Mother America by Sam McClatchie
and dropped down beside her. "Darling, please!Please don't cry. There must be a way to beat this." He took her in hisarms.
* * * * *
The aircar warning light came on and the buzzer sounded. George unhookedthe automatic pilot and took over. They swung into University City andacross the campus to the Faculty residential area.
"I certainly was lucky to find a job here on retirement from the SpaceForce," John Harmon said. "It was good of you to invite me to stay theweek-end. Are you sure Mrs. Turner won't mind?"
"Quite sure." George smiled. "She's been looking forward to meetingyou." He pulled the car into a spacious port and opened the front doorof the house for Harmon. A tall, good-looking brunette moved to meetthem.
"So nice to meet you, Mrs. ..." Harmon began automatically. "Greatmountains of the moon! Gloria ... Gloria Manson!" He turned to George."You didn't tell me."
"You mean you didn't know?" Gloria asked, and kissed him affectionately.
"I found out that he didn't. He was back in space at the time we weremarried." George said. "I wanted to surprise him." A happy smilecreased his face.
Harmon stared at him. "Oh no!" he said and began to laugh. They watchedhim, astonished. He tried to talk. "George ... ha, ha ... Wonderful!" Heconvulsed again, struggled to a chair and collapsed. "The boy ..." hewhispered weakly between great whoops.
"The boy? Then you guessed!" The wide smile split George's face again.
"Yes, that smile ... couldn't miss it. But how?" Harmon had recovered.They went into the living room and sat down to talk.
"So there we were," George concluded, "tanking up on lox and nothingcoming out but smoke. I was getting a bit woozy when Gloria asked mewhat time it was.
"I looked at my watch. 'It's midnight,' I said. That did it.
"'Midnight!' she screeched and gave me the green-eyed tiger look. 'Well,George Turner, maybe you can't think of something ... but I can!'
"About nine in the morning the secretary of the panel called my room atthe hotel. 'The ceremony is at ten, Doctor!' she said. 'We are waitingfor you.'
"Man, what a head I had! You could have pushed the Destruct button andI'd never have known. Anyway I got to the hospital and there wasGloria, looking absolutely beautiful. There were press photographerseverywhere. We went through with the ceremony and that was that. Ninemonths later, with a lot of sonic booming, Boy America was born. You sawhim today."
"But he looks like you," John protested.
"He should," Gloria said. "He's his."
"But ..." John hesitated. "I don't want to pry, but how can you besure?"
Gloria laughed. "Well, I know what we did the first couple of hoursafter midnight. You tell him the rest, George."
"There isn't much else to tell," George said. "After the ceremony I gaveher a shot of the specific antiserum as soon as I could get her alone.Later the committee examined her blood. They found she was pregnant sonobody even thought of testing for antisperm bodies. Then the boy wasborn. Naturally I was a bit concerned. I took blood samples and didgenetic studies. There was no doubt. He was my son."
"And nobody ever suspected?" Harmon asked.
"No," Turner said. "The law prescribes examination before pregnancy butnot afterwards. We were married three months later and everybody wasvery happy. As for the boy looking like me, everyone who has noticed itassumes I picked a donor like myself. It would be a naturalinclination."
"So much for planned parenthood in the new era," Harmon chuckled. "Thepoor Mayor of New York! If only he knew." He grinned slyly. "Somehow Ialways did like the old way best."
THE END
As a service to our readers, we list the "Hugo" award winners for 1960:
Best Fan Mag: "Who Killed Science Fiction"--Earl Kemp Best SF Artist: Ed Emshwiller Best Short Story: "The Longest Voyage" by Poul Anderson Best Dramatic Work: "The Twilight Zone" Best SF Magazine: _Analog_ Best Novel: "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter Miller, Jr.
These were presented at the 19th annual World Science Fiction Conventionheld in Seattle, Washington, September 1-4.
Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from _Amazing Stories_ December 1961. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note.
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* * * * *
The aircar warning light came on and the buzzer sounded. George unhookedthe automatic pilot and took over. They swung into University City andacross the campus to the Faculty residential area.
"I certainly was lucky to find a job here on retirement from the SpaceForce," John Harmon said. "It was good of you to invite me to stay theweek-end. Are you sure Mrs. Turner won't mind?"
"Quite sure." George smiled. "She's been looking forward to meetingyou." He pulled the car into a spacious port and opened the front doorof the house for Harmon. A tall, good-looking brunette moved to meetthem.
"So nice to meet you, Mrs. ..." Harmon began automatically. "Greatmountains of the moon! Gloria ... Gloria Manson!" He turned to George."You didn't tell me."
"You mean you didn't know?" Gloria asked, and kissed him affectionately.
"I found out that he didn't. He was back in space at the time we weremarried." George said. "I wanted to surprise him." A happy smilecreased his face.
Harmon stared at him. "Oh no!" he said and began to laugh. They watchedhim, astonished. He tried to talk. "George ... ha, ha ... Wonderful!" Heconvulsed again, struggled to a chair and collapsed. "The boy ..." hewhispered weakly between great whoops.
"The boy? Then you guessed!" The wide smile split George's face again.
"Yes, that smile ... couldn't miss it. But how?" Harmon had recovered.They went into the living room and sat down to talk.
"So there we were," George concluded, "tanking up on lox and nothingcoming out but smoke. I was getting a bit woozy when Gloria asked mewhat time it was.
"I looked at my watch. 'It's midnight,' I said. That did it.
"'Midnight!' she screeched and gave me the green-eyed tiger look. 'Well,George Turner, maybe you can't think of something ... but I can!'
"About nine in the morning the secretary of the panel called my room atthe hotel. 'The ceremony is at ten, Doctor!' she said. 'We are waitingfor you.'
"Man, what a head I had! You could have pushed the Destruct button andI'd never have known. Anyway I got to the hospital and there wasGloria, looking absolutely beautiful. There were press photographerseverywhere. We went through with the ceremony and that was that. Ninemonths later, with a lot of sonic booming, Boy America was born. You sawhim today."
"But he looks like you," John protested.
"He should," Gloria said. "He's his."
"But ..." John hesitated. "I don't want to pry, but how can you besure?"
Gloria laughed. "Well, I know what we did the first couple of hoursafter midnight. You tell him the rest, George."
"There isn't much else to tell," George said. "After the ceremony I gaveher a shot of the specific antiserum as soon as I could get her alone.Later the committee examined her blood. They found she was pregnant sonobody even thought of testing for antisperm bodies. Then the boy wasborn. Naturally I was a bit concerned. I took blood samples and didgenetic studies. There was no doubt. He was my son."
"And nobody ever suspected?" Harmon asked.
"No," Turner said. "The law prescribes examination before pregnancy butnot afterwards. We were married three months later and everybody wasvery happy. As for the boy looking like me, everyone who has noticed itassumes I picked a donor like myself. It would be a naturalinclination."
"So much for planned parenthood in the new era," Harmon chuckled. "Thepoor Mayor of New York! If only he knew." He grinned slyly. "Somehow Ialways did like the old way best."
THE END
As a service to our readers, we list the "Hugo" award winners for 1960:
Best Fan Mag: "Who Killed Science Fiction"--Earl Kemp Best SF Artist: Ed Emshwiller Best Short Story: "The Longest Voyage" by Poul Anderson Best Dramatic Work: "The Twilight Zone" Best SF Magazine: _Analog_ Best Novel: "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter Miller, Jr.
These were presented at the 19th annual World Science Fiction Conventionheld in Seattle, Washington, September 1-4.
Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from _Amazing Stories_ December 1961. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note.