Chapter 33

Junko had fallen asleep soon after they left the station. Between the journey and the observation of such exotic animals, the excitement had worn out his small body. He soon fell into a deep sleep.

The bodies of the two adults also seemed relaxed, although their minds churned furiously. Solomon knew Aimee was as disturbed by the events of the day as he was, but was uncertain how to broach the subject. After all, how much could one event, no matter how traumatic, really alter her loyalty to the Zaibatsu? He decided to approach it obliquely, feeling it would be best to clarify where the two of them stood with each other before stepping onto the dangerous chessboard of politics.

“Aimee,” he began tentatively.

“Yes, Solomon?” she said absently, still lost in her own thoughts.

“Last night ... well, since I have been here, there seem to be ... feelings between us.”

Aimee’s attention was totally focused now on his words.

“That is, well, I know there have always been strong feelings between us, of course. I mean, since our childhood. But during these past couple of days I seem to have sensed something stronger than that childhood affinity we had for each other. I can only speak for myself, of course. If I am overstating the case for you, please tell me and I will say no more on the subject.”

“Solomon,” Aimee chided him gently, wanting to take his hand. “You haven’t said anything yet. How can I know if you are overstating it?”

“Well, I am so ... unattractive. Yet you seem to take very little notice of that. I mean, it seems to me, well, perhaps you place importance on other aspects of me. On our relationship, if I may dare to use that term.”

“What aspects do you speak of, Solomon?” she teased.

Solomon wished he had never started this. Or, having started it, that he had just stuck to hard, cold facts and not wandered into an area totally foreign to his experience, let alone his basic nature. Or, having gone off the track, that he had the sense to ... oh, damn this perplexing phenomenon of human interaction!

“Well, you seem to be very interested in my work,” he said desperately.

“Your work!”

“Yes. That is, not just the work, but the intellect behind it. And, perhaps even more, the personality that goes along with the intellect. There seem to be ... certain compatabilities.”

“Compatabilities for what, Solomon?”

“Compatabilities for things other than we have discussed in the past. For example, we both seem to be very fond of your son.”

“Yes, I certainly am, Solomon. Shouldn’t I be?”

Aimee had to admit to herself that she found this positively delicious. Due to her position, there were very few men who dared to approach her in anything remotely resembling a romantic situation any more. And to have such a conversation with Solomon Barnaby Smith, the world’s foremost scientist – well, it was too much fun to end his torment quickly! In their childhood, she had indeed been drawn to Solomon in more ways than intellectually. While she had been pleased that he respected her intelligence so highly, she had still been a little miffed that he never seemed to notice her as a female. Now that it was obvious he did, she was going to make him pay for that unintended slight. But not too heavily!

“Of course you should! I didn’t mean to imply you shouldn’t. I just meant to say that I was also quite taken with Junko. That is, in the short time I have known him.”

“So, you’re saying you’re attracted to my son?”

“Yes. Oh, goodness! I mean, in a very paternal way, of course! I mean, in a way that someone would if he were ... more directly connected to yourself.”

Aimee decided to put him out of his misery. It would not do to allow him to embarrass himself too much, or he might take refuge by running away from his feelings. She didn’t want to destroy the moment.

“Solomon, are you trying to say you might be interested in conjugation with me?”

“No, not exactly.”

“Oh.” Her tone chilled his blood at least ten degrees centigrade. “I’m sorry. I suppose I must have misunderstood what you were trying to tell me.”

“No, no, no! I don’t mean I wouldn’t be interested in conjugation with you! That would be wonderful. It’s just that ... well, in listening to many of my research subjects talk about their personal relationships, I certainly got the feeling many of them were quite unhappy about the restrictions imposed on them by the Zaibatsu. It does not seem that either conjugation or the limitations on procreation are satisfactory to most of the people in our world.”

As she began to understand that he actually was talking about formalizing their personal relationship, Aimee’s mood had once again swung to playful affection. With the strong criticism of the Zaibatsu inherent in his explanation, however, her defenses suddenly sprang up to counter her personal feelings.

“What’s wrong with conjugation?”

“I’m not sure. I mean, I’ve never had such a relationship. But, according to what I understood from some of those people I spoke of, it just seems so ... impermanent. Many of them want a stronger commitment than the government permits.”

“What is there to prevent them from renewing their contract?” Aimee demanded. “It can be as permanent as they want.”

