Read Online The World Swappers by John Brunner - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: John Brunner
Ads: Link
were still unconscious; then it turned out that you’d picked up a fever. You’ve been in a coma for four days and nights. But that’s all over now.”
The doctor slapped the edge of the bed reassuringly and got to her feet. “You’ll feel a bit weak for the moment, but we’ll feed you up and make you better than new.”
She hesitated, looking down at the pale-faced girl in the bed. “Enni, how do you feel about – about what’s happened to you?”
“About coming away from Ymir, do you mean?” Enni asked with composure. “I don’t quite know. I feel I ought to be terribly scared, only I’m not.”
“That’s because we gave you some tranquilizer shots while you were ill. They’ll wear off.”
“Will I feel differently then?” Enni sounded genuinely puzzled.
“Yes, quite differently. But – maybe I shouldn’t say this; still, I’m going to – you damned well ought to feel glad. I heard what you were screaming about while you were delirious. How old are you, Enni? fifteen?”
“Nearly eighteen,” said Enni with slight indignation. The doctor ignored the indignation, and went on.
“Just as bad. What a hell of a place Ymir must be, if all poor kids like you get their heads stuffed with the sort of evil nonsense you were spewing up while you were feverish. The galaxy would be a cleaner place if people like that were disinfected out of existence. They’re as bad as germs!”
“I don’t understand,” frowned Enni. Surely the doctor couldn’t be talking about Ymirans with such loathing?
The doctor laughed, and patted Enni’s fair hair. “You just relax, little one. I’ll go get you something to set you up.”
Little one. Enni had never thought of herself that way; indeed, she was regarded as tall for her age. But now that she considered the matter, she realized that the doctor would be taller than herself by at least fifteen inches. And the spacemen who called on Jaroslav – they were inches taller than he was, too.
It affected her more profoundly than anything had before, to learn from the doctor when she returned that the Ymirans, the self-appointed, self-righteous Ymirans, owing to malnutrition and the rigors of climate, were in actual fact the runts of the whole human race.
CHAPTER IX
The sensation as the tranquilizer shots wore off was the most extraordinary Enni could remember. Like water leaking into a tank, apprehension began to flood gradually through her mind. They brought her food–strange to her, and hard for her to adjust to–and then offered her clothes to put on. In the matter of dress, Ymiran custom made modesty a necessity and nothing that she was shown really fulfilled the function of concealing the body, which subconsciously she still regarded as of prime importance. True, she had worn that dress from Earth in the privacy of Jaroslav’s home–but that had had something of childish make-believe and “dressing up” about it; this was reality, a reality that grew more frightening as the minutes ticked away.
Shyly, she rejected the short-skirted frocks, the saris which Video India’s influence had made so popular on Earth, the virtually translucent chitons from Zeus, and screwed up her courage enough to put on a suit of silky pajama-like garments from K’ung-fu-tse, which were the closest of all to the demanding standards of Ymiran modesty.
Timidly, feeling like a new arrival in a naturist colony, knowing that she was not conspicuous and yet unable to rid herself of self-consciousness, she ventured to follow the doctor from the sick quarters.
“That’s a good girl,” the doctor approved. “I’ll take you up to the bridge. Captain Leeuwenhoek has been asking after you.”
“Where are we going?” Enni inquired after a moment trying desperately to keep up with the doctor’s long strides.
“Going? Well, we aren’t going anywhere any longer–we already went, as you might say. You’ve been out for four days, you know. We broached air just about the
The doctor slapped the edge of the bed reassuringly and got to her feet. “You’ll feel a bit weak for the moment, but we’ll feed you up and make you better than new.”
She hesitated, looking down at the pale-faced girl in the bed. “Enni, how do you feel about – about what’s happened to you?”
“About coming away from Ymir, do you mean?” Enni asked with composure. “I don’t quite know. I feel I ought to be terribly scared, only I’m not.”
“That’s because we gave you some tranquilizer shots while you were ill. They’ll wear off.”
“Will I feel differently then?” Enni sounded genuinely puzzled.
“Yes, quite differently. But – maybe I shouldn’t say this; still, I’m going to – you damned well ought to feel glad. I heard what you were screaming about while you were delirious. How old are you, Enni? fifteen?”
“Nearly eighteen,” said Enni with slight indignation. The doctor ignored the indignation, and went on.
“Just as bad. What a hell of a place Ymir must be, if all poor kids like you get their heads stuffed with the sort of evil nonsense you were spewing up while you were feverish. The galaxy would be a cleaner place if people like that were disinfected out of existence. They’re as bad as germs!”
“I don’t understand,” frowned Enni. Surely the doctor couldn’t be talking about Ymirans with such loathing?
The doctor laughed, and patted Enni’s fair hair. “You just relax, little one. I’ll go get you something to set you up.”
Little one. Enni had never thought of herself that way; indeed, she was regarded as tall for her age. But now that she considered the matter, she realized that the doctor would be taller than herself by at least fifteen inches. And the spacemen who called on Jaroslav – they were inches taller than he was, too.
It affected her more profoundly than anything had before, to learn from the doctor when she returned that the Ymirans, the self-appointed, self-righteous Ymirans, owing to malnutrition and the rigors of climate, were in actual fact the runts of the whole human race.
CHAPTER IX
The sensation as the tranquilizer shots wore off was the most extraordinary Enni could remember. Like water leaking into a tank, apprehension began to flood gradually through her mind. They brought her food–strange to her, and hard for her to adjust to–and then offered her clothes to put on. In the matter of dress, Ymiran custom made modesty a necessity and nothing that she was shown really fulfilled the function of concealing the body, which subconsciously she still regarded as of prime importance. True, she had worn that dress from Earth in the privacy of Jaroslav’s home–but that had had something of childish make-believe and “dressing up” about it; this was reality, a reality that grew more frightening as the minutes ticked away.
Shyly, she rejected the short-skirted frocks, the saris which Video India’s influence had made so popular on Earth, the virtually translucent chitons from Zeus, and screwed up her courage enough to put on a suit of silky pajama-like garments from K’ung-fu-tse, which were the closest of all to the demanding standards of Ymiran modesty.
Timidly, feeling like a new arrival in a naturist colony, knowing that she was not conspicuous and yet unable to rid herself of self-consciousness, she ventured to follow the doctor from the sick quarters.
“That’s a good girl,” the doctor approved. “I’ll take you up to the bridge. Captain Leeuwenhoek has been asking after you.”
“Where are we going?” Enni inquired after a moment trying desperately to keep up with the doctor’s long strides.
“Going? Well, we aren’t going anywhere any longer–we already went, as you might say. You’ve been out for four days, you know. We broached air just about the
Similar Books
