This Perfect Day

Conversation rose in the plane. There was indeed no seat for the member. A woman took a child onto her lap and called to him.

The plane began moving and the TV screens went on, with a program about Afr's geography and resources.

He tried to pay attention to it, thinking there might be information in it that would be useful to him, but he couldn't. If he were found and treated now, he would never get alive again. This time Uni would make certain that he would see no meaning in even a thousand leaves on a thousand wet stones.

He got to '14509 at twenty past midnight. He was wide awake, still on Usa time, with afternoon energy.

First he went to the Pre-U, and then to the bike station on the plaza nearest building P51. He made two trips to the bike station, and one to P51's dining hall and its supply center.

At three o'clock he went into Lilac's room. He looked at her by flashlight while she slept—looked at her cheek, her neck, her dark hand on the pillow—and then he went to the desk and tapped on the lamp.

"Anna," he said, standing at the foot of the bed. "Anna, you have to get up now."

She mumbled something.

"You have to get up now, Anna," he said. "Come on, get up."

She raised herself with a hand at her eyes, making little sounds of complaint. Sitting, she drew the hand away and peered at him; recognized him and frowned bewilderedly.

"I want you to come for a ride with me," he said. "A bike ride. You mustn't talk loud and you mustn't call for help." He reached into his pocket and took out a gun. He held it the way it seemed meant to be held, with his first finger across the trigger, the rest of his hand holding the handle, and the front of it pointed at her face. "I'll kill you if you don't do what I tell you," he said. "Don't shout now, Anna."

Chapter 3

She stared at the gun, and at him.

"The generator's weak," he said, "but it made a hole a centimeter deep in the wall of the museum and it'll make a deeper one in you. So you'd better obey me. I'm sorry to frighten you, but eventually you'll understand why I'm doing it."

"This is terrible!" she said. "You're still sick!"

"Yes," he said, "and I've gotten worse. So do as I say or the Family will lose two valuable members; first you, and then me."

"How can you do this, Li?" she said. "Can't you see yourself—with a weapon in your hand, threatening me?"

"Get up and get dressed," he said.

"Please, let me call—"

"Get dressed," he said. "Quickly!"

"All right," she said, turning aside the blanket. "All right, I'll do exactly as you say." She got up and opened her pajamas.

He backed away, watching her, keeping the gun pointed at her.

She took off her pajamas, let them fall, and turned to the shelf for a set of coveralls. He watched her breasts and the rest of her body, which in subtle ways—a fullness of the buttocks, a roundness of the thighs—was different too from the normal. How beautiful she was!

She stepped into the coveralls and put her arms into the sleeves. "Li, I beg you," she said, looking at him, "let's go down to the medicenter and—"

"Don't talk," he said.

She closed the coveralls and put her feet into her sandals. "Why do you want to go bicycling?" she said. "It's the middle of the night."

"Pack your kit," he said.

"My take-along?"

"Yes," he said. "Put in another set of cuvs and your first-aid kit and your clippers. And anything that's important to you that you want to keep. Do you have a flashlight?"

"What are you planning to do?" she asked.

"Pack your kit," he said.

She packed her kit, and when she had closed it he took it and slung it on his shoulder. "We're going to go around behind the building," he said. "I've got two bikes there. We're going to walk side by side and I'll have the gun in my pocket. If we pass a member and you give any indication that any-thing's wrong, I'll kill you and the member, do you understand?"

"Yes," she said.

"Do whatever I tell you. If I say stop and fix your sandal, stop and fix your sandal. We're going to pass scanners without touching them. You've done that before; now you're going to do it again."

"We're not coming back here?" she said.

"No. We're going far away."

"Then there's a snapshot I'd like to take."

"Get it," he said. "I told you to take whatever you wanted to keep."

She went to the desk, opened the drawer, and rummaged in it. A snapshot of King? he wondered. No, King was part of her "sickness." Probably one of her family. "It's in here somewhere," she said, sounding nervous, not right.

He hurried to her and pushed her aside. Li RM gun 2 bicy was written on the bottom of the drawer. A pen was in her hand. "I'm trying to help you," she said.

He felt like hitting her but stopped himself; but stopping was wrong, she would know he wouldn't hurt her; he hit her face with his open hand, stingingly hard. "Don't try to trick me!" he said. "Don't you realize how sick I am? You'll be dead and maybe a dozen other members will be dead if you do something like this again!"

She stared wide-eyed at him, trembling, her hand at her cheek.