Brain World, page 6
Ronny said, grimly, "Suppose it was chocolate covered dill pickles with anchovy sauce."
She laughed at him. "Then I doubt if anybody would ever order it." The table top sank down to return in moments with their dishes. She had evidently ordered largely salad for herself. Ronny's Peking Duck came garnished with various other Chinese dishes. He wished that he had ordered some hot sake, while he was at it. Dorn looked down in despair at the great pile of food he had summoned, but set to. He said, "To get back to that servants thing. You said there were none on Einstein. How about the wealthy?'
"What wealthy?"
He took her in, before saying, "I can see where people of ordinary means would utilize your high rate of automation to free themselves of the drudgery of housekeeping and the preparation of meals. But those with larger estates. Don't they maintain staffs of servants?"
"Oh," she said, frowning lightly as though wondering how to put this. "But, you see, there are no wealthy on Einstein. When our people first came here it must have been one of the best funded colonizations that Earthlings have ever embarked upon. They quickly built the most modern automated and computerized industries, the most efficient possible and ever since we've been upgrading it. There are no poor and no wealthy on Einstein. There is absolute abundance for everyone."
"Utopia!" Ronny blurted, in disbelief.
She shook her head and her frown deepened. She said, "No, certainly not. There is no such thing as Utopia. It means perfection, which is a goal that can never be achieved. As you approach, it recedes, and you have new achievements to strive toward." Her eyes went back to Dorn Horsten. "We have no personal servants, but, often, an outstanding scientist may have assistants, or an outstanding artist might have one or more apprentices. An outstanding writer might have someone to help him with his research. But none of these are really servants."
Dinner over, Rosemary murmured something out over the table in her unknown language and the table center sank in, taking the soiled dishes away. They headed back for the living room.
Dorn Horsten said, "What is that language you speak? I don't believe I've ever heard it before."
"I would imagine not, Doctor. I doubt if it is spoken anywhere except on Einstein. It's a scientific language, largely a combination of Esperanto and Interlingua, though our own experts made deletions, or additions, of their own." Ronny said, "Look, let's put this on a more informal basis. I can't keep calling you nothing but Rosemary, while you call me Citizen Bronston, and Dorn, Doctor Horsten. What is your last name, by the way?"
"I have none. My name's just Rosemary."
Again the two men looked at her blankly.
Ronny said, "I meant your family name."
"Yes, I know. But I have no family. My name's Rosemary and my identification number is F-123-B-1495. That, of course, is for the data banks."
"But you've got to have a family. Do you mean that you are an orphan?"
"There are no, well, orphans, on Einstein. Either that, or I suppose that you could say we're all orphans. But there are no families."
Ronny said plaintively, "You've got to have families. There's always been the family."
"No there hasn't," she told him. "Certainly not in the sense in which you're speaking. I would imagine that for ninety percent of the history of the human race, the pairing family, such as you still know it on Earth and elsewhere in United Planets, was unknown. That is a man, a woman and their children, the children taking the man's name upon birth. The extended family applied for most of man's history. Dorn Horsten said gently, "We seem to have drifted away from the fascinating point. You said that you have no families on Einstein any longer." Rosemary turned her impossibly blue eyes to him. "There's no need for them. Property is no longer an issue. There is none. Parents are no longer involved in having their possessions descend to their offspring."
"Now, wait a minute," Ronny said. "I've been losing things all along in this conversation, that really took a wheel off however. What do you mean, there is no property? You were telling us a little while ago that everybody had it made on Einstein. That there was an abundance for everybody."
"Of course," she told him, nodding her head. "But there is no private property." Dorn Horsten said, thinking he got it, "You mean that you have established communism on Einstein?"
She sent her eyes over to the doctor and frowned her absolutely beautiful frown at him. "It's an elastic term…Dorn," she said. "If you mean the so-called communism first established by Lenin on Earth, and later extended to such planets as Stalin, then no." Ronny said, his voice irritated and demanding, "Then what do you mean no private ownership? You told us earlier that this was your house."
"You misunderstood," she told him. "It is mine in the sense that I occupy it. But it isn't mine. Or anybody else's. Who in the name of the Holy Ultimate would want to be tied down to a house?" She stated it as though that was the most reasonable position possible. But then she added, "Of course I own, I suppose you could say, my personal things; my toothbrush, my art objects, my favorite articles of clothing—the ones I don't send down the disposal chutes every day. So does everybody else." Ronny closed his eyes momentarily. "To get back to this 'no family' thing. Suppose a man and woman want to live together?"
"Then they do, for as long as both want to. Any number of men and women who wish to live together can."
"Wizard," Ronny said triumphantly. "And suppose that they have a baby?"
"If the genetics computers okay it, they do."
Ronny looked at her, but then shook his head. "We'll get back to that later. You've got a man, a woman and a child. Isn't that a family?"
"No. Any one of the three can leave at any time." She added, "Children are no longer dependent on their parents."
"You mean the state raises all children?"
"There is no state on Einstein. Children are the responsibility of society."
