Joseph Samachson

“ Fred was getting out of another bunk. Their eyes sought each other's faces, and for a long moment they stared in silence.
Fred said in a choked voice, "There must be a mirror in the captain's cabin. I've got to see myself."
At the mirror, their eyes shifted from one face to the other and back again. And the silence this time was longer, more painful.
A wonderful artist, the Doctor. For a creature—a person—who was insensitive to the differences in human faces, he could follow a pattern perfectly. ”

“ We do not like to see creatures die, even inferior creatures—not that you are, of course," he added delicately. "Our ship happened to be only a few thousand miles away when it happened. We saw, and acted with great speed. Once you are whole again, we shall place you where you will be found by your own kind, and proceed on our way. By that time, our expedition will have been completed."
"When we are whole again—Doctor, will I be exactly the same as before?"
"In some ways, perhaps even better. I can assure you that all your organs will function perfectly." ”

“ Sometimes you see two sisters, or mother and daughter, with the same features, the faces as alike as if they had been cast from the same mold—and yet one is ugly and the other beautiful. Many artists can copy features, but few can copy with perfect exactness either beauty or ugliness. The Doctor slipped up a little. Despite my warning, he's done too well by me.
And not well enough by Fred. Fred isn't handsome any more. Not ugly really—his face is stronger and more interesting than it was. ”

“ She and Fred could go back to their married life with the knowledge that they would be as happy as ever. Nothing exuberant, of course, but as happy as their own peculiar natures permitted. As happy as a plain and worried wife and a handsome husband could ever be.
Now that this had been decided, the days passed slowly. Her arms and legs grew, and her eyes too. She could feel the beginnings of fingers and toes, and on the sensitive optic nerve the flashes of light came with greater and greater frequency. ”

“ They were the pains of growth, of return to normalcy.
And then came the day when the Doctor said, "You have recovered. In another day, as you measure time, I shall remove your bandages."
Tears welled up in her new eyes. "Doctor, I don't know how to thank you."
"No thanks are needed. I have only done my work."
"What will you do with us now?"
"There is an old freighter of your people which we have found abandoned and adrift. We have repaired it and stocked it with food taken from your own ship. You will awaken inside the freighter and be able to reach your own people." ”

“ But it wasn't necessary to tell the Doctor. Fred had spoken to him first.
So Fred admits it's important too. He won't be able to deny any longer that I judged him correctly.
The Doctor said, "What you are asking is impossible."
"Impossible? You won't even try?"
"My dear patient, the wrecked ship is hundreds of millions of miles behind us. The expedition has its appointed task. It cannot retrace its steps. It cannot waste time searching the emptiness of space for a stereo which may not even exist any longer." ”

“ The ship was a derelict in space, and in it, floating between the stars, was the stereo he wouldn't make an attempt to find. Would he try to get a description from Fred? Even the best human artist couldn't produce much of a likeness from a mere verbal description. What could someone like the Doctor do—someone to whom all men looked alike, and all women? ”

“ We ourselves do not have your distinctions of sex, but we are familiar with them in many other races. We know how important you consider them. I am taking care to see that the proper glandular balance is maintained in both yourself and your husband."
"Thank you—Doctor. But I still don't understand—why don't you give me eyes right away?"
"I do not wish to give you eyes that see imperfectly, and then be forced to take them away. Nor do I want you to watch imperfect arms and legs developing. ”

“ I don't care if your features do come out of the pictures in a physiology textbook—"
"Fred!" she said excitedly. "That's it! Pictures! Remember that stereo shot we had taken just before we left Mars? It must be somewhere on the ship—"
"But the ship was crushed, darling. It's a total wreck."
"Not completely. If they could take us out alive, there must have been some unhurt portions left. Maybe the stereo is still there!"
"Margaret, you're asking the impossible. We don't know where the ship is. This group the Doctor is with is on a scouting expedition. ”

“ We have had a head start," he added politely.
"If you can grow new arms and legs and eyes," she said, "you must be thousands of years ahead of us."
"We can do many other things, of which there is no need to talk. All I need say now is that I am a physician attached to a scouting expedition. We have had previous contact with human beings, and have taken pains to avoid coming to their attention. We do not want to alarm or confuse them." ”

“ If I were ugly, people would pity you, and you wouldn't be able to stand that. And if I were beautiful, they might forget about you. I'm just plain enough for them to wonder why you ever married anyone so ordinary. I'm just the kind of person to supply background for you. ”

“ I might mend certain organs, and then discover that they do not have the proper size or shape, or that they produce slightly altered hormones. I do not want to make such mistakes, and if I do make them, I wish to correct them before they can do harm. ”