a swimming pool. Retractable plastic covers protected the exterior from inclement weather. He couldn’t begin to guess at the rent but it must have been astronomical. When he said so she shrugged.
“You are ill,” she said. “You need a new heart and you will die without it. How much is it worth to you?”
He hesitated.
“All you own,” she said. “What’s the good of money when you’re dead?”
“So you get well paid,” he said.
“I get very well paid,” she corrected. “I’m good at my work. I know it and my clients know it. A lot of them are grateful.” She looked at him. “You’re young,” she said. “Handsome. You have a lot to lose.”
“And quite a bit to gain,” he reminded. “What are the odds?”
“Of you collecting that two million? Small,” she said honestly. “You won’t be the first to have tried. Some of the best minds of Earth have grappled with the problem. The Kaltich are smart. They’ve got us in a stranglehold. Have you ever wondered,” she said, “why the governmental forces haven’t just gone in and grabbed a Gate? Just taken it over?”
He nodded.
“They have. Five years after the Kaltich appeared they tried it. In Estonia. The Soviets sent in armed troops. They managed to get what they were after and found they had nothing at all. The Kaltich had retreated and closed the Gate after them.”
“What happened?”
“For thirty years no member of the Communist Part was granted longevity treatment. The heads of the party were old men. No government has dared try it since. That’s why the Kaltich have us in a stranglehold. Your worst enemies are those of your own kind.”
“Are you saying that STAR is against me?”
“No. We are the ones who are for you, but how many belong to STAR? Not many,” she said, not waiting for an answer. “And we could be wrong. The UNO thinks that we are. Chung Hoo preaches patience — all will come if we wait long enough. I think that he is lying. Not consciously but actually. He doesn’t want to recognize the truth.”
“Which is?”
“The Gates will never be opened,” she said. “Not as they’ve promised. Not so that the people of Earth can enjoy new worlds. We’re trapped,” she said. “Beaten by our own greed. Tell me,” she demanded. “Do you know how far science has advanced since the aliens came?”
He shook his head.
“Hardly at all. Oh, we’ve made some slight progress, perfected some skills, tied up a few loose ends, but that’s about all. We haven’t made any really significant progressduring the past fifty years. Can you guess why?”
It was obvious. “Why beat your brains out trying to do something that has already been done? All we need to do is to wait and the Kaltich will drop the answer to every question right smack in our lap.”
“Exactly. They’ve even killed our initiative.”
An inflated rubber duck lay at the edge of the pool. He picked it up and threw it into the water. Idly he watched it drift. The sunshine made rainbows on the tiny puddles where they had dripped water when climbing out.
“Wait,” he said. “For how long?”
“Until we’re so helplessly dependent on the Kaltich that we’ll be no better than slaves.” She stretched, breasts high and firm. “I’m a surgeon,” she said. “Did you know that spare-part surgery was possible as far back as the middle of last century? The point is that we could have had our own spare-part organic banks by this time. In fact, we did. Then the Kaltich offered to keep us supplied. They taught us their method of tissue-typing. Now, when we need anything, we send to a Gate.” She rolled, looking directly at him. “Where,” she asked meaningfully, “do they get those spare parts?”
Moodily he lit a cigarlet. You’re avoiding the issue, he thought. STAR has already gone into these questions. She’s marking time for some reason of her own. Idly he wondered how a woman like her, rich, beautiful, had come to join the
“You are ill,” she said. “You need a new heart and you will die without it. How much is it worth to you?”
He hesitated.
“All you own,” she said. “What’s the good of money when you’re dead?”
“So you get well paid,” he said.
“I get very well paid,” she corrected. “I’m good at my work. I know it and my clients know it. A lot of them are grateful.” She looked at him. “You’re young,” she said. “Handsome. You have a lot to lose.”
“And quite a bit to gain,” he reminded. “What are the odds?”
“Of you collecting that two million? Small,” she said honestly. “You won’t be the first to have tried. Some of the best minds of Earth have grappled with the problem. The Kaltich are smart. They’ve got us in a stranglehold. Have you ever wondered,” she said, “why the governmental forces haven’t just gone in and grabbed a Gate? Just taken it over?”
He nodded.
“They have. Five years after the Kaltich appeared they tried it. In Estonia. The Soviets sent in armed troops. They managed to get what they were after and found they had nothing at all. The Kaltich had retreated and closed the Gate after them.”
“What happened?”
“For thirty years no member of the Communist Part was granted longevity treatment. The heads of the party were old men. No government has dared try it since. That’s why the Kaltich have us in a stranglehold. Your worst enemies are those of your own kind.”
“Are you saying that STAR is against me?”
“No. We are the ones who are for you, but how many belong to STAR? Not many,” she said, not waiting for an answer. “And we could be wrong. The UNO thinks that we are. Chung Hoo preaches patience — all will come if we wait long enough. I think that he is lying. Not consciously but actually. He doesn’t want to recognize the truth.”
“Which is?”
“The Gates will never be opened,” she said. “Not as they’ve promised. Not so that the people of Earth can enjoy new worlds. We’re trapped,” she said. “Beaten by our own greed. Tell me,” she demanded. “Do you know how far science has advanced since the aliens came?”
He shook his head.
“Hardly at all. Oh, we’ve made some slight progress, perfected some skills, tied up a few loose ends, but that’s about all. We haven’t made any really significant progressduring the past fifty years. Can you guess why?”
It was obvious. “Why beat your brains out trying to do something that has already been done? All we need to do is to wait and the Kaltich will drop the answer to every question right smack in our lap.”
“Exactly. They’ve even killed our initiative.”
An inflated rubber duck lay at the edge of the pool. He picked it up and threw it into the water. Idly he watched it drift. The sunshine made rainbows on the tiny puddles where they had dripped water when climbing out.
“Wait,” he said. “For how long?”
“Until we’re so helplessly dependent on the Kaltich that we’ll be no better than slaves.” She stretched, breasts high and firm. “I’m a surgeon,” she said. “Did you know that spare-part surgery was possible as far back as the middle of last century? The point is that we could have had our own spare-part organic banks by this time. In fact, we did. Then the Kaltich offered to keep us supplied. They taught us their method of tissue-typing. Now, when we need anything, we send to a Gate.” She rolled, looking directly at him. “Where,” she asked meaningfully, “do they get those spare parts?”
Moodily he lit a cigarlet. You’re avoiding the issue, he thought. STAR has already gone into these questions. She’s marking time for some reason of her own. Idly he wondered how a woman like her, rich, beautiful, had come to join the
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