"Then a couple of parents aren't allowed to raise their own child?" Dorn said.
"Certainly they are, if the computers find that they are competent to do so. However, few people desire to. Children have always been a drag. In the past you were taught that it was your duty to raise your offspring, no matter how incompetent you might be to do so. You also supposedly loved them, whatever that means. Your early education in your home, your schools, your religious institutions, all taught that you must love and raise your children. It is no longer necessary to raise them, and we are somewhat sceptical about the meaning of love. It's too elastic a term to make much sense."
"Confound it," Ronny said. "Who raises the kid?"
"People who are competent to do so, and who are particularly fond of children. There are always ample volunteers to go into that field of endeavor," She came to her feet and said, "But I'm being a terrible hostess again. Dorn, I note that you have a taste for Italian food. Would you like a glass of Marsala as a nightcap? I can recommend it. And you, Ronald?"
They both accepted and she went off for it.
Ronny said to Dorn, "I've still got a good many questions, obviously, but it still sounds like a Utopia to me. Why in the hell do they want to join United Planets? What have we got to offer them?"
"That's what we're here to find out," Dorn Horsten said, his voice also low. "Don't have to raise your children, eh? Sounds like a Utopia at that. I never have liked children. One of the reasons I've never gotten married. We have some rather prudish institutions on the planet of my birth."
Rosemary returned with three glasses and a dark bottle and served them. She smiled brightly and said, "Now then, where were we? We seem to go off on tangents. Before I can answer one of your questions, two more have popped up." Ronny said, "Rosemary, you mentioned the genetics computers, and later you mentioned that two people could raise their own child if the computers decided they were competent. Suppose the computers decided against them in one or the other case, or both. And suppose they wanted the child anyway and wanted to raise it, and the hell with the computers."
Rosemary finished her wine and put down her glass before answering. She said, very seriously, "Genetics are our strongest raison d'etre. It is the reason Einstein was colonized. Anyone refusing to conform to our institutions pertaining to genetics is perfectly free to leave Einstein and seek what he desires on some other planet." She looked at her watch. "But you two must be tired. And you're to have a full day tomorrow. Is bed in order?"
The two men stood. "I suppose that you're right, my dear," the doctor said. "And perhaps we should mull over some of the things that you have already told us. It's all been fascinating."
She stood too and smiled her dazzling bright smile and said, "Would either, or both of you, like me to sleep with you?"
Chapter Eight
Dorn Horsten had always been a light sleeper, and since he had affiliated himself with Section G and the United Planets dream had become even more so. The cloak and dagger assignments he had been given had a tendency to sharpen the senses. A stirring brought him instantly awake.
When Rosemary had made her startling offer, obviously thinking nothing of it, both of the Section G agents had boggled at her. If she had suddenly grown an elephant's trunk, they could hardly have been more surprised.
But Doctor Horsten had no taste for group sex, and he had noticed all evening that Ronny could hardly keep his eyes off the pretty girl. So, as politely as possible under the circumstances, the doctor had begged off, explaining that he was overtired and realized that the day ahead was to be a full one. He went off to bed, leaving Ronny and the beauteous Rosemary to their arrangements.
He had no idea, when he was awakened, what time it was or how long he had slept. Einstein had no moon, and hence nightlight was dependent upon the stars. True, the atmosphere was extremely clear, and the distant suns shone bright, but still there was little light coming through the large windows which opened onto the patio. There was no lock on the door, allowing for easy entry into his suite, and, in spite of the dimness, Dorn Horsten realized that someone had taken advantage of the fact. Indeed, there were two of them, and at first he couldn't make out what they were up to. By their bulk, they were both men and, though not of Horsten's size, substantial nevertheless. As his eyes grew more accustomed to the room, he made out what seemed to be masks, or goggles, on their faces and both seemed to be carrying what he would have guessed were flashlights, though neither of them were lit. He wished he could take up his glasses from the night table, but that would only alert them. They were bending over something on the floor, and at first he couldn't make out what the object was. Then it came to him. They were going through one of his suitcases. And to one side was the other one, open. It had obviously already been ransacked. He was completely awake now.
Suddenly he threw back the covers and was on them, hoping fervently that the objects they carried weren't weapons. If they were some sort of laser or other advanced weapon developed on this planet, he'd undoubtedly had it.
'The scrambling fight turned out to be a farce. There was insufficient light for anyone involved to operate with any sort of efficiency. All three of them, at one time or the other, were on the floor, or stumbling about, unable to make contact in the dark. On top of that, Dorn Horsten was pulling his punches. He knew perfectly well that a full blow from his ham-sized fist would have caved in the rib cage of one of the intruders, and he was not on Einstein to commit mayhem. He was here on peaceful mission, simply to gain information. From what Rosemary had said, the citizens of Einstein probably took a dim view of violence. The member worlds of United Planets which boasted the highest standards of living almost invariably had little criminal activity. Crime, except crimes of passion, deals almost exclusively with property, and when there is plenty for all, crime withers. And from what he learned thus far about Einstein, it had possbily the highest standard of living of any world Dorn had ever seen. Suddenly the strangers disentangled themselves and were gone out the unlocked door.
