Part 19 (1/2)

The Earthman looked down. It was a large cylindrical opening with pink smooth walls to which metal bars were attached in what seemed a random configuration. Here and there, a bar stretched across a portion of the cylinder, sometimes across its entire width. It was perhaps four or five hundred feet deep and about fifty feet across.

No one seemed to be paying particular attention either to the playground or to the Earthman. Some had looked at him indifferently as he pa.s.sed, seeming to weigh his clothed state, his facial appearance, and then had turned away. Some made a casual hand gesture to Selene's direction before turning away, but all turned away. The no-interest signal, however subdued, could not have been more blatant.

The Earthman turned to the cylindrical opening. There were slim figures at the bottom, foreshortened because they were seen from above. Some wore wisps of clothing in red, some in blue. Two teams, he decided. Clearly the wisps served protective functions, since all wore gloves and sandals, protective bands about knees and elbows. Some wore brief bands about the hips, some about the chests.

”Oh,” he muttered. ”Men and women.”

Selene said, ”Right! The s.e.xes compete equally but the idea is to prevent the uncontrolled swinging of parts that might hamper the guided fall. There's a s.e.xual difference there which also involves vulnerability to pain. It's not modesty.”

The Earthman said, ”I think I've read of this.”

”You may have,” said Selene, indifferently. ”Not much seems to get out. Not that we we have any objection, but the Terrestrial government prefers to keep news of the Moon to a minimum.” have any objection, but the Terrestrial government prefers to keep news of the Moon to a minimum.”

”Why, Selene?”

”You're an Earthman. You tell me.... Our theory hereon the Moon is that we embarra.s.s the Earth. Or at least the Earth government.”

On either side of the cylinder now, two individuals were rising rapidly and the patter of light drumbeats was heard in the background. At first, the climbers seemed to be going up a ladder, rung by rung, but their speed increased and by the time they were halfway up, they were striking each hold as they pa.s.sed, making an ostentatious slapping noise.

”Couldn't do that on Earth as gracefully,” said the Earthman, admiringly. ”Or at all,” he amended.

”It's not just low-gravity,” said Selene. ”Try it, if you think so. This takes endless hours of practice.”

The climbers reached the railing and swung up to a headstand. They performed a simultaneous somersault and began to fall.

”They can move quickly when they want to,” said the Earthman.

”Umm,” said Selene, through the patter of applause. ”I suspect that when Earthmen-I mean the real Earthmen, the ones who have never even visited the Moon-think of moving around the Moon, they think of the surface and of s.p.a.cesuits. That's often slow, of course. The ma.s.s, with the s.p.a.cesuit added, is huge, which means high inertia and a small gravity to overcome it.”

”Quite right,” said the Earthman. ”I've seen the cla.s.sic motion pictures of the early astronauts that all school children see and the movements are like those underwater, The picture gets imprinted, even when we know better.”

”You'd be surprised how fast we can move on the surface these days, s.p.a.cesuit and all,” said Selene. ”And here, underground, without s.p.a.cesuits, we can move as quickly as on Earth. The slower whip of gravity is made up for by the proper use of muscles.”

”But you can move slowly, too.” The Earthman was watching the acrobats. They had gone up with speed and were going down with deliberate slowness. They-were floating, slapping the handholds to delay the drop rather than, as before, to accelerate the rise. They reached the ground and two others replaced them. And then two more.

And then two more. From each team alternately, pairs competed in virtuosity.

Each pair went up in unison; each pair rose and fell in a more complicated pattern. One pair kicked off simultaneously to cross the tube in a low parabola, convex upward, each reaching the handhold the other had abandoned, and somehow skimming past each other in mid-air without touching. That evoked louder applause.

The Earthman said, ”I suspect I lack the experience to appreciate the finer points of skill. Are these all native Lunarites?”

”They have to be,” said Selene. ”The gymnasium is open to all Lunar citizens and some immigrants are fairly good, considering. For this kind of virtuosity, however, you must depend on babies that are conceived and born here. They have the proper physical adaptation, at least more than native Earthmen have, and they get the proper childhood training. Most of these performers are under eighteen.”

