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information the virus transmits on molecular composition."
"You can do everything Moses could, then," I re-
sponded, awed.
167
The Web of the Chozen
"Not quite." He shook his head slowly. "No, I don't have the original virus
mutant he worked with. I doubt we could ever match the conditions existing in
the original organism. And without it I can't alter the present pattern."
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I frowned, puzzled. "So? What does that mean?"
"It means," he replied, "that I can do anything with the virus Moses
programmed into it and there are probably lots of things we don't even know
about, |
which will need discovering before I can do them. But
I can't change the basic pattern. I can make humans into Choz, but not Choz
into humans. Same with the vegetables."
Marsha had been fascinated by the conversation, but when he said that last her
tone changed to mild sadness and disappointment. "Then," she said, "we're
Choz forever."
One day the inevitable happened. George called me over.
"What's the matter, George?" I called cheerfully.
"You look too serious."
"Been noticing things lately?" he asked enigmati-
cally.
I looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"I noticed Ham acting funny earlier, and asked him what the matter was. He
didn't know, so I looked into it. We'll be acting funny ,soon ourselves. Bar.
You haven't noticed it yet because you're in love with her and lovers always
feel differently."
"Marsha?" I asked, more confused than ever.
He nodded. "She's a deeper green today. Bar. She'll get more and more that
way. She doesn't know it, of course. That's not the system. And Eve well,
she's not likely to notice it, either."
I thought for a minute. "The Breed," I said at last.
"She's coming into it."
He nodded. "She turned as an adult, remember, 168
The Web of the Chozen like you. Eve's due not long from now, so we've got to
remember that, too. If Ham reacts to Marsha, that means they're both
physiologically about two now
adults."
"So?" I responded. "We've known about it. That's why we have the Nijinsky, and
did all this work."
"There's three males and only two females," he said slowly. "Ever think of
that?"
I hadn't, but I didn't see what difference it made.
"You've never been through one on the plains," he noted. "You never were
driven crazy, battling all the
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result in a lot of jealousy and bitterness. One of us has to lose, and it
feels lousy to lose at the Breed,"
"So what do we do?" I asked him. "After this, there won't be a problem."
He nodded. "Well, I can control things pretty well, you know. I can send the
signals for almost anything.
Since Moses was able to control the number of eggs in the last Patmos Breed, I
can do it, too. With Eve's help, I've already done the preliminary work."
"Then you could also stop the Breed," I pointed out.
He nodded. "I could, but we need people. Badly. I
want a manageable number, but a reasonably large one. There are five of us we
can raise two each, I
think, handle ten as a co-op venture. I want more
Hams and Eves, not the Patmos vegetables. We need the time to raise them
right."
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I agreed, and asked for his plan.
"Well, we'll arrange it for five each. To stop this stupid contest, I'm going
to suppress my own sexual drives. I can manage that, with the computer's help
and your link, I think."
"I think you should be one of the parents," I ob-
jected. "We need more of you. Ham can wait."
He shook his head. "No, I don't want him to. I
think it's about time he had some responsibility. And
169
The Web of the Chozen
 well, you'll take Marsha, of course. Eve well, she's your daughter, of
course, but she she reminds me a great deal of Mara."
"She is of Mara," I pointed out.
"Of course," he acknowledged. "But it's more than looks. It's manner, mind,
curiosity. Personality, I guess.
After all, I raised them both, in a way. Plenty of time for me. I'll sit this
one out."
He instructed me on what to do, how to play certain tones pitched so high even
we couldn't hear them, aimed at his genitals and at certain areas in his brain
and body.
We called Marsha from the Nijinsky. For the first time I noticed what George
was talking about. She was getting that bright-green glow that Mara had had
when we left her village for the point. I felt a slight stirring within me
that had probably been present all along, but of which I was only now
conscious.
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George nodded satisfactorily. "She looks normal to me," he said. "How about
you?"
"You're right," I told him. "I can feel it now."
He smiled. "Good. I was afraid that the code tones might have zapped you, as
well. Now, I'll handle Ham and Eve. I want you two to go into Hold A and lock
yourself in until afterward. That way we won't have problems with Ham."
I nodded, and went over to Marsha.
"What's this all about?" she demanded. "You two are acting very
conspiratorial."
And I told her. Oh, we'd told her before, academi-
cally, but the Breed was always some time in the future in our discussions,
not to consider "now," par-
ticularly not to us. Like all spacers, myself included, she'd been sterilized
when she entered flight school.
Most people were sterilized anyway, of course, but with spacers that was
mandatory. Can't risk birth de-
fects or mutations.
At first she laughed and refused to believe it. "You
170
The Web of the Chozen mean you mean I'm actually going into heat, like an
animal? Oh, wow! And you can see it?"
I nodded. "And Ham, too. That's why we've got to closet ourselves away."
But first we let George play supersonic music over her.
Two days later, in Hold A, Marsha discovered what it was like. As I said
before, little thought was possible during the whole ritual; it was
programmed, although pleasant. Even building the web-house together was part
of it, although such a thing was hardly needed with us. It was still a
fantastic, beautiful work of art, the first any of the entire five-person Choz
race but
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