Sam McClatchie

“ I said, "and how do you explain this pandemic in Red China that's killing off so many people. That is an entirely different disease."
"I agree," Hallam said thoughtfully, "and that's the beauty of the whole plan. If you learn to make one virus that transmits its characteristics, you should be able to make others. A killer virus let loose in North America would alarm the entire continent overnight. Our public health people would isolate whole cities, if necessary, and probably eliminate it before it got out of hand. We have no quarantine for this epidemic. ”

“ Our side is going to claim that the union of a red-blooded American male and a modern capitalist female will produce offspring far superior to anything else in the world, thus demonstrating the supremacy of the American way of life. ”

“ I moved on again to the shower, taking it cool to clear my fuzzy head. Now there was little to do but wait; wait for the ferrets to get amorous; wait for the chattering monkeys to fall ill; wait for more biopsies of the human volunteers out there beyond the virus-proof walls of our chosen prison. I thought of the previous day, the second after our brief excursion. After breakfast we had rechecked the animals while Pat had transferred cultures, brought our records up to date and then Hallam and I sat in the living room playing cribbage while we waited for Smith's reports. ”

“ They reasoned that if they began a new contest to pick the most suitable mother in America and then had her impregnated, artificially of course, by the most suitable donor, they would stir up all sorts of excitement for the next nine months and produce a baby that should be a worldbeater. The mother would be given a tremendous annuity, for life, and the babe assured of all expenses right through college."
"It all sounds faintly nauseating to me."
"George, you're impossible. A geneticist who still believes in fortuitous breeding!" ”

“ By now, one of our sergeants, another Korean War veteran named Lim On, was ill with what appeared to be the same disease and the morale of the unit was slipping. We had jumped a week ago and as yet had accomplished nothing. In a deserted, half-collapsed farmhouse about a mile from Song-dong-ni, they laid Lim and me down on piles of straw while most of the men bivouacked in small dugouts camouflaged in the woods beside the house. We waited for Lee Sung to get Anders.
He arrived the following afternoon. A tall man, he looked like a benevolent hawk, pale smooth hair, sharp nose, keen grey eyes. ”

“ Blackie and two others had the forward gun aimed and waiting. In the little junks, dropping rapidly astern, I saw that Kim and his men were already fighting. Their puny burp guns popped bravely at the two jets which, ignoring them as too small, were concentrating all their attention on us.
The leading jet grew larger, filling the sky with its round open face and stubby wings. The tracers from Makstutis' gun floated lazily upwards and then seemed to snap past, below the airplane, and wink out. Too low, I thought, and dropped flat as the Mig hit out at us. ”

“ The Moon, after all, is a satellite of Earth. Mars is another planet, and Major Harmon has landed there. We are not likely in our time to see another such event since the next big step, beyond the Solar System, will require a technology we do not possess. So, ladies and gentlemen, you, tonight, are witnessing the beginning of a new age, an age of supermen borne by women of America, such as Gloria Manson, and led by heroes such as John Harmon. ”

“ A movement at the other end caught my attention and, for a moment, a great tightness clamped down on my chest. Kim was standing at the edge of the cutting, calmly waving to the engine driver.
"The damn fool," I raged inside. "What in Hell is he doing?" And then I realized and almost wept in admiration and pride. Afraid that the enemy, already on the alert, would notice the lack of guards and stop in time, he was calmly risking his life, pretending to be one of them and enticing the Reds on to destruction. By now the engine was almost up to him. ”

“ George looked back and waved airily. "Don't worry. I'll be there. And we'll name the winner too!"
"Well now, Gloria, the dessert!" George was saying. "What'll it be, crepes suzette?"
She smiled across the table. "Mm," she considered the menu carefully. "I think I'll stick to good old American apple pie and cheese."
"A genuine American small town girl, with small town likes and dislikes! That's what you are underneath the glamour. Aren't you?" ”

“ Approaching Lee Sung's vessel from dead ahead, we climbed over the bow. Anders leaned over the side and yelled in fluent Korean for the senior officer of the Communist soldiers. After a short silence there was a rough shout from the forward port.
"What do you want with me?"
Anders talked slowly and clearly. "I am Dr. Anders from the virus factory. You know I escaped and that I cannot go back if I want to live. Therefore, if this boat is found by your comrades I will kill you before I die myself."
"You cannot touch us and you cannot sink the boat. Your threat does not scare me." ”

“ Have one for the road," Gloria said quickly. "I want to talk to you."
George poured another Scotch. "You still worried?"
"A bit," she admitted. "What is the next step?"
"Now I'm supposed to pick the male donor."
"I thought you'd done that already."
"No. You see we have to know what blood types the female has and what her genetic structure is; whether she has any antibodies against sperm and so on, before we pick the male. To do it before the winner is picked would entail a lot of unnecessary work."
"Then we still have some time before the impregnation ceremony?" ”

“ I have been told there is an automatic bottling plant in Siberia which can put the virus in missile warheads without human aid, but of course I am not completely informed about these things."
"God! They must be desperate if they intend to let this thing loose on America without being immunized themselves."
"A calculated risk, Colonel. We can produce vaccine rapidly and protect those who matter before the disease rebounds to our lands." ”

“ I still think people should be in love and not just mated because a calculating machine says they'll produce superior offspring."
"You're sweet." She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. The kiss lasted ... and lasted. Finally George broke it off.
"My God!" he mumbled. "Don't we have enough problems, without this?"
Three weeks later, on Monday, George announced he had a suitable donor. The New York Genetics Panel, in session, considered the records and announced that permission was granted for one Gloria Manson, spinster, of New York City, to bear a child by artificial impregnation. ”

“ For a moment in time the bridge buckled upwards under the last tank car. Then, like a slow motion close-up, it started to bend downwards in a vee, moving faster and faster as the law of gravity took over. The rear tank car dropped into the vee, pulling the flat cars down with it. The crash of the explosion was rolling away down the canyon and now the screech of tearing metal sounded. The rear flat cars fell off to the side and the passenger coach behind them twisted over and wedged itself crossways between the main concrete buttresses and the far bank. ”

“ For the past several years there has been very strong emphasis on public health measures in the USSR. A tremendous drive for vaccination against polio, small pox and various other communicable diseases has resulted in the immunization of millions of children and adults. I'll bet if we could get some of those vaccines we'd find the antidote to both our flu virus and the Chinese small pox-measles, whatever it is. I think there has been deliberate selection of part of the population to carry on the Soviet system and the rest will be sacrificed just to fool us. ”

“ George asked. "I'd like to know who it is just out of curiosity. As you are aware, no one but the Genetic Panel knows whose sperm is used to impregnate the Mother America."
"I haven't got it yet, George, but I will. Were you the geneticist for this boy?"
"Yes, I was. I told you he was Gloria Manson's. Don't you remember when you met her?"
"Soaring satellites!" Harmon exclaimed. "How could I forget? You introduced me to her."
"Twenty years ago," Turner mused. "What a crazy week that was. I guess you were glad to get back to the Space Force." ”

“ The discoverers of the atomic bomb and H-bomb did just that and their consciences have bothered them ever since. There is a greater loyalty in this world than loyalty to one's country ... it is loyalty to the human race. I believe in the Golden Rule. Call it Christian logic if you wish. We have already disturbed the balance of Creation in this world as a cancer disturbs the human body, and, like a cancer, when we destroy too much of the world we too may die. ”