but Dan thought it necessary to try to test it; it seemed the author deserved that. Despite the confidence with which he got down to this task, he was clearly not a physicist. Nevertheless, he correctly noticed the analogy of single symmetriads with a neutral charge and a double mutual symmetry of asymmetric groups with oppositely charged particles and antiparticles.
  Since the twentieth century, particle physics had undergone a number of fundamental changes, but the periodic law had not yet been created, the criterion of its construction never having been found. And characteristics of each subatomic particle were indeed associated with a set of several numbers people have tried to learn how to calculate using very complex formulas, which gave approximate results. It had never occurred to anyone to try using prime numbers.
  Thus . . . But subatomic particles were still outside the realm of Dan"s work, and he had none of the necessary materials in his archive. How annoying! Now he must wait four days until next Monday, when they would turn on a common external connection with the Central Archive. If only it were yesterday! On weekdays, from 6:00 on Monday to 22:00 on Wednesday, it could be used freely. Housed in vast underground facilities, it had completely replaced libraries-the stores of large quantities of books printed on paper, which only one person could use at a time. From the Central Archive, one could get a picture of the text of any old book, document, article, movie, or even fresh results of experiments.
  However . . . Exactly! In one of his works, the experiment was based on a number of the properties of subatomic particles, and related characteristic numbers were cited. This work, as far as he remembered, had not been transferred to the Central Archive; it had remained in draft form in his personal archive. But-it could be used at any time. And so Dan input the search key into the computer with all the elements necessary for it to begin.
  The computer had started the search, and now he would have to wait . . . for a long time. It would need to produce a complete search of all draft records for many years, an incredibly huge part of his archive. But it can"t be helped! Dan thought as he sat looking at the charts on the wall.
  Maybe he should go to bed? The signal would wake him if the computer succeeded at finding something. However, it was useless; he wouldn"t fall asleep on his own. But he had so far avoided using artificial means. And the dawn was not too far away. He highlighted the time on his radio-bracelet"s screen and then turned to the orchestrion simulating a vintage organ-music would help, as always.
  The muffled sounds of Adagio of "Toccata in C dur" by Bach floated as a conversation with himself, and with them waves of colors covered the wall, staining not just the cancelled charts as they replaced each other.
  
  The signal came before dawn. Pulling out a paper-thin screen that had been rolled into a tube, Dan quickly flattened it and turned it on.
  Just one particle with the required numerical characteristics. Only one! That work he had apparently, after all, edited and transferred to the Central Archive.
  Okay! He would let the computer continue searching, and see what could be done with this particle.
  So, the arrangement of the numbers-might not be random. Really! Their histogram was asymmetric. The particle-charged positively.
  Using this histogram as a template, Dan slowly let it go along the chart on the wall. Amazing! There was no doubt: he found a similarity, though not direct-somewhat remote.
  But what if he tried the numerical characteristics logarithmically first? Oho! Better now: he found an obvious similarity in this group. If he were to change the base of the logarithm, the figures could be the same. He would do it-produce a proportional reduction, and calculate the logarithm base later. Now, let"s scroll down and . . .
  They have coincided!!! The figure of the chart and a histogram of the particle. After performing very simple operations.
  Dan closed his eyes for a moment. He couldn"t believe it-so suddenly, at once!
  So . . . No, it still does not mean anything, one of the dozens of known particles. But still!
  If he could find more data on the particles! Dan waited, looking expectantly at the computer. But a further search turned up nothing. That"s a pity! Now to endure until next Monday. . .
  . . . Dan went to his garden-terrace and sat in a chair under the small apple tree. The sun had already risen and started to warm the air. It was quiet, and everything seemed clear and fresh. He felt a little dizzy after his sleepless night. All right-he would take a daytime nap at the thermae.
  Yes-very, very interesting! For the present, it was 1:0 in favor of Mikhayloh. It would be necessary to check all the particles; his assumption was probably correct! Even if he managed to trace the partial manifestation of laws for only some of the particles, this would not be a small thing.
  And what then? What might be concealed in the communication of the subatomic particles and the primes? Dan grinned. It was too early to ask such a question! This was a single incident-it might have been accidental. There might be no connection. He would see!
  It was almost six o"clock, when the rooster"s call would resound from speakers, and the sun lit Dan"s terrace garden brighter and brighter with every minute. The seven square meters boasted two dwarf apple trees, plus bushes of roses and lilacs. Wormwood and marigolds, too; Dan loved to knead those between his fingers-marigold flowers and wormwood leaves-to smell their bitterish-spicy flavor.
  
  "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
  Dressed in sports tights, Dan went down. First walking and then jogging on a path between the props of the frames. So his mornings always began.
  He ran to the sports complex and entered an area fenced by bushes. Today, he was the first. Thursday, the first day off of the week-a day for morning thermae, all-day entertainment and evening banquets. Not many joined Dan at the complex, since most liked to skip exercising on Thursdays. Only when he had finished his workout, washed, changed his clothes, and gone out to lunch did others begin to appear. And yet he was alone in the dining room.
  The long room in the aboveground, single-story building was lit brightly by the morning sun through a translucent wall. After his sleepless night, Dan was especially hungry. Quickly turning on his card-file, he almost immediately found the cottage cheese and plain yogurt, then sent in an order command. A few minutes later, he pulled his food out from the opening between the upper and lower table tops.
  Here, everyone could eat according to their own taste. Every personal archive came with a huge set of cooking programs-all you needed to do was click the name of the desired dish and its specifications, and the program would be transferred to the memory of one of the many kitchen machines, which would immediately give the order for the necessary products and quickly cook it using a high-frequency current.
  In general, everyday food was not too complicated: more than anything, diets were healthy and well-balanced, specifically tailored to each person"s physiology. Every ration included raw vegetables and greens, fruits, nuts and honey. There was no excess because everyone usually ate at the same time-and, except for light suppers, everybody ate in canteens.
  It was unusual for Dan to eat breakfast alone like this. After eating, he became a little drowsy and drifted to sleep, so he woke up angry when some people entered the dining room talking. But it was group of young people, and like many others, Dan loved to look at them.
  Students of some institute. Noisy and merry, they cast lots, and the one to whom it fell gave a general order. All together, they chewed buttered fresh lavash , wrapping in it pieces of cheese and drinking a little tart acorn coffee. They continuously chattered, and Dan was only able to envy their cheerfulness. They held together, obviously valuing their belonging to one another. They even dressed exactly the same-both the boys and girls-in open sandals with straps to their knees and short dresses that each had one shoulder open, with all kinds of colors from bright yellow to dark brown, just like Dan"s favorite colors of marigold flowers.
  At this age, they were still all taught together. Later, occupied with postgraduate studying in individual programs, they would see each other less and less. Even at night, even on days off. Each one would be absorbed with his or her own work and thoughts. This was a natural process in a world where communication was abundant but fragile.
  It was even nicer to see children, which only happened during their trips to science centers.
  . . . Children lived separately from adults, in the best places on Earth designated specially for them, raised and educated by teachers.
  Pediatricians are engaged, using minders, in nursing babies. The only women who gave birth were those incapable of intellectual work, in whom physicians implanted artificially fertilized ovules of other women. Because of this, female scientists had no need to interrupt their work, nor waste time and energy on bringing forth and caring for children.
  The role of "parenting" in the genetic sense was reduced exclusively to a duty of every individual to contribute to the gene pool at a young age via sealed ampoule. Using a vast amount of information, a supercomputer determined the optimal selection of couples for artificial insemination. To eliminate the possibility of irreparable loss of any qualities, some of the couples were made by random selection while a small number were determined by homogeneous racial signs-so as not to lose them. This area of work belonged exclusively to geneticists, who had taken human reproduction entirely in their own hands and also regulated its numbers.
  This had led to a number of major social changes: "parents" had become completely free of worrying about their children-and family units, deemed unnecessary, had disappeared. People had acquired complete freedom in their personal lives, without any restrictions whatsoever. Nothing bound partners except mutual lust-neither children nor a common household nor material concerns from which the progress had freed them long ago; they lived separately, each in their own block. Like other personal connections, intimate ones both formed and dissolved easily, without any consequences. This was considered trivial-a purely private matter concerning absolutely no one else.
  Basically, it was all about simple satisfaction of physical needs. There were some exceptions, of course-long relationships that might even last for life. But even then, if one partner had sex with someone else, the other wouldn"t get offended, just as no one would ever interfere if their partner was simply talking to others.
  But all children were in the hands of professionals, ensuring them the best care and education. Their lives were divided into a number of successive stages, and during each one they lived in certain children"s institutions. At each progressive stage, they would all move to another with totally different children. This worked to stabilize the homogeneity of society, avoiding the creation of closed-off, cohesive groups of people growing up together from an early age.
  The first three stages were the nursery, kindergarten and elementary school. A small portion of children with very low capabilities, who were not suitable to engage in any intense intellectual work in the future, were gradually separated at these stages from the rest of the children, after which they would not get a proper education. But capable enough children would continue to study, in gymnasium, lyceum, college and university, stage after stage and institution after institution, grouped together with students of similar capability levels depending on what period of studying is determined at each stage.
  As children progressed through the stages, their lifestyles changed. At gymnasium and lyceum, like at elementary school, they still learned from teachers in classrooms and special offices, but starting at lyceum they slept in private rooms instead of dormitories. College was mainly for self-study, but with regular teacher check-ins, and by university the students were all on their own.
  Teaching was conducted with the aid of special computer programs. The role of the teacher had been reduced primarily to more of a methodical manager of the education process, with the additional job of identifying the areas in which each student"s ability might reveal itself most fully.
  In addition to studying science, children also acquired the necessary skills of working on computers, handling instruments, conducting laboratory work, and doing manual work without automated machines. Great attention was paid to their physical training, under constant medical supervision by instructors.
  And no less attention was paid to aesthetic development: playing orchestrion, singing, dancing, drawing, modeling. They were often guided on tours at research centers, factories, museums, historical and architectural monuments-in a variety of places on the planet and, as they grew older, even beyond.
  Any person who had graduated from university was considered an adult; he would choose his own his future profession and come to a specialized training institute for the appropriate faculty in one of the research centers. In addition to his studies, he would be involved in the implementation of research, during which he would begin to communicate with scientists working in his chosen field. He would already live in his own block.
  Post-graduate studies differed according to individual programs, where students would perform independent scientific works in the presence of supervisors. The final stage was the doctorate, where each person independently completed a rather large project and then became a doctor-a scientist. It was the general rule, regardless of any specialty. After that, it was possible in the course of one"s life-if desired or necessary-to study again, either according to the general program of a faculty at an institute or as an individual post-graduate student.
  So everyone grew and learned. At the full cost of society. Not knowing their parents. Common children of all mankind.
  From the old days remained the words: father, mother; son, daughter; sister, brother-but now these were only terms of endearment. More often, people called each other "colleague", affectionately "friend" or respectfully "senior". But the most honorific address was "teacher"; the relationship of teacher and student was the closest that existed between people of different generations.
  Most people rarely saw children at all, since they rarely went where children came-they often worked from home, remotely. But rare meetings with children were always a pleasure, and conversations with them, strangely enough, sometimes turned out to be very useful. Children were often able to suddenly inspire unexpected breakthroughs where adults had previously felt stumped.
  . . . In the dining room where Dan was, the students continued to converse loudly, their lively chatter often interrupted by loud laughter. Dan smiled at many of their jokes and had started thinking about joining their conversation when they, after putting their dirty dishes between the countertops, disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.
  There was nothing more to do in the dining room, so Dan got up-it was time to go to the thermae.
  
  It seemed like this was where everyone was this morning-the huge, magnificent thermae. Built by the best architects, finished with stone and natural wood, they had everything necessary to rapidly wash away fatigue and help people look their best at the banquet. Wet and dry steam rooms finished with resinous pine planks; soap rooms with stone baths; huge swimming pools filled with icy seawater; shallow pools for lying down. A relaxing hall with a high ceiling and a babbling fountain; a shady garden protected from the wind in a courtyard. In each steam room, a separate group of people steamed in a different manner.
  Enjoying himself, Dan climbed onto a sweating shelf. Hot steam made his body feel light as birch twigs passed from hand to hand. There were no robots in the steam room; instead, they whipped each other themselves, then added more steam by splashing water on the hot stones. They did everything here like their ancestors had.
  Dan could only steam for a relatively short time now, due to his age. He soon moved to the soap compartment and climbed into the pink-gray marble bath filled with fragrant foam. After shampooing his hair, he plunged into the bath up to his chin. The cleaning solution bubbled, nipping pleasantly at his skin.
  A few minutes later he was in the shower, his body massaged by jets of water shooting out at him from all directions. Then he went to luxuriate in a shallow basin with cool bubbling water colored with salts.
  After resting for a while, he climbed back into the steam room and this time sweated to his heart"s content. When he was done, he ran out and jumped in the pool of cold water. His steamed-out skin did not feel the cold, and it felt like he was swimming in air. Just an amazing lightness and vigor, as if he was still young, not yet a hundred years old.
  After throwing a sheet down, he settled in on a wide couch near a fountain.
  Most people got plenty of rest in between steamings, sipping light beer-the best for quenching thirst. But Dan had had enough steam. He poured some green tea into a bowl and immediately began to drink. After exchanging a few words with him, the rest of his steaming companions went to steam further.
  He drank in small sips. Light, pleasant perspiration covered the body as he breathed in refreshing coolness from the fountain. No desire to sleep at all.
  He needed to contact Lal, to inform him about what he"d detected, although it was still only coincidental. With that thought, Dan suddenly fell instantly asleep.
  Other people came along to rest, and then went to steam and splash. Someone covered Dan carefully with a sheet.
  
  In the afternoon, most people, dressed in clothes called from home, went out-to stadiums, theaters, and concert halls. The Thursday shows and concerts only happened in the daytime and ended no later than 16:00. But the biggest fans of the thermae remained. And they indulged, lying on the couch and even in small pools with unrolled sight screens and sound receivers in their ears.
  And in the garden-courtyard before a huge screen, fans of rolling-hockey on self-propelled roller skates-settled in. This was the most popular game, and none could compare with its tempo and intensity. Players rushed like lightning on the field, chasing a small bright ball with sticks. It was a high-scoring game, always inciting turbulent emotions in its viewers. Although they watched with sound receivers in their ears, they themselves were so noisy, it could wake anyone.
  But not Dan-he slept like a log.
  
  At 16:00, a loud alarm woke him; it was time to get dressed for the evening banquet. He did not want to go home, so he turned on the card index for his wardrobe, carefully selected clothes for the banquet, sent a command to bring them to the thermae, and meanwhile dipped into a pool of aromatic water.
  Where to go-which restaurant was it? Dan, as always, could not remember. Arg always chose the place, and every time he wrote its name in his memory. In general, Dan did not find the choice of where to banquet so important: he wasn"t a gourmet. The main thing was to spend the evening with familiar people, some of his disciples, with whom he has banqueted every Thursday for years.
  But he always came dressed appropriately. Today he wore a long white dress of thin, soft wool and a wide cape with a long fringe of twisted silk, with a gold buckle shaped as the head of a beast resting on his left shoulder. His white hair and beard hung in long ringlets, with a wide ribbon running across his forehead and tied at the back of his head, the ends of it hanging down from his left temple to shoulder. Today he was obviously dressed better than on previous Thursdays, certainly because of his mood after last night.
  A capsule brought him to the entrance hall of the restaurant, where the whole group was waiting for him; they never sat down without him.
  As a cordial host, the master chef met his guests at the entrance. Here at his banquet hall, he would choose all the dishes. Nobody could order of his own accord here-that was what canteens were for.
  Even at the canteens, not everyone always used the ready-made programs-many liked to invent themselves new dishes or cook personal specialties and then treat others to them in the canteen, copying the programs of production for anyone interested. Sometimes, indeed, it turned out well-but, nevertheless, it was pure amateurism.
  The genuine, high art was represented by culinary professionals, who were regarded as composers of taste. Each appeared at his own restaurant on Thursdays with a banquet program composed of carefully selected dishes and drinks created by him and borrowed from modern or ancient national cuisines. Only slightly modifying and changing, the program ran until everyone who desired to had visited it, all while the master chef was busy preparing his next program.
  Artists worked with chefs as well-on the presentation of meals, service, and covers for each of their shifts, the interior design of the hall with furniture, tablecloths, and drapery. Every Thursday, they decorated the restaurants with fresh flowers.
  But the chef was not the main person in charge during the actual banquets-his role was only to manage the course of dishes as most suitable for each moment. A jester reigned in the hall-he organized the fun and directed the concert, which all the guests, without exception, had to participate in. Only a gifted actor with great charisma and inexhaustible wit could become a jester. He led the tables, seating guests, proclaiming toasts and leading drinking songs.
  
  Wine sparkled in tall crystal glasses and drinking horns decorated with metal, flat phials. Light grape wine that the guests drank by drops, which would intoxicate only a little bit; or the non-alcoholic one-invigorating.
  The jester raises his phial, stretching it forward. Everything falls silent.
  "Let"s all be together, together,
  And let joy on our faces shine!
  Let"s all be together! Let"s all be together!
  And let"s all drink some wine!"
  What was this song? The jester had stumbled across a recording of it being performed in a collection of the bygone epoch"s songs. Struck by the song and its performance, he had decided to resurrect it, translating its text and reserving it for the next program without changing anything about its melody or performance in any way-unaccompanied.
  Everyone held wine in one hand, and fan-screens opened with text and notes in the other. The guests began to join the jester in song-his voice sounded on the chorus while more common, coherent voices expanded and grew in power.
  The jester came to Dan, stretching out his phial.
  " . . . And let joy shine on Dan"s face!"
  Today, Dan was the oldest one at the banquet; he held out his glass with nonalcoholic wine toward the jester, and by ancient custom, they clinked their glasses.
  The jester went further, approaching the most honored guests-who had earned this honor today by their success-and sang to toast them. At the end, he toasted the hosts of the banquet, the master chef and artist. After this, he became silent, and the guests" chorus proclaimed a toast to him.
  Bowls rang and tablemates clinked their glasses. All guests paid tribute to the dishes-fruits of culinary creativity.
  After the third change of dishes, the fun began. Almost everyone sang and danced. These people knew how to have fun; in fact, they were taught how to do it properly. They know plenty of songs, both modern and ancient, the text of which had been translated into contemporary language. And they knew how to dance an incredible number of dances. The jester kindled fun, starting each dance and compelling the guests to perform solo in turns.
  
  People were not supposed to leave the hall for long, but many still tried to escape to the lobby to talk about work-such conversation was not considered appropriate in the hall. As always, a couple people immediately began to talk, discussing their problems and arguing. Then others appeared, too, and started to do the same. This was how they were-these contemporary people.
  Dan was the first in the lobby today, soon followed by Arg and the rest of their group. Dan immediately began talking about the materials he"d obtained from Lal, about the coincidence he had found.
  "I need to have the entire set of characteristic numbers for subatomic particles. Otherwise I"ll have to wait three days-a whole three days!"
  "Friends, do any of you have what our teacher needs?" Arg asked.
  "I have the numbers for three particles," Leah says. But that was all; none of them had any reason to keep such material in their archives.
  "Let"s try to find someone who may have it," said Arg, the most practical person in the group.
  "What? We"d have to talk about work in the hall, you know-it isn"t proper somehow . . ." one of them tried to argue.
  But none of the others hesitated; Dan had infected them with his impatience. How could they wait until Monday? Well, it was necessary to be as discreet as possible in exploring the hall. And if they discovered someone who had what they needed, they would need to carefully sneak that person out to the lobby. As if they were doing it for the first time!
  They returned hurriedly to the hall before the new course of dishes and went from table to table and group to group, spreading the word.
  They moved along the chain: first their own friends, and then friends of friends. But the difficulty was that nobody at the physical center in Starstown was engaged directly with subatomic particles; this was somewhat outside the main themes of work here.
  
  Dan sat in his high-backed chair, watching the dancers, and no one could guess that impatience was gnawing at him.
  The jester led a round dance, with two huge rings of men and women coiling together. For those who were not dancing, it"s was hard to look away.
  Especially beautiful were the young ones, sparkling with the nakedness of their perfect bodies-if you were beautiful, clothes were unnecessary. Or if worn, they could at least be transparent. But it was a shame to expose what had already ceased to be fine.
  A dance-first fast, ecstatic and then slow, filled with hidden passion. Those who liked each other tried to move closer. And if your outstretched hand met a touch given in reply, and fingers tightly entwined with yours-you both would spend this night together.
  Gai, a graduate student of Leah"s, was dancing with a girl dressed in a transparent kimono. It suited her well, as she looked purely Japanese, one of few whose "parents" had been chosen on racial grounds. Both her body and beautiful face were perfect. And her eyes looked tenderly at Gai, who was like an ancient bronze statue, dressed in a loincloth of leopard skin with golden ribbons on his torso and head.
  They already knew that his name was Gai, and hers was Yuki, in accordance with her Japanese appearance. He was a graduate student in physics. And what about her?
  "I"m also a graduate student. I deal with the general problems of systems. Or rather, I"m just beginning to."
  "How?"
  "I rewrite all sorts of systems in my archive. And try to compare them."
  "How about subatomic particles? Have you dealt with them?"
  "Yes, not long ago."
  "Really? Then I beg you, let"s go out!"
  "What"s wrong with you, sweetie? You want to talk about work, don"t you? I don"t want to right now. My passion for you is fogging up my mind-I want to dance!"
  "It"s very, very important, Yuki. I beg you, my sister!" he said. His supervisor, Leah, and Arg had turned to him for help after searching among their peers turned up nothing. They had asked him to target the young: doctoral students, graduate students, and the like. Flattered by their confidence in him, Gai had promised to do everything possible. And even while dancing with this girl, their fingers woven, he had not forgotten about that.
  He told her excitedly about the series of differences between prime numbers and the striking result of comparing them with the available set of characteristic numbers of a single subatomic particle.
  "If it could be possible to find more material, we won"t need to wait until Monday! So far we"ve only found three particles in someone"s archive. That"s all."
  "Then I have exactly what you need; I"ve been trying to handle the complete system."
  "Yeah?!" Gai had not expected such good luck so soon.
  
  "My teacher, this is Yuki. She has a complete set of subatomic particles in her archive!" he said excitedly to Leah.
  "My teacher, we have the full set!" Leah said, in turn, to Dan.
  After that, the rest of the banquet became an oppressive slog to the end. They would have left immediately if that would not have insulted the hosts of the banquet. But they did not touch dessert and did not participate in singing or dancing-even the two young graduate students who had joined the group. More often than others, they snuck into the lobby to share information.
  But the banquet lasted longer, and the fun did not subside. When it finally came to an end, they immediately went home-with capsules, unlike anyone else.
  The rest of the banquet guests, as usual, went home on foot. They walked slowly, singing and laughing. And many of them went in couples to complete the banquet suitably.
  
  4
  
  When the physician told Dan that Lal wanted to see him, he said indifferently:
  "Let him come."
  The physician called Lal immediately:
  "He wants to see you, even right now. He has not let anyone visit him. Maybe his meeting with you will be able to affect him beneficially somehow."
  . . . Lal had spent more than a year in the Near Cosmos; this was a sufficient-enough reason to call Dan after coming back. But he had not received a response. And straightaway, his heart had sunk-what had happened to Dan? Lal had immediately made a request to the computer-and learned about Dan"s disease.
  What his disease was, the computer had not said, but when Lal saw Dan, he knew it immediately: depression, profound. It was impossible to say that Dan was glad to meet him. He remained sullen, depressed. But Lal knew that he was not able to enjoy anything at all. And with careful questioning, he managed to get Dan to talk a little bit.
  "Did you get my radiogram?"
  "Yes. By Pluto."
  By short radiogram, Dan had informed Lal of the confirmation of Mikhayloh"s assumptions, and of the creation of the periodic law of subatomic particles. The radiogram had contained no details.
  On this topic, Dan spoke willingly. He told Lal about the first coincidence, and then about their looking for the necessary material.
  "I could have quickly helped you get it."
  Dan had passed up an opportunity to contact Lal, and Lal had been waiting.
  "I didn"t guess," Dan said, with absolutely indifference.
  . . . Until that Monday, everybody"s computers had run uninterrupted. Even the young graduate students, Gai and Yuki, had gone home and forgotten about their lust.
  Most of the particles coincided with groups on the chart. Some of them were troublesome, and Dan instructed his peers to not linger on them, to move on to other particles. They worked day and night, forgetting fatigue because their work was successful.
  On Monday, Dan sent a preliminary report to the Academy and the Central Border of Coordination, which involved a large number of mathematicians and nuclear-particle specialists in his work. They were given almost unlimited access to supercomputers with the priority of extraordinary service.
  Everything went extremely quickly. The only difficulties were due to particles whose characteristic numbers could not be processed by general methods; these took the most time. For some of them, deviations were found from the basic principle of determining characteristic numbers, after which they were corrected, and then they coincided. Others did not respond to this processing and had to be rechecked experimentally. Fortunately, there were very few such particles. In all cases, the rechecks either discovered errors or helped provide more accurate measurements.
  But even before the completion of rechecking, they began constructing a system of particles based on the repeating groups of numerical differences between the adjacent gaps between prime numbers. Some numbers of places in it were not filled: therefore there had to be particles yet undiscovered. If the principle was true, of course. A set of specific numbers for each of the hypothetical particles made it possible to predict their properties quite closely and perform experiments according to that. The search for them succeeded. They were opened even before processing of the last "difficult" particles was completed.
  This finally convinced Dan, although his instincts had already told him the law was true. So without waiting for the end of the work on the periodic system of particles, he began to lessen his direct involvement in it. He returned to his previous work, armed with this law, and was surprised to find how many of his problems could be suddenly worked out, constituting a coherent chain of conclusions that explained a great number of accumulated facts.
  He was trying to understand what was at their core-the prime numbers. What mystery of nature? And what new opportunities might the answer afford mankind?
  Dan completely stopped working on the particles, interested only in new results. He worked intensively on his own problem, using the all the resources previously given to him-the supercomputers allowed him to efficiently sort data and process even the most complex calculations. With this help, he hoped to stumble across something useful.
  But like before, he began to gradually realize this would come to nothing. The point was not just in the mathematical difficulties. It was imperative to understand some fundamental things. But what?
  When he first thought of higher structures, to which must be attributed not only one constant-like the speed of light-but several, he immediately tried to discard it as obviously absurd. Because then it would also be necessary to assume the coexistence of several different spaces, with more than just four dimensions and having different geometries and time. And adding on the complex curvature and heterogeneity of space and a very unstable conception of continuity and infinity . . . Nonsense, absurd!
  But going through the variants that came to mind, one by one, he stopped again on this hypothesis and decided to check it. For no particular reason, he was confident of its fallibility. But he hadn"t yet found its internal contradiction. In spite of the principle"s madness, the precise mathematical relationships gave very convincing results. Some discrepancies with experimental data were easily explained by their whereabouts within probable errors.
  So, did it correctly reflect reality? No-a thousand times no!!! Everything in him rebelled. Accepting this hypothesis would break everything. All the world-outlook, all the conceptions. No, and never-no!
  Moving to exhaustion along the endless circle, he tried again and again to find a way out of this in another variant, a different explanation. He sought it feverishly. But nothing came.
  Dan stopped sleeping almost completely. He wore himself out. With great difficulty, he hid his condition during regular medical examinations. Everything began to annoy and oppress him; food was disgusting; it became difficult to focus; he was dizzy and could barely breathe. He lost faith in himself. His life and everything around him seemed meaningless and repulsive. For some reason, he felt unconscious fear and an inexplicable, overwhelming sense of guilt.
  So he wouldn"t have to spend sleepless nights alone, Dan called out a houri every evening. The same one each time. And he released her only in the morning, when the sun had fully dawned. This went on until a few days ago, when, having broken his aquarium, Dan attempted to commit suicide with a shard of glass. The houri had stopped him and then reported the incident. And so he had found himself here.
  . . . Dan told his story inconsistently, chaotically, jumping around and repeating things. On his suicide attempt he spoke very briefly, reluctantly, but the hopelessness in his gaze made Lal think he had not parted with the idea.
  "It"s possible your hypothesis is true, father of mine."
  "Ah! That can"t be. I"ve just stumbled on it in a fit of madness."
  "But even the theory of relativity seemed insane, at first."
  "Einstein wasn"t sick; he did not go crazy."
  "I read that he was treated for severe depression. The source, however, isn"t completely authentic-but it"s believable. This is the price to be paid for overstraining when trying to move beyond the level of your time. Both in his case and yours."
  "You compare me with Einstein?"
  "Exactly! Do you believe me?"
  "You-yes, I do. You know so much."
  "Then listen to me. It seems to me that this is true."
  "No! No!" Dan shouted, shaking his fists.
  A medical student ran in immediately.
  "Please, go away! Now!"
  
  Lal went away full of conflicting emotions. He was incredibly upset by Dan"s condition. And at the same time, excited happily. It seemed to Lal that Dan"s stupendous hypothesis really had to be true, even though Dan himself did not want to-or rather, could not-recognize it. Lal was not a physicist, but he understood well enough what Dan had said. A modern historian should know very, very much, and Lal embodied this quality perhaps more than anyone, thanks to his incredible memory and ability to quickly grasp essentials. And besides, he who waits and hopes begins to believe before others.
  If everything was correct, it would be difficult to overrate Dan"s discovery. By its caliber, it would not be inferior to the greatest discoveries of the previous epoch-it would be a real revolution in physics. So . . .
  So, it would mark the end of the current epoch-the epoch without any outstanding scientific discoveries, the epoch of disbelief and despondency. The epoch of the crisis, which was a universal goal to prevail over. And then a lot might change. Dan"s discovery could become a current that would carry them all to the bank.
  The inadequates! Nothing had changed in Lal"s opinion during his absence from Earth. And there he saw the inadequates who were experimented on-there were no others in the Near Cosmos. He worked less than he had on Earth, so he had enough time to consider all the details again. And he came back firmly convinced of the rightness of his opinions on the current social structure.
  Dan"s hypothesis was like a flash of light in the darkness. He needed to believe that it wouldn"t go out. It was so imperative for Dan to recover! As soon as possible.
  
  The next day, Dan was the one who asked the doctor to call Lal. And his first question was:
  "Have you told anyone about this damned hypothesis?"
  Lal glanced at him in surprise.
  "Of course not; you have not given me your permission."
  "Okay. Don"t tell anyone. Even better-forget it completely."
  "No. I know you will recover soon-and then you"ll come back to it again."
  "Hardly."
  "I"m sure of it. Everything will be all right. They"ll cure you soon-trust me."
  But Dan was too worn out to believe in anything. He met each day with hatred. Do not be, do not speak, do not think, do not exist-these were his most intense desires.
  Fortunately, due to the treatment the physician had given him, he slept most of the time. In his dreams, his body was released from its accumulated toxins. And the sharpness of despair was gone, although still nothing pleased him.
  
  But one day, Dan woke up and again felt vigor, tranquility and a joy for existence. The sun was shining, and the leaves on the trees outside his window fluttered in the breeze. He felt once again clarity of mind, strength and confidence in his muscles. When Lal came at the usual hour, Dan met him with a smile.
  . . . They walked a lot in the clinic"s park, sometimes silent and sometimes speaking. They went fishing together at the pond. And Dan"s thoughts slowly began to return to work.
  He felt that he could accept his hypothesis of matter hyperstructures. Little by little, he started to work on that. And now, when he had accepted his strange conclusions as inevitable, everything had finally cleared and begun to fit a coherent system.
  For want of something better, Dan made his first records with a twig on a sand of the pond"s bank.
  "Sonny, please take a picture while this lasts," he said with a sly smile to Lal, for whom he had been waiting that morning impatiently. And Lal rushed to fulfill his request; fortunately, the wind had not managed to damage Dan"s records.
  That same day, Lal decided to talk to Dan"s physician.
  "Even if we wanted to, we could not stop him now. Even without access to his archive and computer-he will work without any means but his brain. This will cause nothing but mental overstrain."
  "Unfortunately, I know this well. We must discharge him from the hospital, but won"t he ruin his health without constant supervision?"
  "I will be with him every day, when possible-to ensure that won"t happen again."
  "Fine. I will watch him myself every three days. But if you notice something, report it immediately. Agreed?"
  He explained to Dan in great detail the routine of his work, changing occupations, rest and medications.
  "Calculate your strengths strictly. As in the long run. If you force anything prematurely, you may succumb again."
  But even so, the physician told Lal after Dan had left his office:
  "Can you succeed to persuade him somehow to postpone the work? At least for half a year?"
  "You do not know Dan. But we will carry out your instructions."
  
  5
  
  Dan only took about a year to complete everything. Surprisingly fast.
  "If I don"t count the previous one hundred and thirty years," he said thoughtfully to Lal, when he was finished.
  Lal had been close by the whole time, spending much of his time in Dan"s block. Only occasionally at first, when the weather was so awful they could not take their usual walks together. Then more and more often. Dan worked, and Lal settled on the terrace and also worked, writing.
  . . . His first report on the hypothesis of hyperstructures, Dan kept within a narrow circle-just the group of people working on the creation of the periodic system of subatomic particles. These people would be the most prepared for it; Dan"s position as their teacher demanded that. The day after that, he made his official report to the Academy.
  As Lal, who was present at both meetings, had anticipated, Dan"s hypothesis turned out to be too unexpected for modern physicists. It was sharply rejected by most of them. But others, struck by the courage of Dan"s conclusions, vigorously expressed their agreement with his hypothesis, even pointing out a number of additional phenomena that might be finally explained without contradiction.
  The most important thing was what convinced them: using paradoxical properties of hyperspace, an opportunity to overcome long distances with incredible speed now existed. The implied possibilities were unprecedented, incredible, enormous-a breakthrough allowing people, not just cyborgs , to travel to the Far Cosmos.
  Until now, ships with people flying in the Near Cosmos had not gone beyond Minerva-the twelfth planet of the Solar System. Into the Far Cosmos, only cyborg-scouts ventured, each controlled by a human brain, enclosed in a special chamber where it was supplied with liquid, saturated with oxygen and nutrients, and had its toxins regularly removed. Each brain was connected by thousands of joints to sensors and computers that allowed it to control a ship. Moving at tremendous speeds in the Far Cosmos, the scouts came back-though not all of them-in the tens and hundreds of years after their departure and brought back invaluable information about the depths of the Galaxy and its stars and planets. The main aim of this search had been to find a planet suitable for settlement and to discover any intelligent extraterrestrial life that might exist. But until now, not even a single scout had brought good news.
  And because of this, despite the fact that the proponents of the Dan"s theory amounted to an insignificant minority, he was able to make a global report.
  No one remained indifferent. The hypothesis was discussed everywhere and by everyone; people debated endlessly, fiercely. It was hard to accept-it was impossible to disprove. It could mean an unprecedented scientific take-off, a new level of human power, expanding the limits of their domination over nature. Or it could be yet another disappointment-even more bitter. And everything seethed.
  
  To achieve overall recognition had taken less than a year. The opponents of Dan"s hypothesis had been forced to retreat, because it had come with a significant-enough number of facts-and because there was a case for practical use. During this time, Dan, working first alone and then as the head of a powerful office, prepared a fundamental plan for the design of a hyperexpress spaceship.
  When the issue of its manufacturing was put to global vote, no one voted against it-not even the numerous opponents of the theory. No one had balked at the need for several years to manage with modest food and clothing, give up a lot of fun, and slow down their own work. It was all worth it to create the miracle of their epoch-the Interstellar Express.
  The length of its openwork structure, forming an orthogonal system of second-order surfaces-ellipsoids and hyperboloids-had to be about a hundred kilometers, and the diameter thirty times that. It had been mounted outside the Solar System, far beyond the orbit of the last planet, Minerva. And Arg, the best of Dan"s disciples, had managed its construction.
  Like the scouts who had gone into the Far Cosmos, the first trial of the hyperexpress had to be as a ship-cyborg controlled by the brain of an outstanding astronomer named Tupac who had been transplanted into a scout-ship two hundred years ago. He had flown throughout the Galaxy, bringing back information about the other stars closest to the Sun. Tupac had shown incredible courage, audacity and ingenuity.
  Upon learning after his latest arrival of the possibilities offered by Dan"s hyperstructure theory, he had almost demanded to be chosen to lead the first hyperexpress spaceship. When warned about a high probability of deviation between the hypertransfer endpoint and the calculated one, he radioed:
  "Well, two deaths will not happen-but one is inevitable." This knowledge did not stop him. He still believed he was extraordinarily lucky.
  If successful, he would send a signal that would reach the Solar System"s receiving stations in fifteen years. Then he would fly to a few other stars and explore them, along with any viable planets he might detect, with the help of automated-scouts. Then he would come back.
  While orbiting the Sun on his ship, he negotiated with the Academy, Dan and Arg.
  
  For years after the departure of the hyperexpress Dan dedicated his life exclusively to teaching. He created and taught courses on hyperstructure theory for universities and institutes, offering introductions to the theory for schools and colleges.
  All who at first had not agreed with his theory gradually ceased their arguing. Its appearance, as a powerful catalyst, had immediately led to a great number of other important discoveries. It seemed the epoch of scientific depression had ended, and humanity was once again moving with joy along the path of scientific progress. And nobody doubted the success of Tupac"s flight but Dan himself.
  He was the most popular person on Earth. The global ballot elected him an academician, which gave him a second life-his head would be transplanted onto the body of a donor shortly before his death. But Dan thought little of it. Though nobody could tell, he was impatiently awaiting Tupac"s signal.
  
   And then the signal came. All broadcastings were interrupted for a news flash by the Academy.
  People seemed to lose their minds as a stormy jubilation seized them all. No one stayed at home. People thronged squares and alleys, shouting, singing and dancing.
  They wanted to see Dan. But in response to the endless paging, he appeared for just a few minutes on the screen. He congratulated people, thanked everyone and said he wanted to be alone. They did not dare to disturb him. But the eye of the receiver was alight, continuously recording all the radio messages he received.
  Only when Lal appeared on the screen of his radio-bracelet after a call signal did he say:
  "Come to me; I am eager to see you."
  Lal found him in the garden, sitting in a chair-wearing an expression of complete impotence and indifference to everything. He thanked Lal indifferently for the flowers he had brought as congratulations.
  Lal opened a bottle of a light wine.
  "It was given to me by a winemaker, who said it was an old wine with a marvelous bouquet. He told me to save it for a special occasion, once in a lifetime. A day like today. Let"s drink for victory, father of mine!" Lal"s lips were trembling, and his eyes filled with tears.
  They clinked glasses. Dan took a few sips. But he was too tired, and he began to get drunk almost immediately. Greedily, he drained his glass. And then suddenly he began to sob.
  Lal did not reassure him; the tears would help him relax. Gradually, Dan calmed down and began to drift to sleep, still sobbing every now and then.
  A robot made the bed, but Dan was already asleep. Lal picked Dan up to put him in bed, feeling with surprise and dismay how light he had become. Carefully, he laid Dan down.
  How much he had aged, shriveled. Like a squeezed lemon. The hero-fully exhausted!
  Lal turned out the lights and went away, leaving Dan to sleep heavily and deeply.
  
  He walked through the alleys, brightly lit and filled with people. The night was approaching, but no one thought about sleep. People walked around embracing one another, exultant, drunk with happiness. And Lal felt today that he was alone like never before. For them, this was a victory-the end of the epoch of the crisis. But for him, it was only the end of its first stage.
  And perhaps that was the most important thing. All these years spent struggling to assert Dan"s theory . . . it had become the main priority of Lal"s life. He had believed in the importance of this theory from the very beginning; it had to put an end to the epoch of the decline. Before that, no one would listen to him. Not even Dan.
  Dan! So many times it had seemed when looking into his eyes that Dan could tell Lal was keeping something from him. But Dan"s thoughts were concentrated just on one thing. He had given himself to it entirely-an overstrained clot of thought, energy, will. And there was already no place nearby for anything else. Otherwise would be impossible; Lal understood that too clearly. And he did not dare interfere. Instead, he waited patiently.
  But after the ship"s departure, Dan had continued to think about it. He no longer needed Lal"s help, and they had begun to see each other a little less. Lal plunged fully into his literary work, creating several book-movies. He continued his journalistic work only to have continued access to information about the inadequates.
  The injustice of the existing social structure had been evident to him for a long time. The examples in history called for its destruction. But he had not yet seen a concrete way to make this happen.
  As before, his cautious attempts to speak out had yielded no results. And today, his hopes of telling Dan everything also collapsed when he saw that Dan had absolutely no energy-he had spent himself in full, having already budged the mountain. Nobody had the right to burden him now with new problems. Least of all Lal-Dan"s closest friend. Dan had to be spared. Unfortunately, it was clear-he had begun to fade. He had little life left to live if . . . if the revival surgery was not successful. But it most likely would be. And then-then was a different matter. But for now . . . For now, Lal would tell him nothing.
  Lal continued to walk through the alleys, responding to many greetings and congratulations, and no one knew or could guess what thoughts tormented him. Mechanically, he came to the café he"d been visiting most often lately. It was noisy today, despite the very late hour. There were glasses of wine before many people, like at the banquet.
  He had only just walked through the door when he heard something that made him immediately turn his head:
  "Will everything really stay the same now? After all, it must disappear someday, the rejection-our curse! Why does it still need to happen? I don"t understand!" a young woman said.
  About ten people sat at her table. Lal told them his name and asked to join them. They shifted willingly, giving him a place.
  The woman"s name was Eve. She and Lal quickly found common ground and, feeling that their conversation was of little interest to the rest, soon left the cafe. They walked a long way, until they came to be outside the city.
  Lal thought he had finally gotten lucky. They talked for the rest of the night and discovered that both were tortured by related problems.
  Eve, a teacher, was concerned mainly by the rejection. Much of what she said he had heard more than once before.
  . . . How painful it was to single-handedly remove from human society a child you had worked with and knew personally! Even if these children were not capable, the rejection was a curse poisoning the lives of all teachers and physicians who worked with young children.
  All of them, including her, understood its importance and the need for it to create a workforce able to overcome the crisis. But it seemed the crisis had come to an end. So was is it really necessary to continue this rejection? Of course, the use of inadequates provided a large value to humanity, and it was unlikely they would willingly turn down it. But, maybe, was it possible to find something else? Let others try to participate in this nightmarish rejection!
   You know, the children you work with are dear to you-all of them! Both the capable ones you are proud of and the slow ones you feel sorry for. Children are the best, the most wonderful creatures in the world, especially the young ones. The women of bygone epochs, who gave birth to their own children and breast-fed with their own milk, were probably happier than contemporary women. Eve would like to put herself in their place . . .
  Lal began to have a premonition that she was bringing him to some unraveling.
  "And if your child would lack capability?" he asked her.
  "I would take care of it for my whole life. Even after it became an adult. No matter what, my child would be dearer to me than all others."
  "And if they tried to reject it?"
  "Well then! I wouldn"t let them!"
  "You wouldn"t, would you?"
  "Never! At any cost."
  "Well . . . But what if all women were giving birth and nursing their children?"
  "Then no one could do anything bad to any child. I wouldn"t envy anyone who tried!"
  "And how about the men?"
  "The same. If a man knew it was his child, he would help raise it and get to know it-and also would allow nothing bad to happen to it."
  She was right! Lal did know the history of the emergence of inadequates; they had become a social group after the birthing of children had transitioned exclusively to special birth-givers-who then also became part of the inadequates. That was how the vicious cycle had begun.
  Lal"s trouble was utterly and completely that he had not seen a significant connection between these phenomena. Only now did he finally understand the basic condition for the existence of a social group of inadequates, or at least one of the main reasons for it. And it became clear what he had to do.
  . . . But really, Eve was only worried about the rejection. Her burning desire to get rid of it as soon as possible existed quite separately from her dream to become a mother, which was simply the effect of an instinct implicitly embedded in her. There was no connection between the two. She did not believe in the possibility for all women to return to motherhood. Her top priority was to bring about the immediate elimination of rejection. At any cost.
  Even by increasing the breeding of hereditary inadequates. Indeed, those were inadequate from birth already-all about them was clear, and nothing had to be solved. She was, still, a true person of her time, to whom the existence of inadequates seemed absolutely normal in principle.
  But at the same time, unlike Lal, Eve was not lonely. She knew many people who thought the same way as she did. Their number was quite significant. They had the capability to carry out at least partial measures to limit the rejection.
  This could be the first real step. And if they started to act, he would definitely join them.
  Lal stretched his hand out toward Eve. They understood each other: their fingers did not intertwine-their hands joined in a strong handshake.
  
