Finches of Mars by Brian W. Aldiss Read Free Book Online Page A

sea. They would walk along the front, past the row of thatched-roof shops until they came to the last shop, a small café.
    There they sat, under a large sun umbrella. Father would order Coke. Sometimes they would talk. Father liked to spout old country sayings. ‘Just because you’re an idiot don’t mean to say you’re sillier than me.’ ‘You can be ready for anything, but that don’t say you ain’t good for nothin’.’
    Father kept a hold of his staff as they listened to the screeching of the gulls and watched the waves break on the shore.
    Mangalian went barefoot into the little saloon to buy a second bottle of Coke. A radio perched on a shelf behind the bar was giving out news in a tinny voice.
    â€˜Capitalist astronomers in Tampa, Florida, just now claimed that we’ve got company. We are in what they call a binary system, with a dwarf star out beyond the Oort Cloud. Meanwhile, “Baby-Face” Morte was captured by police last night, about to set off for Cuba. Charged with the murder of the dancer, Francesca Pagnesa.’
    Clutching the Coke bottle, Mangalian went out to his father.
    â€˜Pop, what’s a binary system?’
    â€˜Son, that just means there’s two of whatever. Fact is, the more you learn, the more you find you don’t know.’
    The gulls still sailed and screeched overhead, as if in mockery.
    His son looked down at the sand between his bare toes. Later, as an adult, Mangalian liked to say that this was the moment when he decided he must get off the island, put on shoes, and start learning about astronomy and many other things with which the capitalist world seemed stocked.
    So he liked to say. He could even recall the taste of the Coke. But memory was uncertain—although the anecdote made a good tale when, much later, he was being interviewed at one grand meeting or another.
    BABY BOOM ON RED PLANET
    NO WATER—BUT CHRISTENING NOW DUE
    â€˜A MIRACLE’ SAYS MARVELLING MOTHER
    IT’S A BOY! EVEN BETTER: IT’S ALIVE
    Such were some of the headlines in squealers and shriekers all round the world, driving out the exciting news that nine hundred intending immigrants from Africa had been shot dead within Italian waters, off the coast of Catanzaro.
    Other news began to re-emerge, but Mars still appeared in some headlines.
    KUWAIT ON FIRE—SEGREGATION RIOTS TO BLAME
    ITALIAN PRESIDENT’S PARTNESS POISONED
    TWENTY UN TROOPS KILLED IN KALMYTSKAYA
    THARSIS CELEBRATES NEW BABY
    In fact there was little celebration in the Tharsis settlement, as the Terrier found when he spoke on the shrieker. A small Chinese delegation came to offer felicitations to the West tower. Phipp officiated at the gate in a suppressed rage. Local people, aware that Sheea had taken another lover and wishing to tease, or not knowing he’d quarrelled with Sheea, kept congratulating him. But the amazing baby had been sired by someone unknown.
    Sheea still would not give the name of her lover, and was in a weakened state, needing nursing. Her baby lay by her side. It was of a yellowy colour and malformed. Oxygen was being fed to it through a Perspex mask.
    â€˜But how is Dolores herself?’ the Terrier asked.
    Twenty minutes was consumed in getting word to Mars, with another twenty minutes for a response.
    â€˜She is in a somewhat depressed state, but being brave. The child is still alive. But unconscious.’ Such was the response from a nurse who then severed communication.
    Tibbett found he needed a strong drink.
    Daze and Piggy, two of Sheea’s three Earth-born children, sat anxiously near their mother’s bed, speaking—when they spoke—in whispers. Squirrel, Sheea’s senior child, was nowhere to be seen.
    As Phipp grudgingly let in the Chinese delegation, one of the men stared curiously at him. Ill-tempered as he was, Phipp challenged the man.
    â€˜What are you staring at me for?’
    â€˜No, I don’t