”I imagine it's dangerous, even at Moon-gravity levels.”

”Broken bones aren't very uncommon. I don't think there's been an actual death, but there's been at least one case of broken spine and paralysis. That was a terrible accident; I was actually watching- Oh, wait now; we're going to have the ad libs now.”

”The what?”

”Till now, we've had set pieces. The climbs were according to a fixed pattern.”

The percussion beat seemed softer as one climber rose and suddenly launched into mid-air. He caught a transverse bar one-handed, circling it once vertically, and let go- The Earthman watched closely. He said, ”Amazing. He gets around those bars exactly like a gibbon.”

”A what?” asked Selene.

”A gibbon. A kind of ape; in fact, the only ape still existing in the wild. They-” He looked at Selene's expression and said, ”I don't mean it as an insult, Selene; they are graceful creatures.”

Selene said, frowning, ”I've seen pictures of apes.”

”You probably haven't seen gibbons, in motion. ... I dare say that Earthies might call Lunarites 'gibbons* and mean it insultingly, about on the level of what you mean by 'Earthie.' But I don't mean it so.”

He leaned both elbows on the railing and watched the movements. It was like dancing in the air. He said, ”How do you treat Earth-immigrants here on the Moon, Selene? J mean immigrants who mean to stay here life-long. Since they lack true Lunarite abilities-”

”That makes no difference. Immies are citizens. There's no discrimination; no legal discrimination.”

”What does that mean? No legal legal discrimination?” discrimination?”

”Well, you said it yourself. There are some things they can't do. There are are differences. Their medical problems are different and they've usually had a worse medical history. If they come in middle age, they look-old.” differences. Their medical problems are different and they've usually had a worse medical history. If they come in middle age, they look-old.”

The Earthman looked away, embarra.s.sed. ”Can they intermarry? I mean, immigrants and Lunarites.”

”Certainly. That is, they can interbreed.”

”Yes, that's what I meant.”

”Of course. No reason why an immigrant can't have some worthwhile genes. Heavens, my father was an immie, though I'm second-generation Lunarite on my mother's side.”

”I suppose your father must have come when he was1quite-Oh, good Lord good Lord -” He froze at the railing, then drew a shuddering sigh. ”I thought he was going to miss that bar.” -” He froze at the railing, then drew a shuddering sigh. ”I thought he was going to miss that bar.”

”Not a chance,” said Selene. ”That's Marco Fore. He likes to do that, reach out at the last moment. Actually, it's bad form to do that and a real champion doesn't. Still- My father was twenty-two when he arrived.”

”I suppose that's the way. Still young enough to be adaptable; no emotional complications back on Earth. From the standpoint of the Earthie male, I imagine it must be rather nice to have a s.e.xual attachment with a-”

”s.e.xual attachment!” Selene's amus.e.m.e.nt seemed to cover a very real sense of shock. ”You don't suppose my father had s.e.x with my mother. If my mother heard you say that, she'd set you you right in a hurry.” right in a hurry.”

”But-”

”Artificial insemination was what it was for goodness sake. s.e.x with an Earthman?” Earthman?”

The Earthman looked solemn. ”I thought you said there was no discrimination.”

”That's not discrimination. That's a matter of physical fact. An Earthman can't handle the gravity field properly. However practiced he might be, under the stress of pa.s.sion, he might revert. I wouldn't risk it. The clumsy fool might snap his arm or leg-or worse, mine. Gene mixtures are one thing; s.e.x is quite another.”

”I'm sorry. . . . Isn't artificial insemination against the law?”

She was watching the gymnastics with absorption. ”That's Marco Fore again. When he isn't trying to be uselessly spectacular, he really is good; and his sister is almost as good. When they work together it's really a poem of motion. Look at them now. They'll come together and circle the same bar as though they have a single body stretched across. He's a little too flamboyant at times, but you can't fault his muscular control. . . . Yes, artificial insemination is against Earth's law, but it's allowed where medical reasons are involved, and, of course, that's often the case, or said to be.”