  6
  
  The end was approaching. Dan understood it clearly; he had lost almost all of his strength. However, he still engaged a little bit in perfecting educational courses for his hyperstructures theory, and supervising post-graduate students. But now he had become much more interested in things unrelated to work. He travelled. With pleasure, he spent time at night in clubs and cafés. He had carefree fun at banquets, admiring the dancing and joining in the songs. He read, pondering on the meaning of life.
  Often he sat in his garden, admiring the night sky and stars, and dreamed. His life had almost been gone, wholly dedicated to solving the problem he had discovered. He regretted nothing, and even subconsciously felt pride in his results. If he died, he would not be forgotten. He had achieved everyone"s cherished dream-a place in the Memorial of the Genius of Humanity.
  . . . Located on the slopes of Chomolungma , the tallest mountain on Earth, a giant complex rose up from its base. Various mementos of historical epochs were displayed on terrace-steps-sculptures stood, portraits hung, and names and achievements were inscribed of those humanity remembered, by whose thought and activity society had advanced along the path of knowledge and progress. Each stage was enclosed in a structure reflecting the main architectural styles of the epoch. The size of each sculpture, portrait or inscription corresponded to the importance of its contribution. As the steps climbed higher, they became both larger and more crowded. At the entrance to the Memorial stood a statue of a primordial human being holding a stone ax.
  In an empty hall on the last stage, ceremonies were held to present doctors with diplomas printed on genuine paper. Young scientists climbed there on foot, first passing through all the halls.
  . . . However, Dan found it sad to think of nothing but the Memorial in his future. And there was no reason to, since revival surgeries rarely failed. It was more likely that he would be revived with a young body and fresh strength for a new life.
  What would he do in this new life? Of course, originating another theory like his theory of hyperstructures wouldn"t be possible; he would remain chained entirely to the ideas he had already struggled to create. To be able to create another such theory, he would need not just a new body but also a new brain. So, he would have to resume teaching and engaging in matters pertaining to his theory . . . Was it worth it to live a second life just for that?
  What had he wanted in his present life that had been refused for his main job?
  Many educators in his childhood had believed he would become a musician. He was still extremely fond of music and played the orchestrion, wonderfully according to all those who had heard him play-but he understood it could not have been his main focus in life.
  Besides, as a child, he had loved to read about explorers and pioneers. Maybe he could go into the Far Cosmos with the hyperexpress-to search for extraterrestrial civilizations?
  At that moment, Lal appeared on the screen of his radio-bracelet, and Dan told him semi-seriously about his idea.
  "Would you take me along with you, my father?"
  "Come on . . . of course! How could I go without you? Even here, I often miss you. How is your book-movie?"
  "Will you look at the latest pieces?"
  "Of course; send them to me. The last piece I saw was very successful, in my opinion."
   "Much of that is thanks to Layla."
  "Tell her it"s sometimes hard to hold back my tears when she"s playing."
  "She"ll be touched. She always says your name with reverence."
  "What a pity!"
  "Why?"
  "I"m old-but she"s so beautiful and talented."
  "May I tell her this?"
  "If you want to."
  
  When Dan"s strength began waning quickly, he was transferred to the Institute of Revival under the constant supervision of physicians. The physicians had selected several inadequates as body donors and tested them for optimal biocompatibility. Then out of those, they selected one main donor and one substitute and began to prepare them for Dan"s surgery.
  . . . Dan was nearing the state where it would be impossible to delay his surgery any longer. His consent was obtained once again, and the date was finally set.
  They staged a night for his farewell to those he wanted to see one last time before a long separation-or, perhaps, an unwanted eternal one. These people included his closest disciples and colleagues-and, of course, Lal. The best performers played all his favorite pieces, singing, dancing and reciting poems.
  And Layla, who had come along with Lal, a talented actress and the most beautiful woman on Earth, said quietly to him:
  "Come back to me revived. My passion will wait for you."
  He smiled, to her and to his thoughts. A passion stronger than the thirst for discoveries had never gripped him in his life. Well, that was fine, if the future promised him this, too: the passion of such a woman, with a divinely beautiful face and body, fathomless dark eyes and a tender mouth.
  . . . Lal was with him until the last moment, and his face above the hood under which Dan had been laid was the last thing he saw before falling asleep.
  
  
  
  Part II
  
  The HYPERTRANSFERS
  
  7
  
  More than a hundred surgeons performed the complex surgery in a special chamber with a huge number of devices. They joined Dan"s head by many thousands of connections with the body of the young donor.
  Then came the long post-surgical period between non-existence and delirium. And a lot of time passed before Dan"s consciousness became clear, and a lot more time after that before he was finally allowed to get up and start moving. His new body, young and beautiful, was unaccustomed to him; he could barely control its movements. Careful care, a strict regimen, procedures, medications, exercises-nothing else he did know or see while in the institute"s sanatorium.
  Dan came away from there only three years after the surgery, fully in control of his new body. Young and strong, fresh hormones having smoothed out his wrinkles and darkened his hair. So far, the joining scar at this neck was covered with a protective collar of gold in the style of an ancient Egyptian necklace.
  He returned home on New Year"s Eve without warning anybody. He wanted to arrange a surprise for everyone, appearing unrecognizable at the New Year carnival. The only radio call he made was to Lal, but that went unanswered as Lal was in the Near Cosmos again.
  . . . However, Dan was not informed that Lal had not flown out there of his own accord. Once, this treatment had been called an exile, but now it was apparently a regular job of "The News". For those who had made it happen, Lal"s long absence on Earth had seemed the best way out of the situation that had arisen.
  The teachers, Eve"s adherents, had started to act just before Dan had been placed in the Institute of Revival. It could not have happened without the influence of a series of Lal"s articles, so it was impossible to consider that he had only joined them after they had come out calling for the restriction of rejection.
  A controversy had started between them and those who were against any changes. There were many like this: geneticists, surgeons, biocyberneticists, sexologists, sociologists. Those leading them, especially the very prominent geneticist Yorg, strongly believed the debate should not be allowed to become general, so as not to sharpen public attention on related issues. They did everything possible to ensure that many people did not even know about the controversy at all.
  Lal had then appeared publicly with a new series of articles. Since the very outset, his position was extremely complicated; he had no fully like-minded adherents even among those on his side. In the heat of controversy, he had said far more than what was required to support the movement. And he had been left completely alone. Only the desire of the movement"s enemies to avoid general publicity had saved him, since without the world vote, no one could be boycotted. And Yorg had persuaded Marc to send Lal to the Near Cosmos.
  The first round had been lost, and now Lal had to wait again. And to do all that could be at least done for the present. Well! He understood that this was only the outset. And retreated temporarily. Though he had not changed his beliefs, nor lost faith.
  Billions of kilometers separated him from Dan and Earth.
  
  A New Year"s carnival was the most magnificent of all common terrestrial celebrations. In every city, especially huge pavilions were erected for banquets; artists, jesters and actors worked together. Chefs tried to surpass themselves by using the rarest delicacies, whose production was limited due to society"s reluctance to spend too much energy. And every carnival glittered with fiction and fantasy, always different from the previous ones.
  Dan dressed his young body brightly. A thin, lacy, snow-white linen shirt with a huge collar covering his shoulders; a gold-mesh vest with long tassels hanging down to his hips; pants the color of red swordtail-fish scales and shoes of black velvet. On his head, a gold hoop wrapped around his dark, shiny hair as a cobra with rubies for eyes raised its head. A matching set of radio-bracelet, rings and earrings inlaid with chalcopyrite. He was handsome-unrecognizably so.
  His surprise clearly succeeded; in the hall of the pavilion, absolutely nobody paid attention to him. He took an empty seat at the long table, trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible. His disciples were somewhere close, and they suspected nothing. He was looking forward to surprising them-how amusing that would be!
  A huge live spruce in the midst of the pavilion shone with colored lights and many of ornaments. The floor, walls, seats and even the tables were covered with fleecy carpets, shining and white as snow. From the ceiling, huge snowflakes dangled.
  New Year. It was already almost time. Everyone"s glasses, phials, cups and horns were filled and raised in anticipation. The music was softening and the light fading-to the traditional five-minute silence when only the stars were visible through the transparent dome, and each person was alone with himself and his thoughts.
  Bells sounded in the dark, and on the last toll the bright light returned.
  "Greetings to you, our dear teacher! Happy New Year to you, and a new life!" Dan heard. The entire hall was greeting him loudly, and right in front of him Arg and the rest of his disciples stood with phials in their hands. Well, what sly people-his surprise was ruined! But he felt no annoyance-he simply laughed with them.
  As Arg led him to the place of honor that awaited, everyone tried to clink glasses with him, and the choir sang a song specially written for the day of his return: "We have waited for you so long!"
  Dan sat down at the table with his disciples, and at that point a solo female voice replaced the choir. The singer sat on the dais, highlighted among the ensuing half-light, accompanying herself on the harp-orchestrion. Her voice was low and deep, and her movements over the strings of the harp wonderfully graceful. Her youth was her main decoration-the pure beauty of her naked body under a long, loose robe of the thinnest transparent fabric. Her figure was tall and slim, with a flexible waist, and her large, perky breasts pressed tightly against the fabric. Her wispy red hair lay along her back, touching the floor. Huge, shining eyes, a quivering nose, and a small, dynamic tender mouth . . . slightly large feet in light-silver sandals, and long-fingered hands . . . Every part of her-both her figure, as though pulled from an ancient Egyptian bas-relief, and her face with its radiant eyes, smile, movements, and the sound of her voice-were full of ineffable grace.
  Dan stared at her while she sang. And when the dancing began, he stood with other men in a large circle surrounding a slightly smaller circle of women.
  She moved right up against him as they danced, and just then the music slowed down.
  "What"s your name, sister?"
  "Eya."
  "Eya? Your name is light, like breathing." She sent him back a bright smile. After the dance, he invited her to his table.
  Both young, they sat among his elderly disciples, and Eya was a bit shy in the company of such famous scientists. For the rest of the night, Dan kept close to her and danced tirelessly; he was more fascinated than he had ever been in his first life.
  Such a lovely return! If only Lal were here. Where was he now?
  "Lal is on Minerva," Arg said. "A space station patrol picked up the signals from a scout coming back."
  "Not Tupac yet?"
  "I don"t think so. We"re not expecting him yet. Otherwise, everyone would be there."
   . . . Dan looks at Eya again, wanting yet not daring to reveal his passion. He had always been quite shy with women. His hand stopped halfway, but hers closed the distance. Their fingers woven tightly, they looked into each other"s eyes-they would be together today.
  Gradually, the elderly began to disperse, going home to rest. Dan and Eya left when the farewell dance had finished. In the lobby, two self-propelled sleighs awaited them. They got inside and, both pressing their pedals at once, they left the pavilion.
  The night was quiet, clear, with light frost and soft, sparkling fresh snow. Almost no one else was around, and they only heard other sleighs rushing from time to time. They drove on, racing each other, dodging and playing-they were having fun. Then he pulled her sleigh to his and embraced her. They weren"t long able to open their flaming lips.
  Dan felt her warm fingers on his cheeks and greedily inhaled the delicate scent of her perfume, his favorite bitterish-spicy smell of marigolds. She smiled, and whispered:
  "You are like a boy, getting a taste of passion for the very first time!"
  . . . In Dan"s block, they did not turn on the lights. Under the dim starlight on the garden terrace under a transparent dome, Eya seemed like the revived statue of some great sculptor of antiquity. Or else an alien from another world in another galaxy.
  "Your eyes are like stars! You"re a young poplar leaf in spring."
  The bed called them, waiting.
  
  In the morning, an emergency call woke Dan. He turned on the receiver-Lal appeared on the screen with his hands held together in greeting in front of his chest.
  "My best regards to you, the reborn! I"m eager to convey the good news: Tupac is coming back! His broadcast has been processed; he has discovered a planet almost similar to Earth. But it is lifeless, its atmosphere composed of carbon dioxide. I"m informing you first. An hour later, a message will be sent to "The News" for a special." The screen went dark: Lal was in a hurry.
  Dan turned around and heard Eya"s quickened breaths. Her eyes were wide open, her whole face quivering with excitement.
  "Dan! Oh! How wonderful! A planet! Similar to the Earth! Nothing like it has never been found in the Solar System. Hurray!"
  "You are so fired up, if I threw you in the snow, it would hiss!"
  "I don"t mind. Let"s run?"
  Dressed in athletic clothes and light waterproof shoes, they ran along a paved path. But normal, measured running was impossible; they were both too excited. Eya kept trying to discuss the news and, getting more and more excited, began to run faster and faster.
  "Stop! Run smoothly! We"ll talk later."
  "But you must understand, the atmosphere was once the same on Earth-I know all the details about that period."
  "Do you? Why?"
  "What do you mean why? I"ve studied the earth"s ecological history."
  "Are you an ecologist? You?"
  "Why are you laughing? I am an ecologist, currently finishing my post-graduate study. My thesis is on Earth"s atmospheric changes."
  "Indeed?"
  "Hah, just teasing! Take that!" Nimbly, Dan fell back in the snow. Eya is leaned on him, both floundering in the snow, and they managed to kiss through their laughter.
  Then they jumped up and accelerated their pace. Having run into the lobby of the swimming-pool, they quickly changed their clothes and, without having cooled down, threw their steaming bodies into the water. To avoid Eya"s pestering him with talk of the new planet, Dan dove down endlessly. He could not talk about this right now, even with her.
  She still found a moment-when they sat on the bench with drinks. While sipping tomato juice, she began to expound on her plan for making the planet discovered by Tupac acceptable for human life.
  . . . The Earth had also once contained no free oxygen in the atmosphere; like on this new planet, there was instead a large amount of carbon dioxide. But over a long period of time, plants had accomplished the gigantic task of saturating the atmosphere with oxygen. Using chlorophyll, they had broken down water, releasing free oxygen, and then combined the released hydrogen with the carbon dioxide they absorbed in their feeding.
  Plants were now the only regenerators of oxygen on Earth. And to create normal conditions on Earth-2, as she had first named the new planet, its surface should be covered with vegetation, too. Of course, it would be necessary to artificially create the minimum amount of free oxygen necessary in the atmosphere for their nighttime gas exchange.
  But it was possible to start planting without waiting for that. How? By creating special facilities covered with transparent film, which would transmit only the necessary amount of ultraviolet rays for photosynthesis. In these facilities, all the necessary conditions for plants could be met. And in the daytime, when it was light out, the desired amount of carbon dioxide could enter through a special valve, which would automatically close at nightfall. Thus, the plants would be protected from an excess of strong ultraviolet rays, and be provided with the necessary concentration of oxygen for respiration during the night.
  The number and size of these covered zones could gradually increase. Plants would soon start to settle the planet, and this would accelerate the process of saturating of the atmosphere with oxygen for human colonization.
  Dan listened to her attentively. "Indeed, that is sensible!" It was something to think about later.
  More and more people began to appear in the pool. The radio receiver on the wall screen turned on, broadcasting morning music with color support.
  The music was cut suddenly with the short signal for a special. Trying to move as inconspicuously as possible, Dan went to the tallest diving board.
  All became numb, as the message played. And then came the general cries of triumph:
  "A new planet! Another Earth! Hurray! Another victory! Dan is here-cheers, Dan!"
  He stood so he was not visible, but everyone knew he was here. Someone radioed their friends, and soon excited, screaming, laughing people filled the pool building to capacity.
  "The new planet! We will populate it, and our civilization will grow-our progress will accelerate! Dan! Where is he?"
  They still hounded him. People climbed up to him, and as soon as someone succeeded to get him, he jumped down into the water. But when he surfaced, he was surrounded on all sides.
  "Dan! You were not with us at the first victory day. Let"s celebrate together today!"
  The crowd of them, laughing and singing loudly, moved from the pool to the carnival pavilion. There, Dan was asked to make a speech for the direct broadcast worldwide.
  Dan did not consider himself a master of words, but today he was eager to communicate what filled him. He appeared on all screens, and everyone held their breath, awaiting what he had to say.
  "A great amount of time has passed since people were convinced of the futility of their search for a planet suitable for colonization. Now, such a planet is found. It is far away, but we can overcome the distance.
  If our dream comes true and we succeed to settle a new planet, we will become more numerous, and in proportion to our number, the exponent of our speed of progress will increase, as those who dwell there and those who remain on Earth will be able to exchange information. It will be worth it to work hard and once again restrict our conveniences. In order to achieve this new great goal, no sacrifices can frighten us.
  What awaits us? Maybe not just another inhabited planet, but also the implementation of our cherished dream: a meeting with other sentient life forms. And maybe, in search of that goal, we will discover something good in ourselves-something new, still unknown. Or perhaps we will remember something we lost previously in the course of our development.
  Our goal is set, our hope lighting the way. Like everyone, I dream to go to the new planet."
  . . . This solemn day had greatly tired Dan, who had grown unaccustomed to such a huge quantity of people. But he did not leave until the very end.
  
  The next day, Dan began applying for permission to send a space radiogram to Lal. It went with Dan image; he realized that after three years of separation, Lal would want to see him.
  "Greetings and Happy New Year, my dear-brother now! I"m eager to see you and hug you. If you"ve finished your work, come back soon. I"m waiting for you impatiently."
  Then he said to Eya:
  "It seems I"m feeling a little tired of all the noise. I want to be with you alone, my dear."
  She wanted the same. And they went for a few days to the snowy forest-for skiing. A special robot with a tent, batteries and diverted products travelled ahead of them, paving the ski trail. When they arrived, it set up and quickly warmed their tent while melting snow for tea and cooking hot food.
  Inside the tent, they rested and talked-most of all about the new planet. Dan also spoke of his very close friend, Lal. Eya listened eagerly, as Lal was one of her favorite writers. Once, she had even managed to talk to him during an interview with her supervisor, Professor Tāne, and Lal had made an unusually strong impression on her.
  These days had made them very close. This very young girl inspired Dan with ever-increasing admiration. She, like him when at twenty years old, was finishing her post-graduate study. Dan admired her significant amount and depth of knowledge, tenacity of mind and amazing harmony of thought. He guessed she had even more hidden powers waiting in the wings.
  As he touched her with his unspent tenderness, she was surprised at how modest, even shy, the greatest genius of the present epoch was. Although maybe he was only like this with her? Probably, yes; this idea flattered her.
  They skied many kilometers through the snow-covered forest. And on the last day of the New Year"s holidays, they relaxed on the beach in Australia, basking in the hot sand and swimming in a warm gulf.
  
  Lal arrived soon.
  After receiving Dan"s radiogram, he quickly forwarded it to Earth in the next edition of "The News", along with his request to return from the Cosmos. He knew he could not be refused-so great was Dan"s authority. When Lal was called back to Earth, Marc requested that he get in touch upon arrival.
  And so Lal left, straightaway. On a small space launch. Quite alone.
  When he arrived, fulfilling Marc"s request, Lal sent him a call. A complicated relationship bound him to this man. Marc, of course, still held the same position, although his arguments had largely lost their power. He admired Lal"s talent too much-and was therefore genuinely afraid for him. If not him, who else would be aware of the extent of the impending danger?
  "Be prudent and cautious. I am already starting to think you are right in many respects-but your time has not come yet! So again, I ask: be careful."
  Lal was touched. He reassured his editor, promising to refrain from making any public statements. He did indeed intend to behave quietly, since he knew time must pass before people could begin to understand him; instead, he had decided to hasten this moment another way. During his whole long journey back to Earth, oblivious of his loneliness, he had pondered his plan of action.
  After his meeting with Marc, Lal got in touch with Dan, passed an ordinary medical check and flew by rocket plane to Starstown. As always, the last few minutes were particularly agonizing. Finally, the capsule stopped somewhere in the hundredth tier, and Lal found himself in Dan"s strong arms.
  . . . They eagerly scrutinized each other-Dan marvelously rejuvenated and Lal, who now seemed older than him. Lal did not immediately notice the woman who was also in the block. He raised his head in surprise, but then he smiled at her.
  "Good afternoon, Eya!"
  "Wonderful day, senior!" She obviously felt flattered that he had remembered her.
  They sat on the terrace, and the questions were endless. Eya tried at first to leave, seeming to think she was in their way. But they insisted she stay with them.
  The conversation quickly turned to the new planet. Eya questioned Lal eagerly for new information. No-beyond what had already been transferred to Earth, he knew nothing. All the same, the planet was incredibly similar to Earth. Its diameter, mass, and gravity were not significantly different, and the temperature almost everywhere on its surface was like that at Earth"s equator. Although there were some incomprehensible spots in Tupac"s report.
  "They have given it to a computer to decipher," Dan said. "So far, to no avail."
  However, no one wanted to wait until the computer had finished. And they did not want to wait until Tupac arrived to give them all the materials he had collected.
  The issues of flight to the new planet, followed by its development and settlement, were already being studied for a report to the Central Border of Coordination of humanity, to approve their inclusion in programs of scientific preparation, engineering and industrial implementation. No one doubted the future results of that vote.
  And to take part in the first expedition to Earth-2, as they were calling the new planet thanks to Eya, almost everyone was eager-including the three of them.
  In this opportunity, Dan saw for himself the realization of his long-held childhood dream. In addition, he believed he would find in the Far Cosmos invaluable material for further research: he became less skeptical of his continued potential for creativity.
  To participate in the implementation of the ecological revolution of Earth-2, and even see it with her own eyes, was also an incredible dream of Eya as an ecologist.
  And Lal wanted to see it all for himself. As a historian and a journalist. Would there be any practical benefits of his participation in the expedition? Sure! His occupation required him to be interested in absolutely everything, so he was overflowing with all sorts of knowledge-like a living encyclopedia. And with his exceptional memory, he would be a perfect complement to a team of advanced but narrow specialists. In addition, he had more than two years of experience flying in the Near Cosmos, including a six-month stay on a space station and the title of first-class astronaut, which he had been automatically awarded for his solo flight back from Minerva.
  It would be great for all three of them to join the expedition. Everything, of course, would be decided by a special machine selection, and then by the selection board and a universal vote. However, if all three presented themselves as a group, their chances would be higher; even just the three of them would make up a good crew-a physicist, an ecologist, and an all-round specialist. The long, close friendship between Dan and Lal would be another advantage-as would the compatibility between Dan and Eya, and the good will between Eya and Lal.
  Lal did not tell them everything-he had another purpose, and his current situation could not possibly fit better with his intended plan of action. But for now, his immediate plan was to create a new book-movie. With Layla"s.
  "Have you met her?" he asked Dan, already getting up to leave.
  No, Dan had not met her. Actually, on the day of the news of Earth-2"s discovery, shortly after delivering his speech, Dan had thought he saw her at the entrance to the hall. But Eya had said something, and he had turned to her. When he"d remembered Layla again and begun to look for her, he had not found her anywhere. He"d thought he must have been mistaken. And then he had immediately forgotten about it.
  
  8
  
  Everyone was waiting for Tupac"s arrival. At the same time, the preparation for the expedition made headway-the Central Border of Coordination declared this society"s number one priority, burdening the scientific and engineering centers with it at the expense of all other research. Discussions and competitions for solutions took place continuously. The Staff Archive"s supercomputer performed the search for and analysis of candidates.
  Dan was asked to withdraw his candidacy, in order to not put his second life in danger-to no avail, of course. Eya slightly delayed the defense of her predoctoral thesis to include a well-founded plan for the oxygenation of the Earth-2 atmosphere by gradually foresting the planet. This idea had been recognized as the best-and Eya"s version approved as a primary contender, highly increasing her chances. Lal"s chances were also quite notable, as his reasons proved quite substantial.
  Finally, Tupac flew back. The giant spaceship went into heliocentric orbit outside the Solar System. A space cruiser containing Dan, Lal, and other members of the meeting commission came close to the hyperexpress and entered a parallel course. After they had exchanged mutual greetings, Tupac transferred them all the information he had collected on the surveyed areas of the Far Cosmos, and he directly answered their questions. First of all, they asked him to explain the unintelligible parts of his message, since the computer had not been able to decipher them.
  Tupac explained that the problem was with himself, in his brain. For some reason incomprehensible before, irreversible changes had occurred within him, causing him pain. The cause of this was now quite clear to him-a completely unforeseen consequence of the properties of hyperstructures at certain levels. And he explained a possible way to overcome it.
  He knew he must die shortly. But he said he was pleased and regretted absolutely nothing. He thanked Dan, who had given him the opportunity to move so quickly across the Galaxy. Instead of spending dozens of years flying through interstellar space, he had been able to get close to their selected stars in negligible time, covering the remaining distance with conventional annihilation engines. From there, he had sent rocket-scouts to the stars and various planets around them to collect pictures and detailed data. The scouts sometimes sat on the planets" surface, performing seismic exploration and drilling, then delivering samples of rocks and-rarely-atmosphere. At the latest star he had surveyed, a scout had brought back information about an Earth-like planet. But he had already started to feel a small but persistent pain, and his diagnostic analyzer device had to fix some changes in his brain. So he decided to return.
  Nevertheless, he had been lucky. The deviation from the intended endpoint of the hypertransfer had been small this time-at the beginning of his journey, he had needed to spend a long time getting to his first destination with the annihilation engines and could only send a signal to the Solar System after a long delay. But this time it had all gone smoothly, except for the pain intensifying constantly. He was in a hurry to convey his message about the Earth-like planet along with valuable information about the space area he had explored, to save such a miracle as the hyperexpress. He wanted to die on Earth, and before his death to have the opportunity to communicate with people one last time.
  . . . His quarantine was reduced as much as possible. And then the block containing Tupac"s brain was brought to Earth. But to save his life was indeed impossible.
  They placed the huge block containing his brain on a mobile platform so he could see with his tele-eyes cities and fields, trees, grass, blue skies and the people who talked to him, as they gently touched their hands against the sides of his block-all for the last time.
  He was a great astronomer-Tupac, who became a cyborg to go to the stars-and his death was met by deep mourning. A large statue of him appeared at the Memorial of the Genius of Humanity, and the constellation through which he made his last flight received his name instead of its old mythological one.
  
  The work was in full swing. To make the flight successful, their preparations for it would take ten years. During this period, it was necessary to work out in detail the main and backup programs for the ecological revolution. Everything needed to be prepared for implementation: design projects, the initial number of machines, robots and the programs for them to manufacture on Earth-2. Reliable methods of preserving seeds and food, a sufficient number of batteries, fuel, other necessary materials for the first time there-all this needed to be prepared, and much more. Once again, people limited themselves considerably thanks to a common enthusiasm to participate in the unprecedented great cause.
  Some groups of candidates were nominated, one of which consisted of Dan, Lal, and Eya. They received the most support at the global vote-thanks to Dan"s colossal popularity. Lal, however, knew his enemies" desire to get rid of him had played an important role, as they had all certainly voted for his group.
  "No wonder Yorg praised our group so highly," Lal thought. "Well, every cloud has a silver lining. If only they knew what I had in mind! Then they wouldn"t let me out of their sight, no further than the Near Cosmos. He realized that he had employed a quite-disgusting trick-the savage"s wit. But in this case, it was a ruse of war; there was no alternative.
  Additionally, several groups of substitute astronauts were kept in reserve in case of a change in the number of participants for the expedition. Throughout the ten years, they had to receive all necessary training: theoretical and practical mastery of many areas of physics and chemistry, botany and agricultural technology, geology, medicine, cosmic navigation, and a number of engineering professions. And on top of it all, the intense physical training.
  Dan"s group lived in a special house in the mountains, not yet completely isolated from communicating with other people. This they would have to endure later, during a long adaptation stay at a space station. Yet still, their communication outside the group was reduced to a minimum, with broadcast capabilities only available during working hours.
  Dan developed one of the versions of an oxygenator with ultrahigh intensity using the results of his earliest work. Eya made her doctoral dissertation, devoted entirely to carrying out the forestation of Earth-2 by her proposed method.
  And Lal worked on the completing his latest book-The Inadequates: Their Essence-and Ours. He was going to leave it here with Marc so that in case he did not come back, his thoughts would not disappear with him. And he intended for Dan and Eya to also read it during their flight.
  They worked hard. In addition to their own work, they had to participate continually in meetings, discussions, ideas and project considerations.
  Each group was thoroughly tested for the compatibility of its members. And of the full compatibility of their group, Dan did not have even the slightest doubt. Mutual respect and care between all three completely prevented any discontent or irritation. They were not at all a burden to each other-and they even preferred to work together in the same room.
  In fact, they had no more problems between them at all. Eya had been physically intimate with both men, solely by her own choice. Already longtime friends, this only served to bind Dan and Lal even closer.
  The solitude in the mountains deprived them only of such pleasures as the weekly banquets in the restaurants-but instead, they had conversations before going to bed, with Dan playing orchestrion, Eya singing and Lal telling stories. They enjoyed a small wooden bathhouse and picnics in mountain meadows.
  Later, when Eya had returned from the Memorial with her doctorate diploma, and when Dan"s development had been implemented in a pilot installation-the completion of which could be managed without him-they tackled intensive studies.
  It was imperative that they all learned a lot-both knowledge and abilities-so that even if just one of them survived, he or she could still implement the ecological revolution program and return to Earth. Their training was composed of special programs just for them, carried out by outstanding specialists. It was also imperative that they learn things a modern person on Earth had absolutely no need to know, for example, to be able to to perform many tasks using the most primitive means and instruments, or with none at all.
  Some of the courses they read each other on their own: Dan-hyperstructural physics, which was absolutely necessary to fundamentally master, and Eya-ecology. Lal was competent in flying a spacecraft and navigating by the stars, so he was their instructor during an adaptation stay at a separate space station. They had to fully master driving large cruisers and small launches, which they would need to use in the Near Cosmos of Earth-2 since the hyperexpress could not enter any planetary system.
  
  The supplies they needed to take with them were enormous.
  They had prepared a large number of seeds for trees, mostly spruce and pine, which could grow in sand and did not need insects for pollination. They intended to also take as trials the seeds of many other plants, which would require artificial fertilization in the absence of insects. Seedlings for the first planting underwent special conservation. Growth stimulants and fertilizers were prepared to take as well.
  They developed new methods of dehydration and compact conservation of provisions to ensure proper and varied nutrition for the entire group, planned for twenty years with a triple reserve. In addition, they intended to take a few nanny-goats and hens with ampoules of sperm from billy goats and roosters, and the required amount of fodder.
  And they prepared, also by a wide margin, all kinds of drugs and medicines. They not forgotten about the necessities for everyday life: special clothing, space suits, breathing apparatuses, utensils.
  Materials were continuously sent to the hyperexpress, including structural elements of oxygenators, power plants, protective domes, and much more.
  And the ship itself had been reconstructed. The hypertransfer apparatus was equipped with additional safety devices designed by Dan and Arg according to the instructions of the late Tupac and strengthened with additional sections to increase capacity. The crew module was replaced entirely; it now had huge cargo compartments and a spacious compartment for the astronauts.
  
  9
  
  The last year before departure had come. The work had mostly been completed. And so the astronauts began to prepare for their flight.
  They collected things that were not included in the programs, but that they would like to bring. They downloaded many books, movies, music, and also copied their personal archives to leave on Earth in case of their deaths. On their days off, they did not work but "actively bade farewell", as Eya said, meeting with friends, visiting different places on Earth, and trying to see as much as possible.
  The previous nine years had been full of work, study, and training. There had been no opportunity to breathe freely, as they"d had neither time nor energy for anything besides what they"d needed to accomplish. For all these years, Lal had not considered it possible to reveal anything to his companions.
  But now it was time for his first step. While they were still on Earth. If he waited until they were in the Far Cosmos, he would not be able to start with what he considered most necessary. And so, he made his e2-e4: offered to fly to one of the children"s islands.
  Dan and Eya agreed to go-Dan because he wanted to find himself in the forgotten atmosphere of his extremely distant childhood, and Eya because she still remembered some of hers.
  . . . They arrived in the early morning on the island covered by trees, and they were met by a woman.
  "Hey, you! Happy morning, Lal!"
  "Joyful morning, Eve! Dan, Eya, Eve is a teacher-and my old friend. Are you free today, sister?"
  "Yes, Lal. I passed your request on to the head; even you cannot be refused today."
  "Aren"t we too early?"
  "No matter. The school students have already gotten up, and we"ll go to the younger ones later-moving in reverse."
  She led them to the lawn, where seven-year old children were exercising while watching the instructor. While they were busy, Lal talked about something with Eve. Not wanting to disturb them, Dan and Eya went off to sit on the grass under a tree.
  After finishing their exercises, the children approached Eve with glasses of juice in their hands. She introduced them to the astronauts, whom they immediately surrounded.
  Lal instantly seized their attention. He answered their questions readily, as they came at him from all directions. He felt great pleasure in communicating with children. He spoke with them extremely simply and effectively using vivid figurative speech, sometimes very funny, and his stories were often interrupted by a chorus of children"s laughter.
  Dan looked at the children and tried to remember himself at that age-but nothing came of it! Had he really ever been such a fit little fellow? He had, certainly-but so long ago that he did not believe it. It was as if it hadn"t been him at all, but someone else who had once run around here in bright calico shorts with bare feet.
  A little hand lay on his palm.
  "Senior, when will you fly there?"
  "Soon."
  "And what do you need to do?"
  "Very many things. We had much to learn."
  "Much to learn? How much? We will graduate from school in two years. Then it will be possible, won"t it?"
  "No, not yet-that won"t be enough."
  "Not enough? But what else is there?"
  "So much: gymnasium, lyceum, college, university, and then institute, postgraduate and doctoral studies. And even then, we must also prepare individually."
  "And you"ve studied that much?!"
  "Yes, of course."
  "But . . . I will be old, then-at least thirty years! I need to be able to do it now! I won"t fail! Let your captain ask me-I"ve never been afraid of anything!"
  And then, Dan remembered. He remembered how to him, too, it had seemed that people in their thirties were old. And how he, too, had been eager to make something immediately. That impatience led him to absorb knowledge greedily, even beyond the program, to ask teachers too many questions and devour additional literature without restraint.
  "What"s your name, huh?" Dan crouched before the child so their eyes were on the same level.
  "Lee."
  "And mine is Dan. I am the captain. You must know, what I told you about studying is imperative. Since the path to the stars is lengthy. But if you fear nothing, then you also shouldn"t fear long study. To fly into space, you must be armed with essential knowledge. Do you like to study?"
  "N-no. Not very much. I don"t do well in that; I"m the slowest in our class at the computer."
  "What hampers you?"
  "I don"t know. But, Captain, listen: I"m really not afraid of anything-not a bit. And I"m very strong-see?" His hand, in fact, was really very strong for his age.
  "You see!" He smiled. "You"ll take me, right?"
  "No, Lee. It"s still impossible."
  "But I"m strong-take me!"
  "Impossible. When you have grown up and learned-only then."
  "Only then? Ooh . . . well, okay. I will study-as much as I can. But just take me on the next flight, okay?"
  "I promise, if you are better prepared than all others, I will vote to send you into the Far Cosmos."
  "But can"t you just take me on your own?"
  "But did I build the space express and provide it with everything necessary?"
  "No," he lowered his head. "Captain, I know it would be unfair. I will . . . I will apply myself!" He clenched his fists. "And you, too-don"t forget!"
  "I promise you, my friend Lee!"
  "Captain, Mother Eve is calling us to breakfast. Come with us!"
  After they had breakfast with the children, Eve gave instructions to a student-intern, whom she left her place. Then she took them to the closest kindergarten. They walked on foot, chatting along the way.
  "What did Lee say to you, senior?" Eve asked Dan.
  "He asked me to take him into the Far Cosmos."
  "Oh, that will never happen. Very low capacity, he just barely got through to us. His previous teachers just could not bear to reject him."
  "He promised me he would study as hard as he could so I would take him on the next flight. He wants to become an astronaut too badly."
  "He is a dreamer. But subjects-all of them-come to him with great difficulty. And he has no love for learning in classes. He"s very fond of hearing about space travel, but he reads nothing on his own beyond the program. Everyone just loves him-and even respects him. Both the children and the teachers. It was the same for him in kindergarten. He is very strong, but he would never hurt anyone; and if he sees that someone is hurt, he"ll intervene and help without fail. Incredibly sensitive to injustice, and very kind-and in this respect he may influence the other children.
  "Children are not angels. There are plenty of conflicts in the children"s collective, and occurrences of children"s cruelty are not such a rarity. We must to take a lot of trouble to ensure they grow not only educated, but also with the ability to coexist with other people. Mutual care, kindness, tolerance, teamwork-all this is really no less important, in our view, than knowledge. And at this, Lee outpaces very many children, so they decided not to reject him yet."
  "How can we help him?"
  "I don"t know. Although I have had him for almost a year, he sometimes does not comprehend even the simplest things. I try to help him with addition-but nothing changes. And, most importantly, he himself has no motivation."
  "But he promised to apply himself. He did it firmly-even clenched his fists. Won"t that help?"
  "Oh, that would be nice! I will keep reminding him. If it helps, you will have done another great thing, and I"ll be eternally grateful to you.
  "You cannot imagine what grief it causes us to reject a little human. After all, we care so much for them! It is impossible not to love them-the best and the worst ones, the cheerful and the crybabies, good and bad-to want to make all of them proper people. Without love for them, there would be nothing to do; without it, nobody should be allowed in our occupation. This is, in fact, one of the most important causes on the Earth-molding people. In the highest sense. No parents are engaged in this, as in the previous epochs-just us. We have the huge responsibility of raising proper people.
  "And rejection is almost like murder."
  "How so? Does that mean first-stage teachers not very happy people?"
  "Oh, no! We are the happiest. Absolutely! Difficulties, yes; incredible responsibility, yes; continuous tension, also yes; and even rejection-the terrible rejection. But the whole time, we are dealing with the youngest children, at an age when they are the nicest. After all, children are the most wonderful, the most surprising beings that exist in the world. More miraculous than all amazing discoveries and ingenious theories, more beautiful than artistic masterpieces. Their little bodies grow before your eyes, becoming stronger and more confident in their movements. Their cute faces and lively little eyes. Their smiles, their laughter. Unique funny expressions and thousands of "Why?"s. Their love and caresses. There"s nothing else like it in life."
  "Eve, but there is fear for them, too."
  "Do you mean that you"re afraid for Lee, whom you met today-that you aren"t indifferent to his fate?"
  "Yes. You"ve said what I feel: I am not."
  "I"m pleased to hear that. And not everything is lost yet-there are still nearly two years-I will struggle for him. I hope your conversation today will help."
  . . . Lal felt confident in the kindergarten, too. The children there also surrounded him immediately, and two even got in his lap. He read them some lovely little verses about simple but amazing things, like the affectionate sun and a fine rain, the soft green grass and yellow sand, a white cloud and a stormy one, a light breeze. And he sang a few songs with them. And then he unfolded his screen-fan and read them two little funny tales.
  The children did not want to let him go. But eventually, they had to leave the kindergarten to visit a nursery.
  . . . After visiting with children who could already speak quite correctly, then they saw children who were just starting to talk. Clear eyes, smooth baby skin, plump tiny arms.
  In the youngest group, they saw a wet-nurse breastfeeding a baby. Eya watched without stopping, but Eve saw that she tensed.
  "Do you want to pick him up in your arms?" she asked Eya when the wet-nurse was handing the baby to another nurse.
  "May I?"
  Eve nodded, and the nurse brought Eya the baby. It stared at all the people, and then it almost started crying but changed its mind-and then, having turned its head toward Eya, it smiled suddenly and extended its arms to her. And Eya took it.
  She held the baby in her arms, smiling back at him, and clasped him firmly to herself, apparently for fear of dropping him.
  "Ave Maria," Lal said softly.
  "Eya, you look at it as though you want to offer it your breast," Eve remarked.
  "Of course!" Lal replied without smiling.
  Eya blushed densely and carefully handed the baby back to the nurse, who put him in a baby carriage and rolled at once to the others standing in the shade of a large tree.
  "I have now broken a rule for you, since nobody may hold babies except wet-nurses, child-minders and the pediatrician. Well, okay; I"ll warn them to examine it."
  . . . Then she accompanied them to the rocketdrome, and they walked slowly again.
  "Are all these children born here on the island?" Dan asked.
  "Yes. In the southern part, there is a building for performing fertilization of ovules with sperm according to the instructions on the composition of the pair transmitted from the Genetic center; they also send us requisite ampoules from there. In a nearby building, the implantation of fertilized eggs-zygotes-to birth-givers is performed.
  Pregnant birth-givers work for some time as child-minders. Then they transfer to the preparatory department, where each of them has a special diet and strictly-maintained regime. They undergo medical examination every day.
  Immediately after birth, each baby is transferred to the nursery, and the birth-giver is used as a wet-nurse in the nursery group. A pediatrician supervises each such group, and child-minders and wet-nurses serve it."
  "Tell us more about child-minders," Lal asked.
  "With pleasure. In my opinion, we must not only talk about them but also erect monuments in their honor.
  "A very small percentage of child-minders consists of medical students, future pediatricians. The rest of them are exclusively inadequate. A small portion is made up of birth-givers in the early months of pregnancy and wet-nurses, and the rest are former birth-givers and former wet-nurses. A supervising pediatrician instructs them regularly. They know a lot, despite the fact that as inadequates, they only received the minimum common education and two years of specialized training.
  "You see, the care of infants is very complex, subtle, requiring a large number of special skills and personal knowledge of each child, plus devotion, love for children, and-I"m not afraid to say-intelligence and intuition. Though they are uneducated and regarded as inadequate, they are true professionals, and mostly of a quite high level.
  "For babies, they are the same as true mothers. Once there was even a saying: "Your mother is not the one who birthed you but the one who raised you." And you know, they love the children; and the children love them, and then remember them dimly for a very long time. Dimly-because the children transfer to kindergartens after three years, to other hands.
  "Do you-remember your child-minders?"
  "I do not, at all," Dan answered.
  "I do, like something indefinite but warm and safe," Lal said.
  "And you, Eya? You"re younger than everyone."
  "I still whisper "nanny" when something upsets me."
  "And they are busy with children right up until they die. While they are strong, they do it themselves, and then they assist by watching young child-minders, because their experience and understanding of infants are already invaluable."
  "Do they die natural deaths?" Lal threw a question.
  "Yes, now they all go naturally. In the past, totally unsuitable child-minders were killed-but not anymore."
  "How long ago did that stop?"
  "A few years after the discovery of Earth-2; the world has since become kinder, less prudent and rationalistic. And generally . . ."
  "What, generally?"
  "A long streak of failures has ended. We"ve broken out of it. People got happier, inspired, once again having faith in themselves. You, Dan, even though you are a genius, do not see the full significance of what you have done.
  "You do know, this all began in order to overcome the terrible crisis. But now-when it is all over? I see no sense anymore!"
  "What are you talking about?" Dan asked, puzzled.
  "About a lot of things. First of all, about the use of only inadequates for childbirth. Let all women give birth to their own children again. Let children live with their parents, for as long as possible. Let people get to know the joys of motherhood and fatherhood, of which they have deprived themselves, not realizing that without them there is no full human happiness. Will they really not choose to give this back to themselves?"
  "There will be many difficulties? So let society facilitate the care of children without breaking their relationships. Adults and children need to communicate as much as possible-it is imperative for both. Adults will be much happier, and children will develop more rapidly and completely. The advantage will be huge-in many ways.
  Here"s at least one: the issue of children"s literature. Who of contemporary writers is writing for children? Very few, and those are basically teachers. Lal has done a little, but in the past ten years he has only written nine verses and two stories that read for less than an hour."
  "Nothing of the kind-only two stories and one verse. The rest of the verses are not mine, just written down by my request."
  "Why so few?"
  "It"s so hard, Eve. Oh, how hard it is! It"s easier to write a novel for adults; they know so much before they start reading it. To write for children, you have to communicate with them much more than society currently permits. In this, you are certainly right."
  "And that"s not all."
  "The rejection?"
  "Yes, the curse! Our biggest problem. It"s like killing children with our own hands. On this, all teachers are unanimous. But we have only managed to bring about a small amount of its decline."
  "By increasing the number of hereditary inadequates?" Lal said.
  "Yes, of course."
  "Okay-the ice is broken."
  "Just a little bit now. Listen here, Lal! Have you brought them here and asked me to be your guide-for no particular reason? Really nothing else had you in mind?"
  "As always, you are right, Eve."
  "Then I"ve said everything I can. You"ll tell them more yourself. But I have showed them: it is principal."
  In farewell, she held her personal chip to Eya and stood until the rocket plane disappeared behind the clouds.
  . . . Affected by all they had seen, Dan and Eya looked questioningly at Lal, but he just sucked silently on his pipe.
  