“I don’t know,” he confessed. “It’s psychological, I suppose. My father and Natasha Francine Zubroski conjugated until a year after my first Assignment. Relatively speaking, that was a long time. But there was no commitment to permanence, and perhaps that’s one of the major problems. The three year limit on a conjugation contract does not psychologically commit people to thoughts of a lifetime relationship.”

“A lifetime relationship!” Aimee scoffed. “Who could possibly take such a thing seriously? People change, people grow apart. You just said we seem to have many ‘compatabilities’. What about when we lose a few of the areas in which we are compatible, and choose to seek someone else with whom we are more compatible? Or simply choose not to have the dissension that inevitably comes as people grow apart?”

“That sounds logical,” Solomon conceded. “Yet couples used to stay together for a lifetime, in many cases.”

“And when they had serious disagreements?”

“I don’t know. I guess they worked them out.”

“Worked them out,” Aimee repeated incredulously. Without a contract they could break at any time with virtually no fuss. The concept was as alien as having to give the government a portion of the wages one had legitimately been paid as a result of their own studies and hard work. Something the ancients had called ‘taxes’. Could either such thing truly exist?

“You seem to imply the Zaibatsu limits conjugation contracts for far more sinister reasons than trying to keep our vastly crowded population down.”

“If a couple does not stay together very long, they’re probably not going to be as interested in having children together. At least, that’s the impression I received from many of my test subjects.”

“That’s ridiculous! Having children together or renewing conjugation contracts is simply a matter of choice. The Zaibatsu can’t be blamed if the people choose not to do things.”

“But that choice becomes a lot more difficult when a person is only allowed one or two offspring. They feel much more pressure to make sure the person they choose as their mate is the ‘right’ person, someone with whom they really want to share a child.”

“There are many choices in life that are difficult.”

“Yes, but the restrictions the Zaibatsu places on people make them much more difficult than they need to be. For example, the lack of freedom in travel. Not to mention the difficulties in actually moving, such as if two people from different Regions were to meet and decide they wanted to conjugate.”

“Come now, Solomon Smith. People are allowed to move if they want to.”

“Oh, certainly. If a person wants to move to another city or Region, the Zaibatsu must approve, right? Otherwise, they won’t be able to find another Assignment in that area. No Assignment, no credits to live on. And how often do they approve an Assignment they didn’t ‘suggest’.”

“Well, again, that’s their choice. The Zaibatsu has arranged it so that everyone in the world has work. There is no unemployment, so no one lacking for self-respect because they can’t find a position – especially one that pays them a fair salary for the value of the work.”

“Fair value according to whom? And what if we decided to move? I mean us, you or me. What if we chose to conjugate, but could not get permission of the Zaibatsu? We would not be offered another Assignment, and one of us would have to become dependent on the other. If we ended our conjugation, one of us would eventually be left without means of support, and without an Assignment to return to. Is that fair?”

“I don’t know what ‘fair’ means, Solomon! There are many sacrifices that go hand-in-hand with benefits. Would you remove someone else from their Assignment so we could be happy? That is one of the ways the system guarantees everyone will always be secure in their Assignment. There is no vying with one another for a position, and thus for sustenance. There is consequently very little violence. There is no one starving, no one without a home.”

“Except the E-Terms.”

“Those are criminals!” Aimee quickly lowered her voice again to avoid waking up her son. “If we must have this disagreement, may we at least stick to discussing honest citizens who contribute to our society?”

“Fine,” Solomon agreed, not really wanting to get into that argument with her. At least, not right now. It was clear their recent experience had indeed touched a nerve deep within Aimee – probably one she had never realized even existed.

“Everyone lives pretty comfortably within the limits of their Level, which is based on strict, unbiased testing, not chance,” Aimee pressed on, returning to another point Solomon had alluded to but had gone unchallenged. “And they cannot be given a position for which they are totally unqualified simply because of who their parents or other influential people happen to be. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“I suppose,” he hedged. “I agree that is a good thing for society.”

“Be honest, Solomon,” Aimee pressed her advantage. “Don’t you think each Level is rewarded according to their contribution to society?”

“According to the values of the Zaibatsu, I do.”

“Does that imply you’d rather see some people be filthy rich, as they were in the old days, while other starve?”

“Absolutely not. I agree with the much more equitable distribution of wealth. What I disagree with is lack of opportunity. You and I, we’re the lucky ones. We have the talents the Zaibatsu value, so we get the rewards. Those who don’t have those talents have no chance to gain such rewards.”