The Simulacra

The children, noticing the adults, broke off suddenly, shyly; they peeped at Nat and Molly and Jim wide-eyed. It would probably not have been possible to get them down anyhow, Nat realized. So he had lost nothing by his deal.

‘Does this frighten you?' Beth Kongrosian asked him.

He shrugged. ‘No. Not really.'

‘The government knows about it,' she said. ‘There have been many ethnologists and god knows what else sent out here to investigate. They all say it proves one thing; in prehistoric times, during the epoch before Cro-Magnon Man appeared -- ‘ She ceased, helplessly.

‘They interbred,' Nat finished for her. ‘Like the skeletons found in the caves in Israel indicated.'

‘Yes.' She nodded. ‘Possibly all the so-called sub-races. The races that didn't survive. They were absorbed by Homo Sapiens.'

‘I'd make a different guess,' Nat said. ‘It would seem more to me that the the so-called sub-races were mutations which existed for a short while and then dwindled away because they couldn't adapt as well. Perhaps there were radiation problems in those days.'

‘I don't agree,' Beth Kongrosian said. ‘And work they've done with the von Lessinger equipment tends to back me up. By your theory they would just be -- sports. But I believe they're true races ... I think they evolved separately from the original primate, from Proconsul. And at last came together, when Homo Sapiens migrated into their hunting lands.'

Molly said, ‘Could I get another cup of coffee? I'm cold.'

She shivered. ‘This damp air gets me down.'

‘We'll go back into the house,' Beth Kongrosian agreed.

‘Yes, you're not accustomed to the weather up here; I understand. I remember how it was when we first moved here.'

‘Plautus was not born here,' Nat said.

‘No.' She nodded. ‘We came here because of him.'

‘Wouldn't the government have taken him?' Nat asked.

‘They maintain special schools for radiation survivors.' He avoided using the exact term; it would have been radiation sports.

‘We thought he would be happier here,' Beth Kongrosian said. ‘Most of them -- the chuppers, as they speak of themselves -- are here. They've come from every part of the world, during the last two decades.'

The four of them re-entered the warm, dry house.

‘He's actually a lovely-looking little boy,' Molly said.

‘Very sweet and sensitive-looking, despite -- ‘ She faltered.

‘The jaw and the shambling gait,' Mrs Kongrosian said matter of factly, ‘haven't fully formed. That begins in about the thirteenth year.' In the kitchen she began to heat water for their coffee.

Strange, what we're going to bring back from this trip, Nat Flieger thought to himself. So different from what we and Leo expected.

He thought, I wonder how it'll sell.

Amanda Co

Wilder Pembroke! Dr Superb sat up rigidly, and laid aside his appointment book reflexively. What did the NP official want this tune? He felt immediate, instinctive wariness and he said into the intercom, ‘Just a minute, please.'

Has he finally come to shut me down? he wondered. Then I must have seen that one, particular patient without realizing it.

The one I exist to serve; or rather, not to serve. The man I'm here to fail with.

Sweat stood out on his forehead as he thought, So now my career, like that of every other psychoanalyst in the USEA, ends. What'll I do now? Some of his colleagues had fled to Communist countries, but surely they were no better off there. Several had emigrated to Luna and Mars. And a few a surprisingly large ‘few' -- had applied for work with A.G. Chemie, the organization responsible in the first place for the stricture against them.

He was too young to retire and too old to learn another profession. Bitterly, he thought, so actually I can do nothing. I can't go on and I can't quit; it's a true doublebind, the sort of thing my patients are always getting themselves into. Now he could feel more compassion for them and the messes which they had made of their lives.

To Amanda he said, ‘Send Commissioner Pembroke in.'

The hard-eyed but quiet-spoken NP man, in ordinary street clothes as before, slowly entered the office and seated himself facing Dr Superb.

‘That's quite a girl you have out there,' Pembroke said, and licked his lips. ‘I wonder what will become of her. Possibly we -- ‘

‘What do you want?' Superb said.

‘An answer. To a question.' Pembroke leaned back, got out a gold cigarette case, an antique from the previous century, lit up with his lighter, also an antique. Blowing smoke he made himself comfortable, crossing his legs. And said, ‘Your patient, Richard Kongrosian, has discovered that he can fight back.'

‘Against whom?'

‘His oppressors. Us, of course. Anyone else who comes along, for that matter. Here's what I would like to know. I want to work with Richard Kongrosian but I have to protect myself from him. Frankly, I'm afraid of him, at this point, more afraid of him, doctor, than of anyone else in the world. And I know why -- I've used von Lessinger's equipment and I know exactly what I'm talking about. What's the key to his mind? How can I arrange for Kongrosian to be -- ‘ Pembroke groped for the word; gesturing, he said, ‘Reliable. You understand. Obviously, I don't want to be picked up and set down six feet underground some morning when we have a minor tiff.' His face was pale and he was sitting with brittle stiffness.

After a pause Dr Superb said, ‘Now that I know who the patient is that I'm waiting for. You lied about the failing. I'm not supposed to fail. In fact I'm needed vitally. And the patient is quite sane.'

Pembroke regarded him intently but said nothing.

‘You're the patient. And you were totally aware of it, all along. Through you I've been misled. From the begi

After a time Pembroke nodded.

‘And this is not government business,' Superb said. ‘This is an arrangement of your own. It has nothing to do with Nicole.' At least not directly, he thought.

‘Be careful.' Pembroke said. He got out his service pistol and held it loosely in his lap, but with his hand close to it.

‘I can't tell you how to control Kongrosian. I can't control him myself; you've seen that.'

‘But you would know,' Pembroke said, ‘assuming anyone would, if I can work with him; you know that much about him.' He stared at Superb, his eyes clear and unwinking. Waiting.

‘You'd have to tell me what you intend to propose to him.'

Pembroke, picking up his gun and holding it pointed directly at Dr Superb, said, ‘Tell me how he feels about Nicole.'

‘She's a Magna Mater figure to him. As she is to all of us.'

‘ "Magna Mater." ‘ Pembroke leaned forward intently.

‘What's that?'

‘The great primordial mother.'

‘So in other words he idolizes her. She's like a goddess to him, not mortal. How would he react -- ‘ Pembroke hesitated. ‘Suppose Kongrosian suddenly became a Ge, a real one, possessing one of the most carefully-guarded government secrets. That Nicole died years ago, that this so-called "Nicole" is an actress. A girl named Kate Rupert.'

Superb's ears buzzed. He studied Pembroke, and knew one thing, knew it for the absolute reality it was. When this interchange was over, Pembroke would kill him.

‘Because,' Pembroke said, ‘that's the truth.' He shoved his gun back into its holster, then, Would he lose his awe of her, then? Would he be able to -- co-operate?'

After a time Superb said, ‘Yes. He would. Definitely so.'

Visibly, Pembroke relaxed. He ceased to tremble and some colour returned to his thin, flat face. ‘Good. And I hope you're disbursing the truth, doctor, because if you aren't I'll make my way back here, no matter what happens, and destroy you.' All at once he rose to his feet. ‘Goodbye.'