  They had no common plan that day, each doing something on their own at home.
  Dan met Lal in the dining room during lunch. Eya had not come, and when they called her she appeared Dan"s screen, saying, "I will be busy until tomorrow morning."
  They suddenly felt sad, although Eya was as free as any to decide what to do in her free time and who to be associate with. This was an inalienable natural right for a proper person-his personal archive, unlocked only by his fingerprint, his time off, his desires and his body all belonged only to him. Even if Eve was now with another man or houri, it was her business-no one had the right to be interested or express an opinion on this, either now or later.
  But even so, they felt sad without her and so decided to go fishing one more time after lunch. They ordered what they needed from their storages, got into an air car and an hour later landed on the shores of a lake. Since it was a working day, no one else was there. Launching inflatable boats on the water, they dispersed in different directions.
  . . . After rowing to the site he had chosen, Dan picked up the screw motor, dropped an anchor and slowly cast his line. Then he sat down with a pipe, beginning to look at the surface of water, the wooded shores and islands. How cozy it really is, our Earth, he thought, in the blissful detachment from everything he almost always felt on fishing trips.
  And then the bites started to come; he followed their nods and did not think about anything else, seized with his usual fishing excitement. Breams, but such wonderful ones! Well done, Dan! To catch such breams! This was a matter of understandable pride that he considered unnecessary to hide.
  But the biting stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Dan lifted the anchor and rowed closer to an island overgrown with willow. There, he hitched a spoon, took aim and made a throw. The first couple throws failed, and on the third a fish was taken on a threefold hook. The line stretched for just a moment. Either it hadn"t taken properly, or he"d failed to hook. Dan made another throw, riskier this time, almost all the way to the bushes on the cape ledge very much in the lake.
  He started to lead-and immediately felt caught. It was a pity for the spoon; a pike was obviously trolling at it. Of course, he had at home its manufacturing program-but it was only at home, and he was here, and he didn"t know whether he would have to fish ever again. So he decided to try to unhook.
  With his oars, he paddled slowly to the cape. The sun was low, almost at the horizon. A light breeze blew nicely over his face and naked body, and gently pushed against the boat. While he was busy pulling the line, taking care not to lose the spoon, the wind turned the boat to the other side of the cape.
  A surprised scream made him turn his head; a woman stood up to her ankles in water before him. She was nude, her face and body struck with an incredible, inhumanly perfect beauty. Already touching the horizon, the sun gilded her with its last rays.
  "Dan!" she whispered silently.
  "Layla!"
  Dan could not look away. How beautiful she was-the most beautiful woman on Earth! None of houris, whose beauty was the fruit of breeder-geneticists" sophisticated work, could compete with her. And houris, even the most beautiful, could not command such a presence-of the greatest actress.
  Without moving her wide-open eyes away from him, she moved toward his boat-deeper and deeper, until the water covered her shoulders. Only her head with thick, dark hair, pinned together at the back in a large heavy bun, remained above the water. Her bottomless dark eyes were full of tears.
  "Dan!" she moaned, stretching out her arms to him.
  After overcoming his stupor, he jumped into the water, lifted her up and carried her to shore. Nestled up against him, hugging his neck with both hands, she froze as if afraid that this was all imaginary and might disappear at any moment.
  He put her down on the sand. Bowing before him on her knees, sobbing convulsively, she began frantically kissing his feet.
  "Layla, sister, what are you doing?" Dan bent down to her. She lifted her head, and in her eyes he saw a terrible lot: torment and joy, passion and devotion, timidness and impatience. Again he took her in his arms, nestling up to her. And he also felt the shiver of impatience growing within him. Their passion threw them on the warm sand, interlacing their bodies.
  . . . They woke up to continuous calling signals.
  "Dan, my elder brother, answer me! Where are you? Dan!"
  "I"m on the island. Has something happened?"
  "I was worried; your boat drifted away from the shore, but you weren"t there."
  "I forgot to tie it. Send me the big tent, clothes and a robot with food. If you want, you can go home."
  "No. I"ll fish tomorrow at dawn. Are you-not alone?"
  "No, I"m not."
  "I"ll send everything now."
  Dan stretched his hand to Layla. They dipped into the water and swam for the boat. When they returned, a raft sent by Lal was already rocking by the shore.
  Dan clasped Layla again-wet, submissive. Thrown into the robot container, a huge bream had been already cleaned and was sizzling in the pan. Dan poured them some cold, dark vodka, that had been infused with herbs by Lal. They sat on the spread-out tent, throwing cloaks over themselves.
  "Cheers to an unexpected meeting, Layla!"
  "Oh, Dan! Cheers to you, my god, happiness and torment!" she said to herself.
  Strongly flavored vodka burned their mouths, and warmth spread through their chilled bodies. They began to eat fried fish with a ruddy, crackling crust.
  "Earth-2 will not be like this."
  "Yes, it will. Someday. It will have oxygen, forests, cities and people. There will be grass and flowers, animals and birds-and fish in the water."
  "And theaters and studios?"
  "Sure. And you will arrive and play in the first performance."
  . . . They lay side by side on their backs. When it was quite dark, the moon shone brightly and more stars appeared in the sky.
  "There?" she pointed.
  He did not answer. Night enveloped and cradled them, nightingales clicked and grasshoppers chirped.
  "Dan, are you awake?"
  "Yes, Layla."
  "It would be a pity to sleep."
  "Do you want me to light a fire?"
  "Turn it on."
  "No, not a simulator. A real one. We have received special permission, although I did not think to use it."
  "A bonfire? Fire-the real kind? I would like to see it."
  Dan collected dry twigs. They did not know how to light them until he guessed to touch a battery to one of her pins to create heat. The twigs cracked, and they smelled smoke. It was very unusual for them, and they stared at the fire, not wanting to look away.
  "But it burns. And the smoke irritates my eyes."
  "It warms and shines. Like in ancient times."
  "Layla!"
  "What, my dear?"
  You want to know but don"t dare to ask: why we never met all these years-where was I, what was I doing? I see.
  I lived and worked. A lot. But I saw you just once and then did everything I could to avoid you.
  I waited for you to be reborn. You were my hero, of a legend Lal told many times. I learned about your return when you made a speech on the world broadcast on the day of Tupac"s message. I flew immediately by rocket plane to Starstown and went into the carnival pavilion. But there, you only had eyes for a doe-like red-haired girl next to you. I realized I had come too late-that you had no need for me. And I flew away immediately.
  But I could not help but think of you. Always, during hard work at rehearsals, while playing on stage-and at night, staying alone. What was it? Probably, that rare and wonderful feeling, which Lal told me repeatedly about and which we once called love but now conceal. It came with suffering, but also great happiness. It was and is! It opened my eyes to many things, heightened my perception incredibly, deepened my feelings and thoughts-helped me unimaginably as an actress.
  Dan! My beloved! I am so thankful for everything-even for the fact that you are not my Majnun . I know we cannot be together, since you are leaving Earth for a long time-and very soon.
  "Layla!"
  Please don"t say anything! I saw your trio several times. I didn"t approach you. Among the three of you, soldered spiritually and physically, connected by a single goal, there was no place for anyone else.
  Only because of your forthcoming departure, I flew just to say goodbye to you and Lal. I was so nervous! So here, over the lake, I suddenly decided to land. To relax and prepare myself for meeting you. I landed the air car on the shore and swam here. If you been here just a little later, you wouldn"t have met me-I would have swum back.
  "Dan! You"re happy to have met me here?" was all she said aloud to him.
  "Yes, I am! This must be life"s unexpected gift to me before leaving. Like Aphrodite from the foam, you emerged at the last moment-the most beautiful creature on the planet I will leave very soon. It will be impossible to forget!"
  "Do not forget! You"ll still see me there; I worked on almost every one of Lal"s book-movies, and he"ll definitely take them with him. You-take care of him there. He"s such a rare person. I cannot understand him completely, but I know one thing for sure: he has an ingenious ability to understand people and love what is good. His wisdom is not only in his head, but in his heart, too."
  The fire began to fade. Dan threw a few branches into it, and the fire again lit the tiny clearing merrily, the place of their unexpected date. Looking at the fire and at Dan, Layla started singing.
  Its magnificent soprano, unaccompanied, created an indescribable impression, stunning Dan with sharpness of feeling. Throwing branches in the fire to see her face, Dan did not take his eyes off Layla. And she sang again and again, melodies and songs, modern and ancient-in various languages, translating them for him. Among the night"s silence, her voice resounded far over the lake amplified in echoes. She saw that he was crying, and her singing became more and more wonderful.
  When she stopped, he thanked her with the highest expression of admiration, kissing her hand. She pulled his head to her chest and covered him with the edge of her cloak.
  "Go to sleep, my dear!" she murmured, pressing her cheek to his hair. Coals still glowed in the dying fire.
  But they could not get to sleep. Greedy, insatiably, their bodies entwined, burning with caresses and kisses. Dan"s heart was ready to burst with happiness when he passed his hand through her hair, and when his lips touched her lips and breasts.
  They fell asleep for a short while just after the surprisingly clear sun rose from the forest and the dawn"s fog dispersed. Beginning to feel warm, they woke up in a couple hours. After a dip in the water, they felt quite fresh and cheerful.
  After having fish for breakfast, they got into a boat and started to row between the islands. They rowed slowly through the narrow channels, some of which were heavily overgrown, plucking white water lilies and catching a young pike. Occasionally, they got out on the islands to stretch their legs and swim, plucking flowers, decorating themselves with wreaths, and giving themselves to each other on the sun-warmed grass. They ate nothing but fresh fried fish.
  They talked almost the whole time, but they felt there was a reticence about something else. Then, they understood: about the moment when they would need to leave. And Layla said:
  "The sun is setting, my beloved. It will soon be night-like yesterday. This unique experience will never happen again. We must part ways. Take me-one last time."
  They couldn"t tear away from each other for long. Like mad, Layla caressed Dan, covering his body with countless kisses.
  The sun was touching the horizon when he made his first push with the oars. Layla was standing on the shore, raising her hands in a gesture of farewell. Nude and beautiful, she smiled, but tears rolled from her eyes.
  Gradually, her features became less distinguishable. Then she was only a big white patch of body and a dark one of hair. Later, nothing more than a bright spot-and after that she was not visible at all. Then Dan dropped the screw motor. Before reaching the shore, he saw her air car rise and fly to the island.
  Lal was waiting for him on the shore. Each boasted of his catch, and then they saw the air car taking off.
  "Lilith!" Lal said, not quite clearly.
  "Who?"
  "The first wife of Adam-who did not bring posterity."
  "A-ha! I see."
  "But tonight she sang like never before-for you, my elder brother!" Lal proudly patted Dan"s shoulder.
  They flew back, and Dan was surprised that he did not feel the sadness of parting with Layla. It seemed like everything that happened had just been a dream. And he was glad to be with Lal again, and they both returned to Eya.
  . . . In the morning, at the pool, Eya, seeing the traces of passionate kisses on Dan"s body, gently stroked them with her hand-proud that he had inspired in some woman a fiery passion.
  They were together again. H2O or CO2, as Lal loved to joke. A single molecule.
  
  10
  
  Farewell banquets passed like flashes with physicists, journalists, writers, artists, biologists, and friends flown from all over Earth to meet before their departure. And the last of them-like the magnificent carnival, with members of the Academy and the Central Border of Coordination-was broadcast.
  On the day of their departure-they went home early. They walked on foot, taking off their shoes and feeling the grass with bare feet. There was not a cloud in the sky. Bright greens and countless golden dandelion heads surrounded them, along with the white haze of cherry and apple trees in bloom. Flocks of sparrows chirped loudly from all the trees. They walked slowly, for a long time.
  . . . And that was that. Everyone on Earth watched with bated breath as they stood on the boarding platform, holding hands and raising them in a farewell salute-dressed in the traditional uniform of astronauts, overalls with an emblem of the macrocosm -two men and a woman with a golden crown of red hair.
  They flew to the hyperexpress in a relatively small corvette. Everything they needed was already on the starship, and they had with them only their personal archives and a puppy, which little Lee had sent them recently.
  The corvette made a farewell circle around the Earth and then lay on its course, picking up speed. Earth rapidly dwindled in size.
  It had begun! They would now be detached from Earth for a long time, maybe even forever. And they had just recently been walking on it.
  The astronauts flew through the Solar System-the Near Cosmos, already well familiar to them-feeling as calm and confident as pilots on powerful airliners in the late twentieth century. Their farewell signal broadcast continuously into space, and space stations sent their responses. The Far Cosmos waited ahead-interstellar space, the flight through which was similar to Columbus"s sailing into the open ocean. The first such flight, for the human body and the cyborg"s system-would not be the same.
  All three were tense, pale with nerves they were trying to conceal. Three people, just a tiny part of humanity-it was a closed little world, long before their flight unified them internally as a strong whole, aware of their separateness from other people.
  They had more than a month of enforced idleness ahead of them, as the entire archive was on the Express. And most of this time, they spent in conversations. Mostly they listened to Lal. His main topics were history and sociology, which neither Dan nor Eya had seen the point in dealing with during their training on Earth. In these areas, Lal felt as confident as Dan did in physics and mathematics or Eya in ecology. He had an easy command of all the concepts and categories and applied them skillfully, with analysis and generalizations. But they, as he had expected, were only familiar with these subjects as they appeared in the common programs of pre-institute education.
  And Lal re-acquainted them with these sciences, talking about the main stages of history, social systems and formations. They listened willingly, thanks to his artful presentation, always animated by striking historical portraits. They were interested-and rained a barrage of questions on Lal, who answered them in detail. He kindled their interest, trying as often as possible to create discussions and controversies.
  Planets flew by on the dome of the control room as the corvette passed them: Mars, then a few asteroids, then Jupiter, then Saturn. The Sun was becoming smaller and smaller.
  . . . After 48 days, according to the on-board clock, the corvette approached the incredibly huge hyperexpress, measuring many kilometers and orbiting at a distance of ten billion kilometers from the Sun. As they led the corvette into the entrance compartment, they checked in with the last duty team of cosmonauts they would meet.
  Dan took their report: all was well, no reason to delay departure. The cosmonauts spent 24 more hours with them, performing the last switching on of controls and verification of devices, and after a farewell dinner, they loaded themselves onto the corvette and departed to the Minerva.
  Just 72 hours after their departure, the starship moved from heliocentric orbit to the initial point of hypertransfer, which it would take 30 terrestrial days and nights to get to by annihilation engine. The duty team on the corvette set up for the start and exchanged their last signals with the astronauts.
  
  The next phase of the flight was largely different for the astronauts than their time in the corvette. In the Express, they had access to a huge archive and a computer of the highest order. There was a gym with a swimming pool, a sauna and a full set of training apparatuses, plus a salon-garden full of plants selected by Eya. They had all the necessary resources for working, mandatory training and recreation.
  But Dan was not allowed to work hard yet; staying in good physical shape was especially important throughout the hypertransfer. So, they had enough free time to watch movies, listen to music and play games.
  But it turned out that Lal had already aroused too much interest in social issues, and they did not stop discussing these topics. In addition, he was finally able to supplement their words with demonstration materials stored in his huge personal archive that had been sent to the Express before their departure. Dan and Eya, their understanding of sociology already improving, absorbed this information like sponges. Increasingly often, Lal began to leave them alone after conversations, to allow them to discuss, listen, argue and come up with more questions. So far, their progress had pleased him; he could press them further.
  And so Lal worked intensely to familiarize them with the very first form of class society-the slave system: its origin, development, regional variants, ethics and law, history of decline, conservation of remains and then partial revival in later periods. And then immediately, he moved to the modern epoch, to the outset of a long decline, engendering a large number of social institutions of contemporary society, acquainting them very minutely with many details. But at the same time, he made no analysis; he was waiting for them to draw their own conclusions-and he could neither rush nor push them to do so.
  And the Express constantly increased its speed. The Solar System was far away by now; the Sun itself, whose visible diameter at the start of their journey had already been 67 times smaller than on Earth, shrank even further until it blended in with the other stars. The giant ship was moving in a space where nobody had ever flown but the cyborg. Its trajectory could be seen on the track hologram above the instrument panel in the control room.
  The astronauts sought largely to maintain the usual order of earthly life. In the rhythm of terrestrial days, the lighting in the garden area changed, and according to the same rhythm, they organized their routine of studies, training, nutrition and rest. The only difference was in sleep mode, since someone always needed to be keeping watch; after all, they didn"t know what they might encounter in the Far Cosmos. In most cases, the equipment and on-board computer of the control system worked more quickly and reliably than a human being, but could not always be counted on in unusual situations. Actually, it could do anything and be anywhere-provided that it could hear the alarm before those who were sleeping.
  A clock counted off time with pointers for the date and day of week, plus the month and the year. As on the Earth, they spent Thursday mornings in the sauna, steaming to their hearts" content, whipping each other with birch twigs and splashing in the pool. Then they lay on sofas, sipping drinks and chatting on their favorite topics. And Eya, performing her duties as the ship"s physician, carried out a routine prophylactic screening with the help of a cyber-diagnostician. After the bath, it was time for entertainment: a movie, a performance record, a concert.
  And at "night"-they had a banquet with dishes made from non-dehydrated foods, which Eya always ordered from the robot, having thoroughly examined Dan"s and Lal"s tastes for ten years; but not a drop contained alcohol. Everyone became a jester in turns, and they had fun dancing and singing. Both as individuals and all together, the sounds of their choir had become unified during their time in the mountains and was perfectly harmonious.
  After Lal"s persistent requests, Dan surprised them with his first performance of Bach"s toccatas with the orchestrion he regularly played. On Earth, he had played them rarely, as his former skills were slow in returning to him. At the beginning, his new body"s fingers had not obeyed him, and after that he hadn"t had enough time to practice. He had only been able to return to music exercises at the end of training in the very last few years before leaving. His nature had overcome the challenge and his old skills returned-yet he still could not bring himself to play for others. But Lal had told Eya how wonderfully Dan had once played, and she had prevailed upon him. It was difficult for him, because his memories of the most difficult period of his life were linked to music. So, now, too, it seemed to him that he was performing everything gloomily, but Lal and Eya disagreed with him. Eya kissed him gratefully, and Lal said:
  "My elder brother, you"re an amazing person! You can do everything: both unravel the deepest mysteries of nature and play so wonderfully. I guess you can still do a lot. I wish I could do that!"
  "How can you say that-you, Lal, who knows everything? Apparently, there is nothing in the world you haven"t known."
  "Well, so what? What can I, myself, do? My knowledge, unlike both of yours, is not the kind to allow me to create anything on my own."
  "But you have created plenty of great movies. And written books. Not to mention your brilliant articles, essays and reports. That isn"t enough for you?"
  "No-because what is the result of all that?"
  "If nothing else, the fact that people no longer devour human flesh!" Dan stated rudely.
  "Eating human flesh? Ugh, how was that possible?" Eya said, surprised.
  "Yes, it was very possible! Meat from the inadequates was considered a very valuable food," Dan snapped again.
  "Really? And have you both also eaten it?"
  "Probably. In our childhood, when we did not know what meat was on our plates. But as an adult-no, never," Lal said. "How about you, Dan?"
  "I don"t know, exactly. I"ve never paid much attention to my food. I used to often ask for copies of my tablemates" orders, or use programs others chose for me. So, I may have."
  "What-did they fatten inadequates especially for that?"
  "No. But, just because human beings gain weight too slowly compared to livestock animals. For food, they used to use the flesh of inadequates killed during transplants or experiments, so as not to waste it, and of old child-minders and houris who had become functionally useless," Lal explained.
  "Eve said that child-minders die natural deaths."
  "Now, yes-but that was a recent change. And only for the child-minders. For the houris and the rest-it"s as before."
  "Why?"
  "To feed animals on fur farms. And the other inadequates."
  "But proper people no longer eat it?"
  "No; now it seems horrifying to all. Thanks to our Lal and his articles."
  "But that"s all I could do. And I was young then."
  "But it"s the strongest source of my pride for you, little brother of mine."
  "Oh, no more of this, please!" Eya begged. "Play something else for us, Dan!"
  
  
  
  
  11
  
  In the last "week" before arriving at the starting point for hypertransfer, they performed one last control check of the hyper-apparatus and all instruments, and meticulously checked the elaborate coordinates and speed of the ship.
  . . . Two hours before the start time, the astronauts gathered in the control room. Trying not to show emotion, they embraced for the last time. Then they took off their clothes and sat in chairs in the transfer chambers. Through the thick glass of the windows opposite each chair, two clocks were visible: on the main board and a special one, counting down the time before the transfer.
  They put on transparent space helmets with tubes for breathing, and ten minutes later, when the arrow of the special clock made it to the first line, the chambers began to fill with a slightly heated solution of very complex composition. Then the arrow came to the second line, and each inside chamber shell was inflated by compressed gas, displacing the liquid and clinging tightly to the body from all sides, clasping it to the chair.
  They could almost not feel their bodies at all; the liquid had done its job and they felt . . . wonderful lightness. Red light filled the control room, and the countdown sounded in their headphones:
  "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Start!"
  It immediately got dark, like their eyes were at a heavy overload, and they heard a high-pitched, monotonous sound as if it were coming from inside them. And so they began their entry into hyperspace.
  The walls of the chambers and the ship turned transparent, melting away, disappearing. The astronauts themselves also turned transparent-huge, disembodied, weightless. Stars, gas and dust clouds, planets, comets, fireballs-all rushed with unimaginable speed right through them, emerging from space and instantly disappearing back into it. They went increasingly faster, merging, and the space became thin and, contracting into folds, took on the density, perceived with the upper palate of the mouth. They saw everything: themselves, their neighbors, the Express. From all sides-from outside, from inside-in every detail. Their own bodies, their neighbors" bodies, the flaming ship, multiplying them in countless repetitions, decreasing, disappearing-and growing, coming along the infinite number of axes emanating from the place and moment of their bodies" whereabouts. And each axis had its own law, its metric and its time, its color-sound tonality, density and strength. Everything was spinning, vibrating, moving continuously: by moments, years, centuries, thousands, millions, billions, trillions of years-painfully long, forever. There was no exit and no end. Lights vibrated, running rapidly across, changing in intensity, changing color from clearly visible ultraviolet to infrared. The stream of repetitions rushed to its own center along an endless hedgehog of axes: straight, curved, spiral. A hyper-symphony of sounds and colors. And everything was extremely, terribly clear. No thoughts and no desires, just complete renunciation, tranquility and indifference. Long. Always. Forever. Never otherwise.
  But the flows slowed down, the number of repetitions and axes decreasing-they shrank to the center, to the place-time in which the people are, merging into just one. The folds of space straightened themselves up, freeing the mouth. The space was growing, and soon stars, clouds, comets, planets and lumps were again rushing through the vast ethereal body. Gradually, the walls of the ship took on their density and became opaque; and the astronauts" bodies, still clutched within the air bags, became dense, too.
  It got dark again-and everything disappeared . . .
  They woke up immersed in liquid that was bubbling with oxygen. When it had drained, Dan saw through the chamber porthole onboard clock that nine hours and thirteen minutes had passed. More than excellent! The Express had passed through a short tunnel in hyperspace and come out of it to another four-dimensional section.
  They were still unable to move. And they all felt severe weakness, heart palpitations, and simultaneously terrible nausea with acute hunger.
  Eventually, Dan managed to pull off his helmet with shaking hands. And then immediately, convulsive vomiting and agonizing diarrhea seemed to literally turn him inside out. But straightaway, he began to feel better.
  He turned to Eya and helped her take off her helmet. And immediately, the same thing happened to her-only stronger.
  Already, the two of them had begun to aid Lal. And with him it all happened even worse.
  
  They couldn"t stay in the chamber any longer. They were dizzy, their legs were buckling and their knees were shaking. They choked from the stench of their sickness.
  With Dan and Eya supporting Lal, who almost could not walk on his own, they got out of the chamber and slowly, with much difficulty, they reached the sauna. Assisting each other, they washed off the dirt and then drank a hot infusion of Schisandra . Then Eya stayed to care for the still-weak Lal while Dan, feeling better already, went to the control room.
  He slammed the door of the stinking chamber and turned on a holography of their trajectory. The coordination instruments started working, and after a short time there was a hologram of space with a luminous pathway blurred between the start and end points of the hypertransfer. Numerical values of the coordinates appeared on the screen, and Dan did not hold back his enthusiastic exclamation. The ship"s exit had occurred with very little deviation-about half sigma . So in three months, they would be near the planetary system that contained Earth-2!
  He conveyed this message to Lal and Eya, who accepted it as happily as he had. Lal felt better already, and Eya went to visit the animals in their chambers and pick up the puppy.
  She noted that the animals had endured significantly better than the people; they were all okay. And the puppy ran around Eya, yapping loudly and wagging its tail.
  Two hours later, they were surprised to notice the complete absence of unpleasant sensations. Eya inspected both men and passed the results through the cyber-diagnostician, which found that everything was indeed all right. Then they moved to the control room, where Dan turned on the steering thrusters to orient the Express in the direction of Earth-2"s planetary system. After that, they refreshed themselves, and Lal and Eya went to sleep.
  
  Dan remained on duty. He sat in the control room, sucking a pipe, and eventually heard the robot crawling inside the chamber to wash and deodorize it. Dan turned on the screen-dome and eagerly watched the unfamiliar shapes of constellations. By clicking another button, he highlighted the star to which the ship was flying.
  Then he switched the screen to the image of the reverse area-and felt happy to see some familiar constellations. He pushed another button and highlighted the Sun among the huge number of seemingly unfamiliar stars.
  There was Earth: green plants, cities, people. Unusually beautiful Layla. Here they were only three. But closer than them-Lal and Eya-he had known none for a long time.
  That they were here at all was of considerable thanks to Lal, since his telling Dan about the primes" differences charts on the day of their first meeting was the impetus that had led to the end of more than a hundred years of work-creating the hyperstructures" theory that had allowed for basic concepts like today"s transfer. And thanks to this, they were here. Dan had succeeded, but he did not feel proud-only satisfied.
  His mind went back to Lal. How many years had passed since then? Actually, a lot. They had experienced and talked over so much together. But Lal often thought about things without talking about them. Dan had noticed this before, but had then forgotten it too quickly, absorbed in his work. Now that they weren"t often busy, this idea bothered him more and more often. What could be tormenting Lal? Was he trying to solve some complicated questions in his field? Perhaps it was something no less difficult than what he, Dan, once had to deal with. But what?
  Eya appeared in the doorway of the control room, interrupting his thoughts.
  "Dan, I"ve already rested. You should go get some sleep."
  "Thanks, but I don"t want to."
  "Go anyway; I won"t sleep anymore."
  "But I won"t be able to fall asleep, either."
  "Then I"ll sit with you. Or do you want to be alone?"
  "No. Sit down. Is Lal asleep?"
  "Of course not." Lal stood at the door with the puppy in his arms. "It"s impossible to fall asleep now. Maybe let"s have supper?"
  "Do you have a hyper appetite?"
  "Not at all; I just want to celebrate our transfer. I"ll put it to vote."
  "In favor."
  "Same here!"
  "Excellent. We"ll arrange a gala supper with festive table decorations."
  They went into the salon-garden. A robot rolled out a table with a few small snacks; they were not actually hungry, just wanting to celebrate the event. Although they had no wine-the cosmos was the cosmos, and none of them would dream of violating that rule-they poured scented, energizing nectar in their cups.
  "Dan, the first toast is on you."
  "Well, okay. I lift my cup to you, my wonderful friends, to the achievement of our goal and to Earth-2! Now you, Lal."
  "I give up my turn to Eya."
  "I"ll drink to a green planet and oxygen we will be able to breathe! To Dan, who has created such a miracle, and to the honor and happiness of being with you both!"
  "Here you go! It has finally happened: people in their full nature, with arms and legs-not semi-artificial cyborgs-have made it over hundreds of parsecs in only a few hours. It really is a great miracle! Eya said it exactly, but so briefly. And Dan said even less. Say it all again! Even the most magnificent expression won"t be pompous today."
  "Then you say it, my little brother. No one can say anything better than you."
  "You"re not quite right; wonderful words have been said about this-and not by me. I"ll remind you of them now."
  He quickly found the necessary file in his archive and switched it on to play. Dan appeared on the screen in bright festive attire, making a speech on the day of the arrival of Tupac"s report about the discovery of Earth-2. When the screen went out, Lal repeated Dan"s last words: "And maybe, in search of that goal, we will discover something good in ourselves-something new, still unknown. Or perhaps we will remember something we lost previously in the course of our development."
  "I drink to these great words and their wonderful meaning!"
  "I think you"re not telling me everything, my little brother."
  "You"re right, Dan! And I will, just not today. Instead, you should play for us. Anything old. By Beethoven. Please!"
  Dan played Beethoven"s sonatas. The unrestrained power of the music corresponded as never before with their mood, exciting them with their will and courage, and the faith in their own strength and a victory.
  He finished by performing "For Elise" while looking at Eya. "Excellent, Dan! Excellent, my elder brother. You can-you will understand everything!" Lal whispered silently, looking at Dan with his eyes full of tears. This piece played by the man who was a genius both spiritually and physically, which conveyed a touching tenderness, had shocked him completely today.
  "Go rest," he said. "I"ll stay on watch."
  "Thank you, brother. Let"s go," Dan said, stretching his hand to Eya. "Have a good watch!"
  "And a wonderful night to you both!" Lal followed them with his eyes. Eya would be with Dan now; he deserved this today. But Lal needed to be alone.
  . . . In three months, they would be at their next target. Just three months. The still didn"t know exactly what they would find, how successful their reconnaissance would be, how the planet would meet them-and much more. But now they were relatively free; they didn"t need to work anymore than they wanted to.
  So far, everything was going well; all the necessary preparations had been made. Dan and Eya eagerly soaked up everything Lal said, becoming quite interested in social issues. It was time to acquaint them with his conclusions. And of course, this would not be easy. But they would understand-they wouldn"t be able to not understand-not with how Dan had performed "For Elise" today! There had been such tenderness, warmth, kindness and humanity in his performance, and the choice of this piece had not been by chance. Without all this, Lal could not have hoped for them to understand him-but having it, it would be impossible for them not to understand.
  The puppy poked Lal in the arm with his wet, warm nose; then, putting his front paws on Lal"s knees, he raised his muzzle and gave Lal a questioning look. Lal took the puppy in his arms and stroked him.
  It was time. The very next day! Dan was already beginning to suspect Lal was keeping something from him. And his sudden anger when he had talked about eating the meat of inadequates . . . It had rejoiced Lal no less than it had shocked Eya.
  But Eya concerned Lal most of all, because the principal role in his plan would be assigned to her.
  
  12
  
  When the clock came to the sector marked "morning", Dan appeared in the control room to relieve Lal. He said it would be a good idea to arrange a holiday, and that Eya agreed. But how about Lal?
  Okay, he didn"t mind that-but then they must go steaming right now, and he would sleep after the sauna.
  It was hot in the steam room-perhaps more so than usual. Lal"s thoughts slid along a chain. Heat. The equator. Africa. Black people. And then: American slaves. America, the southern states. Uncle Tom! Stop!
  Uncle Tom"s Cabin by the American abolitionist writer, Harriet Beecher Stowe. The book that had shaken him incredibly in his childhood. Exactly! That was where he would start. It had everything: slavery, violence, trafficking in human beings-and motherly love.
  This book that had been included in the gymnasium"s curriculum when they were children: they might remember it. And when they, having wrapped themselves in sheets, sat down on the sofa, he asked Dan and Eya if they did.
  "I still do," Eya answered, "but just the general outline."
  Dan only shook his head. He remembered that there was such a book, but its content-alas!-completely forgotten.
  "Do you want me to remind you what it"s about?"
  "What for?"
  "To fulfill yesterday"s promise."
  "Ah! Come on."
  Lal looked through his catalog. Perhaps now would be the best time for the movie-even though it was from the twentieth century, it was in color, although still flat. But it had a lot of African-American music, plus a perfect setting and cast. For three and a half hours.
  So he did not think any more about sleep. He watched-both the movie itself, and how they perceived it. And he rejoiced at their reactions, their indignation, Eya"s tears. He silently sang a psalm along with black slaves: "Jericho, Jericho!" He saw that the job was done; now they would ask questions on their own, and he would tell them his opinions.
  "How was it possible-to take away the freedom of quite proper people?" Eya said indignantly soon after the screen went blank. Dan was silent.
  Lal smiled sadly. Was that all? He had expected more!
  "They were not considered proper. They were brought from Africa: it was backward compared to Europe, where white Americans came from."
  "But George Harris was more literate and capable than his master!"
  "He was not fully white: an inferior man. The white master had no doubt of this."
  "But this is quite wrong! Unfair! How could they tolerate such a thing?"
  "But not everyone did, you"ve seen."
  "Yes, by escaping. To Canada."
  "But it was so good, that they had somewhere to go, after all," Dan uttered suddenly. "Eya here wonders how it could exist then. But I wonder about how this is possible in the present time. As do you, Lal, I think, and that"s what you haven"t been telling us all this time. Right?"
  "Yes." So fast! Really? "Dan . . ."
  "Later! Our banquet is not canceled. Quickly, get dressed!"
  
  "Dan, I don"t understand you at all. What did you mean?"
  "Just what exists! Inequality. The fact that we exist, the propers, intellectuals-and they, the inadequates. One of whom was killed so I could be alive now."
  "But that is quite different. They are actually inadequate."
  "Why?"
  "Because they were born that way."
  "Do you think so?"
  "Certainly! They are born in the same way as us. That"s why we only reject completely incapable children."
  "What are they not capable of?"
  "Of any intense intellectual work."
  "But they may be capable of some other work?"
  "But who needs that? We have machines for that."
  "So why shouldn"t they do many of the things the machines do?"
  "But why does it matter? Anyway, they can"t do what we do. So-automatically-they are not equal to us: can"t be proper members of our society."
  "They would be able to feel proper among their own kind."
  "Yes, that is so, in fact-right now. The contradiction has been removed? Lal! What do you think?"
  "Unfortunately, you are outwardly right of something," Lal said.
  "Outwardly? Something? And even, unfortunately?"
  "Exactly."
  "But why?"
  "The inadequates do not have to be what we, the intellectuals, have made them."
  "Why do you both think so? I do not agree with you!"
  "Well, okay, tell us: do you frequently associate with any inadequates?"
  "Me? Very little. Basically, just when I was still a little girl."
  "Let"s start from this. You have said you loved your nanny."
  "I don"t think I"m the only one."
  "Do you remember what Eve told us about them?"
  "Yes, I do. That they are experts, too, despite their lack of a complete education."
  "Do you not agree with the fact that for their work, whose importance and value are beyond doubt, their complete education isn"t absolutely imperative?"
  "Well, maybe. Eve, of course, is competent in this. And in this case, the people are certainly better than any perfect robot. But that is only part of the issue."
  "Have you associated with any other groups of them? Surely with houris, at least."
  "Well . . ."
  "What do you think about them?"
  "The same as everyone. That with their help, it is easy to remove the small, temporary problems created by unsatisfied sexual needs."
  "Forgive me for asking a too-intimate question: how was it with you? You don"t have to answer if you don"t want. However, I think we should lift any ban we"ve placed on ourselves of touching on this topic."
   "I agree. So I will answer. Well, first of all, like for everyone-I lost my virginity. And then-when my desire came suddenly, and it was tough to spend time organizing a normal contact. Or when I could not fall asleep and began to think about it. Sometimes-to get acquainted with an unknown method, or because of the desire to experience something very poignant. You do not like hearing this, do you?" Eya asked.
  "Yes, we do; this your business alone. In this, you"ve been like all the others. But do you still think about the houris? You on your own?"
  "It was really convenient. But . . . how can I put it . . ."
  "Unpleasant?"
  "Why, no. They were, of course, good looking, very tender and ready to fulfill any desire. And their specific qualities were of the highest level, and they were trained to do their work amazingly. But anyway, something was . . . wrong!"
  "Like bestiality?"
  "Yes! Exactly! There was no complete pleasure because with the houris it was absolutely impossible to talk about anything. They are terribly primitive. Sexually perfect animals-exclusively. Like dogs. He will do everything you want, just the way you want it, but then-you send him away at once. Like a robot. The robot also does everything, but his presence isn"t important for you."
  "Exactly."
  "But it is comfortable enough; it saves time, energy, nerves. And they do not care. They are completely stupid and insensitive."
  And then Dan exploded, "No! They are not insensitive! Poor abilities? Relatively-yes. Primitive? Yes-for they have been taught almost nothing. We deemed them too stupid in their childhood: that is their misfortune alone. But they are, after all-human beings. True human beings! I know that. I know it too well!" He turned to Lal. "Why, why have you waited for so long? After all, I"ve . . . I"ve also considered, for too long, that we have something wrong."
  "But you"ve said nothing about it," Lal tried to justify. More for himself than for Dan.
  "Like you, for some reason. It"s not accepted to talk about this. We"ve all been accustomed-since childhood-to the idea of the infallible rightness of the present societal structure. To break it, to give it up, is no easier than the problem I had with physical conception to believe in the hyperstructures. The great earthly society of intellectuals-scientists, engineers, artists, democratic to the last degree! Armed with sophisticated theories and heavy-duty modeling machines. Being able to commit only the most serious, principal errors! What exists now is even worse than slavery; slaves could be freed, but inadequates . . . What can we say! But they really are human beings-they feel like true human beings. I"ve known this for a long time."
  "You were also especially interested in the inadequates?"
  "No. It turned out differently for me.
  
  Back then-a long time ago now-when I first came to the idea of hyperstructures. Accepting it required giving up too many firm preexisting conceptions.
  I conducted the agonizing search to bypass the need to get the truth that way. It demanded strain beyond all limits-and eventually I started to notice that I wasn"t able to do anything. I felt incomprehensible fear and anguish. At night-I could not be alone, because I almost never slept.
  I began to call the same houri to me every evening. She was not very young, stout, with big breasts and belly. I had no libido at all, but with the help of her skill, sometimes I took her, and then I would calm down for a short while. Most of the time, it was enough for me to not be alone. The feeling of her presence, the warmth of her body as I nestled up against it, even the sound of her breathing helped me live out yet another endless night.
  After a few days-or rather, nights-she started getting to know me . . .
  "You feel bad, darling?" she asked, snuggling up to me.
  "Yes, Chamomile." You know, houris don"t have normal names.
  "But now I"ll help you feel better." And she tried as hard as she could-to no avail.
  "Please, speak," I asked her, "tell me something."
  "What do you want me to tell, darling?"
  "Anything."
  "I"m sorry, I have nothing to tell-I don"t know anything."
  "Then tell me about yourself."
  "May I?"
  "Come on, I beg you."
  
  . . . She really knew and understood too little . . .
  At school, she hadn"t been good at anything-and the other kids teased her about that. Then she was told she would go to another school, where no one would tease her.
  And, really, at that school, where there were only other girls-and women who looked after them-no one teased. Nobody forced them to learn much, and she liked that. Then they began to stroke her cheeks and tell her she was very pretty. Then she was scared of her blood, but the aunty said she was now an adult and should not be afraid, because all girls experienced this. And she began to see hair growing under her arms and breasts, but only a little.
  Then she went to another place, where girls lived who had grown breasts, and all of them were pretty. They had fun there. They were taught to sing, dance and how to be even prettier. And they did gymnastics and played sports, all to make their figures more beautiful.
  At the halls for their training, sometimes people came who were not like them and the governesses; they were taller, without breasts, and some of them had mustaches and beards. And their voices were not the same. During breaks, they joked with the girls, laughing and talking, and the girls enjoyed this.
  Chamomile (this was her new name, but she had forgotten her former one) scrutinized these unusual people with interest and curiosity.
  "Why aren"t you like us?" she once asked one of them, the one who seemed most willing to chat with her.
  "I"m a man."
  "What"s that?"
  "Sometime, we"ll go swimming together-and I"ll explain to you."
  "But when? Today?"
  "No, not today."
  "But when?"
  "Later."
  "Okay."
  He came back to her a few days later, when she was resting.
  "Let"s go swimming!"
  "But will you explain it to me?"
  "Today, I will explain."
  He brought her to a room, where he undressed himself and told her to take everything off. She scrutinized his body with interest, so unlike her own. And then she began to laugh, because she recognized that he was a boy, but an adult. He touched her everywhere and stroked her breasts, and allowed her to touch any part of him she wanted. And then he told her:
  "Now I will teach you the most pleasant thing. Do not be afraid; it might be painful at first, but then nice." She agreed readily.
  It didn"t feel nice to her then, but afterward she really liked it. The other girls were also shown the same thing, and the governess and her assistants taught them how to do it well, so it would always be very nice, and showed them movies about it. Male houris individually trained every one of the girls, honing their methods. The men changed constantly-variety was necessary for proper training.
  As for the solemn act, the girls were finally prepared to appearing as houris for the first time. On this day, they were brushed and dressed to be particularly beautiful. At night in a large, decorated hall, they danced and took part in erotic games with propers. Houri-instructors remained nearby and, while trying to quietly stay out of the way, corrected and prompted where needed.
  One man who danced with her took her hand:
  "Come with me!"
  "Not now . . . Let"s dance, okay?" But then she caught her instructor"s eye: surprised, reproving, ordering. And so she went.
  He was not as skillful as the male houris, and it was unpleasant. So afterward, she lay there with her eyes closed. He said nothing to her when he left, and then she began to cry.
  The houri who had first explained everything to her came back to her-and when she told him what had happened, he said it was not good and gave her some sweet liqueur to drink, and she felt better. She went back into the hall, danced, and another called her. That one did it good, and when he left, the instructor praised her and sent her to sleep . . .
  "It is not good to talk about this, darling. But you feel bad, and I know nothing more."
  . . . She was enjoying herself. It was fun to dance and play games. She was very popular-called more often than many other girls-and she was proud of that.
  Quite often, she was called to men"s homes. She sat in the capsule that carried her under the ground, but she did not know where or to whom. She liked this less-it was not as fun in homes, and it was only occasionally that she got to dance or sing alone. And it was not always pleasant-these did not know how to treat her well, so she drank some exciting sweet liqueur to make sure it was nice. Almost every time, they sent her back when they no longer wanted her.
  Then she began to change dramatically-she became big, and her breasts became larger-though smaller than now-and her hips wide. And many began to call her to their homes. She got used to this, and very good at it.
  Periodically, instructors taught them new things. And they continued to exercise and play sports to maintain their figures, all the while eating special meals. But even so, Chamomile became very stout. Her belly grew large, and her thighs, and her breasts-like now. But she was still liked by many men; some of them even liked her more this way.
  But then her popularity began to wane as she grew older. She moved to train the boys who had been chosen to become houris. She lived with them, demonstrated to them for the first time and trained them. They loved her because she was affectionate and kind.
  But she did not stay with them, because she had to come back; when she was gone, many still tried to summon her to their homes. And so she went to live with the other women again.
  She lived there for a long time. Some women went elsewhere-and sometimes they came back as she did. But women who were no longer called left forever. Nobody knew where; they were just never seen again. When she stopped being called, she was sure she would also leave. Maybe she would go back to work as an instructor of houri boys. But still she lives there, and still she is called.
  And when nobody calls her, she sits with her friends; they talk or sing for themselves, whatever they want to do on their own. They love to spend time together.
  However, it sometimes happens that a houri starts to hate her job-but she still comes when called, because she knows if she doesn"t, she will have to leave. But she feels afraid to leave, since she knows everyone here. But sometimes, when a houri hates it to too badly, she"ll even hit the glass and cut herself and shout: "Don"t want! Don"t want!" This is a pity.
  They also have festivals where there are only houris, both women and men. They may call each other themselves, and this is definitely pleasant because male houris always know well, and because they can talk to each other, too.
  And they also have fun with competitions between the most beautiful male and female houris, who come from all over with their mentors. They also have contests for these who can do it very good, but they work quite differently. Houris are always watching these, and it is very interesting . . .
  
  "Are you sleeping, darling?"
  "No-tell me more."
  "I don"t know anything more. Maybe you want me now? Not that either? Shall I sing for you?"
  "Yes. Just sing what you sing for yourself."
  She sang me a depressing song.
  A terrible horror was slowly seizing me. Next to us, with our science, art, immense archives, mighty industry, almost fairytale surgery and all the rest-next to it there was something I just could not even fathom. What an atrocity: to reject a living human being and school her as an animal for the satisfaction of our needs, which we do not ourselves consider lofty-to turn into nothing more than a sexy toilet, and only in this to see the sense and justification for her existence in our midst! To deprive her of her free will-to turn her into an utter object, an inanimate robot. Not to help her but to make worse her mental inferiority.
  Why? What for? Just because it simplified our-the intellectually propers"-existence? But-did intelligence justify cruelty? What was-our intelligence, anyway? What had we actually discovered, created in our time?
  All this was too insignificant; nothing was outstanding. We had completed, improved, perfected things discovered before us by others. Intellectual pygmies! All our attempts would fail. And my own as well!
  I was tormented by a feverish need to immediately find a way out of this existence, confident that all would be lost if I did not find it, and straightaway after I felt complete helplessness, the absolute inability to solve anything, to do anything. There was no way out-only despair. It seemed I-and only I-was guilty of everything, more guilty than anyone. The idea of leaving completely, getting rid of everything all at once, occurred to me again, and I saw this as the only possible solution. "Don"t want! Don"t want to live anymore!" everything inside me shouted.
  
  
  
  The only thing in the room was an aquarium gleaming with fishes. And suddenly, I made up my mind, hitting it with my fist with such force that I smashed the thick glass. The beautiful fishes started writhing in a pool. My hand was cut and badly damaged. Not paying attention to that, I grasped a large shard of glass, but at the same moment Chamomile seized hold of my hand, hanging on with her entire weight.
  "Oh, darling, no!" she cried.
  Trying to pull out my hand, I cut her with the shard, but she still did not let go. And when I pushed her so that she flew away, fell and hit her head badly, I felt I could do nothing more. Looking at my bloody hand, I threw the glass away.
  Then I trudged to the bed and fell. I was shaking. She came and sat next to me, put my head on her chest and, holding me tightly with her bloody hands, wept for a long time. I could hardly breathe. I heard her occasionally mutter through her sobs: "Oh, darling!", "So bad!", "Sorry for the fishes, too!" And we stayed like that until morning. Her hands were covered in terrible cuts.
  
