It crossed Caroline’s mind, then that they might well have to tell Nazareth some complicated lies as it was, after today. If, for example, she asked to see her Encodings in the Langlish computer programs.
Caroline’s eyes opened wide in the darkness. Oh, Lord, yes! First thing tomorrow, women must be set to the task of entering Nazareth’s Encodings, with the Langlish word-shapes she had given them — corrected for the current grotesque status of the language, of course, as they would certainly have done — into the computers. They had to be there for Nazareth to see, and they had to be there fast.
Chapter Fourteen
Arnold Dolbe felt absurd, and he looked absurd. You did not see a government man, dressed in the obligatory antique business suit that was the uniform of the government man, sitting in another government man’s office surrounded by eleven tiny children ranging in age from one to three years. But you did see Dolbe, who was your paradigm government man, in just such a situation. He was extremely uncomfortable, and the official he had descended upon was furious… what would the staff think? Dolbe had been told in no uncertain terms that he was to be discreet about this; and instead he had come marching in with a… a platoon… of flunkies, each carrying a load of brats. It had created a sensation in the outer offices.
“Damn you, Dolbe,” sputtered the official, one Taylor B. Dorcas the 3rd, “are you going out of your way to be a damn fool or does it just come naturally to you? I told you to be careful, goddam it! You call this careful?” Dorcas had gone to Homeroom with Arnold Dolbe.
He waved his arms, indicating the rows of children lined up on the chairs around his office, and demanded that Dolbe justify his disgraceful behavior. But Dolbe was accustomed to bureaucratic bellowers like this one, and they bothered him not at all; here he was on equal ground, and he knew the rules by which all the games were played. He watched the other man stolidly until he ran down, and then he spoke. With elaborate unconcern.
“There’s nothing in any way immoral about appearing in public with eleven young children, Taylor,” he remarked. “Spare me, please.”
“I didn’t say it was immoral! I said it was — making a spectacle of yourself. And of me!”
“Taylor, I’m not sure I follow you… but if what concerns you is the opinion of your subordinates, and their comments, you’ve made a grave mistake. If you’ve let them get out of hand to such a degree that they will even mention this meeting. Even to one another. Even over a beer. They should be blind, deaf, and numb to all such incidents, unless otherwise instructed by you. Tsk.”
Taylor Dorcas blew air through his lips, loudly, and sat back down in total exasperation. Dolbe was right, of course; and he was a point up now because he’d been given the opportunity to deliver the little homily on management. Damn the man! Dorcas briefly considered punching his comset studs and issuing some rapid-fire orders, just to reestablish the principle that this was his turf and he was running things here… but Dolbe moved right in while he was still thinking it over.
“Now,” he said, “these are the eleven children that we are turning over to the Department. I have their records with me on microfiche, and naturally they’ve been entered in your computers directly from my own office You won’t need to be bothered about that.”
“What, exactly — ”
“Their ‘birth’ dates. Their various immunizations. Their medications administered, and their responses. Allergies, if any. Results of the standard battery of tests. Clothing sizes. All that sort of data.”
“And their names, of course.”
Dolbe’s eyebrows went up precipitously.
“Their names? Their names, Taylor?”
“Well, don’t they have names?”
“Why would they?”
“Well…”
“Look here, Taylor,” said Dolbe, “every last one of these kids started life as the sum of an anonymous sperm and an anonymous egg. They have no parents; why would they have names?”
Taylor Dorcas snickered, and jabbed one finger at Dolbe. “You could have them all named after you, Arnold. You’re as much their daddy as anybody.”
Dolbe snorted, but he did not dignify his colleague’s silliness with a reply.
“Well, hellfire and Congress, man, how do you keep track of them then?”
“They’re numbered,” said Dolbe primly. “I would have assumed that that would be obvious. Even to you.”
“One through eleven?”
“No. These are not the first eleven test-tube babies we’ve worked with. They are eleven consecutive numbers, however. From left to right, Dorcas, please meet #20 through #30. Standard government issue infants, all in good health and now entirely yours.”
“Mine?”
“Figuratively speaking, of course. I should say, to be precise, all entirely the wards of the Department of Health, Division of Children, Toddler Section, your subsection. I hope you’ve made the necessary arrangements.”
“Yes. I have. If you’ll have your… procession… take them all up to the roof, there’s a large flyer waiting to deliver them to the federal orphanage. With nurses aboard to see to them during the flight, naturally. They’ll be properly cared for.”
“Very good,” said Dolbe. “In that case, I’ll get started.”
“Now WAIT a minute, Dolbe!”
Dolbe had started to rise from his chair; he stopped, shrugged, and sat down again, suggesting that Taylor Dorcas try to express himself with greater clarity so that they could both get on to more pressing business.
“I need a few more details,” protested Dorcas.
“All in that file, Taylor,” said Dolbe, pointing to the folder he’d slapped onto the man’s desk when he came into this room. It was marked TOP SECRET in letters four inches high, in three different colors and an assortment of different languages. Including PanSig symbols.
“I’ll read the file,” said Dorcas. “But right now I want a quick briefing from you.”
“I’m under no obligation to provide you with anything of the kind.”
“I’m aware of that. And you may refuse, of course. In which case, I will send for Brooks Showard and ask him to oblige me.”
Dorcas had gained back the point and evened the score, and he smiled at Dolbe. Who smiled back. They hated each other, in an impersonal way. And Dolbe knew things. For instance, he knew that Taylor Dorcas’ nickname in Homeroom had been “Dorky.” But Dorcas knew some things, too. It was roughly a standoff.