The Last Theorem - Arthur Charles Clarke [127]
Nevertheless, in letting the humans know of their existence, the Nine-Limbeds had done something that, if not strictly prohibited for them, was not specifically allowed, either.
Actions would have to be taken. Decisions would have to be made.
For the first time ever Bill wondered whether he alone should make such decisions, or whether he needed to rejoin with the other Grand Galactics to meditate these decisions’ implications.
35
THE USES OF VACCINATION
Dr. Dhatusena Bandara did indeed resign from the Pax per Fidem board so he could run for the presidency of Sri Lanka. What left Ranjit openmouthed was that the elder Bandara’s replacement on the board was his son: Ranjit Subramanian’s boyhood friend was now part of the team that wielded Silent Thunder.
So Ranjit went to bed filled with wonder, and when he woke up the next morning, there was something else to wonder at. The breakfast he could smell cooking was not the kind of breakfast Myra usually preferred. Even stranger, when he got out of the shower and had begun to dress, he heard the distant sound of his wife singing what appeared to be some hymn from her childhood memories of Sunday school. Mystified, he pulled on a shirt and hurried to the kitchen.
Myra was indeed singing cheerfully to herself. She stopped as Ranjit came into the room, pursed her lips for a good-morning kiss, and waved him to the breakfast table. “Start with the juice,” she instructed. “I’ll have your eggs in a minute.”
Ranjit recognized what she was stirring up. “Scrambled eggs? And sausage, and those home-fried potatoes. What is it, Myra, are you homesick for California?”
She gave him a fond smile. “No, but I know you like this kind of food now and then, and I wanted to celebrate. Ranj, I woke up with an idea! I know how to make Surash happy and keep our principles intact!”
Ranjit drained the juice glass and watched with pleasure as Myra heaped the solid parts of the menu onto his plate. “If you can do that,” he declared, “I’m going to tell Gamini to put you on the Pax per Fidem board.”
She gave him another smile, but all she said was, “Can you eat four sausages? Tashy wouldn’t touch them. Said she’d get something at the university.”
Ranjit returned the smile with a mock-scowl. “Myra! Stop this talk of sausages and tell me how we make Surash happy!”
“Well,” she said, sitting down next to him and pouring herself a cup of tea, “today’s the day I take Robert in for his booster shots, you know. And I had a dream about it. I dreamed Robert was home, playing with his computer things, only he was stuck all over with little rolled-up darts of paper, and when I pulled one out of his shoulder and looked at it, I saw that they were all Bible verses.”
Ranjit’s scowl deepened. “It would be perfectly normal to have a dream that expressed concern over our child’s immunizations,” he informed her.
“Oh, yes, my darling,” she said affectionately, “but what was he being immunized against? We give the kids smallpox shots so they’ll get immunized and won’t be troubled with smallpox when they grow up. So if we inject them with Bible verses as children—I’m thinking of the kind of Sunday school I went to as a young girl—won’t they be—”
“Immunized against grown-up religion!” Ranjit shouted. He stood up and wrapped his arms around her. “You’re the best wife I ever had,” he told her. “It’s a great idea! Only—” He hesitated. “Do you think Natasha wants to take time from her busy schedule to go to Sunday school?”
“Yes,” Myra admitted, “that’s a problem. All we can do is try to persuade her.”
But when Natasha came home from her stint at the university’s solar-sail training center, she was radiant