  . . . Once I was cured, I wanted to live and work again, so I returned home.
  I wanted to see her, to thank her. But when I called her, I saw on the screen: "She is absent here."
  I succeeded in contacting their head-sexologist, whom they called a governess. She told me very calmly that Chamomile didn"t live there any more-but that I shouldn"t worry; there were several other houris who were just like her. And that was all.
  So I could learn nothing: whether she was transferred as an instructor to young boys, or perhaps because the cuts had disfigured her, she"d become unfit professionally-and, therefore, was killed.
  This thought haunted me for a long time. But then, little by little-I forgot. As if it had happened to someone else. I do not understand how I was able to remember everything so clearly now. I saw how that beast, the planter, treated his female slaves, and . . . that was that!"
  
  They were silent, struck by Dan"s tale. Lal sat without seeing anything in front of him, with his fists clenched on the table. Eya"s lips were trembling.
  "I"ve upset you. And spoiled the banquet. Well, all right, we won"t speak any more of this today."
  "No, Dan, wait." Lal stood. "Let"s drink in memory of her."
  He raised his cup.
  "May her memory live forever!"
  They stood and drank in silence.
  "Yes, you are absolutely amazing, Dan. You perform the greatest revolution in physics and along the way obtain proof of the social theorem of the truly human essence of the inadequates. The houri believes you and tells you about herself. I-despite being interested in them most of all-could not learn anything like this. Houris always kept silent, and the head-sexologists told me this should not be pressed."
  "Lal, I"m sorry-I cannot talk about it anymore."
  He went to the control room. They continued to sit at the table without saying a word or having touched the food. From the control room came the gloomy sounds of the beginning of the Tchaikovsky"s Sixth Symphony.
  . . . In the morning, Eya, having been unable to fall asleep, replaced Dan on duty.
  "Is Lal asleep?"
  "I"m not sure."
  "And you-were you sleeping?"
  "After your terrible story?"
  "Lal understood this long ago."
  "I somehow did not think about it at all before."
  "You"re not the only one. We are all too absorbed in their work, and we hardly see anything else. That"s why we need someone like Lal, who sees everything at once. And is unable to be indifferent."
  "It"s still so difficult for me."
  "That"s okay, he isn"t rushing us."
  "Get some rest, Dan."
  
  13
  
  Giving them time to calm down, Lal, indeed, studiously avoided resuming the conversation for two days. Only on the third did he ask:
  "Shall we continue?"
  "Yes, of course."
  "So! Now, our main theme will be the inadequates. You"ve heard a lot about child-minders and much about houris. Today, I will acquaint you with the donors-the group whose stories are the gloomiest of all."
  "So, today you will talk about me? I am now ninety percent an inadequate donor."
  "Nothing of the sort. One"s adequacy is determined by the brain!"
  "Of course, Eya. So, the donors-inadequates-make up the biofund for surgical repair of the propers.
  "The emergence of this group, in addition to the causes of the social separation of inadequates, was due to one of the greatest scientific discoveries-overcoming immuno-incompatibility, which ensured the feasibility and effectiveness of organ transplants from one person to another.
  "Even at the dawn of performing transplants, surgeons did not always succeed to carry out operations in time, because they often lacked the necessary organs. The first donors for heart transplants were people who had perished under cars, the transport vehicles of that time. The optimal selection of transplanted organs was not even a question.
  "For this reason, and because of the complexity of the operation itself, transplantations were used only in critical cases. Especially before the use of cyclosporine , these operations could only stave off imminent death, since the transplanted organs were eventually rejected-died off, and then it was either re-operation or death.
  "Organ donation for medical needs is a quite old phenomenon. The first donors gave blood for those wounded in war-and then blood donation became widespread. These donors were almost exclusively volunteers, and blood donation in no way affected their health. The exception, criminals, were only forced to give blood during World War II in the twentieth century-this was done by the German Nazis, from prisoners of war and even children, sometimes taking all of a person"s blood. After that, people began to donate skin, eyes, teeth and, although rarely, bone marrow-to save those who had succumbed to radiation sickness.
  "The only source for internal organs was from exceptionally fresh bodies, although for some time after the discovery of cyclosporine there was a special kind of crime-the abduction, trafficking and killing of people, including children, for organ transplants, with which society had to wage a severe war.
  "Eventually, the development of preservation technology provided the opportunity to create a transplant fund. This allowed doctors to save any organ for later use.
  "But the material in the fund was not good enough, and so it was considered acceptable and humane to kill hopeless idiots put up in special clinics. The quality of transplants improved. In addition, they succeeded in improving the health of a limited number of people who had not been threatened with death. The brilliant results of such transplants incited doctors to search for more opportunities to expand their application.
  "The possibility of widely using internal organs from animals seemed incredibly tempting initially, but it was not confirmed possible for most types of transplants. The prospect of using human organs, however, increased by the fact that it would prolong the lives of people after surgeons replaced a number of their worn organs. This process managed to achieve results sooner than any other. And gradually, starting with isolated cases approved by the world vote for saving or prolonging the lives of extremely important scientists, they moved to the widespread use of inadequates as donors doomed to die.
  "This phenomenon was cemented in society after the first successful transplant surgery of a genius" head onto the body of an inadequate. The enthusiasm about this fabulously difficult operation was so great that most people received the words of surgeons who performed it very favorably. This is what they had to say."
  Lal switched on the screen. A man with shoulder straps, an attribute of physicians, who had been the principal defenders of humanity after the disappearance of the wars, said:
  "Our time is very scarce in major discoveries. We are moving terribly slowly along the path of scientific progress. And all of us are fighting in search of a way out of this situation.
  "Unfortunately, the restricted capacity of the body limits us from increasing the intensity of our work. The efforts of the most capable part of humanity to succeed have resulted in the rapid deterioration of their bodies and severe diseases of various kinds due to their merciless attitude towards themselves.
  "All of them, except those who have succumbed to brain disease, are radically curable with a process that is almost one hundred percent reliable. But for that, we first have to sacrifice the least valuable part of humanity. The health and life expectancy of proper scientists, being the single motivating force of progress, must be acquired at the expense of the lives of untalented inadequate people used as donors.
  "If we look at it from the point of view of the interests of humanity as a whole-this is correct, fair. The inadequates do not put their health to good use, due to their complete inability to perform intense intellectual work. And in the work they can do, society does not need. Cared for fully by society, they have to give something in return so as not to be an unnecessary burden.
  "At present time, we have developed a proper separation of functions between people based on their abilities. I mean mankind"s steady mode of reproduction. Thanks to the inadequates who birth and nurse our children, proper women have the opportunity to devote themselves entirely to their intellectual work. In this, the beginning of the correct understanding of the nature laws manifests itself quite obviously.
  "But we should apply wisdom from nature more consistently. If we look closely at ants, for example-the most typical social animals- we find that males are killed after performing their function, as they are no longer needed in their large family, their community. This phenomenon is also a consequence of the objective laws of nature, which are inevitable, and even though it may seem cruel, will promote better survival of the species as a whole.
  "The human being is not an ant, but it is naive to think that he has completely severed his ties with the nature. Killing the inadequates, whose contribution to the sum of universal labor is equal to zero, we can provide the propers with health and longevity after they have spent their health for their community, which includes the inadequates consuming the fruits of their labor. All of humanity wins as a species in this case, very noticeably. And this is absolute moral justification for the use of part from inadequates killed as donors.
  "Let us not be terrified of the cruel justice of this conclusion-because currently, there is no other way. We do still obtain the protein we need by killing animals, but people of the future might learn to produce high-grade synthetic proteins and then they may become vegetarians. So it is possible that in the future we will also learn to restore health and prolong people"s lives in other ways.
  "But at present, we are still deprived of this opportunity, and thus humanity has no right to ignore the huge benefits of using inadequates for donors. Of course, there are unpleasant sides to this, which we must understand and come to terms with, and then not dwell on. Just as there is an unpleasant side to eating animals" meat.
  "A proper organization should contribute to the success of this endeavor. I mean that the donors should not know about their impending fate, living until then in the most favorable and comfortable conditions, as long as this doesn"t get in the way of their functional purpose.
  "Currently, the procedure for donor use is not yet satisfactory. For the full effect, we will need a continuous and systematic acquisition of a donors" contingent, picked properly and sufficient in numbers.
  "The future results are certain. On my own behalf and on behalf of my colleagues, I put the matter to a worldwide debate and vote." The screen went dark.
  "These words fell like seeds in well-tilled soil. Since they were ready to sacrifice themselves mercilessly to the cause for progress, proper people were also merciless to others. They considered the establishment of a permanent contingent of inadequate donors as a necessary and timely step, victims historically justified. Only a negligible number voted against it."
  
  "Have you communicated with donors yourself?"
  "Yes, but only a little. They are a closed-off group, living only in special areas. No one but physicians in charge of the preparatory work live with them. Special meals, a precise routine, a system of training, mainly utilizing hatha yoga-all for the high-quality cultivation human organs.
  "But apparently, this is a true Arcadia . Perfect health and excellent general physical state, carefree, peaceful, and perpetual good moods. Very tasty food-although with strictly nutritious composition. Sports games and shows, special movies, thermae, banquets with music and dancing.
  "They are served by special houris, since men and women of this group never live together. But physicians strictly define the frequency of meetings with houris for each of them. When necessary, their sensuality is suppressed with medication-and very rarely, with castration.
  "They are happy in their present states-and looking forward, they think they will be transferred to another place, where they will live more pleasantly, but that they need to earn it with hard training and the precise execution of their trainers" instructions. This idea is intensively cultivated in their minds, and they wait impatiently for the "transfer".
  "What waits for them really, they, of course, do not suspect at all. If any of the trainers tries to tell them the truth, he will be immediately isolated from them and, according to the oath given by him, subjected without trial to a prolonged boycott, and any donors who may have heard him are isolated and used first. Despite the fact that-and this is most interesting!-donors never believe these trainers."
  "How long do they live?"
  "About thirty years, and usually more than twenty. They are used while young, but fully formed."
  "Are they killed just before the operation?"
  "That"s not necessary at all! The internal organs can be stored for a long time, in the proper environment. In the vaults of the surgical repair fund, I saw a lot of hearts that continued to pulsate. Moreover, if they killed a donor before each operation, using only one or a few organs, they would need too many donors-this would create a lot of work, too uneconomical. In fact, the process is highly efficient.
  "And they use not only internal but also external organs: limbs, ears, noses, eyes, scalps, skin, breasts, penises. And also bone, cartilage, teeth, bone marrow. Unused muscles and organs, which do not meet the requirements for surgical repair, are utilized as food for animals and other inadequates, or as raw materials for industrial processing. Nothing is ever wasted!"
  
  "But due to this, the health of propers returns and their lives are prolonged."
  "Exactly. The donors do not die for fun, like Roman gladiators, but for the sake of the common good, which they can only contribute to by sacrificing their lives-and only then can their births be justified as important and necessary. This is what is visible superficially, what is known to all-and seems natural to everyone."
  "But not to you-do you disagree with this?"
  "Absolutely. All the inadequates have been deprived of their own free will. We manage them like livestock-without asking their desire or consent. Having identified their inadequate skills in childhood, we cripple them completely with an education that Dan has too correctly compared to the training of animals.
  "And from this group-the donors-we take away their most precious possession-life! Despite everything, it is murder. Killing creatures who were born human beings! And, most importantly, it isn"t as necessary as we previously thought."
  "Excuse me, but is it really possible to achieve a life span of almost two hundred years?"
  "Well, first, our extended life spans are not all thanks to surgical repair. They are the result of a great deal of factors: we breathe clean air, not polluted by harmful impurities; we eat a healthy, well-balanced diet; starting at childhood, we dedicate a lot of time to physical education. Secondly, we have the opportunity to largely abandon surgical repair without decreasing life span."
  "Yes, the continuous monitoring system!"
  "Right, Eya. Do you know what that is?"
  "Only some. A human being is continuously observed by instruments located in his housing, bed and clothes. The amount of information about all the processes in his body is much greater than what we obtain, as in the old days, through periodic medical examinations. The computerized diagnostic system processes the flow of this information. As a result, the slightest changes in the body are detected early and the necessary measures taken, prescribing changes in diet and exercise, and medication. In more serious cases, a physician is notified.
  "The test results in experiments on inadequates were striking. However, even such a limited system was incredibly complicated. And to cover all of humanity with continuous supervision, we must first establish a system vastly superior in complexity to the control system of all industry on Earth. This system"s memory should include the full amount of medical knowledge to provide such diagnostics. Also, incoming information should be analyzed to reach conclusions regarding the optimal correction of health and revealing any common trends in the health of sufficiently large groups. The system would be continuously controlled by physicians to address unpredictable negative effects. It must be very reliable and include redundancies to avoid any mistakes."
  "And what then?" Dan asked.
  "Nothing. The complexity of such a system is incredibly high. It was so obvious that the possibility of its creation was not even offered to the global debate."
  "But it is already possible in principle, and therefore, can the use of donors be justified?" Dan asked again.
  "It all depends on how you put it," Lal said. "The surgical repair currently works perfectly, with no doubts over its results. And, most importantly, it is much less expensive than creating a continuous monitoring system-CMS. This was, as Eya said, the main obstacle. Especially since it coincided with the preparation of the first flight of the hyperexpress, to which we directed all resources for a long time. And then another good reason to postpone the establishment of CMS appeared after Tupac"s departure.
  "Besides, the worst part is that almost everyone considers the use of donors to be quite normal and does not see any reason to stop it. So creating CMS did not seem necessary. It is easier and cheaper to kill the donors! The people have not yet thawed; the end of the crisis has just begun. Everything is still ahead of us.
  "But this brutal method of repairing people must end. Without fail! For it is truly disgusting, and only a deep general decline in human nature made its appearance possible."
  
  "But that surgeon compared the need for donors to the slaughter of animals for food. So where do we draw the line?"
  Lal smiled. "I had to answer this question during my controversy with the cannibals. Animals are not human beings; they live according to the laws of the struggle for existence, which seem brutal to humanity. In killing individual animals for food or for leather and fur, man doesn"t transgress the laws aimed only at preserving the species. Here-in my opinion-all is right.
  "But people are all human beings, and they live according to other laws. Every human life has an individual value."
  "So do you consider it is absolutely inadmissible to sacrifice the inadequate part of humanity, even for common progress, just because it is inhumane?"
  "Not only for that reason. Also because of the possible consequences of the principle of classifying people on propers and inadequates in the first place.
  "What separates inadequates from other people? Their inability to perform work that can"t be done by robots. Just this. The fact that they can be replaced by robots.
  "But robots are becoming more and more perfect. If we are consistent, we will eventually have to consider everyone inadequate except for the ultimate geniuses, a quantitatively negligible part of humanity. Do you see?
  "But a few geniuses surrounded by a huge number of robots would not need a huge number of inadequates-and those who could not be used would just have to be killed to dispose of an unnecessary burden.
  "We will end up with a kingdom of super-perfect robots that have replaced humans, led by geniuses-a negligible amount of people still considered proper. Robots would actually displace people by their own hands. This is the logically consistent conclusion of the principle of classifying people as propers and inadequates, and this conclusion is obviously vicious."
  "Why can"t we increase the likelihood of geniuses appearing?"
  "That would be perfectly acceptable-but it would not change the situation. They still would never make up the majority of mankind."
  "Yes, that"s an eerie conclusion!"
  "That"s good!"
  "Why?"
  "Because this can make you think."
  "Lal, but aren"t you exaggerating?"
  "Yes. I"ve just drawn a contrast, to make it clearer. Well, is that enough for today?"
  "Yeah . . ." They looked terribly tired and pale.
  "I"ll take a break. At least for one day. Let the ideas settle," Lal thought, feeling just as tired as Dan and Eya, but happy.
  
  14
  
  But the next "day", Dan asked to continue:
  "Lal, you"ve said nothing about the donors for people like me." He looked at his hands.
  "I can add a little bit about them to what I"ve said about the other donors. They are almost the same, but have the highest general requirements-regarding their entire bodies-plus aesthetic requirements. Accordingly, they require slightly different preparation. They are exclusively the descendants of other donors, the results of a special selection."
  "Purposefully bred inadequates?"
  "Yes. But we"ll talk more about them later.
  "Now I will acquaint you with a different group of donors, standing apart from the donors for surgical repair: the purpose of this group is to supply brains to biocybernetic systems. The fate of these donors is the same as the previous ones. The brains taken from them are a major component of biocybers-which are valuable as highly compact cyber systems.
  "The simplest cyber systems can manage with animals" brains. But for more complex systems, which can be regarded as cyborgs of a lower order, we use the brains of these donors. Placed in a biocyber, the brain is connected directly to the sensors and control devices, and it responds to the sensor signals with corresponding commands. The brain"s action is reinforced with conventional cyber blocks, which provide a tremendous speed for processing information.
  "Producing biocybers is too complicated, excluding the possibility of using random material. Just the brain, whose qualities are precisely defined and maximally enforced by special pre-training, may be suitable. These qualities can be memory, reaction speed, interest in particularly specific phenomena, reception of sound and color, capacity for mental calculation-and so on. These donors are used at an earlier age, often as children. Where possible, they also use other organs from their bodies, but without any special requirements or training.
  "Unlike biocybers, true cyborgs are controlled by the brains of propers, who volunteered before death to be transplanted into cyber systems, where they are provided with conditions for long existence. In a cyborg, the brain fully retains its creativity and individuality-and, most importantly, the ability to find non-trivial solutions where cybers are not capable. Often, these are the brains of very great scientists. Such as Tupac.
  "Cyborgs are able to exist in environments that are unfit for people with ordinary bodies; until now, they were the only scouts of the Far Cosmos. And besides that, they have scouted the bowels of the Earth and other planets, and the bottoms of Earth"s oceans. In comparison with ordinary people, they have a much greater ability to feel, thanks to various sensors, and they can live up to a thousand years.
  "But cyborgs are, in general, an exceptional phenomenon. While it once seemed attractive and highly promising, cyborgization never spread widely. Very few people want such a long existence, completely devoid of human joys that are only possible to experience with organic bodies. Therefore, we use the special donors to produce biocybers.
  "That"s all I wanted to say about them."
  "Biocybers, besides their compactness, are also more reliable," Eya added. "In case of the failure of a part of the brain, the cells of other parts can perform its work."
  "Quite true! Any questions?"
  "Not yet."
  
  "I"ll move on to the next group-the experimentals.
  "After experimentation on animals, these inadequates are used for the final tests of new drugs, physical therapies and other newly employed treatments, and newly invented medical equipment. Tests for new types of operations and surgical training are also carried out on them. Plus tests for various new foods and synthetic products. This is how we check the safety or toxicity of various environments and perfect our safety guidelines. And many others.
  "They live their lives under constant supervision, every aspect strictly regulated in accordance with the test programs. The experiments performed on them are not always painless. They may be infected intentionally with various diseases. Some of them die during the experiments, but the rest are never killed because their life spans are of interest for research.
  "Overall, their existence is significantly poorer in joys when compared to other groups of inadequates. For this group, selection is often carried out by the detection of various existing diseases and abnormalities."
  "They were used in experiments to try to create ichthyanders-people with implanted gills. Ecologists studied seriously the problem of settlement by those of the upper layer of the ocean. But there were too many "buts"-the most important of which that ichthyanders cannot tolerate conditions in space, and therefore they cannot leave the earth. So they would not have the same opportunities as people with ordinary bodies. But inadequate ichthyanders are not needed if robots exist," Eya supplemented again.
  
  "Houris originated from this group, as their predecessors were used in sexual experiments. This work in was conducted with input from sociologists, who first put forward the idea of simplifying the management of our sex lives by using inadequates when we face a deficit of time.
  "Extensive checks were carried out, and representatives from all age groups of propers took part. The exceptional ease of contact management and the associated time savings, as well as just the professional skill level of these inadequates, caused a huge amount of positive references.
  "As a result, they set up a group designed to satisfy sexual needs. It consisted of specially selected men and women-the most beautiful, physically attractive, and sexy. Some poet compared them with the heavenly maidens of Islam-houris-and gradually this name became generally accepted.
  "So the absolute sexual freedom of propers had been accomplished. All related problems disappeared. To copulate became as easy as to defecate. The same elementary satisfaction of a natural physical need. The houris really did serve as just sexy toilets-Dan named it too precisely. Mankind has obtained always-ready, trouble-free concubines to serve it-as prostitutes and gigolos once did. The houris, of course, cannot be compared with the Athenian hetaerae, who delighted men not only with their bodies but also with education and delicate taste."
  "I"m sorry, but wasn"t prostitution a voluntary profession?"
  "Yes-but its alternative was hard work or suffering. Prostitutes were paid in money and thus allowed to exist materially. Houris-instead just get the right to live.
  "Simply, conveniently! Once summoned, you copulate-and then you can sleep. It doesn"t require any reciprocity. Take who you wish. They will show you on the screen with personal digital indicators. If you want, choose on your own-or a computer will select the best match after you transfer your personal data from your archive."
  "They are also used for sex education of young people."
  "That"s right. For learning the technique of intercourse."
  "Deflowering girls is always done by male houris."
  "And with their help, materials are taken to the gene fund."
  "Right, exactly! This is all of them. Especially after Dan"s story. Any questions?"
  "Go on, brother."
  
  "There is still the group of reproduction: birth-givers, wet-nurses and child-minders. But before that, I want to talk about the hereditary inadequates-those purposefully bred to be inadequate.
  "The reason for their creation was that the acquired groups of rejected children in most cases did not provide optimal materials from the point of view of those who used them. To eliminate this imperfection, they began in parallel with rejection to breed inadequates for descendants with only the best desired attributes. The hereditary inadequates do not constitute a separate group, but are included in the groups of their parents.
  "First of all, they appeared in the donors groups to compensate for the deficit of some organs, the quality of which was often lacking in those obtained by the rejection. Then in some cases, they were bred especially for obtaining higher-quality organs. It appeared that selecting inadequates was no different from selecting for pedigree breeds of domestic animals.
  "Some special hereditary donors even have organs with hypertrophied qualities. Transplantation of such organs can eliminate the need for multiple organ transplants, providing normal functioning despite the usual weakened activity of non-replaced organs. Often, such hypertrophy is detrimental to the donor organism as a whole.
  "The so-called full donors, whose headless bodies are used in their entirety to provide second lives to academicians are, as I"ve said, only hereditary donors with elite records of physical health and aesthetics.
  "Many people have focused their attention on breeding houris to obtain extraordinarily beautiful specimens. Beauty contests of such houris are quite popular, and this selection is called decorative-it is a peculiar kind of art, creating living sculptures. Propers sometimes copy their appearance by plastic surgery.
  "But even among these breeders, there are those who exaggerate specific qualities to the detriment of the organism and create non-viable, rapidly aging creatures, ensuring themselves short-term success. As in the case of the live copy of Aphrodite of Milos.
  "One general essential drawback of all these creatures, without exception, is that they are all inadequates and thus associated with mental backwardness. As the poet has said:
  Who can explain what it means, beauty?
  High bust, or slender supple figure,
  Or large eyes? But sometimes,
  It"s not all we call beauty.
  The mouth without words no one could love.
  The eyes without fire-a flower without the smell.
  "Decorative houris are used much less than ordinary ones-so their beauty can last longer. Such houris can only be obtained through lottery."
  "Lal! But this is a complete contradiction. It turns out, actually, that it is much better to use the hereditary inadequates. They come with guaranteed higher quality-one might say the best material. But this system only exists as a way to use people who are not capable of intellectual work-and the use of hereditary inadequates, as they are better, again makes natural inadequates not useful to anyone," Eya said, interrupting him.
  "Exactly! Don"t think that isn"t understood. Therefore, the hereditary ones are only allowed as an exception and make up a negligible portion of all inadequates.
  "Let"s go back to that ultimate conclusion from the principle of people divided into two unequal categories, which you"ve called creepy. That group of inadequates that may be necessary to a handful of geniuses must be-logically-of the highest quality. So they should be exclusively hereditary inadequates. They must have no genetic connection with the geniuses at all, and so there should be two completely closed, parallel categories of people, two races-or more accurately, two subspecies. And each group must consist only of their elite. The rest of the people-rejected-must be killed. So!"
  "Do you think could ever come to this?"
  "I believe firmly it will not. I do believe that all of us, the propers, will succeed in time to see this trend embedded in the existing system, and nothing, in fact, is yet opposed to the possibility of its development. And then we will understand again that biological laws cannot be dominant in human society."
  "But you"re talking in riddles. You haven"t made any conclusions."
  "Patience! Before drawing conclusions, I must tell you what I think necessary."
  
  
  15
  
  Lal began the next conversation with the words, "Now all that remains for us to consider is the reproduction group, which Eve told us a lot about.
  "Historically-this group was the first. I"ll tell you right now about how its appearance was the start of the general split of mankind into two categories with inequal social rights. Its origins were a byproduct of the death of the family unit as an independently stable social cell.
  "In ancient times, families were born of mutual attraction-as they called it, love-or any other reason, and their main function was the birth and raising of children. At the same time, each family was an autonomous economic unit with a common budget and, with few exceptions, a common home.
  "The primary care of children was the women"s responsibility: mothers and grandmothers. In the class epochs, women of the privileged classes shifted daily childcare onto child-minders-at first slaves, and later hired help. They also hired special teachers to educate their children.
  "As society developed, it began to increasingly take care of education, and then of raising children fully. First schools and universities, then kindergartens and nurseries. The latter allowed women who had children to continue to work, instead of only dealing with childcare and housekeeping. At the same time, parents" ties to their children were not broken.
  "The norm was a family based entirely on a sense of mutual love. No intimate relationships outside the family were allowed. However, this was only an ideal-reality did not always correspond, and intimate relationships outside the family took place often. And the feelings of love might even disappear-thus families would break up, creating serious problems due to separated parents having children in common.
  "In the absence of these occurrences, the family was the best social cell for children. Constant mutual communication formed the basis of intimacy for children and their parents throughout their lives. Those children who had lost their parents were called orphans, and they were considered unhappy. The gradual release from everyday cares only allowed parents to give their children more and more of their free time, without removing a significant portion of their concerns about education and financial security.
  "Childcare was not a burden on these parents. It was the realization of their natural needs-difficult yet joyful. A house without children was considered empty. When a child was sick, its parents, grandmother, grandfather, brothers and sisters took care of it-not just a doctor.
  "The relative intimacy of people was an integral part of life at that time. Even when living on their own as adults, people continued to maintain regular contact with their parents, brothers and sisters-remaining interested in their affairs, helping each other if necessary, visiting and getting together for family celebrations. Family relationships, maintaining an element of emotional warmth in life, tied generations. They existed in parallel with friendships.
  "When the development of production and social relations had completely freed people from material cares, family members" material responsibilities for each other also disappeared. Now they were linked only by immaterial incentives. In these conditions, the family unit began to lose stability.
  "When problems arose as a consequence of this, society began to fix itself by completely freeing parents from taking care of their children, entrusting teachers with this task instead. People became more and more engaged in intellectual work, which became the main purpose and interest of life, displacing all other interests. And they paid less and less attention to children.
  "But the ties had not been completely broken yet. Every woman gave birth to at least two children, who were raised in child"s institutions. Their parents came to visit them there, continuing to give them attention and show interest in their health and development, and even spending together some of their free time. This was the time approaching our epoch of decline.
  "After a short period containing an unusually large number of fundamental discoveries, humanity went a long time without a single major discovery, and with too few such achievements as the successful completion of long-term work for the transplant a head on another person"s body. These years seemed unbearable because of the previous great successes.
  "Intensification of intellectual labor seemed-first of all-a way out of this situation. And the first step was to redistribute reproductive responsibilities among the members of society. To keep the majority of women working instead of wasting time bringing forth children, people started to use a method that had existed for a long time: the implantation of fertilized eggs, zygotes, into surrogate mothers.
  "This method had previously been used to help infertile women to have children. Since adopting someone else"s child was not always possible, this was a viable option for women who could not conceive naturally. With the improvement of medicine and the general health of the population, the implantation of zygotes into surrogates occurred less and less often; actually, it almost disappeared.
  "But then they remembered it again. To charge only the least capable women with pregnancy and childbirth, and let more capable women continue to work intensively! It seemed like a great idea.
  "It all happened remarkably quickly. Spending negligible time on the creation of a child, his genetic mother could avoid becoming attached to the baby, to whom another woman had given birth. Becoming more and more absorbed with their work, genetic parents gradually ceased communicating with their children.
  "Sociologists evaluated these changes very positively. Firstly, all the children began to receive only qualified, professional care. Secondly, their education could be completely controlled by expert teachers were engaged in, eliminating the negative aspects of parental participation in education, since parents often held biased, incorrect views on the subject. Thirdly, the relationships of their parents no longer affected children in any way, since the family, as such, had practically disappeared. Fourth, the opportunity appeared to use a supercomputer to genetically optimize the selection of parents.
  "In the midst of the general stress caused by the desire to break free from the start of the decline in discoveries, this all seemed just wonderful: "Mankind has finally merged into one big family!"
  "Absolute freedom had come into people"s intimate lives, which were no longer at all associated with the birth of children. No one cared about anyone else"s private life.
  "Children, who did not know their parents, had become universal property-and nobody"s. Kindred relationships disappeared. If it were not for all this, the emergence of the social category of inadequates would have been absolutely impossible.
  "Even with minimal communication, no mother would have allowed her child to be treated like a slave or an animal, no matter how untalented. Family relationships had once reliably protected untalented children from becoming inadequate, and these children simply grew to live among other people doing whatever work was within their power.
  "Now, becoming orphans, they were left to face a society that considered them an unnecessary burden. Their only protection could be their teachers, most of whom had been convinced of the need to reject-and the others were too weak to object.
  "But what could they do with the untalented ones? Destroy them? No, of course not! They must use everything possible-even up to the corpses and excrements. Let them only birth, breastfeed and nurse children. This was an honorable mission. That was great!
  "And the others? What to do with them? Whatever they wanted! And they did. Some they grew to the desired state and then killed them for their organs; others were used as experiment subjects-after rabbits, guinea pigs and monkeys; and others-in quite the vile way, to satisfy the lusts of the flesh."
  "But did this have any benefit?"
  "Unfortunately, yes. Intellectual labor intensity grew higher than in the previous epoch-and this was partly thanks to the use of inadequates.
  "But slavery had the same excuse. Thanks to slavery, people stopped killing war prisoners. And due to the labor of slaves, free people had time to practice art, science and philosophy. And besides, it was impossible to improve the situation just through intensification of work.
  "Our epoch is a direct consequence of the previous one. In that epoch, people succeeded to make fundamental discoveries, allowing them to enter a completely new area of the structure of matter, incredibly unusual-almost unacceptable to inveterate views and "common sense". The field was huge, requiring a lot of time and effort to master it firmly, becoming accustomed enough to think freely within its categories. This needed to happen before it could steadily take its place in practical activity.
  "It seems to me that such periods will inevitably repeat after each series of fundamental discoveries, which necessitate the invasion of completely new, large areas of nature"s mysteries. And perhaps such periods will get longer.
  "We must understand this and not try to forcefully accelerate scientific progress. The harm from this would exceed the benefits. Such dehumanization of the society that has created it, and then nourished and strengthened it-it has become so ingrained that nobody notices it at all. We must stop it before it"s too late! It must be eradicated, and for this-we must destroy the inadequates" lack of rights. Moreover, the system"s necessity is becoming obsolete.
  "No questions? Again? What"s wrong with you? Why aren"t you arguing with me?"
  "You must see, it"s difficult for us to argue anything now. But what about conclusions? What practical steps can we take, Lal?"
  "Draw them from what I have said to you today; it"s enough. If you still have not understood-think! I"ll give you just one week."
  
  Lal firmly kept his silence. For just seven "days". He was constantly on duty in the "night" hours and slept in the "day" ones, intentionally leaving them alone-let them discuss everything without him. He did not say a word when he was with them-instead he smoked or played with the puppy, careful not to notice their questioning looks.
  But on Thursday, while resting after the sauna, they both pressed him.
  "Lal-maybe-it"s enough?"
  "I"ve given you another day."
  "But we are tired of arguing!"
  "We do not want to wait another day!"
  "Then, come on, what you have thought up?"
  "First, we agree on the principal point: the social institution of the inadequates is similar to ancient slavery in the vilest manner."
  "Yes, it is. But not exactly. They are similar only with regard to the lack of rights. Slaves" labor was exploited in ancient times, but nobody needs inadequates" labor-they are used in much the same way as livestock. The only exception is the child-minders. And the greatest similarity with the slaves-the houris. That"s it! Please forgive me; I think I"m starting to repeat myself."
  "It doesn"t matter! Secondly, the institution of inadequates is inhuman-it is contrary to true human nature, and the trend it implies is fraught with the greatest danger."
  "But you both are still repeating me word for word."
  "I only-it"s because I agree with you entirely. But Eya . . ."
  "I . . . just admit it"s possible you"re right. Indeed, the laws of nature often seem quite severe, if you apply them to human ethics. Therefore, you may be not right. So I cannot decide definitively. But I want to believe you very much. And emotionally, I"m on your side. Go on, Dan!"
  "The third fundamental conclusion: I consider what Eya admits, that the status quo must be changed. All people absolutely must obtain human rights; in this we accept your basic views. But the most important thing is-how to do it? You didn"t tell us your constructive conclusions, and we haven"t reached a consensus of opinion."
  "Well, but how do each of you think we can achieve this?"
  "Me? I think we must tell everyone what you have opened our eyes to. And after our return, I"ll be ready to take the most active part in that. I won"t allow my excessive modesty to underestimate my authority-this should help persuade people. By the time we return, the situation should become more favorable than it is now. Do you agree, brother?"
  "Well, no-don"t hurry me! Keep talking. First I want to know what you think."
  "I have finished. Eya?"
  "It seems to me that, first of all, it is imperative to eliminate the condition that has given rise to the issue. Women must bear and raise children on their own. Then the rejection must disappear; no mother will allow it to happen to her own child."
  "Yes!"
  "Instead of that, the hereditary inadequates" will increase even more," Dan retorted immediately. "Besides, women will hardly start to suddenly bear children!"
  "They will-when they see one woman do it first."
  "Come on, this is too problematic. What woman is ready to do this now? None, I think."
  "Some are! Eve told me they were! And she herself-in first place. Your skepticism is useless here. Lal! Come on, tell us what you think!"
  "Eya is right! She"s a woman-and so she"s been able to comprehend the principal idea faster than you. Do not be surprised; her maternal instinct helped her-it is much stronger than any father"s one. So, you talked with Eve?"
  "Yes, and quite a lot. The day you flew away to go fishing."
  "Can you tell us about your conversation?"
  "Yes, everything. We said nothing I don"t want to talk about."
  "Tell us the main point."
  "She said again that women should bear children on their own. That the connection between children and parents had to be restored-without it, life could not be considered complete. That it was even necessary for women"s health-nature"s revenge for failing to use reproductive organs is cancer in the uterus and breasts. It"s not such a rare phenomenon.
  That many of her colleagues, whom she is close with, look with envy at birth-givers and surreptitiously thrust their empty breasts to the babies. That they would be happy to give birth and breast-feed children themselves-but our current society prohibits it. If they tried, too many influential opponents would be able to boycott them-and then their children would be taken away. But she believes this is, after all, inevitable.
  She herself was ready to give birth to many children, if we had taken her with us. She wanted-for some reason-to give me a special archive she had collected of materials and programs about literally everything related to children. I did not want to refuse her, so I copied it and promised her to familiarize myself with it as much as possible. But I haven"t yet glanced at it."
  "Did you speak about the rejection? Did she tell you anything else about it?"
  "No. Absolutely not."
  "Even before, she did not make the connection between these questions. So, her opinions haven"t changed at all. And the conclusion is just your own."
  "You don"t think you"ve told me? It"s just what you said last time."
  "Really?" Lal smiled.
  "And maybe the fact that you took us to the children. Eve, of course, is also to thank. When she gave me the baby to hold in my arms, I imagined that I had clasped to my bosom, and I suddenly realized that if I knew it was my child-I would have died before letting him come to harm. Together with your words, this has led me to what I said."
  "Well, all is right! I also consider the return of women to motherhood a prerequisite and principal mean to destroy the institution of inadequates."
  "However, Lal," Dan said, "you know that it would too easily be possible to fill the inadequates" contingent without any rejection-with just hereditary inadequates."
  "That"s not really true. Do you know the numerical ratio of both categories?"
  "I don"t, actually. What is it?"
  "About one inadequate to ten propers. This relationship inspires me with a strong suspicion that they also reject the children who are only late bloomers. Why? Why not establish a slightly lower level of capabilities for rejection, and then make up the required number with hereditary ones?
  "But here is why: there is no complete guarantee of inheritance of specific traits. This means hereditary inadequates are not always inadequate in their abilities. This is an indisputable truth that genetics certainly takes into account, limiting the number of hereditary inadequates in every possible way.
  "Nobody knows what proportion of hereditary inadequates would be rejected if they grew up in the same nurseries, kindergartens and schools as the others. They are taught only a primitive curriculum from the beginning, but at the same time, on average, they are not inferior in development to rejected children.
  "If the number of hereditaries increases dramatically-and this process has already begun-then there will be too many of these among their descendants, which would invalidate labeling them as inadequate at all."
  "And what will prevent them from choosing only the most stupid ones to breed?"
  "That would too badly limit their ability to breed for useful traits."
  "But even so? If they did only breed stupid children?"
  "No! I repeat, the results would be poor. Such children are poorly capable of training and adherence to routine. This material would be too low in quality. Do you agree?"
  "I give up!" Dan stretched out his hand toward Lal.
  "Come on, why? Propaganda will also be extremely important to make our purposes clear; without it, people won"t understand the true state of affairs. And your authority, my elder brother, will play an important role. Well, anyway-that"s enough! Let"s get dressed!"
  
  Dan was a jester this "night".
  "Let"s drink to you, Lal," he said, picking up a goblet of nectar. "To your lucid mind and sensitive heart, discerning what nobody else noticed. To your opening our eyes and showing us the right way forward. Be healthy and happy! Let your dreams come true!"
  Lal also raised his goblet:
  "To both of you! Today I am particularly happy-because I am not just here along with you, but now you are together with me, sharing my thoughts and beliefs. Let"s drink to the revival of social equality, the embodiment of our ideal!" He clinked his glass to their, and they did not feel how badly he was strained.
  Should he tell them the rest? Was it too early?
  No. It would be best to do today . . . just not right now.
  "How were you going to do this? Tell us!" They were giving him a good opportunity to prepare them for his main idea, and he hastened to take advantage of it.
  It was a long explanation that shook them both.
  "Lal, have a bite to eat," Eya said when he had finished. "Otherwise you may die of hunger. Dan and I have both eaten a little already."
  "That"s okay; I"m patient."
  "How could you! To keep silent for so many years-and not tell me a single word," Dan rebuked him.
  "I just did not want to disturb you from the main task: without that, my plan would never have been possible. But-if only I had known about Chamomile!"
  "Well, all right! What can we do now? You can eat, after all!"
  They began to eat in silence, and they did not ask him any questions, but their impatient looks made it clear that today"s conversation was far from over.
  "Lal, brother, this means your situation was no easier than mine," Dan said thoughtfully when Lal had sated his hunger and started smoking. "But why were you silent later, too?"
  "You were waiting for the arrival of Tupac"s message. And after that, you did not have any strength for new challenges."
  "I see you spared me. But for the entire ten years of our training?"
  "How could I distract you from our training? I couldn"t, of course!"
  "What are you!!! You both!"
  They turned to her in surprise.
  "What, Eya?"
  "Yes, exactly! Both of you! To open up, to hit upon such things! How can you do that!"
  And Lal decided: "It"s just time!"
  "But you can even more."
  "Me?! Well, I never!"
  "You will be able to! Don"t doubt."
  "I"ll never, I think! What do you mean exactly?"
  "All right! Listen, Eya. And you, Dan. Let"s raise our goblets to what only you can do, Eya. To a miracle you must accomplish: giving birth to a child!"
  "What?!" they both cried at once.
  "Yes, this must happen! Without it, nothing will succeed! Nothing else is more persuasive than personal examples! When we return, it will be imperative to show people a child born and raised by you. Then people will trust you-a mother, who has more right than anyone to say what they"ll need to hear. Because you"ll know what to say, having gone through it all on your own! Only then will we succeed in convincing enough women to become mothers that it will not be possible to stop them. Do you understand?"
  They had never seen Lal so thrilled, or so pale.
  "We will offer, actually, a return to motherhood completely for different people than who once were. It cannot be an exact repetition of what it was then. "You cannot step twice into the same stream." And we must first test it on modern humans. To tell them what we already know, not assuming a priori. And only we ourselves can be these modern people!"
  "Lal! Do you know what you"re asking? To become a mother? Me, not even having any idea about child care? Here, where we are cut off from Earth-with no possibility for any assistance? On an unknown planet where a lot of work and unknown dangers await us?"
  "Yes, of course! Because it is imperative! Because it is possible only here, where nobody can prevent it-rather than on Earth, where it is now completely impossible-and we don"t know for how long. And therefore, only you can do this. If you do not, then on Earth it will still be impossible for too long a time!"
  "But do you understand what that would means? After all, a human being must be born! It"s a huge responsibility."
  "I understand. And it would mean more of both work and worry-and even fear for him. But besides that-it would mean a great joy, one you cannot even imagine."
  "I can"t do it! I won"t be able to handle it."
  "You will! You only need to want it. What Eve gave you is more than sufficient to teach you everything about what and how to do it. And besides, I took even more with me. Of course you will be able to do it-you"re capable, intelligent, persistent. I"m not exaggerating at all; you really have all these qualities. And I know a lot-I"ll be right next to you. Make up your mind!"
  "Lal, it is impossible."
  "But-you must! Must! You, Dan and I all have a huge responsibility. A responsibility to all of humanity! By his discovery, Dan has led us out of the crisis and allowed us to overcome extra-long distances. Thanks to him, Earth-2 has been opened.
  "There is no one on Earth with higher authority, all thanks to his contribution to the progress. And after we conquer Earth-2, you and I will have much authority, too.
  "The new planet populated by humans! Do I have to remind you what that means? The acceleration of progress! But progress of what kind? Of a society that despite the fact that it consists of highly intelligent people, wild atrocities occur? In which to preserve their health and prolong their lives, the intellectuals quietly kill less-capable people-committing this brutality and even raping them to satisfy lust? How many times do you need me to repeat this?
  "I have explained everything to you, everything I"ve succeeded in understanding. And both of you have agreed with me. But to only know and do nothing-we have no right to do this. We"ve only now realized the possible danger of the terrible trend developing, lurking in the dehumanization of the inadequates-so we are obliged to do everything in our power before it"s too late.
  "To return to society the absolute right for all to be named human in the highest sense, and at the same time to increase the sum of human happiness, restoring a continuous link between generations-this is the greatest goal for which we must be ready to do anything!"
  "I"m afraid, Lal."
  "Afraid? You? You didn"t hesitate to come here, the first woman in the Far Cosmos? Dan! What do you think? Do you agree with me?
  "Only in necessity, Lal. But in possibility-with Eya . . . and then for us . . . After all, this is too sudden. Give us time to think. And don"t rush us to answer."
  "Okay, I"ll give you some time."
  "But now go to sleep; you"re too tired. I"ll stay on duty."
  "I"ll stay with you, Dan," Eya said, joining him.
  
  They went into the control room. When Dan turned on the itinerary hologram, the second half of the trajectory line had become much longer. He switched to the front view and then to the rear one, not for any reason but to delay the beginning of the conversation.
  "But he is right, Eya," Dan eventually said suddenly. "It is indeed our . . . duty to first perform on ourselves the sociological experiment of returning the connection between children and parents. Without this, of course, it would be a task too difficult to achieve. What Lal managed to reveal first, it was an inevitability to be understood in the future by all people. But when? He moved far ahead of our time. The prerequisites for what he desires have just begun to develop. That was why he had no full adherents on Earth. Our Lal is a genius. The good genius of humanity. I am proud to call him my friend."
  "So are you completely on his side now?"
  "Yes, I am. He designed a huge, wonderful cause-and it would be a great honor to participate in it. Are you really so afraid of that? Or is there another reason?"
  "No . . . no other reason. I fear I won"t be able to handle it-that"s all."
  "We will be with you."
  "But neither of you have ever done anything like this, either."
  "All right. Our eyes can be afraid while our hands are working. We"ve brought all the necessary materials."
  "And this would be a huge additional burden, on a foreign planet where we don"t even know what to expect."
  "He also understands that. But still, what if-what if it"s possible?"
  "I don"t know, Dan. I don"t know."
  "Do you just not want to do it?"
  She smiled. "Do I not want it? Eve let me hold a baby in my arms . . ." Eya stared at Dan. "Do you not understand? He was so small and warm, and he somehow smelled amazing. When I clasped him to my chest, I felt incomprehensibly good. Then he smiled suddenly, and I almost cried. I could understand nothing. But Eve said I looked as if I wanted to give him my breast. And I felt she was right; I did want that."
  "Well, so . . ."
  "But we must soberly be aware of our real capabilities."
  "It would be easy to say no."
  "Well, I haven"t said that yet-hold on. You may have already decided for yourself, but I haven"t. Don"t try to pressure me. Let me think about it, both of you! You should go to him."
  "He"s already asleep, unbelievably tired."
  "Hardly. Anyway, leave me alone. And then go to bed. I"ll stay on duty; there"s no way I could fall asleep today."
  
