Otherness by David Brin Read Free Book Online Page A

what Tetsuo is trying to do ? she wondered. But no encouragement would force Yumi to say anything more.

7.

    The next trip to Seoul was even briefer than the first, and taken on even shorter notice. Reiko barely had time to pack a satchel for Yukiko and deliver her to Yumi before they had to rush to the airport to catch the flight Tetsuo had arranged.

    Again the Pak Clinic doctors took samples just beyond the curtain of modesty. Reiko was well enough educated to understand much of what she overheard them saying.

    They spoke of tests . . . tests for potential genetic defects, for recessive color blindness, for the insidious trait of nearsightedness, for the correct sex chromosomes. When the implications of their discussions sank in, Reiko's knees shook.

    They were holding court on whether the fetus—still so small that Reiko wasn't even showing yet—was to live or die.

    She'd heard that in parts of rural China they were drowning girl babies. Here, though, they were tested, discovered, and taken from the womb , before their first cry. Before their spirits could even form.

    Reiko was terrified they were about to tell her the fetus carried some unpalatable defect, such as femininity. So when they returned and bowed, smiling, with the good news, Reiko nearly fainted with relief. The very real attentiveness Tetsuo showed her afterward caused her to feel as if she had achieved some fine accomplishment and had made him very proud of her.

    They held hands during the flight home. And for the following four wonderful months Reiko thought her trials were at an end.

    Now Tetsuo came home early often, spurning all but the most important business-and-dinner parties with colleagues. He played with Yukiko and laughed with his family. He and Reiko spoke together of plans for their son, how he would get the finest of everything, the best attention, the best schooling, everything required to arm him for success in a competitive, judgmental world.

    His son's fate, Tetsuo swore, would not be to face an endless subservience to subtle hierarchies and status. He would not be one of those who were bullied in school, in cruel rituals of kumi group solidarity, by children and teachers alike. His son would head hierarchies. When his son toasted kampai, his glass would be highest.

    Touching her swelling belly, Tetsuo's eyes seemed to shine, making Reiko feel it all had been worthwhile, after all.

    Then, in her fourth month, Tetsuo came home with yet another slim white folder containing two pink-and-green airline boarding passes.

8.

    She gasped in surprise when she saw the image on the screen. The Pak Clinic doctors focused beams of ultrasound into her womb, and computers sorted the muddled reflections into a stunning picture of the life growing within her.

    "It looks like a monkey!" she cried in dismay. Her thoughts whirled, for surely this was something the doctors would never allow!

    One of the men laughed harshly. The other doctor was kinder. He explained. "At this stage of development, the fetus has many of the attributes of our distant ancestors. Only recently, for instance, it had gills and a tail. But these were reabsorbed. And in time he will look like later forefathers, until he at last appears quite human."

    Reiko sighed in relief. Someone mentioned the gaijin-sounding technical term "recapitulation," and suddenly she did remember having heard or read something about it sometime. She blushed, shamefaced, certain her outburst had made them think her a hysterical woman.

    "The important thing we have determined," the doctor went on, "is that the acoustic nerves are already in place, and soon the eyes will be functional."

    "So all is well now?" she asked. "My baby is healthy?"

    "A fine, strong little boy, your Minoru will be."

    "Then I can go home now?"

    The second doctor shook his head. "First we will be fulfilling the next phase of our contract. We must install a very special device. Do not be alarmed. We are very skilled at