His first inclination was to pursue, if for no other reason than to find out who they were. But he drew himself up before dashing out the door after them. For all he knew, those were weapons they carried and if they found themselves being followed, they might attempt to finish him. Besides, he knew nothing about the vicinity and the way these underground houses were camouflaged he wasn't sure that he'd be able to find his way back, if he got more than a few meters from the entry to Rosemary's home. He waited a few minutes, to be sure they'd gotten well away, then went over and flicked on the lights. He picked up his glasses and anchored them firmly to his nose, then turned to inspect the damage.
The intruders hadn't been neat. The contents of his bags were strewn all over the floor.
So far as he could find, nothing was gone. For that matter, there was nothing that he could think of that might interest them. The Section G boys at headquarters had carefully selected the things that he and Ronny were to take to Einstein with them. No weapons, no secret gismos from the Department of Dirty Tricks. Nothing to make their hosts at all suspicious.
He was puzzled. It simply made no sense at all. If the locals had wanted to search his luggage, why hadn't they done it at the spaceport when he and Ronny had first emerged from the Sheppard! They hadn't even seen a customs man, an immigration officer, or any other authority. Of course, in a sense, Ronny Bronston and he came under the head of a mission, and diplomatic immunity could be said to apply to them, and hence their luggage wouldn't have been inspected. But it was drawing rather a fine point to leave their things politely unexamined upon entry to the planet, and then sneak, at night, into a man's bedroom and search it. Still, he couldn't believe the two to be sneak thieves. From what Rosemary had said, there was no need on Einstein to be a thief. Certainly not a common pilferer.
He shrugged his heavy shoulders. It was a mystery.
Then his eyes fell upon something he had thus far missed. Up against the wall was one of the flashlight-like devices the others had carried. It had obviously been dropped in the confusion. He went over and picked it up, and, almost immediately, realized what it was. It was an infra-red flashlight. Those goggles they had worn were not masks, but were to enable them to utilize the light, which was useless to the naked eye. They had come well prepared for their burglary.
He wondered, momentarily, whether or not he should go next door to Ronny's room and inform him of what had happened but then shook his head. It could wait until morning. For one thing, he wasn't sure he wanted to tell about it in front of Rosemary. For another, he wasn't even sure Ronny was in his own suite; he might be in the girl's rooms. But even if he was in his own bed, he was probably busy at his masculine duties. And by the looks of Rosemary, those duties would continue far into the night. He looked at the door for a moment and wondered if there wasn't some way to brace it. His eyes went about the small suite. The furniture didn't seem to be particularly suited. However, he took up one of the twin beds bodily and carried over to the door and braced it against the entry. At least, anyone trying to get back in would make enough noise to supply adequate warning. For all he knew, the two intruders might have second thoughts and decide to return, possibly with weapons this time, and finish him off. Dorn Horsten looked forward to dying in bed, some far day, but not from having been shot there.
Chapter Nine
Switching from the hours kept on the Sheppard to those of Einstein had thrown Ronny's sleeping schedule off, and he found himself awake at an earlier hour than he had expected. He looked over at Rosemary, whose blond head was on the pillow next to him. She was out like a light, and was even making a very small snore. Even after the wild night they had put in, and in the harsh light of morning, she still looked like the most beautiful woman he had ever bedded.
Moving very carefully, so as not to awaken her, he got up and carried one of his bags into the small sitting room, along with the clothes he had worn the day before. Possibly here on Einstein they disposed of clothing after one day's wear, but, even had he wanted to emulate them, he didn't know how to go about ordering new ones. Besides, he and Dorn hadn't met the committee Rosemary had mentioned and he decided to continue his ultra-conservative attire until they had. Ronny didn't particularly like it but he didn't particularly look the diplomatic type—though Dorn pulled it off very well—and conservative clothes would help. They had both slept nude. He went into the bath and had little trouble figuring out the fixtures. He had figured out bathroom fixtures of many a culture in his time, including an outhouse on the anarchist planet Bakunin. This on Einstein was quite similar to those on Earth and the other advanced planets. He even found depilatory and used it on his beard.
His toilet over, he returned to the sitting room and, still as quietly as possible, to refrain from interrupting the slumber of his bedmate, dressed in fresh underthings, fresh socks and shirt, but otherwise in the same suit he had worn the day before. He quietly let himself out onto the patio and from there went into the living room. He found Dorn Horsten in the dining room, having coffee and toast. Evidently, his sleep, too, had been upset by the change in schedule.
He smiled self-satisfaction and said, "I figured out how to order coffee on this table. I've never seen an automated table before that didn't at least have an order screen. In fact, I don't believe I've ever seen an automated table in a home out in the boondocks like this. However, I suppose that if you can pipe electricity, water and gas into a home from a distant point there's no particular reason why you couldn't send food from some automated kitchen. They probably have a vacuum tube arrangement."