  Lal did not really sleep. Instead he sat in the salon, his arms hanging powerlessly and his face weary. Hearing footsteps, he immediately changed his position. Then he saw Dan was alone-so he sat back as he"d been before.
  "Anything decided?" he asked, without looking at Dan.
  "Me-already everything. Your cause is no less important than the settlement of Earth-2. And I"m with you, as I said."
  "Thank you, my elder brother. But Eya?"
  "Her-not yet. Of course, everything depends on her now-neither of us can give birth."
  "Is she entirely against it?"
  "No, she"s just hesitant. She"s frightened of the uncertainty, and that she might not be able to handle it."
  "Real fears, indeed."
  "I agree."
  "The uncertainty waiting for us may be too real. We still don"t know if we can even land and live on the planet. We don"t know everything we"ll have to do, or if we"ll be so busy that we"re left with no free time or strength."
  "But nonetheless-this task is no less important than our others."
  "It"s not-and we can only afford to give up when it is absolutely impossible. Only then! We have to convince her."
  "Do not rush her; she may make up her mind on her own."
  "Do you think so?"
  "She was talking about holding the baby that Eve gave her."
  "Really?!" Lal"s facial expression changed immediately. His dead exhaustion went away-he brightened. "I"m going to sleep, Dan."
  
  16
  
  For a few days, Eya was silent, staying in her cabin most of the time. Lal and Dan waited tensely.
  Finally, she came to them with something to say:
  "Listen to me. I can"t make a final decision yet; I still don"t know enough. Before anything, I want to learn about everything it takes to raise a child. Lal can help me learn during the rest of the flight. Once I understand, and if I think I can do everything-and then if we encounter no insurmountable obstacles on the planet, then I"ll consider doing it. But before that-I won"t give you a final answer. And that"s that!"
  "You"re right, sister." Lal stretched out his hand toward her. "When will we start?"
  "Today."
  . . . Their additional training differed little from their pre-flight training with respect to the density of the program. Pregnancy, obstetrics, pediatrics, nutrition and care for young children, they studied meticulously. But education, training, nutrition, disease and health of older children-only in general terms; this was not immediately necessary.
  The information collected by Eve and brought by Lal was very powerful, covering every possible aspect of childcare. Movies for teachers and pediatricians were not only a valuable educational tool, but they allowed Eya and Dan to see children, becoming more and more accustomed to them and increasingly smiling because of it. Lal considered this most important way to influence Eya.
  And the archive contained a huge stock of programs for producing children"s food, clothing, toys and other necessary items. Everything they would need for they baby"s nutrition, they had in the food supplies. In addition, Lal was pinning high hopes on the goats and hens they had brought with them. The information fund provided the possibility for child analysis by the cyber-diagnostician. And Lal had also brought a huge stock of children"s literature: books, book-movies, and all the necessary educational information and programs-from nursery to university.
  Eya was extremely conscientious. She listened intently, asked Lal a lot of questions and then sat at the screen in her cabin for a long time. She was very tired at first, but quickly became involved and immediately began to grasp the essentials. To Lal"s surprise, she sometimes quickly found significant associations where he hadn"t. After a while, she understood certain things even better than him.
  "Well, what do you expect?" he said to Dan, whose success was more modest, in spite of no less diligence. "She is a woman-this is in her blood. Fortunately, our epoch has not been long enough to destroy the maternal instinct."
  Using a program from the archive, they made a large, life-size doll out of rubber, with which they learned how to hold, wrap, wear and bathe. They listened to children"s songs to learn how to sing them.
  Lal was calm, thinking it very unlikely at this point that Eya would say no. The expression in her eyes when she watched movies was too significant! Motherhood would obviously suit her-it was pleasant to look at her when she was busy with a doll, holding it carefully, gently and firmly at the same time, as though imagining it alive.
  And so time passed. They hoped to get through all the preparations before arriving at their destination. However, Dan thought it would be okay to delay their debarkation a little, if necessary, since the hypertransfer had had transported them quicker than expected by about three months. When they arrived, a robot scout, flying around the planet and landing on its surface, would thoroughly investigate to confirm that no unwanted changes had occurred. But of course, no one was too worried about this; they were looking forward to setting foot on the surface of Earth-2.
  The second branch on the hologram route was lengthening all the time. The "days" passed after "days", full of intense study completely overwhelming their thoughts and interests. They rested one day a week, the traditional Thursday. But even in the sauna, they did not stop talking about their studies. And any movie they watched while resting afterward on sofas was surely about children-old movies, of course. It was the same at the table, during their banquets at "night".
  
  17
  
  The ship was approaching its destination. And similarly, Lal was approaching his goal, as Eya had been making tremendous progress in her preparations.
  And so had Dan. But he had become less occupied by it, since he needed to engage in continuous radial probing to home in on the ship"s coordinates. He would send radiation to Earth-2, off of which it would reflected and come back. Knowing the frequency of the radiation sent and returned, Dan judged the signal"s travel duration and then calculated the ship"s velocity using the Doppler Effect . He sent the signals frequently so he could begin the transition maneuver from radial travel toward the star to an elliptical orbit around it, which, like at their Solar System, would be located beyond the orbit of the last planet of the system.
  The maneuver began long before they reached the system, with the ship approaching the target orbit along a slightly curved, smooth trajectory. It consumed very little power, since this tactic required only half the power of the brake engines. The passengers almost did not feel the inertia.
  But, of course, Dan was able to task the robot with both probing and maneuvering. But Dan was tired of training, and Lal wanted to give him a short rest by taking up his usual work. And in the last stage, the cyber could continue bringing the Express into orbit without human participation.
  The star burned brighter and brighter as they flew toward it, standing out sharply among the others. The final braking lasted long enough. Only one engine was still going, and it continuously reduced its power. It seemed to not have an end, as peripheral planets necessitated tangible adjustments in the approach trajectory and schedule.
  They entered into orbit on Lal"s "birthday", according to the main board clock. The brake engine shut off, and in three hours the rocket scouts headed to each planet. The main one that went to Earth-2 had to land several autonomous reconnaissance robots on the planet.
  Now they just had to wait for information-no less than two weeks. When it arrived, the astronauts would fly to the planet on a large cruiser with everything needed for their landing and the first phase of work.
  
  The table in the salon was laid out for the double celebration.
  "Be happy, our Lal! Let your dreams come true and your wonderful designs get accomplished, dear brother!" Dan said. "Let you be the first to set foot on the planet we have staked out hopes on!"
  "Excuse me, my elder brother-but this honor rightly belongs to you, who have given us the opportunity to come here."
  "I"ve had enough honors. You will be the first to set foot on the planet!"
  "But I"ve done nothing more to deserve this than Eya!"
  "Let this also be my gift-although I"m sure the right to set foot on the planet first must not be mine."
  "Thank you both so much. I"m lifting my cup to you, my dearest and closest friends, and to this day that is bestowed upon me to live through with you!"
  They were all so strongly delighted-they couldn"t have restrained themselves if they had wanted to. It was so exciting that Dan fought with the desire to decorate the table with some wine. But they already felt drunk with joy. The only thing that upset them was the inability to admire Earth-2 with a telescope, as it was concealed behind this system"s sun.
  "Earth-2! But what will we call it?"
  "Let us now simply call it Earth!"
  "And we"ll say geography, geology, geophysics."
  "Right! And the central star-the Sun!"
  "And its satellite-the Moon!"
  "But there are three of them: one larger, another smaller, and the third one-very small."
  "So we will call them all moons!"
  "We will!"
  Their choir sounded solemnly, accompanied by powerful chords of orchestrion.
  And then Dan asked:
  "Lal, will you tell us anything today?"
  "About what?"
  "About the past. You know much that has been forgotten in vain. Am I right?"
  "We"ve already talked about it a lot."
  "About the main thing, yes. But can you tell us about something else-perhaps not very significant, but in its own way, interesting and surprising. Come on, Lal, delve into your memory!"
  "All right!" Lal thought for a moment. "Here"s you go: you know well, of course, who Paganini was, don"t you?"
  "Very funny. He was such a great composer-who doesn"t know this?"
  "But he was no less a great musician, a performer of his own works exclusively, and a virtuoso none of his contemporaries was equal to-do you know this too?"
  "Yes, certainly!"
  "And what instrument did he play?"
  "Again! Violin-a wooden instrument with four strings, which were played on with rosined horsehair bundle, taut on a bow."
  "Do you have any idea what it looks like?"
  "Of course!"
  "And how it sounds?"
  "Yes. The orchestrion has a violin register."
  "But have you heard the sound of a true violin?"
  "Is the sound of the violin register-not the same as a violin?"
  "Not exactly. It is not worse, poorer or less expressive, but still-not the same."
  "Why?"
  "That I don"t know. When we succeeded to recreate the sounds of almost all existing instruments in a single orchestrion, it did not bother anyone. You know, the invention of the orchestrion brought a real revolution. Because, together with an unusual richness and expressiveness of the sound, it had such a simple technique of playing, eliminating the need for long-term, rigorous practice and allowing almost anyone to play music.
  "But the violin, in contrast to all other instruments, could not be perfectly imitated by sounds of the orchestrion. To create a real violin performance, one had to play a real violin.
  "But it was such a difficult instrument, which required perfect technical skills obtained through many hours of daily practice, starting in childhood and continued throughout the course of one"s life. The violin would not tolerate a mediocre player.
  "Therefore, the people preferred the similar sounds of the violin orchestrion register. And violinists, real ones, in whose hands the instrument sang only after incredible labor, completely disappeared."
  "But Paganini reached such perfection in playing violin, practicing night and day from early childhood, that in adulthood he didn"t need to practice at all; he was completely fluent in playing this instrument. I read about this in my youth. And then I heard a recording of a performance by the old violinists. But it"s been so long, I remember almost nothing. Do you-have real violin recordings?"
  "Of course!"
  And the melodies sounded: by Paganini, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Saint-Saëns. Spellbound, they listened.
  "Incredible! How were people able to forget the sound of a genuine violin?" Dan said strongly. "This is, indeed, not like the violin register at all. How wonderfully it sings! Like it"s alive. How warm, how touching!"
  "Only when played by the great virtuosos of their time. They devoted their lives to playing violin."
  "I envy them!"
  Lal smiled. He switched on another piece-"Chaconne" by Bach, as performed in a movie. The violinist was playing with his eyes closed, and his arms were moving gracefully. When the screen went black, Lal handed Dan an oblong case:
  "This is for you."
  "What is it?" Dan opened the case: "A violin! Is it genuine?"
  "It is."
  "Where is it from?"
  "A long time ago, one of my professors, who regarded me as his best student, gifted it to me. And his teacher had given it to him; and before that, his teacher"s teacher apparently did the same. It is genuine, and it has been played before. But-neither by me nor my professor. This is just an ordinary violin-not one of those that are still treasured. But, nevertheless-it"s genuine. It was covered with a special protective varnish; otherwise it would have crumbled long ago."
  "Thank you!" Dan held the violin to his shoulder and drew the bow across it. A pretty nasty rattle resounded, and Eya burst out laughing.
  "Hmm!" Dan smiled, confusion on his face. "But still, I want to learn to play it."
  "I have a tutorial. There"s some new system, the invention of a belated fan, which will greatly facilitate learning. But nobody has wanted to take advantage of it-not with the orchestrion available. I have a stock of both strings and rosin."
  "I"ll try."
  "You should succeed. It just takes time."
  "That"s fine! For a long time, playing music was the only way I could relax."
  "We may have almost none of it when . . ." Lal did not finish.
  "We"ll see. It may be possible. So, starting tomorrow, until we receive information from the scouts, I declare a vacation. A complete rest. Any objections?"
  "No. I believe we have accomplished the necessary training."
  "Then go have a rest!"
  "But Dan, maybe we"ll sit here a little longer? Eya, sweet, sing something for us? Please!"
  And Eya started singing-"Ave Maria" by Schubert; she knew how much he loved it. And she followed it with "Ave Maria" by Bach-Gounod. She sang as never before, and Lal could barely hold back his tears. This topic excited him too much, and in its performing he guessed that it was becoming more meaningful to Eya as well. Then, to make Lal happy, Eya started to sing the children"s songs she had recently learned. She sang them one by one, watching the joy bloom on his face.
  "More, Eya . . . more, my dear!" he asked, kissing her hand.
  "Sleep, my darling. Go to sleep! House lights go out . . . " she sang. He listened eagerly to these words, these sounds. They sounded like hope. And faith.
  
  They relaxed completely, knowing that the hard work would begin after they received information from the scouts. They didn"t know what to expect, but whatever was to come, they would need to familiarize themselves with it quickly so as not to delay the landing.
  
   
  
  Part III
  
  The TRUE BEGINNING
  
  18
  
  Information from the scouts began to come in. Actually, their practical interests at the moment were represented only by information about Earth-2 and the local Near Cosmos. Overall, the data was very encouraging. The radiation flux from the central star was within their ship"s safety standards; there was no excessive density in the two asteroid belts, but even with a greater density, they wouldn"t be a serious obstacle -if they brought the Express into orbit at a convenient angle to the plane of the planets.
  The temperature data on the surface of Earth-2 was more troublesome, though not unexpectedly so. Its values were just slightly higher than the averages determined by Tupac. A hot climate dominated the planet-the undoubted consequence of its carbon-dioxide-rich atmosphere retaining heat. A secondary consequence was the entire lack of snow and ice-and the huge amount of water and high humidity increased the heat-insulating properties of the atmosphere even more.
  There were no reasons to postpone the landing. Most preparations had already been made; almost everything they would require immediately after the landing had been e from the Express to the planet. This included equipment for the first oxygenator and the first power station, film for protective tents for the first forests, a special film for the use of the sun"s radiant light energy, machines for geological exploration, parts for the construction and installation of powerful robotic machines of different types, a large amount of seeds and spores, seedlings, fertilizers, growth stimulants, a long-term supply of food and a lot of batteries. The residential block with sleeping cabins, the garden-salon, the fitness room, the sauna and the pool all transferred to the cruiser-this would be their shelter on the planet. They took with them a complete copy of all the information from the Express"s archives, plus almost all the goats and chickens.
  And, of course, the puppy, who had become a youthful St. Bernard. He responded to the nickname Dog and slept in Lal"s cabin, since Lal mainly managed his training and taught him to wear a space suit.
  . . . The cruiser gently pushed away from the express and, once it had moved a far enough distance away, flew down to Earth-2 with the annihilation engines. Forty-five "days" of flight lay ahead.
  They received information from the scouts and then relayed it back from the Express to study and analyze it. After drawing up a preliminary geological map, they determined where to send machines for the next stage of exploration. The initial results were good, detecting the presence of iron, copper and aluminum ores, plus chromium, molybdenum, magnesium and sulfur. But uranium had not yet been found, and they would have to deal with this immediately. There were enough available energy reserves to start with, and then a thermonuclear station operating on hydrogen should help-but it would be hard to organize without uranium mining and ore processing. Because the accumulation of finished materials would gain them a huge amount of time in the future, when the population of the planet would begin.
  There were, of course, no organic raw materials such as coal, oil and gas. The synthesis of these necessary organic compounds would, as much as possible, need to be carried out simultaneously with oxygenation. This would require further spending of energy.
  The land area on Earth-2 was quite small. Eventually, it would grow as water froze at the poles and on the tops of mountains, causing the sea level to drop. But this would take a long time; the climate would not become colder while the planet was covered with a blanket of carbon-dioxide.
  Oxygenators would have to start working as soon as possible and keep running up until their departure back to Earth. Later, they would have the powerful help of vegetation. The plants would complete their work after their departure, stabilizing the chemical composition of the lower atmosphere, producing organic raw materials and starting to create a layer of fertile soil.
  This was their huge task. The rest of the planets would be occupied by those who would arrive after them. But information about these planets was of huge interest to the astronauts.
  Between work and Lal"s "nighttime" stories, time passed imperceptibly. The sun grew larger and brighter, and they were able to see Earth-2 through a telescope.
  
  19
  
  Now they could see it without a telescope. They eagerly looked at Earth-2 through the thick glass of a porthole, which had been covered before with a secure shield. It almost looked like the real Earth as the cruiser flew around it.
  They prepared two space launches and loaded equipment for the landing-exploration: space suits, small ATVs , inflatable boats, walking platforms, seat-helicopters and robots.
  Dan and Lal were going to fly, while Eya remained waiting in orbit. With Dog.
  Before landing, the men performed the latest prospecting to find a cave they could to mount an oxygenator in. Near this cave, they would install a radar beacon to land the cruiser as close to it as possible.
  Their parting was a solemn moment. The men hugged Eya and then each other, since it was impossible to know what might happen-because of this, they were flying on two separate launches. Rebounding from two sides of the cruiser, the launches moved somewhat in parallel courses. Then the engines started, moving them along a gentle curve to the planet.
  . . . They became smaller to Eya-and then invisible. She would have rather flown, instead of one of them! They had to be protected, since theirs were the great minds. She was still just a girl, with the miraculous luck of tagging along with them.
  But it turned out they felt the same way about her-they cherished her. Because they expected from her what she had not till now been able to decide on definitively. Despite her diligence in learning the science of motherhood. Yesterday, she had obediently taken two ampoules-with their sperm. But it was still scary! And now she also had her concern for them to deal with, even if it was mixed with a slight envy.
  
  At this point, they had already decreased speed to enter the upper atmosphere. It was time to switch to the brake motors so as not to heat the surface of the launches.
  Wings-just like on air planes-supported them at a reduced speed and, breaking the thick layer of clouds, allowed them to come down so low they could see the surface of the ocean, seas, mountains, plains, lakes and rivers.
  "Dan! My locator has detected a cave," Dan heard. "A little right of course."
  "Seems like it."
  "Should we check? I"ve located the coordinates; we can land. Waiting for the command, Captain."
  "Go ahead!"
  The rockets rested on jets pulsing from the engines, gently lowering to the surface with supports. Lal recorded the time.
  "Lal! A happy arrival! What do your instruments say?"
  "Everything seems good; no contraindications."
  "All right! Get ready to disembark!"
  "Ready!"
  "Start sluicing."
  "Started. Sluicing is done!"
  "Don"t rush!"
  "I cannot wait!"
  "Then go. Out!"
  From the opened hatch at the bottom of the launch, a pad started to lower itself. Lal stood on it, holding on to the handrail. Just before reaching the ground, it stopped. Lal jumped and took a few steps. Then he dropped to his knees and, leaning on his hands, pressed his helmet to the ground.
  Dan followed. He, too, knelt eagerly, touching "Earth"s" ground with his gloves.
  
  They had landed near a huge lake. The shore on their side was low and flat, with lots of stones strewn on coarse sand. On the opposite side, there were the mountains, in which they could see something that looked like a cave. They would need to cross the lake to get to the hole in the mountain; Dan was about to lower the ATV.
  "Let"s inflate our boats instead. To sail with oars-like on Earth."
  "Let"s do it!"
  "Pity, no fish. Such a lake is a waste, isn"t it?"
  "Look at it however you want!"
  They sailed in small inflatable boats, ten meters away from each other: Lal ahead on the right, Dan behind on the left. Their light electric screw motors remained lifted. The astronauts rowed slowly, not wanting to hurry. For a short while, rays of the "sun" broke through a hole in the dense clouds, lighting up their surroundings, and for a moment the terrain seemed less gloomy. It seemed like what it was to become. They felt the beauty of the landscape, saw the clear purity of the lake.
  Both experienced the pleasure of the slow movement on water, the even strokes of their oars. And although the overcast sky had begun to darken earlier-when the evening came it was like heaven, with light scattering instead of the black hole of space.
  They experienced another great joy when they found the entrance to the cave in front of them. After deflating their boats and turning on the lights in the helmets of their spacesuits, they moved deep into the cave. Lal, who had been in caves before, found that they were incredibly lucky when, after passing half a kilometer along the winding narrow corridors, they found many huge grottos. The halls they entered then were not inferior to the beauty of the caves in the Pyrenees, explored by Casteret -with magnificent stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and white gypsum crystals that looked like flowers and branches.
  Then a large lake of transparent, almost invisible water blocked their path. They inflated their boats again and moved further under the high arches. Again they passed through a corridor they barely managed to fit their boats in, and then they found themselves in another, even bigger grotto.
  "A good enough lake," Dan said. "If the vault strength is still sufficient, we should install the oxygenator here."
  "Let"s go a little farther."
  "Let"s just not go too far."
  The boats suddenly bumped into the bank. Dan and Lal pulled them from the water and left without deflating them. But as they moved farther down the corridor, they eventually found it was filled with clay up to the ceiling, so they turned back.
  "We need to send a robot in here, to check the strength everywhere inside," Dan said when they were back in the boats. "If it is sufficient, we can land the cruiser here."
  "It"s pity to use this cave for the oxygenator. It"s impossible to create such beauty," Lal objected.
  "The oxygenator will not be here forever. When we finish our work, it can be removed. The cave will return to its previous state."
  "Hardly. It will be impossible to keep everything as it is, and the oxygenator will probably be left as a historical monument. I would prefer to live here, since it is impossible to set the residential unit on the surface."
  "Well, there is no oxygen atmosphere to burn meteors before they reach the surface, so we need a very robust roof. But if we settle here, we"ll have to find another cave for the oxygenator on another part of the planet. We can"t live so close to this gale-force device!"
  "It would be nice to find a cave for a power plant, too!"
  "If we"ll be very lucky. But we won"t look too hard for that now. First of all-the oxygenator."
  They came out of the cave. It was almost early dawn and fog flowed over the lake, and when they were sailing, they began to think out of habit that they would need to rush to get to a good spot for fishing. But they shook off this obsession. A strong wind dispersed the clouds, and large, bright stars became visible. One of the stars moved quickly through the sky-the cruiser!
  After reaching the shore, they refreshed themselves and slept in turns. They decided to move on immediately after a session with Eya.
  
  Once again they got into their launches, flew up above the clouds-and saw this system"s sun-clean, bright, young.
  There were a lot of caves on this planet, and at their first turn a locator found a few objects that might be entrances. The astronauts chose one of them-about ten thousand kilometers away from the first cave.
  The entrance was located in a gloomy gorge. Almost immediately behind it was a small grotto, the only entrance to which was deeply down through a chasm. They went through it to a depth of two hundred meters with a winch built into the robot following them.
  Then they used the walking, multi-legged platform to get through horizontal and sloping corridors along the underground river. The corridors sometimes turned into huge halls, then narrowed again; but they were wide enough that the astronauts could travel with their platform almost until the end. Then, they had to get off and go on foot.
  The rest of the way was short. They only bent down five times and crossed one stream, and then came into an incredibly huge hall with a deep lake, where a very large waterfall apparently flowed from a massive height. The ceiling was so high that it was almost not visible.
  How high up was the water really falling from? To clarify, they blew up a small balloon with hydrogen and let it go up. The thin fishing line attached to it wound continuously, spinning from a reel with a counter. When it had unwound about four kilometers, they suspected the balloon was already out of the cave-so they stopped the reel and moved back.
  "Well, you don"t mind this cave, do you?"
  "It is very ordinary."
  "Why? It doesn"t matter that it"s not much to look at, but for the oxygenator-it would be hard even to dream about it. The narrow entry chasm, the horizontal corridors and the outlet tube . . . besides, the water from above-and even a lake of this size."
  "I wonder how high it goes up?"
  "Maybe we can see the balloon. I don"t want to come back here again-a signal cannot reach such depths."
  "We can hope the balloon is already outside-but we are lucky to be here now."
  "Of course! Two of these caves . . . We"ll need to find out later where the flow goes."
  "Maybe we should follow it?"
  "No. I"m eager to find a way to inspect the tube"s outlet and see what"s around."
   "Do you know what the local time is?"
  "Wow, really? Let"s go faster."
  But at the entrance of the gorge, the balloon was not visible. It was already getting dark. Hurrying, they sat in the seat-helicopters, clasped their straps at the waist and chest, and took off.
  And only from above did they see the balloon, lit brightly by the last rays of the sun, near a large lake in the mountains. They were flying at maximum speed, so when flew close, they could only see that it hung at an altitude of about half a kilometer above the surface of a lake with several streams flowing down to it from the mountains.
  
  20
  
  It was pity to go back to their ships without examining all the details. So instead of turning on the lights of their helmets to try to find from above the place where the balloon had emerged from the cave, they decided to spend the night on the terrace, situated on a hillside a little below where the lake was located, and resume inspection in the morning. Besides, it seemed risky to try to fly to the ATV they had left in the gorge, and they were pretty tired.
  So they relished, throwing off their seat-helicopters and stretching on the rocks. They sucked nutritional paste from tips in the helmets, and they napped in turns.
  Then they waited impatiently for dawn so they could continue their search. Dan, turning the lights up brighter, examined the terrace. Almost steep slopes on three sides and a cliff at the edge of the fourth. Wet stones.
  "Lal! On Earth, did you ever spend the night in the mountains?"
  "Had to."
  "Me-just a couple times. Aside from our training there."
  "More for me. It"s so quiet! But if anything happens-we should immediately direct the helicopters away from the mountain."
  "Maybe a rockslide?"
  "Not likely. I don"t see any sign of that. But anyway!"
  "We"ll find the balloon"s outlet, then examine the area thoroughly-and the cruiser can be landed."
  "I think the outlet is under a rock on the left. Obviously, it"s hanging over the water."
  "I still want to find out what feeds the lake."
  "In my opinion, brooks probably flow from night condensate off the mountains. Let"s walk for a while."
  They reached the cliff.
  "What will it be named?" Lal asked thoughtfully.
  "It"s hard to guess. I wonder when it will be fit for settlement. So far, it looks pretty rough."
  "Look, the sky is clearing."
  Stars glittered, and the mountain lit up fantastically with just the light of the two largest moons. And once again, they saw a bright star moving across the sky. Eya! But it was impossible to exchange signals without the communication devices on their launches.
  "I wonder what she"s thinking about now . . ."
  "Probably worried that she hasn"t heard from us yet."
  "We"ll send her a message in the morning."
  "Maybe she"s a little jealous of us. Dan, do you think-has she already decided?"
  "Hard to say. She was so diligent."
  "Nevertheless, has she finally decided?"
  "She must have, I suppose."
  "But when will she do it?"
  "In a hurry?"
  "Does that surprise you? I don"t know why, but my usual patience has been failing me lately. I"m so eager to see how she will hold her child in her arms."
  "Ours."
  "Ours, hmmm . . . Dan! You know what I wanted to ask you about?"
  "What?"
  "Will you wonder whose it is-yours or mine?"
  "Who cares?"
  "You see, in the past there was the notion-the bond of blood, when you know that you-and none other-are the child"s father. Would that bother you?"
  "I don"t think so."
  "Are you sure you can guarantee it?"
  "How can I know? But even if it happens, so what? I have self-control."
  "I"m not sure whether it will be better because of this. You know, the child must have a certain father. And he must be you."
  "Why do I-why not you?!"
  "I"ve set this goal."
  "So what are you suggesting?"
  "To end my intimacy with Eya."
  "But you"re a living man. Twenty years without a woman"s caress?"
  "For me, that isn"t so important-not compared to our goal! I"ll endure. And if not . . . there were once rubber dolls, you know."
  "This is too sudden. I have no idea what to say. Let"s talk about something else."
  "But think about it, okay?"
  "Okay." And they were silent for a long time.
  Lal broke the silence. "Dan, you know, I still cannot forget about your story-about that houri, Chamomile. What terrific material!"
  "What-material? I don"t understand."
  "Yes, for my book."
  "About her?"
  "Not just about her. About our epoch. A long novel. It began to take shape in me when we were talking before. Will you let me use your story?"
  "Sure."
  "The houri, the inadequate, is holding on her chest-with her bloody, wounded hands-the head of the man she has saved, whose discovery will change the world . . . and crying in pity for him. Not thinking that maybe she has been so disfigured that she can no longer do her job-and then may be killed as a result. She just felt sorry for her "darling"! Let them read that and know: the inadequates are just human beings!"
  "Your book will be very apropos; the system won"t just disappear on its own. Someone will always be seeking its comfort . . . We are in for very long, hard struggle. You need to write it here."
  "It will be very long."
  "Anyway, you"ll succeed. We"ll include this in our program-as well as the birth of a child. Just . . ."
  "Must I change the names?
  "Yes-you should."
  "I"ll call you by a different ancient name."
  "Is my name really ancient?"
  "Yes, it"s biblical. Dan was one of the twelve sons of the patriarch Jacob, the grandson of Abraham. Jacob had two wives, Leah and Rachel. He loved Rachel, but unlike his beloved Leah, she was unable to give birth. Then Rachel gave her handmaid Bilhah to her husband, and Bilhah gave birth to Dan, who was considered not a son of Bilhah but of Rachel. The hero Samson was his descendant."
  "I never knew that!"
  They fell silent again, and Lal broke the silence anew:
  "You know, Dan . . . Now, when I look back, I keep coming to the conclusion that our epoch was not all bad after all. It was really necessary to put things in order, to bring everything to the desired level. Without this, it would have been difficult to wait for everything that has come from major discoveries."
  "This has occurred to me, too. For example, we were able to prepare for this expedition in just ten years. Without the technology to make all the connections, to complete and perfect all the elements-no, it would never have happened so quickly."
  "Did people have any special reason to perceive the delay in scientific progress as the deepest tragedy? Was it just the vanity of generations who didn"t want to be seen as inferior in a set of statues in the Memorial to their ancestors that caused the general depression? Progress, progress, scientific progress-at any cost, as a universal life purpose-obviously this was a flawed mentality. And as a result-they returned to the wildest likeness of slavery."
  "Write your book-so everyone will understand."
  "I will begin immediately-as soon as I can. And you both can help me; I will read it to you as I write it. Look-a shooting star!"
  "Here, that may not be a very safe spectacle. Didn"t you notice the damage to the land where meteorites have fallen?"
  "There aren"t too many of them, and besides, those scars may be old. It looks like they haven"t fallen very often."
  "Still, wear your seat-helicopter. And if anything happens, don"t wait to fly up."
  
  They quickly strapped themselves in. They were ready to take off from the ground, but suddenly they saw another point of light appear in the sky-slowly moving straight toward the first one.
  Eya! Would a fireball collide with the cruiser?! They watched tensely, not thinking of anything else, not noticing that they had grabbed each other"s hands, squeezing painfully.
  There might not be anything to worry about! Maybe! They couldn"t be certain that the paths of the cruiser and the fireball would cross. From this far away, the depth of space was imperceptible; the two might pass each other from far away. Maybe!
  But what if-not? If . . . The autopilot should detect it and maneuver away. But it didn"t seem to be changing course . . .
  No, it was happening-the cruiser swerved sharply. How was Eya? Enduring too much gravitational force!
  They sighed with relief. The collision had not happened! Both were so happy and exhausted at the same time that briefly stopped watching the sky.
  . . . They both lifted their heads when the sky began to lighten. It was not dawn yet-too early. A meteorite! It shone, but not with the reflected light of the sun; having entered the upper atmosphere and become hot from friction, it burned as it flew to the surface.
  Almost momentarily, they realized that it was moving toward them and would fall somewhere nearby. It would cause an explosion, and earthquake, falling rocks. They must immediately take to the air-as high as possible!
  But it was too late. A strong oncoming gust of wind pressed them to the rocks. Trying to take off at whatever cost, they forced their seat-helicopters to the limit-beyond the limit. But they still couldn"t take off. They had failed to escape.
  Lighting up everything with crimson light, a huge fireball flew directly above them and disappeared behind the crest of the ridge. A terrible roar sounded and the mountains quaked. It had apparently fallen close, just a few kilometers away from them.
  The strong winds ceased, but they still couldn"t take off. Apparently, their engines were burned out. They hurriedly unfastened their now-useless seat-helicopters.
  An incredible roar penetrated their helmets, as if something huge was rolling downhill toward them.
  They heard a splash, and from the upper terrace where the lake was, a waterfall came crashing down. On the lower terrace, it turned into a raging stream, dragging away the stones that had been there. Struggling to get rid of their seat-helicopters, the astronauts did not have time to escape. The water dragged them to the precipice.
  Along the way, Dan managed to cling onto a big stone, then held out his hand for Lal. They fought furiously against the current. Dan held a stranglehold over the ledge stone, struggling to resist for both his sake and Lal"s.
  But everything failed. The current was too strong, and Lal was slowly pulled away. Despite the fact that Dan was straining so hard his veins nearly burst, he felt Lal"s hand start to slide.
  And suddenly Lal pushed him away sharply and immediately released his hand. Dan fell to his knees and leaned with his whole body against the stone, grabbing it with both hands.
  "Lal! Lal!"
  "Da-an! Don"t forget . . . Aah!" That was Dan heard in his headphones.
  The current seethed, trying to tear him away from the stone and wash him away. Only the heavy-duty armor of his suit saved from being crushed by stones and sand.
  And yet, he could not resist forever. His fingers did not obey him. He was torn off and dragged away-although slowly, because the current had weakened somewhat. Really . . . this is it? he thought.
  He again managed to grab hold of something almost five meters from the cliff and climb a huge boulder, which was rocking in the water but stayed where it was. Completely exhausted, he lost consciousness.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  21
  
  Dan regained consciousness.
  The stream had disappeared, leaving piles of stones and sand. The sun had begun to rise.
  Alive, he realized with surprise. And then immediately: Lal!
  "Lal! Lal! Answer me!" he cried. Not a single sound in his headphones.
  "Lal! Brother!" he continued to shout.
  No answer. And there wouldn"t be, he realized with horror. Too little chance to survive, falling into the abyss with the water. Especially when stones had also been flying from the top of the cliff. The suit could not have saved him from that.
  But still! He could not believe Lal was dead.
  If only he were near the launch! He could try using the instruments to find Lal-maybe he was still alive. Still alive! Dan needed to get to the ships as soon as possible.
  But the helicopters were nowhere in sight. They must have been washed away. And all the same, their motors were burned out. Hence, Dan must trek down the steep, almost vertical mountainside. They had left behind the robot with the winch, and it could not climb up here. If only he at least had some ordinary climbing equipment!
  Without waiting for more daylight, Dan began to descend. Struggling to shove his boot toes into tiny cracks, clinging almost only with his fingertips, constantly risking his holds breaking and sometimes slipping on gentler slopes, he descended for three long hours. His special astronaut training rescued him-the ability to manage in almost any situation without any means. Even more-an injection of stimulant helped. And yet even more-fear drove him. Fear of being too late and not having the opportunity to save Lal-if he was even still alive.
  The hard shell of their suits was quite strong, so maybe Lal was just buried under stones and sand. The suit would withstand the weight, and he would have enough oxygen for many days. If only! If he wasn"t crushed by boulders. Even a fall from that height . . . But maybe the water cushioned his fall.
  Okay, nothing to think about! He would inject more stimulant and run to the ATV. And then in the ship, he would lift off and probe with the locator from above!
  The ATVs were still at the entrance to the cave in the gorge. One of them had been turned upside down, either by the wind or by water shooting out from the cave. Nearby, there was a pile of sand that hadn"t been there before.
  Dan got into the ATV and immediately took it to full speed. He reached the launch and, at last, flew up to search long and hard with the locator-the mountains, the river, the place where it flowed into the sea.
  Nothing! He returned again and again, searching everything meticulously. He just could not believe Lal had perished-he couldn"t! But his feverish search resulted in nothing.
  Oh, this was so terrible! The worst possible thing had happened. What would he say to Eya? What? He"d been responding to her calls only with short signals-but how long could that go on?
  At last, Dan understood with despair-that was it. Nothing more could be done. He found his way to the cruiser using radio waves and turned on the autopilot; he had almost no strength left.
  He still couldn"t believe it was real. That Lal had perished, that he was no longer! Lal, brother! Wise, kind, unique. He sacrificed himself for Dan, to save him! "Da-an! Don"t forget . . . Aah!" He closed his eyes, and his strength seemed to leave him completely.
  
  He could not remember anything afterwards, either as the launch gained height, or flew, or taxied up to the cruiser. All he really remembered was the push during docking, which seemed to wake him up.
  He moved into the airlock chamber and forced purging. Because-Eya"s pale face pressed against the porthole, her question coming through in his headphones:
  "Dan! Why are you alone?"
  He opened the hermetically sealed door of the chamber. The dog nearly knocked him off his feet to rush inside, sniffing frantically at the camera and at him-and howling eerily in melancholy.
  Dan took off his helmet.
  "Where is Lal? Why has he stayed there?" Eya looked frightened. "Dan!"
  "Lal is no longer. Perished!" He just barely croaked out the words.
  "Oh! Lal! Nanny, nanny!"
  Suddenly, Dan felt completely unable to move. He began to fall, and would have fallen if Eya hadn"t caught him. She helped him out of the airlock chamber so he could sit down. She stripped off his space suit, injected drugs, and then stayed silent until he began to come round. She sat down next to him.
  "How did it happen, Dan?"
  "The meteorite. We were in the mountains. It fell-close. Debris fell down into the lake above us. The water ran over the edge onto us. It washed him away. Into an abyss."
  "Why weren"t you communicating when I called?"
  "I was looking for him. For such a long time . . . I couldn"t believe it. I didn"t know how to tell you that he was gone."
  His speech was strange from the aftereffects of the stimulant. But he managed to tell her how they landed and found the first cave, then the second one, about spending the night in the mountains, about fear for her when they saw the fireball coming toward her, and joy when it passed.
  "It was one and a half kilometers away. Before that, I had been waiting for a message from you and accidentally fell asleep; I was woken by the alarm and by Dog. I barely had time to sit down and the maneuver was a great strain-it flew so fast," Her fear had not gone away since then.
  Telling the story about the disaster, the descent and the search robbed Dan of all strength once again. Somehow, with the help of a robot, Eya managed to put him on the cyber-diagnostician"s bed. Fortunately, nothing was terribly wrong with him-just the effects of too much stress and stimulant. Eya turned on the sleep mode and inserted a needle into his vein to energize him with glucose. He should sleep just twenty hours.
  Leaving him alone, Eya went to Lal"s cabin, where she had locked Dog so as not to hear his wild howl.
  "Our Lal is gone, Doggie!"
  The dog howled again, turning his head. Eya stretched out a hand to him-she was scared, wanting to touch something living-but he bared his teeth and snarled viciously. She left him alone.
  It was all over! The flight here had been surprisingly happy, without even any minor incidents. Everything had still been ahead of them, shrouded with expectation, dreams and romance. Now it was over.
  No more Lal! And he would never come back. Not him, nor his smile, nor his amazing stories. It would be hard for them without him. Had they been waiting for it to happen? Like a price to be paid for taking the first steps on this planet, which Eya hated now.
  No more Lal! And everything is in vain without him. And Dog howls are so scary.
  "Stop howling-do you hear me? Right now!"
  She ran out of the cabin and slammed the door. Then fell into a chair, choking with sobs.
  
  22
  
  For twenty hours, Dan slept soundly. Her head heavy with both tears and thoughts, Eya periodically came to see him.
  She spent most of the time in the control room near the instruments. The locator was silent. Two more meteors rushed past, but small ones and far away from the cruiser. There in the control room she dozed off for a short time in a heavy slumber.
  Finally, she turned off the sleep mode and Dan woke up. He felt better and immediately began studying the radar readings.
  "It"s still normal. We"ll land the cruiser."
  "What for?" Eya almost cried.
  "We need to land at the second cave. It"s deep enough and hardly damaged. Then we"ll begin the installation of the oxygenator. All we need to do is find the outlet at the top of the cave."
  "But if it doesn"t work in the second cave, will we install it in the first one?"
  "No. I"ll look for another one. Lal did not want to touch the first one."
  "And he paid for it with his life."
  "What do you mean?"
  "Do you really want to land there-now? Right where Lal just died?"
  "I have to. We must."
  "Lal . . ."
  "Nothing comes without a price."
  "But . . ."
  "Shut up! Shut up and listen. We have been entrusted with this task, sent here. The first. We are obliged to carry it out. Even if only one of us is alive at the end of it. I, too, could die there-and then you would have to make everything alone. It could happen at any time; nobody"s life is guaranteed. We are alone, no one will able to take your place. So I will never let you be weak!"
  "You . . . you have misunderstood me!"
  "Really? Okay, then."
  "Dan!" She really was ashamed of her weakness.
  "Not battle-hardened yet." Dan remembered the old expression and pitied her in that moment-he wanted to caress her, to soothe her. "No. Let her cope with it on her own this time-otherwise she won"t grow".
  They sat at the controls, strapped into the chairs. The brake and steering motors started working, and the cruiser began its gentle descent.
  . . . After a few turns to locate the beacon signals at the entrances of both caves, the autopilot put the cruiser down exactly two kilometers from the second cave.
  It was time to get out. They were wearing their armored suits already, which they always wore for landing-the still-unbreakable rule from the early days of space exploration. Especially important now.
  Locking. Descending. And hand in hand, they step onto the planet.
  
  The clouds were scattered, and the sun shone brightly. Flooded with light, everything seemed friendly, ready to amicably accept the astronauts.
  The impression was spoiled when they reached the upside-down ATV. Now with Eya, Dan went down into the narrow chasm. In the cave, they saw traces of the sudden flood in piles of sand, stone and clay. At times, it was difficult to pass through corridors packed to the top with debris-they had to clear passageways with a robot. They moved forward very slowly. Dan"s locator constantly probed the ceilings, and although he was afraid, they seemed to be intact with no cracks-the mountain held out against the impact of the meteorite.
  The robot he had left in the last grotto had disappeared, washed out with the stream. Dan filled a new balloon with hydrogen and it floated up freely. Releasing the fishing line to the previous length, Dan and Eya went back.
  . . . They needed to find the outlet. Dan sat in the seat of his helicopter, strapped in.
  "Don"t go anywhere. Wait here!"
  "Let me fly with you!"
  "No!" he said in a tone that eliminated objections and questions. He didn"t want her to see his face when he flew over that spot. Where Lal had perished.
  He immediately gained altitude and the lake was visible, heavily littered with boulders. Dan could see the balloon.
  The hole of the outlet was indeed located under the rock overhanging the water, which miraculously survived through the meteorite"s aftermath. This was the main thing they had wanted to explore, the reason they had stayed in the mountains.
  And the hole was big enough-the perfect complement to the rest of the properties of the cave. Lal would be pleased! It was time to return.
  No, couldn"t pass through the terrace . . . Impossible! Though it looked quite peaceful now. That stone-he"d clung to it, resisting the current trying to wash him out with Lal. The place of death.
  Oh, Lal, Lal! Brother! Dan had never had a closer friend, and never would. Rare and wonderful, modest yet a genius. That was all! He died, disappeared, and would never come back!
  "Dan! Don"t forget . . .!" What? Perhaps everything Lal had told them. About to die, he was only thinking about that. What dreams he could not fulfill himself. And now they would have to do it. It was their duty-to him and to all people. They must not let his great ideas die with him, but bring them to everyone. And future generations would remember Lal with gratitude. So it shall be!
  Dan waited until his tears dried completely; in the space helmet, it was impossible to wipe them away. He looked back one last time and soared into the air.
  
  23
  
  The next day, work began. They lowered a robot with a locator into the cave, and it slowly made a solid map by probing the ceiling, floor and walls. Then a computer started working with the data, giving them preliminary versions of the layout and organization for the oxygenators" installation.
  Dan and Eya discussed them, arguing. They wanted to start up the oxygenator as soon as possible, but at the same time they couldn"t let the carbon release into the air, since they would need to use them for the synthesis of organic substances. As much carbon as possible-they needed to collect and store for future use.
  At last, they made a final decision and the computer started working on the program. At the same time, they were making preparations. They lowered mining, construction and assembly robots into the cave. Then they sent down building materials, and the first units of the oxygenator and a synthesizer. Helicopter-cranes worked to clear the upper lake, splitting clumps of debris, pulling them out and carrying them away-the previous capacity of the lake would be restored.
  . . . By the beginning of installation, they had become considerably tired. But Dan showed mercy neither to himself nor Eya. They had to work-as intensely as possible, with clenched teeth. Only this would save them from their grief. Otherwise, it would all be impossible.
  Eya felt quite exhausted; such intensity was unusual even for her, with all her efficiency and industry. And on top of it all, Dan treated her quite sternly, without giving her any slack. And he avoided physical intimacy.
  Eventually, Eya even began to feel angry, but that somehow made it all easier. Her anger was stronger than her fear, and so she managed. At some point, she realized Dan was doing it all on purpose. To help her. The grief of loss remained, but it did not take away either her strength or her hope. Dan pretended not to notice anything, but his attitude toward her became softer.
  
