Science fiction; Short stories; Time travel -- Fiction
"Their name is MacDonald," John said. "And they have a son, Jimmie,
just my age, and a younger girl, Jean. Gosh, you ought to see the
inside of their house, Phil. Old-fashioned! At the windows they got
something called venetian blinds instead of our variable mirror
thermopanes. And you know what? They don't even have an FP connection.
They prepare all their meals in the house!"
John's excitement finally aroused Philon's attention. "No Food
Preparation service? But that's unheard of!"
"They're sure swell people though."
"Where in the world did they come from?" Philon poured more coffee.
"Some place out West--Oregon, I think. Lived in a small town."
"How come their house appeared over-night?"
"Yeah, I asked them about that," John said. "They said their house is
a prefab and it was cheaper to move it from Oregon than to buy one
here. So they moved in one night--lock, stock and barrel."
John looked at Philon with a tentative air. "And another thing--Jimmie
and Jean are their real children."
Philon began to frown in disgust. "Real children--how vulgar! No one
does that anymore. That custom went out years ago with the Eugenic Act
of two thousand twenty-nine. Breeding perfect children is the job of
selected specimens. Why, I remember the day we passed our check over
to Maternity Clinic! You were the best specimen in the place--and you
carried the highest price tag too--ten thousand dollars!"
At that moment Ursula, his wife, her green rinse tumbling in stringy
tufts over her forehead pattered into the breakfast room. Her right
eye was closed in a tight squint against her cigarette smoke.
"Well, do I get my share of breakfast," she muttered, "or do I have to
scrabble at the trough like the rest of the hogs around here?"
Philon nodded at a third thermocel in the capsule. "That's yours,
Ursula." He fixed her with a cocked eye. "What time did that gigolo
get you home this morning?"
Ursula blew the hair out of her eyes, then took a good look at her
husband. "Why all the sudden concern about my affairs? I feel like
going to the Cairo I call up Francois. He dances divinely. I feel like
making love I call up Jose...." She shrugged. "So, I say, why the
sudden concern? All these years you say nothing. Every minute away
from home you're involved in big deals to make money, steal
money--maybe even eat it."
He looked at her cryptically. "I've got to raise a fifty-grand quota."
Without even looking up from her breakfast Ursula said absently, "Oh,
that. It _is_ election year again, isn't it?"
"And I'll have to ask you to cancel all unnecessary expenditures for
the time being."
She shook her head. "Can't--I've already reserved _Love's Passion_ for
this afternoon and a whole block of titles for three months."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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