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“He is funny,” Theresita gasped.
“I always knew Russia was behind us,” Jacob said, “but a hundred years behind on jokes?”
“I will show you who is behind,” Theresita threatened, giggling and beating Jacob on the shoulder.
Then, after a couple of residual giggles, she said, “And speaking of funny things, Dr. Miller gave me
the most thorough going-over I’ve ever had in my life.”
“Aside from your sense of humor,” Jacob said, “did she find anything wrong?”
“No. I am as healthy as a horse. This is the funny thing: She told me that I am three months pregnant.”
Jacob straightened up with a start.
“Isn’t that funny?” Theresita asked. “Very,” Jacob said, his eyes questioning.
She hit him on the shoulder again. “Don’t be silly, Sky Flyer, ynout eavrenthat fast. No,” she
continued, her face serious. “There is nothing to worry about. She ran the test as a sort of afterthought,
when it was getting very late. There is something wrong, of course, with the test itself.”
Jacob was still looking at her questioningly.
“Jacob, ” she said, “three months ago I was with the Whorsk, and I assure you that I did not join in the
nightly play.”
“I’m sure it was just a faulty test,” Grace agreed.
“Oh, sure,” Theresita said. “Impossible, you see.” She laughed heartily. “If I am pregnant, it means that
I
missed something that I certainly would not have wanted to miss.” Jacob laughed with her.
But a month later, after Theresita’s flat stomach had swelled noticibly, no one was laughing.
EPILOGUE
Dr. Mandy Miller sent her request for a private conference with the captain through channels. The
memo was seen and initialed by the captain’s semiofficial secretary, Mrs. Duncan Rodrick. A time was
set at
the end of a workday; the place was the captain’s office, which would eliminate any temptation to
make personal contact, for official meetings in the captain’s office were automatically recorded.
There are, however, finely shaded emotions capable of being passed from person to person without
 
detection by audio or visual recorders. The camera, for example, could not pick up the soft glow of
love that came into Mandy s eyes as she entered the office after knocking, nor the immediate, heart-
stopping reaction that look had on Duncan Rodrick.
Duncan had anticipated the meeting with a mixture of doubt and pleasure. He had thought he could
control his emotions regarding Mandy and had convinced himself that he’d been doing the colony a
disservice by avoiding her completely. She was, after all, the head of the Life Sciences section and, as
such, an important official whose continuing service was vital to all.
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