  The installation of the oxygenator started its course, controlled by a computer running a program. And the robots" jobs did not require their participation-so they applied themselves to solving other issues.
  First of all-they needed a natural cave for the power plant. A very deep one. But the searches yielded no results. So they had to give up and start sinking an artificial cave.
  Gradually, they managed to unload the cruiser. The main repositories they brought for the most part into the first cave"s halls, which they first had to clear, and in some places even extend the corridors. They also put the dwelling block there. When it was done, they sighed with relief and sent the cruiser on circumplanetary orbit, where, being able to maneuver quickly in space, it would be far more secure than on the ground.
  On the day they sent it up, they did not work, and Dan declared it a holiday. According to the tradition, they sat at a table at night-but it felt strange. It had been a long time since they"d had any holidays. Not since Lal"s death. And his absence at that table was all too noticeable.
  The table was set for three people, as if he were still alive and just running late. Dan opened a bottle of real wine. He filled cups for himself and Eya, and poured a small amount in another for Lal.
  "Let"s drink, Eya! To everything at once: the landing, the start of our work, and the cherished memory of our Lal. Our brother, friend. Our teacher."
  He drank avidly-the entire cup at once. The perfect wine: light and tart. People usually drank it in small sips, slowly, savoring the taste. But he had no patience for that; he was too tired, and the wound from his terrible loss had not healed yet. Incredibly tired-and so the wine hit him hard and he relaxed almost instantly. He had no wish to speak. He mustn"t reopen the wound . . . but they couldn"t talk about anything else right now.
  Dan sat with his arms hanging limply. Nearby and also silent, she set aside her cup after drinking just a sip. She, too, felt excessively tired.
  He put his hand on her shoulder, and she stopped holding back; crying, she buried her face in his chest. He did not try to comfort her. When she had cried everything out-it would be easier. He caressed her with his hand and touched her hair with his face.
  "Come on, that"s enough," he said, feeling her start to calm down.
  "I"m sorry. I wo-on"t anymore," she said, still sobbing. "It"s a shame. I"m weak. I gave in."
  "No, you"re doing fine. We"re just very tired. We needed to relax, and now we can. Have some wine."
  "Yes, I am very, very tired. And it felt like you hated me."
  "I didn"t."
  "You were so harsh."
  "You had to manage on your own. We have nowhere to wait for help here. And if something happens to me . . ."
  "Don"t say that!"
  "But who knows? You should be strong enough to make it without me. You must be ready for anything, be internally strong. Do you understand?"
  "Yes, Dan. I will try."
  "I"m sure you have it-your own inner strength."
  "You think so?"
  "I can see it. You"ve gotten through this so far-so you have it. I"m not afraid for you anymore."
  "But I still hate myself for my weakness before."
  "This has helped you. Don"t blame yourself too much. After all, you are very young. You"ve never had to deal with problems, nor crises, nor dramas before. You hadn"t had any opportunity to test yourself on the matter."
  "Sure-I studied and then prepared to fly here. That"s all. And I was with you and Lal."
  "Any difficulties and dangers-you thought of them abstractly, but only in the back of your mind-you didn"t believe they would happen. Especially since the flight went surprisingly smoothly."
  "Yes, you"re right. And then it all hit me at once!"
  "And you turned out to be insufficiently prepared."
  "But you? And Lal?"
  "We imagined everything very clearly. Historically, causes like ours rarely prevailed without victims. But who before us did that stop?"
  "I . . ."
  "You lost your head then-but later managed to get it back. So, everything is normal-relax!"
  They were silent again and continued to sit motionless, huddled up to one another.
  . . . Then, when they lay side by side after sex, which had brought relief to both of them, he wanted to ask her about the main thing-about what Lal had been waiting to know. But he saw she was beginning to fall asleep, and did not dare disturb her.
  
  24
  
  It became easier for them-both in relation to each other, and with work. They started planting experimental trees. To start, a relatively small area of about ten hectares , opposite the entrance of the first cave on the lake shore, near the site of his and Lal"s first landing on the planet.
  Robots installed the appropriate number of masts and inflatable domes made of a special film that restricted the spectrum of rays passing inside. They laid pipelines for the underground delivery of nutrients to roots.
  Solar film was spread to absorb the sunlight and provide energy to the oxygenator for the tree plantation, its pumping station and the installation of the nutritionally-stimulating solutions processor. Seeds were soaked and tested for germination, but for the first plantings they used the seedlings they"d brought from Earth. Robots scurried around everywhere.
  And then they started planting. According to a strict order, giving them control over every tree. Eya was in charge of this process.
  The seedlings, which should make up the first grove on the planet, were thin and naked, sticking up from the ground under the tall transparent domes. Would they take root and turn green? Would they live up to expectations? The had to wait and see-patiently! Nothing was certain yet-nobody had ever tried to plant a forest on another planet before.
  . . . For a long time, the seedlings showed no signs of life. It seemed as if the cold of space had reached them in special compartments of the ship and frozen them solid. But the monitors told a different story. The treatment wouldn"t produce effects immediately. The de-preserver penetrated slowly but surely into all the cells. Patience-and more patience! All was still going to plan, and if nothing unexpected happened, the seedlings would turn green. Then forestation would be Dan and Eya"s main job.
  
  The trees had begun to wake. Buds were swelling on several little poplars.
  And now-the first leaf. Small, bright green, soft, shining, sticky. It smelled so wonderful!
  They approached it cautiously with their noses, sniffing in admiration. And they could not move away from it. The first success, a poplar leaf!
  "You"re a young poplar leaf in the spring!" Eya smiled-happily, easily, for the first time in a long time. Almost a year had passed.
  They had already gotten accustomed to many things: the planet-which even in their thoughts they now called Earth-its bare landscapes, their cave. The sky, almost always covered in clouds, the too-frequent rains, and the three moons moving across the sky on the few clear nights.
  They had made peace with the fact that they did not have Lal-though it hadn"t happened immediately-and that there was room for very little joy in their existence.
  But that day, they laughed at the table, and Dan played orchestrion. It was almost time for another joyful event-starting up the oxygenator, in less than one week. They felt hopeful.
  And on that day, Dan ventured to ask:
  "Is it time for us to create the child, Eya?"
  And once again, everything became painfully tense. Eya frowned.
  "Why are you coming back to this?"
  "What do you mean?"
  "Lal is gone. I was ready to do it for him. But the dead need only to be remembered-and nothing else."
  "But his ideas? Everything he told us? Did that die with him? Do you really think so? Then you"re wrong. I"m still alive-and for me, everything he told us is still alive! His ideas are the greatest ideas: Lal, our teacher, was the best genius of mankind, in whom everything created by human thought had come together, like in a focused lens, to give birth to the dream of reviving justice and happiness."
  "We just loved our Lal too much-so we believed everything he thought was right. I don"t know, Dan, but I"ve thought a lot about what he told us. I have too many doubts. First of all, are you sure the future life of inadequates, as Lal wanted, will be happier than their current situation? They do not feel disadvantaged compared to others now because they do not understand their position."
  "I"m sure it will be more suitable for human beings. And I understand that humanity has no other choice. What should we move toward instead? Complete dehumanization?"
  "Is it possible to talk in such extremes?"
  "Yes! What is happening on Earth is terrible! Are we really better than slave owners? How far behind the Romans are we in inhumanity, with their incredible construction and engineering craftsmanship, law, sciences, poetry-and gladiatorial fights?"
  Eya continued to hang her head.
  "It is our duty to fix this. You must understand! Lal died before he could do it-but we are alive, you and me, the people most close to him. If you still have doubts, then believe not him but me-I have lived a very long life, and I realize that he was right. He was a great thinker, surpassing all his contemporaries both in vision and in greatness of soul. He was the first to rise up against the newly made inequality of people. And we have to-no, we are obliged to achieve his goals for him, if we don"t want to betray him. Because it would be a real betrayal! Do you understand, Eya?" he almost shouted, clenching his fists. And he hated her in that moment.
  But she just raised her head and quietly shook it.
  "No, Dan. It"s a dangerous planet, with death always lurking. I"m afraid to give birth to a child here. Haven"t we already sacrificed enough?"
  "Eya . . ."
  "Like in the ancient legends he told us about: terrible gods of an unknown world demanded a bloody human sacrifice from travelers and, having received it, were appeased and granted them good luck." She was not shouting but talking quietly, with an even voice.
  Dan felt despair that he could not convince her. And he went to his cabin.
  
  Eya was well aware that he would not leave her in peace. He had dedicated his entire life for the sake of science. He had not spared himself, and so he wouldn"t spare her now. Because he thought it was necessary, he would fight to get his way.
  It would be very hard for her. Today she had prevailed, but then . . . she was up against Dan, the greatest scientist of Earth. And not only that, he was the man most close and dear to her. The one and only, since Lal was gone. Lal and Dan-she had never been closer to anyone else, and she would do anything for them. But having a child here? That was too much to ask of her.
  Of course, the danger of meteorites was not too bad. The type of meteorite that had killed Lal was a rarity. It was not like the moon here, not completely devoid of atmosphere. There was a gaseous envelope, and despite its lack of free oxygen to burn up meteorites, it still managed to considerably decrease their speed. Cosmic dust and small meteorites were really not dangerous, and the larger ones-too rare. So they almost stopped fearing them and no longer wore their armored suits-they believed the light, soft film was sufficient.
  But, all the same-the fear in general still lived inside her, preserved since Lal"s death. And a child here? What else might happen-unknown, strange, inevitable? They couldn"t create a child to subject him to so many dangers! Here-this was not Earth!
  But on Earth today, it would be-absolutely impossible. That was clear for her, too. Therefore, Lal had not seen any other way out.
  And yet, this was madness; Dan must understand. Yes, they all must take risks-but only the adults. It wasn"t fair to put that on a child-little, defenseless.
  Like the one Eve had given her to hold. If only that were possible on Earth! She wouldn"t hesitate even a moment. But here-in a strange, hostile world . . . after Lal"s terrible death . . .
  How could she stand up for her position? Dan was not like Lal; he would not, could not be silent for as long as Lal had been.
  . . . On the way to her cabin, Eya saw that the door of Dan"s cabin was not completely closed. Hushed creaking sounds spilled out.
  Eya stopped listening. The violin, she realized suddenly. Lal"s violin. Dan had not touched it until now. He"d had no time and no energy left, either physical or mental. And today, he"d picked it up. She took that as a sign that he had forgotten nothing, that he remained faithful to Lal.
  Jerky, timid sounds-as a challenge to her, the forsaken. Eya walked quietly to Lal"s cabin, where Dog was sleeping on a mat. She bent down to stroke him, but he shook his head sharply, jumped up and stood, glaring at her.
  She went away to her cabin. Staccato sounds of the violin seemed to scratch her heart. Her face was deathly pale as she lay silently, biting her lips.
  The violin ceased.
  "Eya!" his silent call sounded. She did not respond, although she heard him perfectly through the open door. He did not repeat the call; perhaps he"d just wanted to check if she was asleep. Eya heard his footsteps moving away-he was not coming to her.
  Silence-dead, stressed, sleepless. With bloodshot eyes and a burning head.
  Suddenly, a cascade of sounds fell upon her. Dan was playing "Apassionata" in the salon. The sounds pressed her mercilessly, accusing and demanding. "Put away your doubts and fears-and for the sake of a great goal, accomplish a difficult feat!" Though he had died many centuries ago, Beethoven called her, along with the recently deceased Lal-Dan was using their voices.
  The music stopped abruptly.
  "Found it!" Eya heard.
  Again Dan"s steps sounded. And then all was quiet.
  Completely exhausted, Eya imperceptibly fell asleep, into oblivion.
  
  25
  
  Eya slept for a long time. Waking up, she saw on the screen: "Note" and quickly started playback.
  I flew to the second cave. Waiting for you there.
  I beg you to watch a play by Ibsen, "Brand", before meeting me.
  Take your time.
  Dan
  It seemed unpleasant that was written in text and not as a recording of his face and voice.
  Well, okay! She had no reason to refuse his request.
  She did not hurry; first she exercised, then took a shower, swam in the pool and ate breakfast with Dog. After putting on a suit, she went across the lake to check the forest plantation.
  Another bud had emerged, and she sniffed the bitter fragrance. It was an unusually cloudless day. The sun shone at its brightest, warming and caressing her skin. Under the transparent dome, she could breathe easily; there was enough oxygen emitted by the oxygenator, which was working intensively-the solar film, brightly lit, provided it a lot of energy. Eya sat for five minutes in the warm light, careful not to doze off. Then, with a sigh, she put on her helmet, fastened her suit and went back.
  . . . She sat down, turned on the stereo and made the call. The lights went out in the theater.
  Henrik Ibsen, "Brand". The play had been part of the lyceum"s curriculum. She remembered it very vaguely. The basic idea had seemed self-evident to her then, even though most of the situations were completely incomprehensible. Now, she understood it quite differently.
  
  A priest of a remote mountain village, severely and implacably exacting- of himself and others, even his own mother. For the sake of accomplishing his duty, he sacrifices his wife and child. By his own example, he succeeds in convincing other people to follow. But opposing him, Vogt, the personification of vulgar worldly wisdom, tells a lie about a "million-strong school of cod" and leads people away from Brand. At the end, only crazy Gerd stays with him, and together they perish in an avalanche.
  Eya watched for a long time; this play had taken two nights when performed in the theater. She only took one short break to eat a little.
  "All-or nothing!" Brand demands of everyone. Because of this, he becomes the priest of the village church. Then he refuses to visit his dying mother, wishing to sacrifice only a portion of the property for the redemption of her sins. He refuses to move away from a gloomy ravine to save his son"s life: "Was I really not a priest?"
  No, not at all-he is just a blind fanatic. His faith and his desire for people to be perfect cause him to undergo terrible anguish when he loses the people dearest to him.
  His son dies, and then his wife. And he can"t win. But he is more frightened by something else-the lack of desire for perfection: "It wasn"t that you could not, but that you didn"t desire to!" The continuous path to the ideal-that is just the meaning of life.
  But even more than that, the image of Agnes, Brand"s wife, impacted Eya. Young, happy, she meets Brand and, conquered by his spiritual strength and conviction, leaves her fiancé, with whom her future was clear. With no worries, she lives by Brand"s side in a remote village among the dark, gloomy mountains.
  There is not enough sun for the child she bears, and he withers. To save him, they must go away. Brand agrees, and when they are ready for the journey, she leaves the house with the baby wrapped in her hands. But the cry of mad Gerd, "Priest escaped!" stops Brand-he is not allowed to leave his parish. And so Agnes stays-she cannot leave him.
  And their child dies. Agnes sadly touches her lost son"s things: a hat, a coat. In their snowbound house, a gypsy woman with a half-naked baby comes and, seeing the baby clothes, begs for them. Agnes gives away the things that are as dear to her as the memory of her child, although she wants to keep some things to remember him by. But the gypsy woman is begging, and Brand says: "All-or nothing!" So Agnes gives it all up. The gypsy woman goes away, taking the things along with her. Peace and enlightenment overwhelm Agnes, but her strength leaves her. Brand remains single.
  Eya watched the play as if for the first time. Because of her previous conversations with Lal, she understood the thoughts and feelings of the characters very well. They were close to Dan"s thoughts and wishes, as he remained faithful to everything Lal had taught them. Dan, who always sacrificed everything: his health, his strength-who created a miracle by subjecting himself to torment.
  But she, Eya? Did she deserve to be with him? He stood before her in the darkness: "Look at Agnes. Put yourself in her shoes. Be equal to her. Great things require no less sacrifice. To evade is unworthy. You should not wait for another to do what only you should do. I understand and Lal understood the risks and the responsibility. But there is no other option, and you must tackle this difficult feat. We are waiting for you!"
  "You must!", "To evade is unworthy", "We are waiting", "a difficult feat". She fought the thoughts feverishly, resisting them with all her might. She intensely compared Dan with Brand, and Agnes, with herself. At last, exhausted, with her face wet, Eya fell asleep.
  
  It was a beautiful dream. She was on Earth, standing barefoot at the forest"s edge among dense, tall grass. A warm summer rain had recently fallen. The fresh smell of the ground, and the greenery in clean, bright, shining drops. The sky was clearing and ahead, behind a huge meadow, behind a river in the distance-a rainbow hung in the sky. She needed to go there.
  Eya awoke, smiling quietly, relaxed and happy. She could still see the rainbow. But then she suddenly remembered yesterday, and her thoughts whirled into a tangle again. Not wanting to disappear, the rainbow wove itself into them.
  Rainbow. Rainbow. The word somehow awakened a memory-old, vague, almost completely forgotten. And suddenly she remembered: "The Rainbow" , a story about the Second World War. She had read it at gymnasium, beyond the regular curriculum.
  . . . A Ukrainian village is captured by German troops. A commandant interrogates a woman. She is a partisan-someone betrayed her. Why did she come to the village? She"s waiting for a baby; she came to give birth to him in a warm peasant house. The commandant needs information about the partisans, but she says nothing. In the terrible cold, stripped naked, pregnant, she is chased through the snow by a German soldier with a rifle. And the people watched through the dark windows of their houses, powerless to help her.
  One of them sends out her little son, who quietly crawls through the snow to the barn where the partisan is locked. "Aunt Olena, I brought you some bread!" But then a shot follows immediately; a soldier kills the boy. So the mother creeps surreptitiously to recover his body.
  And here he is-her son; she and the children are looking at him for the last time. "They killed Mishka," his little sister says. "A fascist killed him," her brother adds. They have to bury him right there in the house, digging a grave in the earthen floor and carefully leveling the ground to hide the traces.
  The partisan gives birth in the cold barn, and the Nazi soldiers watch and laugh. She takes off the last bit of clothing she has left to wrap around the baby.
  The soldiers bring her to the commandant again. She is now the mother of a child and must care about him, so she must tell them everything, or else . . . But he hears not a word-he shoots the newborn child in the face. With his corpse in her arms, she goes on her last journey-to the river, where the soldier robs her of the child"s body and throws it into a hole. Then the commandant shoots her. A rainbow hangs in the air over the village on that winter day . . .
  Yes, they even sacrificed children, but they neither yielded to the Nazis nor betrayed their home-and so eventually won. It was a scary thing, Nazism. But it was no longer a fantasy, not an allegory-it was true life, which could be scarier than any fiction. And ordinary people, who had never considered themselves heroes, fought against it. But no less was their grief . . . and their greatness. They sacrificed their children, the dearest thing-it was necessary. Imperative!
  It had been imperative then, and it was imperative now. A terrible analogy. There were similarities, even if incredibly distant, between the two. Inferior people, inferior races-these concepts existed for the Nazis, although they pertained to all non-Aryans, regardless of their mental capacity, the existence of which the Nazis simply did not recognize. The main thing was the creation of a system under which they were treated like non-human beings. That was the essence!
  And if so, then indeed, Lal was entirely right. A system like this must not exist.
  And, therefore, it was imperative! She must do her part-in spite of everything. Even though it would be scary. Much scarier than she could even imagine. She must! Without delay.
  
  Eya put on the suit and dressed Dog. Her ship took to the skies and rushed to the second cave.
  As she approached, she called Dan. He was on the terrace just below the lake, waiting for her.
  After landing, she fastened seat-helicopters to herself and Dog. Controlling Dog"s helicopter remotely, she lifted them up high and flew to the lake. Here it was, completely cleared of boulders, shimmering. A terrace under it, and a small silvery spot. Dan.
  He was motionless, his head down, sitting by some huge stone.
  "We were here in his last moments," he said without any preface, looking at her shadow. He would not raise his head to look at her face, as if afraid to see in it a final rejection
  She sat on a rock nearby. Dog lay obediently down at her feet.
  "I clung to this stone. With one hand. I don"t know how. I tried again recently-and I couldn"t do it. He held on to me until my hand started to slip, and then he pushed me and let go of my hand, and I clung to the rock with both hands. He was immediately washed away. He could not cling to anything. He wasn"t as strong as me-my body is much younger. He managed to call out. "Dan! Don"t forget . . . Aah!" That"s it! He must have hit something. Or fallen just then into the abyss. All this happened right here." He paused, continuing to avoid her gaze.
  She took him by the hand. He raised his head and looked straight into her eyes. By her quiet face and the smile he saw, she was in agreement with him-completely and finally.
  "Thank you," he said in a barely audible voice. "Thank you for not mistaking me."
  "Never mind, my dear! Everything will be as it should. We will have a child-and if needed, more than one."
  "Thank you, girl!" He drew her to him. "I was tormented by fear. That I wouldn"t be able to keep a promise made to Lal"s memory. That wouldn"t fulfill my duty to him. Thank you."
  
  Everything was ready. The next day, they would begin testing the oxygenator-and then removing the assembly robots. Then do a trial run at low power. If all went well, they would send robots from here to make the work start.
  So far, everything was going smoothly. After sleeping through the night, they performed a fast check of the entire complex and its management system. On the control console board, the "error" light never glowed-the devices found no issues.
  One after the other, from the entrance hole of the second cave, the robots moved to the side to wait out the test run.
  This, too, passed without any surprises. A weak flow of air came out from the outlet, and the gas analyzer recorded an almost complete absence of carbon dioxide in it. Instead, it was a combination of nitrogen and oxygen, with a negligible mixture of nitrogen oxides. A flying robot delivered bulbs filled with oxygenized air. One of them contained a metal spiral that, as soon as it connected to the battery, heated and burned.
  The robots began evacuating. Helicopters lifted a platform with them and carried it away to where the mining machines had ended up making the shaft for the power plant. During this time, they installed a secure filter for solid matter in the cave outlet.
  . . . And now it was done. While flying up in their ships, Dan sent the signal to the cyber control center for the oxygenator to turn it on.
  They couldn"t see it start working because their launches quickly flew away, moving around the planet. But after turning around, they saw dust devils of air rushing to the cave and an updraft, punching a hole in a thick blanket of clouds.
  "Cheers, Eya!"
  "Hooray!"
  They landed their launches near the first cave and came out quickly-joyful, excited, throw themselves at each other, cuddling and laughing.
  "Let"s celebrate, Eya! Right now. We"ll steam in the sauna-and then banquet."
  "Will you play today?"
  "I will. And you"ll sing, right? Come on!"
  "First let"s take a walk. In the trees."
  Miraculously, their "forest" had grown. Almost a dozen leaves, and swollen buds on other trees. Pines and spruces were preparing to release their needles.
  At home, too, flowers had bloomed on two plants. They placed them among the dishes when they sat down at the table after the sauna, fresh, rested and in bright clothing.
  The occasion called for wine-but it was not on the table, and when Eya asked Dan about it, he replied:
  "We don"t need it today." He looked into her eyes.
  She understood, and her heart began to pound.
  
  
  26
  
  They waited. Eya caught Dan"s questioning glances, which he was throwing carefully so that she would not notice. So far, the cyber-diagnostician had still showed them nothing. They had entered into it all the necessary information and programs from Lal"s archives; and if these didn"t work, there would be no hope. But they would just have to wait and try not to worry-it was still too early.
  . . . The cyber confirmed Eya"s pregnancy on the same day a larch tree opened. Dan found Eya after returning from the construction of the power plant. On the road home, he flew over the oxygenator; he could not resist, even though he could see it from home, on a screen.
  She rose to meet him, hugged him and pressed her face against his.
  "Dan!" she said softly.
  "What? Please say it? Yes?"
  "Yes!"
  Something great, significant was on its way into their lives. Waiting for it was more important than everything else: oxygenation, greening, power industry, exploration of mineral resources and the study of the planet.
  Again, they studied hard and discussed all that would be required of them, especially at first. Dan was once again convinced of how much Eya knew-she remembered even the smallest details.
  The cruiser delivered to them, along with a second oxygenator, a supply of food and batteries, plus everything they would need to care for a newborn, which the robot produced from Lal"s programs.
  Dan exercised a vigilant watch over Eya, gently but inexorably forcing her to stick to her special regimen and diet. He tried to feed her as much as possible with fresh, not-canned products-goat"s milk, the meat of male kids, eggs-almost completely removing these things from his own diet.
  When they weren"t working, he often played to her, only joyous, tender songs. She listened, sitting by his side, and hand-knitted small children"s things-hats, sweaters. Dan considered her knitting incredibly helpful-it strengthened her nerves. But she didn"t complain about anything. She felt fine. She had a young, strong body-as a consequence of regular physical exercises.
  But sometimes, some inexplicable anxiety overcame her. It was not bad, but it appeared by night, when Eya woke-alone in her cabin. One time she broke down and made a radio call-and Dan immediately came to her. She was afraid he would scold her for this weakness, but he caressed her instead. She calmed down and fell asleep quickly, holding his hand. He sat beside her until morning, and when she woke up, she was glad to see him next to her. And then they started sleeping together, and she felt calmer because he was always right there.
  All their other affairs were going well. The oxygenator was working normally, and the thermonuclear power plant installation and driving of mines for the second oxygenator were in full swing. Robot explorers, crawling on the planet, probed its depths with ultrasound and drew up a detailed geological map.
  Trees began to turn green, one after another, and they began to plant woods with the sprouted seeds. The construction of the transparent domes was not a problem: they had enough of both masts and film. But the process of landing required continuous attention.
  They spent many hours a day on plantations or at computer screens, preparing new batches of seeds. Working out the solutions for the extraction of ore, the construction of metallurgical plants and a plant for synthetic film-they would need many more masts and domes.
  Work went well. They surprised themselves by their extraordinary feelings of strength, which replaced their former mood. But not only this-they also saw new growth in themselves. Completely new traits suddenly revealed themselves in this very unusual situation. For example, just as Dan noticed the fact that Eya"s figure was losing its shape-her waist had disappeared and her belly had begun to protrude-Eya saw that he looked at it with pride and warmth when helping to adjust her support. And he looked at her growing, swollen breasts with such joy!
  Most importantly-there were some new developments in the way they treated each other, more than erstwhile friendly affection and passionate physical attraction.
  
  Then they gradually began to desire to explore the planet. All their activities up until now had been completely utilitarian, to find the most suitable places for their work, then only visiting them for examinations and follow-ups. The rest, they had only ever seen on screens.
  "Let"s travel a little," Eya suggested.
  "Okay, but . . ."
  "But what?"
  "Well, work . . ."
  "Everything is running fine on its own. We only need to check the controls-one hour a day. And for the rest of the time, we"re completely free now. What have we really seen here? Just what we can while flying between work sites? It"s time to see this world up close, to touch and walk without rushing to leave."
  Eya was absolutely right, but Dan was too afraid for her. If it were possible, he wouldn"t even let her out of the cave. But nevertheless, he made her wear an armored suit all the time, altering it endlessly to adjust to her growing stout figure-even where he walked next to her wearing a light suit made of film. She always resisted, but he was adamant about it.
  In other respects, she had recently obtained some power over him. He even let her behave somewhat capriciously. However, she did not do it seriously-it was just interesting to watch him in such moments: an infinite patience, almost absolute obedience. Namely-almost! If he ever felt the threat of even the slightest danger to her, he became terribly strict.
  "I"ll be in the armor," she said.
  "Sly you!"
  But to her surprise, Dan didn"t resist for long. Perhaps he agreed that they really needed to see something new.
  They had a long discussion on where to fly, viewing recordings taken by robot scouts. Most of the places seemed monotonous. The plains especially were well familiar, since this was where they had planted all their forests. So first of all, they decided to visit one of the mountain areas at a high latitude, where there was a whole chain of lakes among the rocks in a strange shape.
  The next day, having spent no more than half an hour getting acquainted with the work progress reports, they got on a launch. Before they left, Dan again enumerated to Eya, as she patiently listened to him, all the necessary safety precautions. He had provided the maximum amount of safety measures: they would move in a closed ATV connected by cables to an air car flying over them, which could pull up the ATV at any time.
  . . . Here, it was night. Fortunately, there were some gaps in the clouds for one of the moons to shine through. It created an endless trail on the surface of the lake, shimmering with large ripples. The world here was amazingly blue: the water, the countless rocks, and even the moons.
  The ATV sailed slowly; it seemed the lake had no end. They then moved through the narrow ducts, and then again emerged in a broad stretch.
  The clouds began to close up. When it was completely dark, Dan stopped the ATV and switched on the spotlights.
  "We must wait here until dawn." He pulled out some food.
  "I"m not hungry yet!"
  "But you need to eat."
  "Oh, fine!" She dutifully drank her goat"s milk. Then he forced her to lie down for a rest, and he sat alongside her.
  "It looks like so earthly-and at the same time very different. Right?" she asked softly.
  "You"re talking about the color? Yes, it"s an amazing blue!"
  "Is that due to the concentration of carbon dioxide?"
  "Unclear. Maybe."
  "Or something else . . ."
  "Yes."
  "But does it happen on Earth?"
  "Not that I"ve ever heard of."
  "Me, either."
  They fell silent and suddenly felt keenly how much they wanted to be on Earth right now-native, habitual. More than two years had already passed since they"d left it.
  But the clouds dispersed again, and the moons broke out the darkness to fill everything again with the marvelous azure, shimmering spots of light. And the longing went away, and they immediately calmed down.
  But it did not last long; the clouds closed up anew, and at dawn they were met by an impenetrable fog.
  "Will it be long?" Dan thought, annoyed. "If so, we"ll have to fly away without seeing anything more."
  Eya was dozing. He sat at the radar and began searching the shore to occupy him somehow. Just rocks, rocks, and more rocks.
  And suddenly, he saw a forest. No-impossible! But it really was a forest. However, it was a strange one.
  He began to turn the dial, and the image got sharper. No, of course it was not a forest, just rocks. But stretched up, sharp. Like the teeth of a fairy dragon. And the further ranks of them resembled old, huge spruces.
  Dan did not bother to wake Eya. At a very slow speed, he drove the ATV toward the rocks.
  Dawn finally broke through the clouds, with the assistance of wind dispersing the fog. It was becoming increasingly clearer, and around the corner, next to a high rock, the whole picture appeared at once before Dan.
  "Eya, get up! Look!"
  She cocked her head with clenched eyelids, banishing sleep, and yawned. Then she opened her eyes, and the sleep disappeared immediately. She froze, startled, resting her hands on the transparent front wall of the ATV.
  Dense, dark clouds hung low, enveloping the sky above, and only the distance was clear. From there, bright, clearly visible rays of light were beaming. They could only see a part of it, and it seemed huge.
  Rocks of unprecedented form stuck out. A whole forest of rocks. Ahead, aside, close, far away. The water flowed through them, forming cascades, first low and very wide, then narrow-and much higher.
  The rocks were all very different. The distant ones were mostly dark while some in front of them shone brightly in the light. Some of the rocks looked like terrible teeth, others like giant inverted icicles, and still others sticking straight out of the water in neat rows like pipes of old organs. And others . . .
  "Spruces, Dan! An enchanted forest!" He just smiled at her.
  And even more rocks looked like the mysterious towers of an unknown civilization.
  But the colors were most striking. Deep blue shadows, delicate pale-blue spots, gray-turquoise clouds, endless transitions of purple and lilac. A pure cool color scheme, never seen before.
  They couldn"t take their eyes away. When the sun hid behind the clouds, they decided to wait for its return on the flat top of a high rock, from which they would have the best view of the entire panorama.
  They put on their spacesuits to leave the ATV. Dan also wore his armor, which Eya noted with gratitude. They passed on a sliding ladder to the rock.
  They had to wait quite a long time. But they were in no hurry. They hardly talked at all; instead they just sat, lost in their own thoughts, listening with the sound receivers to the noise of waterfalls.
  They did not want to go anywhere else. Eya felt that the planet was ceasing to be a stranger; she could finally recognize its beauty. From now on, she would love it not only as the future Earth-2-now this was her planet. Her home. She touched the exquisitely blue stones, the likes of which she had never seen on Earth.
  Light erupted through the clouds once more, in a magical range of colors. They watched, eagerly soaking up the vision-barely breathing for fear of missing even one moment.
  And indeed, the light disappeared soon as the clouds grew increasingly darker. It would be useless to wait longer. Even dangerous. As usual, a thunderstorm could start.
  Regretfully, they left the rock. The air car pulled up their ATV and took them quickly to their launch.
  They came back from the land of the azure rocks full of feelings, bathed with impressions, and having realized something very important. And when the next day Eya finally agreed to go with Dan to the far halls of the first cave where stalactites, stalagmites, columns, flowers and branches of sparkling white gypsum crystals waited, she had no doubt of Lal"s rightness in not wanting to break the beauty he had seen here. Even for the sake of the oxygenator.
  
  27
  
  They sat at computers, each doing their own work. Eya called:
  "Dan!"
  "Wait, please! Half a minute."
  "It can"t wait. Hurry!"
  He jumped up in alarm. "What"s wrong?"
  "Ugh, I scared you. No, don"t worry-nothing"s wrong. Give me your hand!" She took it and put on her stomach.
  Dan carefully touched it; he had wanted to for a long time, but had been terribly afraid to cause any harm to it, so never dared. And suddenly, something pushed gently into his hand; and after a short time, it happened again.
  He continued to keep his hand on her stomach as he looked at her-and he felt that never in his life had he experienced such tenderness. Not knowing what to do, what to say, he suddenly left her.
  Through a partially opened door, clumsy creaking sounds reached her ears. She smiled. He always took up the violin in moments of very strong emotion.
  . . . By the time was ready to give birth, the last of first-planted trees had swelled with buds. Only a small number of trees had not awakened, and the robot had dug these out. The rest were covered with leaves or needles, and with the application of fertilizer began to grow rapidly. Dan and Eya walked there every day.
  
  Dan had everything ready: apparatuses, instruments, oxygen, blood and medicine. Eya had done her psychotherapeutic exercises.
  Her contractions started the next day, in the evening. She was lying on a special bed of the cyber-diagnostician. Dan, in sterile white overalls, sat by her, encouraging her.
  But then the contractions ceased. Night came. Dan drank an infusion of Schisandra.
  The contractions started again at midnight.
  "Scream," he said. "It will be easier if you scream." But she tried to smile and, biting her lips, suffered without screaming.
  Then it began. And suddenly, Dan was holding something small and red, covered in mucus. A boy, as the cyber-diagnostician had identified earlier. A son!
  The baby cried. Well then, all right! Dan quickly cut the umbilical cord and processed it. He washed the baby and put under the sensors, and the cyber-diagnostician immediately started working.
  And Dan rushed to Eya. She was fine, in excellent health. Everything had gone as expected. She just had two small tears-really quite tiny. He quickly stitched them up.
  "Dan! How is it? Show me!"
  "Wait! You need to be properly taken care of first."
  "Wipe the sweat from your face; it"s quite wet."
  "Wait, Eya. I"m almost done."
  The cyber-diagnostician had already issued data on the screen: weight, height-everything. Everything looked great.
  "Dan! I beg you, show him to me!"
  Wrapping up the baby, Dan brought it close to Eya. She was still very weak, and she could only turn her head.
  "Red hair!"
  "Just like you!"
  After that, he did not fall asleep but sat throughout the night. Eya slept. The baby slept. Dan gazed at him, feeling like this incredibly tiny man filled him up completely. Red-haired-like Eya. After his mother! Dan smiled.
  So far, everything was good. The cyber-diagnostician was silent. But Dan was so tired, mostly from the stress-had he done anything wrong?
  "Dan!" Eya woke up and called him with a whisper.
  He walked close to her and leaned over.
  "Well, how are you?"
  "Not bad. Are you not sleeping?"
  "No, I"m not."
  "Guarding us?"
  "Yes."
  "Is he sleeping?"
  "He is." Dan smiled proudly, surprising even himself. "All right, Mom Eya. You"re our fine girl. Thank you for our son."
  "You, too, Dad Dan. Apparently you"re a brilliant obstetrician."
  "Do you think so?"
  "I can tell you"re tired."
  "That"s okay; I"ll sleep later."
  "Dan, I"m so hungry!"
  "Excellent!" He picked up his bracelet, sending the order, and the robot soon brought them food.
  Dan spoon-fed Eya with a strong chicken broth, for which they had slaughtered one of the hens. It was necessary for such an occasion, especially since they now had over forty chickens and the same number of chicks, and even some eggs in the incubator. Eya ate with pleasure; it was clear she had become very hungry. After the soup, he feds her the chicken meat. She needed to eat even more now-for two. After eating, Eya fall back to sleep.
  Dan sat next to her. It was strange to feel at the same time deep tranquility and extraordinary excitement. It was time to play the violin. But he was afraid to leave. He continued keeping watch, constantly glancing at the child and listening to his breathing.
  Then the child began to cry, waking Eya. Dan changed his diaper with a robot, but their son continued to cry.
  "Let me feed him," Eya said.
  "It"s too early."
  "I don"t think so!"
  She washed her breast. Very carefully, almost without breathing, Dan handed her their son. The baby poked his nose in Eya"s breast, then immediately grabbed her nipple and began to suck eagerly.
  Now Eya could properly examine him. He was quite ugly-a red face, wrinkled, murky blue eyes languishing. But he was sucking energetically!
  It was extraordinarily good, and she felt growing fondness for this still unknown and unusual creature.
  
  
  
  Part IV
  
  The RETURN
  
  28
  
  The abyss of the Cosmos. Darkness. Black. Unlimited. Whose depth was only reinforced by the radiance of a myriad of worlds and incredibly bright stars. It was like nowhere else. Neither on Earth nor on Earth-2. Nor on any other planet where light is shielded, blurred with the veil of an atmosphere.
  They were far out. In infinity, through which a movement could only be noted by sensitive instruments with the Doppler Effect.
  
  
  
  The violin was crying. Singing under the bow and Dan"s running fingers. Now, when it spoke to him alone, it had become clear, why the orchestrion had not succeeded to accurately reproduce its sound: people had forgotten how to cry. Proud of their success, confident in the power of the strength of their minds, they did not know either longing or tears. That alone was why the violin had been forgotten. Almost completely. And even after the previous epoch, when too many had known melancholy and disappointment, they still had not remembered about it.
  Lal had. The first one of all modern people to hear it after an incredibly long break, he"d felt how deep was the sound of this instrument, beautiful like almost-vanished love. He just did not have time to comprehend the reason for the orchestrion"s failure to reproduce it.
  Yes-he just did not have time! Because he was the only one who could understand everything. Even what remained beyond the control of the all-powerful mathematics.
  "Don"t forget . . ." No! What Lal desired had already been done.
  . . . The apparently endless distance to the Earth was nothing compared to the duration of time he felt on the scale of loneliness. With no sounds to keep him company except the violin and his own voice.
  Once, long ago, on Earth, He, like many, loved to spend time alone. To not be distracted by anyone, nor bothering when thinking about important subjects. But then He lost the habit of keeping himself company; Lal had appeared, and then They had-and now They were more important to him than anything.
  When it was completely unbearable, when it seemed he could no longer take it-that his longing might break him-He put on the spacesuit and go to Them in the far bay of the ship"s residential unit.
  The thick doors reclined and immediately closed. He started worrying, his heart is pounding furiously and sweat covering his hands and face. The flashlight illuminated his path.
  Finally, the last door. Under thick transparent lids, They lay: Mom, Son, Daughter, and tiny Kid. In a state of suspended animation .
  They"d had no other way out. He had remained the whole year alone, imprisoned in silence. With these rare visits his only outlet. And He looked eagerly at Their dear faces.
  Mom. How much He yearned for her-for the sound of Her voice, the warmth of Her body, the caress of Her touch.
  Son, the object of His pride and respect. The first person ever born on a new planet, and feeling more confident on it than anyone else. Enough of an adult in his sixteen years, he had managed to become a real assistant to Him and Mom.
  Daughter with two long, fluffy braids, whose face is so akin to neither His nor Mom"s, who loved to sit on His lap talking to Him for a long time.
  Kid, who was born recently, in the Cosmos. The subject of general joy, love and anxiety.
  He sat for a long time, staring at Them.
  With each visit, He needed to expend energy, and this He must save as much as possible, as it was now the most valuable resource in the hyperexpress. Otherwise, They would have had no reason to be in suspended animation, and he would not be alone right now. This was why His visits were so rare.
  But They helped him to hold out, keep his strength.
  . . . With one last glance, He returned to the control room, where he spent all his time.
  
  There was barely enough energy for the necessities, so He could not work-it was impossible to use the computers. Except for the main pilot computer, which led the Express and watched the Cosmos.
  He could not even read or watch movies. Only play the violin and think endlessly. And converse with himself, or with an imaginary companion. Most often-with Lal.
  He had been speaking with Lal in his mind when, exhausted by loneliness, He finally understood the secret of the violin"s sound. And almost at once, He clearly saw Lal.
  He came from somewhere far away, where there were huge, old trees with tall, thick trunks. Dressed in silver-gray overalls, with a telephoto lens on his forehead, Lal rolled to Him with self-propelled shoes. It was the same as on the first day they had met.
  The sounds of Mendelssohn"s concert turned into a cascade of questions addressed to Lal, who was standing in front of Him and looking into his eyes while smiling with full understanding, ready to answer.
  Suddenly, He felt horror. He made an effort and drove away the vision, which immediately disappeared. Then he calmed down. Hence, the emergence of Lal was not the result of a painful illness of the psyche, and He had no need to be afraid.
  He did not try to do anything when Lal clearly appeared before him again. Most often from somewhere far away, where there were trees. And entered into dialogue with Him, listening to His talking.
  In His imagination, they looked each other over. Lal seemed to Him not only wiser, but also-for some reason-elder. As before, He heard Lal say "elder brother", but always wanted to call him "teacher".
  
  29
  
  The birth of Son radically changed their lives.
  At first, they both struggled terribly, as they were afraid to do anything wrong. They could not wait for anyone"s help or guidance; they could only endlessly check the materials provided by Eve and Lal.
  They had a lot of troubles. A full program for the robot child-minder did not exist; they had to continuously train it by their own operations, after which it would create and adjust the program on its own. But at first, they did not trust it, trying to do as much as possible on their own.
  And suddenly, besides the robot, they obtained another assistant: Dog. He was extremely interested when they showed him the baby for the first time. He tried to sniff it, but they didn"t let him get close enough. Still, he wagged his tail and lay quietly on the floor near the door.
  Once again, Dog made an attempt to either sniff or lick Son in their absence, but the robot did not let him, and sounded the alarm. Dog was punished, and he made no more attempts, keeping his distance from the child but always following him and the robot. And if something seemed wrong to him, he leaped up or even ran for them, pulling them to the baby clutching their clothing in his teeth.
  Gradually, they began to feel rather confident. Mom did everything quite skillfully. He just marveled-and, together with the robot-minder, imitated her.
  He loved very much to watch her breast-feed Son. They always bathed him together on their own. And during the night, they got up in turns to see how he was sleeping, although it was unnecessary since the robot was always there.
  Fortunately, Son developed normally, without any deviations that would have been immediately noted by the cyber-diagnostician. And he was quite calm.
  Everything about him was so unusual and surprising that the first year after his birth seemed unusually long. Every day brought something new. They noticed absolutely everything in every detail.
  "Look how he yawns!"
  "How he holds his head!"
  "He"s smiling! Hurry, come see!"
  He recognized them! He stretched his hands! He learned to sit! He crawled! His tooth emerged! He stood up, holding the play-pen wall! He started walking!!!
  These events were incredibly important, unforgettable. The joy, which more than compensated for all the work and stress, gave them strength and confidence. Everything from before had become less important. And it seemed that they themselves had completely changed . . .
  "Of course!" Lal said.
  "You know, we had no idea how to live without it."
  "Just as I thought. You see, Eve was right."
  "I"m sorry, my brother, but it was so good that we even almost stopped feeling sad about you."
  "That"s good, too!"
  "We named him Lal."
  
  Of course, they did not stop working. They had the strength to do anything.
  They started up another oxygenator, slowly filling the atmosphere with oxygen. And they continued planting forests.
  Mom planted fruit trees-not only as an experiment, but because she wanted the child to have real fresh fruit. Then she built a hydroponic vegetable garden. They were not large, the orchard and the vegetable garden, since there were no insects to pollinate flowers-this had to be done by a few robots, like the ones that worked on extraterrestrial plantations in the Near Cosmos of their first Earth.
  And He vigorously continued exploring for minerals, preparing factories for smelting metals and manufacturing masts and protective film for forests-since they had almost gone through all the reserves they had brought from Earth.
  As before, not everything turned out as they wanted; there were failures and mistakes. But they forgot about those when He and Mom came home and Son stretched out his hands to them.
  The sun sometimes shone through breaks in the clouds, or when they went walking with Son in the rock forest across the lake-with him in a baby carriage that could be hermetically sealed-and the light always made him smile. "Sunny!"
  "Do you like it, sonny?"
  He probably did! And so did Dog, who always came along on these walks.
  
