[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
problems are different and they've usually had a worse medical history. If they come in middle age, they
look old."
The Earthman looked away, embarrassed. "Can they intermarry? I mean, immigrants and Lunarites."
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"Certainly. That is, they can interbreed."
"Yes, that's what I meant."
"Of course. No reason why an immigrant can't have some worthwhile genes. Heavens, my father was an
immie, though I'm second-generation Lunarite on my mother's side."
"I suppose your father must have come when he was1quite Oh,good Lord " He froze at the railing,
then drew a shuddering sigh. "I thought he was going to miss that bar."
"Not a chance," said Selene. "That's Marco Fore. He likes to do that, reach out at the last moment.
Actually, it's bad form to do that and a real champion doesn't. Still My father was twenty-two when he
arrived."
"I suppose that's the way. Still young enough to be adaptable; no emotional complications back on
Earth. From the standpoint of the Earthie male, I imagine it must be rather nice to have a sexual
attachment with a "
"Sexual attachment!" Selene's amusement seemed to cover a very real sense of shock. "You don't
suppose my father had sex with my mother. If my mother heard you say that, she'd setyou right in a
hurry."
"But "
"Artificial insemination was what it was for goodness sake. Sex with anEarthman?"
The Earthman looked solemn. "I thought you said there was no discrimination."
"That's not discrimination. That's a matter of physical fact. An Earthman can't handle the gravity field
properly. However practiced he might be, under the stress of passion, he might revert. I wouldn't risk it.
The clumsy fool might snap his arm or leg or worse, mine. Gene mixtures are one thing; sex is quite
another."
"I'm sorry. . . . Isn't artificial insemination against the law?"
She was watching the gymnastics with absorption. "That's Marco Fore again. When he isn't trying to be
uselessly spectacular, he really is good; and his sister is almost as good. When they work together it's
really a poem of motion. Look at them now. They'll come together and circle the same bar as though they
have a single body stretched across. He's a little too flamboyant at times, but you can't fault his muscular
control. . . . Yes, artificial insemination is against Earth's law, but it's allowed where medical reasons are
involved, and, of course, that's often the case, or said to be."
AU the acrobats had now climbed to the top and were in a great circle just below the railing; all the reds
on one side, the blues on the other. All arms on the side of the interior were raised and the applause was
loud. Quite a crowd had now gathered at the rail.
"You ought to have some seating arrangement," said the Earthman.
"Not at all. This isn't a show. This is exercise. We don't encourage any more spectators than can stand
comfortably about the railing. We're supposed to be down there, not up here."
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"You mean you can do that sort of thing, Selene?"
"After a fashion, of course. Any Lunarite can. I'm not as good as they are. I haven't joined any teams
There's going to be the melee now, the free-for-all. This is the really dangerous part. All ten are going to
be in the air andeach side is going to try to send members of the other side into a fall."
"A real fall."
"As real as possible."
"Are there injuries occasionally?"
"Occasionally. In theory, this sort of thing is frowned upon. Thatis considered frivolous, and we don't
have so large a population that we can afford to incapacitate anyone without real cause. Still, the melee is
popular and we can't raise the votes to outlaw it."
"Which side do you vote on, Selene?"
Selene blushed. "Oh, never mind. You watch this!"
The percussion rhythm had suddenly grown thunderous and each of the individuals in the huge well
darted outward like an arrow. There was wild confusion in mid-air "but when they parted again, each
ended firmly on a bar-grip. There was the tension of waiting. One launched; another followed; and the air
was filled with flashing bodies again. Over and over it happened.
Selene said, "The scoring is intricate. There is a point for every launch; a point for every touch; two
points for every miss inflicted; ten points for a grounding; various penalties for various kinds of fouling."
"Who keeps the score?"
"There are umpires watching who make the preliminary decisions and there are television tapes in case
of appeals. Very often even the tapes can't decide."
There was a sudden excited cry when a girl in blue moved past a boy in red and slapped his flank
resoundingly. The boy who received the blow had writhed away, but not successfully, and grabbing at a
wall bar with improper balance struck that wall ungracefully with his knee.
"Where were his eyes?" demanded Selene indignantly. "He didn't see her coming."
The action grew hotter and the Earthman tired of trying to make sense of the knotted flights.
Occasionally, a leaper touched a bar and did not retain his hold. Those were the times when every
spectator leaned over the railing as though ready to launch himself into space in sympathy. Atone time,
Marco Fore was struck in the wrist and someone cried "Foul!"
Fore missed his handhold and fell. To the Earthman's eyes, the fall, under Moon-gravity, was slow, and
Fore's lithe body twisted and turned, reaching for bar after bar, without quite making it. The others
waited, as though all maneuvering was suspended during a fall.
Fore was moving quite rapidly now, though twice he had slowed himself without quite being able to
maintain a handhold.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
He was nearly to the ground when a sudden spidery lunge caught a transverse bar with the right leg and
he hung suspended and swinging, head downward, about ten feet above the ground. Arms outspread, he
paused while the applause rang out and then he had twisted upright and jumped into a rapid climb.
The Earthman said, "Was he fouled?"
"If Jean Wong actually grabbed Marco's wrist instead of pushing it, it was a foul. The umpire has ruled a
fair block, however, and I don't think Marco will appeal. He fell a lot farther than he had to. He likes
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]