“You mean--he’s a veterinary?” Lynne asked incredulously. The idea that her child, the second human baby born on Mars, should have been delivered by an animal doctor was appalling. Then, suddenly, it was funny. Lynne laughed until tears again ran down her cheeks. Recovering, she gasped, “I want to see my baby.” Dr. Smetana had it wheeled alongside the plastomat in a jerry-built incubator. “Afraid we can’t take him out yet,” he said. “Got to make sure he’s ready for the Martian atmosphere.” “I understand,” said Lynne, turning her head to look at the bright red, tiny creature, asleep under its coverlet with its eyes squeezed tightly shut. _Did that come out of me?_ she thought, in the immemorial self-question of all new mothers. She probed gently for its thought, caught a blanket of sleep, and knew she was going to love it and care for it as no mother on any planet had cared for her child. “As a matter of fact, you gave Dr. Juarez a pretty bad time,” said Dr. Smetana. “That boy of yours didn’t want to leave at all.” “Then my neglect and carelessness these last few days didn’t hurt?” asked Lynne, with relief. “I thought that bumpy ride with Joanna--was it yesterday?” “The day before,” said the doctor. “We’ve kept you under to give you some rest. As for that bumpy ride, it’s a good thing you had it, or you might have been carrying that infant another month.” “You mean, I did my exercises too well?” Lynne asked. “I mean, you didn’t need to do them at all,” was the reply, “although I’m beginning to believe they’re a good idea for any mother-to-be. You and the boy have proved exactly what I _farbish_ well hoped you’d prove, Lynne. Thanks to the increased density of atmosphere caused by E-power, Mars is safe for human birth.” He paused, then added, “Two swallows don’t make a summer, of course, but I don’t believe either your TP or Rana’s had much to do with it.” “All that work wasted!” mourned Lynne as one of the Station girls, in a striped nurse’s clout and bolero, wheeled the infant away. “_Wasted!_” Dr. Smetana was indignant. “You and Rana have taken the biggest step forward since the first passenger ship landed on Mars. You’ve brought the planet out of a biological iron lung. When Dr. Juarez vidared me what was happening, I actually cheered.” “Where _is_ Martin?” Lynne inquired. “I’d like to thank him.” “You can--later,” said Dr. Smetana. “Right now, he’s out on Patagonia Station, watching your husband hypnotize those goofy cows.” “Rolf!” she asked tremulously. “Rolf here? I thought I was only dreaming....” “He wouldn’t stir from your side until the infant was safely born,” said the doctor. “He took the birth like a man--never so much as a whimper out of _him_. Then he got busy--_look!_” He nodded toward the big vidar screen on the opposite wall.