  Gradually, Son started to walk more confidently, and they began to let him down on the ground outside. Initially, he clung to their arms or Dog"s neck. Then he quickly began to walk without holding anything.
  And, finally, he started to speak. It was a wonderful time. He mispronounced words in funny ways . . .
  "And what phrase did he say first, my elder brother?"
  "On my own!"
  . . . He really was incredibly independent, quickly learning to handle a spoon, to sit on his potty and then to dress. And, most importantly, he always found something to occupy himself, was not noisy and did not interfere. His favorite pastime was building things out of bright-plastic parts-and while he did this, it was safe to leave him alone with the robot child-minder and Dog.
  The timing of this development was perfect, as a period soon came where issues kept popping up that required immediate solutions and couldn"t be handled by computers.
  At first, they tried to take turns leaving home, but soon, seeing that Son could be left alone, they started both leaving at the same time. The robot promptly fed Son and put to bed.
   Dog followed him and took part in his games. So for a period of time, Son saw Him and Mom quite infrequently. He did not behave capriciously, though it was evident that he missed communicating with them.
  He took his revenge on Saturday, their only day off during that period. They woke up late, not in any rush. From the very beginning, his cot had always been in their bedroom, and on this day he woke up early and waited. Seeing that they were awake at last, he started to ask a question:
  "May I come to you??" He knew that today would not be failure. So he got off the cot and, padding barefoot across the floor, came to them.
  He lay in between them and started to ask questions. Many of them provoked their laughter. He quickly became tired of lying and climbed on top of someone, demanding that they toss him up; that was scary and he loved it. He laughed loudly, not a bit afraid.
  Then Mom washed him herself, and He ordered breakfast from the robot. Son sat in a high chair at the table with them. They breakfasted leisurely, talking and trying not to touch any work. After breakfast, they went to the sauna, and Son and Dog waited for them to finish so they could all go, dressed in their protective suits, to the trees across the lake.
  The trees had grown stronger and gained height quickly; an excess of carbon dioxide and the optimal dose of ultraviolet light transmitted through a protective film having worked wonders. The child felt excellent here; everything was familiar, and he could hide behind the trees.
  Occasionally, the "sunny" warmed, and then it was quite wonderful and they did not want to go anywhere else. Instead of his usual lunch, Son would drink goat"s milk, and they would stay up until the baby"s eyelids started to close. Then He would take him in his arms and carry him into the boat.
  After sleep and an afternoon snack, Son often asked to see "pictures", as he called children"s movies, and would climb onto someone"s lap. But the films never held his attention long; he was too fond of moving. Again, he would ask "to forest"-and if possible, they would sail there.
  They put him to bed early on Saturday. He had managed to get tired in the afternoon, and they wanted to sit at the table. Before putting him to bed, they bathed him. On their own, of course-without the robot"s help. Son squinted at the fun, sitting in warm water and playing with foam.
  They felt unusually calm and nice in this moment, watching his naked baby body, which was becoming more resilient. It prompted the vague feeling in their hearts that there had to be nothing better than this.
  Son quickly fell asleep, and after changing clothes, they sat at the table. They paid tribute to the festive food, dishes made with fresh meat and vegetables from the garden. Then He sat down at the orchestrion and played-for a long time-what he wanted, and what She asked. Sometimes She sang.
  Hugging her, He fell asleep, hearing the sounds of Son"s quiet snores and feeling that his life was full as never before.
  
  They started teaching Son in full as soon as the volume of urgent matters slightly decreased. And even so, it was reduced to showing him films and conversations he"d been looking forward to. He listened and memorized surprisingly quickly. When he was not even three years old, he already knew the names of all the trees in their forest.
  When it was time to begin the systematic education with the initial program, difficulties associated with his inclinations began to appear.
  He had learned digits before letters. Digits were convenient; they represented points that could be counted. But letters? The only way to learn was to listen to the recording. And he was stubborn. They had to take pains to explain to him the practical necessity of letters. But after he realized this, he learned them quickly.
  Very early, the practical direction of his interests manifested itself. He loved to make anything on his own, and he enjoyed watching how his parents worked. Whenever he was allowed, he tried to help them. Anything that was necessary to make quickly came easily to him.
  With Mom, he helped her with many small projects, when she was busy with the trees and at the vegetable garden-and quite sensibly. He watched while He worked with the computers, waiting patiently for permission to sit on His lap. And then he was silent, knowing that he must not interfere.
  To their chagrin, he manifested very little interest in poetry and tales. Nor in the stories and movies in which there was nothing to make. But when He dared to show Son a technological movie from the gymnasium curriculum, Son watched breathlessly, mouth open.
  Having only some musical ear, he was not particularly fond of learning and singing children"s songs. He would rather Mom let him go help with the goats or chickens.
  "A typical engineering mind," He determined.
  "Perhaps!" Mom agreed.
  
  30
  
  By the time he was four years old, Son"s character began to deteriorate; he became irritable and stubborn and, at the same time, boring and inert. Often, after switching on the screen when leaving him alone, they saw him sitting still on the floor instead of playing, hugging his knees and laying his head on them. And silent. What was he thinking? What had happened to him?
  Son once asked Him:
  "Papa, why are there a lot of people in the pictures?"
  "Because that"s how it really is."
  "No, it isn"t! There"s just three people: me, Mommy, and you. But Dog isn"t a person, and nanny too."
  "Yes, sonny-there are a lot of people."
  "Do more people really exist in the world? Not only in the pictures?"
  Trying not to overstress him, they began to tell him about the people on Earth, little by little.
  Once, they saw him pushing away Dog and the minder on the screen.
  "You, Dog, can"t speak, and you, Nanny, are not alive-because you"re not human. But on Earth, there are more people, and little ones-children, like me, and they talk to each other and play. But you can"t. So go away, both of you!"
  Dog wagged his tail guiltily, and the robot rolled into the corner.
  It became clear that he needed to socialize with other children. He had passed the age when a child could play alone.
  And they decided they needed to have another child.
  
  The waiting started again. He watched Mom"s figure grow stout anew, helping to adjusted her suit and support again.
  And soon, he found himself holding another tiny creature: a girl.
  . . . When they told Son he now had a little sister, he was very surprised:
  "But she wasn"t here!"
  "You also weren"t here before."
  "Really? Then where did she come from?"
  "From Mom"s belly."
  "She got out?"
  "Exactly."
  "Why didn"t she come with me? Or wasn"t I in Mom"s belly?"
  "You were, too. Before her."
  "Where is she?"
  "Do you want to see her?"
  "Of course I do!"
  Having seen her, he was again awfully surprised:
  "Oh, she"s so little! How will she play with me?"
  "She must grow first."
  "But can she talk?"
  "Not yet, of course! But she will learn."
  "How?"
  "We will teach her."
  "We-and me, too?"
  "Of course! She"s your little sister, and you"re her older brother. You"re going to help us take care of her. Is that okay?"
  He was especially happy to have something to do.
  "I will, I will!"
  . . . And Son"s boredom went away-he had a lot of things to do now: watching how his sister slept and yawned, and running to her when she started to cry.
  Then she began to grow, and every day became more fun. Her brother helped her learn to walk and climb, picked her up when she fell, and played with her.
  But she was still very little and could not really be his friend. And on top of that, he sometimes felt jealous that he no longer got exclusive attention from Him and Mom. After all, he was still little, too.
  Until that day.
  
  When He thought about that day, Lal appeared in Him.
  "Mom promised him the very first apple that ripened in the orchard. But the fruit trees did not blossom for a long time, and then did not bear fruits for even longer; the seedlings had suffered badly during their time preserved in space. Finally, fertilized blossoms appeared on one of the apple trees. Son"s joy was great . . .
  "Soon I"ll eat the first apple!"
  ". . . It seemed to be the most beautiful among the rest, though still quite green. Mom ran the analysis, which confirmed its edibility.
  "The three of us sailed home from the orchard. When we took off our protective suits, Son ran to find his sister and Dog so they could see the apple before he ate it.
  "Mom washed the apple and put it on the table. It seemed too wonderful to us . . . large, red. And it smelled delicious.
  "Son ran into the room, followed by Dog. Daughter tripped at the door, then got on all fours. And Son grabbed the apple, showing it to them.
  "Here it is!" Then he brought it to his face to admire it once more before eating it.
  "Give! Me!" Daughter said suddenly, clinging to his pants with one hand and reaching for the apple with her other.
  "Son had not expected this, so he looked at her in surprise. Then he turned to us. In his questioning look, he seemed perplexed. Actually, the apple had been promised to him long ago, when he did not have a sister.
  "But We stayed silent; something kept Us from intervening. I just felt my heart pounding furiously, and Mom was terribly pale.
  "Do! Give! Me! I want!" She wrinkled her nose, ready to cry.
  "Eat! Eat!" he said hurriedly, dropping to his knees and bringing the apple to her mouth. She could hardly bite through the skin.
  "Eat! Eat, little one. Nanny, give me the knife. I need to cut the skin."
  "Cut it in half. Half will be enough for her."
  "No, let her eat the whole thing. Do you like it?"
  She nodded.
  "More apples will grow later. Have you seen how many there are on the tree?"
  "She nodded, her mouth full. He cut the apple into small pieces and gave them her. Only when she had eaten her fill did he try a little of the cut-off peel.
  "Delicious! And you try it too!"
  "Eat it yourself, sonny!"
  "Why? I"m not little, you know."
  "How did he manage to do this without our prompting? We had never told him anything about this. What for? Indeed, in our time, it is unnecessary-all people have enough of everything. We ourselves had never faced a similar situation and could not have suspected its possibility."
  "But he saw how you treat each other."
  "Do you think so?"
  "Yes-believe me!"
  "Perhaps you"re right."
  "Did you praise him?"
  "No. I said nothing. Mom actually could not speak, she was so emotional, with tears in her eyes."
  "It"s an important lesson for all: for them, for you-and those on Earth."
  "I thought about that. We can really be a lot better, raising our children ourselves."
  "And happier."
  "Yes. It was one of our best days."
  
  Daughter was very different from her brother. She was a more vivid creature-more playful and gentler, but at the same time more capricious and touchy. If not for Son, she would have been much more difficult to manage. But since that day with the apple, feeling grown-up, he had begun to really take care of her. Sometimes, when wouldn"t obey them, Son intervened, and then she obeyed him completely.
  She had many traits that he did not; she was very musical, loved poetry and tales, and danced to their general satisfaction. But she was a bit lazy and only imitated her brother"s in trying to do anything useful.
  Due to Son"s care of his sister, He and Mom could both be away for a long time. Together, the two children were never bored. Periodically, switching on the screen, He and Mom could see how they played and talk with them.
  Son made great progress and, in addition, mastered much beyond his regular curriculum by watching He and Mom work, and asking them questions. Most of all, he was interested in machines, especially robots. This resulted in some incidents. One day, he turned off the power of the robot child-minder. It happened in his parents" absence, so he was punished.
  "But what if you needed something?"
  "Dad . . ." Son had begun calling Him this after the day when he"d given his sister the apple. "But you know I can do whatever needs to be done. I"ll be fine."
  "He knows everything," Daughter confirmed gravely, standing next to him. "He put me to poo so many times."
  "Why did you do that?"
  "Nanny kept us from playing. And . . . I just wanted to see what would happen."
  Another time, he did something more serious. After coming back, He and Mom couldn"t find Son at home. Daughter was playing by herself.
  It wasn"t obvious where he had gone. When they switched on the screen, it looked like he was studying at the computer. But when they checked the computer he wasn"t there.
  "Where is your brother?" they asked Daughter.
  "Ah, he"s somewhere here!" she said.
  "Where here?"
  "Here, here. Yes!"
  Something felt wrong. They searched the whole dwelling block. Had he decided to play a joke on them and hide? No, he was nowhere. They had already given him a radio bracelet, but he didn"t answer their calls.
  He only replied to them half an hour later, and fifteen minutes after that, he showed up in the airlock riding on a six-legged robot and wearing an armored suit, along with Dog. His whereabouts became clear at once when he came out of the airlock with a magnificent brilliant "branch" of the white petals of crystalline gypsum.
  "Why did you leave?"
  "I wanted to see Lal"s grotto and bring sister a gypsum flower."
  "Do you understand that it"s dangerous for you to go out alone?"
  "Why?"
  "You"re still little."
  "But I did everything right. I wore armor."
  "We"re not on Earth."
  "So what? This is our planet."
  "But you deceived us. And you forced your sister to tell a lie."
  "He didn"t. I did that on my own. He said he would be back soon, you would never know," Daughter said, standing up for her brother again.
  They questioned him closely. He had to tell them both how he was able to turn off the entrance lock and how he had set up the video of him studying at the computer. As for going out to the cave, he really had done everything right. Just like an adult. He was a good boy, although guilty.
  He had to have a serious talk with Son. Son promised that he wouldn"t go out alone again until he was allowed, but it was clear that he did not understand the potential danger in his excursion.
  
  32
  
  The next year brought them an unexpected, terrible ordeal.
  When a cruiser from the Express was scheduled to bring them a new stock of food, instead of landing on Earth-2 at the right time, it went astray and passed by the planet into the Near Cosmos. It was a serious nuisance.
  If it went into a heliocentric orbit, it would eventually be possible to land it using the radio control. But if the cruiser moved along an open path-or an elliptical but too-eccentric trajectory?
  They were alarmed. The main problem was that they had instructed the previous cruiser to bring them a larger-than-usual amount of equipment and a smaller-than-usual amount of food. They had risked doing this because, until now, nothing had gone wrong with the cruisers" deliveries.
  And because of this, their food supplies were low. They could still rely on the vegetable garden and, to some extent, the goats and chickens, whose fodder had mostly still been delivered.
  They urgently sent a radio command for the immediate dispatch of a second cruiser with a doubled amount of food and fodder, as well as chlorella , which could provide nutrition for them and their animals as a last resort. Of course, a double supply of food would create additional problems-it was much easier to keep safe in space. But they had no choice; the situation demanded more robust insurance. The cargo of the second cruiser was gathered and the cruiser sent to Earth-2, and He continuously watched its movement.
  But suddenly, about halfway, He noticed a deviation from its planned trajectory. The cruiser quickly began to move closer to a planet with a very large mass, composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Like Jupiter in the Solar System.
  Attempts to change its direction of movement using radio signals yielded no results; it eventually caught up with the other planet. Then, after coming very close to it, the cruiser was pulled inside the planet, and communication with it was cut short. Even if the cruiser was unharmed, it was now completely inaccessible.
  This was a disaster. By that time, their stocks of food and fodder were already extremely low. There were only a few chickens and goats left-the rest had already been slaughtered and eaten.
  The last week before the disaster, He almost did not leave the space-communications desk, spending all his time trying to straighten the course of the cruiser. He only ate when he had a spare moment, and almost always alone. Mom herself served Him food. They barely talked-it was all so clear that nothing needed to be said. She looked no better than Him: pale and haggard.
  What could they do now? Call the third and last cruiser? They could find a way to last while it was on its way. But they had no guarantee it would ever actually arrive. It was clear that the deviations from the cruisers" courses had not been random-since the same thing had happened twice. It seemed He had no choice but to fly to the hyperexpress himself.
  It was no less risky than calling the last cruiser. He would have to fly on a launch . . . Would he be able to avoid whatever had diverted the cruisers? What was it? If he understood what was happening, he could at least try to prevent it.
  What was most likely? Could it be the Express"s hyper-apparatus causing some kind of distortion of space? What would he find when analyzing the movement of the cruisers that had not come? He tasked the computer to analyze both trajectories.
  Time-He needed time! But they had less and less of it. There was barely enough food, even if He were to fly immediately. He decided to limit himself to the first results of the calculation, and he told Mom about this.
  "It might be better to wait, Dad . . . In half a year, we can send a ship on autopilot to see if whatever caused the cruisers" deviations still exists? In the meantime, we still have some provisions. We can plant more gardens, which will provide for both us and the animals."
  "We won"t make it to the first harvest with the food we have left. Even with the maximum use of growth stimulators."
  "One of us would be able to survive."
  "And the others?"
  "The others won"t require food during this time."
  "What are you suggesting-suspended animation?!"
  "But what if you don"t make it back?"
  "Only then. You know what to do."
  "I do."
  It could be just a last resort, for when the situation became absolutely desperate. Suspended animation technology had failed enough tests that they couldn"t hope to use it safely and confidently; it would threaten them with surprises every time. It had not met the required expectations for them to use it as one of the main means of implementing flights in the Far Cosmos, which was why only cyborgs had travelled there before the hyperexpress.
  "The animals will all have to be slaughtered."
  "One nanny goat can stay alive; I"ll feed her with twigs, and she"ll survive somehow."
  "Probably."
  "And a few eggs. Later, we"ll hatch chickens again."
  "And . . . and one more thing . . ."
  "What?"
  "There"s also nothing to feed Dog."
  "No."
  "How do we tell Son?"
  "Maybe we shouldn"t tell him at all?"
  "Are you sure we"ll be able to hide it? But-how could we tell him?"
  How? They would tell him that there was nothing to feed the Dog, so he would have to be killed. Dog, who had not been parted from Son since his birth. Whom he loved almost as much as he loved his parents and his little sister.
  Son looked at Him wide-eyed with horror when He told him that. He couldn"t believe that there was no other way. When he finally understood, he dropped his head. For the first time in his life, he seemed numb with grief.
  What had He said to Son? That they had come here to solve civilization"s greatest challenge-to make the planet habitable-and that all the people in the world were counting on them to manage it. To do this, they were obliged to survive-at any price. He reminded Son about Lal, who had perished on this planet and whose name had been given to Son.
  Son did not respond, still looking down. He was silent for a long time. Then he said:
  "Take me with you," and Mom and He could not refuse him.
  They fed Dog for the last time. Then they spent a long time bidding him farewell, as he wagged his tail and looked devotedly in their eyes. Then the children were sent to sleep.
  He did not tell Son that during the flight, they would also eat the canned meat of Dog.
  
  Their flight, contrary to expectations, went off without a hitch. As if He"d never had anything to fear. He approached the hyperexpress according to the regular program, without making any adjustments.
  The many-kilometers-long hyperexpress turned on its signal lights by His radio command, and Son stared at it as they slowly approached. The excitement of his first voyage in space seemed to dull his grief a little.
  After putting the launch into the receiving compartment, He left it alone. Then He made his first inspection-the instruments showed the complete absence of any dangerous deviations.
  Only in the Express"s records did He find any incomprehensible activations of the hyper-apparatus. It had happened three times at regular intervals-a little more than every earthly month. The first and last of them coincided with the departures the cruisers that had not reached them.
  He returned to Son.
  "It seems all right." He fed Son quickly and then sent a command to gather the cargo according the program He had just entered. Then he sent a message to Mom.
  The thought of Her and Daughter made him hurry. After loading the last cruiser with food, chlorella, seeds, batteries, and a small amount of equipment, they immediately flew back.
  And so Son made his first space flight and experienced the first tragedy in his life. At eight years old.
  
  33
  
  The incident forced them to take precautions without delay: using hydroponics, they planted more crops. Of the remaining ten eggs, only two hatched chickens-one of whom was a cock. But the single hen provided them an opportunity to get more eggs and breed a flock. Their nanny goat became pregnant from preserved sperm. And so they protected themselves from hunger.
  But they still had to send the last cruiser back to the Express for the remaining equipment. At first, they were worried it might not return, but everything turned out all right, and gradually they calmed down.
  The oxygenators were working well, and the planet"s atmosphere already contained a significant amount of oxygen. Power stations, mines and factories operated while new ones were being built underground. They were mining ores and accumulating metals. Masts were produced, and film generated. The planet became increasingly covered by trees.
  And the children grew up. They were still surprisingly different from one another. Perhaps it was because Daughter was much younger. Gentle, cheerful, with a sonorous voice-the general favorite, and perhaps a little spoiled. She was mainly interested in stories and movies about the Earth.
  And Son-calm, serious, taciturn. He also loved to be busy, always doing something. He could manage many machines and make programs of moderate complexity. He dreamed of the moment when he would be allowed to fly a space launch on his own.
  He grew taller and stronger. Loved sports and movement. His complete fearlessness was striking, and he walked on this planet with some special confidence not characteristic of the rest.
  Still, Earth was His and Mom"s native home. Only there would they ever feel entirely confident. Here, some anxiety and uncertainty would always shadow their existence. Only in the cave, in their dwelling under the massive stone arch and durable roof, did they generally feel calm.
  And it was only Son who was not a stranger on this planet. Not knowing any fear, he jumped off a cliff into the lake, dived deep, and when his head appeared above the water, his face shone with pleasure. Mom was afraid for him, but He did not think to stop Son; He was proud of his courage.
  
  The oxygen in the atmosphere finally became so plentiful that meteorites did not reach the surface-instead, they burned up completely. Only one especially large one reached the ground after that.
  Unfortunately, He was right nearby the crash site when it happened. He had flown there with the launch, wanting to inspect the interesting landscape-a sandy desert surrounded by mountains.
  A whirlwind of air overturned Him, and He slid down into a pit, covered deeply with sand that the air wave had raised. Fortunately, he was in his hard armor, which he always wore when prospecting alone.
  He tried to get out, but the fine sand wouldn"t let him move up. He needed something to grab on to-but where was the closest wall of the pit? He turned over approximately one hundred and eighty degrees-most likely, it was behind him. He moved down on it and then slowly began to move forward, wriggling like a worm.
  Finally, He found the solid wall. Groping with a hand until He hooked his fingers on a ledge-He somehow started to creep up. Then He felt another barely noticeable ledge.
  He was moving up-terribly slow, spending an incredible amount of effort. His hand slipped several times.
  And suddenly, it became easier. Impenetrable darkness broke, and the upper part of the helmet with its antenna spike came out of the sand. He had no strength left. But somewhere above Him, a trickle of sand flowed, threatening to bury Him again.
  With his last shred of effort, He managed to turn on the radio for help. The ship had to be intact-it was far enough away, since He had gotten here with a seat-helicopter. Reflected off the cliffs, his signal would reach it and then, reinforced through one of the communication satellites, reach them.
  It was the last thing He remembered; He lost consciousness.
  . . . How long He stayed unconscious was unknown-but apparently, it was for a long time. He woke up when something knocked on his helmet. It was dark; He must have been buried from above or fallen back down.
  The knocking on his helmet stopped. Breathing was very hard, and He had no strength. He thought about nothing and felt no fear-it was some kind of complete indifference.
  From above, He heard the rustling of sand. And suddenly his eyes were blasted by the bright light of a lamp. Again, He began to fall into oblivion.
  He woke up in the launch without his helmet on. Before He opened his eyes, He greedily sucked in a few deep breaths. Son was standing above Him, leaning over.
  "Where"s Mom?" He finally managed to say.
  "At home. What"s up, Dad?"
  "A meteorite. Near here." He could barely move his parched tongue.
  "Are you hurt?"
  "No, I think. Only it"s difficult to breathe."
  Son helped Him sit down and then began to dig in His suit.
  "The regenerative cartridge is out of order. Were you badly thrown?"
  "I don"t even remember. But why are you here?"
  "I received your signal first. They weren"t home-flew to the fruit plantation. Mom wouldn"t have been able to get here in less than two hours, so I didn"t wait for her." Son went on to tell the whole story in detail.
  He had not informed Mom-just quickly put on armor and flew out with the second launch that was close to the cave. On his way here, Son had spotted His ship from above and landed.
  "The launch was empty. I attached the helicopter, flew higher and started fumbling with the hand locator. It took a long time-I didn"t think you would be so far away from your launch. Finally, the locator picked something up, and I flew there.
  "It was dark; almost nothing was visible. My flashlight only lit up the slope of the mountain, and I sat on it. Tied the rope to a large rock and started down. The locator pointed there. It was all sand. I sent a command to the launch-ordered an air car to come with a winch and tools-but I didn"t wait. I tried holding the rope to rake sand away from a small funnel. Then I poked a long probe in the sand until it bumped into you. You weren"t deep-I dug you out quickly and tied you to the end of the rope I was hanging on. Then the air car landed-the winch raised us and brought us here. That"s it!"
  "You"ve already talked with Mom?"
  "No. She doesn"t know yet."
  He did not know whether to thank Son for his timely help-or scold him. What for? An unauthorized flight in a ship-which was no joke. But he"d done everything as well as possible, and for that he had to be praised.
  "Okay, let"s talk at home," was all He said.
  What would Mom think? Postponing the search for the fallen meteorite, He flew the launch; the second one flew behind it, driven by radio.
  Nausea ceased, and He spoke with Son about the meteorite. The ships flew above the clouds, and they could see two moons in the sky: the largest and the smallest.
  . . . During the flight, He still had not decided whether to tell Mom about what had happened to Him, so He just sent the radio message: "Flying home."
  At home, before he could open His mouth-Mom fell upon Son, agitated beyond recognition, screaming and crying:
  "How dare you!"
  And then She did something no one had ever expected: She slapped Son in the face.
  Son reddened with resentment. He wanted to tell her everything, but suddenly the boy said on his own:
  "Mom! Mommy! Forgive me. I won"t do it again," and he gazed at Him. He realized He didn"t need to explain anything.
  Mom burst into tears, and Son hugged her, and they started to calm down.
  . . . They did not tell Mom what had happened. But ever since that day, He had felt to the full extent the respect for Son that had first arisen when he gave his little sister the apple.
  
  Son grew up noticeably. His assistance in their affairs became appreciable, evolving from its initial purpose as predominantly educational. He and Mom began to discuss issues in his presence more frequently, and they gave him the opportunity to express his own opinion when he wanted.
  He delved deeply into all that had been done, was being done and should be done on the planet. He flew with Him and Mom, and occasionally alone to all corners of the planet, visiting all its sites. Many of the things concerning the nature of the planet and some of its parts, he remembered even better than He and Mom. They began charging him with solving increasingly difficult practical problems, and he developed the ability to deal with them on his own.
  Daughter tried to keep up with her brother, but she was inferior to him in this, and not just because of their age difference. But Son fully turned over to her the care of animals and plantations. In these affairs, almost nothing changed-robots did most of the work, and she only had to supervise as guided by Mom. But this activity awakened her interest in biology.
  So, Daughter spent most of the time with Mom, and Son-with Him.
  
  34
  
  The air on the planet finally contained enough oxygen for the plants" nighttime respiration-so they started to remove the protective film. Their stay on the planet was coming to the end.
  The cruiser now mainly carried loads to the Express-batteries with an energy supply-and returned with what was left of the seed for the forestation of the remainder of the planet"s surface. Some forest restoration was also necessary, because there had been two grand wildfires caused by lightning after they removed the film, which they had only barely managed to contain. Then they had stopped dismantling the metal masts-and installed lightning rods on them.
  . . . Two years later, they ventured for the first time to take off their protective suits. Breathing was possible. But it was still difficult-still a more than ideal proportion of carbon dioxide.
  However, their goals did not really include making the composition of the atmosphere almost the same as on Earth. As long as the planet had not yet been settled, the excess carbon dioxide would contribute to the growth of trees. And it would provide them with nutrition until better sources of carbon-dioxide would appear: humans and animals. It should also be enough for the chlorella, which would be put in the seas just before departure to provide the opportunity to settle fish in them with the next arrival.
  They had planned to depart in a year, but events soon occurred that forced them to hurry. It began with the fact that the cruiser, just like last time, deviated suddenly again from its course and went out into space-something had happened to the hyper-apparatus on the Express again.
  The loss of the last cruiser was not yet a complete disaster; they had traveled before to the Express on their launch, and He was sure that He would be able to get this back to them. Beforehand, they would need to send one of other launches for exploration-on autopilot.
  But the archives with files of the planet data, the flasks with the air of each year of their stay, the samples of rocks and plants grown on the planet-all those would have to be left. They wouldn"t be able take with them the habitual dwelling unit-and this would deprive them of most of their comforts. And most importantly, they would need to leave the last large lot of batteries that may not be superfluous in the Far Cosmos . . .
  Suddenly, they noticed some object moving like a comet in the Near Cosmos, and it turned out to be the first of the cruisers they had lost.
  All attempts to bring it into a trajectory approaching the planet via radio were unsuccessful-so then He and Son flew to intercept it. Their launch was loaded to capacity with batteries and fuel for the cruiser"s annihilator engine; and driven by radio, another one with exactly the same load followed it.
  The cruiser was completely intact, including its whole load. Except that it must have consumed its entire supply of energy, because its controls did not work.
  The energy they brought revived the cruiser. Its engines and pilot-computer started working again and it came down safely.
  It was almost unbelievable good luck. When they saw the cruiser-a giant next to their launches, ready for travel-they decided not to postpone.
  
  And they started preparing for the flight away. Since the oxygenizators had done a tremendous job after so many years, they were turned off. Then the plants were temporarily cut off as well-except for the power plants, which were all working to charge as many batteries as possible.
  They bade farewell to the planet-visited their favorite places for the last times and shot their last movies. Among these visits was the Land of the Azure Rocks. The colors, whose depths had endeared the planet to Mom before Son"s birth, had faded somehow-probably affected by the changes in the atmosphere.
  . . . All that remained was to load the residential unit in the cruiser. On the last night-before dismantling it and taking it out of the cave-they arranged a farewell banquet.
  The children had already grown up and gotten used to sitting with them at the table on Saturday nights. And as always, He played the orchestrion and violin for them.
  How attentively they listened! Even Son, who had previously been indifferent to music. Recently, he seemed to be changing considerably: his love of beauty had awakened, and he had begun to enjoy poetry and music and to be moved by books and movies. Especially, as He noticed, those that Layla had contributed to; it seemed he saw nothing but her while watching them.
  That evening, they experienced contrasting feelings. Son, perhaps, felt sad to depart from the planet that had been his only home. But the others rejoiced at the opportunity to see Earth.
  Later, He and Mom sent the children to bed but stayed in the salon. Mom seemed particularly beautiful to Him at that night, even though she was pale and, apparently, somehow wary.
  Mom! By that time, He had completely lost the habit of calling her otherwise, even in his thoughts, and had almost forgotten her earthly name-Eya. Just as his own had been seemingly forgotten in place of Dad. Son was also not called by his name, and Daughter even had no proper name. Here, there were just the four of them.
  He was quietly playing some improvisation, and Mom sitting silently, occasionally lifting her head and looking at Him as if about to speak, but at the last moment hesitating.
  He broke the silence:
  "Son is changing considerably."
  "He is coming into his prime," Mom replied. "He"s become more dreamy and receptive to beauty. Looking at women is beginning to excite him."
  But it seemed She was thinking about something else. He again plunged into his music.
  "Dad!" She called.
  "What?"
  "Listen! I want to tell you something."
  "I"m listening."
  "Dearest of mine . . . I"m pregnant."
  "What?!"
  "The cyber-diagnostician showed me a week ago. It"s terrible timing, since we are about to leave. But this shouldn"t delay our departure."
  "Have you-done anything yet?"
  "Not yet. I thought I should tell you first." Now She looked pale to the limit. He sat down beside her.
  Yes, it was the wrong moment-a flight would be too stressful for a pregnant woman, with its acceleration and braking, turns and maneuvers. But He felt what it meant for Him and Mom-to kill this new life and get rid of a child. Their child.
  "Now you know. We won"t postpone our departure. I will do what is needed, right now."
  "No!" He almost shouted.
  "What-no?"
  "I"ll drive the cruiser so nothing will happen to you. Let him be born!"
  "The cruiser will have to fly almost three times slower, then."
  "We have plenty of energy."
  "But we don"t know what awaits us in the Far Cosmos."
  "Did we know what awaited us here? Remember, you were afraid then, too. Well, imagine that I had not succeeded to convince you, and we did not have our children today. Huh? Neither Son nor Daughter."
  "This is a habitable planet, though-not the Cosmos."
  "We already successfully overcome the Cosmos once, and then we lost Lal as soon as we got here."
  "Still . . ."
  "Don"t do this. I beg you, Mom. I want It to be."
  She was silent, and He waited tensely. And when She finally said:
  "Well, let It be," they hugged each other and sat in silence for a long time.
  
  The cruiser was packed to capacity. They had loaded the archives with a huge amount of invaluable information, plus countless samples of mineral and plants. Animals-a pair of each kind; the rest, they did not dare to leave on the planet without supervision. Their meat with fruits and vegetables would have to be the fresh food supply for the first part of the flight. And they set the residential unit in the cruiser, but the lion"s share of the load was batteries for energy. They filled the cruiser to capacity up to the very last gram.
  They flew around the planet on a launch, at a low altitude. For the last time, they walked through the garden and the forest near the lake.
  And for the last time, they went into the already-empty cave where they had lived for seventeen years. They left their images and recording there, in case of a visit by any unexpected aliens to Earth-2. Or in case of their own death. At the cave"s entrance, they erected a brightly colored obelisk with a beacon continuously powered by solar batteries.
  They performed final inspections on the sites left working: the power plants and mining complexes.
  And then they sat down to spend their last moments here in thought. On the ground, touching it with their hands. The sun warmed them. It was far sadder than they had expected, and when they stood up and went to the cruiser, their legs did not want to break away from the ground.
  And so-everything was closed, battened down, hermetically sealed. They settled into chairs in the control room, in front of the control panel.
  Launch system running. That was it! Start!
  
  35
  
  Earth-2 took up most of the screen, and they eagerly watched as it slowly moved away. Their new planet-lifeless when they had arrived here, now covered with green forests. And air, which, although difficult, was possible to breathe. The planet on which He and Mom had experienced so many changes, really. They had altered not only the planet-but also themselves.
  Son was the saddest of them all. He never left the screen for a moment. Fortunately, the planet did not disappear too quickly.
  But then he became perplexed:
  "When will we start the real acceleration, Dad?"
  "We won"t."
  "Why not? Then we"ll have to fly like this for nearly three months, right?"
  "You"re right. But a big acceleration would be bad for Mom; we will soon be five."
  "Really?!" Son responded happily. This news cheered both children immediately-they even stopped being sad about leaving the planet.
  
  They got to the Express safely. And on the approach, He took all necessary precautions. Although He knew the deviations from course by the cruisers had certainly been caused by the activations of the hyper-apparatus, He still did not know what had caused the activations in the first place.
  Again, the space near the Express had no trace of this anomaly. But there they were-in the records on the Express. At this point, there were many of them, but the intervals between them were not equal. He put off studying them for the flight ahead.
  He turned on the annihilation engines, and the Express, slowly enacting an orientation maneuver, left the heliocentric orbit for the Far Cosmos. Everything was going fine, and Mom felt good.
  . . . They began to study the records associated with the unknown activations of the hyper-apparatus, and succeeded almost immediately to find that the duration of activation was strictly the same every time, and most of intervals between them were strictly equal. The rest of the intervals were becoming increasingly smaller, but were, however, significantly larger than the strictly equal intervals.
  
  2 ■■
  3 ■■■ The intervals becoming increasingly smaller.
  5 ■■■■■
  7 ■■■■■■■ The intervals becoming increasingly smaller.
  11 ■■■■■■■■■■■
  13 ■■■■■■■■■■■■■
   17 ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
  19 ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
  23 ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
  29 ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
  31 ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
  37 ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
  41 ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
  
   ■■ Strictly equal intervals between adjacent activations
  
   The time intervals between the first activations of each pair of adjacent groups
  
  After plotting charts, they were staggered. The activations went as increasing groups, and the time intervals between the first activation of each pair of adjacent groups were also strictly equal. But the most important detail-the most striking-was the number of activations for each group after the first one: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41! Prime numbers! And the number of groups-13, also a prime number! The hyper-apparatus had been born by primes, and now it had seemed to begin birthing them.
  But the puzzle of the phenomenon became even more striking after Son found in the records that the activations of the hyper-apparatus had not been accompanied by an increase in energy consumption. So, they were not self-activations-they had been caused by an outside force! But where from?
  "Can"t the hyperspace induce them on its own?"
  "Hardly. Until now, nothing of the sort has been found. Neither by Tupac, nor by us when we flew around the sun."
  "What if it was some fairytale creatures?" Daughter asked; she still believed in fairy tales, though not seriously, of course.
  "Maybe not a fairytale," Son said thoughtfully. "Dad, could these be signals from some sentient creatures?"
  "Unfortunately, I hardly believe in such a possibility," He said. He did not want to jump to such extreme conclusions. How many times had researchers of mysterious cosmic phenomena taken them for "signals of extraterrestrial civilizations" only to then find other natural explanations? This had led to a carefulness that He shared fully. Contact with another civilization seemed a matter for a very distant future. When they all would have long ceased to exist.
  "We must not make hurried assumptions."
  
  He didn"t rush to study the causes of the activation-postponing this until their arrival on the Earth. For now, his focus was on something else: Mom"s growing belly. They were all in a state of joyful anticipation, lavishing attention on Mom. She was completely released from the watches-only the men kept watch, He and Son.
  But Mom was not idle. During the flight, She and He needed to counteract the drawbacks of having educated their children on another planet-to properly prepare them for life on Earth. Otherwise, it was likely they would experience culture shock, feeling confused, disoriented and overwhelmed.
  And so again, they told the children all about Earth, in detail.
  "How can they really live without their parents?" Both children found this surprising, and perhaps even frightening.
  He and Mom answered-but now they themselves were hardly able to imagine normal life without daily contact with children. Taking this question as a starting point, they told the children a lot.
  About the existing structure of the society, about the historical conditions that created it. About how children on Earth were raised and educated.
  But except the fact that the children on the Earth did not have fathers and mothers, nothing caused them to wonder. The Children took for granted everything they had been told, including the existence of inadequates.
  Then, like Lal once had, they started to tell their children the history of the previous epochs and all the social structures that had existed in the past. And then they returned to the modern epoch.
  . . . "We have tried to do it your way," He said to Lal, whom He saw very clearly in his mind. And Lal nodded . . .
  But the children couldn"t draw conclusions yet; the Earth was still so far away, and much about it remained unclear for them. Perhaps other things worried them more.
  "Dad, but what if it was, after all, signals for Those?" Son asked suddenly, interrupting the lesson about Earth.
  So the children were given a respite. They feared placing too much stress on them before the hypertransfer.
  . . . Then Kid was born and became the center of everything. The first person to come to life in interstellar space.
  Son said to his sister:
  "You were just like this. I remember."
  And she almost never left Kid"s side. Even the mystery of the activations faded to the backs of their minds. The Express flew, covering billions of kilometers, and Kid began to grow. By the time they had to make a hypertransfer, he was already three months old-and he"d begun to smile.
  
  Four seats and a special bed for Kid were installed in the chamber.
  With only three hours left before the hypertransfer, more activations of the hyper-apparatus were recorded. And again, they came in groups: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67. Nineteen groups.
  "Dad, it"s the same signals! We have to respond!" Son cried.
  He hesitated. There wasn"t enough time before the hypertransfer. And they still couldn"t be certain these were really signals. But Son insisted:
  "Dad! At least a short answer! Otherwise, we might miss our only opportunity of establishing first contact! Dad!" Son almost begged him.
  Then Son"s confidence began to rub off on him. And He gave up. He turned on further activations of the hyper-apparatus in response-by groups precisely repeating as previously recorded: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67. The response signal-the first attempt to establish first contact through hyperspace.
  "Again, Dad!" Son asked.
  He shook his head
  "It takes a lot of energy. Let"s wait."
  But nothing else happened. They waited, peering tensely at the devices right up until it was time to enter the chamber.
  . . . They were already in their seats, pressed with the inflating film as their skin lost sensitivity, watching the instruments while the hyper-apparatus was activated for the beginning of the transfer. And suddenly, in the last moments at the verge of the start, other activations of the hyper-apparatus began to overlap the programmed ones. Again, they were going by groups: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11.
  "Signals! Signals!" He heard in the headphones-Son, Mother and Daughter were all screaming. "Hurry!" And He managed to command with his voice to halt the hypertransfer.
  Into hyperspace, they sent back the repeated signal: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11.
  Almost immediately, the answer came: 13, 17, 19, 23, 29. He repeated it.
  And then again, it was: 31, 37, 41, 43, 47. He again responded with the same signal.
  But the next signal was again: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11. And when He responded with the same, it repeated unchanged. As if He was being offered an opportunity to respond with something else.
  A vague conjecture flashed in the brain. And almost not believing that it was true, He responded: 13, 17, 19, 23, 29.
  And then it came: 31, 37, 41, 43, 47. It was clear-increasing! He responded: 53, 59, 61, 67, 71. Again, the signal: 73, 79, 83, 89, 97. The response: 101, 103, 107, 109, 113. So, He had understood them correctly!
  And the next signal: 113, 109, 107, 103, 101-which was answered confidently: 97, 89, 83, 79, 73.
  The signal: 71, 67, 61, 59, 53-the answer: 47, 43, 41, 37, 31.
  29, 23, 19, 17-13, 11, 7.
  5, 3-2!
  All his doubts had vanished. This was a dialogue-a primitive dialogue. Verifying their possibility to understand each other. First contact!
  Once again, activations started, but they weren"t like the previous ones: they weren"t in groups of exactly the same discrete activations. Now they came almost continuously, with a comparatively small number of pauses, and also accompanied by a continuous modulation of the frequency and amplitude. It would be impossible to understand them immediately. But the computer recorded the message, and they would bring it back to Earth.
  As soon as reception stopped, He commanded the archive to turn on the transfer of the Message of Earthly Mankind. The computer translated it hastily from the language of transfer by a laser beam into the language of hyper-apparatus activations. The Message of Earthly Mankind went into the hyperspace, to Those.
  And then, finally, they could start the hypertransfer. More than two hours had elapsed since the previous false start, and all this time the computer-pilot had been making necessary amendments.
  The hyper-apparatus was turned on again for the transfer. The start clock ticked down the remaining seconds: ". . . five, four, three, two, one. Start!" Everything became dark.
  
  36
  
  As soon as He regained consciousness, He looked at the board clock; the hypertransfer had lasted 72 hours and 17 minutes. Unusually long-almost to the limit of probable deviations of three sigma from the average estimated time. What could it mean?
  But then Son, soiled with waste, appeared and quickly took off His helmet. He felt terrible-worse than before. When He was finally able to raise his head again, He saw that Son was already holding Kid, who seemed to feel fine. Daughter was busy with Mom, still hunched up.
  Using robots, Children helped them get out of the befouled chamber and get to the sauna. They washed away the filth and drank hot infusions of Schisandra. They each underwent inspection by the cyber-diagnostician.
  Children were completely fine. Kid soon made a sound, and Daughter fed him from a bottle; he had come out of the transfer incredibly easily-without any vomiting or diarrhea. But He and Mom were worse than the first time.
  As soon as He could, He went to the control room, leaving Mom"s care to Son-He was anxious about the transfer having taken such a long time.
  His fears were immediately confirmed. They were far from the estimated point of exit from the transfer, with a deviation proportional to the deviation in time, equal to almost three sigma. The course of the Express was heavily biased in the direction of the Sun-at 174 degrees.
  Apparently, something had happened with because of the activations of the hyper-apparatus prior to the transfer. The instruments the computer had used to perform adjustments must not have noticed it. Here, with the normal acceleration of the Express, they wouldn"t reach the Solar System for more than a decade.
  But when He opened the control data, He found that the situation was actually much worse. Far worse-the transfer had consumed a quite unexpected, catastrophically huge amount of energy. And on top of that, they had sent the Message into hyperspace without thinking of its energy consumption. They had forgotten everything in their fear of miss their opportunity for first contact. It was such a great goal and such a momentous event that it had become their top priority in that moment.
  What could they do now? First of all, they needed to slow down the ship, then turn it around and accelerate it toward the Sun. No matter what else, this needed to be done.
  He summoned them all to the control room, and the children rushed to watch the routing hologram.
  "Dad, are we moving in the opposite direction?" Son asked immediately.
  "Exactly. We need to turn the ship around. Lie down in a chair." He turned on the steering engines.
  Getting up as soon as the ship had turned, Son came to Him.
  "Dad, how was the transfer?"
  "Not too accurate, really."
  "By how much?"
  "2.87 of sigma."
  Son whistled.
  "How long will it take us now to fly to Earth?"
  "Don"t worry about that yet; we"ll think of something."
  "Sure!" After such incredible luck as to make contact with other life, Son was full of confidence and optimism.
  "Why should we slow down?" Daughter asked when He began decelerating the ship.
  "Our course has shifted by almost 180 degrees-you need to slow down first to accelerate in the opposite direction," Son answered.
  "But can"t you also go along a curve, without braking? Like a semicircle."
  "That would take more time and energy-1.57 times more. Pi half times. It"s basic! Look." Son grabbed a light pencil and began to draw the scheme.
  Mom took advantage of the fact that the children were busy with their conversation:
  "Things are not quite right?"
  He nodded.
  "Later. I want to calculate something. Have supper without me."
  "Then Children will realize something is wrong."
  "You"re right."
  
