Brain World

Chapter Ten

The newcomers were two women. Fredric and the Section G operatives came to their feet.

To Ronny’s surprise, both of them were as attractive as Rosemary, though ten or fifteen years her senior. They wore their hair in much the same manner she did, obviously more interested in comfort than anything else. One was a redhead, the other a jet-black brunette, who looked as though she was at least half Negro. If Rosemary had reminded Ronny of that motion picture beauty of yesteryear, Jean Simmons, this one reminded him of Lena Horne of the same period. She was a knockout. They both wore approximately the same outfit that Rosemary did, blouse and kilt, though they differed in color.

They had entered from the patio and now advanced, smiling. These people did one hell of a lot of smiling, Ronny decided, even as he shook hands with them.

The redhead said, “My name’s Barbara,” and the brunette flashed perfect teeth and said, “And mine’s Mattie.”

Fredric said, “And, of course, these are our visitors, Doctor Dorn Horsten and Ronald Bronston. Dorn and Ronny, by our custom.”

Rosemary came back in bearing a tray with sugar, milk, cups, spoons, and a vacuum pot of coffee.

She said, “Hello, Mattie, Barbara. Won’t everybody sit down? And who would like coffee? Or anything else for that matter.”

Even before they had settled, the three remaining members of the committee arrived, two men and a woman.

They were introduced, Darlene, Max and Marvin, and were soon organized.

They were all extremely handsome, Ronny decided. Rosemary had been correct when she said that on Einstein they bred for physical as well as mental attributes. Marvin seemed to be the youngest, at possibly forty. The six of the committee seemed to run from forty to fifty-five. On the youngish side, as government officials went, but, then, they had pointed out that they weren’t government officials.

Settled again, spaced out very informally, Fredric said, “I suggest that we elect a chairman.”

Darlene, who was an older edition of Rosemary, and just as attractive, in a more mature way, said, “You asked for it. I nominate Fredric.”

“Second,” Mattie said.

“Any more nominations?” Barbara said.

Evidently there were none. On the face of it, nobody gave a damn who the chairman was. The vote was unanimous.

All sipped their coffee for a moment.

Dorn Horsten politely said to Marvin, “That’s a beautiful ring you have. Looks something like an Earth-side opal. One of the Australian black opals. I’ve always admired them.”

Marvin took it off and handed it over to the doctor. He said, “Yes, our Einstein opals are basically quite similar of those of Earth. They aren’t a crystalline body, of course, but an amorphous mass of hydrous silica, which, in solidifying from a jelly-like state, is penetrated by cracks, these later becoming filled with material differing in water content from the original material and hence of different density. It becomes a beautiful gem. We don’t have the fire opal here, such as I know is a product of Mother Earth, but our black opals are, in all modesty, superior to those of Australia and what was once called Czechoslovakia.”

He had lost Ronny way back.

Dorn examined the ring appreciatively and said, “It is certainly one of the most beautiful gems I have ever seen.” He handed it back towards its owner.

“It is yours,” Marvin said.

Dorn Horsten ogled him. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“But it is.”

Dorn said, “See here. On Earth, or a dozen other worlds that I can think of, I could sell this jewel and retire for the rest of my life. It’s priceless.”

“Yes, of course.”

Dorn shook his head. “We seem to be talking about two different things. I meant that this opal is extremely valuable and that… ”

“It has no value whatsoever, on Einstein. It’s priceless.”

Ronny joined with Dorn in gaping at him. Ronny Bronston knew precious little about precious stones but this one was obviously a gem that a Byzantine emperor would have been proud of.

Marvin said, a bit uncomfortably, “I suppose that this is the purpose of our getting together. You wish to learn something of the workings of Einstein before our admission into United Planets. What I meant was that in our society nothing has exchange value since we produce for use rather than for sale with a view to profit. So far as exchange value is concerned, the stone is worth neither more nor less than this shirt I wear, or this house which we are in.”

The two Section G agents tried to assimilate that. In their time they had been on worlds with some truly off-beat socio-economic systems.

Dorn and Ronny looked at each other.

Dorn said, “Can you think of anything else to ask, immediately?”

Ronny thought about it for a moment before looking at Rosemary and saying, “Yes. When we first met, you called me the notorious Ronny Bronston. Ronny is my nickname, but how could you have known that?” He turned his eyes to Fredric and said, “You called me the famed Ronald Bronston. Famed for what?”

Darlene chirped a charming laugh. “We’re not as uninformed as all that. Of all humanity, you and one other Bureau of Investigation agent, Phil Birdman, are the only ones ever to have landed on a Dawnworld Planet… and survived.”

Dorn Horsten and Ronny Bronston suddenly went cold and hard.

“Not exactly,” Ronny said finally. “The others were brainwashed. Where and what did you hear about the Dawnworld Planets?”

Dorn added flatly, “Their very existence is top secret.”