  After supper, He immediately went back to the control room and sat down at the computer. He quickly made the first calculations. They were in a terrible position-just so many unfavorable factors, plus the huge deficit of energy.
  Braking wouldn"t consume too much, since he hadn"t increased the acceleration after Kid"s birth. But . . . further acceleration-to continue flying at the same speed as now-was no longer possible. And it wasn"t just that they had no energy to power the very long flight, it was also the energy necessary to keep them alive-for the regeneration of air and water, heating, and running their numerous devices. To keep all that within, maximum acceleration was necessary-again they did not have enough energy. And then they would need energy to brake when approaching the Solar System.
  On the ship, there were plenty of things they could manage without and that could be converted into energy as the fuel for the annihilator. He began to look through the inventory, selecting what to sacrifice. He even included the cruiser and all the launches, except one-in case of emergency. He calculated the total mass, multiplied it by the square of the light speed and the efficiency of the annihilator. Then compared it with the amount of energy they needed.
  Not enough. Terribly! He viewed their inventory again. He included everything possible: the extra computers, memory storage units with recordings from Earth and educational programs for the children, bulkheads of the residential block, the orchestrion, all the animals and fodder, all but the minimally required clothing -and even some food. But that was not enough, either. What else was there?
  He was interrupted by the appearance of Mom with Kid. She put Kid to her breast and began to feed, so he said nothing to Her. He stayed silent, watching Kid sucking-and kept thinking.
  Mom looked at him questioningly. He shook his head.
  "Later. When you finish feeding. It will be a long talk. Have the children gone to bed?"
  "Yes. They"re already asleep."
  She took Kid away and came back to him.
  "What?"
  He showed her the numbers of the energy resource and the overall results of his calculations-and then, seeing her immediately turn deathly pale, He began to tell her how He planned to find a way out of the situation.
  "But how much are we still short?" They checked the inventory list several times, but still couldn"t scrape much up.
  They thought and searched, looked again through all the variants, counting. But they couldn"t find a way out. What-what else could they put in the annihilator?
  Some elements of the hyper-apparatus? It constituted the bulk of the Express mass-and now it was only dead weight requiring the lion"s share of the energy they needed for acceleration. But even if they wanted to sacrifice this miracle, which had cost so much effort and hardship and given them such power over space-they couldn"t; it was made of heavy-duty materials they had no way of cutting through.
  They only seemed to find a way out after reaching an absolute deadlock.
  "Mom, but what if . . .?!"
  "What? What if what?!"
  "What if we exclude the brake action during our approach?"
  "And overshoot the Solar System? Then what?"
  "It will be fine! They must be waiting for our arrival, and they continuously monitor the Far Cosmos. Our signal will be received for sure-we"ll be able to ask them to meet us with fuel."
  "They"ll have to go into the Far Cosmos."
  "Not too far. With cruisers, it will be possible. Bold spirits will volunteer. And look." He excluded from the balance the energy they would need to decelerate when approaching-and the total amount had nearly halved.
  But, still, it wasn"t enough-not enough yet, though not as bad as before. But no matter how much longer they racked their brains over this problem, the deficit remained.
  And again, a sudden idea came up-but it was so terrifying He immediately tried to drive it away. But he couldn"t-because Mom said herself what He had been trying to evade:
  "Suspended animation!"
  "No!"
  "Yes! There is no alternative. You know it. Let"s count."
  Mom and Children would be in suspended animation while He alone would stay on permanent duty. Their consumption of food would reduce, giving them tangible additional mass to go to the annihilator; energy consumption for life support would also decrease, as the suspended animation chambers were quite energy efficient.
  But still, his calculations didn"t work at first. If only He could use maximum acceleration, which He would be able to endure . . .
  He got it! Almost at the limit-with a negligible margin for the unexpected.
  They were incredibly tired.
  So, there was only one way out-suspended animation! This term itself inspired fear. It reminded him of the face of one of his closest friends, a talented astrophysicist, who had hoped to use suspended animation to wait for a cyborg who had gone into the Far Cosmos without losing years of his life in vain. All he had wanted was to be able to complete the very interesting work he had started. But he never woke-could not come out of suspended animation when the cyborg returned and confirmed all his suppositions. His disciples had tried to finish his work, but none of them was equal to him.
  "But there is no alternative, Dad. You know that. And so do I."
  "Let"s think about it more!"
  "It"s useless. This is the only way."
  And though everything in him continued to resist, He knew it was inevitable.
  
  They did not sleep a wink. In the "morning", both were silent at breakfast.
  They talked with Son, and then all three together with Daughter. They did not tell Children about the possible consequences-and Children, who always trusted their parents, agreed. The preparation and testing of the suspended animation chamber with animals took less than 24 hours.
  One last communal dinner. He played the orchestrion for Them as they prepared for the long separation. Only Kid did not understand; he suckled quietly at Mom"s breast, smiling at them.
  They placed Kid in the chamber first, then Daughter. Then Son, who hugged them before he lay down, smiling, and said:
  "See you later!"
  He and Mom were left alone. The unforgettable last hours, Her words and the last warmth of physical intimacy, with which She tried to ease Him into the coming separation.
  . . . And then He was alone.
  In the beginning, He had no time to pine for them. He got into the hypertransfer chamber and, immersed in stimulating solution, put on the brakes and then accelerated the Express toward the Sun. The solution allowed Him to endure strong forces of acceleration as He took the ship to its maximum speed. And He only allowed himself a short break when he couldn"t take it anymore. Then He got into the chamber again and immersed himself in the solution, speeding up until He reached a limit He could not exceed.
  He stewed with impatience: the greater the acceleration, the faster He could achieve maximum speed-the sooner He would reach the Solar System. And the sooner his separation from Them would be over!
  In the womb of the annihilator, two kilometers from the crew section, everything disappeared after being dragged to the receiving hatch by robots, which were expected to do the same to themselves at the end of the acceleration period.
  The starship had begun flying to the Sun, gaining monstrous speed.
  
  37
  
  He had just returned from a date with Them. He started to play something, but soon fell to thinking and lowered the violin.
  Lal appeared and asked a question:
  "What"s next?"
  "I have already done everything I could. I have accelerated and now I"m flying. I play violin and talk with you. Visit Them."
  "Do you think about the future?"
  "Not much yet."
  "You should."
  "You"re probably right."
  "Do you remember what you will have to do on Earth?"
  "I do-everything you said."
  "That alone will not be enough. Do you think many people won"t be difficult to convince?"
  "But was it easy to defend the theory of hyperstructures . . ."
  "Right! But you will also be asked the questions I left unresolved."
  "So be it! I definitely won"t be alone; those who welcome your ideas will follow me. They will help me develop and implement them. And I will find more and more such people."
  "You"re full of faith."
  "You said before you died: "Dan! Don"t forget!" And I really have not forgotten."
  "I know."
  "We finally made contact with other life. I don"t want Those to take us as wild beasts."
  "I"m worried whether you can answer the most difficult question you will be asked."
  "What?"
  "What to do with those not capable of intellectual work?"
  "Give them the opportunity to carry out any job they can. Without robbing them of their human dignity. And not reducing them to the level of domestic animals."
  "And for those who have already been classified as inadequates?"
  "Teach them different types of uncomplicated labor."
  "But won"t they resist it? However bleak, they are used to their way of life. You must remember: the donors have never believed anyone who tried to tell them the truth about their fate. They live a carefree life and are proud of their excellent health. And houris-proud of their beauty and skill."
  "It won"t be simple."
  "It really won"t."
  "And probably, not everything will be successful at once."
  "Certainly-too much cannot be foreseen."
  "But in whatever capacity, it"s time to start!"
  "It is."
  "What a pity you are gone."
  "I"m really in you now."
  "Yes, you are."
  "Do not be afraid. Neither of struggle, nor of doubts. Search and think. Listen and painstakingly collect what people say. Those who will follow you. Those who will oppose you. Those who will be neutral. Find the truth in yourself and in them. Believe and do not give up. Like in your previous life."
  "It was not easy."
  "I know. And you paid dearly for everything."
  "Because there was no other way."
  "And again, there won"t be!"
  "So be it!"
  Their voices mingled, confused. He could no longer distinguish His thoughts from Lal"s inside Him.
  
  Earth awaited them. They were returning with news-they had made the planet fit for settlement. Everything was ready. With its atmosphere saturated with oxygen and its surface covered with thick, green forests-it was already possible to breathe and live there. Now it was time to build more ships, which its first permanent settlers would take there, bringing with them the sum of all human knowledge, seeds for a variety of plants and animals to settle the land, seas and air.
  They were also bringing another piece of news to Earth. Unexpected but welcome. Their coming into Contact with Other sentient life, whose message they had stored in a memory drive. Priceless. This they would save at any cost. The news would fill people with even more pride for the importance of their time, epoch and generation.
  The old epoch would now collapse. Completely. And with it, its terrible offspring-the inhuman division of people into categories with unequal rights. Because they were bringing people yet another great gift-Lal"s ideas. This would be totally unexpected for the overwhelming majority. For too many-absolutely undesirable. And in terms of solutions, the new great tasks associated with those two pieces of news-inappropriate, impeding, harmful. They would face a struggle-hard, sustained, complicated. It would take a lot of effort-and no less patience.
  But He would be able to it all-He knew it. He wouldn"t give up: Lal"s ideas did imply an urgent task. For right now. When humanity must populate another planet and establish permanent contact with Those. Considering that, the situation may give rise to what would be considered another severe long decline of scientific progress.
  The twentieth century had been the century of scientific explosion. With the new theories of relativity and quantum mechanics, a breakthrough in the microcosm opened the door to the completely unexplored. And like the discovery of the vast unknown continent, it was not enough to land on its shore. To get to its other shore and move on, it was necessary to pass through it. Not only that, but also to learn. And for this purpose-to explore it fully.
  The phenomena discovered then had been too contradicting of previous notions that had seemed obvious, and so scientists had tried to understand and explain them. Theories had been created and disproven, and they"d had to go back and revise almost all of the most basic concepts. And then it had seemed that they were passing time without making a single step forward.
  The great discoveries of physics had allowed people to really master biology, which before had been principally descriptive. For a long time, biophysics became the most important of the basic sciences. But its problems regarding the physisics of a large number of elements with multiple connections created enormous computational difficulties. It took time. Progress came in gradual, small steps.
  But just then, they succeeded to completely overcome the problem of immuno-incompatibility. And immediately, this became a starting point for the separation of inadequate people.
  (But they never succeeded in creating artificial life. They stumbled at some last verge-when success seemed like a sure thing. Perhaps here, too, there was a secret waiting to be discovered-somewhere on the level of hyperstructures? Why not?)
  But now . . . They had entered a huge, unexplored area where many previous concepts again seemed to be powerless, and their mastery would again require full exertion and an unknown amount of time. After the first successes came long setbacks and discouragement-and then this cycle on repeat.
  In trying to get out of each such crisis, would humanity dehumanize itself further and further, eventually running wild? Sure-if now, after the first crisis, it did not become clearly aware of the unacceptability of depriving even some part of its people of any rights, treating them like cattle. And if they did not destroy that practice immediately. Only the memory of it must be stored and passed on from generation to generation so that it would never happen again.
  Now, without further delay, it must be done-even if their contact with Those was to offer people a way out of the looming crisis, it may only happen later, at a higher level. Their third gift to Earth-it was certainly the most important gift now!
  The means of implementing it would be by having all women give birth to their own children, live with them and care for them daily. Then they would feel love for them. For each one.
  And another love-a great, wonderful feeling, worthy of highly developed people-would again take its rightful place. It would make people-all people-happier. And more perfect.
  He knew that. On the strange, terrible planet where Lal had perished, He had spent the happiest years of his life. He was returning having understood extremely important things. Mom, Son, Daughter, Kid-They would be together with him, and Their existence would lend him strength. And yet-the memory of Lal. The man who had probably been the best person of this epoch on Earth.
  Excitement filled Him, overflowing and spilling into the sounds of the violin.
  
  Solitude became more and more excruciating. His nerves were stretched extremely thin.
  He controlled himself strictly to drive away obsessive thoughts. He even stopped talking with Lal, recognizing his supposed appearance as a stable hallucination.
  A few months passed like this. The Sun was getting closer; He sent a signal in its direction requesting cruisers with fuel to meet them, then awaited a response. If it did not come soon, He would repeat the signal.
  Worst-case, if they were to detect them too late and not have time to deliver fuel, the not-braked Express would pass the Solar System and then go back into the Far Cosmos. Ships from Earth would have to catch up with it (they couldn"t really fail to notice it entirely if it passed by the System and he sent a last signal there, for which the violin would be sent to the annihilator). But the Express was flying at an enormous speed-would there be enough energy to stay alive until the ships from Earth could catch it?
  Carefully driving away the dismal thoughts and impatience, He waited for the laser signal response. And it came! Earth was waiting-the ships with fuel would meet them. They asked him what had happened, but, saving energy, He did not answer.
  His strength was coming to an end; he felt it keenly. Only the hope of a near arrival and an end to the separation from Them kept Him going.
  All the time, except for the rare, short visits to Them, He spent in the control room. He ate and slept there. He slept restlessly, with endless dreams, bright ones in which He met Them and Lal. He woke up without feeling rested. Then, sitting in a chair in front of the control board, He periodically fell into a slumber, but it was also filled with vivid dreams and visions.
  . . . And now, leaning back in his chair, He closed his eyes and dozed off.
  The vision that came was brighter than ever before. Planets, stars and galaxies rushed at a furious pace through Him, vast and ethereal. The blazing Express was visible, and sitting next to him were suddenly Lal and Eya-and it did not even occur to Him to call her Mom. They, too, were huge, incorporeal, transparent and visible from all directions, both outside and inside. And then space, huddling in folds, filled His mouth, and He felt it with his upper palate.
  Then a bunch of innumerable axes appeared-straight, curved and in spirals emanating from the universal focus of space-time, where He was located. Each axis came with its own law and metric, continuously vibrating in an intensely bright color range.
  The ship and His companions multiplied in countless repetitions, rushing to the center and from the center of an infinite hedgehog of axes. And the eternity without hope persisted-and it was a complete, absolute indifference to everything.
  But the eternity ceased; the repetitions, decreasing, came together in the center and merged into one. The space, straightening, came free of His mouth; myriads of heavenly bodies again raced through his ethereal body, and then it and the ship"s walls began to lose transparency . . .
  Dream ceased. He opened his eyes for a moment and was surprised to see-the on-board clock hand had only moved for five minutes. The vision was clearly and distinctly seared into his memory. He couldn"t understand why he felt confident that He actually had seen this entire thing once. He was painfully trying to remember when-but could not. But his confidence did not falter, and he strained his fevered brain repeatedly, trying to recall.
  
  38
  
  A signal came from Minerva: the first cruiser had started on its path towards them with some of the fuel He needed. They again asked him to inform them in detail what had happened. He did not answer. He had no strength to even rejoice.
  To energize himself, He visited Them. Especially as some strange feeling had begun to torment Him.
  Unfortunately, it proved to be with reason. There, in the suspended animation chamber, He detected at once that something was wrong. Two instruments were not showing what he had seen less than an hour ago on the control panel screen. The super reliable instruments-had failed? They must be replaced!
  But the control test had shown the problem was not with the instruments. It was too risky to leave Them in the suspended animation chamber until the problem could be fixed. There was no alternative-He had to take Them out of suspended animation without delay.
  He began to prepare, experiencing somewhere in the recesses of His mind the joy that their separation would at least temporarily be interrupted. But a clear, strong feeling of fear overpowered it.
  His eyes intensely monitored the instruments, drops of cold sweat covering his forehead. Mom lay under the lid for an hour, which was the time required for getting out, and it seemed like an eternity.
  When she began to breathe deeply, he realized that Mom was now just sleeping, with almost no strength left. Raising the lid, he leaned his forehead against her hand. She woke up and opened her eyes. Her other hand touched his hair.
  He raised his head and saw surprise and fear in her eyes, as if she did not recognize him. But almost immediately, her expression changed-apparently, she remembered everything.
  "Dad! My dearest!" She raised herself a little and, clasping his head with her arms, pressed Him to Her chest. The familiar, native heat was penetrating Him, prostrate, and carrying peace.
  His head was dizzy, thoughts confused; for a moment it seemed that time had shifted and His head was being pressed to her chest by Chamomile"s bloody hands-the houri, a pariah of the great Humanity.
  And He felt a deeper understanding of the great significance of what had motivated her-kindness. This had made it possible to support a person in his moment of weakness, helping him to overcome it and regain the strength to go on. For Him-to stay alive, to create the theory of hyperstructures, to fly into the Far Cosmos, to master Earth-2, to become the father of their children.
  He was trembling, and Mom pressed him to Her harder and harder. Desire awakened in Him and passed to Her. And for a brief moment of acute happiness, their intimacy was like a breath of air-bringing a drop of soothing calm, dulling the unbearable tension.
  Together, they began to get out Son. Again, they endured long minutes of anxious waiting, which, fortunately, ended well. Then it was Daughter"s turn. Children regained consciousness like after normal sleep, with a complete lack of awareness of their time spent unconscious.
  Kid was the only one left. The four of them watched as he was brought out. Everything was going the same as with the others. But at the moment when the suspended animation condition was supposed to change to ordinary sleep-nothing happened. No breaths came. The cyber-diagnostician showed something completely incomprehensible.
  They hastily began to try everything they could-but to no avail. Tensely expecting out that his breathing and pulse would still return, an hour passed, and then two. They connected a part of the pilot computer blocks to the diagnostician; they could not spare any energy. They waited-and waited. But the diagnostician steadily showed the complete disappearance of the last vestiges of life-and they were powerless to do anything about it.
  "Kid! Oh-oh-oh! Kid!" Daughter screamed, unable to contain herself. And just then, they all realized that Kid would never open his eyes.
  They did not immediately turn off the chamber, although none of them believed a miracle would come. Kid-tiny, beloved, their greatest joy-was lying pale and extraordinarily beautiful. They bent over him, shocked, numb from grief, and stared.
  There was silence. Only occasionally interrupted by a stifled sob from Daughter. Son"s lips were tightly compressed, but tears rolled from his eyes against his will. Mom bit her lips until they bled. Only Dad, apparently, saw nothing else, as though his last remnants of strength had finally gone.
  To Him, it felt like he was suffocating, a rapid vortex spinning in his fevered brain. Everything was rushing somewhere, appearing and disappearing. As in that dream. And suddenly, like a revelation, an absolutely unnecessary thought appeared: the dream was a memory he had seen during the hypertransfer. And he felt complete confidence in it. Just when Kid had forever gone away. The first ever to be born in interstellar space. Little, dear. With a lock of dark hair on his terribly white forehead.
  Here also, in Space, death had found him. He would never walk on green grass with his small feet. Never. Never.
  "Kid! Kid!" Daughter could restrain herself no longer, and she writhed, sobbing.
  Mom turned off the suspended animation chamber. She was saving energy, having remembered why they had resorted to that condition.
  Kid would lie under the hood, where a mixture of inert gases would preserve him till their arrival on Earth.
  "Kid! Kid!"
  
  They did not deal with the causes of the problems in the suspended animation chamber-getting into it again was out of the question. Even in their dire circumstances.
  The situation was quite critical: the supply of food had been planned for only one person. There was neither chlorella, nor necessary salts. And, most importantly, there was no energy. They just barely had enough. But its consumption for the regeneration of oxygen and water had increased.
  Death loomed from hunger, thirst and suffocation. And no one could save them. They would need to be brought food and energy in two months at the latest-and it would be three before they would meet the cruiser flying toward them. This task was too much, at the very edge of possibility. Even going into the Far Cosmos at such a distance with cruisers-that would be an incredibly hard and dangerous undertaking. But now this . . . And if the almost impossible was not accomplished, the records would reach Earth with their corpses.
  So toward the Sun, a signal went: "SOS! SOS! SOS! Hasten meeting by a month. We desperately need food and energy. We beg you to do the impossible!"
  They were replied: "Wait. We will do everything." How-they did not say. But if it was promised-it would be done. They wouldn"t be left to perish.
  
  Their entire living space was just the control room, hermetically sealed to save heating energy. Almost this whole time, they lay in chairs, trying to move as little as possible to make it easier to endure the hunger-their diet was hardly even poor.
  General depression added to the struggle as Kid"s death continued to torment them. And in the control room, lit dimly with the display devices, an oppressive silence was ever present.
  To distract Children, Dad tried to talk to them about Earth, but seeing that his words did not reach them, He soon stopped trying. He only watched anxiously as every day their faces became pale and they lost weight. In his soul, a cold fear grew that They would not survive the hunger, and it gripped him by the throat.
  He, Mom and Son carried out watches in turns; Daughter was still young for this task. Whoever was not on duty tried to sleep. Many times, instead of eating his portion of food, He added it to Children"s portions while they slept.
  "Have you eaten?" Mom asked him, taking up watch.
  "Yes," He answered, and, to avoid further questions, closed his eyes. He pretended to be asleep, although his hunger did not allow him to sleep. And through half-closed eyes, He saw that Mom was doing with her portion the same as He"d been doing with his.
  She knew, too. Both told each other nothing. And He wondered if Son had also been giving part of his portions to his sister.
  "Take it," he said in a whisper.
  "But you?"
  "I don"t want anymore."
  She could not believe him, but she was excruciatingly hungry. So she took it.
  . . . Nobody slept in the long-awaited moment when they switched on the locator-all of them glared at the screen with hope. For a long time, it only showed them the fixed stars, among which the Sun shone in the intersection of lines in the viewfinder-brighter and brighter.
  Signals came twice: "Wait. Coming. Hold on!"
  And finally, one more point appeared on the screen-barely distinguishable at first. It was moving quickly-toward them. The help was arriving! Soon, they would be able to feed Children to satiety.
  The point on the screen grew more visible. The locator showed that its approaching speed had begun to decrease; the ship coming toward them had started braking to meet them at the same velocity as the Express. Hurry, come soon! Food will be completely gone very soon, and they would need to throw both the cyber-diagnostician and the chairs into the annihilator.
  And the help got closer, they were surprised to see on the radar screen that the ship hurrying toward them was just a launch. In the Far Cosmos! Quite impossible. But the launch was really there-hence, the impossible had been done.
  They tapped the last vestiges of their strength.
  
  39
  
  Space required a great deal of a person: courage and endurance, composure in the face of danger, quick reactions and a resourceful mind to find a way out of any situation. To become a real, professional astronaut, it was first necessary to learn and train for a long time-and pass multiple tests, after which only the most reliable remained.
  But only the best of the best-people with quite rare potential-could become space rescuers. When something happened somewhere in the Cosmos-someone had an emergency and managed to signal "SOS!"-they would fly to the rescue. They always had to hurry to manage, and they would fly, overcoming huge obstacles inaccessible to ordinary astronauts. And often, it was necessary to do things that seemed impossible.
  When the space station of the space watch on Minerva had received the signal from the returning hyperexpress, which had left many years ago to Earth-2, everyone on Earth and in the Near Cosmos became anxious awaiting it. In a very short time, they loaded and sent out the largest of space cruisers-to deliver the first part of fuel, which the astronauts had requested for their braking on approach. The amount of fuel was enough to start decreasing the speed of the starship, without waiting for the other cruisers, which were sent later.
  The cruiser"s team consisted only of space rescuers; their task would be extremely difficult. They would have to go to the Far Cosmos and fly, guided only by the reflected wave from the hyperexpress.
  The cruiser flew towards the Express, continuously increasing its speed, and was exactly on track to meet it at the appointed time. But en route, one more emergency signal came, asking for food and energy. Urgently. They understood how hard it would be to fly even faster, stating, "We beg you to do the impossible!" This meant their position was desperate.
  What the astronauts asked really was impossible-but not for the youngest member of the cruiser"s crew, whom everyone on Earth and in the Near Cosmos considered the best space rescuer who had ever existed. His exploits were legendary-he seemed to have been born to make the impossible possible. He set out fly on the launch. Alone.
  The ship was filled to capacity with fuel, batteries and food, leaving only the necessary minimum for themselves.
  
  Such a flight would be possible for no other space rescuer. Such overload of force, even when immersed in a stimulating solution, only he was able to endure. He literally did not get out of it at any point-he was in the biggest hurry. It was imperative to rescue those who asked for help. To do so at any cost was the First Commandment of space rescue runs. Even at the cost of his own life or the complete deterioration of health, when he might have to say goodbye to the Cosmos forever. He was always ready for it.
  Especially now, when the people he needed to help were the greatest heroes of Earth. He knew them personally, having seen them once-as a child, he had even talked with the captain and asked to be taken along. And then the captain had promised to recommend him for the next flight into the Far Cosmos, but only if he would study to learn everything astronauts needed to know. To study for far too long, as it had then seemed to him. But he had promised.
  "Lee," Mom Eve (which he still called her whenever they talked) had said to him. "Lee, you have to study-and study well. Do you hear? You must study hard. You just promised it to Dan. Or you won"t become an astronaut." She had been his schoolteacher then.
  He"d had a hard time, since studying wasn"t easy for him. Previously, he hadn"t tried very hard; he thought he would be able to handle everything without it, because he was very strong-the strongest in the group.
  But Mom Eve made him work hard. And how much she fussed with him, helping him with his studies! He didn"t know then why she did that-the real cause. And now-just like back then. He never knew how many years the risk of being rejected had hung over him. With his physical abilities-he would most likely have become a donor, soon to go under the knife. He never knew that only after his transfer to the gymnasium did she finally calm down. He only knew that she kept contact with him on a regular basis for his whole life, always interested in his learning, enjoying every one of his successes and reminding him continually of his promise to the captain. And there was no one in the world closer to him than Mom Eve. Even in space, where friendship welded tight people together.
  When arriving on Earth, he always hurried to her immediately, and while he was there, he tried to stay with her as much as possible. She showered him with dishes, whose cooking programs she chose very carefully, knowing what he loved, and they always seemed extremely tasty to him. Together, they went to theaters and museums, and flew on trips. They sat side by side at banquets in the restaurant-where she, proud of him, dressed in the uniform of the space rescuers with the emblem of the Near Cosmos on the red shoulder strips. Sometimes an emergency call would appear on his radio bracelet, and he would have to leave her to go into the Cosmos.
  He always missed her there. Impatiently, he would look forward to their next visit. He talked about her to his friends, whom he had a lot of. And with pride, he would feed them, saying, "Try it! It"s tasty-Mom Eve gave me this program."
  In his success, the desire to earn her praise was more important than the promise he had given Captain Dan in his childhood. But he had not forgotten about it-and he still hoped to fulfill it. Not shining with natural talent, he achieved much by working hard.
  In the Cosmos where he found himself, his natural qualities gave him the opportunity to do a lot that others could not. The difficulties of space rescue training, whose program was difficult and long, did not stop him-thanks to the (timely!) efforts of Mom Eve when as a child, he progressed from the standstill of inability and unwillingness to learn. He mastered both navigation and medicine, drove the ships alone confidently and performed complicated surgeries. But the main thing was always to arrive on time. And the risk was the norm, not an exception. This He never told Mom Eve, and he never knew that she knew this and worried about him constantly.
  But there were a few times when he was powerless to help, when it was too late, or . . . or impossible to do anything. And in these cases, he always blamed himself. And he worked hard on himself, obtaining seemingly infinite endurance. He tormented himself intentionally. As a result, he was able to perform several rescue operations which would have been considered absolutely impossible before.
  Moreover, he proved that it was not just about his unusual physical qualities, but that others could achieve the same results by adhering to his system of physical and psychological training. This way, he taught several rescuers who, together with him, were considered the best in the Near Cosmos. Just for creating this system, he received his doctorate. But he had not stopped trying to improve, constantly testing everything on himself.
  His popularity among the astronauts was helped along by his heartfelt qualities, kindness and a keen sense of justice. People always wanted to share with him their most intimate secrets, because he knew how to listen. His presence always affected everyone favorably, so he was happily welcomed everywhere.
  "He"s been like that since childhood," Eve said to his astronaut peers, to whom he was always trying to introduce her.
  From them, she heard a lot that Lee had never told her: about the risks associated with the tasks he performed, and about his strange striving to test new items on himself without ever using the experimental inadequates. Even when it was risky. She wasn"t surprised; some of that must have been due to the lasting impact of her words.
  But there were things even his friends never told her. She did not know how his two rescuer friends had perished before his eyes. About how on one of the outer space stations, beyond Minerva"s orbit, a group had found themselves after an accident without food and with a negligible amount of energy-and in order to survive until his arrival, had casted lots on which one of them would be killed and eaten by the others. It was extreme, but they all knew that otherwise, none of them would have survived. But the survivors never recovered later; they all left the cosmos and didn"t see each other ever again, and almost all of them ended up with severe mental disorders. Two committed suicide, and the rest-were goners.
  Such was the darkest side of the cosmos known by Lee. And not only by him. Under these conditions, a kind word, a friendly smile and mutual concern were the best means of supporting people.
  
  The Near Cosmos was full of beacons, allowing easy orientation through it during flights. They were everywhere, on the planets and their satellites-on whatever it was possible to put them on. And on hundreds of artificial satellites moving along heliocentric orbits. Some of those were interplanetary stations that were constantly manned by astronauts. And some were rescue stations, where people in trouble could find supplies of energy, food, water and a powerful installation of radio communication. From there, they could make emergency repairs or wait for rescuers to arrive.
  In the Far Cosmos, beyond Minerva"s orbit, none of that existed. Like for the ancient navigators of the ocean, the only guiding landmarks were stars. By them, and by the periodic signal of the locator reflected from the starship, Lee steered his ship.
  He forced his ship and himself to do that which until now had never been possible. As he closed the distance between his ship and the giant hyperexpress, he decelerated carefully. Then, having turned off the main engines, Lee steered his ship into the receiving compartment of the hyperexpress.
  . . . He arrived within the promised time. But was he still too late? No one answered his signals.
  However, the door to the airlock chamber opened before him, so he drove into it with the cart loaded with first aid means, food, water and batteries. The airlock chamber worked, but it was dark. Lee moved his flashlight, trying to discern something, to understand as soon as possible what had happened.
  Then he moved along the corridor and entered the block, which did not look at all like a residential area. Everything was bare-no furniture, no plants. Even almost all the doors and bulkheads were gone. Darkness and cold dominated.
  The door of the control room opened slowly in front of him, as if by force, and did not close when he entered. Inside the control room, it was a little warmer, but still dark.
  The flashlight beam grabbed the control panel, which was also completely dark, and then stumbled on people lying on the floor, huddled up tightly to each other. One of them was covered with overalls while two others were almost naked, only wearing loincloth-like scraps. All three of them were in a semiconscious state.
  "Door . . . cold . . ." Lee heard. Another man was at the control panel, half sitting, leaning his neck against it-his lips, almost motionless, barely audible from a distance, had pronounced these sounds. Lee rushed to close the door.
  He took off his helmet and immediately felt how hard it was to breathe; the air was stale and smelled horrible. Having quickly attached batteries, Lee switched on the regenerator and the heater. The one who had spoken-an old man, in which the rescuer still recognized Dan-breathed in hungrily, feeling the fresh air. Lee switched on the lights.
  "Help them!" Dan whispered.
  Lee amped up the supply of oxygen. He brought out his cyber-diagnostician and began giving first aid.
  It was clear what had caused the severe condition of the astronauts: a prolonged fasting-their bodies were like skeletons covered with skin; thirst-a little bit of stale water sat in a mug next to them; asthma, cold-281 Kelvin . But alive-they had managed to survive! He gave them water to drink and intravenous drip-feed-to nourish them with glucose and vitamins. Increased heating.
  Then he went to Dan, gave him all the same and laid him next to the others. He did it all quickly, deftly, without any unnecessary movement. He was pleased that the diagnostician showed no immediate threat to their lives.
  Besides Dan and Eya-there were two teenagers.
  "But Lal? Where is he?"
  Dan slightly opened his eyes:
  "Nowhere-anymore. For a long time. He perished. There . . ." He was falling asleep.
  The rest were asleep already. Lee did not bother them anymore, except to cover them with clothes brought from his launch.
  He switched on the control system. The instruments lit up. On the radar screen, he saw the Sun as the bright star in the crossed-hair cursor and close to it, barely a perceptible point-the cruiser.
  There Lee sent his first message: "Arrived in time. So far everything is normal." He drank an infusion of Schisandra and settled down to keep watch.
  
  They slept and slept. Lee woke them to administer broth and juice, and then they fell asleep again. He himself slept in fits and starts.
  Only on the sixth "day" did Dan not fall asleep immediately after eating. He stared at Lee. This Hercules, who had appeared just in time, seemed familiar.
  "Senior, can you speak?" Lee asked.
  Dan nodded and asked:
  "What is your name?"
  "Lee, Captain."
  Captain! A faint smile flickered on Dan"s lips.
  "Eve"s student?"
  "Yes, I am, Captain."
  "You become an astronaut?"
  "A space rescuer."
  "How old are you now?"
  "Thirty-two."
  He was seven before. So the world has seen twenty-five years go by; for us-twenty-two. Relative difference-three years, Dan calculated out of habit.
  "How is it on Earth?"
  "They are waiting for you, and the news you bring."
  "Earth-2 is suitable for colonization-we have accomplished our mission."
  "Many people dream of going there. Myself included."
  "I will recommend you; I remember my promise. And you"ve earned it."
  "I was just doing my job."
  "You"ve done the impossible. I am happy to see what you"ve become. But we have other news, no less important: We have made first Contact with sentient extraterrestrial life."
  "What?!"
  Dan briefly explained, and Lee listened with bated breath.
  "It was worth it-to risk everything. Not only the entire stock of energy-even your life!" Lee said when Dan had finished.
  "Life, you say?" Dan frowned.
  Lee worried; he didn"t know what had suddenly upset Captain. He asked no more questions-he was afraid to. And Dan soon fell asleep.
  But the questions were on the tip of Lee"s tongue: how had Lal perished and how had these children appeared? Like for many, children were his secret weakness-Mom Eve took him to see them often.
  . . . The next "day", Eya was also awake for some time.
  "Our savior"s name is Lee, Mom. Do you remember? Eve"s pupil."
  "Eve"s?"
  "Yes, Mom."
  "She will . . . be pleased," Eya said. She was very weak-talking with the greatest effort.
  "Mom Eve told me a lot about you."
  "She"ll be . . . glad," Eya repeated. "Here!" She pointed at the sleeping children. "I myself . . . gave birth to them. They . . . believed . . . that . . . it was very . . . important."
  "Who?"
  "Lal . . . and Eve. She . . . gave me . . . necessary . . . records."
  "Of what?"
  "Associated . . . with their . . . birth and . . . care."
  "It"s hard for you to speak, senior; you must stop."
  . . . "Captain, can you talk to me?" Lee asked Dan when Eya, obviously tired of the conversation, fell asleep.
  "Sure, I have much to tell you . . . as soon as I have the strength. Not now-sorry."
  
  40
  
  Lee helped Dan sit comfortably in the only seat, taken from Lee"s launch. Dan was still weak, but he offered on his own to talk.
  "Do not be afraid; ask. I will be able to answer."
  "Captain, why did Mom Eve want you to have your own children there?"
  "Did she not tell you anything about it?"
  "It seems not. Or very little. I don"t even remember. But I would like to understand."
  "If you want-you"ll understand. The conversation will be long. But we have enough time. But first, I want to know whether they still reject children?"
  "Yes, they do."
  "Many of them?"
  "I don"t know."
  "That"s a pity. You must know Eve struggled against the rejection."
  "She still does. But I don"t know much about it; I spend too little time on Earth." Lee was perplexed. It turned out that there were still many, apparently very important, things he had yet to learn.
  "Then listen."
  Dan talked and Lee listened. Carefully, as always. Straining as he did during intense accelerations, and completely stunned.
  Dan still had trouble speaking for a long time. And while he was resting, Lee thought over what he had said. But after resting, Dan came back to his tale. He led Lee step by step, rectifying his lack of knowledge of social history, breaking him out of his ignorance and indifference to many things that were not related to his priority-his work. And to give Lee a break, they also talked about Earth-2.
  Soon Eya and Son joined them.
  . . . "How do you yourself treat the inadequates?"
  "I don"t deal with them."
  "However, experiments are carried out on them in space."
  "Yes, we have experimental inadequates. No other kind. And space rescuers also experiment on them. But I do not."
  "Why not?"
  "I also don"t like to experiment on animals. Because it hurts them. So on humans, there"s no way."
  "Did Eve inspire those thoughts?"
  "I"m not sure. Maybe. I don"t remember her talking about it. I think all she cared about was that I studied successfully. Especially in the beginning."
  "Because she was afraid."
  "Of what?"
  "Of the terrible danger hanging over you. It was all too real-you were too bad at studying."
  "I . . . could have become an inadequate? That means-Mom Eve saved me?"
  "She and her supporters have saved many children."
  "But me she actually has!"
  . . . The things Dan and Eya had to say shook him. Since the very beginning. The impression it left did not pass, but continued unabated. It was hard. Like during a flight in the Far Cosmos. Even harder, since none of his previous training applied here.
  The main argument that affected him was the inhumanity of how inadequates were treated. Cruelty to animals-even that he considered disgusting. So to humans especially . . . it seemed incomprehensible he had not realized this until now.
  "Even if only you?"
  Yes, exactly. That was the point: it wasn"t only him. Almost everyone.
  "We once did not comprehend this, either."
  "But Mom Eve?"
  "Not even her. Despite her struggling against the rejection-because she felt sorry for her pupils. But she was the very first to inspire him to discover the surest way to destroy the social inequality.
  "Whom?"
  "Lal."
  "Mom Eve? How did she inspire him?"
  "Them." Eya pointed at Son and Daughter.
  "Us?" They were surprised.
  "Exactly!"
  . . . "So, as I have understood it, humanity has deviated from its course. We must go back to it," Lee expressed, in astronaut terms he was familiar with. "And the first step is to brake."
  "That has already begun. Your Mom Eve has already been working in that direction. But the complete plan, Lal was the first to discern and comprehend."
  "Lal was a true rescuer."
  "Why?"
  "He appeared just in time!"
  
  Lee"s faith in the justice of their words was reinforced to a considerable extent by his further communication with them. They quickly got to know each other-they with him and he with them. He became attached to them. How could he not, as an astronaut who had learned to highly value the warmth of human relations. And so he became one of them. Not only because he rescued them and continued to selflessly care for them.
  Being together with them was too good for him. Like with Mom Eve. Especially when the girl was sitting on his lap.
  They still had not recovered from the hardships they had endured. Still thin, and very physically weak. They couldn"t even eat the fruits he had brought-he needed to puree or juice them first. But they could already move and talk as much as they wanted. But for some reason, they never smiled. In general, that was okay for the present; but it would be better for them to smile.
  He tried once to cheer up the girl, when she asked him to tell her something.
  "What?"
  "A tale. When I was little, I loved them."
  He did not remember any fairytales, but decided not to give up.
  "What about a legend?" he suggested.
  "Okay," she agreed listlessly.
  "Once upon a time, people lived on a beautiful green planet," Lee started-not bad! He thought of it as he went. How the scientist had appeared among the people and made a great discovery, which allowed them to overcome vast distances faster than light. How a ship had been built that went away into the stars, where a planet like their own had been discovered. How the scientist took his friend and girlfriend, and set off for the new planet. About the death of that friend and the secret of happiness he left-children, whom they themselves should birth and raise. And so the first children were born on another planet.
  And after planting the entire planet with forests and filling its atmosphere with oxygen, the scientist, his girlfriend and their children flew home and on the way, made Contact with other intelligent beings, spending almost all of their energy and nearly dying as a result.
  "But the people on the original planet were waiting. A space patrol received their signal for help, and the rescuers sent to meet them succeeded to arrive in time."
  "And then?"
  "They came back to their home planet and brought the people great news."
  "They came back . . ."
  Certainly, it didn"t sound like a proper legend. Too short, and with some clumsy words and phrases. Only the first sentence was not too bad. Hmm! But the girl, to his surprise, listened attentively, sitting across from him-and for some reason did not look at him.
  "I"m not very good at telling legends, right?"
  She turned her head towards him, and the look in her eyes frightened him.
  "It"s just a terrible legend-you don"t know all of it, that"s how!"
  "Do not, sister!" the youth said.
  "He must know. Listen! When they flew back to Earth, a baby was born in space. Quite small, with tiny fingers. And all were happy, looking at him and taking him in their arms. When the ship approached the starting point for the transfer, he was already three months old and he knew how to smile.
  "Just then, the fabulous miracle happened: they received the signal from Those and made Contact with them. But after the hypertransfer, they found that almost all their energy had been consumed.
  To reach Earth, all except the father were put into suspended animation and stayed in that condition for over a year; but before they got to their meeting point, the suspended animation chamber failed, and the father immediately began to take them out. But Kid did not wake up. Kid! Oh-oh-oh! Kid! My dearest!" she cried, writhing and sobbing. Her brother rushed to hug her.
  "What have I done?" Lee thought in horror. "That"s why they say so little about what has happened to them . . . But how?" looked at Dan as if begging for forgiveness-for his involuntary guilt. Dan seemed petrified.
  "Captain!" Lee said quietly. "I didn"t know, Captain."
  "Yes, yes!" Dan replied, as if from far away. "You have to know everything. I"ll show you."
  "Dad, do not!" Eya tried to stop him.
  "He must know!" he said, like his daughter had. "Come on, follow me."
  They passed through what was once residential unit-now empty, robbed, terrible. They reached the far end of the corridor, where Lee had never been.
  There, he saw the suspended animation chamber, and in it, under the only hood not thrown into the annihilator-a tiny, fixed figure lay. A dark lock of hair on a very white forehead. The child was sleeping to never awake.
  Shocked and overwhelmed by what he had seen, Lee stared at the child. A lump formed in his throat. He was afraid to raise his head to look at Dan again. Dan was silent, seemingly oblivious of Lee"s presence.
  "Forgive me, Kid!" Dan finally said, faintly.
  "Captain! I"m sorry, I did not want."
  Dan raised his head.
  "You"re the only one I can say this to. There, on Earth, we are considered heroes-but now all I want to do is scream and howl."
  "Your grief is mine, too, Captain."
  But Dan did not hear him. Putting his hands on the hood, he laid his head on it and froze in that position.
  Eya came, and Lee hurried away. In the control room, the girl still writhed with sobs, but her brother did not even try to restrain her; his own face was wet, too.
  Tears flowed from Lee"s eyes, and he was not ashamed of them.
  
  "How could I! My little one!"
  "Don"t. Dad, my dear, you can"t now!" Mom squeezed him.
  "What did I miss? Why did this happen?" It was the first time she had ever seen him in such despair.
  "We did everything right, absolutely everything! I can tell you this-I know!"
  "No! If we had-he wouldn"t have died!"
  "The chamber worked fine-otherwise none of us would have come out alive."
  "There must be something I didn"t take into consideration!"
  "You couldn"t have taken absolutely everything into account. It"s the same as the incredible overconsumption of energy. There"s too much about hyperspace we still don"t know."
  "May it be cursed-the hyperspace! And me-since I discovered it!"
  "Stop it!" she cried. "Listen to me! You-can"t afford to become so weak! Who will believe you that your own children are happiness? Who? If they see you like this-broken, helpless!" But nothing affected him. He did not hear her-only moaned in pain.
  And Mom had to wait for him to calm down a little before she could speak with him again. This time, it fell to her to be strong.
  
  Lee knew that only time would help them cope-any of his attempts would yield no results. The atmosphere was oppressive, and he waited impatiently to meet up with the cruiser. Then they would begin braking and send a preliminary report to Minerva. And they would finally be able to wash properly-in a bath.
  The cruiser became clearly visible on the radar screen. Lee wanted to arrange a conversation session with it, but they did not let him-that required energy.
  "What if something happens?"
  He could understand their fear, and he did not insist.
  
  41
  
  Earth was waiting. After the first cruiser, the others with the rest of the fuel for braking had also flown into the Far Cosmos long ago. But besides the last message from the first cruiser to tell them the No. 1 space-rescuer Lee had flown out, no other news had arrived. However, the rescuers reported orientation signals from the starship.
  They could only wait-tensely; they feared the worst. All personal receivers were programmed to activate in the event of any broadcasting related to the Express. It seemed the planet was listening with bated breath, measuring out the time by the distance between the hyperexpress and the cruiser that was sending messages regularly. And on the eve of their meeting, almost no one was sleeping.
  When the message came at last from the hyperexpress, it fell like an avalanche: the carbon dioxide in the new planet"s atmosphere had been replaced with oxygen, and the surface was covered in forests. And the other part was quite stunning-they had made first Contact! Through hyperspace. They had recorded the message from Those and sent back Earth"s Message.
  All the screens were switched on. Everybody was listening.
  The report was extremely short. Vast distances and the lack of radio repeaters in the Far Cosmos did not allow for the opportunity to see the astronauts on the screens.
  The Earth seethed. A sea of people flew from their homes. Like on the day of Tupac"s arrival. On the dark side of the planet, countless sources of light blinked on.
  
  The astronauts could only engage in direct communication with Earth when the cruiser brought them to Minerva. A team of astronauts remained on the hyperexpress after it had passed the Solar System, to complete its braking and return it back to a heliocentric orbit.
  Finally, it became possible to see them. Dan and Eya-gray, gaunt, with their overalls hanging like bags. And next to them the children: a boy and a girl. But Lal was not there, and everybody knew that he had perished. How? Behind them stood the space rescuers: the space hero, Lee, and others.
  "People of Earth, you are welcome!" Dan spoke. "We are pleased that we succeeded in accomplishing what we flew away to do. It is already possible to breathe the air of the new planet, and forests cover its surface; it is waiting for those who will settle it.
  "On our way back to Earth, we made first Contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. They transmitted signals through hyperspace that were received by the hyper-apparatus of the Express. We brought back the recorded message of Those. It is necessary to decipher it.
  "We left for Earth-2 as three, but we have come back as four. Lal perished on the second day after landing on the new planet-and it is difficult to overstate the loss of him to Earth.
  "On Earth-2, we gave birth to two children: a son and a daughter. On the way back, in space, another child was born-a boy-but he died before our return, not waking up after suspended animation, which we had to resort to.
  "We look forward to setting foot on Earth once again."
  
  Everyone on Earth spoke only about the astronauts. However, they only spoke about the future settling of Earth-2 and the Contact made with Those.
  The appearance of the children was unexpected, but too many attached no importance to it. Others, it made wary. And others still-small in numbers and separated-were happy.

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